ταλαίπωρος

From the study of Revelation 3:17

Range of meaning

Distressed, afflicted, in misery or hardship, worn down by suffering. It describes an outward and inward state of misfortune (BDAG). It does not mean 'despicable' or 'morally vile'.

Against the English

'Wretched' is the standard rendering and is right if it is heard as 'in a pitiful, crushed state'. Modern English often hears 'wretch' as an insult or a judgment on character, which narrows the Greek.

How it drifted

Older English used 'wretched' mainly for the unfortunate ('a wretched captive'). Its use for contemptible people ('a wretched man!') grew more common later, along with phrases such as 'wretched sinner' in hymns.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament it describes ruin and devastation: Babylon as 'the wretched one' (Psalm 137:8 LXX, 136:8), the destroyer in Isaiah 33:1, and the 'wretched' who hope in idols (Wisdom 13:10). Paul uses it in Romans 7:24 ('Wretched man that I am!') and James uses the related verb in James 4:9 ('be wretched and mourn'). Classical writers use it for those worn down by toil or calamity.

From the study of Romans 7:24

Range of meaning

Suffering hardship, distressed, miserable, unfortunate, pitiable (LSJ; BDAG: 'pertaining to being in a very unfortunate state, miserable, wretched, distressed'). The related noun talaipōria means misery or distress (Rom 3:16; Jas 5:1), and the verb talaipōreō means to be afflicted or to lament (Jas 4:9). The word describes a person's condition, someone in a bad way, rather than a moral judgement on that person.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, NIV and BSB all use 'wretched'. NLT's 'miserable' is closer to how the word sounds in Greek. The Latin Vulgate's infelix ('unhappy, ill-fated') shows that ancient readers also heard it as misery.

How it drifted

Older English 'wretched' (from wretch, originally an exile or outcast) meant mainly 'miserable, unfortunate', and it still can ('I feel wretched'). In church language, though, 'wretch' became a word for a vile sinner, as in hymns like 'saved a wretch like me'. Readers then hear 'O wretched man' as 'O worthless, contemptible man'. The Greek is a cry of distress from someone trapped. The misery here is caused by sin, but the word names the misery, not his worth.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament (Septuagint): Psalm 136:8 (Eng. 137:8), 'daughter of Babylon, the talaipōros', meaning the one doomed to ruin; Wisdom 3:11, 'whoever despises wisdom and instruction is talaipōros'; Wisdom 13:10, idolaters are talaipōroi because their hopes rest on dead things. New Testament: Revelation 3:17, where Laodicea does not know it is 'wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked', a list of conditions. The Stoic teacher Epictetus (c. AD 100) has a speaker say 'What am I? A miserable little man' (talaipōron anthrōparion, Discourses 1.3.5). Cries of 'miserable me!' were stock language in Greek tragedy and moral philosophy.