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Tribulation

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G2347

θλῖψις

thlipsis — pressure

θλίψις (LTr., θλῖψις), -εως, ἡ (θλίβω), [in LXX for צָרָה, etc. ;] pressure (Arist.). In LXX and NT metaphorically, tribulation, affliction, distress: Mat.24:9, 21 24:29, Mrk.13:19, 24, Jhn.16:21, Act.7:11 11:19, Rom.12:12, 2Co.1:4 1:8 4:17 6:4 7:4 8:2 8:13, Php.4:14, 2Th.1:6, Jas.1:27, Rev.1:9 2:9, 22 7:14; with ἀνάγκη (which see), 1Th.3:7; στενοχωρία (which from the order of the words would appear to be the stronger term), Rom.2:9 8:35; διωγμός, Mat.13:21, Mrk.4:17, 2Th.1:4; θ. ἔχω, Jhn.16:33, 1Co.7:23, Rev.2:10; ἔρχεσθαι ἐπί, Act.7:11; ἐν θλίψει 1Th.1:6; pl., Act.7:10 14:22 20:28, Rom.5:3, Eph.3:13, 1Th.3:3, Heb.10:33; τ. Χριστοῦ, Col.1:24; θ. τῆς καρδίας, 2Co.2:4; θ. ἐγείρειν, Php.1:17.† SYN.: ἀνάγκη, διωγμός, στενοχωρία (see supr., and cf. Tr., Syn, iv; Lft., Notes, 45) (AS)

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HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H1280

בְּרִיחַ

be.ri.ach — bar

1) bar 1a) of wood 1b) of city gates 2) of tribulation, a fortress, of the earth as a prison (fig.)

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GREEK · G2346

θλίβω

thlibō — to press on

θλίβω [in LXX chiefly (ὁ θλίβων, ) for צוּר ;] to press: with accusative of person(s), Mrk.3:9; ὁδὸς τεθλιμμένη, a narrow (compressed) way, Mat.7:14. Metaphorical (as frequently in LXX), to oppress, afflict, distress: with accusative of person(s), 2Th.1:6; pass. (Vg., tribulor, tribulation em patior), 2Co.1:6 4:8 7:5, 1Th.3:4, 2Th.1:7, 1Ti.5:10, Heb.11:37 (cf. ἀπο-, συν-θλίβω).† (AS)

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Historical dictionary entry

Trouble or affiction of any kind (Deut. 4:30; Matt. 13:21; 2 Cor. 7:4). In Rom. 2:9 “tribulation and anguish” are the penal sufferings that shall overtake the wicked. In Matt. 24:21, 29, the word denotes the calamities that were to attend the destruction of Jerusalem.

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Tribulation in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →