Longsuffering
The Phrase Today "Longsuffering" is a slightly archaic but immediately recognizable English word for patient endurance of difficulty, provocation, or affliction over an extended period without complaint. In religious English it remains in active use as both a theological term and a description of admirable human patience. In secular English the word has largely been replaced by "patience" or "forbearance," but "longsuffering" survives in contexts where a stronger, more textured term is needed - one that acknowledges both the intensity of the suffering and the sustained quality of the endurance. It often carries a slight note of sympathetic admiration: a longsuffering person has borne more than most.
Biblical Origin The word translates the Greek *makrothumia* (from *makros*, long, and *thumos*, passion or breath) - literally "long-passioned" or "long-breathed." It appears as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 (KJV): *"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith."* It also appears in 2 Corinthians 6:6, where Paul describes his ministry: *"By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned."* Colossians 3:12 exhorts believers: *"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering."* The Greek term described a specific quality: patience not merely in enduring circumstances but in enduring provocation by other people - the long-breathed restraint that does not retaliate.
Semantic Drift Modern translations of the New Testament usually render *makrothumia* as "patience" (NIV, ESV) or "forbearance" (NRSV). The KJV's "longsuffering" is more evocative but has become archaic in everyday English. The compound word - long + suffering - was a natural English formation in the 17th century when compound words were a productive device. Over time "longsuffering" became a marker of religious register: it is the word you use when you are speaking in a biblical or devotional frame. In secular contexts the word sometimes appears with a slightly ironic flavour - a longsuffering spouse is one who has endured much - maintaining the intensity of the KJV's compound while transferring it to domestic contexts.
Historical Usage The KJV's rendering of the fruit of the Spirit made "longsuffering" one of the most frequently heard words in Christian preaching for over three centuries. Sermons on Galatians 5 and on the character of Christ (who is described as longsuffering in the divine attributes listed in Exodus 34:6) embedded the word in devotional English. Puritan writings on the virtues made longsuffering a key category of practical Christian ethics - the ability to bear with difficult people and circumstances without retaliation was seen as a distinctively Christian grace, enabled by the Holy Spirit rather than merely human temperament. The word appears regularly in the writings of John Bunyan, Richard Baxter, and other Puritan divines.
Cross-Linguistic Reach The Greek *makrothumia* was rendered differently across languages: German *Langmut* (long-minded/long-tempered) captures the compound quality; French *longanimité* (from Latin *longanimitas*) preserves the Latin translation; Spanish *longanimidad* does the same. English "longsuffering" is unusual in its compound structure - it literally describes the duration of the suffering rather than the temper of the one enduring. Modern translations across languages have largely replaced these archaic renderings with more contemporary words for patience, but the older compound forms survive in formal religious English and its counterparts in other languages.
Cultural Usage The word appears in religious writing, sermons, and devotional literature with undiminished frequency in conservative Christian circles. In secular culture it appears primarily in contexts where its archaic flavour is intended to signal either a religious frame or a humorous over-formality: a review that describes a reviewer's longsuffering patience with a tedious film is using the word ironically. The specific quality the word describes - patient endurance of provocation by others over a long period - has been extensively studied in positive psychology under terms like "patience" and "forgiveness," which lack the theological charge of longsuffering but describe the same phenomena. The KJV word remains the most evocative English rendering of a virtue that modern culture recognises but struggles to name adequately.
Bible References (3)
Tags
galatianscorinthianscolossianspatiencefruit-of-spiritlanguage