Bible Thesaurus: Affliction

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Thesaurus

Affliction (120 Occurrences)
... grief. 2. (n.) The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress, or
grief. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. AFFLICTION. a-flik ...
/a/affliction.htm - 53k

Misery (38 Occurrences)
... You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. (See
NIV). ... For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. ...
/m/misery.htm - 16k

Scant (4 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 22:27 and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed
him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in ...
/s/scant.htm - 8k

Sparingly (3 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 22:27 Say,'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed
him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace ...
/s/sparingly.htm - 7k

Fare (13 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 22:27 Say,'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed
him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace ...
/f/fare.htm - 15k

Requite (42 Occurrences)
... (WEY). 2 Thessalonians 1:6 A plain token of God's righteous judgement, I say, since
it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now ...
/r/requite.htm - 18k

Eliphaz (14 Occurrences)
... God his strength. (1.) One of Job's "three friends" who visited him in his affliction
(4:1). He was a "Temanite", ie, a native of Teman, in Idumea. ...
/e/eliphaz.htm - 15k

Tribulation (43 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. (n.) That which occasions distress, trouble, or vexation;
severe affliction. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. TRIBULATION. ...
/t/tribulation.htm - 24k

Comforted (56 Occurrences)
... 2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to
comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ...
/c/comforted.htm - 24k

Endure (90 Occurrences)
... 4. (vt) To bear with patience; to suffer without opposition or without sinking under
the pressure or affliction; to bear up under; to put up with; to tolerate. ...
/e/endure.htm - 33k

Bible Concordance

Affliction (120 Occurrences)

Matthew 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
(See NAS)

Mark 4:17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
(KJV WBS NAS)

Mark 5:29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
(WEB NAS)

Mark 5:34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease."
(See NAS)

Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
(KJV WBS)

John 16:33 "I have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction. But keep up your courage: *I* have won the victory over the world."
(WEY)

Acts 7:11 Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV)

Acts 7:34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.'
(WEB KJV ASV WBS YLT)

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword?
(WEY)

Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
(See NIV)

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
(WEB WEY ASV NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 1:6 But if, on the one hand, we are enduring affliction, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if, on the other hand, we are receiving comfort, it is for your comfort which is produced within you through your patient fortitude under the same sufferings as those which we also are enduring.
(WEY)

2 Corinthians 1:8 For we don't desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
(WEB ASV NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 2:4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction.
(WEB WEY ASV DBY NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 8:2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

2 Corinthians 8:13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed,
(See NAS)

Philippians 1:16 The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains;
(WEB KJV WBS YLT)

Philippians 1:17 but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.
(ASV)

Philippians 4:14 However you did well that you shared in my affliction.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS)

1 Thessalonians 1:6 You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
(WEB KJV ASV WBS RSV)

1 Thessalonians 3:4 For most certainly, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened, and you know.
(WEB WEY ASV NAS RSV)

1 Thessalonians 3:7 for this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV)

2 Thessalonians 1:6 Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
(WEB WEY ASV NAS RSV)

2 Thessalonians 1:7 and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now--rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels.
(WEY)

Hebrews 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
(Root in KJV ASV DBY WBS RSV)

Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
(KJV DBY WBS)

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS RSV)

James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
(KJV WBS)

Genesis 16:11 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 29:32 Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 31:42 Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 41:52 The name of the second, he called Ephraim : "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 3:7 Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 3:17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 4:31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 5:19 And the authorities of the sons of Israel see them in affliction, saying, 'Ye do not diminish from your bricks; the matter of a day in its day.'
(YLT)

Numbers 11:15 and if thus Thou art doing to me -- slay me, I pray Thee; slay, if I have found grace in thine eyes, and let me not look on mine affliction.'
(YLT)

Deuteronomy 16:3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 26:7 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 26:14 I have not eaten in mine affliction of it, nor have I put away of it for uncleanness, nor have I given of it for the dead; I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah my God; I have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me;
(YLT)

Deuteronomy 28:61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.
(See RSV)

1 Samuel 1:11 She vowed a vow, and said, "Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

1 Samuel 2:32 You shall see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
(WEB ASV)

1 Samuel 9:16 "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry has come to me."
(See RSV)

2 Samuel 16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

1 Kings 2:26 And unto Abiathar the priest said the king: 'Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art deserving of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.'
(See RSV)

1 Kings 8:38 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
(See NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 22:27 Say,'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace."'"
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS)

