συνίημι

Matthew 13:13 συνίουσιν. do they understand.

This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

Here: To grasp by putting things together, to get the point. This is the key word of the chapter. The good soil is the one who 'hears the word and understands' it (13:23), and the disciples answer 'Yes' when asked if they have understood (13:51).

Matthew 13:14 συνῆτε, may understand,

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

Here: Literally 'bring together': to put the pieces together so that the meaning lands. It is a key word in Matthew 13. The good soil is the one who 'hears and understands' (13:23), and the disciples say 'yes' when asked if they understand (13:51).

Matthew 13:15 συνῶσιν they may understand

For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

Here: 'They should understand.' Putting together what is heard into real insight. It is a key word in Matthew 13: the good soil is the person who 'hears and understands' (13:23).

Matthew 13:19 συνιέντος understanding

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

Here: To grasp, to put it together and take it in. In Matthew this is the key word that separates the path from the good soil (13:23). It looks back to Isaiah 6:9–10, quoted just before (13:13–15).

Matthew 13:23 συνιείς, understanding,

But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

Here: Also a present participle: 'and is understanding'. This is the word that sets this hearer apart from the path-hearer, who 'does not understand' (13:19), and from the people of Isaiah 6, who 'hear but never understand' (13:13–15). It means taking the message in and grasping it, not just following it intellectually.

Matthew 13:51 συνήκατε Did you understand

Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered.

Matthew 15:10 συνίετε· do understand:

Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.

Here: Literally 'bring together' in the mind, meaning to grasp how something fits. In Matthew this is the mark of a true disciple: the one who 'hears the word and understands it' is the one who bears fruit (13:23). The command calls the crowd to really take in the ruling about purity that follows.

Matthew 16:12 συνῆκαν they understood

Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Here: 'They understood', in the sense of 'they grasped it', a single moment of comprehension. In Matthew this verb marks the true disciple (13:23), so the disciples here move out of the confusion of verses 7–11.

Matthew 17:13 συνῆκαν understood

Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

Here: Literally 'to bring together'. The disciples connected Jesus' riddle about 'Elijah' with a person they knew. The verb points to a single moment: they got it.

Mark 4:12 συνιῶσιν they may understand

so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”

Here: Literally 'bring together': to connect what you hear into real insight. This is the word Isaiah 6:9 uses in Greek. Mark later uses it against the disciples themselves (6:52; 8:17, 21).

Mark 6:52 συνῆκαν they understood

for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.

Here: Literally 'to bring together', so: to put the pieces together and grasp what they mean. The disciples had all the facts. They failed to draw the conclusion. The verb echoes Mark 4:12, where outsiders 'hear but do not understand'.

Mark 7:14 σύνετε. do understand.

Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:

Here: A second aorist command: 'Grasp this!' The verb pictures putting things together so the sense becomes clear. In Mark it is the word for seeing the meaning behind a parable (4:12; 6:52; 7:18; 8:17, 21). It warns that the short saying coming next is a riddle with a meaning that has to be grasped.

Mark 8:17 συνίετε; understand?

Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?

Here: 'Do you understand?', literally 'put things together.' This is the key word of Mark 4:12, where outsiders 'hear but do not understand.' Now the insiders are the ones failing to understand.

Mark 8:21 συνίετε;¶ do you understand?

Then He asked them, “Do you still not understand?”

Luke 2:50 συνῆκαν understood

But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.

Luke 8:10 συνιῶσιν. shall they understand.’

He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

Here: To put together, grasp, take in what is meant. In Isaiah this kind of understanding leads to turning back to God. Hearing without it is the failure the parable of the soils goes on to describe.

Luke 18:34 συνῆκαν, understood,

But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.

Luke 24:45 συνιέναι to understand

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Here: It literally means 'to send or bring together': to connect pieces until the meaning comes clear. The verb is present tense, which suits a lasting ability to understand rather than one flash of insight. Greek writers did not always lean hard on that difference, though. Luke uses this word for the very understanding the disciples had lacked (18:34).

Acts 7:25 συνιέναι συνῆκαν. to understand, they understood.

He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

Acts 28:26 συνῆτε, may understand,

‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

Here: To put things together and grasp them. In the next verse it is 'understanding with the heart' that leads to turning back, so it means taking in the message and responding, not only following it with the mind.

Acts 28:27 συνῶσιν they may understand

For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

Here: 'They might understand': put the pieces together and see what it means. This is the understanding v. 26 said they would never reach.

Romans 3:11 συνίων, is understanding,

There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

Here: The person who has insight. In the psalm Paul quotes, this means practical, God-aware wisdom that shows in how you live. It is the opposite of the 'fool' who says in his heart there is no God. The present tense describes a settled way of being, not a single act.

Romans 15:21 συνήσουσιν. will understand.

Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”

2 Corinthians 10:12 συνιᾶσιν. understand.

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.

Here: 'They do not understand,' 'they have no insight.' A punchline that rhymes with synistanontōn: the self-*commenders* do not *comprehend*. It probably also anticipates Jeremiah 9:23–24, quoted in v. 17, where the only valid boast is 'to understand and know the LORD'.

Ephesians 5:17 συνίετε do understand

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Here: A present-tense command, 'keep grasping'. The verb literally means 'to bring together'. It is insight that puts things together and sees how they fit, and so knows what to do.