Bible Strands
Romans 8:24
For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul, writing to the Roman church, mid-argument about the present groaning between salvation and bodily redemption (v. 23–25).
The words — ἐλπὶς (elpis) appears twice: first dative "in this hope" as the means of salvation, then nominative as a category whose object, once visible, cancels the hope itself. βλεπομένη (blepomenē, "being seen") is a present passive participle that turns the clause into a standing principle, not a one-time observation.
The thread — Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as certainty of things not seen; 2 Corinthians 5:7 and 4:18 repeat the same seen/unseen divide as the axis of Christian living.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to test whether what they call hope is actually just the near-certain arrival of something already in view, which would mean they are not waiting at all.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- 1 Peter 1:21 Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
- Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.
- Romans 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
- Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.