Greek word · G3552

νοσέω

noseō

be sick

To be ill or diseased. In moral and philosophical writing it also means to be morbidly affected by, or to have an unhealthy craving for, something.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

νοσέω, -ῶ

(νόσος), [in LXX (metaphorically): Wisdom of Solomon 17:8 * ;]

to be sick: metaphorically, of mental ailment, before περί, 1 Timothy 6:4 (cf. Plat., Mor., 546 d).†

(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 Timothy 6:4

Range of meaning

To be ill or diseased. In moral and philosophical writing it also means to be morbidly affected by, or to have an unhealthy craving for, something.

Against the English

KJV/YLT "doting" was a fair choice in 1611 ("to be weak-minded, infatuated"), but it now misleads. WEB's "obsessed" keeps the fixation but loses the sickness. BSB's "unhealthy interest" keeps the medical image, which matters because it answers the "sound" (literally "healthy") words of v. 3.

How it drifted

The modern English "dote" has shifted to "lavish fond affection on," so the KJV now sounds almost affectionate.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb occurs only here in the New Testament. Greek moralists (Plato, Plutarch, Epictetus) routinely described false opinions and vices as diseases of the soul and true teaching as health. Abraham Malherbe showed how fully the Pastoral Letters use this medical language: "healthy teaching" (1 Tim 1:10; 2 Tim 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1), teaching that "spreads like gangrene" (2 Tim 2:17).

Where it appears

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 6:4 νοσῶν unhealthy

    he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and disputes about words, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,

    Here: "Being sick." This answers the "healthy words" (hygiainousin logois) of v. 3: refuse healthy teaching and you are left sick. The present participle points to an ongoing, feverish preoccupation.

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