Lectionary Calendar
Friday, December 13th, 2024
the Second Week of Advent
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Bible Dictionaries
Comfort

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Colt
Next Entry
Comforter
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

COMFORT , from late Lat. confortare , ‘to strengthen,’ ‘reinforce,’ denoted in old Eng. ( a ) physical, or ( b ) mental refreshment of an active kind ( invigoration, encouragement ) obsolete meanings. In modern use it denotes ( c ) mental refreshment of the softer kind ( consolation ). Sense ( a ) appears in Genesis 18:6 , Judges 19:5; Judges 19:8 , Song of Solomon 2:5; ( c ) elsewhere in OT. In NT, ‘comfort’ usually represents a Gr. verb and noun, common in Paul, which include any kind of animating address; in this connexion the sense ( b ) prevails, as in Acts 9:31; Acts 16:40 , Romans 1:12; Romans 15:4 , 2 Corinthians 13:11 etc.; the tenderer signification ( c ) appears in Matthew 5:4 , 2 Corinthians 1:3 ff. etc. For the above Gr. noun , however, AV [Note: Authorized Version.] fourteen times writes ‘ consolation ’ (interchanging ‘comfort’ and ‘consolation’ in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ), alike in senses ( b ) and ( c ): this RV [Note: Revised Version.] replaces seven times (in Paul) by ‘comfort.’ ‘Comfort’ is also in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] the rendering of a second and rarer group of Gr. words denoting consolation (in sorrow): so in John 11:19; Joh 11:31 , 1 Corinthians 14:3 , and Philippians 2:1 (cf. AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; the original of ‘comfort’ ( soothing ) in Colossians 4:11 is an isolated expression kindred to the last. ‘Of good comfort’ in Philippians 2:19 renders a fourth Gr. word = in good heart, cheerful; while ‘of good comfort’ in Matthew 9:22 || = of good cheer in Matthew 9:2 and elsewhere (so RV [Note: Revised Version.] here, and in Mark 10:49 ).

For OT and NT, comfort has its source in the tender love of God for His people, and for the individual soul; it is mediated (in the NT) by the sympathy of Christ, the visitings of the Holy Spirit, the help of brethren, and the hope of glory; it counteracts the troubles of life, and the discouragement of work for God: see esp. John 16:33 , Romans 5:2-5 , 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 .

G. G. Findlay.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Comfort'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hdb/​c/comfort.html. 1909.
 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile