Courage
COURAGE
Is that quality of the mind that enables men to encounter difficulties and dangers. Natural courage is that which arises chiefly from constitution; moral or spiritual is that which is produced from principle, or a sense of duty. Courage and Fortitude are often used as synonymous, but they may be distinguished thus: fortitude is firmness of mind that supports pain; courage is active fortitude, that meets dangers, and attempts to repel them.
See FORTITUDE. Courage, says Addison, that grows from constitution, very often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; and when it is only a kind of instinct in the soul, it breaks out on all occasions, without judgment or discretion; but that courage which arises from a sense of duty, and from a fear of offending Him that made us, always acts in an uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
courage
One of the passions of the appetite, irascible, as it is called, which not only desires but strives for its object and endures trial of strength to attain it; it is also the cardinal virtue of fortitude.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Courage
is that quality of the mind that enables men to encounter difficulties and dangers. Natural courage is that which arises chiefly from constitution; moral or spiritual is that which is produced from principle, or a sense of duty. Courage and fortitude are often used as synonymous, but they may be distinguished thus: fortitude is firmness of mind that supports pain; courage is active fortitude, that meets dangers, and attempts to repel them. SEE FORTITUDE. Courage, says Addison, that grows from constitution, very often forsakes a mall when he has occasion for it; and when it is only a kind of instinct in the soul, it breaks out on all occasions, without judgment or discretion; but that courage which arises from a sense of duty, and from a fear of offending Him that made us, always acts in a uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
COURAGE
One characteristic of the person who has a strong faith in God is courage in the midst of danger. There are, however, different kinds of dangers and different kinds of courage.
Courage may be obvious where a person is brave or heroic in circumstances of physical danger on every side, such as in war or natural disasters (1Sa 14:6-15; 2Sa 23:13-19; Act 27:24-26; 2Co 12:25-26). It is obvious also in cases where, by speaking or acting in a certain way, a person knowingly faces consequences where physical suffering is a clear possibility (Num 13:30-32; Dan 3:16-18; Mar 6:17-18; Joh 2:13-17; Act 4:13; Act 5:27-30). But greater courage may be necessary in cases where there is no immediate physical danger, but other pressures make it difficult to stand for what is right against a majority who want to do wrong (Pro 28:1; Luk 14:1-6; Joh 7:50-52; cf. Luk 22:54-62; Gal 2:11-14; see FEAR).
The courage of believers comes through their faith in God (Deu 3:22; 1Sa 17:45-46; Psa 56:3-4; 1Co 16:13) and is maintained through prayer (Psa 27:14; Act 4:29; Eph 6:18-19). But it still involves effort, since it requires people to set out deliberately to do what they know will be dangerous (Mar 15:43). Such courage is an example to others, urging them to greater confidence and increased boldness (Php 1:12-14). Like the biblical expression Be of good courage, it is a way of giving encouragement to those who need it (Jos 1:6-7; Jos 1:9; 2Sa 10:12; see ENCOURAGEMENT).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Courage
COURAGE., the Gr. equivalent for Heb. and is not found in the Gospels, and, except in 1Co 16:13, not in the NT. The valour of the battlefield, so often commended in the OT, nowhere tomes into view. Christs kingdom is not of this world. It does not call for the prowess of the warrior. But there was no taint of cowardice in Jesus, and to be His disciple did not involve any slackening of moral fibre, or impairing of true manliness. He foresaw a situation bristling with menace to His followers, and courage was therefore a prime desideratum in His disciples, as it was an outstanding quality of His own nature. With unsparing hand He lifted the curtain of the future, and disclosed to all who would follow Him the hostility and peril which discipleship must involve (Mat 5:11; Mat 10:16-39; Mat 24:9 ff., Mar 13:9-13, Luk 21:12 ff., Joh 15:20; Joh 16:2). He who would follow Christ must not be faint-hearted or double-minded (Luk 9:62), he must be prepared to surrender many interests that were formerly dear to him, brace himself even to the renunciation of the closest earthly relationships, and, recognizing that the disciple is not greater than his Master, be ready to tread the same rough path, and bear the same cross. The demand for courage is all the more severe that it is not the courage of resisting, but of enduring wrong. The disciple of Jesus is called to meekness, to the patient endurance of suffering wrongfully inflicted, to the heroism of a calm and trustful heart. But the meek temper is not the sign of weakness. It is I restrained strength. It is the high courage of endurance, in the spirit and for the sake of Christ. It is of this sustained heroism that Jesus says, In your patience (, patient endurance) ye shall win your souls (Luk 21:19), He that endureth to the end shall be saved (Mat 10:22; Mat 24:13); and those who, in spite of pain and persecution, confess Him before men, He declares He will confess before His Father and the holy angels (Luk 12:8, cf. Mat 10:32).
