StrongerBible

hupostasis

ὑπόστασις

GreekG5287“substance, assurance, ...”

Appears 5 times · tap a cell to see the verses

2Co 9:42Co 11:17Heb 1:3Heb 3:14Heb 11:1
Compound of
hupoὑπόby/under: by227G5259
histēmiἵστημιto stand156G2476
Word studyResearch-gradehoo-POS-tah-sisnoun

What hupostasis means

1

the real being or substance of something: what it actually is beneath how it appears

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

The oldest and most concrete idea behind this word is something that stands underneath. In ordinary Greek it named the sediment that settles at the bottom of a liquid, the foundation under a building, or a garrison holding its ground. From there it grew into a word for what is really there, as opposed to what only seems to be there.

Hebrews 1:3 uses it in exactly that deeper sense. The Son is the exact imprint of God's real being, the stamp that shows what God actually is. Here the word points to God's essential nature, not to a physical substance and not to a "person" in the sense the church later gave that word.

Hebrews 11:1 stretches the same idea to its limit: faith is called the substance of things hoped for, set beside the proof (ἔλεγχος) of things not seen. On the reading most scholars now favor, faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the unseen future made solid and present. Others hear a more personal note of "assurance" in the same word (see the next meaning). It is the single most argued word in the sentence.

Nuances

1aGod's own essential nature: the real being that the Son exactly represents
TranslatabilityApproximate
Heb 1:3
1bthe underlying reality of what is hoped for: the unseen future treated as solid and real
CertaintyContested
Heb 11:1
Heb 11:1

What faith is said to be, relative to things hoped for, in Hebrews 11:1.

  • contestedFaith is the objective reality of what is hoped for, the coming realities made present, parallel to the "real being" of God in Hebrews 1:3.; H. Koester, 'hypostasis', TDNT 8:585-588; L. T. Johnson, Hebrews (NTL, 2006), 277-282
  • contestedFaith is the subjective assurance or confidence that grasps what is hoped for.; P. Ellingworth, Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993), 565-566; F. F. Bruce, Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990), 277-278
  • minorityFaith is the title-deed or guarantee that secures a future possession, a sense drawn from the property documents of the Greek papyri.; J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v.; BDAG (3rd ed., 2000), s.v.
  • minorityThe word works by metonymy, naming both the objective reality and the assurance that reality produces.; H. Attridge, Hebrews (Hermeneia, 1989), 307-310; C. Koester, Hebrews (AYB, 2001), 472
2

a firm, settled confidence: assurance held onto without wavering

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyContested

A second stream of meaning is personal and inward. Because the word pictures something that stands firm and holds its ground, it came to name a confident, settled stance, the kind of assurance that does not give way under pressure.

Hebrews 3:14 uses it this way for most readers: believers share in Christ if they hold their first confidence firm to the end. It stands close to the boldness (παρρησία) and the hope named a few verses earlier. A smaller group of scholars still hear the objective "reality" note here instead, reading it as the reality believers have come to share.

One caution belongs with this meaning. The standard New Testament dictionary now doubts that "confidence" is a sense the word carries on its own in Greek, treating it instead as a shade it picked up when it translated Hebrew words for hope. Many commentators disagree and keep the traditional reading.

Heb 3:14
Heb 3:14

Whether the word in Hebrews 3:14 names the believer's confidence or the objective reality shared in Christ.

  • majorityThe original confidence or firm assurance believers must hold to the end.; F. F. Bruce, Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990), 100; P. Ellingworth, Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993), 227
  • minorityThe objective reality inaugurated in Christ, in which believers have come to share.; H. Koester, 'hypostasis', TDNT 8:585-587; E. Grasser, Der Glaube im Hebraerbrief (1965)
3

an undertaking or venture being carried through: a concrete plan one has committed to

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyContested

Paul uses the word twice in his second letter to the Corinthians, both times while talking about the collection he is gathering for Jerusalem and about his own boasting. The reading most lexicographers now favor takes it as a concrete undertaking or project: the venture Paul has committed himself and the Corinthians to.

In 2 Corinthians 9:4 he worries about being embarrassed in this undertaking if the Corinthians are not ready. In 2 Corinthians 11:17 he speaks with what he calls foolish boasting, either "in this project of boasting" or, on the older reading, "in this confident boasting." Many respected commentators keep that older, more personal sense of "confidence" in both verses, since Paul is plainly talking about his own boldness. The evidence does not settle it, and English Bibles split.

2Co 9:42Co 11:17
2Co 9:4

Whether the word in 2 Corinthians 9:4 means a concrete undertaking or Paul's confidence.

