What does ἀποσυνάγωγος (aposynágōgos) mean in the Bible?
G656 describes being put out of the synagogue or excluded from synagogue fellowship. John uses it only three times, but each occurrence is weighty.
Greek · G656
ἀποσυνάγωγος
Excommunicated
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ἀποσυνάγωγος G656
Pronunciation aposynágōgos
What does ἀποσυνάγωγος (aposynágōgos) mean in the Bible?
G656 describes being put out of the synagogue or excluded from synagogue fellowship. John uses it only three times, but each occurrence is weighty.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀποσυνάγωγος (G656) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G656?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include put out of the synagogue (2), out of the synagogues (1).
Where does ἀποσυνάγωγος (aposynágōgos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 9:22. Its strongest book concentrations include John (3).
What This Word Actually Means
G656 describes being put out of the synagogue or excluded from synagogue fellowship. John uses it only three times, but each occurrence is weighty. The parents of the healed blind man fear being put out, many rulers believe in Jesus but will not confess Him because of the Pharisees, and Jesus warns His disciples that exclusion from the synagogue will come. The word names social and religious cost, not merely private embarrassment.
It helps teachers speak about confession under pressure, the fear of human approval, and faithful endurance when allegiance to Jesus brings exclusion. It must not be used to romanticize rejection or to excuse careless divisiveness; in John the issue is witness to Christ.
How the Bible Uses It
G656 names synagogue exclusion in John. It marks the cost of confessing Jesus when religious and social belonging are threatened by loyalty to Him.
- John.9.22
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
The healed man's parents fear synagogue exclusion, so they avoid direct confession about Jesus. The word shows how pressure shapes public speech.
- John.12.42
Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.
Many rulers believe but do not confess Jesus because they fear the Pharisees and synagogue exclusion. The cost of confession is explicit.
- John.16.2
They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
Jesus warns that His disciples will be put out of the synagogues. Exclusion becomes part of expected witness-bearing hardship.
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 put out of the synagogue 2× John 9:22, John 12:42
out of the synagogues 1× John 16:2
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 9:22
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 1
John 3
Source forms
ἀποσυνάγωγοι 1x aposynagōgoi John 12:42
ἀποσυνάγωγος 1x aposynagōgos John 9:22
ἀποσυναγώγους 1x aposynagōgous John 16:2
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x John 16:2
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x John 12:42
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x John 9:22
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Expect confession of Jesus to have public costs, but make sure the cost is tied to faithfulness rather than needless offense.
- Care for fearful people with truth and patience, because John shows that the pressure to stay silent can be real.
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Expulsion from Jewish synagogue community, entailing religious and social isolation from covenant people.
Strong's G656
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 3 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link John 9:13–34 Source Gloss
excommunicated
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 9:22 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀποσυνάγωγος aposunagwgov
away from the synagogue, excommunicated
Read verse John 12:42 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀποσυνάγωγοι aposunagwgoi
away from the synagogue, excommunicated
Read verse John 16:2 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἀποσυναγώγους aposunagwgouv
away from the synagogue, excommunicated
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 3 Case pattern Nominative (2) Number pattern Plural (2)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine John 9:22 1×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine John 12:42 1×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine John 16:2 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Additional Occurrences
John 9:13-34 ἀποσ...νάγωγος aposynágōgos
put out of the synagogue
New Testament Witnesses
expelled from synagogue
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀποσυνάγωγος is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Represents cost of allegiance to Christ.
Indicates the cost of allegiance to Christ. John 9:13–34
Canonical Themes
Messiah
For the Preacher and Teacher
G656 is a small word family in John with large pastoral force. The healed man's parents know that confessing Jesus may cost synagogue standing, so they protect themselves with careful distance. John 12 shows the same pressure among rulers who believe but will not confess because they love human glory more than the glory of God. Then Jesus prepares His disciples for exclusion as part of the hostility they will face.
The word therefore teaches that confession is not only an internal conviction. It becomes public loyalty when belonging, reputation, and institutional approval are at stake. Teachers should use the word to strengthen faithful witness without glorifying conflict for its own sake. The issue is allegiance to Jesus.
Anchor passage
John.12.42
Doctrinal connections
- G3670 Homologeo: Confessing Jesus is the action threatened by synagogue exclusion in John 12.
- G4100 Pisteuo: John distinguishes believing from public confession where fear controls speech.
- G1391 Doxa: The love of human glory explains why some refuse open confession.
- G5399 Phobeo: Fear of exclusion shapes the parents' and rulers' responses.
- G3140 Martyreo: The healed man's witness stands in contrast to speech restrained by fear.
- G3404 Miseo: John 16 places exclusion within Jesus' broader warning about hatred toward His disciples.
G656 is a compound adjective meaning excluded from the synagogue. In John it is not a general word for every rejection, but a specific social and religious penalty tied to confessing Jesus.
From Old to New Testament
The prophets often faced rejection for bearing God's word, and Jesus prepares His disciples for similar cost. John locates that cost around synagogue exclusion and public confession of Christ.
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