Of this high moral courage Jesus Himself is the supreme example. The emphasis which is so rightly laid upon His gentleness and compassion tends to obscure His strength and virility. But the remark in Act 4:13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus, is the record of the dominant impression made by Jesus, upon His enemies. The depth and warmth of His sympathy had not deluded them into the thought that He was deficient in courage. They bore witness to His fearlessness and fidelity to truth (Joh 7:26, Mat 22:16). His fearless exposure of hypocrisy (Mat 15:1-14, Mar 7:1-13, Mat 23:1-39 et al.), His disregard of, or opposition to, religious practices which had been invested with the sanctity of Divine law, and the performance of which was the hall-mark of righteousness (Mat 9:14; Mat 12:1; Mat 12:9, Mar 2:18-22; Mar 7:1, Luk 3:33; Luk 6:1-6), His defiance of social and religious caste in receiving sinners and eating with them were the moral utterances of a courageous righteousness and love (Mat 9:10, Luk 15:2). In circumstances of danger He is calm and self-possessed (Mat 8:26). He does not rush into danger, and more than once retires from scenes where His life is threatened (Luk 4:30, Joh 8:59; Joh 10:39). At those times He felt that His hour had not come. His courage was inspired by faith in God (Mat 8:26), and was controlled by obedience to the Divine will. When He knows that His hour has come, He presses to the cross with an eagerness which made those who saw Him afraid (Mar 10:32). But it is only as we enter into the consciousness of Jesus and see Him in His perfect purity of soul taking upon Him the sin of the world, that we feel the wonder of His heroism. We do not marvel that He shrank from the cup His Father gave Him to drink. We are amazed equally at the love and at the courage which bore Him through until He said, It is finished (Joh 19:30). See, further, Fear.
Literature.Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , art. Courage; Aristotle, Ethics, iii. 69; Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 85 ff.
Joseph Muir.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Courage
COURAGE.In Dan 11:25 courage is the rendering of the Heb. word for heart; in Amo 2:16 courageous is literally stoutest of heart. Elsewhere in the OT the root-ideas of the words generally used are to be firm (mts) and to be strong (chzaq). Courage, being a quality of mind, has manifold manifestations, as, e.g. in the sufferers endurance, the reformers boldness, and the saints wrestling (Eph 6:12), as well as in the soldiers valour. Professor Sorley says that moral courage is the control of the fear of social evils (disgrace or ridicule from those who determine the opinion of the community), whereas the ordinary application of courage is to the fear of physical evils (Baldwin, Dict. of Philosophy, i. 239).
In the NT the Gr. noun for courage is found only in Act 28:15. The corresponding verb is rendered uniformly in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] be of good cheer; but a later form of the same verb occurs six times, and is tr. [Note: translate or translation.] in RV [Note: Revised Version.] be of good courage. The comparative rarity of the word courage implies no disparagement of the virtue, for exhortations to be strong, and to fear not are frequent. T. H. Green, comparing Greek and Christian ideals of virtue (Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 277 ff.), shows how greatly the conception of moral heroism has been widened. Courage or fortitude is defined as the will to endure even unto death for a worthy end; therefore the Christian may be courageous in obscure labours of love as well as in the splendid heroism at which a world might wonder.
