Exodus 34:6 · Symbol · Patience
The Words Erek Appayim and Makrothymia
Erek appayim, slow to anger, stands in 13 Old Testament verses, and makrothymia with its verb stands 24 times in the New.
When the LORD spared Nineveh, Jonah grew angry and told Him that he had fled toward Tarshish because he knew God was slow to anger (Jonah 4:2).
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- The word
- אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם (erek appayim), H750
- First appears
- Exodus 34:6 “Then the LORD passed in front of Moses…”
Summary
Scripture's words for patience begin with God and pass to His people. The Hebrew of the Old Testament names a God who holds back His anger and asks the wise to hold back theirs. The Greek of the New uses one family of words for God's restraint toward sinners and for the restraint believers owe one another.
- Erek appayim is a Hebrew idiom built on aph, the word for the nose.
- The phrase belongs to the name the LORD proclaimed to Moses, and Moses, the psalmists, Nehemiah and the prophets repeated it in prayer and preaching.
- Makrothymia (G3115) and makrothymeo (G3114) are the Greek noun and verb for patience, and makrothymei, is patient, is the first thing Paul says of love (1 Corinthians 13:4).
- Hypomone (G5281), endurance under trial, is a second family of words, and Colossians 1:11 asks for endurance and patience together.
- The Hebrew verbs qavah and yachal name the patience that waits for the LORD to act.
Long of Nostrils
The Hebrew phrase for slow to anger is built from an adjective of length and the word for the nose.
Erek appayim and makrothymia are the chief words Scripture uses for patience, the first Hebrew and the second Greek. English Bibles translate the Hebrew phrase slow to anger, and they translate the Greek noun patience or, in the King James Version, longsuffering.
The words matter to the value of patience because they show that it begins in God, who bears with sinners before He asks His people to bear with one another. This word study answers one question: what do the writers of the Bible mean when they call God or a person patient? It reads the Hebrew idiom first, then the Greek words, their neighbours and two readings of how patience and endurance differ.
Where the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out His name, erek is the construct form of the adjective arek (H750), long of, and appayim is the dual form of aph (H639). Read word by word, the LORD calls Himself long of nostrils, and the Berean text renders the words slow to anger.
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.The verse shows aph in its bodily sense, the nostrils into which God breathed the breath of life.
The verses where the phrase stands teach its meaning, a slowness to grow angry with those who give cause.
Thirteen Verses of Slow to Anger
Arek stands with aph in 13 of its 15 uses, and the table gives each of the 13 verses.
The phrase describes God in the Law, Nehemiah, the Psalms and the Prophets, and it describes a person only in Proverbs.
| Verse | Hebrew form | The Berean words |
|---|---|---|
| Of God, ten verses | ||
| Exodus 34:6 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Numbers 14:18 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Nehemiah 9:17 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Psalm 86:15 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Psalm 103:8 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Psalm 145:8 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Jeremiah 15:15 | le-erek appekha, in the length of your anger | In Your patience |
| Joel 2:13 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Jonah 4:2 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Nahum 1:3 | erek appayim | slow to anger |
| Of a person, three verses | ||
| Proverbs 14:29 | erek appayim | A patient man |
| Proverbs 15:18 | ve-erek appayim | he who is slow to anger |
| Proverbs 16:32 | erek appayim | He who is slow to anger |
Psalm 145:8, Jeremiah 15:15, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nahum 1:3, Of a person, three verses, Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 15:18 and 1 more
So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.Jonah turns erek appayim, from the name proclaimed to Moses, into a complaint against God's mercy to Nineveh.
The page on the patience and the wrath of God sets the six texts of the name side by side.
Arek without aphEcclesiastes 7:8; Ezekiel 17:3
Arek stands twice without aph. In Ecclesiastes 7:8 erek ruach, long of spirit, is the patient spirit the Preacher sets above a proud one, and in Ezekiel 17:3 the great eagle of the parable has long pinions. The adjective means long, and the word joined to it says what is long.
