Greek word · G1021

βραδύς

bradys

slow

Slow in movement, time or response. It is negative when it means dull or sluggish ('slow of heart to believe', Luke 24:25). It is positive when it means deliberate or restrained, as here.

Appears 3 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

βραδύς, -εῖα, -ύ,

slow: εἰς τὸ λαλῆσαι, James 1:19; metaphorically, of the understanding: β. τ. καρδίᾳ, assoc. with ἀνόητος, Luke 24:25.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of James 1:19

Range of meaning

Slow in movement, time or response. It is negative when it means dull or sluggish ('slow of heart to believe', Luke 24:25). It is positive when it means deliberate or restrained, as here.

Against the English

'Slow' is accurate. The Greek repeats the word twice ('slow… slow…'), and some translations smooth that out ('slow to become angry'), which softens the paired rhythm.

Used elsewhere in the period

In LXX Exod 4:10 Moses calls himself 'slow of speech and slow of tongue' (βραδύφωνος, βραδύγλωσσος), there as a weakness. Proverbs repeatedly praises restraint in speech and temper (Prov 10:19; 17:27–28; 29:20, 'Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool'). The Greek moral tradition has the same idea: Zeno is reported to have said we have two ears and one mouth so that we may hear more and speak less (Diogenes Laertius 7.23).

From the study of Luke 24:25

Range of meaning

Bradys means slow, sluggish or tardy, whether in movement, speech or response (James 1:19, 'slow to speak, slow to anger'). Kardia in the Greek Old Testament and the New Testament usually translates the Hebrew lev, levav, the inner person where thinking, understanding, planning, deciding and trusting happen. Emotion is included but is not the main sense.

Against the English

'Slow of heart' (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV) keeps the image but can be heard in modern English as 'emotionally unresponsive' or 'not passionate enough'. Some modern versions (NIV, NLT) drop 'heart' entirely and say only 'slow to believe' or 'find it hard to believe'. That loses the point that the slowness lies at their inner core of understanding and will.

How it drifted

Since the Romantic era, English 'heart' has come to mean mainly feelings, set against the 'head' (the mind). Biblical 'heart' includes the mind.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare Mark 6:52 and 8:17 (hearts 'hardened' so the disciples do not understand), and Isaiah 6:10 in the Greek Old Testament (the heart 'made fat' so it cannot understand). Greek writers could use bradys of a slow mind; Homer and later authors have bradys noos, 'slow mind'.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 24:25 βραδεῖς slow

    Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

    Here: 'Slow, sluggish.' The picture is of something that moves too slowly and drags behind. They are not described as refusing outright; they are lagging behind what the scriptures had already said.

James · 2

  1. James 1:19 βραδὺς βραδὺς slow

    My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

    Here: Slow, unhurried, holding back. In this proverb it is a good quality: someone who does not rush in.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.