  • contestedA concrete undertaking or project, the collection for Jerusalem that Paul is carrying through.; BDAG (3rd ed., 2000), s.v.; M. Thrall, 2 Corinthians (ICC, 1994-2000)
  • contestedPaul's confidence, since the demonstrative "this" points back to the boast he has just made.; M. Harris, 2 Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005); P. Barnett, 2 Corinthians (NICNT, 1997)
2Co 11:17

Whether the word in 2 Corinthians 11:17 means a boasting project or Paul's self-confident boasting.

  • contestedA boasting project or enterprise, Paul ironically naming his whole foolish speech.; BDAG (3rd ed., 2000), s.v.; M. Thrall, 2 Corinthians (ICC, 1994-2000)
  • contestedPaul's own self-confident boasting as he plays the fool.; M. Harris, 2 Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005); R. P. Martin, 2 Corinthians (WBC 40, rev. 2014)

What scholars say about hupostasis

hypostasis (from hyphistemi, "to stand under") is a register-mobile noun spanning medical sediment, architectural substructure, military garrison, and the Stoic and Middle Platonic "real being" opposed to mere appearance (Posidonius; Ps.-Aristotle De mundo; Philo, Quod deterius 160). In the documentary papyri it denotes property, guarantee, and the title-deeds proving ownership (Deissmann; Moulton-Milligan, VGT, on P.Oxy. II 237). The Septuagint renders roughly twelve Hebrew words with it, including hope-words (tiqwah, tocheleth) that supply a bridge to a subjective sense, and Wisdom 16:21 alone uses it ontologically. Koester's TDNT article (8:572-589), followed by BDAG and Doerrie, argues the literary-philosophical "reality" register governs Hebrews and eliminates an independently attested "confidence." Hebrews 1:3 is read almost unanimously as God's essential being against a Philonic and Wisdom backdrop (Attridge, Hermeneia; C. Koester, AYB; Ellingworth, NIGTC). Hebrews 11:1 remains contested among "reality" (Koester; L. T. Johnson), "assurance" (Bruce; Ellingworth; Cockerill), "title-deed" (Moulton-Milligan; Spicq; BDAG), "steadfastness" (Lane, WBC), and Attridge and C. Koester's metonymic mediation. The two Pauline uses (2 Cor 9:4; 11:17) divide between BDAG and Koester's "undertaking, project" (Furnish; Thrall; Guthrie; NRSV) and a contextual "confidence" (Harris, NIGTC; Barnett; Martin, WBC; Seifrid). The Cappadocian technical sense "person, subsistence" (one ousia, three hypostaseis) is a fourth-century development absent from the New Testament (Prestige; Kelly; Stead).

Where scholars disagree about hupostasis

Whether "confidence, assurance" is a genuine, independently attested meaning of the word, or only a shade it acquired in the Greek Old Testament when it rendered Hebrew words for hope.

  • majority"Confidence, assurance" is not documented as a meaning in Hellenistic Greek outside this tradition and should be dropped; the New Testament uses draw on the objective "reality" and the concrete "undertaking" senses instead.; BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (3rd ed., 2000), s.v.; H. Koester, 'hypostasis', TDNT 8:572-589; H. Doerrie, 'Hypostasis: Wort- und Bedeutungsgeschichte', NAWG 1955.3
  • minority"Confidence, assurance" is a real sense, arising by translation from Hebrew hope-words and defended across Hebrews and 2 Corinthians on contextual grounds.; J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains; P. Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993); F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990)
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

  • H. Koester, 'hypostasis', TDNT 8:572-589theological-dictionary
  • BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (3rd ed., 2000), s.v.lexicon
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (1914-29), s.v.lexicon
  • H. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia, 1989)commentary
  • C. R. Koester, Hebrews (Anchor Yale Bible, 2001)commentary
  • P. Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NIGTC, 1993)commentary
  • F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, rev. 1990)commentary
  • L. T. Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary (NTL, 2006)commentary
  • W. L. Lane, Hebrews (WBC 47A-47B, 1991)commentary
  • M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005)commentary
  • M. E. Thrall, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (ICC, 1994-2000)commentary
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, III.421-423theological-dictionary
  • H. Doerrie, 'Hypostasis: Wort- und Bedeutungsgeschichte', NAWG 1955.3article
  • G. W. H. Lampe / G. L. Prestige, God in Patristic Thought (2nd ed., 1952)monograph

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

All attested forms of ὑπόστασις

dative f s

ὑποστάσει

2Co 9:4, 2Co 11:17

genitive f s

ὑποστάσεως

Heb 1:3, Heb 3:14

nominative f s

ὑπόστασις

Heb 11:1