Asthenes: When Your Strength Fails

. Word of the Week

September 19, 2026

 

Asthenēs: When Your Strength Fails

 

Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 NASB2020

 

Nobody wants to be weak.

We hit the gym to build muscle and pound the pavement to strengthen our hearts.  Even seniors exercise in hopes of slowing the aging process.

Yet physical strength is only one kind of strength.  An All-Pro linebacker may lack the moral stamina to resist the temptation of drugs.

Fortunately, the Bible has a lot to say about every variety of weakness.  We can begin to tap into its wisdom by investigating the Greek word for “weak” or “weakness.”

The New Testament word for “weak” is asthenēs [ahs-thehn-AYSS].  It appears 26 times with a variety of meanings.

1. It can mean “sickness.”

We all know how it feels to end up in bed because you have the flu or some other ailment.  The Greeks often used asthenēs to describe physical ailments.  And the ministry of Jesus and His followers was marked by healing the sick.

• Jesus healed a man who had been ill, unable to walk, for 38 years (John 5:3-4).
• He sent out His twelve disciples to proclaim the kingdom and to heal the sick (Luke 9:2).
• Later He commissioned 70 followers to carry out a similar mission to “heal those who are sick” and proclaim the kingdom (Luke 10:9).
• The book of Acts shows that the early apostles brought physical healing to people who were sick. Peter was involved in numerous healings of the sick (Acts 4:9; 5:15; 9:37) and Paul exercised a similar ministry (Acts 19:12).

The response to this kind of asthenēs: pray for healing and employ medical help wisely (James 5:14).

2. It can refer to physical limitations.

Not all weakness stems from disease.  We are humans and we sometimes face tasks that are beyond our ability.  I know people who can lift 300 pounds, but I simply can’t do it.

• When Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, His disciples fell asleep repeatedly, even though he had told them to stay awake and pray. But instead of condemning them, He simply stated, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
• One of the marks of maturity is our response to those who are weak. Paul told the Thessalonians to “admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
• Peter even urges husbands to understand and honor their wives “as with someone weaker” (1 Peter 3:7) – almost certainly referring to physical limitations rather than to any sort of inferiority.

The response to this kind of asthenēs: Those who are stronger help carry the load for the weak (Galatians 6:2).

3. It can refer to an overly sensitive conscience.

Paul uses the word several times in his discussion of meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8-10.  In the first century, much of the meat sold in Corinth had previously been used to offer pagan sacrifices. This created a dilemma for believers. Some saw no problem in eating such meat, while others associated it so strongly with idolatry that they could not eat it with a clear conscience.

The apostle described the people who objected to this meat as those “whose conscience is weak” (1 Corinthians 8:7).  We might say that they have a tender conscience; they are convinced that the practice is sinful, so they suffer from pangs of conscience.  Paul explained that there was nothing intrinsically wrong with the meat, but idolatry was wrong.  Those with “strong,” untroubled consciences must not do anything that would cause a “weaker” brother to push aside their convictions.

4. It can describe our inability to earn God’s favor by our own efforts.

According to Romans 5:6, “While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”  We are powerless to solve our greatest problem – sin before a holy God.  Since God’s standard of holiness is perfection, there is no way that we can be good enough to qualify for eternal life in heaven with Him.  It was absolutely necessary for God to do something to take care of our guilt.  And that is what He accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ.

5. It can describe apparent weakness which actually represents strength.

Paul pointed out the fact that human wisdom despises the wisdom of God.  Philosophers and pundits look at the gospel as foolishness.  In the same way, Paul shows that the same reality applies to God’s power.  What the world calls “the weakness of God” is in reality “stronger than mankind” (1 Corinthians 1:25).  He continues, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and GoIn d has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).   God’s kingdom grows not through power plays but through humility and love.

6. Weakness can be a pathway to God’s power.

Paul made the remarkable claim that he gloried in his weakness.  Though critics charged that he was weak and unimpressive in his personal ministry (2 Corinthians 10:10), he declares that he would “most gladly . . . boast about my weaknesses. . . . I delight in weaknesses . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Asthenēs consistently describes a lack of strength – whether physical, moral, or spiritual.

No one likes to think of themselves as weak, but none of us has the strength we need to accomplish things of eternal value.  When we recognize our weakness and depend on Christ’s power, our greatest liability becomes a spiritual advantage.

 

Study Hint:

Want to broaden your search into God’s resources for weakness?  You can investigate the other members of the asthenēs word family:

Astheneia (noun) – weakness, sickness, disease

Astheneō (verb) – to be powerless, weak, sick

Asthenon (noun) – a sick person

Our discussion above includes some verses that use these related words rather than the primary word asthenēs.

 

 

Coming Up

Corporate leaders pride themselves on long-range planning, but even our furthest glimpses of the future are time-bound in comparison to eternity.  Our next study will consider the Greek word that describes the opposite of “eternal.”

©Ezra Project 2026