To remain/keep on
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Epimeno means to remain, stay, continue, persist, or persevere. The word can describe people staying in a place, continuing to ask a question, persisting in unbelief, continuing in God's kindness, continuing in the faith, or persevering in life and teaching.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπιμένω (G1961) · Open the biblical lexicon
Epimeno means to remain, stay, continue, persist, or persevere. The word can describe people staying in a place, continuing to ask a question, persisting in unbelief, continuing in God's kindness, continuing in the faith, or persevering in life and teaching.
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to spend (2), [and] stayed [with them] (1), do not persist (1), I stayed (1), I will stay (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 8:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Romans (3), 1 Corinthians (2), 1 Timothy (1).
Epimeno means to remain, stay, continue, persist, or persevere. The word can describe people staying in a place, continuing to ask a question, persisting in unbelief, continuing in God's kindness, continuing in the faith, or persevering in life and teaching. Its pastoral value lies in direction. Continuing is not automatically faithful. Romans asks whether believers should continue in sin, and answers with a decisive no.
Romans also calls Gentile believers to continue in God's kindness, and Colossians calls the church to continue in the faith. The same persistence that is destructive in sin or unbelief is necessary in doctrine, faith, and ministry. Teachers should therefore ask what a person remains in and why.
Epimeno describes remaining, staying, continuing, or persisting. The selected witnesses show neutral staying, stubborn questioning, sinful continuance, faithfulness, unbelief, and persevering ministry.
When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
The accusers continue questioning Jesus, and He responds with a searching word about sin. Persistence here is pressure, not faithfulness.
What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?
Paul rejects continuing in sin so that grace may increase. Continuance can be a false inference from grace.
Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Paul calls readers to continue in God's kindness. Perseverance is framed by kindness and severity.
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Paul says those who do not persist in unbelief can be grafted in again. The word marks ongoing unbelief as a real posture.
If indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Believers are exhorted to continue in the faith, established and firm, not moved from the gospel hope.
Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Timothy must persevere in life and teaching, for this serves both himself and hearers. Continuance becomes ministerial watchfulness.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Persist or continue steadfastly in a state, condition, or pursuit, emphasizing sustained commitment.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 18 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
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Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
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Read verseI remain, tarry, persist in
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 16 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 15 lexical occurrence verses.
ἐπιμένω is built from these roots:
Endurance in truth and holiness is essential to lasting ministry impact.1 Timothy 4:11-16
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Epimeno is a direction word as much as a duration word. Remaining is only faithful when the object is faithful. Paul can reject continuing in sin, warn against persisting in unbelief, call readers to continue in God's kindness, and urge believers to continue in the faith. John shows persistence that pressures Jesus rather than receives Him. First Timothy shows perseverance in life and teaching as a serious ministry charge.
The word therefore helps pastors avoid lazy perseverance language. The question is not simply whether someone keeps going. It is whether they remain in sin, unbelief, kindness, faith, doctrine, or faithful service. Duration without direction can destroy; perseverance in Christ-formed truth gives life.
Col.1.23
The epi prefix can add the sense of staying on or continuing in a state, place, or course. The key interpretive question is the object or sphere of continuance.
Scripture repeatedly distinguishes stubborn persistence from covenant faithfulness. Epimeno gives the New Testament a compact way to warn against remaining in sin or unbelief while calling believers to continue in grace-shaped faith, kindness, and sound teaching.