STRONGS NT 1652: ἐλεινός [ἐλεινός, see ἐληινος.]

The term ἐλεεινός (Strong’s Greek 1652) denotes a condition evoking mercy or pity—“wretched,” “miserable,” “pitiable.” It exposes a state in which human self-assessment collides with divine evaluation, unveiling the tragic poverty of a soul detached from the life and power of the risen Christ.

Biblical Occurrences

1. 1 Corinthians 15:19 — “If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
2. Revelation 3:17 — “You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”

Contextual Insights

1 Corinthians 15:19
• Immediate Context: Paul defends the bodily resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, asserting that without it Christian proclamation and faith are “vain” (verse 14). In verse 19 he presses the logic home: a merely temporal Christianity leaves believers in a pitiable delusion, burdened with sacrifice now yet devoid of ultimate reward.
• Broader Theme: The verse ties “wretchedness” not to moral failure but to theological deficit—life without resurrection hope. Such a perspective underlines the centrality of eschatology to Christian joy, endurance, and witness.

Revelation 3:17
• Immediate Context: The letter to Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) unmasks a church self-assured in material prosperity. Christ’s verdict, “You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,” employs ἐλεεινός to puncture complacency and summon repentance.
• Broader Theme: Spiritual lukewarmness masquerading as success is rendered pitiable. The economy of heaven reverses earthly assessments: those sure of their sufficiency are, before God, destitute.

Doctrinal Themes

Resurrection Hope
• The resurrection shifts believers from pitiable to privileged. Verse 20 immediately answers Paul’s lament: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” converting potential misery into triumphant certainty.

True Wealth versus False Security
• Revelation 3:17 stands as a perpetual warning against equating material comfort with divine favor. Salvation, not affluence, secures blessedness.

Divine Compassion
• Implicit in ἐλεεινός is God’s readiness to extend mercy. Recognition of one’s pitiable state precedes reception of grace (cf. Revelation 3:18, Christ’s counsel to “buy from Me gold refined by fire”).

Historical Reception

Early Church Fathers
• Irenaeus cited 1 Corinthians 15 to refute Gnostic denial of bodily resurrection, judging such teaching to render Christians “most wretched.”
• Chrysostom, commenting on Revelation 3:17, warned that self-deception in prosperity erodes watchfulness, leaving souls exposed to judgment.

Liturgical Usage
• Paschal liturgies emphasize 1 Corinthians 15:19-22, celebrating deliverance from pitiable mortality through the risen Lord.
• Revelation 3:17 shaped penitential prayers, especially in Lenten traditions highlighting spiritual poverty.

Pastoral Application

Spiritual Diagnostics
• ἐλεεινός urges churches and individuals to submit self-assessment to Christ’s penetrating gaze. Material indicators, ministry success, or cultural approval cannot substitute for genuine fellowship with the Savior.

Gospel Preaching
• Evangelism must drive beyond moral improvement to the resurrection. Without the risen Christ, goodwill and ethics leave hearers “most pitiable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Stewardship and Wealth
• The Laodicean rebuke informs teaching on stewardship: possessions are tools for kingdom service, never barometers of spiritual health.

Comfort for the Afflicted
• Believers crushed by hardship may recall that Paul’s “most pitiable” condition is hypothetical. Because Christ lives, present suffering participates in future glory (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Related Words and Concepts

talaipōros (5005) — “wretched” (Romans 7:24), emphasizing internal misery; together with ἐλεεινός, Scripture portrays both the subjective anguish of sin and the objective pitiableness of false security.

eleos (1656) — “mercy”; God’s remedy for the ἐλεεινός state.

ptōchos (4434) — “poor”; Revelation 3:17 couples ἐλεεινός with ptōchos, showing how spiritual poverty demands remedial grace (cf. Matthew 5:3).

Summary

Strong’s 1652 exposes the precariousness of life apart from resurrection power and genuine fellowship with Christ. It warns the complacent, consoles the suffering, and magnifies the mercy of God who delights to transform the wretched into the blessed.