What does συμπνίγω (sympnígō) mean in the Bible?
συμπνίγω (sympnígō): Choke by crowding or overwhelming pressure; figuratively, spiritual word suffocated by worldly concerns
Greek · G4846
συμπνίγω
To choke
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συμπνίγω G4846
Pronunciation sympnígō
What does συμπνίγω (sympnígō) mean in the Bible?
συμπνίγω (sympnígō): Choke by crowding or overwhelming pressure; figuratively, spiritual word suffocated by worldly concerns
Full entry for συμπνίγω (G4846) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4846?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] choke (1), choke (1), choked (1), pressed around (1), they are choked (1).
Where does συμπνίγω (sympnígō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:22. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Mark (2), Matthew (1).
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] choke 1× Mark 4:19
choke 1× Matthew 13:22
choked 1× Mark 4:7
pressed around 1× Luke 8:42
they are choked 1× Luke 8:14
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 13:22 συμπνίγει to choke Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 4:7 συνέπνιξαν to choked Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Mark 4:19 συμπνίγουσιν to [and] choke Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Luke 8:14 συμπνίγονται to they are choked Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural Luke 8:42 συνέπνιγον to pressed around Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 13:22
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Matthew 1 Mark 2 Luke 2
Source forms
συμπνίγει 1x sympnigei Matthew 13:22
συμπνίγονται 1x sympnigontai Luke 8:14
συμπνίγουσιν 1x sympnigousin Mark 4:19
συνέπνιγον 1x synepnigon Luke 8:42
συνέπνιξαν 1x synepnixan Mark 4:7
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Mark 4:7
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Luke 8:42
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Mark 4:19
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Matthew 13:22
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Luke 8:14
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Choke by crowding or overwhelming pressure; figuratively, spiritual word suffocated by worldly concerns
Strong's G4846
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 1 form 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 8:40-56 Source Gloss
to choke
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 13:22 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
συμπνίγει sumpnigei
I choke utterly, crowd upon
Read verse Mark 4:7 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
συνέπνιξαν sunepnixan
I choke utterly, crowd upon
Read verse Mark 4:19 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
συμπνίγουσι sumpnigousin
I choke utterly, crowd upon
Read verse Luke 8:14 Verb Third Person Plural Present Passive Indicative
συμπνίγονται, sumpnigontai
I choke utterly, crowd upon
Read verse Luke 8:42 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
συνέπνιγον sunepnigon
I choke utterly, crowd upon
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 1 Aligned forms 5 Tenses Present, Aorist, Imperfect Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 5×
Present Active Matt 13:22 · Mark 4:19 2×
Aorist Active Mark 4:7 1×
Present Passive Luke 8:14 1×
Imperfect Active Luke 8:42 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3 imperfect 1 aorist 1
Voice
active 4 passive 1
Mood
indicative 5
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 Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
literal choking or crowding by a pressing multitude of people
figurative choking of God's word by worldly cares and riches in spiritual growth
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
συμπνίγω is built from these roots:
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