What is the meaning of woe in the Bible?

Answer

Woe means “grief, anguish, affliction, wretchedness, calamity, or trouble.” The Dictionary of Bible Themes categorizes the uses of the word woe in the Bible as follows: “Woe as an exclamation of judgment on others,” “Woe as an exclamation of misfortune on oneself,” “Woe as an exclamation of sadness over others,” and “Woe may lead to forgiveness, comfort, and deliverance” (Manser, M., ed., Zondervan, 1999).

At times in the Bible, the suffering individual has brought about their own woeful condition as a natural consequence of foolish choices (see Proverbs 23:29-30). More frequently, woe is associated with sin and rebellion against God, and the resulting judgments are termed “woes.” In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces seven “woes” on the hypocrites of His time; in Revelation, a series of God’s final judgments on humanity are referred to as the three “woes.”

Dr. John MacArthur examines Jesus’ use of woe in the Bible: “In His rebuke of the false Jewish leaders, Jesus consistently used two words, woe, and hypocrites” (emphasis added by the author). MacArthur further states, “However, Jesus employed Woe against the scribes and Pharisees not merely as an exclamation but as a declaration, a divine pronouncement of judgment from God. . . . As previously mentioned, it was not His wish for them to be condemned but rather for them to repent and find salvation. Yet, He knew that if they did not repent and believe, they were destined for hell under God’s righteous and just wrath. When God proclaims Woe against wicked individuals, He initiates divine judgment” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 16—23, ch. 35, Moody Publishers, 1988, p. 375).

The intense language of the Old Testament employs the term woe in various passages of judgment. For instance, in Ezekiel 16:23–27, we encounter God’s wrath towards Jerusalem due to their idolatry: “Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord.”

God” (verse 26). In 1 Samuel 4:6–8, we see that even pagans feared the presence of God and the woes that He could bring upon them: “And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, ‘What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?’ Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, ‘God has come into the camp!’ And they said, ‘Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness’” (NASB). Hosea, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and many other prophets pronounced woe against sinful people (Hosea 7:13; Zephaniah 2:5; Habakkuk 2:15).

Job understood that sin leads to woe: “If I am guilty—woe to me!” «If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; Therefore see thou mine affliction; », (Job 10:15). And in this we see the way to avoid woe: be forgiven. The Bible says that forgiveness of sin comes through Jesus Christ. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, God cleanses guilty sinners and declares them to be righteous in His sight. The command is to repent and believe in Christ (Matthew 4:17; Acts 16:31). “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” « There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. », (Romans 8:1). Hard times may come in this life, but the one who has faith in Christ will never know the eternal woe of God’s judgment.