2 Kings 14:26 For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

1 Chronicles 22:14 Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Yahweh one hundred thousand talents of gold, and one million talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add to them.
(WEB ASV DBY YLT)

2 Chronicles 6:29 whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house:
(See NAS RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 18:26 and say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS)

2 Chronicles 20:9 If evil come on us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS RSV)

2 Chronicles 33:12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
(KJV DBY WBS)

Ezra 9:5 And at the present of the evening I have risen from mine affliction, and at my rending my garment and my upper robe, then I bow down on my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God,
(YLT)

Nehemiah 1:3 They said to me, The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Nehemiah 9:9 You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Esther 7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and bondmaids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss."
(See RSV)

Job 5:6 For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS NAS RSV)

Job 10:15 If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Job 30:16 "Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 30:27 My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 36:8 If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 36:15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear in oppression.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 36:21 Take heed, don't regard iniquity; for you have chosen this rather than affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 9:13 Have mercy on me, Yahweh. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death;
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS)

Psalms 22:24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 25:18 Consider my affliction and my travail. Forgive all my sins.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity. My bones are wasted away.
(See NIV)

Psalms 38:11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my affliction; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
(WBS)

Psalms 44:24 Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 66:11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
(KJV WBS RSV)

Psalms 88:1 A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "The Suffering of Affliction." A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite. Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
(WEB YLT)

Psalms 88:9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 106:44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
(KJV WBS)

Psalms 107:10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Psalms 107:17 Crazed because of the way of their transgression, and afflicted because of their iniquities--
(See RSV NIV)

Psalms 107:39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
(KJV WBS)

Psalms 107:41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 119:28 My soul hath dropped from affliction, Establish me according to Thy word.
(YLT)

Psalms 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has revived me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 119:92 Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 119:153 Consider my affliction, and deliver me, for I don't forget your law.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Psalms 132:1 A Song of Ascents. Yahweh, remember David and all his affliction,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Proverbs 10:1 Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son causeth a father to rejoice, And a foolish son 'is' an affliction to his mother.
(YLT)

Proverbs 14:13 Even in laughter is the heart pained, And the latter end of joy 'is' affliction.
(YLT)

Proverbs 17:21 Whoso is begetting a fool hath affliction for it, Yea, the father of a fool rejoiceth not.
(YLT)

Proverbs 31:5 lest they drink And forget the law, And pervert the judgment of any of the children of affliction.
(DBY YLT)

Ecclesiastes 5:17 All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.
(See NIV)

Ecclesiastes 6:2 A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
(See NAS RSV)

Isaiah 30:20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won't be hidden anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers;
(WEB KJV ASV WBS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Isaiah 66:4 So I will go after trouble for them, and will send on them what they are fearing: because no one made answer to my voice, or gave ear to my word; but they did what was evil in my eyes, going after that in which I took no pleasure.
(See RSV)

Jeremiah 4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 10:19 Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.
(See RSV)

Jeremiah 15:11 Yahweh said, Most certainly I will strengthen you for good; most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness, losses, etc.; an instance of grievous distress; a pain or grief.

2. (n.) The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress, or grief.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

AFFLICTION

a-flik'-shun: Represents no fewer than 11 Hebrew words in the Old Testament, and 3 Greek words in the New Testament, of which the most common are (oni), (thlipsis). It is used

(1) actively = that which causes or tends to cause bodily pain or mental distress, as "the bread of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16:3 2 Chronicles 18:26); often in plural, as "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19);

(2) passively = the state of being in pain or trouble, as "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27).

The following are the chief forms of affliction referred to:

(1) Individual affliction, especially sickness, poverty, the oppression of the weak by the strong and rich, perverted justice.

(2) National. A great place is given in the Old Testament to affliction as a national experience, due to calamities, such as war, invasion, conquest by foreign peoples, exile. These form the background of much of the prophetic writings, and largely determine their tone and character.

(3) In the New Testament the chief form of affliction is that due to the fierce antagonism manifested to the religion of Jesus, resulting in persecution.

I. The Source of Affliction.

1. God:

The Hebrew mind did not dwell on secondary causes, but attributed everything, even afflictions, directly to the great First Cause and Author of all things: "Shall evil befall a city, and Yahweh hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6); "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil (i.e. calamity); I am Yahweh, that doeth all these things" (Isaiah 45:7) Thus, all things, including calamity, were referred to the Divine operation. The Hebrew when afflicted did not doubt the universal sovereignty of God; yet, while assuming this sovereignty, he was sometimes tempted to accuse Him of indifference, neglect or forgetfulness. Compare Job passim; Isaiah 40:27; Isaiah 49:14 Ezekiel 8:12; Ezekiel 9:9.

