συνέπομαι (sunepomai)
sunepomai
to accompany
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The verb sunepomai means to accompany or follow alongside someone. It appears only once in the New Testament, in Acts 20:4, where it describes a group of believers traveling with the apostle Paul.
The word combines the prefix syn, meaning "with," and epomai, which means "to follow." This construction emphasizes moving together as a group rather than just trailing behind. In this specific instance, the text lists several individuals who were accompanying Paul on his journey to Macedonia, highlighting the communal nature of early Christian travel and ministry.
Translators typically render this word as "accompanied" or "went with." Its rarity in Scripture means it does not carry a broad range of theological nuances found in more common verbs. Instead, it serves a straightforward narrative function, recording the physical presence of companions during Paul’s missionary journeys.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word sunepomai simply means to accompany or walk alongside someone. It appears just once in the New Testament, in Acts 20:4. Here, it describes a group of believers traveling with the apostle Paul. The Greek roots emphasize moving together as a united group, not just trailing behind.
This rare verb highlights the communal nature of early Christian ministry. Faith was lived out in shared journeys and physical presence. When you read this passage, you see that spiritual work often involves walking side-by-side with others who share your mission.
For your own life, this word reminds us that we do not walk alone. Whether in travel or in daily service, God often places companions beside us to support and encourage one another along the way.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- Was accompanied by1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- συνείπετο1×
Key Verses
-
Acts 20:4
These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
This is the only occurrence of sunepomai in the New Testament, where it specifically identifies Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus as those who traveled with Paul to Asia.