What does λύπη (lýpē) mean in the Bible?
Lypē names sorrow, grief, or distress. Its New Testament uses acknowledge grief without treating every sorrow as identical.
Greek · G3077
λύπη
Sadness
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λύπη G3077
Pronunciation lýpē
What does λύπη (lýpē) mean in the Bible?
Lypē names sorrow, grief, or distress. Its New Testament uses acknowledge grief without treating every sorrow as identical.
Reader summary
Full entry for λύπη (G3077) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3077?
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sorrow (8), grief (1), grieved (1), pain (1), painful (1).
Where does λύπη (lýpē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 22:45. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (6), John (4), Philippians (2), 1 Peter (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Lypē names sorrow, grief, or distress. Its New Testament uses acknowledge grief without treating every sorrow as identical. The disciples sleep from sorrow in Gethsemane, overwhelmed as Jesus faces the cup. In John 16 grief fills them because Jesus announces His departure, yet He promises that their sorrow will turn to joy. Paul speaks of profound grief over Israel's unbelief and manages painful relationships with the Corinthians so that discipline and reconciliation serve love.
In Philippians, Epaphroditus's recovery spares Paul sorrow upon sorrow. The noun can describe faithful compassion, exhausted distress, or pain that God transforms. Scripture gives grief a voice while refusing both stoic denial and hopeless finality.
How the Bible Uses It
Lypē describes real emotional pain: exhausted disciples, friends facing Jesus' departure, Paul's anguish for Israel, strained church relationships, and fear of bereavement. The passages neither condemn grief as such nor enthrone it. They place sorrow before Christ, within love, and under resurrection-shaped hope.
- Luke.22.45
When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
Luke 22:45 says Jesus found the disciples sleeping from sorrow. Their grief helps explain their exhaustion but does not erase His command to rise and pray against temptation.
- John.16.6
Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.
John 16:6 names sorrow filling the disciples' hearts after Jesus speaks of departure. The discourse goes on to promise the Spirit and a joy no one can take away.
- Rom.9.2
I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Romans 9:2 introduces Paul's great sorrow and unceasing anguish for his fellow Israelites. His grief flows from love and frames the difficult argument about God's promise and mercy.
- 2Cor.2.1
So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
Second Corinthians 2:1 shows Paul deciding not to make another painful visit. His pastoral judgment seeks repentance and restored joy rather than using authority to deepen grief unnecessarily.
- Phil.2.27
He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
Philippians 2:27 says God had mercy on Epaphroditus and on Paul, sparing him sorrow upon sorrow. Paul freely names the emotional mercy he received through his coworker's recovery.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It sorrow 8× Luke 22:45, John 16:22, Romans 9:2, 2 Corinthians 2:7
grief 1× John 16:20
grieved 1× 2 Corinthians 2:3
pain 1× John 16:21
painful 1× Hebrews 12:11
painful {visit} 1× 2 Corinthians 2:1
regret 1× 2 Corinthians 9:7
the pain 1× 1 Peter 2:19
with sorrow 1× John 16:6
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 22:45 λύπης to sorrow Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular John 16:6 λύπη to with sorrow Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular John 16:20 λύπη to grief Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular John 16:21 λύπην to pain Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular John 16:22 λύπην to sorrow Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Romans 9:2 λύπη to sorrow Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 2:1 λύπῃ to painful {visit} Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 2:3 λύπην to grieved Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 2:7 λύπῃ to sorrow Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 7:10 λύπη to sorrow Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 22:45
Aligned rows 16
Books represented 7
Luke 1 John 4 Romans 1 2 Corinthians 6 Philippians 2 Hebrews 1 1 Peter 1
Source forms
λύπη 5x lypē John 16:6, John 16:20, Romans 9:2, 2 Corinthians 7:10
λύπην 5x lypēn John 16:21, John 16:22, 2 Corinthians 2:3, Philippians 2:27
λύπης 3x lypēs Luke 22:45, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 12:11
λύπῃ 2x lypē 2 Corinthians 2:1, 2 Corinthians 2:7
λύπας 1x lypas 1 Peter 2:19
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 5x John 16:21, John 16:22, 2 Corinthians 2:3, Philippians 2:27
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 5x John 16:6, John 16:20, Romans 9:2, 2 Corinthians 7:10
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 3x Luke 22:45, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 12:11
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x 2 Corinthians 2:1, 2 Corinthians 2:7
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x 1 Peter 2:19
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not shame grief or treat visible sorrow as evidence of deficient faith.
