Hard
σκληρόςStrong’s G4642sklēros
Appears in 6 verses of the New Testament
In short
Sklēros is the Greek word usually translated “hard”, “difficult” and “strong”. It appears in 6 verses of the New Testament.
“To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Meaning
Usually translated “hard”, “difficult” and “strong”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- hard 3
- difficult 1
- strong 1
- harsh 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Acts 2
- Matthew 1
- John 1
- James 1
- Jude 1
5 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Matthew 25:24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
- John 6:60Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
- Acts 9:5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
- Acts 26:14And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
- James 3:4Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
Greek dictionary
σκληρός sklēros · hard
σκληρός, -ά, -όν (σκέλλω, to dry), [in LXX chiefly for קָשָׁה ;] hard to the touch, rough, harsh, (opposite to μαλακός); metaphorically, in various uses; (a) of men, hard, stern, severe: Mat.25:24; (b) of things, hard, rough, violent: σκληρόν σοι (ἐστι), Act.26:14; λόγος, Jhn.6:60; ἄνεμος, Jas.3:4; σκληρὰ λαλεῖν, Ju 15.† SYN.: αὐστηρός, q.v (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “hard” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
H'ARD, adjective
- Firm; solid; compact; not easily penetrated, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple.
- Difficult; not easy to the intellect.“In which are some things hard to be understood” 2 Peter 3:16“The hard causes they brought to Moses” Exodus 18:26
- Difficult of accomplishment; not easy to be done or executed.“Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14
- Full of difficulties or obstacles; not easy to be traveled; as a hard way.
All definitions and other forms of “hard”
- Painful; difficult; distressing.“Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor” Genesis 35:16
- Laborious; fatiguing; attended with difficulty or pain, or both; as hard work or labor; hard duty; hard service.
- Oppressive; rigorous; severe; cruel; as hard bondage; a hard master. Exodus 1:14Isaiah 14:3
- Unfeeling; insensible; not easily moved by pity; not susceptible of kindness, mercy or other tender affections; as a hard heart.
- Severe; harsh; rough; abusive.
- Unfavorable; unkind; implying blame of another; as hard thoughts.
- Severe; rigorous; oppressive.
- Unreasonable; unjust.
- Severe; pinching with cold; rigorous; tempestuous; as a hard winter; hard weather.
- Powerful; forcible; urging; pressing close on.
- Austere; rough; acid; sour; as liquors.
- Harsh; stiff; forced; constrained; unnatural.
- Not plentiful; not prosperous; pressing; distressing; as hard times, when markets are bad, and money of course scarce.
- Avaricious; difficult in making bargains; close. Matthew 25:24
- Rough; of coarse features; as a hard face or countenance.
- Austere; severe; rigorous.
- Rude; unpolished or unintelligible.“A people of hard language” Ezekiel 3:5
- Coarse; unpalatable or scanty; as hard fare.
H'ARD, adverb
Close; near; as in the phrase, hard by. In this phrase, the word retains its original sense of pressed, or pressing.
- With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; laboriously; earnestly; vehemently; importunately; as, to work hard for a living.
- With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard
- Uneasily; vexatiously.
- Closely; so as to raise difficulties.
- Fast; nimbly; rapidly; vehemently; as, to run hard that is, with pressure or urgency.
- Violently; with great force; tempestuously; as, the wind blows hard or it blows hard
- With violence; with a copious descent of water; as, it rains hard
- With force; as, to press hard
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.