Greek word · G3433

μόλις

molis

hardly

"With difficulty, with effort, through toil". From the same root as mólos (toil, struggle). It can shade into "scarcely, barely" (only just), but its main idea is how hard something is to do or get through.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

μόλις

adv. (μόλος, toil)

post-Hom. alternative for μόγις,

[in LXX: Proverbs 11:31, Wisdom of Solomon 9:16, al. ;]

with difficulty, hardly, scarcely: Luke 9:39 (T, μόγις), Acts 14:8 27:7-8, 16, Romans 5:7, 1 Peter 4:18" (LXX) .†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Peter 4:18

Range of meaning

"With difficulty, with effort, through toil". From the same root as mólos (toil, struggle). It can shade into "scarcely, barely" (only just), but its main idea is how hard something is to do or get through.

Against the English

KJV/YLT "scarcely" and NLT "barely" lead modern readers to hear "only just, by a hair". BSB/NIV/WEB "it is hard" and NASB "with difficulty" are closer to the main sense.

How it drifted

In 1611, "scarcely" could still mean "with difficulty". That sense has since died out, so today the word only suggests "almost not at all".

Used elsewhere in the period

In Acts 27:7, 8 and 16, the ship makes headway μόλις, "with difficulty", against the wind. The voyage is hard, but the ship does arrive. The word is used the same way in Acts 14:18 and Romans 5:7. In the Greek Old Testament, Proverbs 11:31 is the source of this verse. Sirach 21:20 and 26:29 use the word in a similar way. It is also common in the papyri (everyday Greek documents) for things done with effort.

From the study of Sirach 21:20

Range of meaning

Molis means 'scarcely, barely, with difficulty'. Hēsychē means 'quietly, softly, calmly' and belongs with hēsychia, 'stillness'. Meidiaō is the ordinary Greek verb for smiling, as distinct from gelaō, laughing aloud (Homer's Aphrodite is 'laughter-loving' and also 'sweetly smiling').

Against the English

Brenton and the KJV ('doth scarce smile a little') keep all three ideas. WEB's 'smiles quietly' (like the RSV) drops 'scarcely'. The Douay's 'will scarce laugh low to himself' follows the Latin vix tacite ridebit and turns the smile into a suppressed laugh.

Used elsewhere in the period

Molis appears in Acts 14:18, 27:7, Romans 5:7, 1 Peter 4:18. The hēsych- family appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 Peter 3:4 ('a gentle and quiet spirit'). For meidiaō, LSJ cites Homer and later Greek.

Where it appears

Acts · 4

  1. Acts 14:18 μόλις hardly

    Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.

  2. Acts 27:7 μόλις with difficulty

    After sailing slowly for many days, we arrived off Cnidus. When the wind impeded us, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

  3. Acts 27:8 μόλις With difficulty

    After we had moved along the coast with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

  4. Acts 27:16 μόλις with difficulty

    Passing to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the lifeboat.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 5:7 μόλις Rarely

    Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

1 Peter · 1

  1. 1 Peter 4:18 μόλις with difficulty

    And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

    Here: "With difficulty, through hardship." It describes how hard the road is, the fiery trial of 4:12, not a narrow or doubtful result.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.