What does hupomone (patience, endurance) mean in the Bible?

Whosoever Will, Remaining Under: Break it in half. Hupo means “under.” Menō means “to remain, to abide, to stay.” Put them together and hupomonē means, with almost aggressive plainness, remaining under. Staying put beneath a weight instead of crawling out from under it. That is a completely different picture than “patience.” Patience is passive. Hupomonē is a man with a loaded bar across his shoulders refusing to let his knees buckle. The lexicons fight to get this across. One of the great ones, Trench, says it is not mere endurance but the brave patience with which the Christian contends against hindrances and persecutions. Another, Barclay, put it best: it is not the patience which sits down and accepts things, but the patience which masters them, a determination, unhurrying and yet undelaying, which refuses to be deflected. Obstacles do not daunt it and discouragements do not take its hope away. So burn the waiting-room picture. Hupomonē is not what you do when there is nothing to do. It is what you do when there is everything to do and no strength left to do it, and you stay under the load anyway, and you keep moving.

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.