"trouble, difficulty, uneasiness, Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6; labor, wearisome labor, travail, toil, 1 Cor. 3:8; 15:58; meton. the fruit or consequence of labor, Jn. 4:38; 2 Cor. 10:15"
Definition and meaning
trouble, difficulty, uneasiness, Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6; labor, wearisome labor, travail, toil, 1 Cor. 3:8; 15:58; meton. the fruit or consequence of labor, Jn. 4:38; 2 Cor. 10:15
In the original Greek the word is written: κόπος
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of kopos (G2873) across the King James Bible.
When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,
Are they ministers of Christ?(I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
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Common questions
Strong's G2873 (kopos) is a Greek word that means: trouble, difficulty, uneasiness, Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6; labor, wearisome labor, travail, toil, 1 Cor. 3:8; 15:58; meton. the fruit or consequence of labor, Jn. 4:38; 2 Cor. 10:15 It appears 18 times in the King James Bible.
The word kopos (G2873) appears 18 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G2873 is kopos, a Greek word defined as: trouble, difficulty, uneasiness, Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6; labor, wearisome labor, travail, toil, 1 Cor. 3:8; 15:58; meton. the fruit or consequence of lab. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
kopos is a Greek word found in the New Testament.