συνέχω
synéchō · G4912 · Greek · 12 occurrences
Meanings
-
to control, to restrain
To exercise continuous control over someone or something
Examples2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
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to guard, to keep watch, custody
To continue to hold in custody
ExamplesLuke 22:63 The men who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him,
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to press in, to crowd around
To press in hard from all sides
ExamplesLuke 8:45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”
Luke 19:43 “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will put up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,
Philippians 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
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to refuse to listen, to refuse to pay attention
(An idiom, literally: to hold the ears closed) To refuse to listen to what is being said
ExamplesActs 7:57 But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.
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to experience, to have
To experience a state or condition, generally involving duration
ExamplesMatthew 4:24 And the news about Him spread throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, demon-possessed, people with epilepsy, and people who were paralyzed; and He healed them.
Luke 4:38 Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.
Luke 8:37 And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.
-
to be distressed, to be troubled
To experience great psychological pressure and anxiety
ExamplesLuke 12:50 “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
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to continue to give oneself to, to continue to apply oneself to
To continue with close attention and devotion
ExamplesActs 18:5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
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to be pulled in two directions, to be betwixt and between, to have conflicting thoughts
(An idiom, literally: to be held together from) To be in a mental state between two alternatives
ExamplesPhilippians 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
How it’s used In 6 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
11 occurrences in 6 groups
- Not stated: they 3
- Not stated (participle) 3
- Not stated: I 2
- ἀγάπηlove 1
- ὄχλοςcrowd, multitude, common people 1
- ΠαῦλοςPaul 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- σύyou 2
- ἐγώI, we 1
- κατέρχομαιto come down, to go down 1
- οὖςear 1
- αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἐκfrom+ δύοtwo 1
- ἕωςuntil, to, as far as+ τελέωto finish, to complete 1
With adverbsAdverbs
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- πάντοθενfrom everywhere 1
- πῶςhow? by what means? 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἀνήρman, husband 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- κρύπτωto hide 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- συνθλίβω synthlíbō · G4918 · to press in, to crowd around
- Both verbs can describe physical compression or crowding, but συνέχω has significantly broader range, extending to figurative constraint, distress, arrest, and mental perplexity, whereas συνθλίβω remains focused on literal physical crowding or pressing together.
In the other Testament 1 word
- עָצָר ʻâtsâr · H6113 · to slow down, to stop, to detain
- συνέχω (synéchō, G4912) serves as the Greek rendering of עָצָר (ʻâtsâr, H6113) in LXX contexts where the Hebrew term's core sense of 'restrain/hold back/detain' aligns with the Greek term's semantic range of physical or figurative constraint (compress, arrest, compel); both lexemes share the fundamental concept of preventing free movement or action through active restraint.
Semantic domains 8 entries
- To press in, to crowd around19.45
- Peter responds to Jesus' question about who touched Him, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You” (Luke 8:45).
- To refuse to listen, to refuse to pay attention24.70
- Luke records that at Stephen's death, the council members “shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind” (Acts 7:57).
- To be distressed, to be troubled25.241
- Jesus says of His coming suffering, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished” (Luke 12:50).
- To be pulled in two directions, to be betwixt and between, to have conflicting thoughts30.18
- Paul writes of his own dilemma, “I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23).
- To guard, to keep watch, custody37.122
- Luke records that the men “who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him” (Luke 22:63).
- To control, to restrain37.17
- Paul writes, “the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
- To continue to give oneself to, to continue to apply oneself to68.19
- Luke records that in Corinth, Paul “began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:5).
- To experience, to have90.65
- Luke records that Publius' father “was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery” (Acts 28:8).
Word family 51 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon future συνεξω; 2 aorist συνέσχον; passive present συνέχομαι; imperfect συνειχομην; from…
1. to hold together; any whole, lest it fall to pieces or something fall away from it: τό συνέχον τά πάντα, the deity as holding all things together, Wis. 1:7 (see Grimm at the passage).
2. to hold together with constraint, to compress, i. e., a. to press together with the hand: τά ὦτα, to stop the ears, Acts 7:57 (τό στόμα, Isa 52:15; τόν οὐρανόν, to shut, that it may not rain, Deut 11:17; 1 Kgs 8:35).
b. to press on every side: τινα, Lk 8:45; with πάντοθεν added, of a besieged city, Lk 19:43.
3. to hold completely, i. e.
a. to hold fast : properly, a prisoner, Lk 22:63 (τά αἰχμάλωτα, Lucian, Tox. 39); metaphorically, in the passive, to be held by, closely occupied with, any business (Wis. 17:19 (20); Herodian, 1, 17, 22 (9 edition, Bekker); Aelian v. h. 14, 22): τῷ λόγῳ, in teaching the word, Acts 18:5 G L T Tr WH (here R. V. constrained by). β. to constrain, oppress, of ills laying hold of one and distressing him; passive, to be holden with equivalent to afflicted with, suffering from": νόσοις, Mt 4:24; πυρετῷ, Lk 4:38; δυσεντερίῳ, Acts 28:8 (many examples from Greek writings from Aeschylus and Herodotus down are given in Passow, under the word συνέχω, I. a.; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, I. 4)); of affections of the mind: φόβῳ, Lk 8:37 (ὀδύρμω, Aelian v. h. 14, 22; ἀλγηδονι, Plutarch, de fluv. 2, 1; ἀθυμία, ibid. 7, 5; 19, 1; λύπη, 17, 3; for other examples see Grimm on Wis. 17:10). γ. to urge, impel: tropically, the soul, ἡ ἀγάπη... συνέχει ἡμᾶς, 2 Cor 5:14 (A. V. constraineth); πῶς (how greatly, how sorely) συνέχομαι, Lk 12:50 (A. V. straitened); τῷ πνεύματι, Acts 18:5 Rec. συνέχομαι ἐκ τῶν δύο, I am hard pressed on both sides, my mind is impelled or disturbed from each side (R. V. I am in a strait betwixt the two), Phm 1:23.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 8 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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