To undergo hardship
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G2553 is a verb for undergoing hardship or suffering, especially in the call to remain faithful when ministry, witness, or ordinary discipleship becomes costly. Paul uses the word while describing imprisonment and then commands Timothy to endure hardship as he fulfills his ministry.
Reader summary
Full entry for κακοπαθέω (G2553) · Open the biblical lexicon
G2553 is a verb for undergoing hardship or suffering, especially in the call to remain faithful when ministry, witness, or ordinary discipleship becomes costly. Paul uses the word while describing imprisonment and then commands Timothy to endure hardship as he fulfills his ministry.
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include endure hardship (1), I suffer (1), suffering (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Timothy 2:9. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (2), James (1).
G2553 is a verb for undergoing hardship or suffering, especially in the call to remain faithful when ministry, witness, or ordinary discipleship becomes costly. Paul uses the word while describing imprisonment and then commands Timothy to endure hardship as he fulfills his ministry. James places it in a simple pastoral question: if someone is suffering, that person should pray.
The word therefore refuses two opposite errors. It does not treat hardship as proof that God has abandoned His servant, but it also does not glorify pain as though suffering itself makes every response holy. G2553 gives language for the reality of costly obedience, limited control, opposition, and the need for prayerful support. Its setting in 2 Timothy is vocational and communal, while James keeps suffering connected to the person’s present spiritual practice rather than to a theory that explains every cause.
Teachers should not use this verb to pressure people to remain in preventable danger or to hide injustice behind a heroic story. The companion calls for honest lament, practical care, courage, and faithful completion of responsibilities within wise limits. Read it with the surrounding command, the source of hardship, and the help the church is called to provide.
G2553 has three direct uses that connect hardship with imprisonment, ministry, and prayer. Its focused witness presents suffering as a reality to endure faithfully and bring before God, not as a reason to deny pain or sanctify preventable harm.
For which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
Paul describes concrete imprisonment and contrasts the limits placed on his body with the freedom of God’s word, refusing to confuse hardship with the failure of the mission.
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Timothy’s endurance is joined to sobriety, evangelistic work, and completion of ministry, showing that hardship is faced within a larger vocation and disciplined community.
Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
James gives suffering a direct spiritual response without denying the reality of pain, pairing prayer with the community’s other truthful responses to changing circumstances.
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. Endure active affliction or hardship, not mere passive suffering or misfortune
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I suffer evil, endure affliction
Read verseI suffer evil, endure affliction
Read verseI suffer evil, endure affliction
Read verseI suffer evil, endure affliction
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 3 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 3 lexical occurrence verses.
κακοπαθέω is built from this root:
Faithful ministry requires perseverance through opposition and difficulty.2 Timothy 4:1-5
G2553 is a compact word for a large pastoral reality. Paul’s chains in 2 Timothy 2 are not imaginary inconvenience; they are public hardship imposed on a servant of the gospel. Yet he can say that God’s word is not chained, separating the limits of his circumstances from the reach of God’s mission. In chapter 4, Timothy is commanded to endure hardship alongside sobriety, evangelistic work, and the fulfillment of his ministry.
This is not a celebration of pain for its own sake. It is a call to remain faithful when obedience is costly and the work cannot be measured only by comfort. James gives the word a different but complementary setting. The person who is suffering should pray, while the cheerful person sings. The community is invited to respond to the actual condition before it, not to force everyone into one emotional script.
G2553 therefore teaches courage with honesty. It does not authorize leaders to keep people in danger, excuse abuse, or call preventable injustice a ministry opportunity. Faithful endurance includes lament, wise counsel, practical aid, and the freedom to seek safety.
2Tim.4.5
G2553 combines the idea of hardship with the experience of suffering and appears in an active command and pastoral question. Its objects are not merely emotions; the contexts involve imprisonment, ministry pressure, and lived affliction.
The New Testament’s call to endure hardship echoes the faithful suffering of God’s servants in the Old Testament while centering endurance in Christ’s own suffering and resurrection. The church is called to prayer, mutual care, and courage rather than denial or glorification of pain.