συνωδίνω (sunōdinō)
sunōdinō
to labor together
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The verb sunōdinō describes being in labor or travail together, drawing on the intense physical experience of childbirth. It combines the prefix syn- ("with") with ōdinō ("to be in labor"), creating a vivid image of shared agony and anticipation. This word appears only once in the New Testament, found in Romans 8:22.
In that context, Paul uses it to illustrate how all creation currently suffers under the weight of decay. He does not speak of isolated pain, but of a collective groaning, as if the entire natural world is experiencing the pains of birth alongside believers. The term emphasizes solidarity in suffering, suggesting that the current state of the world is not the final outcome but a painful transition toward redemption.
Translators typically render this word as "groans" or "suffers with," capturing both the physical strain and the communal aspect of the experience. By choosing this specific imagery, the text connects the cosmic struggle with the intimate, well-known reality of childbirth, highlighting that such pain is purposeful and leads to new life.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word sunōdinō paints a picture of shared labor, much like the intense experience of childbirth. In Romans 8:22, Paul uses this vivid imagery to describe how all creation groans and travails together. It is not just individual suffering, but a collective anticipation of something new breaking through.
This truth offers deep comfort when you feel alone in your struggles. You are part of a larger story where pain has purpose. The groaning of the world points toward redemption, showing that current hardships are a transition to new life rather than the final word.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- it travails together1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- συνωδίνει1×
Key Verses
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Romans 8:22
For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
This verse uniquely applies the concept of shared labor pains to all creation, framing cosmic decay as a necessary prelude to redemption.