Abstract
The Greek word hypomonē frequently has a more active quality than translations such as “patience” or “endurance” suggest. This is particularly the case in the book of Revelation, where some scholars have suggested translating it as “resistance” or “nonviolent resistance.” This article argues that “enduring resistance” is the most appropriate way of rendering this word in John’s Apocalypse. This translation highlights hypomonē as part of Revelation’s call for its audience to engage in nonviolent resistance to the evils and seductions of the Roman Empire.
Revelation is one of the most nonviolent books in the Bible. Despite its notoriously violent imagery, Revelation’s call to nonviolent resistance of the Roman Empire is one of the most important calls to nonviolence in the New Testament. Revelation advocates noncooperation and witness as nonviolent weapons for countering the evils of empire and lifts up the way of the Lamb as the only true way to victory.
History has amply demonstrated the human capacity to twist Revelation’s words into a justification of vengeance and violence. Given the vast amount of scholarship aimed at defusing its violent potential, I have become more worried about the opposite problem. I worry about interpretations that obscure Revelation’s character as resistance literature and downplay the radicality of its opposition to the injustice and oppression of the Roman Empire. I worry that readers might mistake Revelation’s call to active nonviolence for a call to a passive response to injustice and oppression.
This is epitomized in the translation of one particular word, ὑποµονή (hypomonē). While ὑποµονή is usually translated as “patience,” “endurance,” or “perseverance,” these translations do not get at the full meaning of the word. 1 Many scholars have argued that ὑποµονή has a sense of active resistance. Understanding it in this way has significant implications for how we read Revelation. It opens an avenue for exploring Revelation’s advocacy of nonviolent resistance. While Revelation’s call to nonviolence encompasses much more than its use of ὑποµονή to call for enduring resistance, exploring the meaning of this one word does much to build a picture of the kind of resistance John’s text envisions.
The effort to translate hypomonē as “resistance”
The current effort to translate ὑποµονή as “resistance” appears to have begun with Schüssler Fiorenza (1981, 50; 1991, 51), who describes ὑποµονή in terms of consistent resistance, steadfastness, perseverance, staying power, and commitment. The number of commentators who describe ὑποµονή as resistance has grown significantly since Schüssler Fiorenza’s work. 2 She was not the first to describe it as resistance, but subsequent interest in doing so can be traced back to her work. 3
Blount has gone farther by translating ὑποµονή as “nonviolent resistance.” Blount’s work highlights the fact that Revelation’s resistance is directed at the evils and seductions of the Roman Empire. He argues that “John is not asking his followers simply to endure the persecution that comes their way; he instead is championing an active response of faith that resists both the belief in the lordship of Rome and the hostile practices Rome wields to propagandize that belief” (2009, 42). 4
With the exception of Blount, most scholars have followed Schüssler Fiorenza in simply mentioning “resistance” as one possible translation, without seeking to argue for its legitimacy. Schaumberger and Schottroff’s extended discussion on ὑποµονή in their book Schuld und Macht: Studien zu einer feministischen Befreiungstheologie (1988) is a rare exception. While their work focuses on the use of the word in early Christianity rather than the New Testament and on German-language scholarship, it provides a number of helpful insights to support the translation of ὑποµονή as “resistance” (in German, Widerstand).
They begin by noting a history of efforts to improve upon the translation of ὑποµονή into German as Geduld (patience/endurance) and correct the blatantly false translation of it as Passivität (passivity) by trying to fill the word with a sense of “manly virtue” (Mannestugend; Schaumberger and Schottroff 1988, 104). While this has some basis in the classical Greek use of the word, as feminist scholars they naturally find this problematic. The authors that they criticize contrast passive endurance as a female virtue with active, courageous endurance as a male virtue. Schaumberger and Schottroff criticize both extremes as misinterpretations (103–6).
