Faith, hope and charity in Hebrew

Faith, hope and charity are sometimes mentioned together in the scriptures. It is also made clear that they belong together because it really is not possible to have one without the other. When hearing a word, our associations with that word is influenced both by our language and our culture and background. As usual I will go to the ancient Hebrew understanding of these words, because we don't know the Nephite language but we do know that they came from Jerusalem 600 BC and to some degree brought the Hebrew tradition with them.

For us today in English, faith, hope and charity are primarily abstract terms. This is a potential pitfall. We may come to view these as entirely abstract concepts and lose all practical application of these principles. Faith and hope become merely mental exercises whereas charity is a nice feeling inside. One thing that I have learned about the Hebrew language is that abstract terms are often rooted in very physical, tangible concepts. We will have a closer look at these three words in Hebrew.

Faith - Hebr. "emunah" (אמונה)

This is an action oriented word that might as well have been translated into "support", "faithfulness" or "loyalty". This way of understanding the term, changes things entirely. When we have English faith, we place the action on the one we have faith in. We believe that God exists and will act for our benefit. When we have Hebrew faith, the action is on the person who supports God. It is about our loyalty to him, typically in a covenant relation. In other words, having faith in this manner is not so concerned with the question about the existence of God, it is concerned with how we should show our devotion to him.

Hope - Hebr. "tiqvah" (תִּקְוָה)

This is an interesting word in Hebrew. It is based on the root, qavah, which means to wait. Hoping is closely related to waiting. Hebrew hope is waiting for something that will happen. There is also another aspect that exemplifies the abstract being rooted in something physical, that I mentioned. Tiqvah means both "hope" and "cord". This connection may seem strange on the surface. But the basic idea seems to be that hope is a cord attached to something bigger in the future. When something tangible as a cord is used to describe something abstract, it may also be easier to envision how to go about and apply the principle in our daily lives.

Charity - Hebr. "chesed" (חָסַד)

This one is tricky. When we read about charity in the Book of Mormon, this is the English translation of some unknown Nephite word. To help understand what that word possibly meant to the Nephites, we could turn to Hebrew like we did for faith and hope, but in this case it is difficult to find a Hebrew equivalent. "Charity" is not found at all in the English KJV Old Testament. There are several possible candidates, but I think "chesed" is the closest we get. It is usually translated into mercy, goodness or kindness. It is the Hebrew word that comes closest to the Greek "agape" which is the divine love translated into charity in the New Testament and matches "the pure love of Christ" expression very well.

In English, we might have a tendency to relate faith and hope more easily and think of charity as something quite different from the two. In Hebrew, I would say these three words are more closely related. In some English Bible versions, chesed is even translated into loyalty on a few occasions. This is because, just like faith (emunah), chesed is about commitment and often linked to a covenant. Here are some examples:

1 I will sing of the mercies [chesed] of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness [enumah] to all generations.
2 For I have said, Mercy [chesed] shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness [enumah] shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant (Psalms 89)

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful [aman, related to enumah] God, which keepeth covenant and mercy [chesed] with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Not only in these examples, but very often in the Old Testament, it is God who is faithful/loyal [enumah] and merciful/loving [chesed]. These are Godly attributes that we should strive to obtain. But we also see examples of these terms used to describe Old Testament people. When Abraham received promises from God as part of the covenant, 

he believed [aman, related to enumah] in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

When best friends, David and Jonathan, had covenanted with each other, David asked of Jonathan

Therefore thou shalt deal kindly [chesed] with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee (1 Samuel 20:8)

Of course, we don't know to what degree Nephites maintained this ancient Hebrew understanding when their language was developed over time. So this will inevitably be a bit speculative. But I think it is useful still to get a different perspective on this and at least be open to the possibility that these words might have had slightly different meaning for the Book of Mormon authors than they have for us today. Just for fun, let us try to read a well-known Book of Mormon verse (that happens to be one of my favorites) through that lens:

Wherefore, whoso believeth in [is loyal to] God might with surety hope wait for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope [cord] cometh of faith [by faithfulness], maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. (Ether 12:4)

First a disclaimer: I believe the Book of Mormon translation to be given to Joseph Smith by God directly. There may be "faults of men", but if God wanted us to have the version I just made, he would make sure to give us that. My suggestion is therefore not meant to replace the version that we have that is written in our language for our benefit. To make the text flow, one needs to limit the words, and there is no room for commentary on the text in the text itself. Rather, consider my alternative "translation" a fun way to possibly gain more insight into the Hebrew heritage of the Book of Mormon authors.

With that out of the way, here is my take: Waiting with surety for a better world is waiting with confidence instead of impatience or doubt. This is something we can do when we are loyal to our covenant with God. Notice that I used the word, cord, the second time I replace the word, hope. I do this to invoke the image of a cord that we hold on one end where we have a place at the right hand of God at the other end. When coupled by faithfulness/loyalty, this cord becomes an anchor! Notice also the word, steadfast, towards the end of the verse. In Hebrew, this is also related to emunah/aman. There is a reciprocal relation between faith and hope in this verse. emunah adds surety to our tiqvah, making our "cord" to a better world an anchor, reinforcing our emunah.

Originally, I meant to post about further insight I gained seeing how faith, hope and charity is coupled with "good" in the Book of Mormon. But I thought this background could be useful before I get into that in my next post.