Slow to Anger in Proverbs
Proverbs uses the phrase of a person three times and joins aph to two other words of length.
He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.The proverb ranks the man slow to anger above a warrior, so the patience it praises is rule over oneself.
Arak, to make anger longProverbs 19:11
A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.Here the verb arak, to make long, takes aph as its object, so a man's insight lengthens his anger, and the verse sets overlooking an offense beside it.
Long of nostrils against short of spiritProverbs 14:29
In Proverbs 14:29 the patient man is erek appayim and the quick-tempered man is qetsar ruach, short of spirit. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1832) describes the hasty man as "one that is easily irritated". Clarke calls the phrase set against him "long of nostrils" and takes it to be "of the same import with St. Paul’s μακροθυμια, longsuffering, longmindedness".
Orek, length, before appayimProverbs 25:15
In Proverbs 25:15 the noun orek, length, stands before appayim, and the Berean text reads, "Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone."
Four Cautions in Reading the Words
Four points the lexicons settle about reading these words.
Aph, the nose and angerH639
Aph stands 276 times in 269 verses, as the nose, the face and anger. Strong's gives aph as properly the nose or nostril, hence the face, and also ire, a sense it explains as coming "from the rapid breathing in passion". That account explains how the idiom may have arisen, and the verses use the phrase long of nostrils for one who holds anger back.
Qavah, to gather and to waitH6960
The Tyndale House lexicon gives qavah the meaning to await, and the Strong's definition beside it begins "to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect" before it adds "(figuratively) to expect". Genesis 1:9 uses the gathering sense for the waters. The command of Psalm 27:14 uses the verb in its sense of waiting, and the picture of twisted cords belongs to the other sense.
One English word for two Greek familiesG3115 and G5281
Strong's lists the King James renderings of makrothymia as longsuffering and patience, and those of hypomone as enduring, patience and patient continuance. The English word patience can stand for either family, so a contrast drawn from an English Bible is checked against the Greek word beneath it.
Anoche in Romans 2:4G463
The lexicon based on Abbott-Smith gives anoche the sense forbearance, delay of punishment, and names Romans 2:4 and 3:26. The count of one use given for anoche in the tables counts Romans 2:4 alone.
The Neighbouring Words
Nineteen words in four tables, nine Hebrew and ten Greek, with their glosses, counts and verses.
arek, אָרֵךְ
slow; 15 uses in 15 verses
aph, אַף
face, anger; 276 uses in 269 verses
arak, אָרַךְ
to prolong; 34 uses in 34 verses
orek, אֹרֶךְ
length; 95 uses in 90 verses
qavah, קָוָה
to await; 49 uses in 45 verses, 17 in the Psalms and 15 in Isaiah
yachal, יָחַל
to wait; 41 uses in 41 verses, 19 in the Psalms and 8 in Job
sabar, שָׂבַר
to inspect; 8 uses in 8 verses
chul, חוּל
to twist, tremble; 58 uses in 54 verses
damam, דָּמַם
to be silent, still; 30 uses in 29 verses
makrothymia, μακροθυμία
patience; 14 uses in 14 verses
makrothymeo, μακροθυμέω
to have patience; 10 uses in 9 verses
makrothymos, μακροθύμως
patiently; 1 use
hypomone, ὑπομονή
perseverance; 32 uses in 31 verses, 7 in Revelation and 6 in Romans
hypomeno, ὑπομένω
to remain, to endure; 17 uses in 16 verses
anechomai, ἀνέχομαι
to endure; 15 uses in 14 verses, 5 in 2 Corinthians
anoche, ἀνοχή
tolerance; 1 use
ekdechomai, ἐκδέχομαι
to wait for; 6 uses
prosdechomai, προσδέχομαι
to wait for, welcome; 14 uses
apekdechomai, ἀπεκδέχομαι
to expect; 8 uses
The lexicon in full4 tables and figures
The Hebrew words of length and anger4 words
A table of four Hebrew words, each with its meaning and count in the Tyndale House lexicon, its range in Strong's definition, and verses where it stands.
