בִּטָּחוֹן

From the study of 2 Kings 18:19

Range of meaning

The verb bataḥ means “to rely on, lean one's weight on, feel secure because of.” It has an object or ground (trust in someone or something), and it also describes the resulting state of security (“dwell securely,” lavetaḥ). The noun bittaḥon is rare (here, Isaiah 36:4, and Ecclesiastes 9:4 “there is hope/assurance”). It means the ground of one's security, what one counts on.

Against the English

KJV and WEB keep the doubling (“confidence…wherein thou trustest”). YLT keeps the root itself (“confidence in which thou hast confided”). BSB and several modern versions turn it into “the basis of this confidence,” which is clear but drops the repetition and leans toward a psychological sense of “confidence.”

How it drifted

Modern English “confidence” most often means inner self-assurance (“she's very confident”). In the 1600s, and in Hebrew, the word points outward: what you are relying on. The question is not “why do you feel so sure?” but “what are you leaning on?”

Used elsewhere in the period

The root is the key word of the Hezekiah narrative. The narrator introduces Hezekiah in 18:5: “He trusted (bataḥ) in YHWH, the God of Israel; there was none like him.” The envoy's speech then uses the root again and again (18:19, 20, 21 twice, 22, 24, 30) and in 19:10. The same contrast between trusting Egypt or chariots and trusting YHWH runs through Isaiah (30:12, 15; 31:1) and the Psalms (20:7). The Septuagint translates it with pepoithēsis/peithō (“persuasion, reliance”).

From the study of Isaiah 36:4

Range of meaning

'Trust, confidence, security', and especially the ground of security, meaning the thing in which you feel safe. It appears only three times in the Hebrew Bible: here, in the parallel 2 Kgs 18:19, and in Eccl 9:4 ('whoever is joined with all the living has hope/something to rely on').

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'What confidence is this…'. BSB: 'What is the basis of this confidence…'. ESV: 'On what do you rest this trust'. BSB and ESV bring out the idea of a ground or support better than a bare 'confidence'.

How it drifted

In modern English 'confidence' mostly means self-assurance, an inner feeling or personality trait. The Hebrew noun points outward, to what you are relying on.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lexicons (HALOT, BDB) give 'trust, confidence' and note that it occurs only in late or literary Hebrew. Related nouns from the same root, beṭaḥ ('security, safely') and biṭḥah ('trust', Isa 30:15), express safety resting on something. In later Hebrew biṭṭaḥon became the standard word for trust in God.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 9:4

Range of meaning

A noun from the root b-ṭ-ḥ, 'to rely on, feel secure'. It means confidence, something one can lean on, a ground for security. It is rare: here and in 2 Kings 18:19 // Isaiah 36:4, where the Assyrian official taunts Hezekiah: 'What is this confidence (biṭṭaḥon) of yours?' (HALOT, BDB).

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB have 'hope', ESV and NASB 'hope', YLT 'confidence'. 'Hope' is not wrong, since what one can count on looks to the future. But in English, and especially in church English, 'hope' suggests a confident expectation of good, or even life after death. Biṭṭaḥon means something more grounded and more modest: there is still something to rely on.

How it drifted

Christian use of 'hope' (from Greek elpis in the New Testament) gave the English word a sense of future salvation. Readers bring that sense to this verse, which is only talking about life before death.

Used elsewhere in the period

Besides 2 Kings 18:19 // Isaiah 36:4, the word appears in later Hebrew (Mishnaic and rabbinic) for trust or security. The Septuagint here has elpis ('hope'), and the KJV-type rendering follows that tradition. Jerome's Vulgate has fiducia ('confidence').