As part of this critique, they emphasize both the active and the long-term nature of ὑποµονή and argue that it has an eschatological orientation. It is, for example, the attitude of the martyrs who “accept execution because they await God’s kingdom on this earth and draw consequences for their whole life from this hope” (105). 5 Ὑποµονή describes an eschatological hope that leads to “a life in opposition to the practice and goals of the society” (105). It does not focus on individual heroic actions, but on “lifelong resistance work” (lebenslange Widerstandsarbeit; 106). It is “not the stance of champions and heroes, but of the oppressed who do not acquiesce in their oppression and the oppression of the people. . . . What is meant is an everyday resistance, a life that refuses to conform and attempts to keep the goal of the kingdom of God present in everyday life” (106).
This form of resistance does not employ violence. Instead, it is an enduring nonviolent resistance in daily life. Schaumberger and Schottroff conclude that we can translate ὑποµονή as resistance only if “it is not about the courageous campaign of a heroic male resistance, but about a new culture of those who live in a system of violence and who do not give up imagining an uncontaminated life.” While this examination is based on the use of the word after Revelation was written, it is remarkably consistent with how Revelation uses the term.
Revelation uses ὑποµονή to describe a life of enduring nonviolent resistance to the evils and seductions of the Roman Empire. It seeks to help the churches negotiate the complex realities of life in the empire. This does not mean a heroic violent resistance, but a steadfast and enduring nonviolent resistance through noncooperation and witness to the supremacy of the power of the Lamb over the power of empire.
Enduring resistance
I suggest that whenever ὑποµονή appears in Revelation, it should be translated with the noun phrase “enduring resistance.” 6 Even though I agree with scholars who suggest translating it as “resistance” or “nonviolent resistance,” doing so may stray too far from the root meaning of the word. Since the quality of steadfastness or endurance is primary, I prefer the translation “enduring resistance,” where the form of resistance is understood as nonviolent. 7
Translating ὑποµονή as “enduring resistance” gives these verses a connotation different from those of “patience” or “endurance” alone. It avoids the passive connotation of “patience” and better reflects Revelation’s call to live in opposition to empire. It makes it clear that this opposition, while not taking the form of violent revolution, is still an active and dangerous form of resistance. Endurance alone can too easily be the quality of the nonresistant pacifist who meekly endures without offering up protest or any form of resistance. Such passivity does not resemble the kind of active nonviolent resistance Revelation calls for.
Uses of hypomonē
In laying out a case for translating ὑποµονή as “enduring resistance,” I hope to develop a greater understanding of Revelation’s call to nonviolent resistance. There are, of course, many other important avenues for exploring Revelation’s call to nonviolence. This is only one of many possible threads to follow, but it is one that yields significant insights into the kind of resistance Revelation expects of the churches.
Lexicons tend to offer both passive and active definitions for ὑποµονή and the related verb ὑποµένω. LSJ, for instance, offers definitions for the verb ranging from the passive “abide patiently, submit to any evil that threatens one” to the notably more aggressive “stand one’s ground.” Its other definitions include “stay behind,” “wait,” and “endure patiently.” BDAG omits any reference to submitting, a meaning not used in the New Testament, but instead offers three options for ὑποµένω: “remain behind”; “stand one’s ground, hold out, endure”; and “wait for with persistence.” 8
While a more passive sense focused on waiting prevails in Hebrew texts translated into Greek, in Jewish and Christian texts composed in Greek ὑποµονή usually has a much more aggressive quality. A careful study of its use in such texts will help us get at a fuller understanding of its meaning, one that shows that it does not refer to a passive kind of patience, but to a life of enduring resistance. 9 The context in which it is used helps make clear that ὑποµονή in the New Testament is an active rather than a passive stance, one consistent with nonviolent resistance.
