deeply grieved: sorrow so intense it overwhelms the whole person, grief pushed to its extreme
This word takes the plain term for grief (λύπη) and turns it up to its highest pitch. Its prefix piles intensity onto ordinary sorrow, so it describes not a passing sadness but a grief that overwhelms, the kind that can drive a person to wish for death. Ancient Greek writers used it for just that: sorrow so severe it became a crisis of the whole person.
It appears only five times in the New Testament, and each time at a moment of decision:
- Jesus in the garden, whose cry that his soul is grieved "even to death" echoes the lament of Psalm 42
- Herod, honestly grieved at the demand for John the Baptist's head yet unwilling to lose face before his dinner guests
- the rich ruler, who turns away in sorrow rather than give up his wealth
The same overwhelming grief runs through all three scenes, yet only one turns it toward obedience. Herod and the rich ruler feel sorrow every bit as deep, and both fail the moment anyway. That contrast is likely why the Gospel writers reach for this rare, weighty word at exactly these turning points.
Whether the second occurrence of περίλυπος at Luke 18:24 (Ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς περίλυπον γενόμενον) is original to Luke or a secondary repetition assimilated from v. 23.
- contestedThe participial phrase is a secondary addition; the shorter reading (Ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν) is original. It is supported by the primary Alexandrian witnesses, and NA28/UBS5 print the words in brackets to signal serious doubt.; Codex Sinaiticus (א), Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Regius (L), f1, 579, 1241, 2542; sa bo; B. M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (UBS, 1994), 143; I. H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 1978), 685-687; J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV (AB 28A; Doubleday, 1985), 1194-1207
- contestedThe words are original and were accidentally omitted; the abrupt shorter reading reads awkwardly without the participle. The phrase is supported by a broad range of later witnesses and versions.; Codices A, W, Theta, Psi, 078, f13, 33; the Byzantine tradition, Old Latin, Syriac, Gothic, Armenian; D. L. Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53 (BECNT; Baker, 1996), on 18:24
Disputed
Whether the prefix in περίλυπος is a plain intensifier ("very grieved") or preserves a spatial image of grief that surrounds and encloses the person.
- majorityThe prefix simply intensifies: the word means "very sorrowful, deeply grieved," parallel to other περι- compounds such as περιχαρής ("exceedingly joyful") and περιαλγής ("in great pain").; LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon, 1940 + 1996 Suppl.), s.v. περίλυπος; BDAG (Danker, ed.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (2000), 806; R. Bultmann, "λύπη κτλ.," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) IV.313-324; J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (UBS, 1989), 25.277; J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (1914-1929), s.v.
- minorityThe prefix keeps a residual spatial sense, so the word pictures grief that encompasses or surrounds the sufferer, though the same authorities still gloss it "very sad."; J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), s.v. περίλυπος; C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (TLNT), Eng. trans. J. D. Ernest (Hendrickson, 1994), 2:417-422