What are the…
watchings in the Bible

This word appears in the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 6:5 KJV.

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, —2 Corinthians 6:4-7 KJV

The Greek word used in the origina text is agrupnia ( ἀγρυπνία ) and means sleeplessness (2 Corinthians 6:5 NKJV; 2 Cor. 6:5 NASB; “sleepless nights” 2 Cor. 6:5 ESV).

The reason for the sleeplessness (being awake at night), watching, appears to be the result of “manual labor, teaching, traveling, meditating, praying, cares, and the like” (Meyer's Commentary).

I [Paul] have been in labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing. —2 Corinthians 11:27 LSB

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Article Version: September 21, 2021