What does συμμαρτυρέω (symmartyréō) mean in the Bible?
G4828, symmartyréō, is a Greek verb meaning to testify with, bear accompanying witness, or corroborate. It appears only three times in the governed New Testament witness, all in Romans.
Greek · G4828
συμμαρτυρέω
To testify with
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συμμαρτυρέωG4828
Pronunciationsymmartyréō
What does συμμαρτυρέω (symmartyréō) mean in the Bible?
G4828, symmartyréō, is a Greek verb meaning to testify with, bear accompanying witness, or corroborate. It appears only three times in the governed New Testament witness, all in Romans.
Reader summary
Full entry for συμμαρτυρέω (G4828) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4828?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include as confirmed (1), bearing witness (1), testifies with (1).
Where does συμμαρτυρέω (symmartyréō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 2:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (3).
Are there verse guides for συμμαρτυρέω (symmartyréō)?
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
G4828, symmartyréō, is a Greek verb meaning to testify with, bear accompanying witness, or corroborate. It appears only three times in the governed New Testament witness, all in Romans. In Romans 2, conscience bears witness alongside the work shown and thoughts that accuse or defend. In Romans 8, the Holy Spirit testifies with believers' spirit that they are God's children. In Romans 9, Paul's conscience in the Holy Spirit confirms the truthfulness of his grief for Israel. The shared idea is accompanying testimony, but each passage identifies a different relationship between the witnesses and the claim.
The prefix translated with does not make the witnesses equal or independent in every use. Romans 8 does not place the Holy Spirit and human spirit on the same level. The Spirit is God's Spirit, who leads God's children, gives adoption rather than slavery, and directs them to cry, “Abba, Father.” Nor does the verse reduce assurance to a passing feeling that verifies itself. The testimony belongs to Paul's gospel argument about union with Christ, the Spirit's indwelling leadership, adoption, inheritance, suffering with Christ, and coming glory. The believer receives assurance; the believer does not manufacture divine testimony.
Romans 2 and 9 also keep conscience within limits. Conscience may accompany moral awareness as thoughts accuse or defend, but Paul does not call it infallible, saving, or identical with the Holy Spirit. His conscience in Romans 9 confirms a truth claim made in Christ and in the Holy Spirit as he expresses deep sorrow for his fellow Israelites. That passage cannot support contempt for Jewish people; it begins a sustained argument about Israel's privileges, God's promises, mercy, and mission. Pastoral teaching should therefore welcome corroboration, form conscience by Scripture, test subjective impressions humbly, and ground Christian assurance in the Spirit's Christ-centered work rather than isolated inward certainty.
source_lexiconPassage contextBook contextCanonical parallelPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
All three G4828 uses occur in Romans, where accompanying testimony appears in conscience and moral thought, the Spirit's assurance of adoption, and conscience in the Holy Spirit confirming Paul's truthful grief for Israel.
- Rom.2.15
So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them
Conscience accompanies the moral evidence Paul describes, while thoughts accuse or defend. It participates in testimony under God's judgment but is not presented as infallible or sufficient for salvation.
- Rom.8.16
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
God's Spirit bears witness with the believer's spirit within a passage about Spirit-led adoption, “Abba, Father,” inheritance with Christ, suffering, and future glory. Divine testimony is primary and gracious.
- Rom.9.1
I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.
Paul's conscience in the Holy Spirit corroborates his truthfulness as he expresses profound sorrow for Israel. The statement introduces grief and covenant concern, not anti-Jewish accusation.
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 Itas confirmed1×Romans 9:1
bearing witness1×Romans 2:15
testifies with1×Romans 8:16
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowRomans 2:15
Aligned rows3
Books represented1
Romans3
Source forms
συμμαρτυρούσης2xsymmartyrousēsRomans 2:15, Romans 9:1
συμμαρτυρεῖ1xsymmartyreiRomans 8:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Feminine Singular2xRomans 2:15, Romans 9:1
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xRomans 8:16
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Test inward convictions by Scripture, the gospel of Christ, observable truth, wise counsel, moral fruit, and a willingness to be corrected.