Translations from Hebrew
The meaning of ὑποµονή when it is used to translate Hebrew is significantly different from its use in Jewish and Christian texts composed in Greek. As a noun, 10 ὑποµονή occurs infrequently in the Septuagint and translates Hebrew words primarily meaning hope, expectation, or waiting. 11 The use of ὑποµονή and ὑποµένω to mean hope or expectation is not found in Greek literature and is unique to the Septuagint and other works translated from Hebrew, as Ortiz Valdivieso (1967, 62–63) argues in his dissertation on ὑποµονή.
Fourth Maccabees
In Jewish texts originally composed in Greek, there is not much reason to believe ὑποµονή refers primarily to hope, expectation, or waiting. Instead, the meaning of endurance and steadfastness is central. Of the Jewish apocryphal literature composed in Greek, ὑποµονή only appears in 4 Maccabees. 12 Here the meaning has clearly shifted to an active and resistant form of endurance. It consistently refers to endurance amidst suffering and torture. For example, in the following passage from the first chapter, the author praises the martyred seven brothers and their mother of 2 Maccabees as part of an argument aimed at demonstrating the sovereignty of reason over the other emotions.
I could prove to you from many and various examples that reason is dominant over the emotions, but I can demonstrate it best from the noble bravery of those who died for the sake of virtue, Eleazar and the seven brothers and their mother. All of these, by despising sufferings that bring death, demonstrated that reason controls the emotions. On this anniversary it is fitting for me to praise for their virtues those who, with their mother, died for the sake of nobility and goodness, but I would also call them blessed for the honor in which they are held. All people, even their torturers, marveled at their courage and endurance, and they became the cause of the downfall of tyranny over their nation. By their endurance they conquered the tyrant, and thus their native land was purified through them. (4 Macc 1.7-11)
13
This passage is notable for a number of reasons. First, ὑποµονή is an act of endurance amidst suffering and even death. It is described as an act of courage and bravery. One can easily see how “resistance” or “enduring resistance” would work as a translation in this context. Second, the author links ὑποµονή to keeping the emotions under control, to remaining calm and collected even while being tortured. This is not an easy thing to do, but takes significant effort. This difficult control of the emotions is often a key aspect of the modern use of nonviolence. Third, their endurance even unto death is described as the means by which the martyred family “conquered.” Their enduring resistance under torture is not seen as a defeat, but as a victory, a successful act of resistance.
The New Testament
The New Testament generally uses ὑποµονή in a way consistent with 4 Maccabees. It is a hopeful act of strength carried out in the context of suffering, oppression, or persecution, and a positive act of resistance employed in difficult circumstances. Exploring its use in selected passages will help us gain a better understanding of how ὑποµονή was understood in order to make a case for how it resembles nonviolence. 14
Of the Gospel writers, only Luke uses ὑποµονή. It appears in the parable of the sower to describe the seed that falls on the good soil, those who, “when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit ἐν ὑποµονή” (Luke 8.15).
15
Here the link with “holding fast” (κατέχω) is the only real clue to the meaning. We learn more, later in Luke, when Jesus speaks of the destruction of the temple and warns of wars, natural disasters, and persecution. Jesus warns his followers, But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. . . . You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls. (Luke 21.12-13, 16-19)
As in 4 Maccabees and Revelation, here ὑποµονή is an act that takes place in the context of persecution and suffering, an act that paradoxically leads to victory.
The Epistles also use ὑποµονή in the context of suffering and persecution. In Rom 5.3-4, it appears in the well-known saying, “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” It is also found in 2 Cor 1.6, “If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering,” and in 2 Cor 6.4-7, “as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God.” 16 It is used in 2 Thess 1.4, “we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.” 17 These verses emphasize that ὑποµονή is an act that results in victory even amidst suffering and persecution.
Ὑποµονή is regularly linked with hope, which is not surprising given its use to translate words for hope and expectation in the Septuagint. This is particularly clear where Paul argues that ὑποµονή produces hope in Rom 5.3-4, already quoted, and 15.4-5, “for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus.” Ὑποµονή is also used in 1 Thess 1.2-3, where it describes hope: “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The act of ὑποµονή arises out of hope and increases hope. It is fueled by hope that resistance is possible and, when progress is made, fuels that hope.
