στενάζω

From the study of 2 Corinthians 5:2

Range of meaning

To sigh or groan under pressure: distress, grief, burdened longing, and sometimes (with 'against') grumbling at someone. The related noun stenagmos is used of the groaning of the oppressed and of the Spirit's 'groanings too deep for words' (Rom 8:26).

Against the English

All the major English versions say 'groan', which is accurate. In everyday modern English, though, 'groan' often means a moan of annoyance or complaint. NLT's 'grow weary' turns an active, yearning cry into tiredness.

How it drifted

Modern English 'groan' has narrowed toward irritation and complaint (as in 'groaning about Mondays'). The biblical word is mostly the sound of suffering that reaches toward rescue.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Lamentations uses it for ruined Jerusalem and her people (Lam 1:4, 8, 11, 21). Isa 24:7 uses it for the once-merry who now sigh. In the NT: Mark 7:34 (Jesus sighs before healing); Rom 8:23 ('we ourselves groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption, the redemption of our bodies'), with creation 'groaning together' as in labour (Rom 8:22). The complaint sense appears in Jas 5:9 ('do not groan against one another').

From the study of James 5:9

Range of meaning

To groan, sigh or moan audibly under inner or outer pressure. It covers grief, pain, longing and frustration, and with a preposition like κατά ('against') it means a groaning complaint aimed at someone (BDAG: 'sigh, groan'; with κατά, 'complain against'). It is the sound of a person being crushed.

Against the English

BSB 'complain', and NIV/ESV/WEB 'grumble', give the social effect but lose the sense of strain behind it. 'Grumble' in modern English sounds petty: a moan about the coffee. KJV 'grudge' meant 'grumble, murmur' in 1611, but to a modern reader it suggests nursing a long-held resentment. YLT 'murmur' and the Vulgate's ingemiscere ('groan') are closer to the sound of the word.

How it drifted

'Grudge' as a verb meaning 'complain, murmur' has largely died out in English, and the noun 'a grudge' (lasting resentment) has taken over. 'Grumble' has also weakened in tone toward trivial irritation.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX the word and its compounds are used for the groaning of the oppressed and the grieving (e.g. Israel groaning under slavery in Exod 2:23, with the compound καταστενάζω; the laments of Lamentations 1; the prophet told to groan in Ezek 21). In the NT: Jesus groans before healing (Mark 7:34); creation and believers groan for redemption (Rom 8:22–23, using the compound and the simple verb; 2 Cor 5:2, 4). The closest parallel is Heb 13:17: leaders should give account 'with joy and not groaning' (μὴ στενάζοντες), where groaning is a complaint about the people one deals with.

From the study of Romans 8:23

Range of meaning

To sigh or groan deeply because of pressure, pain or longing. It can be a complaint, the sound of grief, or a wordless plea.

Against the English

'Groan' fits, but in modern English it can suggest mild annoyance ('he groaned at the joke'). Here it is the deep sound of people under a burden, and it is linked to labour pains in the previous verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX the word group describes Israel enslaved in Egypt: 'the sons of Israel groaned… and God heard their groaning' (Exod 2:23–24, with κατα-στενάζω and στεναγμός). Elsewhere it is used of grief and oppression (Isa 24:7; Lam 1:8, 1:21). In the NT, Paul uses it of longing for the resurrection body (2 Cor 5:2, 5:4: 'in this tent we groan'). Romans 8 has three groanings in a row: creation (v. 22, συστενάζει), believers (v. 23), and the Spirit (v. 26, στεναγμοῖς).