hope against hope
hope against hope (idiom, oxymoron-like expression)
/hoʊp əˈɡɛnst hoʊp/
Meanings
- To keep hoping even when the situation seems hopeless.
- To remain optimistic in the face of despair.
- To wish or desire strongly despite overwhelming odds.
Synonyms: cling to hope; hold on to hope; wish desperately; keep believing; yearn.
Variants
- hope beyond hope
- cling to hope
- hold out hope
Example Sentences
- She waited by the phone, hope against hope that her son would call.
- The villagers stood by the river, hope against hope that the floodwaters would not rise further.
- He revised his notes late into the night, hope against hope that he might pass the exam.
Origin and History
Origins in Scripture
The expression “hope against hope” has its deepest roots in the New Testament. In Romans 4:18, Paul writes of Abraham that he “against hope believed in hope.” This paradoxical construction, first in Greek and later in Latin as “contra spem in spem,” conveys the idea of maintaining belief even when circumstances give no rational reason to expect fulfillment.
From Theology to Idiom
Over time, the biblical formulation was adopted into theological commentary, preaching, and translation. Writers condensed the longer biblical phrasing into the shorter expression “hope against hope.” It came to signify the paradox of hoping in situations where logic, reason, or probability all argue against success.
Earliest Printed English Record
The earliest known printed appearance of the exact phrase “hope against hope” in English occurs in James Montgomery’s poem The World Before the Flood, published in London in 1813. In Canto V, Montgomery writes:
“Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive.”
The author’s dated preface, signed from Sheffield on March 4, 1813, confirms the year of publication and secures this work as the first reliable citation of the idiom in English literature.
Country of First Appearance
As an idiomatic English expression, “hope against hope” first appears in Britain. The Montgomery volume was produced for London publishers, and the wording quickly entered the wider literary culture of nineteenth-century Britain. While the conceptual foundation is Mediterranean and scriptural, the idiom as a fixed English phrase is traceable to early nineteenth-century England.
Later Spread in English Usage
After its first attestation in 1813, “hope against hope” gained wide acceptance in literary and everyday English. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers used it to express desperate optimism, and it has remained a familiar idiom in modern English, carrying the sense of clinging to hope despite the absence of realistic grounds for it.
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