What does συγκοινωνός (synkoinōnós) mean in the Bible?
G4791, synkoinōnós, is a Greek noun for a co-participant, partner, or joint sharer. It is built from the language of being with and sharing.
Greek · G4791
συγκοινωνός
A co-participant
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.
συγκοινωνόςG4791
Pronunciationsynkoinōnós
What does συγκοινωνός (synkoinōnós) mean in the Bible?
G4791, synkoinōnós, is a Greek noun for a co-participant, partner, or joint sharer. It is built from the language of being with and sharing.
Reader summary
Full entry for συγκοινωνός (G4791) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4791?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (1), partner (1), partners (1), to share (1).
Where does συγκοινωνός (synkoinōnós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 11:17. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (1), Philippians (1), Revelation (1), Romans (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G4791, synkoinōnós, is a Greek noun for a co-participant, partner, or joint sharer. It is built from the language of being with and sharing. The four New Testament uses identify a person by participation in something held with others: Gentile believers share the olive root's nourishment, Paul shares in gospel blessing, the Philippians are partners in grace with him, and John is a partner in tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance in Jesus. The noun describes relational participation, not mere proximity or membership on a list.
Each shared reality shapes the partnership. Romans 11 gives Gentile believers a genuine place in the nourishing root while explicitly warning them not to boast over Jewish branches. First Corinthians 9 joins Paul's adaptable service to the gospel he hopes to share, but the chapter does not bless manipulation or the surrender of moral integrity. Philippians names partnership in grace across affection, imprisonment, defense, and confirmation of the gospel. Revelation joins tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance, refusing both an easy triumphalism and a suffering-only account of Christian identity.
G4791 therefore opens shared life with both gift and obligation. Participation in grace produces solidarity, humility, endurance, generosity, and mission. It does not erase differences in calling, transfer one person's authority to another, or require every partner to endure preventable harm. Partnership in suffering means faithful presence and costly support, not romanticizing persecution or demanding silence from victims. Partnership in the gospel must remain accountable to the gospel's truth. The word helps communities ask what they truly share, who benefits, who bears the cost, and whether their common life reflects the grace they name.
source_lexiconPassage contextBook contextCanonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
G4791 names shared nourishment without boasting, participation in gospel blessing, partnership in grace through costly ministry, and brotherly solidarity in tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance.
- Rom.11.17
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
Gentile believers genuinely share the root's nourishment, but Paul's next commands forbid boasting over the branches and call for humble fear. Participation is grace, not a warrant for anti-Jewish contempt or replacement pride.
- 1Cor.9.23
I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Paul's disciplined adaptability serves the gospel and seeks participation in its blessing. The chapter joins freedom to self-restraint and refuses to make ministry partnership a license for manipulation or moral compromise.
- Php.1.7
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.
The Philippians share grace with Paul across affection, imprisonment, defense, and confirmation of the gospel. Partnership includes practical solidarity with costly witness, not only agreement from a distance.
- Rev.1.9
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
John identifies horizontally as brother and co-participant, then holds tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance together in Jesus. Shared suffering is neither hidden nor detached from reigning hope and patient faithfulness.
Passage contextBook context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It. . .1×1 Corinthians 9:23
partner1×Revelation 1:9
partners1×Philippians 1:7
to share1×Romans 11:17
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowRomans 11:17
Aligned rows4
Books represented4
Romans11 Corinthians1Philippians1Revelation1
Source forms
συνκοινωνὸς3xsynkoinōnosRomans 11:17, 1 Corinthians 9:23, Revelation 1:9
συνκοινωνούς1xsynkoinōnousPhilippians 1:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular3xRomans 11:17, 1 Corinthians 9:23, Revelation 1:9
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural1xPhilippians 1:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let partnership in grace produce concrete support, truthful communication, reciprocal honor, and methods consistent with the gospel.
- Receive Gentile participation in God's promises with gratitude and humility, never with contempt toward Jewish people or claims that erase Israel.
