πάθημα vs πάσχω regarding suffering

Question

Heb 2:10 and Heb 5:8 translate both of these words as a form of suffering. What significance is there between these two words? Are they differing types of suffering, such as physical vs emotional? Or some other nuance? In comparing them, what is being said that may be being lost in translation?

Answer 1

πάθημα is a noun, while πάσχω is a verb. Because of the presence of -θ- in πάθημα and -σχ- in πάσχω, one might assume that the words are unrelated in Greek, but they actually share the same root.

For example, the aorist tense, active voice, infinitive conjugation of πάσχω is παθεῖν. Then there are the aorist tense, active voice, participles:

Case & Number	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative, Singular	παθών	παθοῦσα	παθόν
Genitive, Singular	παθόντος	παθούσης	παθόντος
Dative, Singular	παθόντι	παθούσῃ	παθόντι
Accusative, Singular	παθόντα	παθοῦσαν	παθόν
Nominative, Plural	παθόντες	παθοῦσαι	παθόντα
Genitive, Plural	παθόντων	παθουσῶν	παθόντων
Dative, Plural	παθοῦσιν	παθούσαις	παθοῦσιν
Accusative, Plural	παθόντας	παθούσας	παθόντα

As you can see, the -θ- is as much of a part of the lemma πάσχω as the -σχ- is. πάθημα is to πάσχω as the noun “suffering” is to the verb “suffer”. Just as there is no intrinsic indication of emotional or physical in the English words “suffering” or “suffer”, neither is there an instrinsic indication of such in the Greek words πάθημα or πάσχω. Whether they refer to emotional or physical is entirely dependent on the context itself.