Greek word · G4777

συγκακοπαθέω

synkakopatheō

to suffer with

To endure hardship or misfortune together with someone; to take your share of suffering. Built from syn (with), kakos (bad, harm) and paschō (suffer, experience).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

συν-κακοπαθέω (Rec. συγκ-), -ῶ,

to bear evil treatment along with, take one's share of ill-treatment: 2 Timothy 2:3; with dative commod., τ. εὐαγγελίῳ, 2 Timothy 2:18.†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of 2 Timothy 1:8

Range of meaning

To endure hardship or misfortune together with someone; to take your share of suffering. Built from syn (with), kakos (bad, harm) and paschō (suffer, experience).

Against the English

"Endure hardship" (WEB) drops the "together." "Partaker of the afflictions" (KJV) keeps the sharing but loses who it is shared with. "Join me in suffering" (BSB) makes the "with" explicit by supplying "me."

Used elsewhere in the period

A rare word. Its only New Testament uses are here and in 2:3 ("share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus"), and it has no clear earlier occurrence in surviving Greek literature. The simple verb kakopatheō ("suffer hardship") appears in 2:9 and 4:5 and in James 5:13. Compounds with syn- ("with") are typical of Paul's language of partnership: co-worker, fellow soldier, fellow prisoner.

From the study of 2 Timothy 2:3

Range of meaning

"To suffer hardship together with someone", "to take one's share of trouble" (BDAG). The simple verb κακοπαθέω (kakopatheō) covers enduring hardship, toil, distress or ill-treatment: physical exertion, privation, persecution. The prefix syn- adds partnership: the hardship is shared.

Against the English

KJV "endure hardness" and WEB "endure hardship" (both translating the shorter reading without syn-) stress individual toughness. YLT "suffer evil" keeps the literal "bad" element but sounds to modern ears like enduring moral evil. BSB/NIV "join me in suffering" and NASB "suffer hardship with me" bring out the partnership but have to supply "me". ESV's "share in suffering" keeps the partnership without naming the partner. "Suffering" in English can sound mainly emotional, while the Greek leans toward hard conditions and rough treatment.

How it drifted

Partly textual (the KJV's Greek text lacks the syn- prefix) and partly lexical: "hardness" in 1611 meant "hardship" but now means firmness or toughness.

Used elsewhere in the period

The compound is very rare. In the NT it appears only here and at 2 Timothy 1:8 ("share in suffering for the gospel"), and it is hardly attested in earlier Greek. The simple verb appears in 2 Timothy 2:9 (Paul "suffering hardship" to the point of chains), 4:5 ("endure hardship") and James 5:13. The LXX uses κακοπαθέω for toil in Jonah 4:10 (the plant "you did not labour over"). The noun κακοπάθεια (James 5:10; 4 Maccabees) is common in Hellenistic writers for the hardships of campaigns and of labour.

Where it appears

2 Timothy · 2

  1. 2 Timothy 1:8 συγκακοπάθησον do suffer together

    So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

    Here: A compound verb, "together + bad things + suffer": take your share of the hardship alongside others. It is a command, and the "with" most naturally means alongside Paul.

  2. 2 Timothy 2:3 συγκακοπάθησον do share in suffering

    Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

    Here: A command: "take your share of the hardship alongside me." It is made of three parts: syn (with), kako (bad, hard) and pathein (to undergo). It is about enduring rough treatment and toil together, not about feeling sad. The aorist imperative presents it as a direct summons to accept the hardship as a whole.

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