συνήθεια

From the study of 1 Corinthians 8:7

Range of meaning

Habit, custom, usage. Also intimacy or close familiarity with a person or thing, as with a companion. In the NT it appears in John 18:39 ('custom' of releasing a prisoner) and 1 Cor 11:16 (church 'practice').

Against the English

BSB 'so accustomed to idols' and ESV's 'former association' capture it. KJV and YLT translate a different Greek word ('conscience'), so the idea of habit disappears entirely there.

Used elsewhere in the period

4 Maccabees 2:13; 6:13 (habit, ingrained custom); widely used in papyri and Josephus for established custom. Plutarch and others use it for familiarity or intimacy with someone.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 11:16

Range of meaning

'Custom, habit, usage, established practice', from syn- ('with') plus ēthos ('custom'). It means what a community or person is accustomed to doing. It can also mean intimacy or familiarity with someone or something.

Against the English

'Custom' (KJV, WEB, YLT) and 'practice' (BSB, ESV, NIV) both fit. The real problem is the adjective attached to it: 'such' versus 'other' (see the translations section).

Used elsewhere in the period

In John 18:39 Pilate says 'you have a custom (synētheia) that I release someone to you at Passover', an established yearly practice. In 1 Corinthians 8:7 some converts eat 'by long familiarity (synētheia) with the idol'. Greek writers of the period and the papyri use it for local usage and accepted practice.

From the study of John 18:39

Range of meaning

Custom, habit, usual practice. Also intimacy or familiarity with someone (its older sense, from being "used to" something). In the Koine period (the everyday Greek of the New Testament era) it commonly means a settled practice, including legal and administrative ones.

Against the English

English "custom" is accurate. Translations differ on whose custom it is. The Greek dative ("there is a custom for you") ties it to Pilate's hearers, so "your custom" (BSB) or "you have a custom" (KJV, WEB). The NLT's "each year" is not in John. It is an inference.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere in the NT only at 1 Cor 8:7 (people "accustomed" to idols) and 1 Cor 11:16 ("we have no such custom"). In papyri and inscriptions it is common for established practice. No source outside the Gospels mentions a regular Passover release. Partial parallels are often cited: (1) Papyrus Florence 61 (c. AD 85), where a prefect of Egypt tells an accused man he deserves flogging, "but I give you to the crowds"; (2) Livy 5.13.8, prisoners unchained during a Roman festival; (3) Josephus, Antiquities 20.208–210, 215, Roman governors releasing prisoners under pressure or as favours; (4) Mishnah Pesachim 8:6, a Passover lamb may be slaughtered for someone "whom they have promised to bring out of prison", which some scholars read as evidence of releases timed for the feast.