Greek word · G4960

συστοιχέω

systoicheō

to correspond to

Literally 'to stand in the same row (στοῖχος) with'. It was used of soldiers drawn up in the same file or rank. More broadly it means 'to belong to the same series' or 'to correspond to'. The related noun συστοιχία was used by philosophers for a column in a table of paired opposites.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

συν-στοιχέω (Rec. συσ-), -ῶ,

to stand in the same rank or line (Polyb). Metaphorical, to correspond to: Galatians 4:25 (see Lft., in l).†

(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 Galatians 4:25

Range of meaning

Literally 'to stand in the same row (στοῖχος) with'. It was used of soldiers drawn up in the same file or rank. More broadly it means 'to belong to the same series' or 'to correspond to'. The related noun συστοιχία was used by philosophers for a column in a table of paired opposites.

Against the English

'Corresponds to' (BSB, ESV, NASB) is accurate but flat. 'Answereth to' (KJV) and 'answers to' (WEB) meant 'corresponds to' in older English, but today they sound like 'is accountable to' or 'reports to'. Neither keeps the picture of items lined up in a column.

How it drifted

'Answer to' in the sense of 'match' has faded in modern English. The usual meaning now is 'be under someone's authority', which suggests a chain of command Paul never meant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Aristotle (Metaphysics 986a) reports the Pythagorean table of ten opposites arranged in two columns (limit/unlimited, odd/even, light/darkness, and so on) and calls each column a συστοιχία. Polybius uses the verb of soldiers standing in line. BDAG gives 'stand in the same line, correspond to'. It is found only here in the NT.

Where it appears

Galatians · 1

  1. Galatians 4:25 συστοιχεῖ she corresponds

    Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

    Here: Literally 'stands in the same line or column with'. Hagar and Sinai are lined up in one column with present-day Jerusalem, opposite a second column (Sarah, the Jerusalem above, freedom). The word appears only here in the NT.

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