Substance

Substance - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

SUB'STANCE, n. [L. substantia, substo; sub and sto, to stand.]

1. In a general sense, being; something existing by itself; that which really is or exists; equally applicable to matter or spirit. Thus the soul of man is called an immaterial substance, a cogitative substance, a substance endued with thought. We say, a stone is a hard substance, tallow is a soft substance.

2. That which supports accidents.

That which subsists by itself is called substance; that which subsists in and by another, is called a mode or manner of being.

3. The essential part; the main or material part. In this epitome, we have the substance of the whole book.

This edition is the same in substance with the Latin.

4. Something real, not imaginary; something solid, not empty.

Heroic virtue did his actions guide,

And he the substance, not th' appearance chose.

5. Body; corporeal nature or matter.

The qualities of plants are more various than those of animal substances.

6. Goods; estate; means of living. Job's substance was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, _c. Job 1.

We are--exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest.

sub'-stans (rekhush; hupostasis): Lit. that which stands under, is in the Bible used chiefly of material goods and possessions. In the Old Testament it is the translation of numerous Hebrew words, of which rekhush, "that which is gathered together," is one of the earliest and most significant (Ge 12:5; 13:6; 15:14; 1Ch 27:31; Ezr 8:21, etc.). In the New Testament "substance" appears in a few passages as the translation of ousia, "being," "subsistence" (Lu 15:13), huparxis, "goods," "property" (Heb 10:34), huparchonta, "things at hand" (Lu 8:3). Special interest attaches to Heb 11:1, the King James Version "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for," etc., where the word is used in its proper etymological sense as the translation of hupostasis, "that which stands under." the Revised Version (British and American) changes to "assurance," margin "the giving substance to," which last seems best to bring out the idea of faith as that which makes the things hoped for real to the soul. The same Greek word hupostasis is rendered "substance" in Heb 1:3 the Revised Version (British and American), instead of the King James Version "person," with reference to Christ, "the very image (margin "impress") of his substance," i.e. of God's invisible essence or being, the manifestation of God Himself.

W. L. Walker