| Word | Meaning and uses | Range in Strong's | Verses and forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| arek, אָרֵךְ, H750 | slow; 15 uses in 15 verses | long; KJV usage: long(-suffering, -winged), patient, slow (to anger) | Ecclesiastes 7:8, erek ruach, a patient spirit; Ezekiel 17:3, long pinions; the thirteen verses of erek appayim |
| aph, אַף, H639 | face, anger; 276 uses in 269 verses | properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire | Genesis 2:7, nostrils; Exodus 34:6, appayim, the dual |
| arak, אָרַךְ, H748 | to prolong; 34 uses in 34 verses | to be (causative, make) long (literally or figuratively) | Proverbs 19:11, he'erikh appo, makes his anger long |
| orek, אֹרֶךְ, H753 | length; 95 uses in 90 verses | length | Proverbs 25:15, be-orekh appayim, through patience |
The Hebrew verbs of waiting5 words
A table of five Hebrew verbs, each with its meaning and count in the Tyndale House lexicon, its range in Strong's definition, and verses where it stands.
| Word | Meaning and uses | Range in Strong's | Verses and forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| qavah, קָוָה, H6960 | to await; 49 uses in 45 verses, 17 in the Psalms and 15 in Isaiah | to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect | Psalm 27:14, qavveh, twice; Isaiah 40:31, qoveh, those who wait upon the LORD; Genesis 1:9, be gathered |
| yachal, יָחַל, H3176 | to wait; 41 uses in 41 verses, 19 in the Psalms and 8 in Job | to wait; by implication, to be patient, hope | 1 Samuel 13:8, Saul waited seven days; Job 13:15, I will hope in Him |
| sabar, שָׂבַר, H7663 | to inspect; 8 uses in 8 verses | to scrutinize; by implication (of watching) to expect (with hope and patience) | Psalm 145:15, the eyes of all look to You |
| chul, חוּל, H2342 | to twist, tremble; 58 uses in 54 verses | properly, to twist or whirl; specifically, to dance, to writhe in pain; figuratively, to wait | Psalm 37:7, hitcholel, wait patiently |
| damam, דָּמַם, H1826 | to be silent, still; 30 uses in 29 verses | to be dumb; by implication, to be astonished, to stop | Psalm 37:7, dom, be still, beside hitcholel from chul; Joshua 10:12, O sun, stand still |
The Greek words of patience and endurance5 words
A table of five Greek words, each with its meaning and count in the Tyndale House lexicon, its range in Strong's definition, and verses where it stands.
| Word | Meaning and uses | Range in Strong's | Verses and forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| makrothymia, μακροθυμία, G3115 | patience; 14 uses in 14 verses | longanimity, i.e. (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude | Romans 2:4, patience; Galatians 5:22, patience; 1 Peter 3:20, God waited patiently |
| makrothymeo, μακροθυμέω, G3114 | to have patience; 10 uses in 9 verses | to be long-spirited, i.e. (objectively) forbearing or (subjectively) patient | Matthew 18:26 and 29, makrothymeson, have patience; 1 Corinthians 13:4, makrothymei, is patient; James 5:7, twice, and 5:8 |
| makrothymos, μακροθύμως, G3116 | patiently; 1 use | with long (enduring) temper, i.e. leniently | Acts 26:3, to listen to me patiently |
| hypomone, ὑπομονή, G5281 | perseverance; 32 uses in 31 verses, 7 in Revelation and 6 in Romans | cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy | Luke 21:19, patient endurance; James 1:3, perseverance; Colossians 1:11, endurance |
| hypomeno, ὑπομένω, G5278 | to remain, to endure; 17 uses in 16 verses | to stay under (behind), i.e. remain; figuratively, to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere | Luke 2:43, remained behind; James 1:12, perseveres under trial |
The Greek words of bearing and waiting for5 words
A table of five Greek words, each with its meaning and count in the Tyndale House lexicon, its range in Strong's definition, and verses where it stands.
