main theme

ὑπόστασις, εως, ἡ (ὑφίστημι; Hippocr.+; Polyb. 4, 50, 10; 6, 55, 2; Diod S 16, 32, 3; 16, 33, 1; M. Ant. 10, 5; ins, pap, LXX; PsSol 15:5; 17:24; TestReub 2:7; TestZeb 2:4; Tat.; Ath. 21, 3; Iren. 5, 36, 1 [Harv. II 426, 1]; Hippol., Ref. 10, 17, 2; Did., Gen. 128, 11 in widely different meanings. See Dörrie 4 below.)

① the essential or basic structure/nature of an entity, substantial nature, essence, actual being, reality (underlying structure, oft. in contrast to what merely seems to be: Ps.-Aristot., De Mundo 4 p. 395a, 29f; Plut., Mor. 894b; Diog. L., Pyrrh. 9, 91; Artem. 3, 14; Ps 38:6; Wsd 16:21; TestReub 2:7; SJCh 78, 30; Philo, Aet. M. 88; 92; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 1; Tat. 6, 2; Ath. 21, 3; cp. the answer of a certain Secundus, who, when asked ‘Quid fides?’, answered: ‘ignotae rei mira certitudo’=a marvelous certainty about someth. otherwise unknown [FPhGr I 516]; s. also Lexicon Sabbaiticum: Lexica Graeca Minora ’65, 53)

ⓐ of the Son of God as χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ a(n) exact representation of (God’s) real being (i.e. as one who is in charge of the universe) Hb 1:3. Sim. of polytheists’ deities, whose basic reality is someth. material like stone, metal etc. Dg 2:1.

ⓑ of things: among the meanings that can be authenticated for Hb 11:1 a strong claim can be made for realization (Diod S 1, 3, 2 of the realization of a plan; Cornutus 9 p. 9, 3 of the realization of humanity; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 1 that of the Jewish people, both by a divine act; Tat. 5, 1 of God τοῦ παντὸς ἡ ὑπόστασις): ἔστιν πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπ.=in faith things hoped for become realized, or things hoped for take on (but s. 3 and 4 below) reality. Conversely, ‘without faith things hoped for would have no reality’. HKöster (s. bibliog. 4 below) argues for this sense also in 3:14, but s. 2. Cp. the rendering ‘substance’ (e.g. KJV, REB).

② a plan that one devises for action, plan, project, undertaking, endeavor (Diod. Sic 15, 70, 2; 16, 32, 3; 16, 82, 6; 17, 69, 7; Ezk 19:5) ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει ταύτῃ in connection with this undertaking i.e. the collection for Jerusalem 2 Cor 9:4. The fact that meeting a financial obligation is the main theme (vss. 1–2) might well suggest association of ὑπ. with its use e.g. as a t.t. of expectation of rent due PTebt 61b, 194. To emphasize the importance of steadfast commitment to professed obligation (opp. καρδία πονηρὰ ἀπιστίας ἐν τῷ ἀποστῆναι), the author of Hb 3:14 uses ὑπ. in a way that invites an addressee to draw on the semantic component of obligation familiar in commercial usage of the term (s. PTebt above), an association that is invited by use of μέτοχος, a standard term for a business partner (PHib 109, 3; PCairZen 176, 102 [both III B.C.]), μέχρι τέλους (s.v. τέλος 2bβ), and βέβαιος (s. M-M s.v.). S. Köster 1b above for focus of ὑπ. on ‘reality’.—Satirically, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὑποστάσει τῆς καυχήσεως in this boasting project of mine 2 Cor 11:17.

