What Does Hebrews 6:12 Mean in the King James?
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word translated “followers” means “imitators,” so the promise is inherited by taking on the trustful, slow-to-heat pattern of those who already live toward it.
THE MEANING
Here, trust leans its full weight on what is promised, while patience stays slow to flare before it arrives. The people who inherit are called imitators, so trust has a visible shape: a life patterned by trust and patient steadiness. The verse holds movement and waiting together in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that waiting means the promise has failed, or that urgency is the only proof of commitment. Here, trust keeps its shape across the delay, and inheritance is tied to that enduring pattern.
THE ROOT
μιμηταί
mimētai
GROWS FROM
μιμη-
mimē-
To imitate or reproduce a pattern.
“followers” in this verse is mimētai. The word carries the sense of imitators, more active than simply trailing behind. The verse links inheritance to taking on the pattern of people whose trust and patience make the promised future visible.
ALSO GROWS
mimētēs: Imitator; one who follows an example.
μιμητής
This is the singular form behind “followers” and points to a pattern being taken into one’s own life.
mimeomai: To imitate or follow an example.
μιμέομαι
The related verb makes the connection between following someone and reproducing the shape of their way.
μακροθυμία
makrothymia
GROWS FROM
μακροθυμ- (makrothym-), built from μακρός (makros, long) + θυμός (thymos, heat or anger)
Long-tempered; slow to flare.
Patience here carries the image of staying slow to heat while the promise is still unfolding. The next verse uses the same word family for Abraham’s patient endurance, showing this as a way of carrying the promise rather than an empty pause.
ALSO GROWS
makrothymeō: To be patient; to be slow to anger.
μακροθυμέω
This verb is used in Hebrews 6:15 for Abraham’s patient endurance before he obtains the promise.
makrothymos: Long-tempered; patient.
μακρόθυμος
The related adjective shows patience as a lasting disposition, not just a moment of waiting.
πίστις
pistis
GROWS FROM
πειθ-
peith-
To persuade or be persuaded; to come to trust.
“faith” in this verse is pistis. The word belongs to a family that joins being persuaded with trusting. In this verse, trust is weight-bearing reliance that can remain steady through the delay.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: To persuade, convince, or be persuaded.
πείθω
This root relationship points to trust as settled confidence, rather than a bare claim of belief.
pisteuō: To trust, believe, or entrust oneself.
πιστεύω
This related verb gives trust a lived direction: the person places their weight on what is promised.
THE PATTERN
Trust carries the unseen promise through waiting without giving way to fretful urgency.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.THE THREAD
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.The same μακροθυμ- (makrothym-, long-tempered or slow to flare) word family appears here as a verb describing Abraham before he receives the promise. It makes the patience in this verse concrete: inheritance unfolds through trust sustained across the delay.
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