Patience. That English word evokes a feeling, not an image. Patience is an important word because it is one of the nine fruits that the Spirit produces in the Christian’s life (Gal. 5) and it is also the first characteristic of love as Paul lists it in 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love is patient…” The goal of this paper is to clearly define the meaning of the Greek word makrothumia, “patience,” so that God’s people can have a clearer understanding of the good qualities he is developing in us as we remain in him.
makrothumia is a compound of two Greek words: makros “long (in the sense of both Space and Time); large” (Liddell and Scott 1075) and thumos “spirit; soul; feeling and thought (especially of strong feeling and passion)” (810). Further, thumos is derived from the word thuo which means, “to rage; to seethe” (813). When makros was used in a spatial sense it described the length of ships, a long distance torch race, and the length of a man. makros was used to describe a shout (i.e. a long shout); this shout was not long in duration but it was long in the sense of being able to reach a long distance, thus it was a loud shout (1075). When makros was used in a temporal sense it refers to a long time, “a long cherished wish,” long discourses, and someone taking too long (1075).
Thumos is a Greek word that bursts with different meanings but the meaning that is understood when it is compounded with makros to form makrothumia is “anger” (810). In the first century and onward the meaning of thumos is limited to an “intense expression of the inner self (expressed as strong desire, or passion)” and more often “a state of intense displeasure; anger, wrath, rage” (Bauer 461). When the two words are compounded into the word makrothumia the meaning then is “taking a long time to become angry or be fill with rage.” The Greek word for patience is intrinsically different from the English word because the Greek word practically defines itself, though the meaning is still determined by context. The adjective form makrothumos means, “being self-controlled in the face of provocation; patient, forbearing” (613).
The word makrothumia appears late in the Greek world, but it “is extremely rare” (Brown and Falkenroth 768). Menander used the word to describe the situation of mortals as compared to the situation of the gods. “Being a human never with freedom from grief, ask of the gods, rather to have forbearance.” The word used in this instance carries the idea of “forced acceptance” (Horst 375) and it is not a quality exercised toward humans. In essence Menander is saying, “To be human is to have grief, therefore ask the gods for endurance to deal with life.” Aretaeus used the word makrothumie to describe the patience and endurance of a physician who treated a “severe chronic illness” with little to no hope of actually curing the person (375). A master calls his stubborn donkey “a patient son of sluggishness” (375). In this instance the master is commenting on the speed of his donkey and not on the donkey’s disposition to remain calm and not become angry. Of these three uses of makrothumia only Aretaeus’s use is helpful in determining the meaning of makrothumia in the New Testament.
In the Septuagint makrothumia is used five times, but only two of the uses correspond to equivalent Hebrew words (Gilbrant 105). Proverbs 25:15 says, “In forbearance is success for kings, and a soft tongue shatters bones” (LXX). In this context the meaning of makrothumia could be either endurance or forbearance. If the meaning were taken as endurance then a king’s success would come from his persistence in his duties as king and if the meaning were taken as forbearance then his success would come from being a person who is not easily angered by others. makrothumia is used in Jeremiah 15:15. In this context God declares that he will give the wealth of Israel away and that he will punish them for their sins. Jeremiah appeals to God that he be long-suffering with him and that he not take him away (TNIV). The LXX wording is different because Jeremiah requests that God not be long-suffering with Jeremiah’s persecutors. Either way this usage of makrothumia has the idea of being forbearing towards a person (i.e. not being filled with rage quickly).
Makrothumia is used twelve times in the New Testament. There are basically two meanings that are derived from the uses of makrothumia in the New Testament. The first meaning is “patient endurance; perseverance.” This meaning is focused primarily on persevering through hardship. James 5:7-11 carries this sense of the word. In this passage James encourages Christians to be patient until the Lord’s coming. James illustrates how Christians are to be patient by comparing the Christian’s patient endurance to that of a farmer who waits for his land to produce crops. James also recalls how the prophets and Job patiently persevered through their suffering. Hebrew 6:10-12 reflects the same meaning of makrothumia. The author of Hebrews encourages his readers to be diligent and not become lazy but to, “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” The focus here is on perseverance in the face of painful circumstances not on being slow to anger toward people.
The other meaning that is seen in the New Testament for makrothumia “being self-controlled in the face of provocation; forbearing” occurs more often. In Romans 2:1-4 Paul is rebuking self-righteous people that condemn “sinners” because those who condemn others are sinners themselves. Paul then asks them, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience (makrothumia), not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” In this context God’s patience is his slowness to anger and his slowness to pour out his wrath on people. In 1 Timothy 1:16 Paul says, “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him…” Jesus exercised his “immense patience” toward Paul who had killed and persecuted Christians before his conversion. The verb form of makrothumia is used in 1 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” It is clear in this passage that patience is being slow to anger even when you are wronged. God exercises his patience with sinners who are wronging him in hope that they will repent. Patience is “restrained wrath” (Brown and Falkenroth 769).
The word family of makrothumia is small and simple. The verb form is makrothumeo “to be patient” and the adverb is makrothumon “patiently” and makros “long, distant” (Robinson 85).
Greek words that are synonymous with makrothumia are hupomone and anoche. The distinction between makrothumia and hupomone is that makrothumia for the most part expresses patience with respect to persons and hupomone with respect to things (Trench 198). This is not always the case though (see New Testament uses). The distinction between makrothumia and anoche is that the patience of anoche is temporary and “transient.” anoche was the Classical Greek word for “truce; or suspension of arms.” anoche is the kind of patience that “after a certain lapse of time, and unless other conditions intervene, it will pass away” (199).
W. E. Vine sums up very well the meaning of makrothumia. “Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger, and is associated with mercy…Patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial; it is the opposite of despondency and is associated with hope…” (Vine 12).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography:
Bauer, Walter, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick William Danker, Eds. A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Brown, Colin and U. Falkenroth. “makrothumia.” The New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology. Ed. Colin Brown. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1979. 1-1023. 3 vols.
Earle, Ralph. Word Meanings in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986.
Gilbrant, Thoralf. The Complete Biblical Library: The New Testament Greek-English
Dictionary: Lambda-Omicron. Vol. 14. Springfield: The Complete Biblical Library,
1986. 16 vols.
Horst, J. “makrothumia, makroyume;w, makro;yumov, makroyu;mwv.” The Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament. Eds. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich. Translator Geoffrey
W. Bromiley. Volume 4. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1985. 1-1126. 10 vols.
Liddell, H.G., and R. Scott. Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Robinson, Thomas A. Mastering Greek Vocabulary. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990.
The New Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament. Wilmington: Associated
Publishers & Authors, 1972.
Trench, Richard C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdman’s
Publishing Company, 1973.
Verbrugge, Verlyn D. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology: Abridged
Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Vine, W. E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Vol. 3 Old Tappan: Fleming
H. Revell Company, 1966.
No comments:
Post a Comment