③ The interp. situation, condition (Cicero, Ad Attic. 2, 3, 3 ὑπόστασιν nostram=our situation), also specif. frame of mind (Dio Cass. 49, 9; Themist., Or. 13 p. 178b; Jos., Ant. 18, 24 of determination in desperate circumstances; sim. Polyb. 6, 55, 2) has been suggested for some of the passages cited in 1 and 2 above: 2 Cor 9:4 (explained in a v.l. via the epexegetical gen. καυχήσεως); 11:17; Hb 3:14 (s. Dörrie [bibliog. 4 below], p. 39: the frame of mind described in Hb 3:6). The sense ‘confidence’, ‘assurance’ (based on LXX [Ruth 1:12; Ps 38:8; Ezk 19:5], where it renders תִּקְוָה etc.) favored by Melanchthon and Luther (also Tyndale, NRSV, but not KJV) for Hb 11:1 has enjoyed much favor but must be eliminated, since examples of it cannot be found (s. Dörrie and Köster [4 below]). More prob. for Hb 4:11 is

④ guarantee of ownership/entitlement, title deed (Sb 9086 III, 1–11 [104 A.D.]; Spicq III 423 n. 14; cp. M-M s.v.) Hb 11:1 (cp. 2 above for commercial use of ὕπ.).—ASchlatter, Der Glaube im NT⁴ 1927, 614ff; MMathis, The Pauline πίστισ-ὑπόστασις acc. to Hb 11:1, diss. Cath. Univ. of Amer., Washington, D.C. 1920, also Biblica 3, 1922, 79–87; RWitt, Hypostasis: ‘Amicitiae Corolla’ (RHarris Festschr.) ’33, 319–43; MSchumpp, D. Glaubensbegriff des Hb: Divus Thomas 11, ’34, 397–410; FErdin, D. Wort Hypostasis, diss. Freiburg ’39; CArpe, Philologus 94, ’41, 65–78; HDörrie, Ὑπόστασις, Wort-u. Bedeutungsgeschichte: NAWG 1955, no. 3, ZNW 46, ’55, 196–202; HKöster, TW VIII 571–88 (Köster prefers plan, project [Vorhaben] for the passages in 2 Cor, and reality [Wirklichkeit] for all 3 occurrences in Hb, contrasting the reality of God with the transitory character of the visible world). S. also the lit. s.v. πίστις 2a.—DELG s.v. ἵστημι. M-M. EDNT. TW. Spicq. Sv.

πόλις, εως, ἡ (Hom.+. Gener. a population center in contrast to a relatively uninhabited or rural area. In the Gr-Rom. world the term gener. implied strong political associations, esp. in the sense ‘city-state’).

