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Bible Dictionaries
Doubt
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or DOUBT
In Lat. dubitare, from duo ‘two’ and bito ‘go’; Germ. Zweifeln, Zweifel; from zwei, ‘two’; Mid. English douten, ‘to doubt,’ had the meaning of to fear (‘I doubt some foul play’ [Shakspeare], ‘nor slack her threatful hand for danger’s doubt’ [Spenser]), and this meaning, perhaps, survives in such expressions as ‘I doubt he will not come.’ But, as commonly used, to doubt means to be of two minds, to waver, to hesitate. It suggests the idea of perplexity; of being at a loss, in a state of suspense. The questioning attitude is implied. The word has, in short, a variety of meanings.
References in the Gospels.—The word ‘doubt’ occurs several times in Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885. It is used, however, to translate several Greek terms; nor are these invariably rendered by the word in question. A study of the respective passages reveals differing circumstances and conditions, different types of character, a variety of subjects exercising the mind. Doubt in several phases is in illustration.
(a) The doubt of perplexity. Thus in Mark 6:20, Luke 24:4, John 13:22—where the verb ἀπορέω occurs (the strengthened compound διαπορέω is found in Luke 9:7). There is no question in these passages of the apprehension of religious truth; the idea suggested is rather that of being taken aback, disturbed, distracted, by the unintelligible and the unexpected. Herod is ‘much perplexed’ (Mark 6:20 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885, cf. Luke 9:7) as he listens to the Baptist, as reports reach him concerning Jesus; he is puzzled, at a loss for explanations. And thus in John 13:22 ‘the disciples looked one upon the other, doubting of whom he spake’; the unexpected statement has bewildered them. Similar feelings may be recognized in the case of the women at the sepulchre (Luke 24:4); they are ‘much perplexed’; utterly unable, that is, to account for the empty tomb. A like meaning may, perhaps, be read into the ‘how long dost thou hold us in suspense?’ of John 10:24 (τὴν ψυχὴν ἠμῶν αἴρεις): the Jews being understood as professing an uncertainty which could be at once dispelled by some plain declaration on the part of Jesus.
(b) Wavering faith. A second group of passages, where the verbs μετεωρίζεσθαι and διστάζειν occur, has now to be considered. Again the word ‘doubt’ is found in Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885, but with reference to a mental condition other than that which has been noted in the preceding paragraph. A religious significance is now observable; the existence of faith is implied, but it is an imperfect, a wavering faith. Because of distractions of one kind or another, confidence is impaired. The doubters referred to are sometimes the ὀλιγόπιστοι; their faith not only wavering but small. Thus in Luke 12:29 ‘neither be ye of doubtful mind’ (καὶ μὴ μετεωρίζεσθε), the context supplies the explanation: anxiety about earthly things is incompatible with absolute trust in the Fatherhood of God. So also in Matthew 14:31 ‘wherefore didst thou doubt?’ (εἰς τί ἐδίστασας;), where St. Peter’s confidence has given way before sudden panic. And thus, perhaps, in Matthew 28:17 ‘but some doubted’ (ἐδίστασαν). What, precisely, the condition of these genuine disciples was is difficult to determine, but it was one which left them unreceptive while others were convinced of a manifestation of the living Lord. With this passage may be compared Luke 24:38; the διαλογισμοί ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘reasonings’) being significant of fearsome hesitation on the part of those who could not at once realize that the mysterious visitor was none other than Jesus Himself.
(c) The critical attitude. This is implied by the verb διακρίνεσθαι; a term which, as used in NT, denotes the absence of faith, the paralysis of faith. It occurs but twice in the Gospels (Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23); where the power of faith is, by implication, contrasted with the impotency which is involved in the want of faith. Thought seems to be directed to the inevitable consequence of regarding Divine things as a subject for curious investigation rather than as matter of personal concern. On the one hand, there is the emphatic declaration which may be expressed in the words of Bacon, ‘Man, when he resteth and assureth himself upon divine Protection and Favour, gathereth a Force and Faith [in its sense of fidelity] which Human Nature, in its selfe, could not obtaine.’ On the other hand, there is the implied warning that, as the vision of God darkens and vanishes, man’s capacity for useful action becomes weaker, until at length it dies away.
[For discussion of ‘the doubt of Thomas’ See Thomas and Unbelief].
Literature.—Lyttelton, Modern Poets of Faith, Doubt, and Paganism; Illingworth, Christian Character; James, The Will to Believe; Carlyle, Sartor Resartus; Browning, Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day; Tennyson, In Memoriam (edited, with commentary, by A. W. Robinson); Jowett, Sermons.
H. L. Jackson.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Doubt'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/d/doubt.html. 1906-1918.
