sor'-o (chebhel, yaghon, makh'obh, etc.; lupe): The Old Testament has very many words translated "sorrow," those named being the most frequent; in the New Testament "sorrow" is usually the translation of lupe (Lu 22:45; Joh 16:6; 2Co 2:3,7, etc.). Penthos, translated "sorrow" in Re 18:7; 21:4, is in the Revised Version (British and American) "mourning." Odune, of pain-and distress, is thus rendered in Ro 9:2; 1Ti 6:10 (compare the verb in Lu 2:48; Ac 20:38). the Revised Version (British and American) frequently gives a more literal rendering of the words used, as "toil" (Ge 3:17), "pangs" (Ex 15:14), "pining" (De 28:65), "distress" (Isa 5:30), "lamentation" (Isa 29:2), etc.; sometimes also it uses "sorrow" for other words, as for "grief" (2Ch 6:29; Ps 31:10; 69:26; etc.; 2Co 2:5), "heaviness" (Ro 9:2; 2Co 2:1).
⇒See a list of verses on SORROW in the Bible.
Sorrow or grief is necessary for discipline, for the development of the finer feelings and higher nature of the soul and spirit (Ec 7:3, "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad," margin "better"). Sorrow inevitably follows sin, and is its punishment, yet the righteous are not exempt from it. The "Servant of Yahweh" was "a man of sorrows" (Isa 53:3). Christians learn how to be "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2Co 6:10; 7:4; Col 1:24; 1Th 1:6; etc.). In the New Jerusalem it is predicted that there shall be no sorrow, for sorrow shall have done its work, and the first things have passed away (Re 21:4).
W. L. Walker