Ὑποµονή is also an act of strength and power. In Col 1.11, ὑποµονή is connected to both: “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure every-thing with patience.” 18 It also appears in the famous line from Heb 12.1, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” Ὑποµονή is not a passive form of patience, but an active perseverance in the midst of struggle. 19
What becomes clear from this survey, however incomplete, 20 is that (1) ὑποµονή is a response to suffering, persecution, and opposition; (2) ὑποµονή is an act of hope that helps foster hope; and (3) ὑποµονή is an act of strength, even if that strength is sometimes paradoxical. All of these characteristics are also true of nonviolence. They are best made clear by translating ὑποµονή as “enduring resistance.”
Revelation
The most important source for determining the meaning of ὑποµονή in Revelation is Revelation itself. Even though ὑποµονή appears only seven times in Revelation, it is key to understanding Revelation’s call to nonviolence. 21 Each of the uses helps us better understand this call. Revelation calls for nonviolent resistance as a means to victory in a world of oppression and injustice, a world where the destructive power of Rome was made manifest in political, military, economic, and ecological domination and destruction. It emphasizes the importance of not being passive in the face of evil, but instead living a life of tireless resistance to all that is wrong with the world, a life that simultaneously works to construct a world more in line with the visions of the kingdom of God and the New Jerusalem.
In Revelation, as in the rest of the New Testament and 4 Maccabees, ὑποµονή occurs in the context of oppression and suffering. In Rev 1.9, John introduces himself to his audience: “I, John, your brother, 22 who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” The word θλῖψις, translated by NRSV as “persecution,” can also be translated as “oppression” or “tribulation.” While there is no evidence of any systematic persecution of Jesus-followers when John was writing, John has a strong sense that life under the Roman Empire means oppression and suffering. He calls his audience to lives of enduring resistance oriented toward God’s alternative empire (we lose the full force of “kingdom of God” language when we fail to recognize that the same word, βασιλεία, was used to describe political realms of all sizes, including empires). 23 Oppression, the empire of God, and ὑποµονή are central and interrelated concepts in Revelation. Revelation puts forward God’s empire as an alternative and an antidote to Rome’s empire. It calls the churches to acts of witness and ὑποµονή as part of lives of resistance to the oppression and injustice of the Roman imperial system.
Ὑποµονή occurs four times in the messages to the seven churches to describe what they have been doing well. The first two occurrences are found in the message to the church at Ephesus, where Jesus says to the church, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary” (Rev 2.2-3). Here ὑποµονή is used in close connection with works, labor, not “tolerating” evil, “bearing up” (the same word as “tolerating,” βαστάζω, this time in a positive sense), and not growing weary. All of these things can be included as part of the definition of ὑποµονή. They make it clear that ὑποµονή involves an untiring and active long-term refusal to tolerate wrongdoing and injustice.
The third use in the messages, this time in the message to the church at Thyatira, helps indicate that ὑποµονή is an active and central part of the life of those who follow Jesus. It appears in a list: “I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance” (Rev 2.19). The inclusion of ὑποµονή alongside love, faith, and service indicates that it is a similarly dynamic and important action. All four items in the list are active and powerful parts of the life to which Revelation calls the churches.
The same active quality is found in Rev 3.10, when the church at Philadelphia is told that “because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” Here ὑποµονή describes resisting the views of John’s ideological opponents in the churches, those he says “say that they are Jews and are not” (Rev 3.9). As his strident rhetoric throughout the messages to the seven churches makes clear, John does not want the churches to be patient with or patiently endure his opponents, whom he says “claim to be apostles but are not,” to whom he refers as a “synagogue of Satan,” and calls slanderous names such as Jezebel, Balaam, Balak, and Nicolaitans (“people-conquerors”; Rev 2.2, 6, 9, 14-15, 20; 3.9). He wants the churches to resist them and their teachings.
