What does συντρίβω (syntríbō) mean in the Bible?
Συντρίβω (syntríbō) means to break, crush, or shatter. Its New Testament settings range from literal breaking to violence, judgment, and victory.
Greek · G4937
συντρίβω
To break
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συντρίβω G4937
Pronunciation syntríbō
What does συντρίβω (syntríbō) mean in the Bible?
Συντρίβω (syntríbō) means to break, crush, or shatter. Its New Testament settings range from literal breaking to violence, judgment, and victory.
Reader summary
Full entry for συντρίβω (G4937) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4937?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] shatter [them] (1), A bruised (1), It keeps mauling (1), shattered (1), She broke open (1).
Where does συντρίβω (syntríbō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (2), John (1), Luke (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Συντρίβω (syntríbō) means to break, crush, or shatter. Its New Testament settings range from literal breaking to violence, judgment, and victory. Chains are shattered in Mark 5:4, an alabaster jar is broken in Mark 14:3, and an afflicted child is violently mauled in Luke 9:39. The same verb appears in the promise that God will crush Satan under the believers' feet (Rom. 16:20).
John 19:36 uses the verb in a negated statement: Jesus' bones are not broken. The soldiers break the legs of the crucified men beside Him, but when they find Jesus already dead, they do not break His legs. John interprets this as fulfillment of Scripture. Within the Passover-shaped passion narrative, the unbroken bones contribute to the evangelist's testimony about Jesus' identity and the ordered fulfillment of God's word.
The word itself does not prove every proposed Passover connection or authorize triumphal speech about crushing human opponents. Its range includes fragile objects, bodily harm, demonic violence, and divine victory. Faithful teaching distinguishes those contexts and directs the promise of Romans 16:20 against Satan, not against people made in God's image.
Canonical parallelBook contextEditorial synthesis
How the Bible Uses It
The verb describes literal breaking, destructive violence, Scripture-fulfilling non-breaking at the cross, and God's promised defeat of Satan.
- Matt.12.20
A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.
Matthew's servant citation portrays gentleness toward the bruised while steadily bringing justice to victory.
- Mark.14.3
While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head.
The literal breaking of the container serves the woman's costly act of devotion before Jesus' burial.
- John.19.36
Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
John interprets the soldiers' failure to break Jesus' legs as fulfillment within the passion narrative.
- Rom.16.20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The promised crushing belongs to God's victory over Satan and strengthens the church against deception and division.
- Rev.2.27
He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father.
The verb participates in royal judgment imagery drawn from Psalm 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] shatter [them] 1× Revelation 2:27
A bruised 1× Matthew 12:20
It keeps mauling 1× Luke 9:39
shattered 1× Mark 5:4
She broke open 1× Mark 14:3
will be broken 1× John 19:36
will soon crush 1× Romans 16:20
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 12:20 συντετριμμένον to A bruised Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular Mark 5:4 συντετρῖφθαι to shattered Verb - Perfect Infinitive Middle or Passive Mark 14:3 συντρίψασα to She broke open Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular Luke 9:39 συντρῖβον to It keeps mauling Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Neuter Singular John 19:36 συντριβήσεται to will be broken Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Romans 16:20 συντρίψει to will soon crush Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Revelation 2:27 συντρίβεται to [and] shatter [them] Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 12:20
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 Mark 2 Luke 1 John 1 Romans 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
συντετριμμένον 1x syntetrimmenon Matthew 12:20
συντετρῖφθαι 1x syntetriphthai Mark 5:4
συντρίβεται 1x syntribetai Revelation 2:27
συντριβήσεται 1x syntribēsetai John 19:36
συντρῖβον 1x syntribon Luke 9:39
συντρίψασα 1x syntripsasa Mark 14:3
συντρίψει 1x syntripsei Romans 16:20
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x Mark 14:3
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Romans 16:20
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x John 19:36
Verb - Perfect Infinitive Middle or Passive 1x Mark 5:4
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Matthew 12:20
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Revelation 2:27
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Neuter Singular 1x Luke 9:39
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Keep the object of promised crushing clear. Romans 16:20 concerns Satan; it does not authorize contempt or violence toward people.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that John 19 says Jesus was physically uninjured. The verse concerns His bones not being broken after His real crucifixion and death.
