συνοικέω

From the study of 1 Peter 3:7

Range of meaning

To live together with someone in a shared household. It was the standard term for married cohabitation, which included sexual relations, and it could even mean 'to be married to'.

Against the English

KJV 'dwell with' and WEB 'live with' are accurate but sound bare. BSB 'treat your wives' and NIV 'be considerate as you live with' bring out the manner but lose the concrete picture of a shared household and bed. ESV/NASB 'live with your wives' keep it.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Deut 22:13 and 24:1 use it of a man marrying and living with a wife. Sirach 25:8 ('blessed is he who lives with a sensible wife') and 2 Maccabees 1:14. Greek marriage contracts in the papyri use it for the husband's and wife's obligations in the marriage. Josephus uses it of marriage.

From the study of Sirach 25:8

Range of meaning

To live in the same house with someone. It is especially common for marriage ('to cohabit as husband and wife') in Greek legal and documentary texts.

Against the English

'Dwells with' (Brenton, WEB) is accurate but now sounds old-fashioned. 'Lives with' can suggest an unmarried couple to modern ears, which is not meant here. Some translations simply say 'husband of', which keeps the marriage but loses the stress on sharing daily life.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Deuteronomy 22:13 and 24:1 (a man who takes a wife and 'lives with' her); Sirach 25:16 ('I would rather live with a lion and a dragon than live with an evil wife'); 1 Peter 3:7 (husbands 'living with' wives). Common in Greek marriage contracts from Egypt.