The meaning of Promise in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
prom'-is (most frequently in the Old Testament dabhar, "speaking," "speech," and dabhar, "to speak" also 'amar, "to say," once in Psalms 77:8, 'omer, "speech"; in the New Testament epaggelia, and the verbs epaggellomai, and compounds): Promise holds an important place in the Scriptures and in the development of the religion that culminated in Christ. The Bible is indeed full of "precious and exceeding great promises" (II Peter 1:4), although the word "promise" is not always used in connection with them. Of the more outstanding promises of the Old Testament may be mentioned: (1) the proto-evangelium (Genesis 3:15); (2) the promise to Noah no more to curse the ground, etc. (Genesis 8:21-22; Gen. 9:1-17); (3) most influential, the promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation in whom all families of the earth should be blessed, to give to him and his seed the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:2, Genesis 12:7, etc.), often referred to in the Old Testament (Exodus 12:25; Deuteronomy 1:8, Deuteronomy 1:11; Deuteronomy 6:3; Deuteronomy 9:28, etc.); (4) the promise to David to continue his house on the throne (II Samuel 7:12-13, II Samuel 7:18; I Kings 2:24, etc.); (5) the promise of restoration of Israel, of the Messiah, of the new and everlasting kingdom, of the new covenant and outpouring of the Spirit (Isaiah 2:2-5; Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 55:5; Isaiah 66:13; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Jeremiah 32:37-42; Jeremiah 33:14; Ezekiel 36:22-31; Ezekiel 37:11 f.; Ezekiel 39:25 f., etc.). In the New Testament these promises are founded on, and regarded as having their true fulfillment in, Christ and those who are His (II Corinthians 1:20; Ephesians 3:6). The promise of the Spirit is spoken of by Jesus as "the promise of my Father" (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4), and this was regarded as fulfilled at Pentecost. The promise of a Saviour of the seed of David is regarded as fulfilled in Christ (Acts 13:23, Acts 13:32, Acts 26:6; Romans 1:2; Romans 4:13; Romans 9:4). Paul argues that the promise to Abraham that he should be "heir of the world," made to him before circumcision, is not confined to Israel, but is open to all who are children of Abraham by faith (Romans 4:13-16; compare Galatians 3:16, Galatians 3:19, Galatians 3:29). In like manner the writer to the Hebrews goes back to the original promises, giving them a spiritual and eternal significance (Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 6:17; Hebrews 11:9, etc.). The New Testament promises include manifold blessings and hopes, among them "life," "eternal life" (I Timothy 4:8; I Timothy 6:19; II Timothy 1:1; James 1:12), the "kingdom" (James 2:5), Christ's "coming" (II Peter 3:9, etc.), "new heavens and a new earth" (II Peter 3:13), etc. For "promise" and "promised" in the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently other terms, as "word" (Psalms 105:42), "spake," "spoken" (Deuteronomy 10:9; Joshua 9:21; Joshua 22:4; Joshua 23:5, Joshua 23:15, etc.), "consented" (Luke 22:6), etc. References to the promises occur repeatedly in the Apocrypha (Baruch 2:34; 2 Macc 2:18; The Wisdom of Solomon 12:21; compare 2 Esdras 3:15; 5:29).
W. L. Walker
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