1. heavy, burdensome, weighty — Literally heavy in weight, and by extension burdensome, oppressive, or significant in moral/legal import. Cross-linguistically stable: Arabic ثقيل (heavy), German schwer, Spanish pesadas/graves, Hebrew כבד (heavy), Korean 무거운, Hindi भारी, French lourd. Matt 23:4 (heavy burdens laid on people's shoulders), Matt 23:23 (the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, faithfulness -- comparative βαρύτερα), 2 Cor 10:10 (his letters are weighty and strong), 1 John 5:3 (God's commandments are not burdensome). The figurative extension to 'serious' legal charges appears in Acts 25:7 (serious charges against Paul, Spanish graves). The metaphorical shift to 'fierce, savage' describes false teachers in Acts 20:29 (fierce wolves, Korean 사나운, Spanish feroces). All share the etymological core of heaviness/weightiness applied to physical, moral, legal, and characterological domains. 6×
AR["الأَثقَلَ","ثَقيلَةً","ثَقيلَةٌ","ثَقِيلَةً","خَطِيرَةٌ"]·ben["গুরুতর","ভারী","হিংস্র"]·DE["schwer","βαρέα","βαρεῖς","βαρύτερα"]·EN["burdensome","fierce","heavy","serious","weightier-matters","weighty"]·FR["lourd"]·heb["חֲמוּרִים","כְּבֵדִים","כְּבֵדוֹת","כְבֵדוֹת"]·HI["गंभीर","भारी"]·ID["berat","ganas","yang-lebih-penting"]·IT["bareiai","pesante"]·jav["awrat","galak,","langkung-awrat"]·KO["더-무거운-것들-을","무거운","무겁고","사나운"]·PT["ferozes,","graves","pesadas","pesados"]·RU["важнейшее","весомые","лютые,","тяжелы","тяжкие","тяжёлые"]·ES["feroces","graves","más-pesadas","pesadas","pesados"]·SW["mazito","na","ni-nzito","nzito","wakali","ya-"]·TR["ağır","daha-ağır-olanları","şiddetli"]·urd["اہم","بھاری"]
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
βᾰρύς, εῖα, ύ, poetry genitive plural feminine βαρεῶν uncertain in Refs 4th c.BC+:— heavy in weight, β. ἀείρεσθαι, opposed to κοῦφος, Refs 8th c.BC+ mostly with collateral notion of strength and force, χεῖρα βαρεῖαν Refs 8th c.BC+; of athletes, Refs 2nd c.AD+; ὀφρύς bushy, Refs; but also, heavy with age, infirmity or suffering, νόσῳ Refs 5th c.BC+; pregnant, Refs 4th c.AD+; β. βάσις heavy, slow,…