ταλαιπωρέω

From the study of James 4:9

Range of meaning

In Greek generally the verb means to endure hardship, to toil, to be in distress. With people as the subject it means to be miserable or wretched, or to feel your wretchedness. In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) it can also mean to be ruined or devastated. Related words: ταλαίπωρος, "wretched" (Rom 7:24, "Wretched man that I am!"; Rev 3:17, the self-satisfied church that does not know it is "wretched"), and ταλαιπωρία, "misery" (Jas 5:1).

Against the English

The KJV's "Be afflicted" now sounds passive, as if James wanted suffering to happen to them. The BSB's "Grieve" and the WEB's "Lament" lose the sense of wretchedness and turn the word into a general word for sadness. The ESV's "Be wretched" and the NASB's "Be miserable" stay closest to it.

How it drifted

In older English, "afflict" covered inner distress and humbling yourself; the KJV uses it for fasting in the phrase "afflict your souls" (Lev 16:29). Today it suggests trouble from outside, such as illness or disaster, which hides the fact that this is something they choose to do.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint the word group describes ruin under judgment: Mic 2:4 has "we are utterly wretched," and Jer 4:13, 20 use it for land and tents laid waste. Hos 10:2 uses it for Israel's punishment. James himself uses the noun in 5:1, where the rich are told to "weep and howl for the miseries coming upon you." In Greek writers outside the Bible the verb often describes enduring hardship or self-denial.