Greek word · G1422
δύσκολος
dyskolos
difficult
Hard, difficult. In classical Greek it first meant "hard to please" or "fastidious" (it was once explained as "picky about food"), then "peevish" (Menander's comedy Dyskolos, "The Grouch"). By the Hellenistic period it commonly meant simply "difficult".
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
δύσκολος, -ον
(κόλον, food), [in LXX for אֵיד, Jeremiah 29:9 (Jeremiah 49:8) (of. δυσκολία, Job 34:30; εὔκολος, 2 Samuel 15:3) * ;]
1. properly, of persons, hard to satisfy with food, hence, generally, hard to please (Eur., Plat.).
2. Of things, difficult, hard (Arist.): Mark 10:24.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Hard, difficult. In classical Greek it first meant "hard to please" or "fastidious" (it was once explained as "picky about food"), then "peevish" (Menander's comedy Dyskolos, "The Grouch"). By the Hellenistic period it commonly meant simply "difficult".
- Against the English
"Hard" or "difficult" is accurate. The older sense of being peevish plays no part in Mark's use and should not be read in.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The adjective appears only here in the New Testament. The adverb δυσκόλως appears in Mark 10:23 and its parallels (Matthew 19:23, Luke 18:24). In the papyri and in Hellenistic writers it is used for anything hard to manage or achieve (LSJ, BDAG).
Similar words
Where it appears
Mark · 1
-
Mark 10:24 δύσκολόν difficult
And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
Here: Hard to accomplish. It echoes the adverb "with difficulty" (δυσκόλως) in verse 23, and verse 25's "easier" answers it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.