Tharsete

[Akita Suggagaki]

In the Gospel of John Jesus tells his disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

That phrase “Take courage” can be translated in many ways. You will find words like “Take Heart”, “Be of good cheer”, “Be brave”, “be courageous”. So I had to look at it a little more. Jesus used it several times in his ministry. It is not like a switch we can turn on and off. The Greek term is

tharséte command Tharseo noun

Bible hub says (from the root thar-, "bolstered because warmed up from within," which supports unflinching courage – literally, to radiate warm confidence because warm-hearted. It refers to letting God bolster the believer, empower them with a bold inner-attitude. For the believer, "showing boldness" is the result of the Lord infusing strength by His inworking of faith. Showing this unflinching courage means living out the inner confidence that is Spirit-produced. Sometimes just living requires tharseo. It is part of the new life God gives us. We just celebrated Easter. Christ is risen from the dead. Let us consciously draw upon that infused inner strength, that radiant warm confidence who is Christ himself living now within us.

 

[Vambram]

Amen.
and thank you for an excellent post of devotion and exhortation.

 

[NewLifeInChristJesus]

In the Gospel of John Jesus tells his disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

That phrase “Take courage” can be translated in many ways. You will find words like “Take Heart”, “Be of good cheer”, “Be brave”, “be courageous”. So I had to look at it a little more. Jesus used it several times in his ministry. It is not like a switch we can turn on and off. The Greek term is

tharséte command Tharseo noun

Bible hub says (from the root thar-, "bolstered because warmed up from within," which supports unflinching courage – literally, to radiate warm confidence because warm-hearted. It refers to letting God bolster the believer, empower them with a bold inner-attitude. For the believer, "showing boldness" is the result of the Lord infusing strength by His inworking of faith. Showing this unflinching courage means living out the inner confidence that is Spirit-produced. Sometimes just living requires tharseo. It is part of the new life God gives us. We just celebrated Easter. Christ is risen from the dead. Let us consciously draw upon that infused inner strength, that radiant warm confidence who is Christ himself living now within us.

The Bible Hub info above is from "HELPS Word-studies", which is apparently associated with the "Discovery Bible". I have not heard of them before now. A little research shows it is generally accepted as reliable, but there is some skepticism as well. In this case, I could not corroborate their findings on the "root thar-" using my Greek Lexicons and Bible Dictionaries or online. I want to believe their findings that the etymology of the word points us to warm-heartedness from the Lord living inside creating boldness because that finding supports my beliefs. But not knowing the source or the rationalle behind the conclusion gives me pause. Does anyone know of online resources that may help us get to the bottom of this?

Maybe someone with BDAG could share the entry for θαρσέω.

 

[Radagast]

Translations of the word in John 16:33 include: Be courageous (CSB), take heart (ESV, NIV, NLT), and take courage (NABRE, NASB, NET).

It is the verb form of tharsos = courage. See LSJ at θαρσέω - Ancient Greek (LSJ)

I really wouldn't trust bible hub here. They see to be engaging in an etmyological fallacy.