Greek word · G4853
συμφυλέτης
symphyletēs
fellow countryman
Literally "fellow member of the phylē", the tribe. Greek cities divided their citizens into civic "tribes". The word came to mean a fellow citizen, fellow countryman or compatriot, someone of your own local people.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament.
What it means
συμ-φυλέτης, -ου, ὁ
(σύν, φυλή; cf. σύμφυλος, Aq.: Zechariah 13:7; and see Rutherford, NPhr., 255 f.)
a fellow-tribesman, fellow-countryman: 1 Thessalonians 2:14 (see M, Th., in l, and Intr. liii). Not found elsewhere.†
(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 1 Thessalonians 2:14
- Range of meaning
Literally "fellow member of the phylē", the tribe. Greek cities divided their citizens into civic "tribes". The word came to mean a fellow citizen, fellow countryman or compatriot, someone of your own local people.
- Against the English
"Countrymen" is close but sounds national and modern. The Greek suggests the people next to you: neighbours, kin and fellow citizens of your own town.
- Used elsewhere in the period
A rare word. BDAG cites a small number of classical and later writers and inscriptions. This is its only occurrence in the Greek Bible.
Similar words
Where it appears
1 Thessalonians · 1
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1 Thessalonians 2:14 συμφυλετῶν, countrymen,
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews,
Here: Literally "people of the same tribe". It means the converts' own local community, chiefly their non-Jewish fellow Thessalonians. This is its only appearance in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.