- Do not promise that every grief will reverse quickly or in the precise form a sufferer desires.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not shame grief or treat visible sorrow as evidence of deficient faith.
- Do not promise that every grief will reverse quickly or in the precise form a sufferer desires.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Grief that can be either worldly despair or redemptive sorrow leading to repentance and transformation.
Strong's G3077
Lexical occurrences 16 verses Greek text appearances 16 times Word forms 5 forms 16 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
sadness
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 22:45 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
λύπης, luphv
pain, grief
Read verse John 16:6 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λύπη luph
pain, grief
Read verse John 16:20 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λύπη luph
pain, grief
Read verse John 16:21 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λύπην luphn
pain, grief
Read verse John 16:22 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λύπην luphn
pain, grief
Read verse Romans 9:2 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λύπη luph
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 2:1 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
λύπῃ luph
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 2:3 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λύπην luphn
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 2:7 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
λύπῃ luph
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 7:10 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λύπη luph
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 7:10 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λύπη luph
pain, grief
Read verse 2 Corinthians 9:7 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
λύπης luphv
pain, grief
Read verse Philippians 2:27 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λύπην luphn
pain, grief
Read verse Philippians 2:27 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
λύπῃ luph
pain, grief
Read verse Hebrews 12:11 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
λύπης· luphv
pain, grief
Read verse 1 Peter 2:19 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
λύπας, lupav
pain, grief
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 5 Aligned forms 16 Case pattern Accusative (6) Number pattern Singular (15)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine John 16:6 · John 16:20 · Rom 9:2 · 2 Cor 7:10 5×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Luke 22:45 · 2 Cor 9:7 · Heb 12:11 3×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 2 Cor 2:1 · 2 Cor 2:7 2×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine John 16:21 · John 16:22 · 2 Cor 2:3 · Phil 2:27 5×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine 1 Pet 2:19 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
John 16:16-33 λϬη lýpē
sorrow, grief
Showing 1 selected witness from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
λύπη is a primary word - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Temporary anguish preceding resurrection joy.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Lypē gives pastoral language for sorrow that is neither shameful nor sovereign. The disciples can be physically overcome by grief, Paul can carry anguish for unbelieving kinsmen, and the possible death of a coworker can threaten sorrow upon sorrow. These are not failures of Christian seriousness. They reveal love, limitation, and the painful conditions of ministry in a fallen world.
At the same time, each context keeps grief from becoming the whole story. Jesus calls grieving disciples to prayer. He promises that departure sorrow will become durable joy. Paul uses authority to seek repentance and shared gladness rather than emotional control. Christian care should therefore make room for lament, resist impatient fixes, and help sufferers take the next faithful step named by Scripture.
Hope does not deny sorrow; in Christ, it gives sorrow a horizon.
Anchor passage
John.16.6
Doctrinal connections
- Christology: the disciples' sorrow is transformed through Jesus' death, resurrection, and return.
- Holy Spirit: John answers departure grief with the promised ministry of the Helper.
- Prayer and temptation: sorrowful exhaustion requires compassionate vigilance, not contempt.
- Mission and election: Paul's grief for Israel accompanies rather than cancels confidence in God's word and mercy.
- Church discipline: pastoral correction should aim at repentance, reconciliation, and shared joy.
- Providence and mercy: Epaphroditus's recovery is received as mercy toward both the sick man and his grieving friend.
Lypē denotes sorrow, grief, distress, or pain. The related verb lypeō means to grieve or cause sorrow. The noun itself does not specify whether sorrow is godly, worldly, temporary, or enduring; the cause and response do.
From Old to New Testament
The Psalms teach God's people to lament without hiding anguish, and the prophets hold communal grief together with promised restoration. Isaiah anticipates the Man of Sorrows, while the New Testament locates final consolation in Christ's victory and return.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain