Greek word · G4888

συνδοξάζω

syndoxazō

to glory with

To glorify together with; passive, to be glorified together with someone. In secular Greek a similar compound could mean 'join in approving or honouring'. Paul's usage draws on the biblical sense of 'glory'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

συν-δοξάζω

1. to join in approving (Arist.).

2. In NT only, to glorify together: pass., Romans 8:17.†

(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 Romans 8:17

Range of meaning

To glorify together with; passive, to be glorified together with someone. In secular Greek a similar compound could mean 'join in approving or honouring'. Paul's usage draws on the biblical sense of 'glory'.

Against the English

English 'glorified' often means 'praised' or 'made famous'. Biblical doxa (Hebrew kavod) means weight, honour and visible radiance, the shining presence of God. Being 'glorified' in Romans means being restored to and raised into that radiance.

How it drifted

In everyday English 'glory' has shrunk to fame, praise or splendour in general. In church usage 'glorified' often just means 'gone to heaven'. Paul means the resurrection transformation of the body and the renewal of creation (8:21, 8:23).

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT only here. It belongs to the theme of glory in Romans: humans 'fall short of the glory of God' (3:23); 'the glory about to be revealed to us' (8:18); 'the freedom of the glory of the children of God' (8:21); 'those he justified he also glorified' (8:30). In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the faithful are promised 'all the glory of Adam' (1QS 4.23; CD 3.20).

Where it appears

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 8:17 συνδοξασθῶμεν.¶ we shall be glorified together.

    And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

    Here: Passive, so God is the one who glorifies. The grammatical form looks at the event as a whole and points to the future. It means being raised into the same radiant, honoured, resurrection state Christ already has (8:18, 8:29-30). It is not about receiving praise.

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