FAITH (Jewish Encyclopedia)

From BibleWiki

In Biblical and rabbinical literature, and hence in the Jewish conception, "faith" denotes not belief in a dogmatic sense (see Saul of Tarsus), but either (a) faithfulness (from the passive form "ne'eman" = "trusted" or "trustworthy," Deut, l.c.; comp. Deut 32:4: "a god of faithfulness" ["emunah"; A. V. "truth"]; Ps 36⁶ [A. V. 5]; Prov 20:6, xxviii. 20 "a man of faithfulness" [A. V. "a faithful man"]; Hos 2:22 [A. V. 20]: "I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness"; Jer 7:28: "faithfulness [A. V. "truth"] is perished"; Ecclus. [Sirach] xlvi 15) or (b) confidence and trust in God, in His word, or in His messenger (Hab 2:4: "The just shall live by his faith"; comp. Gen 15:5 [A. V. 6]: "He [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness"; 2Chr 20:20: "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established"; Isa 7:9: "If ye will not believe [that is, have faith], surely ye shall not be established").

In this sense of perfect trust in God the Rabbis laud and insist on faith as highly meritorious (see the classical passage on "amanah" in Mek., Beshallaḥ, 6 with reference to Ex 14:31); whereas those lacking faith ("meḥusare amanah," Mek., Beshallaḥ, Shirah, 2; comp. ὀλιγοπιτοὶ [= "men of little faith" = (missing hebrew text) ], Mt 6:30), are greatly blamed; the world's decline is brought about by the disappearance of "the men of faith" (Soṭah ix. 12).