8513. telaah
Lexical Summary
telaah: Hardship, weariness, trouble

Original Word: תְּלָאָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: tla'ah
Pronunciation: te-lah-ah
Phonetic Spelling: (tel-aw-aw')
KJV: travail, travel, trouble
NASB: hardship, tiresome
Word Origin: [from H3811 (לָאָה - weary)]

1. distress

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
travail, travel, trouble

From la'ah; distress -- travail, travel, trouble.

see HEBREW la'ah

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from laah
Definition
weariness, hardship
NASB Translation
hardship (4), tiresome (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
תְּלָאָה noun feminine weariness, hardship; — ׳ת Exodus 18:8 4t.; of distress of Israel in Egypt Numbers 20:14; in wilderness Exodus 18:8 (both J E); from Assyr., Babylonian, etc. Nehemiah 9:32; compare Lamentations 3:5 ("" ראֹשׁ, gall); Malachi 1:13.

Topical Lexicon
Overview

The Hebrew term תְּלָאָה (Strong’s 8513) conveys an experience of hardship or distress that taxes the strength of those who endure it. Across its four occurrences in Scripture, the word gathers layers of meaning that range from the ordeals of a journey to the burdens of national calamity. Every passage underlines the faithful activity of God in the midst of trouble, whether through His deliverance, His warning, His covenant faithfulness, or His refining discipline.

Scriptural Usage

1. Exodus 18:8 — Moses recounts to Jethro “all the hardship” that had found Israel in Egypt and on the way, “and how the LORD had delivered them.” The word stands at the center of a testimony meeting, turning affliction into praise.
2. Numbers 20:14 — From Kadesh, Moses reminds Edom’s king of “all the hardship” that befell Israel, appealing for passage. The term functions diplomatically, urging compassion on the basis of shared human vulnerability before God’s dealings.
3. Nehemiah 9:32 — In a prayer of national confession the Levites speak of “all the hardship” that has come upon Israel “from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.” Here the word gathers centuries of covenant discipline into a single expression, awakening repentance.
4. Lamentations 3:5 — Jeremiah laments, “He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship,” portraying affliction in intensely personal terms and turning the nation’s tragedy into individual lament.

Historical Background

• Wilderness Journey: Exodus and Numbers embed the term in Israel’s formative trek from bondage to promise. Hardship is inseparable from pilgrimage, yet also from redemptive intervention.
• Exilic and Post-Exilic Era: Nehemiah and Lamentations locate תְּלָאָה in the fallout of covenant unfaithfulness—siege, exile, and rebuilding. The word thus marks both divine judgment and the hope of restoration.

Theological Significance

• Covenant Faithfulness: God allows hardship but never abandons His promises; each occurrence affirms His sustaining presence.
• Memory and Identity: Rehearsing hardship solidifies communal memory (Exodus 18:8; Nehemiah 9:32), shaping Israel’s identity as a people delivered by grace.
• Divine Sovereignty in Suffering: Lamentations 3 presents hardship as proceeding through the sovereign hand of God, yet framed by the assurance, “Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23).
• Moral Appeal: Moses’ message to Edom (Numbers 20:14) implies that awareness of God-permitted hardship should cultivate mercy toward others.

Typological Insights

The wilderness hardships foreshadow the believer’s earthly pilgrimage (Hebrews 3:7–19). Nehemiah’s summary of national hardship anticipates the church’s suffering through the ages (Acts 14:22). Jeremiah’s lament prefigures the Man of Sorrows, who “learned obedience from what He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

Practical and Pastoral Application

• Testimony: Believers are encouraged to recount hardships alongside deliverances, turning trials into doxology.
• Intercession: Like the Levites, prayer may appeal to God’s covenant mercy amid prolonged affliction.
• Compassion: Remembering personal and corporate hardship fuels empathy and hospitality toward outsiders.
• Perseverance: The word reminds the church that hardship is neither foreign nor futile but integral to sanctification.

Related Concepts

Affliction (עָנִי), Travail (עָמָל), Bitter Service (עֲבֹדַת פָּרֶךְ), Testing (נָסָה).

Key Cross-References

Deuteronomy 8:2–3; Psalm 34:19; Isaiah 43:2; Romans 5:3–5; 2 Corinthians 4:17; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 4:12–13.

Summary

תְּלָאָה binds together accounts of pilgrimage, petition, penitence, and personal lament. In every case Scripture portrays hardship as a stage on which God displays His power, cultivates humility, and ultimately leads His people into fuller communion with Himself.

Forms and Transliterations
הַתְּלָאָ֖ה הַתְּלָאָ֣ה הַתְּלָאָה֙ התלאה וּתְלָאָֽה׃ ותלאה׃ hat·tə·lā·’āh hattəlā’āh hattelaAh ū·ṯə·lā·’āh ūṯəlā’āh utelaAh
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Exodus 18:8
HEB: אֵ֤ת כָּל־ הַתְּלָאָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר מְצָאָ֣תַם
NAS: all the hardship that had befallen
KJV: sake, [and] all the travail that had come
INT: Israel's all the hardship that had befallen

Numbers 20:14
HEB: אֵ֥ת כָּל־ הַתְּלָאָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מְצָאָֽתְנוּ׃
NAS: all the hardship that has befallen
KJV: Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen
INT: know all the hardship that befallen

Nehemiah 9:32
HEB: אֵ֣ת כָּל־ הַתְּלָאָ֣ה אֲֽשֶׁר־ מְ֠צָאַתְנוּ
NAS: Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant
KJV: and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little
INT: before all the hardship Which has come

Lamentations 3:5
HEB: וַיַּקַּ֖ף רֹ֥אשׁ וּתְלָאָֽה׃
NAS: me with bitterness and hardship.
KJV: [me] with gall and travail.
INT: and encompassed bitterness and hardship

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 8513
4 Occurrences


hat·tə·lā·’āh — 3 Occ.
ū·ṯə·lā·’āh — 1 Occ.

8512
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