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AFFLICTION.—In AV of the Gospels ‘affliction’ occurs only twice (Mar_4:17; Mar_13:19), corresponding both times to èëῖøéò in the original. RV gives ‘tribulation’—its invariable rendering of èëῖøéò except in Joh_16:21, where, like AV, it has ‘anguish.’ In Mat_24:9 AV translates åἰò èëῖøéí ‘to be afflicted’ (RV ‘unto tribulation’). In all remaining cases it renders èëῖøéò by ‘tribulation’ (Mat_13:21; Mat_24:21; Mat_24:29, Mar_13:24, Joh_16:33). The Greek èëῖøéò (WH èëßøéò ) signifies literally ‘pressing together,’ ‘pressure’ (cf. ὁäὸò ôåèëéììÝíç in Mat_7:14 of the ‘straitened way’; ἵíá ìὴ èëßâùóéí áὐôüí , ‘lest they should throng him,’ in Mar_3:9). In classical Greek it is found infrequently, and with its literal meaning only. In Biblical Greek, where the metaphorical significance prevails, it is of much commoner occurrence, always possessing a passive sense, and usually suggesting ‘sufferings inflicted from without’ (Lightfoot).
In the sayings of Christ the word bears three references. It denotes the persecution to which His followers will be subjected, and by which their loyalty will be tested (Mar_4:17 = Mat_13:21; Mat_24:9, Joh_16:33). It describes the privations and sufferings (not, as above, necessarily induced by His service) attendant upon a great national or universal crisis (Mar_13:19; Mar_13:24 = Mat_24:21; Mat_24:29). And, finally, it is employed in one of His illustrations to indicate a woman’s pangs in childbirth (Joh_16:21, Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘anguish’). See, further, artt. Persecution, Suffering, Tribulation.
H. Bisseker.