Patience – ’arak

The word patience, coming from the Latin patientio, means to endure or wait. It is translated in our King James Version (KJV) mostly as long-suffering, as in Galatians 5:22. The Greek word in our New Testament is makrothumia which is actually the combination of thumia or wrath, anger and makro or something that is long or drawn out. These words are seen in the Hebrew as ’arak – ah-rock. This word means something similar as in to prolong an action or to approach slowly, not quick to respond. The pictographic letters showing a man with the ability (aleph) to place his hand (kaph) on someone’s head (resh) as if to hold them back. In its Middle English usage, wounded soldiers would come to the hospital anxious to get back out on the battle field. The doctors knew that their wounds would take some time to heal so the soldiers needed to be patient. Having patience and being a patient come from the same word.

The first occurrence is actually here:

Bere’shiyt (Genesis) 6:15And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

As if to say that the ark was very loooooong!

Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) 7:8Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Below is an example that is in context with wrath.

Romans 9:22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:


Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Shalom Alecheim!