πάθημα (pathēma)
pathēma
suffering
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 16 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The noun pathēma refers to suffering or affliction that befalls a person from the outside. It describes a specific event or experience endured, rather than a general state of being. In the New Testament, it appears sixteen times, often highlighting the hardships faced by believers and the trials of Christ himself.
While it can denote any passive emotion or passion, as seen in Romans 7:5 regarding sinful desires, its most significant usage is theological. The word connects the sufferings of Jesus to those of his followers. For instance, Paul writes that Christians share in Christ’s sufferings (Philippians 3:10) and that believers’ afflictions serve to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:6). This creates a link between the endurance of Christ and the shared experience of the church.
The term emphasizes the reality of pain as a tangible part of faith. It is not merely emotional distress but an actual burden carried. By using this word, the biblical authors validate the physical and spiritual weight of persecution, presenting it as a participation in the life and suffering of Christ.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Greek word pathēma points to specific events of suffering rather than a vague sense of sadness. It describes the tangible weight of trials that come from outside, whether persecution or personal loss. When Scripture uses this term, it validates the reality of your pain. You are not imagining the burden; it is real, and God sees the specific moments where you feel overwhelmed.
What brings hope is how this word connects your experience to Jesus. In passages like 2 Corinthians 1:5, we learn that as Christ’s sufferings abound to us, His comfort also abounds. Your pain is not isolated. It places you in fellowship with the Lord, who understands physical and spiritual affliction intimately. This shared experience means your endurance has meaning.
Even when the road is steep, this connection offers a steady anchor. The same God who brought Christ through suffering to glory is present in your struggle. You are not carrying this alone. His comfort meets you in the specific details of your hardship, offering peace that outlasts the trial itself.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 16 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- sufferings10×
- sufferings,2×
- passions2×
- suffering1×
- of sufferings,1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- παθήματα4×
- παθημάτων4×
- παθήμασιν3×
- παθημάτων,3×
- πάθημα1×
- παθήμασιν,1×
Key Verses
-
II Corinthians 1:5
For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.
This verse establishes the direct link between the intensity of Christ's sufferings and the abundance of comfort believers receive.
-
Philippians 3:10
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death,
Paul expresses a desire to know Christ through the specific fellowship of His sufferings, showing that shared pain deepens relational intimacy with Jesus.
-
I Peter 4:13
But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy.
Peter instructs believers to rejoice in partaking of Christ’s sufferings because it guarantees a future joy at His revelation.
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Hebrews 2:10
For it became him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
This passage explains that God made the author of salvation perfect through sufferings, highlighting the purposeful nature of Jesus' pain for our sake.