Faith in Jesus 95 believes in someone else’s words (e.g., Gen 45,26; exod 4,1.5; 1 Kgs 10,7; Jer 12,6; 40,14), or trusting that a person is reliable (e.g., Judg 11,20; 1 sam 27,12). in a religious sense, the object of faith is God (Gen 15,6; isa 43,10; Jon 3,5; Dan 6,24), an idea that is more com- monly expressed in the context of censuring those who lack such faith (num 14,11; 20,12; Deut 1,32; 9,23; 2 Kgs 17,14; ps 78,22). alfred Jepsen observes: “[i]t is that of absolute trust in God and his word, the like of which one cannot manifest toward another man, a trust on which the existence of man somehow depends” 30. When faith is used in this absolute sense, it entails trusting in God for salvation, especial- ly in the face of danger or adversity (ps 78,22; Job 9,16) 31. the story of Jehoshaphat may serve as an illustrative example. Faced with the threat of invasion by the moabites and ammonites, Jehoshaphat calls the people to rely on God for their safety: “Believe in the lord your God and you will be established; believe his prophets” (2 chr 20,20). this example also shows that faith in God goes hand-in-hand with faith in his messengers, such as moses (exod 14,31; 19,9) and the prophets (2 chr 20,20). however, the faith that is to be placed in the prophets must be distinguished from the faith that is to be placed in God. to believe in the prophets means to believe in their message, and to believe in them is therefore ultimately to believe in God. this rela- tionship becomes evident when God provides a demonstration that le- gitimizes moses, so that the people can believe him (exod 19,9) 32. “to believe” is synonymous with “to trust” (xjb), a term that also has both a secular (e.g., Judg 9,26; prov 31,11; mic 7,5) and a reli- gious use (e.g., 2 Kgs 18,5; ps 4,6; prov 16,20; isa 26,4; Jer 17,7). in its religious use, trust in God stands in contrast to trust in human beings (2 Kgs 18,20.21.24; pss 118,8.9; 146,3; isa 36,4.5.6.9; Jer 17,5; 46,25), in military strength (Deut 28,52; isa 31,1; Jer 48,7; hos 10,13), in one’s wealth (pss 49,7; 52,9; prov 11,28; Jer 49,4), in one’s own wits (prov 28,26), and in idols (pss 115,8; 135,18; isa 42,17). to trust in such things is to abandon trust in God, who is the only one in whom one can ultimately trust 33. 30 a. Jepsen, “!ma”, TDOT i, 309; similarly G. eBelinG, “Jesus and Faith”, Word and Faith [G. eBelinG; london 1963] 209-210. 31 h. WilDBeRGeR, “!ma”, TLOT 144-145. 32 Jepsen, “!ma”, i, 303. 33 pierre Benoit makes a similar point regarding faith in the synoptic Gospels (“Faith in the synoptic Gospels”, Jesus and the Gospel [trans. B. WeatheRheaD; new York 1973] i, 73).