Infirmity:
in-fur'-mi-ti (dawah, chalah, machalah; astheneia): This word is used either in the singular or plural (the latter only in the New Testament) and with somewhat varying signification.
(1) As sickness or bodily disease (Joh 5:5; Mt 8:17; Lu 5:15; 8:2; 1Ti 5:23). In the last instance the affections seem to have been dyspeptic, the discomfort of which might be relieved by alcohol, although the disease would not be cured thereby. It is probable that this condition of body produced a certain slackness in Timothy's work against which Paul several times cautions him. In Lu 7:21 the Revised Version (British and American) has "diseases," which is a better rendering of the Greek noson, used here, than the King James Version "infirmities."
(2) Imperfections or weaknesses of body (Ro 6:19; 2Co 11:30 the King James Version; 2Co 12:5,9,10 the King James Version; Ga 4:13).
(3) Moral or spiritual weaknesses and defects (Ps 77:10; Ro 8:26; 15:1; Heb 4:15; 5:2; 7:28). In this sense it is often used by the classic English writers, as in Milton's "the last infirmity of noble minds"; compare Caesar, IV, iii, 86. The infirmity which a man of resolution can keep under by his will (Pr 18:14) may be either moral or physical. In Lu 13:11 the woman's physical infirmity is ascribed to the influence of an evil spirit.
Written by Alexander Macalister
1 | Strong's Number: g769 | Greek: astheneia |
Infirmity:
lit., "want of strength" (a, negative, sthenos, "strength"), "weakness," indicating inability to produce results, is most frequently translated "infirmity," or "infirmities;" in Rom 8:26, the RV has "infirmity" (AV, "infirmities"); in 2Cr 12:5, 9, 10, "weaknesses" and in 2Cr 11:30, "weakness" (AV, "infirmities"); in Luk 13:11 the phrase "a spirit of infirmity" attributes her curvature directly to satanic agency. The connected phraseology is indicative of trained medical knowledge on the part of the writer.
2 | Strong's Number: g771 | Greek: asthenema |
Infirmity:
akin to No. 1, is found in the plural in Rom 15:1, "infirmities," i.e., those scruples which arise through weakness of faith. The strong must support the infirmities of the weak (adunatos) by submitting to self-restraint.
Note: In Luk 7:21, AV, nosos, "a disease," is translated "infirmities" (RV, "diseases").
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