| Word | Meaning and uses | Range in Strong's | Verses and forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| anechomai, ἀνέχομαι, G430 | to endure; 15 uses in 14 verses, 5 in 2 Corinthians | to hold oneself up against, i.e. (figuratively) put up with | Ephesians 4:2, bearing with one another; Colossians 3:13, bear with one another |
| anoche, ἀνοχή, G463 | tolerance; 1 use | self-restraint, i.e. tolerance | Romans 2:4, tolerance |
| ekdechomai, ἐκδέχομαι, G1551 | to wait for; 6 uses | to accept from some source, i.e. (by implication) to await | James 5:7, the farmer awaits; Hebrews 11:10, he was looking forward |
| prosdechomai, προσδέχομαι, G4327 | to wait for, welcome; 14 uses | to admit; by implication, to await (with confidence or patience) | Luke 2:25, Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel |
| apekdechomai, ἀπεκδέχομαι, G553 | to expect; 8 uses | to expect fully | Romans 8:25, we wait for it patiently; 1 Peter 3:20, God waited patiently |
Makrothymia in the New Testament
Paul and Peter use the noun and its verb for God's restraint toward sinners, and Paul lists it among the marks of love and the fruit of the Spirit.
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?Paul joins three words for God's restraint in one chain, chrestotes, kindness, anoche, tolerance, and makrothymia, patience, and he names repentance as the end they serve.
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.Peter denies that the Lord delays, ou bradynei, and calls the delay His patience, makrothymei, toward people He wants to come to repentance.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,It is the verse that ties makrothymia to the work of the Spirit in believers.
Paul's list of what love does opens with the verb of this family, "Love is patient, love is kind."
God waited in the days of Noah2 Peter 3:15; 1 Peter 3:20; 1 Timothy 1:16
Six verses after his word on the delay, Peter tells his readers to count the Lord's makrothymian as soterian, salvation (2 Peter 3:15). In 1 Peter 3:20 the patience of God is the subject of the verb apexedecheto, was waiting, in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. Paul says that Christ Jesus displayed His perfect patience in him, the worst of sinners, as an example to those who would believe (1 Timothy 1:16).
Abraham waited patientlyHebrews 6:12 to 15; Matthew 18:26 to 29; James 5:7 to 8
Hebrews 6:12 tells its readers to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised, and verse 15 gives Abraham as the example, who obtained the promise after waiting patiently, makrothymesas. In Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant the verb is a debtor's plea: the servant begs his master, "Have patience with me," and his fellow servant begs the same of him (Matthew 18:26 and 29). James uses the verb three times in two verses when he tells the brothers to be patient until the Lord's coming (James 5:7 to 8).
Voices on the Words
Augustine explained how God can be called patient, and Matthew Henry tied God's slowness to anger to His mercy.
died 430 · Augustine of Hippo
Augustine on the word patience
The reading1 paragraph
Augustine of Hippo opens his treatise On Patience with the word itself. In the translation of H. Browne (1887) he notes that "patience has its name a patiendo, from suffering". He still confesses a patient God, although "in God there can be no suffering". The editors of that translation note features of its style that raise doubt. They keep the treatise among his works because he names it in a letter.
1662 to 1714 · Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry on God's long-suffering
The reading1 paragraph
Matthew Henry says of the name in Exodus 34:6, "He is long-suffering. This is a branch of God's goodness which the wickedness of sinners gives occasion for; that of Israel had done so: they had tried his patience, and experienced it". On Psalm 103:8 he writes that God "bears long with those that are very provoking, defers punishing, that he may give space to repent". He adds that "he could not be thus slow to anger if he were not plenteous in mercy, the very Father of mercies".
Patience and Endurance: One Virtue or Two
Readers have taken makrothymia and hypomone as two virtues with two objects or as one virtue under two names.
