International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Tribulation

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Tribulation


Subjects in this Topic:

trib-ū́-lā´shun (צר, car, צר, cār, “staid,” “narrow,” “pent up”; compare ):

1. In the Old Testament:

Closely pressed, as of seals ( (7)); of streams pent up ( margin); of strength limited (, “small”). Hence, figuratively, of straitened circumstances; variously rendered “affliction,” “tribulation,” “distress” (; ; ; ; ; ; , etc.; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ). Frequently, the feminine form (צרה, cārāh) is similarly rendered “tribulation” ( the King James Version; the King James Version; ); in other places “distress,” “affliction” (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

2. In the New Testament:

The Greek is θλίψις, thlı́psis, a “pressing together” (as of grapes), squeezing or pinching (from verb θλίβω, thlı́bō); used figuratively for “distress,” “tribulation”; Septuagint for car and cārāh; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) tribulatio pressura (from tribulum, “a threshing sledge”). The verb form is rendered “suffer tribulation” ( the King James Version, “suffer affliction” the Revised Version (British and American)); “trouble” ( the King James Version, “afflict” the Revised Version (British and American); compare ; ; ; ; ). The noun form is rendered in the King James Version variously as “tribulation,” “affliction,” “persecution,” though more uniformly “tribulation” in the Revised Version (British and American). The word is used generally of the hardships which Christ's followers would suffer (; , , ; ; , ; ; ); or which they are now passing through (; ; ; ); or through which they have already come (; ; ).