noun · neuter
pathēmem
Strong’sG3804
suffering, passion
stem pathēm-16 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books3 of 6 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
Πάθημα refers most often to suffering or affliction – something that happens to a person, especially hardship or pain endured 123. It is used of Christ's own sufferings and of the sufferings Christians share in and undergo for his sake 13, and can also denote the act of undergoing or enduring something 1.
The word can also mean a passive emotion or feeling, an affection or passion experienced within a person, sometimes specifically the passions provoked by sin 123.
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
* πάθημα, -τος, τό
(< πάσχω), like πάθος,
SYN.: v.s. πάθος.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3804 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpath'-ay-mah
something undergone, i.e. hardship or pain; subjectively, an emotion or influence
Fromfrom a presumed derivative of G3806;
King Jamesaffection, affliction, motion, suffering.
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
dative plural παθημάτοις Refs:—that which befalls one, suffering, misfortune, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ π. τοῦ Χριστοῦ the passion of Christ, NT; of good fortune, χαῖρε παθὼν τὸ π. (deification) Refs 5th c.AD+: mostly in plural, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀκούσια π., opposed to ἑκούσια καὶ ἐκ προνοίας ἀδικήματα, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ δέ μοι π. μαθήματα γέγονε my sufferings have been my lessons Refs 5th c.BC+
II emotion or condition, affection, π. τῆς ψυχῆς εἶναι τὴν σωφροσύνην, οὐ μάθημα Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ποίημα, Refs 3rd c.AD+; but in early writers mostly in plural, affections, feelings, opposed to ποιήματα, Refs 5th c.BC+; παθήμασιν ὑπηρετεῖν obey the feelings, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to ἤθη, ἕξεις, Refs
II.2 in Medicine texts, plural, troubles, symptoms, Refs 5th c.BC+
III in plural, incidents, happenings, τὰ ἐν.. Ὀδυσσείᾳ π.Refs
III.2 incidents or changes of material bodies, τὰ οὐράνια π. Refs 4th c.BC+
III.3 in Logic, incidents, properties, or accidents, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ π. τὰ αἰσθητά, of colour, etc., Refs
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 or object direct | pathēmem | pathēmeim3×παθήματα |
| of, belonging to genitive | pathēmeu | pathēmeiu7×παθημάτων |
| to, for dative | pathēme | pathēmei4×παθήμασιν |
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
pathēme 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.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
pathēmeim“sufferings”subject or objectdirect plural3×
Romans 7:5… gar ane en ta sarka, teim pathēmeim taiu hamartaiu teim dia tou nomou …… according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at …
Romans 8:18Logizomō gar hoti ouk axieim teim pathēmeim tou nun kairou pros tan mellarōntan …I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory …
2 Corinthians 1:5hoti kathōs perisseuatō teim pathēmeim tou Christou eis nin, houtōs dia …For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so …
pathēmeiu“sufferings”of, belonging togenitive plural7×
2 Corinthians 1:6… tau energorōntau en hupomona teiu auteiu pathēmeiu heiu kai nis paschanō,… you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.
2 Corinthians 1:7… oidarēntois hoti hōs koinōnois avō teiu pathēmeiu, houtōs kai tau paraklēsiau.… just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in …
Philippians 3:10… dunamian tau anastasiau autou kai koinōnian pathēmeiu autou, summorfizorōntos to thanato autou,… resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His …
Hebrews 2:10“sufferings”… ton archēgon tau sōtērēau autoiu dia pathēmeiu teleiara.… exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Hebrews 10:32“sufferings”… en hai fōtizirantois pollan athlēsian hupomenava pathēmeiu,… the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in …
1 Peter 5:1… sumpresbuteros kai marturos teiu tou Christou pathēmeiu, tos kai tau mellarōntau apokaluptorō doxau …… fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory …
1 Peter 5:9“sufferings”… ta pistia, oidarēntois teim auteim teiu pathēmeiu ta en to kosmo vu adelfota …… in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of …
pathēmei“sufferings”to, fordative plural4×
Galatians 5:24… Christou tan sarkan staurala sun tei pathēmei kai tai epithumiai.… have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Colossians 1:24Nun chairamō en tei pathēmei huper vu, kai antanaplēramō teim husterēmeim …Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up …
2 Timothy 3:11toi diōgmoi, tei pathēmei, hoieim mi geneta en Antiocheia, en …my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch …
1 Peter 4:13alla katho koinōnavō tei tou Christou pathēmei chairavōr, hina kai en ta apokalupsia …… rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may …
pathēmem1×
Hebrews 2:9“suffering”… angeloin elattorēnton blepanō Iēsun dia tem pathēmem tou thanatou doxa kai tima stefanorēnton, …But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that …
pathēmeim1×
1 Peter 1:11… pneumem Christou promarturorōntem teim eis Christon pathēmeim kai tain meta houteim doxain;… was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to …