What does συμπαθέω (sympathéō) mean in the Bible?
συμπαθέω (sympathéō): Emotional co-participation with another's suffering or condition, not mere intellectual understanding.
Greek · G4834
συμπαθέω
To sympathize
Reading a lexicon entry
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συμπαθέωG4834
Pronunciationsympathéō
What does συμπαθέω (sympathéō) mean in the Bible?
συμπαθέω (sympathéō): Emotional co-participation with another's suffering or condition, not mere intellectual understanding.
Full entry for συμπαθέω (G4834) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4834?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to sympathize (1), You sympathized (1).
Where does συμπαθέω (sympathéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Hebrews 4:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (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 Itto sympathize1×Hebrews 4:15
You sympathized1×Hebrews 10:34
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowHebrews 4:15
Aligned rows2
Books represented1
Hebrews2
Source forms
συμπαθῆσαι1xsympathēsaiHebrews 4:15
συνεπαθήσατε1xsynepathēsateHebrews 10:34
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural1xHebrews 10:34
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active1xHebrews 4:15
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Emotional co-participation with another's suffering or condition, not mere intellectual understanding.
Strong'sG4834
Lexical occurrences2 versesGreek text appearances2 timesWord forms2 forms2 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkHebrews 4:14-16Source Gloss
to sympathize
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Emotional co-participation with another's suffering or condition, not mere intellectual understanding.
(Rec. συμπ-), -ῶ, [in LXX: 4Ma.5:25 AR 4Ma.13:23 * ;] to have a fellow feeling for or with, sympathize with or in: with dative of thing(s), Heb.4:15; dative of person(s), Heb.10:34 (Arist., Plut., al.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Hebrews 4:15Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
συμπαθῆσαιsumpaqhsai
I sympathize with, have compassion on
Read verseHebrews 10:34Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
συνεπαθήσατε,sunepaqhsate
I sympathize with, have compassion on
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 forms2TensesAoristVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Infinitiveverbal noun — the action in abstract1×
Aorist ActiveHeb 4:151×
Indicativestates a fact or reality1×
Aorist ActiveHeb 10:341×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist2
Voice
active2
Mood
infinitive1indicative1
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)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
to sympathize
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
συμπαθέω is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Affirms Christ's experiential solidarity with human weakness.Hebrews 4:14-16
Canonical Themes
Messiah