the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Synzygus
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (Σύνζυγος, erroneously in Textus Receptus σύζυγος, from συνζεύγνυμι, ‘fasten or yoke together’-‘yokefellow,’ ‘comrade,’ ‘consort,’ ‘partner,’ ‘colleague’)
In the Epistle to the Philippians (4:3) the apostle Paul refers to a dispute that had arisen between two female members of the Church, Euodia and Syntyche, and entreats one whom he describes as Synzygus (Authorized Version ‘true yokefellow’) to assist the women to come to a reconciliation. Either the name is the proper name of a person or a description applied by the Apostle to one of his companions. If the name is a proper name, the bearer was a leader in the Christian Church at Philippi when the Epistle was written. The difficulty with regard to this-the natural explanation-is that Synzygus is a very unusual name and, in fact, does not seem to occur at all in extant literature, though C. von Weizsäcker (Apostolic Age, i.2 [London, 1897] 282) suggests that the name may have been assumed at baptism as a proper name. Meyer, who regards it as the name of a person, points out that many names occur only once, and that the adjective γνήσιε, ‘real,’ ‘true,’ ‘genuine,’ emphasizes the fact that the character of the man was well expressed by his name (cf. the use of Onesimus in Philemon 1:11). The meaning would thus be: ‘I beseech thee, Synzygus, truly so named, a fellow-helper in very deed.’ We may also compare Abigail’s use of her husband’s name ‘Nabal,’ to describe his character: ‘Nabal [fool] is his name, and folly is with him’ (1 Samuel 25:25). It is to be assumed that Synzygus had done much for the progress of the gospel in Philippi, and the Apostle applies to himself and his friend the common biblical comparison of the pair of oxen ploughing or threshing together under the same yoke, as this was naturally suggested by his name (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 5:18).
The other view, that the word means ‘yokefellow,’ as in classical Greek, is far less probable and at once raises the question as to which of the Apostle’s companions is to be understood by the term. Lightfoot (Philippians, p. 158) thinks it most probable that Epaphroditus, the bearer of the letter, is intended, as in this case there would be no danger of making the reference unintelligible by the suppression of the name. Others have suggested that Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, or Luke is to be thought of as the ‘true yokefellow.’ Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, p. 358) says definitely: ‘Luke is either the “true yokefellow” addressed in Philippians 4:3, or was actually the bearer of the letter to Philippi.’ If the name is not a proper name, the person addressed was one present with the Apostle when he wrote to Philippi-either Epaphroditus or some other.
The suggestion of some early commentators that the Apostle was addressing his wife is impossible, both historically, in the light of 1 Corinthians 7:8, and grammatically, as the adjective is masculine. It is also improbable that the husband of one or other of the women is referred to, while the suggestion of Renan (St. Paul, Paris, 1869, p. 148) that the allusion is to Lydia, who, he assumes, had become the wife of the Apostle, is hardly to be taken seriously.
Literature.-H. A. W. Meyer, Kom. über die Briefe an die Philipper …3, Göttingen, 1865; J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 4, London, 1878; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, do., 1895; J. C. M. Laurent, ‘Über Synzygus,’ in Zeitschrift für die luther. Theol. und Kirche, xxvi. [Leipzig, 1865] 1ff., Neutestamentliche Studien, Gotha, 1866; H. A. A. Kennedy, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Philippians,’ London, 1903, p. 465; J. Gibb, article ‘Synzygus,’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ; W. C. v. Manen, article ‘Synzygus,’ in Encyclopaedia Biblica ; Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, s.v.
W. F. Boyd.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Synzygus'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/synzygus.html. 1906-1918.
