Word study
Trouble
9 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: trouble, troubled, troubles, troubling. 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 “trouble” 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)
- צָרָה tsârâhid.translated this way 27 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H6869Noun · Translated: distress 30, trouble 20, troubles 6, anguish 5Full study and all 72 verses →
Judges 10:14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”
1 Samuel 26:24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and rescue me from all trouble.”
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 23 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Exodus 5:19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
Deuteronomy 31:17 On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’
- עָמָל âmâltrouble, labour, toiltranslated this way 14 times of its 55 uses · Strong’s H5999Noun · Translated: labor 15, trouble 14, toil 4, misery 4Full study and all 54 verses →
Numbers 23:21 He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.
Job 4:8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- עָכַר âkarstir up, disturb, troubletranslated this way 10 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H5916Verb · Translated: brought trouble 3, brings trouble 3Full study and all 13 verses →
Genesis 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
Joshua 7:25 “Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
- צַר tsarnarrow, tighttranslated this way 7 times of its 110 uses · Strong’s H6862Noun · Translated: enemies 22, foes 22, distress 18, enemy 10Full study and all 106 verses →
Job 38:23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
- רָעַע râabe evil, badtranslated this way 5 times of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7489Verb · Translated: wicked 9, harm 8, evil 8, evildoers 8Full study and all 97 verses →
Genesis 43:6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”
Exodus 5:22 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
- פָּעַם pâamthrust, impeltranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H6470Verb · Translated: troubled 3, stir 1, anxious 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Genesis 41:8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
Psalm 77:4 You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
- רֹגֶז rôgezagitation, excitement, ragingtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7267Noun · Translated: trouble 2, raging 1, thunder 1, excitement 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Job 3:26 I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”
Job 14:1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- קָשֶׁה qâshehhard, severetranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H7186Adjective · Translated: stiff-necked 6, harshly 5, hard 3, stubborn 2Full study and all 35 verses →
1 Samuel 1:15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
Job 30:25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
Greek words (New Testament)
- θλῖψις thlîpsispersecution, affliction, distresstranslated this way 10 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s G2347Noun · Translated: tribulation 9, affliction 6, trouble 5, troubles 5Full study and all 43 verses →
Matthew 13:21 But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Mark 4:17 But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
- ταράσσω tarássōI agitate, stir up, troubletranslated this way 8 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G5015Verb · Translated: troubled 5, terrified 2, troubling 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Luke 24:38 “Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
John 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
- ἐνοχλέω enochléōI disturb, cause tumulttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1776Verb · Translated: troubled 1, cause trouble 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 6:18 They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.
Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
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 trouble: 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.