Sick, Sickly, Sickness - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Sick, Sickly, Sickness

[ A-1,Verb,G770, astheneo ]
lit., to be weak, feeble" (a, negative, sthenos, "strength"), is translated "to be sick," e.g., in Matthew 10:8, "(the) sick;" Matthew 25:36; Matthew 25:39 in the best texts (some have B, No. 1); Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; Luke 7:10 (RV omits the word); Luke 9:2; John 4:46; John 5:3, RV (AV, "impotent folk"); John 5:7; John 6:2, RV (AV, "were diseased"); 11:1-3,6; Acts 9:37; Acts 19:12; Philippians 2:26-Philippians 2:27; 2 Timothy 4:20; James 5:14. See DISEASED, B, No. 1, IMPOTENT, and, especially, WEAK.

[ A-2,Verb,G2577, kamno ]
primarily, "to work," hence, from the effect of constant work, "to be weary," Hebrews 12:3, is rendered "(him) that is sick," in James 5:15, RV, AV "(the) sick." The choice of this verb instead of the repetition of No. 1 (James 5:14, See above), is suggestive of the common accompaniment of "sickness," "weariness of mind" (which is the meaning of this verb), which not infrequently hinders physical recovery; hence this special cause is here intimated in the general idea of "sickness." In some mss. it occurs in Revelation 2:3. In the Sept., Job 10:1; Job 17:2.

[ A-3,Verb,G4912, sunecho ]
"to hold in, hold fast," is used, in the Passive Voice, of "being seized or afficted by ills," Acts 28:8, "sick" (of the father of Publius, cp. Matthew 4:24; Luke 4:38, "taken with"). See CONSTRAIN, No. 3.

Notes:

(1) Noseo, "to be sick," is used metaphorically of mental ailment, in 1 Timothy 6:4, "doting" (marg., "sick").

(2) The adverb kakos, "evilly ill," with echo, "to hold, to have," is rendered "to be sick," in Matthew 4:24, RV, "that were sick;" Matthew 8:16; Matthew 9:12; Matthew 14:35; Mark 1:32, RV (AV, "diseased"); Mark 1:34; Mark 2:17; Mark 6:55; Luke 5:31; Luke 7:2.

(3) For "sick of the palsy," Luke 5:24; Acts 9:33, See PALSY (sick of).

[ B-1,Adjective,G772, asthenes ]
lit., "without strength," hence, "feeble, weak," is used of "bodily debility," Matthew 25:43 (for Matthew 25:39, See A, No. 1), Matthew 25:44; some texts have it in Luke 9:2 (the best omit it, the meaning being "to heal" in general); Luke 10:9; Acts 5:15-Acts 5:16; in Acts 4:9 it is rendered "impotent." See FEEBLE, IMPOTENT, WEAK.

[ B-2,Adjective,G732, arrhostos ]
"feeble, sickly" (a, negative, rhonnumi, "to be strong"), is translated "sick" in Matthew 14:14; Mark 16:18; "sick folk" in Mark 6:5; "that were sick" in Mark 6:13; "sickly" in 1 Corinthians 11:30, here also of the physical state. In the Sept., 1 Kings 14:5; Malachi 1:8.

[ C-1,Noun,G769, astheneia ]
"weakness, sickness" (akin to A, No. 1 and B, No. 1), is translated "sickness" in John 11:4. See DISEASE, No. 1, INFIRMITY, WEAKNESS.

[ C-2,Noun,G3554, nosos ]
See DISEASE, No. 3.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words