TR: tiqvah → elpis (Hope/Expectation)

The Chain

Hebrew OT             LXX (Greek OT)          Greek NT
───────────           ───────────────          ────────
תִּקְוָה (tiqvah)  →  ἐλπίς (elpis)        →  ἐλπίς (elpis)
H8615, 33x            20x as translation       48x in NT
"cord, expectation"   of tiqvah                "hope"
                      PMI score: 23.08

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H8615	תִּקְוָה (tiqvah)	33	cord (literal); expectation, hope (figurative)

Key OT passages: - Jer 29:11 — "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end [tiqvah]" - Pro 10:28 — "The hope [tiqvah] of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish" - Hos 2:15 — "The valley of Achor for a door of hope [tiqvah]"

KJV translations: hope (9v), line (2v), more hope (2v), my hope (2v), of hope (2v), and others.

Library: TODO(need H8615 study)

LXX Bridge

H8615 tiqvah → Greek (LXX forward mapping):

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	Score	Notes
tiqvah (H8615)	ἐλπίς (G1680)	20	23.08	Primary equivalent — 61% of tiqvah occurrences
tiqvah (H8615)	ὑπομονή (G5281)	4	13.36	Secondary; endurance nuance in Job/Lam contexts
tiqvah (H8615)	ἀσεβής (G765)	6	8.82	Contextual: "hope of the wicked" → ungodly
tiqvah (H8615)	ἀπόλλυμι (G622)	7	8.81	Contextual: "hope perishes" → destruction verb

G1680 elpis ← Hebrew (LXX reverse mapping):

Greek	Hebrew Source	Co-occ	Score	Notes
elpis (G1680)	תִּקְוָה (H8615)	20	23.08	Primary source — highest PMI
elpis (G1680)	מַחֲסֶה (H4268)	10	17.41	"refuge/shelter" → rendered as hope
elpis (G1680)	מִבְטָח (H4009)	9	17.32	"confidence/security" → rendered as hope
elpis (G1680)	בֶּטַח (H983)	12	16.82	"safety/trust" → rendered as hope
elpis (G1680)	תּוֹחֶלֶת (H8431)	4	12.35	"expectation" — near-synonym of tiqvah
elpis (G1680)	בָּטַח (H982)	8	9.64	"trust" verb → rendered as hope

Semantic shift in translation: The LXX gathers several distinct Hebrew concepts under elpis: not only tiqvah (expectation/cord) but also machaseh (shelter), mibtach (security), and betach (safety/trust). The Greek noun elpis thus absorbs a broader semantic field than any single Hebrew source. The literal "cord" sense of tiqvah (Jos 2:18, "line of scarlet thread") does not transfer — elpis carries only the metaphorical "expectation" meaning into the NT.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G1680	ἐλπίς (elpis)	48	hope, expectation, confidence
G1679	ἐλπίζω (elpizō)	15	to hope, trust, expect (verb cognate)

Key NT passages: - Acts 2:26 — "Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope" (quoting Psalm 16:9 LXX — earliest NT use) - Rom 4:18 — "Who against hope believed in hope" (Abraham as paradigm of tiqvah-rooted expectation) - 1 Pet 1:3 — "Begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

Library: G1680-elpis.md

Direct OT→NT Quotations

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Acts 2:26	Psalm 16:9 (LXX 15:9)	elpis (LXX)	Peter quotes David: "my flesh shall rest in hope" — applied to Christ's resurrection. The Hebrew behind the LXX here is H983 betach ("safely/in trust"), not tiqvah, but the LXX translators rendered it as elpis, which enters the NT through this quotation.
Rom 15:12	Isaiah 11:10	elpizō (G1679, cognate verb)	"In him shall the Gentiles hope" — the verbal form of the same root, quoting LXX Isaiah.

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - The core meaning of confident expectation directed toward God's promises remains stable from tiqvah through elpis. Both Jeremiah 29:11 (tiqvah) and Titus 1:2 (elpis) ground hope in God's declared intention. - Both OT and NT use hope in contrast with the hopeless condition of the wicked or those outside covenant (Pro 10:28 / Eph 2:12).

What shifts: - The NT narrows the object of hope: while OT tiqvah can attach to general outcomes (Jos 2:18 scarlet cord, Ezek 19:5 dynastic expectation), NT elpis overwhelmingly points to eschatological fulfillment — resurrection, eternal life, Christ's return. - The LXX broadened elpis to absorb Hebrew trust/refuge vocabulary (machaseh, mibtach, betach). The NT inherits this broadened range, which is why elpis can mean both "expectation of future events" and "present confidence/anchor" (Heb 6:18-19).

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Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-05-14