Lidelsens

Lidelsens is the possessive/genitive form of lidelse, the Danish word for suffering, affliction, or illness. It signals the relation of something to suffering, as in phrases like lidelsens pris (the price of suffering) or lidelsens problem (the problem of suffering). The term is used in literary, philosophical, religious, and medical contexts to refer to the experience or state of hardship in a broad sense.

Lidelse originates in Danish and has cognates in Swedish lidelse and Norwegian lidelse, all sharing a core sense of pain, misfortune, or affliction within the human condition. In modern Danish, lidelse often covers general or existential distress, while specific medical diagnoses are usually described with sjukdom or sygdom. Lidelsens usage tends to be more formal, literary, or academic, rather than everyday speech.

In philosophy and theology, lidelsens concept appears in discussions about human suffering, ethics, and the meaning of hardship. It is employed to describe how individuals and communities respond to pain, loss, and moral adversity. The term thus operates on both emotional and conceptual levels, bridging personal experience with broader ethical and existential questions.

In translation, lidelsens typically renders as “the suffering” or “the affliction” in English. The phrase carries weight beyond a clinical description, emphasizing the experiential and moral dimensions of hardship rather than simply a medical condition.