Use
https://codex.wordpress.org/Pagination#static_front_page
And
https://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page
Other solutions
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20644991/wordpress-static-page-pagination
the query is diferent on static front pages …
one hack after of your while
<?php if ($the_query->max_num_pages > 1) : // custom pagination ?>
<?php
$orig_query = $wp_query; // fix for pagination to work
$wp_query = $the_query;
echo '<div class="both"></div>';
understrap_pagination(); //your pagination
$wp_query = $orig_query; // fix for pagination to work
?>
<?php endif; ?>