Each word has its own objectJohn Chrysostom; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
John Chrysostom, in the catena on James 5:8, gives longsuffering to the brothers' dealings with one another and patience to their dealings with those outside. He defines longsuffering as what is shown to people who can return a wrong. The commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (1871) glosses the patience of Hebrews 6:12 as "long-suffering endurance" and distinguishes the patience "of love" in 1 Corinthians 13:4 from that "of faith" in Hebrews 6:15.
The objection: James uses both families in one paragraph for one church waiting for the Lord, with makrothymia and its verb in verses 7, 8 and 10 and hypomone in verse 11.
The treatises join them under one nameTertullian; Cyprian
Tertullian's Of Patience, in the translation of S. Thelwall (1885), treats a "twofold patience, the spiritual and the bodily" under one name in its fourteenth chapter. Cyprian's On the Advantage of Patience, in the translation of R. E. Wallis (1886), begins patience in God and holds up Job's endurance in the same treatise.
The objection: Colossians 1:11 prays for hypomonen kai makrothymian, and 2 Timothy 3:10 lists Paul's patience and his perseverance as separate items. Two writers of the New Testament set the words side by side as two things.
being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfullyPaul prays for full endurance and patience together, hypomone and makrothymia, so the objection rests on his two words in one request.
Twenty books use one family or both25 and 49 uses
James uses the words of patience more often than any other book, and Romans and Revelation use the words of endurance most.
| Book | Makrothymia, makrothymeo, makrothymos | Where they stand | Hypomone, hypomeno |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 2 | 18:26, 18:29 | 2 |
| Mark | 0 | none | 1 |
| Luke | 1 | 18:7 | 3 |
| Acts | 1 | 26:3 | 1 |
| Romans | 2 | 2:4, 9:22 | 7 |
| 1 Corinthians | 1 | 13:4 | 1 |
| 2 Corinthians | 1 | 6:6 | 3 |
| Galatians | 1 | 5:22 | 0 |
| Ephesians | 1 | 4:2 | 0 |
| Colossians | 2 | 1:11, 3:12 | 1 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 1 | 5:14 | 1 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 0 | none | 2 |
| 1 Timothy | 1 | 1:16 | 1 |
| 2 Timothy | 2 | 3:10, 4:2 | 3 |
| Titus | 0 | none | 1 |
| Hebrews | 2 | 6:12, 6:15 | 6 |
| James | 4 | 5:7 twice, 5:8, 5:10 | 5 |
| 1 Peter | 1 | 3:20 | 2 |
| 2 Peter | 2 | 3:9, 3:15 | 2 |
| Revelation | 0 | none | 7 |
2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and 6 more
The Patience Asked of God's People
Paul's letters ask the churches of Thessalonica and Ephesus to be patient with all.
Paul tells the Thessalonians to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone, and the verb is makrothymeite, a present imperative (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,Paul asks for makrothymia and for anechomai, bearing with one another in love, in a single verse, so the church's patience is practised on its own members.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEP Bible TBESH and TBESG glosses (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922), with the Strong's definitions (1890) the rows carry, entries h750, h639, h748, h753, h6960, h3176, h7663, h2342, h1826, g3115, g3114, g3116, g5281, g5278, g430, g463, g1551, g4327 and g553.
- The tagged Hebrew and Greek text with Strong's numbers and morphology.
- Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Proverbs 14:29.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Exodus 34:6 to 7 and Psalm 103:8.
- Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Hebrews 6:12.
- John Chrysostom, in the catena on James 5:8.
- Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 9, On the Advantage of Patience, translated by R. E. Wallis, Ante-Nicene Fathers, volume 5 (1886)
- Tertullian, Of Patience, translated by S. Thelwall, Ante-Nicene Fathers, volume 3 (1885), chapter 14.
- Augustine of Hippo, On Patience, chapter 1, with its editors' note, translated by H. Browne, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, volume 3 (1887)
Keep Studying
In this value5
Symbols1