Word study
Patient
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “patient”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “patient” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אָרֵךְ ârêklongtranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H750Adjective · Translated: slow 11, patient 2, patience 1, long 1Full study and all 15 verses →
Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
- מָשַׁךְ mâshakdraw, dragtranslated this way 1 time of its 34 uses · Strong’s H4900Verb · Translated: draw 3, drew 2, tall 2, Extend 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Nehemiah 9:30 You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
- אָרַךְ ârakbe longtranslated this way 1 time of its 33 uses · Strong’s H748Verb · Translated: prolong 6, live long 5, long 3, lingered 2Full study and all 33 verses →
Job 6:11 What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?
Greek words (New Testament)
- μακροθυμέω makrothyméōI suffer long, have patience, am forbearingtranslated this way 6 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G3114Verb · Translated: patient 6, patience 2, delay in helping 1, waiting patiently 1Full study and all 9 verses →
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
- ὑπομονή hypomonḗendurance, steadfastnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s G5281Noun · Translated: perseverance 19, endurance 5, patient endurance 2, persevere 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Luke 21:19 By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.
2 Corinthians 1:6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.
- ὑπομένω hypoménōI remain behind, enduretranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s G5278Verb · Translated: perseveres 4, endure 4, endured 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- μακροθυμία makrothymíapatience, forbearancetranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s G3115Noun · Translated: patience 12, patient 1, patiently 1Full study and all 14 verses →
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.