Word study
Sorrow
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: sorrow, sorrows. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “sorrow” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יָגוֹן yâgôngrief, sorrowtranslated this way 12 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H3015Noun · Translated: sorrow 12, grief 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Genesis 42:38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Esther 9:22 as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
- כַּעַס kaasvexation, angertranslated this way 5 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3708Noun · Translated: grief 5, anger 5, sorrow 5Full study and all 26 verses →
Psalm 31:9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
- מַכְאֹב makôbpaintranslated this way 4 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H4341Noun · Translated: pain 6, sorrows 3Full study and all 15 verses →
Psalm 32:10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
- קָדַר qâdarbe darktranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H6937Verb · Translated: grow dark 3, sorrow 2, mourn 2, darken 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Psalm 42:9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
Psalm 43:2 For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
- תּוּגָה tûgâhgrieftranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H8424Noun · Translated: sorrow 2, grief 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Psalm 119:28 My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word.
Proverbs 14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
- עַצֶּבֶת atstsebethhurt, injury, paintranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H6094Noun · Translated: sufferings 1, Sorrows 1, wounds 1, grief 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 16:4 Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips.
Proverbs 15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit.
Greek words (New Testament)
- λύπη lýpēpain, grieftranslated this way 9 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G3077Noun · Translated: sorrow 9, pain 2, painful 2, grief 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Luke 22:45 When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
John 16:6 Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.
- λυπέω lypéōI pain, grieve, vextranslated this way 7 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s G3076Verb · Translated: sorrow 5, grieve 5, grieved 4, deeply grieved 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 19:22 When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.
Mark 10:22 But the man was saddened by these words and went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.
- περίλυπος perílyposvery sorrowfultranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4036Adjective · Translated: consumed with sorrow 3, sad 1, sadness 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 26:38 Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
Mark 6:26 The king was consumed with sorrow, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about sorrow: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.