What does πάθος (páthos) mean in the Bible?
πάθος (páthos): Passive, ungoverned emotional suffering or evil desire—contrasts with active desire (ἐπιθυμία)
Greek · G3806
πάθος
Passion
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
πάθος G3806
Pronunciation páthos
What does πάθος (páthos) mean in the Bible?
πάθος (páthos): Passive, ungoverned emotional suffering or evil desire—contrasts with active desire (ἐπιθυμία)
Full entry for πάθος (G3806) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3806?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include lust (1), passion (1), passions (1).
Where does πάθος (páthos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 1:26. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (1), Colossians (1), Romans (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It lust 1× Colossians 3:5
passion 1× 1 Thessalonians 4:5
passions 1× Romans 1:26
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Romans 1:26
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Romans 1 Colossians 1 1 Thessalonians 1
Source forms
πάθει 1x pathei 1 Thessalonians 4:5
πάθη 1x pathē Romans 1:26
πάθος 1x pathos Colossians 3:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 1x Romans 1:26
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular 1x Colossians 3:5
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 1x 1 Thessalonians 4:5
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Passive, ungoverned emotional suffering or evil desire—contrasts with active desire (ἐπιθυμία)
Strong's G3806
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 3 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
passion
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Passive, ungoverned emotional suffering or evil desire—contrasts with active desire (ἐπιθυμία)
(πάιτχω), [in LXX: Job.30:31 (אֵבֶל), Pro.25:20, and very frequently in (4Ma.1:1 n, al.)* ;] like πάθημα;
1that which befalls one, that which one suffers
2a passive emotion or affection (esp. of violent emotion), a passion, passionate desire; in NT always in bad sense: Col.3:5; π. ἀτιμίας, Rom.1:26; π. ἐπιθυμίας, 1Th.4:5.
Synonymsπ. = πάθημα, exc. that πάθημα is the more concrete and particular. In NT usage, π. represents the passive, ungoverned aspect of evil desire, as opposite to ἐπιθυμία, which is the active and also the more comprehensive term (see Tr., Syn., LXXxvii); cf. also ὄρεξις
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 1:26 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
πάθη paqh
suffering, emotion, depraved passion, lust
Read verse Colossians 3:5 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
πάθος, paqov
suffering, emotion, depraved passion, lust
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 4:5 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
πάθει paqei
suffering, emotion, depraved passion, lust
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 3 Case pattern Accusative (2) Number pattern Singular (2)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · Neuter 1 Thess 4:5 1×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Rom 1:26 1×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Col 3:5 1×
Word Origins
πάθος is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain