Doubt

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DOUBT (from Lat. dubitare, ‘to hold two (opinions),’ ‘hesitate’).—1. In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘doubt’ (vb. and noun) six times renders a Gr. vb. meaning ‘to be at a loss’ or ‘quite at a loss’; in all these instances except Joh_13:22 RV [Note: Revised Version.] substitutes ‘perplexity,’ following the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] rendering of Luk_9:7; Luk_24:4, 2Co_4:8. In this sense ‘doubt’ is now nearly obsolete; as it is in the meaning riddle, knotty question, which it bears in Dan_5:12; Dan_5:16. Not dissimilar is its use in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] of Joh_10:24 (‘make us to doubt’), where RV [Note: Revised Version.] , more literally, reads ‘hold us in suspense.’ Quite archaic also is the use of ‘doubt’ for ‘suspect,’ instanced in Sir_6:13 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ). 2. Elsewhere ‘doubt’ has a religious signification, standing in express or tacit antithesis to ‘faith’ (wh. see). (a) In Mat_21:21, Mar_11:23, Act_10:20; Act_11:12, Rom_14:23, Jam_1:6 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), Jud_1:22 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), it stands for a vb. signifying ‘to be divided in mind (judgment)’—the same Gr. word is rendered ‘staggered’ in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , ‘wavered’ in RV [Note: Revised Version.] , of Rom_4:20; (b) in Mat_14:31; Mat_28:17 ‘to be of two opinions,’ ‘to waver,’ is the force of the original: the vb. above indicates (1) more subjectively, (2) more objectively, a state of qualified faith, of faith mixed with misgiving, something between whole-hearted faith and decided unbelief. Thus wavering, faith is robbed of its power; hence such hesitation, in regard to Christ and the promises and commands of God, is strongly deprecated and reproved. In the above examples the doubt, affecting the mind of a believer, arises from contradictory circumstances or conscientious scruples; unless this be the case in Mat_28:17 (cf. Luk_24:38, noticed below), it has none of the quality of rationalistic doubt or scepticism. (c) Akin to the above is the expression of Luk_12:29, where ‘of doubtful mind’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) is the rendering of an obscure Gr. word that seems to mean being lifted into the air, and so agitated, held in suspense or driven by gusts (cf. Eph_4:14, Jam_1:4-6). (d) Another group of expressions remains: Rom_14:1 ‘doubtful disputations’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ), ‘decisions of doubts’ (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ); 1Ti_2:8 ‘disputing’ (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) or ‘doubting’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) = ‘reasoning’ (Luk_24:38 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ); ‘disputings’ (Php_2:14). In these passages arguing, questioning is intended, and (in Ro.) matter of argument, debatable questions. This usage lies on the border between 1 and 2; for the questions referred to, except in Luk_24:38, did not directly belong to faith, but their agitation disturbed and tended to weaken it.
G. G. Findlay.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

dout: This word, found only a score of times in the Bible, translates nevertheless about half as many different Hebrew and Greek originals with a corresponding variety of meanings.
In Gen_37:33 ?without doubt? is to be taken in the common sense of ?certainly?; in Job_12:2 in the sarcastic sense of ?indeed!? In Dan_5:12, Dan_5:16, it is used as a difficult problem or mystery to be explained, and these are the only cases of its employment in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament it is about equally used to translate διαπορέω, diaporéō, and διακρίνω, diakrı́nō, and their cognates. The first means ?to be without resource,? ?utterly at a loss,? ?nonplussed?; and the second, ?to judge diversely.? For the first, see Joh_13:22; Act_2:12 the King James Version; Act_5:24 the King James Version; Act_10:17 the King James Version; Act_25:20 the King James Version; and Gal_4:20 the King James Version. For the second see Mat_21:21; Mar_11:23; Act_10:20; Rom_14:23. The last-named is deserving of particular attention. ?He that doubteth is condemned (the King James Version ?damned?) if he eat,? means that in a case of uncertainty as to one's Christian liberty, it were better to err on the side of restraint. In Luk_12:29 ?to be of doubtful mind? (μετεωρίζω, meteōrı́zō, literally, ?to suspend?; see Thayer, under the word), means ?to be driven by gusts,? or ?to fluctuate in mid-air.?
Here, as in Mat_14:31, ?doubt? does not indicate a lack of faith, but rather ?a state of qualified faith?: its weakness, but not its absence.
In Joh_10:24 ?doubt? translates αἴρω ψυχήν, aı́rō psuchḗn, which literally means ?to lift up the soul? or ?to keep one in suspense?; so the Revised Version (British and American). See also DISPUTATION.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Doubt
(dubito, to go two ways). "Man knows some things and is ignorant of many things, while he is in doubt as to other things. Doubt is that state of mind in which we hesitate as to two contradictory conclusions, having no preponderance of evidence in favor of either. Philosophical doubt has been distinguished as provisional or definitive. Definitive doubt is skepticism. Provisional or methodical doubt is a voluntary suspending of our judgment for a time, in order to come to a more clear and sure conclusion. This was first given as a rule in philosophical method by Des Cartes, who tells us that he began by doubting everything, discharging his mind of all preconceived ideas, and admitting none as clear and true till he had subjected them to a rigorous examination. Doubt is some degree of belief, along with the consciousness of ignorance, in regard to a proposition. Absolute disbelief implies knowledge: it is the knowledge that such or such a thing is not true. If the mind admits a proposition without any desire for knowledge concerning it, this is credulity; if it is open to receive the proposition, but feels ignorance concerning it, this is doubt. As knowledge increases, doubt diminishes, and belief or disbelief strengthens (Taylor, Elements of Thought)." — Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy, Phila. 1860. SEE DES CARTES; SEE SCEPTICISM.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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