2. Evil Agents:

Yet there are traces of a dualism which assigns a certain vague limit to God's absolute sovereignty, by referring affliction to an evil agency acting in quasi-independence of God. There could, however, never be more than a tendency in this direction, for a strict dualism was incompatible with the standpoint of Jewish monotheism. Thus Saul's mental affliction is attributed to an "evil spirit," which is yet said to be "from Yahweh" (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9); and the fall of Ahab is said by Micaiah to be due to the "lying spirit" which enticed him to his doom, in obedience to God's command (1 Kings 22:20-22). In the prologue of Job, Job's calamities are ascribed to the Satan, but even he receives his word of command from God, and is responsible to Him, like the other "sons of God" who surround the heavenly throne. He is thus "included in the Divine will and in the circle of Divine providence" (Schultz). After the prologue, the Satan is left out of account, and Job's misfortunes are attributed directly to the Divine causality. In later Judaism, the tendency to trace the origin of evil, physical and moral, to wicked spirits became more marked, probably because of the influence of Persian dualism. In New Testament times, physical and mental maladies were thought to be due to the agency of evil spirits called demons, whose prince was Beelzebub or Satan (Mark 1:23; Mark 3:22; Mark 5:2; Matthew 9:32, etc.). Christ gave His assent to this belief (compare the woman under infirmity, "whom Satan hath bound," Luke 13:16). Paul attributed his bodily affliction to an evil angel sent by Satan (2 Corinthians 12:7), though he recognized that the evil agent was subordinate to God's purpose of grace, and was the means of moral discipline (1 Corinthians 12:7, 9). Thus, while the evil spirits were regarded as malicious authors of physical maladies, they were not, in a strictly dualistic fashion, thought to act in complete independence; rather, they had a certain place assigned to them in the Divine Providence.

II. Meaning and Purpose of Affliction.

Why did God afflict men? How is suffering to be explained consistently with the goodness and justice of God? This was an acute problem which weighed heavily upon the Hebrew mind, especially in the later, more reflective, period. We can only briefly indicate the chief factors which the Scriptures contribute to the solution of the problem. We begin with the Old Testament.

1. Punitive or Retributive:

The traditional view in early Hebrew theology was that afflictions were the result of the Divine law of retribution, by which sin was invariably followed by adequate punishment. Every misfortune was a proof of sin on the part of the sufferer. Thus Job's "friends" sought to convince him that his great sufferings were due to his sinfulness. This is generally the standpoint of the historians of Israel, who regarded national calamities as a mark of the Divine displeasure on account of the people's sins. But this naive belief, though it contains an important element of truth, could not pass uncontested. The logic of facts would suffice to prove that it was inadequate to cover all cases; eg. Jeremiah's sufferings were due, not to sin, but to his faithfulness to his prophetic vocation. So the "suffering servant" in Isaiah. Job, too, in spite of his many woes, was firm in the conviction of his own integrity. To prove the inadequacy of the penal view is a main purpose of the Book of Job. A common modification of the traditional view was, that the sorrows of the pious and the prosperity of the wicked were only of brief duration; in the course of time, things would adjust themselves aright (eg. Job 20:5, Psalm 73:3-20). But even granting time for the law of retribution to work itself out, experience contradicts the view that a man's fortune or misfortune is an infallible proof of his moral quality.

2. Probational:

The thought is often expressed that afflictions are meant to test the character or faith of the sufferer. This idea is especially prominent in Job. God allowed the Satan to test the reality of Job's piety by over-whelming him with disease and misfortunes (2). Throughout the poem Job maintains that he has stood the test (eg. Job 23:10-12). Compare Deuteronomy 8:2, 16 Psalm 66:10; Psalm 17:3; Isaiah 48:10 Jeremiah 9:7 Proverbs 17:3.

3. Disciplinary and Purificatory:

For those who are able to stand the test, suffering has a purificatory or disciplinary value.

(1) The thought of affliction as a discipline or form of Divine teaching is found in Job, especially in the speeches of Elihu, who insists that tribulation is intended as a method of instruction to save man from the pride and presumption that issue in destruction (Job 33:14-30; Job 36:8-10, 15 the Revised Version (British and American)). The same conception is found in Psalm 94:12; Psalm 119:67, 71.

(2) The purificatory function of trials is taught in such passages as Isaiah 1:25 Zechariah 13:9 Malachi 3:2, 3, where the process of refining metals in fire and smelting out the dross is the metaphor used.