- When helping someone who struggles with assurance, do not demand a particular feeling; return patiently to Christ's saving work, the Spirit's promises, adoption, prayer, and faithful community.
- Let conscience prompt honest examination, but distinguish conviction, anxiety, trauma responses, social conditioning, and confirmed wrongdoing when offering pastoral care.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that a strong feeling or clear conscience proves that the Holy Spirit endorses a decision.
- Do not claim that believers without constant subjective certainty are therefore not God's children.
- Do not claim that Romans 2 teaches salvation by conscience or moral performance; the larger argument brings every person under sin and points to justification in Christ.
- Do not claim that invoking Christ, conscience, or the Holy Spirit removes the need for truthfulness, evidence, accountability, and testing.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Joint testimony reinforces truth; the Holy Spirit's witness with human conscience validates God's claims.
Source Gloss
to testify with
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 2:15Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Singular Feminine
συμμαρτυρούσηςsummarturoushv
I bear witness together with
Read verseRomans 8:16Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
συμμαρτυρεῖsummarturei
I bear witness together with
Read verseRomans 9:1Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Singular Feminine
συμμαρτυρούσηςsummarturoushv
I bear witness together with
Read versesummarturoumai
I bear witness together 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 groups2Aligned forms3TensesPresentVoicesActive
Tenses
Voices
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality2×
Present ActiveRom 2:15 · Rom 9:12×
Indicativestates a fact or reality1×
Present ActiveRom 8:161×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present3
Voice
active3
Mood
participle2indicative1
NT Occurrences
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)
Word Origins
συμμαρτυρέω is built from these roots:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G4828 names corroborating testimony, but Romans refuses a one-size-fits-all account of how that testimony works. In Romans 2, conscience bears witness amid moral evidence and thoughts that accuse or defend before God's judgment. It is real testimony, yet it neither saves nor becomes infallible. In Romans 8, the Spirit Himself testifies with the believer's spirit to adoption.
The witnesses are not peers: God's Spirit leads, assures, and anchors the cry to the Father within life in Christ, shared suffering, and promised glory. In Romans 9, Paul's conscience in the Holy Spirit confirms his truthful anguish for Israel and opens an argument marked by covenant privilege, mercy, and mission. Together the passages commend humble corroboration.
Christians should form conscience by Scripture, examine inward impressions, seek confirming evidence, and receive assurance as the Spirit's gracious work through the gospel. They should never equate intensity of feeling with the Spirit's voice or use spiritual language to place a claim beyond testing.
Anchor passage
Rom.8.16
Doctrinal connections
- God's impartial judgment places every person's moral awareness under His final truth.
- Conscience functions as a real but limited human witness requiring faithful formation.
- The indwelling Holy Spirit leads believers and gives divine testimony to their adoption.
- Adoption makes believers God's children and heirs who cry to their Father.
- Union with Christ joins present suffering to the sure hope of coming glory.
- Paul's grief honors Israel's privileges while anticipating God's sovereign mercy and mission.
G4828 combines the sense of with with the G3140 witness verb. Its three governed forms are present active, two participles and one indicative. The compound suggests accompanying or corroborating testimony, but grammar alone does not decide whether the witnesses are equal, independent, internal, or external. Romans supplies those relations. G3140 is the broader verb to testify or bear witness, and G3144 names a witness-person.
G4828 focuses on testimony occurring with another witness or line of attestation rather than on a generic act of speaking truth.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture often establishes matters through converging testimony, yet it also distinguishes God's flawless witness from human witnesses that require testing. The prophets appeal to God's word, covenant history, public signs, and communal memory, while the New Testament centers the Spirit's work on Christ and the apostolic gospel. G4828 gathers this concern for confirmation into three Romans contexts without making conscience a second revelation or a substitute for Scripture.
Canonical parallelPastoral application