verb
epimenamō
Strong’sG1961
I remain, tarry, persist in
stem epimen-16 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books13 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
ἐπιμένω means to stay on, remain, or tarry in a place. It is used of remaining somewhere physically, whether in a city, region, or with a particular person, and can be followed by a period of time to indicate how long someone stayed 124. Classical Greek also uses it of things remaining as they are, or of a rider keeping his seat, but the Bible itself does not use it in those ways 3.
The word also carries a metaphorical sense of persisting or continuing in a course of action or a state, such as continuing in sin, unbelief, faith, kindness, or teaching 1. Strong's likewise notes this figurative sense of persevering 2, and LSJ records the same idea of continuing in a pursuit or persisting in something 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἐπι-μένω
[in LXX: Ex 12:39 (מָהַהּ hith.)*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1961 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
stay on, tarry, absolutely, Refs; ἐπιμεῖναι ἐς αὔριον 11.351; ἄγε νῦν ἐπίμεινον, Ἀρήϊα τεύχεα δύω do you wait, and I will put on my armour, Refs 8th c.BC+, remain in a place, ἐ. ἐν τῇ πόλει 5th-6th c.BC: Andocides Orator 1.75, etc.; ἐπί τῇ στρατιᾷ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Anabasis” 7.2.1.
2. absolutely, remain in place, continue as they are, of things, Refs; keep one's seat, of a horseman, Refs; stay behind in a place, Refs
3. continue in a pursuit, ἐπὶ τῇ ζητήσει, ἐπὶ λόγῳ, Refs; ἐπὶ τοῖς δοξαζομένοις Refs 4th c.BC+; c.dative, persist in, τῇ ἀπονοία “PTeb.” 424.4 Refs 3rd c.AD+; continue treatment, ἐ.βοηθήματι Herod.middle in Refs; cleave to, μιᾷ γυναικί “PSI” 3.158.26 Refs 3rd c.AD+participle, ἐ. ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων ὀρθὸς ἑστηκώς NT; spend time over, ὑποδείγμασι 2nd c.AD: Apollonius Dyscolus Grammaticus “Synt.” 166.14.
4. abide by, ταῖς σπονδαῖς uncertain reading in Refs
5. endure, τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι 2nd c.AD: Soranus Medicus 1.3.
II. with accusative, await, be in store for, τινά 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Supplices” 624 (Lyric poetry), variant inRefs: with aorist infinitive, ἐ. τι τελεσθῆναι 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 3.2; μὴ 'πιμεῖναι τοὐμὸν ὀξῦναι στόμα not to wait so as to.., Refs: with future infinitive, Refs
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| epimenavōἐπιμένετε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | continue | 1× |
| epimenateἐπέμενεν | was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular | continued | 1× |
| epimenaleἐπέμενον | was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural | persisted in | 1× |
| epimenamiἐπιμενῶ | will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular | stay | 1× |
| epimenamaἐπέμεινα | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | stayed | 1× |
| epimenanaἐπεμείναμεν | happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural | stayed | 2× |
| epimenaseiōἐπιμένῃς | happening now · youpresent active subjunctive 2nd person singular | continue | 1× |
| epimenaneiōἐπιμένωμεν | happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural | continue | 1× |
| epimenaleiōἐπιμένωσι | happening now · theypresent active subjunctive 3rd person plural | continue | 1× |
| epimenasōrἐπίμενε | happening now · youpresent active imperative 2nd person singular | persevere | 1× |
| epimenarōἐπιμένειν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | remain | 1× |
| epimenaraἐπιμεῖναι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | stay | 3× |
| epimenarōntoiuἐπιμενόντων | happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine | staying | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 7 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epimenamō | epimename | epimenami1×ἐπιμενῶ | epimenama1×ἐπέμεινα | epimenamē | epimenamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | epimenasō | epimenase | epimenasi | epimenasa | epimenasē | epimenaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epimenatō | epimenate1×ἐπέμενεν | epimenati | epimenata | epimenatē | epimenatelē |
| we 1st person plural | epimenanō | epimenane | epimenani | epimenana2×ἐπεμείναμεν | epimenanē | epimenanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epimenavō1×ἐπιμένετε | epimenave | epimenavi | epimenava | epimenavē | epimenavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | epimenalō | epimenale1×ἐπέμενον | epimenali | epimenala | epimenalē | epimenalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epimenameiō | epimenameia | epimenameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | epimenaseiō1×ἐπιμένῃς | epimenaseia | epimenaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epimenateiō | epimenateia | epimenateiē |
