[Greek] ἀπαλγέω (apalgeō), [Latin] desperare: to cease to feel pain, to be callous, to become apathetic, to lose feeling of shame, to be past feeling; Eph.4:19
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means to put away sorrow for and to be despondent. Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War 2.61 states “Since the suffering that it entails is being felt by every one among you, your mind is too much depressed to persevere in your resolve. Polybius’ Histories 9.40.4 states “When the Acarnians heard of the intended invasion of Aetolians, in a tumult of despair and fury, they adopted a measure of almost frantic violence.”
New Testament: This term, used only once, means to lose feeling of shame. Paul makes reference to the Gentiles receiving Christ in their lives. The Gentiles, alienated from Christ, lived a life in darkness, ignorance, licentiousness, and callousness, and hardness of heart. Paul makes the distinction between the old self (without Christ) and the new self (with Christ). The old self is corrupted through deceitful desires. The new self puts on the God’s righteousness and truth.
Scripture:
“They have become callous and have handed themselves over to licentiousness for the practice of every kind of impurity to excess.”
The Gentiles, without Christ, have led a life of callousness, licentious, and ignorance.
Etymology: The related Greek verb algeo mean to feel pain. The related Greek algos means pain. The prefix ana- means without. An analgesic is something that remove pain. The related Latin verb desperare can mean to despair of, to give up hope, and to have no hope.
Conclusion,
Analgesic, desperation, desperate
To be honest, I was initially going to give up any hope of using this term for a post. However, I was able to find some more background information on this term. It is important to note that this term can apply to the human condition in any time in history. With human nature, there sometimes follow despair or hopelessness.
Paul makes a very important distinction about the Gentiles in how they have lived their lives before and after Christ. Previously, Gentiles have lived in licentiousness, callousness, darkness and ignorance, often under the guidance of pagan idols and gods. With Christ, Gentiles can seek righteousness and truth under God’s influence.
It was very interesting to discover which related Latin verb desperare was used. This only serves to highlight and illustrate the potentially hopeless and desperate life without Christ.
The callousness and lack of integrity of the mainstream media and social media, and tech giants continue to be on full display. The media is more concerned about pushing a certain narrative or of demonizing others, rather than stating the truth. The media does not care if their narratives are false. Such examples include: Hydroxychloroquine, voter fraud, Hunter’s laptop, the origin of Covid-19, Lafayette Square, Russian bounties, blue states, opening schools, border security, and critical race theory. It is very painful to watch where others are demonized or criticized for being right all along.
“The most difficult part of the training is training your mind. You build callused on your feet to endure the road. You build calluses on your mind to endure the pain. There is only one to do that. You have to get out there and run.” David Goggins