ἀσθενής
asthenēs
weak
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἀσθενής (asthenēs) is defined as "weak." In the context of the Semantic domain of Body & Health, this word suggests a lack of physical strength or vitality. The 20 occurrences of this word in the Bible indicate its significance in various aspects of human life, from physical well-being to spiritual resilience. The range of usage for ἀσθενής is broad, as it can describe physical weakness, emotional vulnerability, or spiritual frailty. In biblical contexts, this word is often used to convey a sense of human limitation or dependence on God. For example, when Jesus says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), he is expressing a sense of emotional and spiritual weakness in the face of death. The significance of ἀσθενής lies in its recognition of human fragility and the need for divine support. By acknowledging our weaknesses, we are reminded of our dependence on God and the importance of seeking His strength and guidance in times of need.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
20 total occurrences across the text
Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14:38Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Acts 4:9if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
Romans 5:6For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
1 Corinthians 1:25because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:27but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong.
1 Corinthians 4:10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor.
1 Corinthians 8:7However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
1 Corinthians 8:9But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak.
1 Corinthians 8:10For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
1 Corinthians 9:22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
1 Corinthians 9:22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
1 Corinthians 9:22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
1 Corinthians 11:30For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
1 Corinthians 12:22No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
2 Corinthians 10:10For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”
Galatians 4:9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
1 Thessalonians 5:14We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all.
Hebrews 7:18For there is an annulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and uselessness
1 Peter 3:7You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also being joint heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.