To collect upon the same place
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
The Greek verb episynago describes gathering people or creatures together at one place. A whole town gathers at a door, a crowd of thousands presses around Jesus, a hen gathers chicks under her wings, angels gather the elect, and vultures gather where a carcass lies.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπισυνάγω (G1996) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Greek verb episynago describes gathering people or creatures together at one place. A whole town gathers at a door, a crowd of thousands presses around Jesus, a hen gathers chicks under her wings, angels gather the elect, and vultures gather where a carcass lies.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to gather (3), gathered (1), gathers (1), had gathered (1), they will gather (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 23:37. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Matthew (3), Mark (2).
The Greek verb episynago describes gathering people or creatures together at one place. A whole town gathers at a door, a crowd of thousands presses around Jesus, a hen gathers chicks under her wings, angels gather the elect, and vultures gather where a carcass lies. The verb names assembly, but the surrounding scene determines whether the gathering expresses need, danger, compassionate desire, final deliverance, or a grim sign.
In Jesus' lament over Jerusalem, His longing to gather does not erase the stated unwillingness of those addressed. The passage must not be used to justify compelled worship, membership, reconciliation, or attendance. Luke's crowded scene also warns that assembly can endanger bodies when leaders ignore capacity and movement. The eschatological sayings promise Christ's authoritative gathering, but they do not give readers a date or permission to identify every public event as its fulfillment.
Responsible teaching centers Christ, preserves human response and literary setting, plans safe assemblies, and refuses to equate crowd size or institutional unity with divine approval.
Episynago brings persons or creatures together and can describe an ordinary crowd, a dangerously compressed assembly, compassionate shelter, eschatological gathering by angels, or creatures converging at a carcass. Subject, destination, purpose, and discourse setting control the sense.
And the whole town gathered at the door.
The whole town gathers at the door while Jesus heals the sick and drives out demons.
In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Many thousands gather so densely that they trample one another as Jesus first warns His disciples about hypocrisy.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
Jesus laments Jerusalem and describes His longing to gather her children as a hen gathers chicks, while naming their unwillingness.
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Son of Man sends His angels with a trumpet call to gather His elect from the whole heaven.
And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Mark's discourse likewise says that the Son of Man will send angels to gather His elect from earth's extremities.
“Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”
Jesus answers the disciples' question with the proverbial image of vultures gathering wherever a carcass is located.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To gather together in one place, often of crowds assembling or enemies mustering against someone.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseI collect, gather together
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
ἐπισυνάγω is built from these roots:
Expresses Christ’s compassionate desire to save.Luke 13:31–35
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Episynago does not make gathering righteous merely because many bodies occupy one place. Mark 1 shows a town converging at a doorway because people bring urgent needs to Jesus. Luke 12 shows the physical danger of a crowd so dense that people trample one another. Ministry attention must therefore include capacity, exits, accessibility, trained safety staff, and care for children and vulnerable adults.
Matthew 23 gives the verb its tenderest image: Jesus longs to gather Jerusalem's children as a hen gathers chicks. Yet the lament explicitly says they were unwilling. Christ's compassion exposes refusal, but it does not become a warrant for leaders to override consent or force institutional return. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 locate the gathering of the elect in the Son of Man's coming and angelic action.
The promise offers hope under distress; it does not provide a calendar or authorize panic-driven predictions. Luke 17 uses gathering creatures at a carcass as a sharp answer within teaching about the day of the Son of Man. The image should not be sensationalized or mapped onto particular deaths without textual warrant. Faithful application welcomes people to Christ, makes assemblies physically safe, respects refusal, and leaves the final worldwide gathering to Christ's authority rather than measuring divine favor by attendance.
Matt.23.37
Episynago is a Greek compound built on the common gathering verb synago with the prefix epi. Active forms name an agent gathering others, while passive forms can describe a crowd or creatures converging; tense, voice, subject, and destination clarify the scene.
Old Testament texts use several Hebrew verbs for assembling, collecting, scattering, and restoring exiles, including the distinct driving and banishment language of H5080 in this batch. The shared canonical movement toward gathering does not erase lexical differences, covenant settings, agents, or purposes.