What does συμβάλλω (symbállō) mean in the Bible?
συμβάλλω (symbállō): Literally "throw together": either words (discuss/debate) or thoughts (ponder), or hostile forces (encounter in battle).
Greek · G4820
συμβάλλω
To ponder/confer
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συμβάλλω G4820
Pronunciation symbállō
What does συμβάλλω (symbállō) mean in the Bible?
συμβάλλω (symbállō): Literally "throw together": either words (discuss/debate) or thoughts (ponder), or hostile forces (encounter in battle).
Full entry for συμβάλλω (G4820) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4820?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] pondered [them] (1), [and] then conferred (1), began to debate (1), he met (1), help (1).
Where does συμβάλλω (symbállō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 2:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (4), Luke (2).
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 [and] pondered [them] 1× Luke 2:19
[and] then conferred 1× Acts 4:15
began to debate 1× Acts 17:18
he met 1× Acts 20:14
help 1× Acts 18:27
vvv 1× Luke 14:31
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 2:19 συμβάλλουσα* to [and] pondered [them] Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular Luke 14:31 συμβαλεῖν to vvv Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Acts 4:15 συνέβαλλον to [and] then conferred Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 17:18 συνέβαλλον to began to debate Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 18:27 συνεβάλετο to help Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Acts 20:14 συνέβαλλεν to he met Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 2:19
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 2
Luke 2 Acts 4
Source forms
συνέβαλλον 2x syneballon Acts 4:15, Acts 17:18
συμβαλεῖν 1x symbalein Luke 14:31
συμβάλλουσα* 1x symballousa Luke 2:19
συνεβάλετο 1x synebaleto Acts 18:27
συνέβαλλεν 1x syneballen Acts 20:14
Parsing patterns
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Acts 4:15, Acts 17:18
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 18:27
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Luke 14:31
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 20:14
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x Luke 2:19
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Literally "throw together": either words (discuss/debate) or thoughts (ponder), or hostile forces (encounter in battle).
Strong's G4820
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 3 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 14:31 Source Gloss
to ponder/confer
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 2:19 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
συμβάλλουσα sumballousa
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
Read verse Luke 14:31 Verb Second Aorist Active Infinitive
συμβαλεῖν sumbalein
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
Read verse Acts 4:15 Verb Third Person Plural Second Aorist Active Indicative
συνέβαλον sunebalon
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
Read verse Acts 17:18 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
συνέβαλλον suneballon
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
Read verse Acts 18:27 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Middle Indicative
συνεβάλετο sunebaleto
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
Read verse Acts 20:14 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Active Indicative
συνέβαλεν sunebalen
I ponder, encounter, confer or dispute with
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 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.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 6 Tenses Imperfect, Present, Aorist Voices Active, Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Imperfect Active Acts 4:15 · Acts 17:18 · Acts 20:14 3×
Aorist Middle Acts 18:27 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Active Luke 2:19 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Luke 14:31 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
imperfect 3 aorist 2 present 1
Voice
active 5 middle 1
Mood
indicative 4 participle 1 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Luke 2:19 συμβάλλουσα present active participle participle Luke 14:31 συμβαλεῖν aorist active infinitive infinitive Acts 4:15 συνέβαλλον imperfect active indicative background Acts 17:18 συνέβαλλον imperfect active indicative background Acts 18:27 συνεβάλετο aorist middle indicative completed Acts 20:14 συνέβαλλεν imperfect active indicative background
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 Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to meet in hostile confrontation, to engage in battle or war
Showing 1 selected witness from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
συμβάλλω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain