Greek word · G4773

συγγενής

syngenēs

kindred

A relative or kinsman by blood or clan. It can also be used more loosely of a fellow countryman (Romans 9:3), but here it plainly means family.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

σνγγενής, -ές (dative pl., -εῦσιν, Mark 6:4, Luke 2:44, as though from -εύς, see Swete, Mk., l.with; Bl., § 8, 6; cf. 1Ma.10:89 A א2 *;)

(σύν, γένος), [in LXX for דּוֹד, דּוֹדָה, מִשְׁפָּחָה ;]

1. congenital, natural, innate.

SYN.: ἴδιος, οἰκεῖος (which see) (AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: A relative or kinsman by blood or clan. It can also be used more loosely of a fellow countryman (Romans 9:3), but here it plainly means family.
Against the English: 'Kinsman' (KJV, YLT) or 'relative' (BSB, WEB) are both accurate. Neither conveys how strongly kinship bound people in that world.
Used elsewhere in the period: Common in the Septuagint, papyri and Josephus for family members. In Mediterranean and Jewish society, a wrong done to one family member was felt as a wrong to the family, and relatives were expected to speak up for one another.

Range of meaning: Of the same family or race. As a noun: a relative or kinsman, any member of one's extended family or clan. Paul even uses it for fellow Jews (Rom 9:3).
Against the English: KJV has 'cousins'. In 1611 'cousin' could mean any kinsman, but today it means a specific relationship that the Greek does not state. Modern versions say 'relatives' or 'kindred'.
How it drifted: The English word 'cousin' has narrowed since the 17th century from 'kinsman' to 'child of one's aunt or uncle'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 1:36: Mary is Elizabeth's syngenis ('relative', KJV 'cousin'). Luke 2:44; 14:12; 21:16. Common in the papyri and in Josephus for kin in general.

Range of meaning: "Born together" (syn + genos, "kind, family"): a relative or kinsman. It covers the extended family or clan beyond the immediate household. It can stretch to fellow members of a people (Paul calls fellow Jews "my syngeneis according to the flesh," Romans 9:3). In Hellenistic royal courts "Kinsman" was even an honorary title for high officials.
Against the English: "Relatives" or "kin" is accurate. The point English can miss is that Matthew (13:57) and Luke (4:24) do not have this phrase; it appears only in Mark.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 1:36, 58 (Elizabeth's relatives); Luke 2:44 (Jesus' parents look for him "among the relatives"); Romans 9:3; 16:7, 11, 21. Common in the papyri for family members.

Mark · 1

Mark 6:4 συγγενεῦσιν relatives

Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”

Here: The extended family or clan, the cousins, uncles and in-laws of a village kin network. This phrase appears only in Mark's version of the saying.

Luke · 4

Luke 1:58 συγγενεῖς relatives

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

Here: Her extended family, the kinship network that shared in a household's honour and shame. It is a broad word, not the specific modern 'cousin'.
Luke 2:44 συγγενεῦσιν relatives

Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends.
Luke 14:12 συγγενεῖς relatives

Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid.

Here: The wider kin group: clan and extended family, to whom one owed loyalty and from whom one expected support.
Luke 21:16 συγγενῶν relatives

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.

Here: The wider family and clan: uncles, cousins, in-laws. In a kinship society these were the people you relied on for protection, marriage, work and justice.

John · 1

John 18:26 συγγενὴς kinsman

One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”

Here: A blood relative of Malchus. The man who saw Peter is family of the person Peter wounded, so he has reason both to remember Peter's face and to want him held to account.

Acts · 1

Acts 10:24 συγγενεῖς relatives

The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Romans · 4

Romans 9:3 συγγενῶν kinsmen

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

Here: Kin, people of the same family or race. Paul uses the same word for Jewish fellow workers in Rom 16:7, 11, 21.
Romans 16:7 συγγενεῖς kinsmen

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Here: In Romans this most likely means 'fellow Jews'. Paul calls all Israel 'my kin according to the flesh' (9:3). It probably does not mean they were his close blood relatives.
Romans 16:11 συγγενῆν kinsman

Greet Herodion, my fellow countryman. Greet those from the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Romans 16:21 συγγενεῖς kinsmen

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen.

Here: Literally "of the same birth/stock". In Romans Paul uses it for fellow Israelites (9:3, "my kin according to the flesh"), so here it most likely means "fellow Jews", not blood relatives.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.