συναντιλαμβάνομαι (sunantilambanomai)
sunantilambanomai
to help
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The verb sunantilambanomai describes helping someone by taking a share in their burden or effort. Its components suggest joining another person to lay hold of something together, implying active cooperation rather than distant support. In Scripture, it appears only twice, yet each instance highlights this shared weight.
In Luke 10:40, Martha asks Jesus to tell her sister to help her with the serving tasks. Here, the word points to practical assistance in a daily chore, showing how community life involves mutual aid in ordinary duties. Similarly, Romans 8:26 uses it to describe the Holy Spirit’s role in prayer. The Spirit does not replace our weakness but joins with us, helping us bear the weight of our inarticulate groans when we do not know what to ask.
This term emphasizes partnership. It is not one person carrying another entirely, but two working side by side. Whether in household tasks or spiritual struggle, the word paints a picture of shared strength and joint effort within the body of believers.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word sunantilambanomai paints a picture of shared weight. It describes helping someone by taking a part in their burden, joining them in effort rather than watching from afar. In Luke 10:40, Martha asks her sister to help with serving tasks. This simple request shows that community life involves mutual aid in ordinary duties. No one is meant to carry every load alone.
This same word appears in Romans 8:26, describing how the Holy Spirit helps our weaknesses. The Spirit does not replace our prayers but joins us, bearing the weight of our inarticulate groans. When we do not know what to ask, God’s presence shares the burden with us. This is partnership, not replacement.
Whether in household chores or spiritual struggle, this term reminds us that strength comes through connection. We are invited to lean on others and to let God lean on us. In these moments of shared effort, we find a quiet confidence that we are never truly alone in our tasks or trials.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- she may help!1×
- joins to help1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- συναντιλάβηται.¶1×
- συναντιλαμβάνεται1×
Key Verses
-
Luke 10:40
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
Martha uses this word to request practical assistance with serving duties, highlighting the need for mutual aid in daily community life.
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Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
The Spirit actively joins us in our weakness, sharing the burden of prayer when we lack the words to express our deepest needs.