- Do not claim that every use of συντρίβω depicts God's judgment. The verb also describes an alabaster jar being broken and chains being shattered.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Breaking into pieces or crushing, emphasizing violent fragmentation rather than simple breakage
Strong's G4937
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 3 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Romans 16:17-20 Source Gloss
to break
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Breaking into pieces or crushing, emphasizing violent fragmentation rather than simple breakage
to shatter, break in pieces: Mat.12:20 (LXX), Mrk.5:4 14:3, Jhn.19:36" (LXX), Rev.2:27; of persons and parts of the body, to break, crush, bruise: Luk.9:39; figuratively, Rom.16:20.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 12:20 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Singular Masculine
συντετριμμένον suntetrimmenon
I break by crushing
Read verse Mark 5:4 Verb Perfect Passive Infinitive
συντετρίφθαι· suntetrifqai
I break by crushing
Read verse Mark 14:3 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
συντρίψασα suntriyasa
I break by crushing
Read verse Luke 4:18 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
συντετριμμένους suntetrimmenouv
I break by crushing
Read verse Luke 9:39 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Neuter
συντρίβον suntribon
I break by crushing
Read verse John 19:36 Verb Third Person Singular Second Future Passive Indicative
συντριβήσεται suntribhsetai
I break by crushing
Read verse Romans 16:20 Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
συντρίψει suntriyei
I break by crushing
Read verse Revelation 2:27 Verb Third Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
συντρίβεται· suntribetai
I break by crushing
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 7 Tenses Perfect, Aorist, Present, Future Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 3×
Perfect Passive Matt 12:20 1×
Aorist Active Mark 14:3 1×
Present Active Luke 9:39 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Perfect Passive Mark 5:4 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Future Passive John 19:36 1×
Future Active Rom 16:20 1×
Present Passive Rev 2:27 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
future 2 present 2 perfect 2 aorist 1
Voice
passive 4 active 3
Mood
indicative 3 participle 3 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 12:20 συντετριμμένον perfect passive participle participle Mark 5:4 συντετρῖφθαι perfect passive infinitive infinitive Mark 14:3 συντρίψασα aorist active participle participle Luke 9:39 συντρῖβον present active participle participle John 19:36 συντριβήσεται future passive indicative prospective Romans 16:20 συντρίψει future active indicative prospective Revelation 2:27 συντρίβεται present passive indicative ongoing
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 crush, break in pieces.
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
συντρίβω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Echoes God’s promised defeat of Satan and assures final triumph. Romans 16:17-20
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
συντρίβω carries force, but Scripture governs where that force is directed. The Servant does not break the bruised reed. At the cross, Jesus' bones remain unbroken in fulfillment of Scripture. Paul promises that the God of peace will crush Satan, not that Christians may crush their neighbors or enemies. These contrasts give preachers a disciplined way to speak about divine gentleness and divine victory without confusing them.
Christ receives the violence of the cross, preserves the weak, and will finally defeat evil. The church therefore resists Satan, cares for bruised people, and refuses to turn judgment imagery into permission for cruelty.
Anchor passage
John.19.36
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 12:43-46 - Passover bones not broken
- Psalm 34:20 - the righteous sufferer preserved
- John 19:31-37 - Scripture fulfilled at Jesus' death
- Romans 16:17-20 - division resisted and Satan crushed
- Revelation 2:26-29 - royal authority and judgment
The verb can describe breaking an object, crushing a person, or shattering opposition. Negation in John 19 is essential: the claimed fulfillment concerns what did not happen to Jesus' bones.
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