CategoryDoctrine / Suffering and End-Times Term
Modern Equivalentaffliction; distress; severe trouble.
KJV Word TypeTheological noun
DefinitionTrouble, affliction, pressure, or distress. In the KJV, it can describe present suffering for believers or future end-times distress depending on context.
Key Verses"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33); "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time." (Matthew 24:21)
KJV Usage NoteMay refer generally to affliction or specifically to great end-times distress; context determines the meaning.
Common MisunderstandingIt does not always refer only to the final end-times period; it can also mean ordinary suffering or affliction.
EtymologyFrom Latin tribulatio, meaning distress or oppression.