"Wo! Alas! Mt. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 14, 15, 16; ἡ οὐαί, subst., a woe, calamity, Rev. 9:12; 11:14"
Definition and meaning
Wo! Alas! Mt. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 14, 15, 16; ἡ οὐαί, subst., a woe, calamity, Rev. 9:12; 11:14
In the original Greek the word is written: οὐαί
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 ouai (G3759) across the King James Bible.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
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Common questions
Strong's G3759 (ouai) is a Greek word that means: Wo! Alas! Mt. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 14, 15, 16; ἡ οὐαί, subst., a woe, calamity, Rev. 9:12; 11:14 It appears 36 times in the King James Bible.
The word ouai (G3759) appears 36 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G3759 is ouai, a Greek word defined as: Wo! Alas! Mt. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 14, 15, 16; ἡ οὐαί, subst., a woe, calamity, Rev. 9:12; 11:14. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
ouai is a Greek word found in the New Testament.