① population center of varying size, city, town, lit. Mt 5:14; Lk 10:8, 10. Pl. Mt 11:20; Lk 5:12; 19:17, 19. ἡ πόλις the city or the town designated in the context Mt 8:33; 21:17f; 26:18; Mk 11:19; 14:13, 16; Lk 4:29a; 7:12ab; J 4:8, 28, 30; Ac 8:9; 14:4; Rv 11:13; B 16:5; AcPl Ha 4, 18; 5, 17. Likew. αἱ πόλεις Ac 16:4. ἡ πόλις the city can also be the capital city, the main city (Mayser II/2 p. 28; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 125) Ac 8:5; cp. Mk 5:14 (s. vs. 1); Lk 8:27 (s. vs. 26). ἡ πόλις ἐκείνη Mt 10:14f; Lk 9:5; 10:12; 18:3; J 4:39; Ac 8:8; Hs 9, 12, 5b. ἡ πόλ. αὕτη Mt 10:23a; Ac 4:27; 18:10; 22:3; Hs 1:3. ἔν τινι πόλει in a certain city Lk 18:2; cp. Hs 9, 12, 5a. εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν Js 4:13 (s. ὅδε 2). πᾶσα πόλις Lk 10:1. αἱ πόλεις πᾶσαι Mt 9:35; Ac 8:40; cp. Mk 6:33.—πόλις (πόλεις) beside κώμη (κῶμαι) Mt 9:35; 10:11; Lk 8:1; 13:22. W. κῶμαι and ἀγροί Mk 6:56. ἡ πόλις καὶ οἱ ἀγροί 5:14; Lk 8:34. W. τόπος 10:1. In contrast to the open plain or the desert, where no cities are found Mt 14:13; Mk 1:45; 2 Cor 11:26; to the interior of a building Ac 12:10.—Used w. the gen.: to denote the region in which it is located πόλ. τῆς Γαλιλαίας Lk 1:26; 4:31. πόλ. Ἰούδα (Ἰούδας 1c) 1:39. Cp. J 4:5; Ac 14:6; 21:39; to denote the inhabitants (Diod S 34 and 35 Fgm. 23 ἡ τῶν Γαλατῶν πόλις; Jos., Ant. 1, 200) ἡ πόλ. Δαμασκηνῶν 2 Cor 11:32. π. Σαμαριτῶν Mt 10:5; Lk 9:52 v.l. Cp. 23:51; Ac 19:35; EpilMosq 4; AcPl Ox 6, 20 (=Aa I 242, 1). αἱ πόλεις τοῦ Ἰσραήλ the cities in which the people of Israel live Mt 10:23b (Ἰσραήλ 2).—Rv 16:19b. ἡ πόλ. αὐτῶν Mt 22:7; Lk 4:29b.—2:39. Also w. the gen. sg. πόλ. Δαυίδ city of David 2:4b, 11; ἡ ἑαυτοῦ πολ. the person’s own town (=ancestral locale; but 2:39 Nazareth = their place of residence) 2:3.—J 1:44. Also ἡ ἰδία πόλ. (s. ἴδιος 1b) Mt 9:1; Lk 2:3 v.l.; Hs 1:2b (in imagery, s. 2 below). Pl. 1 Cl 55:1. The πόλεις ἴδιαι of the Christians Dg 5:2 are those inhabited by them alone; they are contrasted w. πόλεις Ἑλληνίδες Greek cities (cp. SIG 761, 15 [48/47 B.C.]; 909, 2), π. βάρβαροι Dg 5:4.—π. μεγάλαι great cities 1 Cl 6:4; AcPl Ha 2, 25f. In Rv ἡ πόλ. ἡ. μεγάλη (Tat. 19, 1; 29, 1 Rome) is almost always ‘Babylon’ (s. Βαβυλών) 16:19a; 17:18; 18:16, 18f, 21; ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη, Βαβυλὼν ἡ πόλις ἡ ἰσχυρά 18:10. On the other hand ἡ πόλ. ἡ μεγάλη 11:8 is clearly Jerusalem (as SibOr 5, 154; 226). Elsewh. Jerus. is called ἡ πόλ. ἡ ἠγαπημένη 20:9 (cp. ApcSed 8:3 πρῶτον ἠγάπησας … εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ); ἡ ἁγία πόλ. Mt 4:5; 27:53; Rv 11:2 (ἅγιος 1aα); πόλ. τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως the city of the Great King Mt 5:35 (βασιλεύς 2b). εἰς πόλιν ἄρχουσαν ὀπύσεως in the city that sponsors fornication ApcPt Rainer 4, 1 (Ja. p. 278; s. also ὄπυσις).—The name of the town or city that goes w. πόλις stands either in the epexegetic gen. (Aeschyl. et al.; also Demetr.: 722 Fgm. 1, 8 Jac. πόλιν Σικίμων) πόλεις Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόρρας 2 Pt 2:6 or in the case in which πόλις itself is found, ἐν πόλει Ἰόππῃ Ac 11:5; πόλις Λασαία 27:8. From the construction πόλεως Θυατίρων Ac 16:14 no determination of the nom. of Θυ-can be made: either πόλις Θυατίρων or πόλις Θυάτιρα (B-D-R §167, 3). W. indecl. place names Lk 2:4a, 39. πόλις λεγομένη or καλουμένη w. the name following Mt 2:23; Lk 7:11; 9:10. Cp. J 11:54.—ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν (Aesop, Fab. 228 P./421 H./354 Ch./H-H. 256 μεταβαίνουσιν ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν) Mt 23:34. κατὰ τὴν πόλιν anywhere in the city Ac 24:12. Cp. Lk 8:39 (κατά B1a). κατὰ πόλιν from city to city IRo 9:3; pl. Lk 13:22; in every city (Appian, Bell. Civ. 1. 39 §177) Ac 15:21, 36 (κατὰ πόλιν πᾶσαν); 20:23; Tit 1:5 (Diod S 5, 78, 2 Crete has, indeed, ‘not a few’ cities). Cp. Lk 8:1, 4 (κατά B1d). αἱ ἔξω πόλεις Ac 26:11 (ἔξω 1aβ). αἱ πέριξ πόλεις 5:16 (s. πέριξ). αἱ περὶ αὐτὰς (i.e. Sodom and Gomorrah) πόλεις Jd 7. πρὸ τ. πόλεως (Jos., Bell. 1, 234, Ant. 10, 44) Ac 14:13.