Each of the messages to the seven churches concludes with a promise to those who “conquer” (νικάω). 24 The actions each church is called to do, including ὑποµονή, describe the path to this victory. The connection of the admonitions in the messages to the seven churches to conquering indicates an aggressive, yet still nonviolent, interpretation. The repetitive structure of the messages emphasizes that ὑποµονή is part of how those in the churches are to shape their lives around resistance to the destructive hegemony of the empire and the construction of God’s radically different empire.
The final two occurrences of ὑποµονή are in similar programmatic sayings, both involving faithfulness. Ὑποµονή occurs in an intriguing verse in Rev 13.10, where it describes a period when the beast will make war on the saints and conquer them.
If any are to be taken captive, then into captivity they will go. If any are to be killed by the sword, then by the sword they will be killed. This calls for endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
25
While cryptic, this saying appears to be in line with Revelation’s refusal to call its audience to violence. It could be taken to mean that it is better to accept suffering and death than to try to avoid them by inflicting them on others. If this is the case, ὑποµονή means being willing to suffer under the oppression and injustice of the Roman Empire rather than take up the sword to combat the empire using its own tools. 26 It is also possible that captivity and death are simply recounted as inevitable facts which must be met with enduring resistance and faithfulness. 27 Even in this interpretation, these verses call for nonviolent resistance, not passive waiting for things to change.
The final use of ὑποµονή in Revelation comes in 14.12, a verse sandwiched between John seeing three angels making proclamations and hearing a voice telling him what to write. The angels call people to fear God, proclaim that Babylon is fallen, and warn that those who worship the beast and receive its mark will share in its downfall. The verse draws the vision to a brief conclusion: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” The connection to keeping God’s commandments and, as in 3.10 and 14.12, to faith/loyalty (πίστις) highlights again the active quality of ὑποµονή. 28 Here endurance is tied to refusing to participate in the sins of Rome, in essence a call to resistance through nonviolent noncooperation. It is used to sum up Revelation’s call not to be seduced by Rome and to remain pure from its sins.
In examining how ὑποµονή is used, we have already come a long way toward understanding what Revelation means when it calls for enduring resistance. In Revelation, ὑποµονή has a decidedly active quality that is not fully captured by translations such as “patience” or “endurance,” which indicate a reactive, rather than a proactive, stance. Developing an understanding of ὑποµονή as enduring resistance helps make clear how similar Revelation’s call to resist the evils and seductions of the Roman Empire is to modern understandings of nonviolence.
Revelation, hypomonē, and nonviolence
While nonviolence theorists sometimes disagree about how to understand nonviolence, most explanations of nonviolence begin by emphasizing that it is an active form of resistance. It is sometimes referred to as a “third way” between violence and doing nothing. Without getting into the intricacies of the scholarly debates, we can say that nonviolence is a positive way of using power to resist violence, oppression, and wrongdoing that respects the worth of its opponents and refuses to do violence against them. 29
What this means is that practitioners of nonviolence have found ways to confront and overcome powerful enemies without the traditional methods of violence and war. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986, 225), nonviolence is a way “to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.” He calls it “a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation.” Similarly, Vinthagen (2015, 12), an important contemporary scholar of nonviolence, defines nonviolence as a form of action “without violence and against violence.” Proponents of nonviolence envision a radically different world and believe that such a world cannot be constructed using tools that are antithetical to the vision. Violence, in other words, will never successfully be used to create peace.
These definitions of nonviolence assume that the world is not as it should be. Sin, injustice, oppression, and violence permeate human existence. Furthermore, these definitions assume the existence of powerful individuals, groups, structures, and systems that stand to benefit from maintaining the status quo. These same assumptions underlie the book of Revelation. Revelation calls its audience to recognize the injustice and oppression inherent in the imperial system and to begin to live in systematic nonviolent opposition to it.