4. Vicarious and Redemptive:

The above are not fully adequate to explain the mystery of the afflictions of the godly. The profoundest contribution in the Old Testament to a solution of the problem is the idea of the vicarious and redemptive significance of pain and sorrow. The author of Job did not touch this rich vein of thought in dealing with the afflictions of his hero. This was done by the author of the Second Isaiah. The classical passage is Isaiah 53:1-12, which deals with the woes of the oppressed and afflicted Servant of God with profound spiritual insight. It makes no difference to the meaning of the afflictions whether we understand by the Servant the whole Hebrew nation, or the pious section of it, or an individual member of it, and whether the speakers in Isaiah 53 are the Jewish nation or the heathen. The significant point here is the value and meaning ascribed to the Servant's sufferings. The speakers had once believed (in accordance with the traditional view) that the Servant suffered because God was angry with him and had stricken him. Now they confess that his sorrows were due, not to his own sin but to theirs (Isaiah 53:4-6, 8). His sufferings were not only vicarious (the punishment of their sin falling upon him), but redemptive in their effect (peace and health coming to them as a result of his chastisement). Moreover, it was not only redemptive, but expiatory ("his soul guilt-offering," Isaiah 53:10)-a remarkable adumbration of the Christian doctrine of atonement.

5. The New Testament:

So far we have dealt only with Old Testament teaching on the meaning and purpose of affliction. The New Testament makes no new contribution to the solution of the problem, but repeats and greatly deepens the points of view already found in the Old Testament.

(1) There is a recognition throughout the New Testament of the law of retribution (Galatians 6:7). Yet Jesus repudiates the popular view of the invariable connection between misfortune and moral evil (John 9:2 f). It is clear that He had risen above the conception of God's relation to man as merely retributive (Matthew 5:45, sunshine and rain for evil men as well as for the good). His followers would suffer tribulation even more than unbelievers, owing to the hostile reaction of the evil world, similar to that which afflicted Christ Himself (Matthew 5:10; Matthew 10:16-25 John 15:18-20; John 16:33). Similarly the Acts and the epistles frequently refer to the sufferings of Christians (eg. Acts 14:22 2 Corinthians 4:8-11; Colossians 1:24 Hebrews 10:32 1 Peter 4:13; Revelation 7:14). Hence afflictions must have some other than a purely punitive purpose.

(2) They are probational, affording a test by which the spurious may be separated from the genuine members of the Christian church (James 1:3, 12 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 4:17), and

(3) a means of discipline, calculated to purify and train the character (Romans 5:3 2 Corinthians 12:7, 9 James 1:3).

(4) The idea of vicarious and redemptive suffering gets a far deeper significance in the New Testament than in the Old Testament, and finds concrete realization in a historical person, Jesus Christ. That which is foreshadowed in Second-Isaiah becomes in the New Testament a central, pervasive and creative thought. A unique place in the Divine purpose is given to the passion of Christ. Yet in a sense, His followers partake of His vicarious sufferings, and "fill up. that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ" (Colossians 1:24; compare Philippians 3:10 1 Peter 4:13). Here, surely is a profound thought which may throw a flood of light on the deep mystery of human affliction. The cross of Christ furnishes the key to the meaning of sorrow as the greatest redemptive force in the universe.

III. Endurance of Affliction.

The Scriptures abound in words of consolation and exhortation adapted to encourage the afflicted. Two main considerations may be mentioned.

(1) The thought of the beneficent sovereignty of God "Yahweh reigneth; let the earth rejoice," even though "clouds and darkness are round about him" (Psalm 97:1, 2); "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28 the King James Version). Since love is on the throne of the universe, we may rest assured that all things are meant for our good.