② the (heavenly) city = the New Jerusalem (Bousset, Rel.³ 283ff; RKnopf, GHeinrici Festschr. 14, 213–19; McQueen, Exp. 9th ser., 2, 1924, 220–26; FDijkema, NThT 15, 1926, 25–43) Hb 11:10, 16 (cp. TestJob 18:8; TestAbr A 2 p. 78, 30 [Stone p. 4] ἀπὸ τῆς μεγάλης πόλεως ἔρχομαι [of Michael]). πόλ. θεοῦ ζῶντος 12:22 (SibOr 5, 250 θεοῦ π. of Jerus.). ἡ μέλλουσα (opp. οὐ … μένουσα πόλις) 13:14. Esp. in Rv: ἡ πόλις ἡ ἁγία Ἰερουσαλὴμ (καινή) 21:2, 10 (CBouma, GereformTT 36, ’36, 91–98). Further vss. 14–16, 18f, 21, 23; 22:14, 19; also 3:12. (Cp. Lucian’s description of the wonder-city in Ver. Hist. 2, 11f: ἡ πόλις πᾶσα χρυσῆ, τὸ τεῖχος σμαράγδινον. πύλαι … ἑπτά, πᾶσαι μονόξυλοι κινναμώμιναι … γῆ ἐλεφαντίνη … ναοὶ βηρύλλου λίθου … βωμοὶ … ἀμεθύστινοι … ποταμὸς μύρου τοῦ καλλίστου … οἶκοι ὑάλινοι … οὐδὲ νὺξ οὐδὲ ἡμέρα.) On the topic s. JMorwood, Aeneas, Augustus, and the Theme of the City: Greece and Rome new ser. 38, ’91, 212–23.—Hs 1:1, 2.

③ inhabitants of a city, city abstr. for concrete (X., Cyr. 1, 4, 25; Herodian 3, 2, 7; Jos., Ant. 5, 357) Lk 4:43; Ac 14:21; 16:20 (cp. Jos., Bell. 7, 41; DWhitehead, MusHelv 53/1, ’96, 1–11 [on identification of citizens and place cp. Thu. 2, 2, 1; X., Hell. 2, 2, 9]). πᾶσα ἡ πόλις (Diod S 18, 70, 2; Appian, Numid. 1) Mt 8:34; 21:10 (w. λέγουσα foll.); Ac 13:44; ὅλη ἡ π. (Diod S 10, 3, 2) Mk 1:33; Ac 21:30. πόλις μερισθεῖσα καθʼ ἑαυτῆς Mt 12:25. ἐθριαμβεύετο ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως (Paul) was derided by the city AcPl Ha 4, 13 (s. θριαμβεύω 5). HConn, Lucan Perspective and the City: Missiology 13, ’85, 409–28 (Lk-Ac contains half of the 160+ occurrences of π. in the NT).—B. 1308. Schmidt, Syn. II 495–507. DELG. M-M. EDNT. TW.