What Does “Affliction” Mean in the Bible?
A very great sadness or suffering.
It can mean
- In the Bible: when Mary found Jesus in the Temple, she told him that she and Joseph had been looking for him “sorrowing,” full of affliction.
- God sees it: God told Moses that he had seen the affliction of his people in Egypt.
Where it appears in the Bible
Luke 2:48; Acts 7:34; Isaiah 40:2
What the Bible says
Luke 2:48
And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Acts 7:34
Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, and I will send thee into Egypt.
Isaiah 40:2
Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Dictionary.com, “affliction”