(2) The thought that tribulation is of brief duration, in comparison with the Joy that shall follow (Psalm 30:5 Isaiah 54:7 John 16:22); a thought which culminates in the hope of immortality. This hope is in the Old Testament only beginning to dawn, and gives but a faint and flickering light, except in moments of rare exaltation and insight, when the thought of a perfect future blessedness seemed to offer a solution of the enigmas of life (Job 19:25-27; Psalms 37; 49; 73). But in the New Testament it is a postulate of faith, and by it the Christian is able to fortify himself in affliction, remembering that his affliction is light and momentary compared with the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" which is to issue out of it (2 Corinthians 4:17 the King James Version; compare Matthew 5:12 Romans 8:18). Akin to this is the comfort derived from the thought of the near approach of Christ's second coming (James 5:7, 8). In view of such truths as these, the Bible encourages the pious in trouble to show the spirit of patience (Psalm 37:7 Luke 21:19 Romans 12:12 James 1:3, 4; James 5:7-11 1 Peter 2:20), and even the spirit of positive joy in tribulation (Matthew 5:11 Romans 5:3 2 Corinthians 12:10 James 1:2, 12 1 Peter 4:13). In the New Testament emphasis is laid on the example of Jesus in patient endurance in suffering (John 16:33 James 5:7-11 1 Peter 2:19-23; 1 Peter 3:17). Above all, the Scriptures recommend the afflicted to take refuge in the supreme blessedness of fellowship with God, and of trust in His love, by which they may enter into a deep peace that is undisturbed by the trials and problems of life (Psalm 73:23-28 Isaiah 26:3, 4 John 14:1, 27 Philippians 4:7; et passim).

D. Miall Edwards

Greek

2552. kakopatheia -- affliction
... affliction. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kakopatheia Phonetic
Spelling: (kak-op-ath'-i-ah) Short Definition: suffering Definition: experience ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2552.htm - 6k

963. Bethania -- "house of affliction" or "house of dates ...
... 962, 963. Bethania. 964 . "house of affliction" or "house of dates,"
Bethany, the name of two cities in Palestine. Part of Speech ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/963.htm - 6k

2561. kakosis -- ill-treatment
... ill-treatment. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kakosis Phonetic
Spelling: (kak'-o-sis) Short Definition: affliction, ill-treatment Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2561.htm - 6k

2347. thlipsis -- tribulation
... Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: thlipsis Phonetic Spelling:
(thlip'-sis) Short Definition: persecution, affliction, distress Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2347.htm - 7k

3804. pathema -- that which befalls one, ie a suffering, a passion
... Noun, Neuter Transliteration: pathema Phonetic Spelling: (path'-ay-mah) Short
Definition: suffering, passion Definition: (a) suffering, affliction, (b) passion ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3804.htm - 8k

2553. kakopatheo -- to suffer evil
... evil. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: kakopatheo Phonetic Spelling:
(kak-op-ath-eh'-o) Short Definition: I suffer evil, endure affliction Definition: ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2553.htm - 7k

4778. sugkakoucheomai -- to endure adversity with (pass.)
... suffer affliction with. From sun and kakoucheo; to maltreat in company with, ie
(passively) endure persecution together -- suffer affliction with. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4778.htm - 6k

4647. skolops -- anything pointed, spec. a stake, thorn
... Noun, Masculine Transliteration: skolops Phonetic Spelling: (skol'-ops) Short
Definition: a stake or thorn Definition: a stake or thorn; fig: a sharp affliction ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4647.htm - 7k

2346. thlibo -- to press, afflict
... Word Origin a prim. verb Definition to press, afflict NASB Word Usage afflict (1),
afflicted (5), crowd (2), distress (1), narrow (1), suffer affliction (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2346.htm - 7k

4127. plege -- a blow, wound
... Feminine Transliteration: plege Phonetic Spelling: (play-gay') Short Definition:
a blow, stripe, wound Definition: a blow, stripe, wound; an affliction, plague ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4127.htm - 6k

Topical Bible Verses

2 Corinthians 12:9
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
Topicalbible.org

2 Corinthians 4:16
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Topicalbible.org

1 Corinthians 10:13
There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Topicalbible.org

James 5:11
Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Topicalbible.org

James 5:13
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Topicalbible.org

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Topicalbible.org

Strong's Hebrew

6039. enuth -- affliction
... 6038, 6039. enuth. 6040 . affliction. Transliteration: enuth Phonetic Spelling:
(en-ooth') Short Definition: affliction. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/6039.htm - 6k

6040a. oni -- affliction, poverty
... 6040, 6040a. oni. 6040b . affliction, poverty. Transliteration: oni Short
Definition: affliction. Word Origin from anah Definition ...
/hebrew/6040a.htm - 5k

6040. oniy -- affliction, poverty
... 6039, 6040. oniy. 6040a . affliction, poverty. Transliteration: oniy Phonetic
Spelling: (on-ee') Short Definition: misery. depression, Misery ...
/hebrew/6040.htm - 5k

205. aven -- trouble, sorrow, wickedness
... Word Origin from an unused word Definition trouble, sorrow, wickedness NASB Word
Usage affliction (1), distress (1), evil (4), false (1), harm (1), idol (1 ...
/hebrew/205.htm - 6k

