StrongerBible

elegchos

ἔλεγχος

GreekG1650“evidence, conviction, ...”

Appears 1 time · tap a cell to see the verses

Heb 11:1
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeEL-eng-khosnoun

What elegchos means

proof: the evidence or demonstration by which something hidden is brought into the open and shown to be real

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyContested

At its heart this word means bringing something hidden out into the open so that its true nature can be seen. In everyday Greek it named the proof or evidence that settles a question: the argument that overturns a false claim, the testimony that convicts in court, the test that shows what a thing really is.

The New Testament uses this particular noun only once, in Hebrews 11:1, where faith is called the proof of things not seen. The point is bold: just as hard evidence makes an unseen fact certain in a courtroom, faith is what makes invisible realities solid and sure to the believer. Older English Bibles translated it "evidence"; newer ones often say "conviction" or "assurance." In the same verse faith is also called the ground that undergirds what we hope for (ὑπόστασις), so the two words work as a pair, one naming faith's grip on the future, the other its grip on the unseen.

A close relative of this word carries a sharper, moral edge. The related verb (ἐλέγχω) usually means to expose, convict, or rebuke, and the New Testament uses it that way of the Spirit convicting the world and of correcting a fellow believer. Hebrews keeps the same basic action, bringing something to light, but aims it at unseen realities rather than at sin.

Heb 11:1

Disputed

Whether ἔλεγχος in Hebrews 11:1 denotes an objective proof or demonstration of unseen realities or the subjective inner conviction that faith produces in the believer.

  • majorityObjective: proof, evidence, or demonstration of things unseen. Grounded in the parallel treatment of ὑπόστασις and in the observation that no Greek text outside Hebrews 11:1 uses ἔλεγχος of a merely psychological state; this is the dominant modern lexical reading.; BDAG, s.v. ἔλεγχος; Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia, 1989); Helmut Köster, ὑπόστασις, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 8:585-588; Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. ἔλεγχος
  • minoritySubjective: the inner conviction or assurance that God gives the believer, taken in parallel with a subjective reading of ὑπόστασις as "assurance." This is the older Reformation tradition.; Friedrich Büchsel, ἐλέγχω, ἔλεγχος, ἐλεγμός, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 2:473-476; F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990); William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13 (Word Biblical Commentary 47B, 1991)
  • minorityMediating: a reasoned conviction that arises from evidence, holding the objective ground and the inner certainty together.; Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993); Peter T. O'Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews (Pillar, 2010)

What scholars say about elegchos

The noun ἔλεγχος derives from ἐλέγχω and across its history denotes the act or instrument of bringing the hidden into the open. Homeric neuter τὸ ἔλεγχος means shame or reproach (Il. 24.260); the classical masculine ranges over refutation and cross-examination (Parmenides B 7.5; Plato, Phaedrus 276a; Aristotle, Sophistici Elenchi 165a2, ἔλεγχος δὲ συλλογισμὸς μετ' ἀντιφάσεως) and the legal or documentary sense of judicial proof and evidence (Thucydides 1.135; Moulton-Milligan on the papyri). In the Septuagint it concentrates in the wisdom books, rendering תּוֹכַחַת and cognates of יכח with the twin senses of legal argument (Job 13:6; 16:21) and pedagogical reproof (Proverbs 1:23-30; 3:11, quoted at Hebrews 12:5). Philo personifies it as the inner ἔλεγχος of conscience (Quod Deus 125-135), a background to John 16:8 and Romans 2:15. The single New Testament noun, at Hebrews 11:1 (πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων), is disputed. The dominant modern reading, developing Dörrie and Köster on the parallel ὑπόστασις and defended by Attridge (Hermeneia), Spicq, BDAG, Louw-Nida, EDNT, and NIDNTTE, is objective: proof, evidence, or demonstration of unseen realities. A minority tradition rooted in Büchsel (TDNT) and carried by Westcott, Moffatt, F. F. Bruce, and Lane reads it subjectively as inner conviction or assurance, while Ellingworth, O'Brien, and Cockerill hold a mediating view of reasoned conviction grounded in evidence. The decisive philological observation is that no attested Greek text outside Hebrews 11:1 uses ἔλεγχος of a purely psychological state. The cognate ἐλεγμός at 2 Timothy 3:16 (a variant reading gives ἔλεγχον) keeps the ordinary moral sense of reproof or refutation.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἔλεγχοςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἔλεγχοςlexicon
  • Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, s.v. ἔλεγχοςlexicon
  • Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. ἔλεγχοςlexicon
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. ἔλεγχοςlexicon
  • H. Giesen, ἔλεγχος, in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT)dictionary
  • Moisés Silva (ed.), New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), ἐλέγχω word groupdictionary
  • Friedrich Büchsel, ἐλέγχω, ἔλεγχος, ἐλεγμός, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 2:473-476dictionary
  • Helmut Köster, ὑπόστασις, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 8:585-588dictionary
  • Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia, 1989)commentary
  • Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993)commentary
  • F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990)commentary
  • R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testamentmonograph

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of ἔλεγχος

nominative m s

ἔλεγχος

Heb 11:1