Despite all of its violent language and imagery, Revelation has the potential to teach its readers alternatives to violence. Revelation issues not a call to physical arms, but a call to nonviolent living, witness, and resistance to the Roman Empire. It holds up Jesus as an exemplar of this new way, in the process redefining what “victory” and “conquering” look like. It provides hope that a new way is possible by proclaiming the power and efficacy of Jesus’ nonviolent way while simultaneously undermining Rome’s attempts to proclaim itself the ultimate source and holder of power. Revelation calls the churches to a nonviolent witness that refuses to accept the empire’s claims to power, instead proclaiming the power of the slain Lamb. 30
Revelation is not perfect in its use of nonviolent counter-discourse. 31 John clearly had some issues with the “respecting opponents” part of nonviolence. His violent language and imagery carries with it many inherent dangers, some of which serve to undermine his message.
Yet examination of ὑποµονή in Revelation, when the word is understood as “enduring resistance,” helps demonstrate the similarities between Revelation’s form of resistance and modern understandings of nonviolence. For Revelation as for modern scholars of nonviolence, nonviolence is an act of strength that “refuses to bear with evil.” It is an active form of resistance, even if it looks different from the typical violent forms of resistance. 32 It often requires perseverance over an extended period of time. 33 It does not always describe particular actions, but can refer to an ongoing counter-imperial life of noncooperation and witness. 34 This may involve being willing to accept suffering rather than take up the sword and inflict it on others. 35 Finally, nonviolence is an act of hope that in turn inspires hope. It arises out of the conviction that the way things are is not the way things have to be. It often draws on eschatological convictions that change is possible, even inevitable. 36 It casts a vision of a more peaceful and just world and immediately begins to work toward that vision.
Conclusion
Studying the meaning of ὑποµονή and its use in Revelation is one small way to draw upon Revelation to reveal the biblical call to peacemaking and nonviolent resistance. By understanding ὑποµονή as “enduring resistance,” we can begin to see the similarities between the kind of anti-imperial life Revelation advocated and modern understandings of nonviolence. Revelation uses ὑποµονή to describe resistance over the long term by living a life out of sync with the messages and norms of empire. This involves a dangerous noncooperation and opting out of certain societal expectations and a willingness to accept the consequences. It describes a life lived according to different norms, one that rejects the tales the empire tells about itself and proclaims a different truth. This life witnesses to the Lamb’s alternative means of conquering and to the supremacy of God’s power over that of Caesar. It combines resistance to the way the world is with constructive action to build a world more aligned with the vision of God’s just and peace-filled βασιλεία. 37
Footnotes
1.
In Revelation, CEB uses “endurance,” ESV and NRSV use “patient endurance” and “endurance,” NASB uses “perseverance,” NIV uses “patient endurance” and “perseverance,” and NKJV uses “patience” and “perseverance.”
2.
See, for example, Harrington 1993, 54; Richard 1995, 50; Johns 2003, 201; Carter 2009, 45; 
, 354.
3.
A number of earlier sources describe it as resistance to pressure, particularly under tribulation. For example, in The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Friedrich Hauck holds that it “covers courageous active resistance to hostile attack” (, 581). He limits this largely to Greek usage, however, arguing that in Revelation it signifies “an endurance which is grounded in waiting” (588). Schüssler Fiorenza does not cite her source.
4.
Blount (2009, 255) cites Reddish (2001, 256), who quotes , 128), who may have been the first to connect ὑποµονή to nonviolent resistance. Wink calls ὑποµονή “one of the fundamental attributes of nonviolent resistance.” He criticizes the “somewhat limply rendered ‘patient endurance’” and argues that the meaning is closer to “‘absolute intransigence,’ ‘unbending determination,’ ‘an iron will,’ ‘the capacity to endure persecution, torture, and death without yielding one’s faith.’”
5.
All translations from the German are mine.
6.
The context of the sentence should make it clear that “enduring” is an adjective and not a participle (which would indicate resistance that is being endured).
