Untitled Sermon

FAITH

Faith refers to a sense of trust, guiding belief, faithfulness, and often a committed sense of loyalty.

In the Old Testament, the concept of faith is often expressed by the Hebrew words אֱמֶת (ʾĕmet, “faithfulness”),

בָּטַח (baṭaḥ, “to trust”),

אֱמוּנָה (ʾĕmûnâ, “faithfulness”), and אָמַן (ʾāman, “to believe”).

Other less frequent words for concepts of faith and faithfulness include

צְדָקָה (ṣĕdāqâ, “righteousness”), which can signify faithfulness to Elohim’s covenant,

and three verbs for waiting with expectation, which implies trust:

יָחַל (yāḥal, “to wait expectantly”), קָוָה (qāwâ, “to wait expectantly”; e.g., Isa 25:9; Psa 25:5), and חָכָה (ḥākâ, “to wait patiently”; e.g., Hab 2:3).