Greek word · G4660

σκύλλω

skyllō

to trouble

In early Greek it meant to flay, skin, tear or mangle. By New Testament times its ordinary sense was to harass or trouble, and in polite everyday speech simply to put someone to trouble or inconvenience. The related noun skylmos means harassment or vexation.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

σκύλλω

1. in cl., to skin, flay, rend (Æsch., Anthol.).

2. In Hellenistic writers, to vex, trouble, annoy: with accusative of person(s), Mark 5:35, Luke 8:49; pass., ἐσκυλμένοι, distressed, Matthew 9:36; mid., to trouble oneself, μὴ σκύλλου, Luke 7:6 (frequently in π.; see MM, i, ii, and cf. M, Pr., 89; Abbott, Essays, 87; Kennedy, Sources, 82).†

(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 Mark 5:35

Range of meaning

In early Greek it meant to flay, skin, tear or mangle. By New Testament times its ordinary sense was to harass or trouble, and in polite everyday speech simply to put someone to trouble or inconvenience. The related noun skylmos means harassment or vexation.

Against the English

KJV, ESV and NASB have "trouble". BSB, WEB and NIV have "bother". YLT has "harass", which keeps more of the old force. None of them is wrong. "Bother" fits the polite, everyday register. "Harass" overstates the tone of what is meant as a considerate remark, though it may catch the feeling that Jesus has been pressed hard all day (v. 24, "the crowd pressed around him").

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical writers used it of bodies mangled, for example corpses torn by fish in Aeschylus. Papyrus letters of the Roman period use it constantly for "trouble, put out", including the courteous "don't trouble yourself". In the New Testament: Matthew 9:36 (crowds "harassed" and helpless, a stronger sense); Luke 7:6 (the centurion: "Lord, do not trouble yourself"); Luke 8:49, the parallel to this verse ("do not trouble the teacher any longer"). The noun appears in 3 Maccabees for harassment of the Jews.

From the study of Matthew 9:36

Range of meaning

Earliest sense 'to skin, flay, mangle' (in classical poetry, of bodies torn apart). It weakened over time to 'harass, trouble, vex, bother.' In the papyri, everyday letters of the period, it often means simply 'trouble' or 'bother someone,' as in 'don't trouble yourself to come.' The perfect passive participle here means 'having been harassed, worn down, knocked about.'

Against the English

'Harassed' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV) catches the main idea. NASB 'distressed' and NLT 'confused' turn it into an inner feeling and lose the sense that it was done to them. KJV 'fainted' translates a different Greek word (see textual notes).

How it drifted

Partly a textual issue (the KJV followed another reading) and partly a habit of rendering the word as a psychological state.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament it appears in Mark 5:35 and Luke 8:49 ('why trouble the teacher?') and Luke 7:6 ('do not trouble yourself'). Moulton & Milligan document the 'trouble, bother' sense in papyri. BDAG gives 'harass, trouble' and for this verse suggests 'harassed, dejected.'

From the study of Luke 7:6

Range of meaning

Classical Greek: 'to flay, skin, mangle'. By the Koine period it had weakened to 'harass, annoy, trouble, put to bother'. In the passive or middle it means 'be troubled, put oneself out'.

Against the English

'Do not trouble yourself' (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV) is accurate. YLT's 'be not troubled' could be misread as 'don't be anxious', which is not the sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in papyrus letters in polite formulas such as 'don't trouble yourself' or 'don't go to the trouble'. Mark 5:35 and Luke 8:49 ('Why trouble the teacher any further?') use the same verb for imposing on Jesus. Matt 9:36 uses it for crowds 'harassed' like sheep.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 9:36 ἐσκυλμένοι troubled

    When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

    Here: Perfect passive: 'having been harassed, knocked about, worn ragged.' The passive implies that someone or something did this to them. The picture is of mistreated or mauled animals.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 5:35 σκύλλεις trouble you

    While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?”

    Here: "Are you troubling, putting out". It is present tense, for something still going on: Jairus is still keeping the teacher busy. In everyday Greek of the time it meant putting someone to trouble or inconvenience.

Luke · 2

  1. Luke 7:6 σκύλλου· do be troubled;

    So Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends with the message: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.

    Here: A present-tense command meaning 'don't go to the bother' or 'don't put yourself out any further'. Jesus is already walking, so the sense is 'stop troubling yourself'.

  2. Luke 8:49 σκύλλε do trouble

    While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he told Jairus. “Do not bother the Teacher anymore.”

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