ταλαιπωρέω
talaipōréō
G5003 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To endure hardship or distress; to experience wretchedness or suffering; to undergo affliction or misery, often conveying a sense of emotional, physical, or existential distress. The core meaning is to be or become wretched through adversity, but it may also extend to the acknowledgment or realization of one's own pitiable condition.
Semantic Range
to endure hardship, to suffer affliction, to feel or realize wretchedness, to be emotionally or existentially distressed, to become miserable, to internalize one's misery
Root / Etymology
From ταλαίπωρος ('wretched, miserable, distressed person'), which is possibly related to τλάω ('to endure, suffer') and πόρος ('passage, journey'), reflecting the sense of enduring a painful path. The verb ταλαιπωρέω is the denominative formation from ταλαίπωρος.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In classical Greek, ταλαιπωρέω appears infrequently but consistently retains the sense of suffering misfortune or hardship. By the Hellenistic and Koine periods, including the New Testament (James 4:9), it expresses both the objective state of being afflicted and a subjective recognition or internalization of one's wretched state, often as a response to moral, social, or spiritual distress. In the Septuagint and NT, the term is rare but retains this core range. Standard English renderings such as 'be afflicted' or 'be wretched' often fail to convey the existential or emotional dimension implied: a sense not only of circumstance but of internal recognition of one’s troubled condition. Compared to related terms such as πενθέω ('to mourn') or θλίβομαι ('to be oppressed, afflicted'), ταλαιπωρέω most strongly emphasizes a personal or internalized suffering, not merely external adversity.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from ταλαίπωρος; to be wretched, i.e. realize one's own misery:--be afflicted.
Root Family
ταλαιπωρ- (talaipōréō) — to endure hardship, to be wretched, to suffer distress
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5003-01 |
ταλαιπωρήσατε | talaiporesate | V AOR ACT IMP 2P PL |
Be miserable | Become wretched | Become wretched | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5003-01 |
James 4:9 | ταλαιπωρήσατε | talaiporesate | V AOR ACT IMP 2P PL |
Be miserable | Become wretched | Become wretched |