μόλις

with difficulty, hardly

Definition

The adverb μόλις primarily means 'with difficulty,' 'hardly,' or 'scarcely.' It describes actions or events that are barely achieved, often against significant obstacles or after great effort. In Acts 27:7-8, it describes the ship's difficult and slow progress against the wind. In a more abstract sense, in Romans 5:7, it is used to express the extreme rarity ('hardly') of someone dying for a righteous person, contrasting with Christ's death for sinners. In 1 Peter 4:18, it intensifies a quotation from Proverbs 11:31 to emphasize the immense difficulty for the righteous to be saved, highlighting the severity of God's judgment.

Biblical Usage

Μόλις is used six times in the New Testament, predominantly in narrative contexts describing physical difficulty. Four of its occurrences are in Acts 27 (verses 7, 8, 16) detailing the perilous sea voyage of Paul, emphasizing the struggle against natural forces. The other two uses are in doctrinal passages: Romans 5:7 uses it figuratively for the scarcity of a certain kind of human sacrifice, and 1 Peter 4:18 applies it to the concept of salvation under judgment. This shows a pattern of usage for both tangible hardship and weighty spiritual concepts.

Etymology

Derived from the Greek root μόλος, meaning 'toil' or 'struggle.' It is related to the adjective μόλις itself, which conveys the sense of being 'hard' or 'grievous.' The word fundamentally carries the idea of something achieved only through laborious effort, which directly informs its New Testament meanings of 'with difficulty' or 'scarcely.'

Semantic Range

Μόλις is theologically significant in its two epistolary uses. In Romans 5:7, it underscores the extraordinary nature of Christ's love by contrasting it with the human behavior that is 'hardly' ever seen. In 1 Peter 4:18, its use in a quotation about salvation and judgment forces the reader to grapple with the serious difficulty and cost associated with God's deliverance and purification of His people, moving beyond a simplistic view of salvation. Understanding this Greek term enriches reading by highlighting the contrast between human limitation and divine grace, and the sobering reality of God's refining judgment.

In a Greco-Roman cultural context, the word's association with toil and maritime struggle (as seen in Acts) would have been immediately familiar to an audience acquainted with the dangers and unpredictable difficulties of sea travel. Its use to express rarity or extreme scarcity (Romans 5:7) also aligns with classical Greek usage, making Paul's argument about the uniqueness of Christ's sacrifice resonate within that framework of thought.

μόγις (mogis, G3425) — A near synonym also meaning 'with difficulty' or 'hardly,' but used only once in the New Testament (Luke 9:39), making μόλις the more common term. δυσ- (dys-) prefix — A prefix meaning 'bad,' 'hard,' or 'ill,' used in compounds like δυσερμήνευτος (hard to explain, Hebrews 5:11) to convey similar ideas of difficulty.

Word Details

Scripture References