Word study
Suffer
3 Hebrew and 8 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: suffer, suffering, suffered, sufferings, suffers. 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 “suffer” 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)
- נְזַק nezaqsuffer injurytranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H5142Verb · Translated: suffer 1, harmful 1, interests to suffer 1, suffer loss 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Ezra 4:13 Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
Daniel 6:2 and over them three administrators, including Daniel, to whom these satraps were accountable so that the king would not suffer loss.
- עָנָה ânâhbe occupied, busied withtranslated this way 3 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H6031Verb · Translated: afflicted 15, humble 12, oppress 5, afflict 4Full study and all 78 verses →
1 Kings 2:26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”
Psalm 107:17 Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
- מַכְאֹב makôbpaintranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H4341Noun · Translated: pain 6, sorrows 3Full study and all 15 verses →
Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
Lamentations 1:18 The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πάσχω páschōI am acted upon, suffertranslated this way 40 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s G3958Verb · Translated: suffer 20, suffered 14, suffering 5, borne 1Full study and all 41 verses →
Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Mark 8:31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.
- πάθημα páthēmasuffering, passiontranslated this way 14 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G3804Noun · Translated: sufferings 10, passions 2, suffering 2, suffered 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.
2 Corinthians 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
- θλῖψις thlîpsispersecution, affliction, distresstranslated this way 6 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s G2347Noun · Translated: tribulation 9, affliction 6, trouble 5, troubles 5Full study and all 43 verses →
Acts 7:11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
Romans 5:3 Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
- συνέχω synéchōI press together, confine, compel, am afflicted withtranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4912Verb · Translated: suffering 3Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.
Luke 4:38 After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf,
- συγκακοπαθέω synkakopathéōI suffer hardships together withtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4777Verb · Translated: join me in suffering 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
2 Timothy 2:3 Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- κακοπαθέω kakopathéōI suffer evil, endure afflictiontranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2553Verb · Translated: suffer 1, endure hardship 1, suffering 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Timothy 2:9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
James 5:13 Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
- συμπάσχω sympáschōI suffer together withtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4841Verb · Translated: suffer 1, suffers 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 8:17 And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
- εἰμί eimíI am, existtranslated this way 2 times of its 2,236 uses · Strong’s G1510Verb · Translated: is 523, are 214, was 183, am 83Full study and all 1,922 verses →
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.
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.