Lexical Summary sugkakoucheomai: To suffer together, to be mistreated together Original Word: συγκακουχέομαι Strong's Exhaustive Concordance suffer affliction with. From sun and kakoucheo; to maltreat in company with, i.e. (passively) endure persecution together -- suffer affliction with. see GREEK sun see GREEK kakoucheo NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom sun and kakoucheó Definition to endure adversity with (pass.) NASB Translation endure ill-treatment (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 4778: συγκακουχέωσυγκακουχέω (T WH συνκακουχέω (cf. σύν, II. at the end)), συγκακούχω: present passive infinitive συγκακουχεῖσθαι; to treat ill with another; passive, to be ill-treated in company with, share persecutions or come into a fellowship of ills: τίνι, with one, Hebrews 11:25. Not found elsewhere. Topical Lexicon The Term and Its Context The single New Testament occurrence of Strong’s Greek 4778 stands in Hebrews 11:25, where the writer depicts Moses as “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin”. The term captures deliberate identification with God’s people in their hardships. It is not mere sympathy but active participation in whatever distress befalls the covenant community. Biblical Theology of Shared Suffering Scripture repeatedly pairs covenant loyalty with willingness to embrace the trials of the faithful. Moses’ choice mirrors the pattern later perfected in Christ, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Earlier testimonies anticipated this dynamic: Joseph languished in Egyptian confinement for the future good of Israel (Genesis 39–41); David fled from Saul’s spear yet interceded for his persecutors (1 Samuel 24:12–15). The oracles of Isaiah promised that the Servant would be “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). Thus, shared suffering belongs to the redemptive storyline from patriarchs to prophets and culminates in the Messiah. Moses as Prototype of Christlike Solidarity Hebrews spotlights Moses’ choice during his courtly years. Egypt offered status, wealth, and pleasure. Yet Moses identified with Israel’s brick-making slaves, prefiguring the incarnate Son who “emptied Himself... being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). Moses’ decision illustrates three principles: 1. Covenant identity supersedes cultural privilege. New Covenant Fulfillment in Christ Jesus not only shared human weakness but bore its curse (Galatians 3:13). Believers are now “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). The apostolic church understood discipleship as entering “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). Strong’s 4778 therefore echoes loudly in exhortations such as 1 Peter 4:13, “Rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ.” Synonymous New Testament Motifs • Fellowship (koinonia) in sufferings – Philippians 3:10 Though formed from different verbs, these passages carry the same impulse: intentional, communal endurance of hardship for Christ’s sake. Historical Witness in Church Life Early believers in Jerusalem “were together and had everything in common” (Acts 2:44), including loss of property and imprisonment (Acts 4:32–37; Hebrews 10:34). The martyrs of the second and third centuries viewed execution as communion with Christ and His body. Reformation-era confessions likewise affirmed that “the church is a company of pilgrims under the cross.” Mission movements have advanced through similar identification—William Carey living among India’s poor, Hudson Taylor adopting Chinese dress, and twentieth-century missionaries sharing tropical diseases and wartime dangers with the peoples they served. Implications for Christian Ministry 1. Shepherds must live among the flock, accepting their vulnerabilities (1 Thessalonians 2:8–9). Pastoral Reflections and Application • Evaluate personal choices: Do comfort and convenience eclipse loyalty to God’s people? By internalizing the truth embodied in Strong’s 4778, the church learns that fellowship in hardship is not an unfortunate side effect of faith but an ordained means by which God knits His people together and displays the surpassing worth of the coming kingdom. Forms and Transliterations συγκακουχείσθαι συγκακουχεῖσθαι συνκακουχεισθαι συνκακουχεῖσθαι sunkakoucheisthai synkakoucheisthai syn'kakoucheîsthaiLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts |
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