7.
The phrase “steadfast resistance” is also a good option, but I prefer “enduring,” as it combines a sense of ongoing, resolute resistance with connotations of suffering. This highlights the danger and sacrifice of resistance in a way that the adjective “steadfast” does not. This translation works well for all uses of ὑποµονή in Revelation. As for other New Testament uses, while “enduring resistance” works for many of them, in some instances “endurance” or “steadfastness” alone is probably more appropriate.
8.
traces the word’s development, arguing that in its earliest uses it described standing firm in battle and enduring on heroic journeys. He describes how it subsequently “entered into the vocabulary and concepts of Greek athletics, art, poetry, drama but most importantly philosophy where it would undergo a radical transformation, becoming an aggressive moral virtue in contexts of conflict, hardship, danger, persecution and martyrdom” (350).
9.
Since the verb ὑποµένω is not used in Revelation, I have limited the discussion here to examining uses of the noun ὑποµονή; suffice it to say that uses of the verb form in a given text generally function similarly to uses of the noun. Those looking for an in-depth examination of the use of ὑποµονή and ὑποµένω in Greek literature, Jewish literature, the Septuagint, and the New Testament should consult Ortiz Valdivieso 1967, .
10.
The related verb ὑποµένω appears much more often in the Septuagint, translating words including ḥîl (be firm, be strong, endure), ḥakāh (wait), ṭamān (hide, conceal), yaḥāl (wait for, hope for), yashāb (remain, dwell, sit), kûl (have power, prevail, endure), qawāh (wait for, hope), and qûm (arise, stand).
11.
It appears in 1 Chr 29.15 (miqweh); Ezra 10.2 (miqweh); Job 14.19 (tiqwâ); Sir 2.14; 16.13; 17.24; 38.27 (in some manuscripts; others have ἐπιµονή); 41.2; Pss 9.18(19) (tiqwâ); 39.7(8) (qiwwāh); 62.5(6) (tiqwâ); 71.5 (tiqwâ); Jer 14.8 (miqweh); 17.13 (miqweh). It is also used in the Psalms of Solomon 2.36.
12.
It appears in 4 Macc 1.11 (twice); 7.9; 9.8, 30; 15.30; 17.4, 12, 17, 23 (twice).
13.
All Scripture quotations are from NRSV unless otherwise noted; emphases are mine.
14.
I do not seek to argue that John of Patmos would have had access to any of these works, only that they provide examples of how ὑποµονή was used by other authors around the same time. While there might be a case to be made for him knowing about some of Paul’s letters, the influence of the Hebrew Scriptures is much more prominent.
15.
NRSV translates ἐν ὑποµονή as “with patient endurance.” CEB does better when it translates the final clause as its own sentence: “Through their resolve, they bear fruit.”
16.
The Greek has a more symmetrical structure for this list, using the preposition ἐν in front of every word. The word translated “patience” is not ὑποµονή, but µακροθυµία.
17.
The word translated “enduring” is not related to ὑποµονή; it is from ἀνέχω.
18.
The word translated “patience” is not ὑποµονή, but µακροθυµία.
19.
That ὑποµονή is different from patience is corroborated by the fact that in the lists in 2 Cor 6.4-7; Col 1.11; and 2 Tim 3.10, µακροθυµία and ὑποµονή are listed as separate items.
20.
The other uses in the New Testament are in Rom 2.7; 8.25; 2 Cor 12.12; 2 Thess 3.5; 1 Tim 6.11; 2 Tim 3.10; Titus 2.2; Heb 10.36; Jas 1.3-4; 5.11; and 2 Pet 1.6.
21.
Schüssler Fiorenza (1991, 51) argues that ὑποµονή is the “main Christian virtue” in Revelation. , 166) calls it the “core ethic” in Revelation.
22.
NRSV, in contrast to RSV, omits the comma (“I, John, your brother who share”), thus breaking subject–verb agreement and rendering the sentence ungrammatical. I have added the comma after “brother” here.
