What Does 2 Peter 1:6 Mean?
and to knowing, holding yourself in; and to holding yourself in, bearing up under; and to bearing up under, awe;
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;THE KEY
The verse describes maturity as knowing that takes hold of desire, remains under strain, and opens into a life oriented toward God.
THE MEANING
Knowledge does not stay abstract: it takes form as self-command. That self-command becomes the capacity to endure pressure, and endurance opens toward godliness, a life shaped by reverence for God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that knowing what is true is, by itself, maturity; knowledge grows into restraint, endurance, and reverence.
THE ROOT
ὑπομονήν
hypomonēn
GROWS FROM
ὑπομένω (hypomenō), from ὑπό (hypo, under) + μένω (menō, remain)
To remain under; to endure with steadfastness.
“bearing up under” in this verse is hypomonēn. Patience here carries the sense of staying under pressure, not merely waiting for time to pass. Its root connects endurance with remaining, steadfastness is the capacity to stay present through what presses on you.
ALSO GROWS
menō: Remain, stay, abide.
μένω
This shared root makes patience a kind of staying: endurance keeps its ground under pressure.
hypomenō: Endure, remain steadfastly, withstand.
ὑπομένω
The verb gives patience movement: it is the act of continuing under strain, not passive delay.
ἐγκρατείᾳ
enkrateia
GROWS FROM
ἐγκρατ- (enkrat-), from ἐν (en, in) + κράτος (kratos, strength or power)
Mastery or strength expressed as self-control.
“holding yourself in” in this verse is enkrateia. Temperance carries the image of strength governing from within. In the verse’s sequence, knowledge takes form as mastery over impulse, which then becomes the ground for endurance.
ALSO GROWS
enkratēs: Self-controlled, possessing mastery.
ἐγκρατής
The related adjective describes a person in whom this inner mastery is present.
enkrateuomai: Exercise self-control, master oneself.
ἐγκρατεύομαι
The verb shows temperance as active governance of impulse, rather than mere knowledge about what is right.
γνώσει
gnōsei
GROWS FROM
γινωσκ- (ginōsk-), the verbal stem of γινώσκω (ginōskō)
Knowing or perceiving through encounter.
This knowledge is more than information held in the mind; it is perception that can shape conduct. The sequence shows knowing becoming visible through self-command, endurance, and a life turned toward God.
ALSO GROWS
ginōskō: Know, perceive, come to know.
γινώσκω
The related verb points to knowing as lived perception, the starting point of the verse’s progression.
epignōsis: Recognition, clear or full knowledge.
ἐπίγνωσις
This related word shows knowledge coming into clearer recognition, rather than remaining a collection of facts.
THE PATTERN
A person’s steadiness is revealed and formed under pressure.
If you let your hands drop in the day of the narrow place, your strength is narrow.And not only that, but we also boast in the pressures, knowing that they work out a bearing up under.Knowing that the proving of your trust works out a bearing up under.THE THREAD
Knowing that the proving of your trust works out a bearing up under.James uses the same Greek word, hypomonē, rendered “patience” here. It names testing as the place where endurance forms, so patience means remaining steady under pressure rather than simply waiting.
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