📖 Biblical Definition
Vexation is severe distress of spirit, harassment, or agitation. It is the great refrain of Ecclesiastes: "all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Ecclesiastes 1:14, 17; 2:11; 4:4) — Solomon’s verdict on every life lived under the sun apart from God. Peter notes that Lot was "vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked" in Sodom — "vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds" (2 Peter 2:7-8). Vexation in Scripture is therefore not always sinful: a righteous soul is rightly vexed by surrounding wickedness. The man who is at peace in a perverse age is not the godly man; the godly man grieves daily over what grieves the Spirit.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Severe distress; harassment of spirit.
expand to see more
Severe distress of spirit, harassment, agitation; Ecclesiastes' refrain ('all is vanity and vexation of spirit') for the futility of life under the sun apart from God; also Lot's daily vexation by the wicked deeds of Sodom.
📖 Key Scripture
Ecclesiastes 1:14 — "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit."
2 Peter 2:7-8 — "Just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked... vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds."
Isaiah 9:1 — "The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to mild annoyance; Scripture uses it for severe spiritual distress and the futility of godless life.
expand to see more
Modern usage reduces "vexation" to mild annoyance — "vexed" means "irritated." Scripture uses it for Lot's daily ache at Sodom's wickedness and Ecclesiastes' cry of futility under the sun. The corruption flattens the vocabulary of moral and existential distress into a personality state.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew reut ruach — vexation of spirit.
expand to see more
['Hebrew', 'H7469', 'reut', 'vexation']
['Greek', 'G2669', 'kataponeō', 'to vex, distress']
Usage
"Be vexed at the world's evil — like Lot."
"Vexation under the sun is the futility-cry."