23.
Carter (2000, 93, 571–72 n. 8; , 62), who in his work on Matthew’s Gospel argues for the translation of βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν as “empire of heaven,” has surveyed numerous examples of the use of βασιλεία to refer to empires in the Septuagint, Josephus, and other literature.
24.
The verb νικάω can also be translated as “overcome” or “be victorious.” While in the rest of the New Testament a metaphorical meaning prevails, leading to the popularity of “overcome” in translations, Revelation relies on a more literal and militaristic meaning, repurposing the word to describe nonviolent conquering. In doing so, Revelation engages in a counter-discourse of resistance to Rome’s monopoly on meaning and works to construct an utterly different way of looking at the world, one where the nonviolence of the Lamb is more powerful than the military might of Caesar.
25.
Here I have used CEB. This verse is notoriously difficult to translate and has many textual variants. It draws on Jer 15.2; 43.11.
26.
See Gorman 2011, 135–36; , 255–56.
27.
Blount (2009, 254) argues for this perspective. By contrast, , 141) describes the situation as “suffering without resistance.”
28.
Πίστις can easily be translated as loyalty in many contexts. It is an act of perseverance amidst animosity. This is emphasized by the fact that every use of πίστις in Revelation (2.13, 19; 13.10; 14.12) is accompanied by either κρατέω (hold fast) or ὑποµονή.
29.
John repeatedly violates the “respect for opponents” part of this definition. His depictions of violence, while problematic from the perspective of nonviolence theory, function symbolically and do not advocate actual violence.
30.
Nepstad’s description of “symbolic moral witness” is helpful here (, 69–70). This form of witness uses symbols to depict the moral issues at stake and often to indicate a solution to them. Revelation’s emphasis on not eating food sacrificed to idols could be described as a call for the churches to engage in a potentially costly act of symbolic moral witness. Similarly, Revelation’s symbolic dirge in ch. 18 for the fallen city of Babylon, a stand-in for Rome, is an example of this form of witness. The focus on the economic sins of the empire and the admonition to “come out of her, my people” constitute a call not as much to witness as to noncooperation in the sinful systems of the empire.
31.
Counter-discourse is a nonviolent method aimed at disrupting the opposition’s monopoly on truth by promulgating contradictory views that disrupt the truth regime cultivated by those in power. It is a concept developed in both postcolonial theory and nonviolence theory, for example in Burney (2012, 109) and , 199–200).
32.
Wink, who argues in his well-known work on “the powers” that Jesus employed nonviolence, summarizes this idea when he writes that “Jesus is not telling us to submit to evil, but to refuse to oppose it on its own terms. . . . He is urging us to transcend both passivity and violence by finding a third way, one that is at once assertive and yet nonviolent” (, 100–101). In a society that often believes the only options are to use violence or to do nothing, nonviolence offers an alternative means of resistance that is both creative and constructive.
33.
34.
This life of resistance is not aimed at a military overthrow of the empire but at the overthrow of the worldview propagated by Rome.
35.
Suffering can be an effective tool of nonviolence when it is used to combat the dehumanizing processes that enable people to harm one another. It has the potential to change the hearts of the perpetrator, their supporters, and third parties. This is especially true when a group has the power to fight back violently but chooses not to.
36.
This eschatological hope was a central aspect of King’s understanding of nonviolence. For example, in “Nonviolence and Racial Justice” he writes, “the method of nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. . . . Good Friday may reign for a day, but ultimately it must give way to the triumphant beat of the Easter drums” (1986, 9).
37.
This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, November 2017.
Abbreviations
CEB Common English Bible (2011)
ESV English Standard Version (2001)
NASB New American Standard Bible (1995)
NIV New International Version (2011)
NKJV New King James Version (1982)
NRSV New Revised Standard Version (1989)
RSV Revised Standard Version (1952)