ABSTRACT
Lidelse is derived from the Old Danish and Older New Danish verb lide, which is the same word in modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, corresponding to the German leiden. The lexical meaning in Danish is a condition that is associated with pain, distress, trouble, loss, and the like. Ordbog over det danske Sprog takes 1 Peter 4:13 to be paradigmatic: “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in Christ’s sufferings.”1 In descending order of frequency, the concept of suffering is discussed in Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits, Stages on Life’s Way, and Christian Discourses.