| we 1st person plural | epimenaneiō1×ἐπιμένωμεν | epimenaneia | epimenaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epimenaveiō | epimenaveia | epimenaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | epimenaleiō1×ἐπιμένωσι | epimenaleia | epimenaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | epimenasōr1×ἐπίμενε | epimenasar | epimenasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epimenatōr | epimenatar | epimenatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | epimenavōr | epimenavar | epimenavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | epimenalōr | epimenalar | epimenalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epimenamoiō | epimenamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | epimenasoiō | epimenasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epimenatoiō | epimenatoia |
| we 1st person plural | epimenanoiō | epimenanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | epimenavoiō | epimenavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | epimenaloiō | epimenaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 4 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epimenarō1×ἐπιμένειν | epimenari | epimenara3×ἐπιμεῖναι | epimenarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epimenarōntos1× | epimenarintos | epimenarantos | epimenarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
epimen is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
epimenavō“continue”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Colossians 1:23ei ge epimenavō ta pistia themeliorēntois kai hedraiois kai …if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm …
epimenate“continued”was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Acts 12:16“continued”tos de Petros epimenate krouarōntos; anoigarantois de horala auton kai …But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were …
epimenale“persisted in”was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural1×
John 8:7“persisted in”hōs de epimenale erōtarōntois auton, anakuptarantos legata pros autoin …When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is …
epimenami“stay”will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular1×
1 Corinthians 16:8epimenami de en Efesa heōs tau pentēkostau;But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
epimenama“stayed”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular1×
Galatians 1:18… anerchama eis Hierosolumeim historara Kēfon, kai epimenama pros auton hēmerain dekapente;… to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.
epimenana“stayed”happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural2×
Acts 21:4aneuriskarantois de toin mathētoin epimenana autou hēmerain hepta, hotinois to Paulo …… out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the …
Acts 28:12kai katagirantois eis Surakousain epimenana hēmerain treis,Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there three days.
epimenaseiō“continue”happening now · youpresent active subjunctive 2nd person singular1×
Romans 11:22… epi de sin chrēstotas theou, ean epimenaseiō ta chrēstota, epei kai sis ekkoptisi.… but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also …
epimenaneiō“continue”happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural1×
Romans 6:1Tinem oun legani? epimenaneiō ta hamarta, hina tas charitas pleonazateia?… then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may …
epimenaleiō“continue”happening now · theypresent active subjunctive 3rd person plural1×
Romans 11:23“continue”kakeinois de, ean mē epimenaleiō ta apistia, enkentrizili; dunatos gar atō …And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft …
epimenasōr“persevere”happening now · youpresent active imperative 2nd person singular1×
1 Timothy 4:16epechasōr siauto kai ta didaskalia; epimenasōr autei; houtem gar poiarōntos kai siauton …… your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so …
epimenarō“remain”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive1×
Philippians 1:24tem de epimenarō en ta sarka anankaioterem dia vin.… more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
epimenara“stay”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive3×
Acts 10:48… Iēsu Christou baptizira. tote erōtala auton epimenara hēmerain tinain.… Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Acts 28:14“stay”hou heuriskarantois adelfoin parakalina para autoi epimenara hēmerain hepta; kai houtōs eis tan …There we found some brothers who invited us to spend the week with them. And so we came to Rome.
1 Corinthians 16:7… paroda horara, elpizamō gar chronon tinon epimenara pros vin, ean tos kurios epitrepateia.… only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the …
epimenarōntoiu“staying”happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine1×
Acts 21:10“staying”epimenarōntoiu de hēmerain polloterain katerchata tinos apo …… there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.