A gripping instrument with two jaw parts, which are connected to each other by a pivot joint and are movable toward each other, by pushing together of two grip arms connected to the jaw parts, and are movable away from each other, by pushing apart of the grip arms, wherein the grip arm has a bending joint, by means of which, when the grip arms are pushed together, a force limited by a resiliency of the bending joint is transmitted, via the grip arm with the bending joint, to the corresponding jaw part, and which bending joint includes a directional abutment, wherein an applied manual force acts directly through the directional abutment during the pushing apart.