- Stand with believers under pressure in practical ways while respecting safety, capacity, conscience, and different callings.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that sharing the olive root authorizes boasting over Jewish branches; Romans 11 directly forbids that posture.
- Do not claim that ministry partnership requires surrendering ethical boundaries or personal safety for another leader's goals.
- Do not claim that all partners must perform identical roles, carry equal visible risk, or accept the same level of exposure.
- Do not claim that suffering itself proves a cause righteous; Revelation locates tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance specifically in Jesus.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Joint participation in something shared; emphasizes partnership in a common experience or benefit.
Strong'sG4791
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms2 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a co-participant
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 11:17Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
συγκοινωνὸςsugkoinwnov
a partaker with, co-partner
Read verse1 Corinthians 9:23Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
συγκοινωνὸςsugkoinwnov
a partaker with, co-partner
Read versePhilippians 1:7Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
συγκοινωνούςsugkoinwnouv
a partaker with, co-partner
Read verseRevelation 1:9Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
συγκοινωνὸςsugkoinwnov
a partaker with, co-partner
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns2Aligned forms4Case patternNominative (3)Number patternSingular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · MasculineRom 11:17 · 1 Cor 9:23 · Rev 1:93×
Accusative · Plural · MasculinePhil 1:71×
Word Origins
συγκοινωνός is built from these roots:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G4791 names people through what they participate in together. In Romans, Gentile believers share the olive root's nourishment only by grace, so partnership begins with gratitude and excludes boasting over Jewish branches. In First Corinthians, Paul orders his freedoms toward the gospel and its blessing, showing that participation can require disciplined restraint.
In Philippians, partners in grace remain joined through chains, defense, confirmation, affection, prayer, and material support. In Revelation, John calls himself a brother and partner in tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance in Jesus. None of these texts imagines partnership as equal branding with unequal burdens hidden underneath. Shared grace creates shared responsibility, yet responsibility must remain fitted to calling, capacity, truth, and safety.
Christian partnership supports witnesses under pressure, refuses ethnic pride, tells the truth about suffering, and keeps Christ's kingdom in view. It never needs to manufacture persecution, demand loyalty to abusive leaders, or call exploitation sacrifice. A community can test its partnership by asking whether nourishment, voice, risk, honor, and care are shared in ways consistent with the gospel it claims to serve.
Anchor passage
Php.1.7
Doctrinal connections
- Romans 11 makes Gentile participation dependent on the nourishing root and immediately forbids boasting, joining grace to humility toward Jewish people.
- First Corinthians 9 joins gospel partnership to voluntary restraint, disciplined service, and a refusal to make personal rights the center of ministry.
- Philippians 1 presents grace as a shared sphere that includes affection, prayer, imprisonment, defense, confirmation, and confidence in God's completing work.
- Philippians later shows the practical form of partnership through giving and receiving, so shared grace is expressed in material support as well as words.
- Revelation 1 holds tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance together in Jesus, preventing suffering from becoming either a mark of divine abandonment or an object of romantic fascination.
- The noun's four uses together show participation as received gift and enacted solidarity, binding doctrine, mission, material care, humility, and endurance.
G4791 combines syn, with, and koinōnos, participant or partner. It is a noun identifying a joint sharer rather than the act of sharing. The governed witnesses include three masculine nominative singular forms and one masculine accusative plural form. Each occurrence supplies an expressed shared reality through a genitive or related construction: nourishment, gospel blessing, grace, and the linked realities of tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance.
English translations therefore vary among share, partner, and partners while preserving participation with others.
From Old to New Testament
The Old Testament portrays covenant participation through shared worship, provision, land, suffering, discipline, and hope, while repeatedly warning Israel against pride in gifts received from God. The New Testament centers common life in Christ and the grace of the gospel. G4791 does not turn every older assembly into the church or erase Israel's identity. Romans 11 expressly preserves the root-and-branches relationship and warns Gentiles against arrogance, making humility toward Israel part of faithful participation.
Canonical parallelBook context