To join with
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The Greek verb symbibazo can describe joining or knitting parts together, bringing evidence together to reach a conclusion, proving a case, or instructing someone. Acts uses it when Saul demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ and when Paul's team concludes that God has called them to Macedonia.
Reader summary
Full entry for συμβιβάζω (G4822) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Greek verb symbibazo can describe joining or knitting parts together, bringing evidence together to reach a conclusion, proving a case, or instructing someone. Acts uses it when Saul demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ and when Paul's team concludes that God has called them to Macedonia.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include knit together (2), {forward} to explain himself (1), by proving (1), concluding (1), held together (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 9:22. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Colossians (2), 1 Corinthians (1), Ephesians (1).
The Greek verb symbibazo can describe joining or knitting parts together, bringing evidence together to reach a conclusion, proving a case, or instructing someone. Acts uses it when Saul demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ and when Paul's team concludes that God has called them to Macedonia. Paul uses it for the body joined and held together, hearts knit in love, and the question of who has instructed the Lord's mind.
The senses share an idea of bringing things into relation, but they are not interchangeable. A reasoned conclusion is not infallible, organizational unity is not uniformity, and no teacher becomes the Lord's counselor. Acts 16 presents communal discernment followed by action, not a technique by which every impression becomes divine guidance. Responsible teaching shows the evidence, preserves uncertainty where the text does, welcomes correction, and ensures that calls for unity do not silence harmed or dissenting members.
Christ, not institutional cohesion, is the source and head of the body's growth.
Symbibazo joins parts, propositions, or people and therefore can mean knit together, compare and conclude, prove, or instruct. Grammar and argument determine whether the joining is bodily, relational, logical, or pedagogical.
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Saul grows in strength and demonstrates to the Jews in Damascus that Jesus is the Christ.
As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
After Paul's vision, the mission team concludes that God has called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Paul cites the question of who has known or instructed the Lord's mind before affirming that believers have the mind of Christ.
From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.
The whole body is joined and held together under Christ as each part works and the body grows in love.
That they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
Paul desires the believers' hearts to be encouraged and knit together in love toward full assurance and knowledge of Christ.
He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
The body is supported and knit together through its joints and ligaments as it grows with growth from God while holding to the Head.
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. Means to join together or teach/instruct; contextually connotes logical deduction and spiritual coherence.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I unite, prove, instruct
Read verseI unite, prove, instruct
Read verseI unite, prove, instruct
Read verseI unite, prove, instruct
Read verseI unite, prove, instruct
Read verseI unite, prove, instruct
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 5 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 4 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
συμβιβάζω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Symbibazo pictures connection that produces understanding or growth. Saul brings scriptural and witnessed realities together to demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ. His reasoning serves proclamation, but the verb does not make harsh argument or coercion faithful. In Acts 16, the mission team considers Paul's vision and concludes together that God has called them to Macedonia.
Luke presents a particular discernment event involving a team and subsequent travel; the verse does not make every dream, opportunity, or consensus infallible. First Corinthians places human instruction under a decisive limit: no creature has become the Lord's counselor. Believers receive the mind of Christ through the Spirit and apostolic gospel, not through claims of private superiority.
Ephesians and Colossians move to body imagery. Members are joined and supported under Christ, each contributing to growth in love. Unity comes from holding to the Head and does not erase distinct gifts, boundaries, or truthful correction. A harmed member should not be told to remain silent to keep the body joined. Faithful application brings evidence into the open, states conclusions proportionately, values collaborative discernment, and builds relationships where each member can function safely.
Connection is healthy when it receives growth from Christ and serves love, not when an institution demands cohesion around itself.
Eph.4.16
Symbibazo is a Greek compound verb whose joining sense extends metaphorically to comparing evidence, drawing a conclusion, proving, or instructing. The direct object and surrounding syntax distinguish physical or relational knitting from logical and pedagogical uses.
Old Testament teaching, counsel, assembly, joined structures, and bodily imagery use several Hebrew terms. Canonical comparison can illuminate wisdom, reasoning, and community formation while preserving each term's setting and Paul's explicit Christ-centered body argument.