5869. ayin -- an eye
... affliction, outward appearance, before, think best, color, conceit, be content.
Probably a primitive word; an eye (literally or figuratively ...
/hebrew/5869.htm - 7k

7667. sheber -- a breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash
... 1), ruin (3), smashing (1). affliction, breach, breaking, broken-footed,
bruise, crashing, destruction. Or sheber {shay'-ber}; from ...
/hebrew/7667.htm - 6k

6869. tsarah -- straits, distress
... Short Definition: adversary. adversary, adversity, affliction, anguish,
distress, tribulation, trouble Feminine of tsar; tightness ...
/hebrew/6869.htm - 5k

4157. muaqah -- compression, distress
... affliction. From uwq; pressure, ie (figuratively) distress -- affliction. see
HEBREW uwq. 4156, 4157. muaqah. 4158 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/4157.htm - 6k

7451. ra' -- bad, evil
... ra'. 7451a . bad, evil. Transliteration: ra' Phonetic Spelling: (rah) Short
Definition: adversity. adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displeasure, distress ...
/hebrew/7451.htm - 6k

3906. lachats -- oppression, distress
... affliction, oppression. From lachats; distress -- affliction, oppression. see HEBREW
lachats. 3905, 3906. lachats. 3907 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/3906.htm - 6k

Library

In Affliction.
... ORIGINAL HYMNS HYMN CLXXIX. In Affliction. 8.8.6.8.8.6 James Montgomery.
In Affliction. "Father! Thy will, not mine, be done!". ...
/.../montgomery/sacred poems and hymns/hymn clxxix in affliction.htm

Affliction
... The Treasury of Sacred Song. Book First XLV AFFLICTION. When first Thou
didst entice to Thee my heart, I thought the service brave. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/palgrave/the treasury of sacred song/xlv affliction.htm

Affliction.
... AFFLICTION. A Child Visits Abraham Lincoln, and Saves the Life of a Condemned
Soldier. During the war I remember a young man, not ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/moody/moodys anecdotes and illustrations/affliction.htm

I Will Call in My Affliction, on the Power that Subdues All
... Hymn XII. I will call in my affliction, on the Power that subdues all.
1. I will call in my affliction, on the Power that subdues ...
/.../ephraim/hymns and homilies of ephraim the syrian/hymn xii i will call.htm

God Merciful in Affliction.
... SUBMISSION AND RELIANCE. 631. " God Merciful in Affliction. 631. LM Bowring.
God Merciful in Affliction. 1 Mysterious are the ...
/.../adams/hymns for christian devotion/631 god merciful in.htm

Two Theories of the Affliction: (A) Possession by Evil Spirits (B) ...
... Section 101. Two Theories of the Affliction: (a) Possession by Evil Spirits
(b) Insanity."Analogous Phenomena in other Times. ...
/.../section 101 two theories of.htm

February the Twenty-Sixth the Cellars of Affliction
... FEBRUARY The Twenty-sixth THE CELLARS OF AFFLICTION. PSALM xxxiv.9-22. ... I might be
taken out of affliction, and emerge a poor slave and weakling. ...
/.../february the twenty-sixth the cellars.htm

Psalm 80. The Church's Prayer under Affliction; Or, the vineyard ...
... THE Psalms of David, In Metre. Psalm 80. The church's prayer under affliction;
or, The vineyard of God wasted. 1 Great Shepherd ...
/.../watts/the psalms of david/psalm 80 the churchs prayer.htm

HM Mrs. Miles. In Affliction.
... VII. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 333. HM Mrs. Miles. In Affliction. 1 Thou, infinite
in love! Guide this bewildered mind, Which, like the ...
/.../various/book of hymns for public and private devotion/333 h m mrs miles.htm

Whether These Same Souls Suffer Spiritual Affliction on Account of ...
... OF THE QUALITY OF THOSE SOULS WHO DEPART THIS LIFE WITH ORIGINAL SIN ONLY (TWO ARTICLES)
Whether these same souls suffer spiritual affliction on account of the ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether these same souls suffer.htm

Subtopics

Affliction

Consolation Under Affliction by Ministers of the Gospel

Consolation Under Affliction in Prospect of Death

Consolation Under Affliction is a Cause of Praise

Consolation Under Affliction is Abundant

Consolation Under Affliction is Everlasting

Consolation Under Affliction is Sought in Vain from the World

Consolation Under Affliction is Strong

Consolation Under Affliction: Christ is the Author and Giver of

Consolation Under Affliction: God is the Author and Giver of

Consolation Under Affliction: Pray For