Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Study Note
Study Note
The definition 'faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see' opens the 'hall of faith' chapter, which illustrates the definition through Old Testament examples. The Greek 'hypostasis' (confidence/substance) is a philosophical term meaning the underlying reality of something — faith is presented as the substantiating of hope rather than merely the believing of it. 'Elenchos' (assurance/evidence) is a legal term for proof or conviction, applying evidentiary language to the unseen. The definition has shaped Christian epistemology: not intellectual certainty about the visible, but oriented trust toward the promised yet unseen, grounded in the character of the promise-maker.
Other Translations
Now faith is assurance ofthingshoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction,
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.
Cross References
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for …
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why …
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the …
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things …
Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should …