King James Bible Dictionary

The first great persecution for religious opinion of which we have any record was that which broke out against the worshippers of God among the Jews in the days of Ahab, when that king, at the instigation of his wife Jezebel, "a woman in whom, with the reckless and licentious habits of an Oriental queen, were united the fiercest and sternest qualities inherent in the old Semitic race", sought in the most relentless manner to extirpate the worship of Jehovah and substitute in its place the worship of Ashtoreth and Baal. Ahab's example in this respect was followed by Manasseh, who "shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (2 Kings 21:16; comp. 24:4). In all ages, in one form or another, the people of God have had to suffer persecution. In its earliest history the Christian church passed through many bloody persecutions. Of subsequent centuries in our own and in other lands the same sad record may be made.

Christians are forbidden to seek the propagation of the gospel by force (Matthew 7:1; Luke 9:54-56; Romans 14:4; James 4:11, 12). The words of Psalms 7:13, "He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors," ought rather to be, as in the Revised Version, "He maketh his arrows fiery [shafts]."

Of Jesus
Genesis 3:15; Psalms 2:1-5; Psalms 22:1-2; Psalms 22:6-8; Psalms 22:11-21; Psalms 69:1-21; Psalms 69:26; Psalms 109:25; Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 52:14; Isaiah 53:2-5; Isaiah 53:7-10; Micah 5:1; Matthew 2:13; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 6:11; Luke 11:15; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 26:3-4; Matthew 26:14-16; Matthew 26:59; Mark 14:1; Mark 14:48; Matthew 27:25-30; Matthew 27:39-44; Matthew 41:15; Matthew 43:19; Mark 3:6; Mark 3:21; Luke 4:28-29; Luke 7:34; Matthew 11:19; Luke 11:53-54; Luke 12:50; Matthew 20:22; Luke 13:31; Luke 19:14; Luke 19:47; Mark 11:18; Luke 20:20; Matthew 22:15; Mark 12:13; Luke 22:2-5; Luke 22:52-53; Luke 22:63-65; Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65; Luke 23:11; Luke 23:23; John 5:16; John 7:1; John 7:7; John 7:19-20; John 7:30; John 7:32; John 8:37; John 8:40; John 8:48; John 8:52; John 8:59; John 10:31; John 10:20; John 10:39; John 11:57; John 14:30; John 15:18; John 15:20-21; John 15:24-25; John 18:22-23; John 18:29-30; Acts 2:23; Acts 3:13-15; Acts 4:27; Acts 7:52; Acts 13:27-29; Hebrews 12:2-3; 1 Peter 4:1

Of the righteous:

General references
Genesis 49:23; Job 1:9; Job 2:4-5; Job 12:4-5; Psalms 11:2; Psalms 37:32; Psalms 38:20; Psalms 42:3; Psalms 42:10; Psalms 44:15-18; Psalms 44:22; Psalms 56:5; Psalms 69:10-12; Psalms 74:7-8; Psalms 94:5; Psalms 119:51; Psalms 119:61; Psalms 119:69; Psalms 119:78; Psalms 119:85-87; Psalms 119:95; Psalms 119:110; Psalms 119:157; Psalms 119:161; Proverbs 29:10; Proverbs 29:27; Isaiah 26:20; Isaiah 29:20-21; Isaiah 51:12-13; Isaiah 59:15; Jeremiah 2:30; Jeremiah 11:19; Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 20:7-8; Jeremiah 26:11-14; Jeremiah 50:7; Amos 5:10; Habakkuk 1:13; Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:26-27; Matthew 10:16-18; Matthew 10:21-23; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 20:22-23; Matthew 23:34-35; Matthew 24:8-10; Mark 8:35; Luke 17:33; Mark 9:42; Mark 13:9; Mark 13:11-13; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-19; John 12:42; John 15:18-19; John 16:1-2; John 17:14; Acts 4:16-20; Acts 5:29; Acts 5:40-42; Acts 7:52; Acts 8:4; Acts 28:22; Romans 8:17; Romans 8:35-37; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 1 Corinthians 13:3; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 2 Corinthians 6:4-5; 2 Corinthians 6:8-10; 2 Corinthians 11:23-27; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Galatians 4:29; Galatians 6:12; Galatians 6:17; Philippians 1:12-14; Philippians 1:28-29; Colossians 1:24; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 2:9-10; 2 Timothy 2:12; 2 Timothy 3:2-3; 2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Timothy 4:16-17; Hebrews 10:32-34; Hebrews 11:25-27; Hebrews 11:33-38; Hebrews 12:3-4; Hebrews 13:13; James 2:6; James 5:6; James 5:10; 1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 3:16-17; 1 Peter 4:3-4; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 1 Peter 4:16; 1 Peter 4:19; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 3:13; Revelation 2:3; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 2:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:13-17; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 17:6; Revelation 20:4

A mode of divine chastisement
Lamentations 1:3

Diffuses the gospel
Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Acts 11:19-21; Philippians 1:12-14

Prayer for deliverance from
Psalms 70:1-4; Psalms 19:83; Psalms 140:1; Psalms 140:4; Psalms 142:6

Deliverance from
Psalms 124:1-8; Psalms 129:1-2

Instances of persecution:

Of Abel
Genesis 4:8; Matthew 23:35; 1 John 3:12

Of Lot
Genesis 19:9

Of Moses
Exodus 2:15; Exodus 17:4

Of David
Psalms 31:13; Psalms 59:1-2

Of prophets martyred by Jezebel
1 Kings 18:4

Of Gideon
Judges 6:28-32

Of Elijah
1 Kings 18:10; 1 Kings 11:19; 2 Kings 1:9; 2 Kings 2:23

Of Micaiah
1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 18:26

Of Elisha
2 Kings 6:31

Of Hanani
2 Chronicles 16:10

Of Zachariah
2 Chronicles 24:21; Matthew 23:35

Of Job
Job 13:4-13; Job 16:1-4; Job 17:2; Job 19:1-5; Job 30:1-10

Of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 15:15; Jeremiah 17:15-18; Jeremiah 18:18-23; Jeremiah 24:26; Jeremiah 32:2; Jeremiah 33:1; Jeremiah 36:26; Jeremiah 24:37; Jeremiah 38:1-6

Of Urijah
Jeremiah 26:23

Of prophets
Matthew 21:35-36

Of the three Hebrew children of the captivity
Daniel 3:8-23

Of Daniel
Daniel 27:6

Of the Jews
Daniel 15:4; Daniel 16:4

Of John the Baptist
Matthew 14:3-12

Of James
Acts 12:2

Of Simon
Mark 15:21

Of the disciples
John 9:22; John 9:34; John 20:19

Of Lazarus
John 12:10

Of the apostles
Acts 4:3-18; Acts 5:18-42; Acts 12:1-19; Revelation 1:9

Of Stephen
Acts 6:9-15; Acts 44:7

Of Paul
Paul

Of the church
Acts 8:1; Acts 9:1-14; Galatians 1:13

Of Timothy
Hebrews 13:23

Of John
Revelation 1:9

Of Antipas
Revelation 2:13

Of the church of Smyrna
Revelation 2:8-10

PERSECU'TION, noun The act or practice of persecuting; the infliction of pain, punishment or death upon others unjustly, particularly for adhering to a religious creed or mode of worship, either by way of penalty or for compelling them to renounce their principles. Historians enumerate ten persecutions suffered by the Christians, beginning with that of Nero, adjective D. 31, and ending with that of Diocletian, adjective D. 303 to 313.

1. The state of being persecuted.

Our necks are under persecution; we labor and have no rest. Lamentations 5:5.