J. G. Tasker.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Courage
kuraj: Hebrew hazak, to show oneself strong (Num 13:20; 2Sa 10:12; 1Ch 19:13; 2Ch 15:8; Ezr 10:4; Psa 27:14; Psa 31:24; Isa 41:6); ruah, spirit, animus (Jos 2:11 the King James Version); ‘amac, to be alert (physically and mentally), to be agile, quick, energetic (Deu 31:6, Deu 31:7, Deu 31:23; Jos 1:6, Jos 1:9, Jos 1:18; Jos 10:25; 1Ch 22:13; 1Ch 28:20); lebhabh, the heart, and figuratively, person, spirit (Dan 11:25); Greek tharsos, cheer (Act 28:15). A virtue highly esteemed among all nations, one of the four chief natural (cardinal) virtues (The Wisdom of Solomon 8:7), while cowardice ranks as one of the mortal sins (Ecclesiasticus 2:12, 13; Rev 21:8).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Courage
Enjoined upon:
– Joshua
Deu 31:7-8; Deu 31:22-23; Jos 1:1-9
– The Israelites
Lev 26:6-8; 2Ch 32:7-8
– Solomon
1Ch 22:13; 1Ch 28:20
– Asa
2Ch 15:1-7
– The judicial and executive officers by Jehoshaphat
2Ch 19:11
Scriptures relating to
Pro 28:1; Eze 2:6; Eze 3:9; 1Co 16:13; Phi 1:27-28; 2Ti 1:7
Instances of the courage of conviction:
– Abraham, in leaving his fatherland
Gen 12:1-9
– Abraham, in offering Isaac
Gen 22:1-14
– Gideon, in destroying the altar of Baal
Jdg 6:25-31
– Ezra, in undertaking the perilous journey from Babylon to Palestine without a guard
Ezr 8:22-23
– The Jews, in returning answer to Tatnai
Ezr 5:11
– The three Hebrews, who refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar
Dan 3:16-18
– Daniel, in persisting in prayer, regardless of the edict against praying
Dan 6:10
– Peter and John, in refusing to obey men, rather than God
Act 4:19; Act 5:29 Minister, A Sacred Teacher, Courage of; Reproof
Instances of personal bravery:
– Joshua and Caleb, in advising that Israel go at once and possess the land
Num 13:30; Num 14:6-12
– Othniel, in smiting Kirjath-Sepher
Jos 15:16-17
– Gideon, in attacking the confederate armies of the Midianites and Amalekites with three hundred men
Jud 7:7-23
– Deborah, in leading Israel’s armies
Jud 1:4
– Jael, in slaying Sisera
Jdg 4:18-22
– Agag, in the indifference with which he faced death
1Sa 15:32-33
– David, in slaying Goliath
1Sa 17:32-50
– David, in entering into the tent of Saul, and carrying away Saul’s spear
1Sa 26:7-12
– David’s captains
2Sa 23
– Joab, in reproving King David
2Sa 19:5-7
– Nehemiah, in refusing to take refuge in the temple
Neh 6:10-13
– Esther, in going to the king to save her people
Est 4:8; Est 4:16; Est 5
– Joseph of Arimathaea, in caring for the body of Jesus
Mar 15:43
– Thomas, in being willing to die with Jesus
Joh 11:16
– Peter and other disciples
Act 3:12-26; Act 4:9-13; Act 4:19-20; Act 4:31
– The apostles, under persecution
Act 5:21; Act 5:29-32
– Paul, in going to Jerusalem, despite his impressions that bonds and imprisonments awaited him
Act 20:22-24; Act 24:14; Act 24:25 Boldness, of the Righteous; Minister; Reproof, Faithfulness in; Cowardice
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Courage
In ethical discussions courage is usually regarded as a virtue (it is one of the traditional cardinal virtues), and either enjoined as a duty or praised as an excellence. When thus regarded as a virtue, courage is generally said to be a disposition, not merely instinctive, to exhibit a certain firmness, stopping short of rashness, in the face of danger, threat, temptation, pain, public opinion, etc. (thus including “moral” as well as physical courage, and passive courage or “fortitude” as well as active courage); which disposition, if it is to be a virtue, must, it is thought, be exhibited in the course of what the bearer knows or believes to be his duty, or at least in the support of some cause to which one is seriously committed or which is generally regarded as worthwhile. — W.K.F.
Fuente: The Dictionary of Philosophy
Courage
akin to tharseo, “to be of good cheer,” is found in Act 28:15.
is translated by some form of the verb “to be of good courage,” in the RV in five of the six places where it is used: 2Co 5:6, “being of good courage” (AV, “we are … confident”); 2Co 5:8, “we are of good courage” (AV, “we are confident”); 2Co 7:16, “I am of good courage” (AV, “I have confidence”); 2Co 10:1, “I am of good courage” (AV, “I am bold”); 2Co 10:2, “show courage” (AV, “be bold”); Heb 13:6, “with good courage,” lit., “being of good courage” (AV, “boldly”). See BOLD, CONFIDENCE.
Note: Tharreo is a later form of tharseo. Cp. tolmao, “to be bold.”