noun · feminine
makrothumias
Strong’sG3115
patience, forbearance
stem makrothumi-14 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Patience, longsuffering — the quality of enduring troubles, hardships, or difficulties without giving way 124. This is the sense used of human patience in the face of suffering 1, and Strong's describes this side of the word as a kind of inward fortitude 2.
Forbearance — restraint shown toward others, holding back from anger or retaliation despite provocation 23. This sense is used especially of God's patient forbearance toward people 1, and the Greek lexicon likewise records it as a distinct nuance of the word found in biblical usage 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
† μακροθυμία, -ας, ἡ
(< μακρό-θυμος), [in LXX: Pr 25:15 (אַפַּיִם אֹרֶךְ), Je 15:15 (אַפַּיִם אֶרֶךְ) Is 57:15, Si 5:11, I Mac 8:4*;]
SYN.: ὑπομονή (cf. Lft., Col., 138; Tr., Syn., liii).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3115 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmak-roth-oo-mee'-ah
longanimity, i.e. (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude
Fromfrom the same as G3116;
King Jameslongsuffering, patience.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, long-suffering, patience, NT+4th c.BC+
2 forbearance, LXX+NT
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | makrothumias2×μακροθυμία | makrothumiais |
| object accusative | makrothumian4×μακροθυμίαν | makrothumiain |
| direct address vocative | makrothumiar | makrothumiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | makrothumiau4×μακροθυμίας | makrothumiaiu |
| to, for dative | makrothumia4×μακροθυμίᾳ | makrothumiai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
makrothumia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
makrothumias“patience”subjectnominative singular2×
Galatians 5:22… teu pneumeu atō agapas, charas, eirēnas, makrothumias, chrēstotas, agathōsunas, pistias,… the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
1 Peter 3:20“patience”… pote hote apekdechote tas tou theou makrothumias en hēmerai Nōe kataskeuazorōntau kibōtau eis …… long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark …
makrothumian“patience”objectaccusative singular4×
Colossians 1:11… doxau autou eis pantan hupomonan kai makrothumian meta charau,… you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully
Colossians 3:12… agaporēntois, splanchneim oiktirmou, chrēstotan, tapeinofrosunan, prautan, makrothumian,… of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
1 Timothy 1:16… prōto endeiketeia Christos Iēsus tan hapantan makrothumian, pros hupotupōsian toiu mellarōntoiu pisteuarō epi …… Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who …
2 Peter 3:15kai tan tou kuriou nu makrothumian sōtērēan hēgovōr, kathōs kai tos agapētos …Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved …
makrothumiau“patience”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Romans 2:4… autou kai tau anochau kai tau makrothumiau katafronasō, agnoarōntos hoti tem chrēstem tou …… riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads …
Ephesians 4:2meta pantau tapeinofrosunau kai prautau, meta makrothumiau, anechorōntois allēloiu en agapa,with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Hebrews 6:12… mimētois de toiu dia pistiau kai makrothumiau klēronomarōntoiu tain epangeliain.… imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
James 5:10… labavar, adelfoir, tau kakopathiau kai tau makrothumiau toin profētoin, hois lalala en te …Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who …
makrothumia“patience”to, fordative singular4×
Romans 9:22… tem dunatem autou ferata en polla makrothumia skeveim orgau katartizorēnteim eis apōleian,… His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared …
2 Corinthians 6:6en hagnota, en gnōsia, en makrothumia, en chrēstota, en pneume hagie, en …in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit …
2 Timothy 3:10… agōga, ta prothesia, ta pistia, ta makrothumia, ta agapa, ta hupomona,… conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance,
2 Timothy 4:2“patience”… akairōs, elenchasar, epitimasar, parakalasar, en panta makrothumia kai didacha.… season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form …