James 4:9

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ταλαιπωρήσατε, καὶ πενθήσατε, καὶ κλαύσατε: ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μεταστραφήτω, καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν.

Transliteration

Talaipōrēsate, and penthēsate, and klausate: the gelōs of you into penthos metastraphētō, and the chara into katēpheian.

Grammar Details

• *Talaipōrēsate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - be wretched/lament
• *penthēsate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - mourn/grieve
• *klausate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - weep/wail
• *gelōs*: nominative, masculine, singular - laughter
• *penthos*: accusative, neuter, singular - mourning/grief
• *metastraphētō*: aorist passive imperative, 3rd singular - let be turned/transformed
• *chara*: nominative, feminine, singular - joy/gladness
• *katēpheian*: accusative, feminine, singular - gloom/dejection

Word Meanings

• *Talaipōrēsate*: be wretched/lament/endure hardship
• *penthēsate*: mourn/grieve/lament
• *klausate*: weep/wail/cry
• *gelōs*: laughter
• *penthos*: mourning/grief/sorrow
• *metastraphētō*: let be turned/transformed/changed
• *chara*: joy/gladness/delight
• *katēpheian*: gloom/dejection/downcast face

Referenced Verses

• Prov 14:13 : 13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
• Matt 5:4 : 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
• Luke 6:25 : 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
• Jer 31:18-20 : 18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
• Ezek 16:63 : 63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
• Jas 5:1-2 : 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
• Rev 18:7-8 : 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
• Ps 126:5-6 : 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
• Zech 12:10-14 : 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
• Lam 5:15 : 15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
• Ezek 7:16 : 16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
• Luke 16:25 : 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
• 2 Cor 7:10-11 : 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
• Luke 6:21 : 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
• Eccl 2:2 : 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
• Eccl 7:2-6 : 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
• Isa 22:12-13 : 12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
• Jer 31:9 : 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
• Job 30:31 : 31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
• Ps 119:67 : 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
• Ps 119:71 : 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
• Ps 119:136 : 136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
• Jer 31:13 : 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.