Bible Lexicons

(1) For the literal meaning of this word ";hold together,"; ";keep together,"; cf. P Cairo Zen II. 59155.5 (B.C. 256) μὴ πλείους δὲ πέντε ἡμερῶν σύσχηις τὸ ὕδωρ, with reference to not keeping a piece of land flooded for more than five days; P Tebt II. 410.11 (A.D. 16) ἐρωτῶ σε ταχύτερον συσχεῖν τ ̣[ὸ ] πρᾶγμα, ";I beg you to close the matter with all speed"; (Edd.); and ib. 390.25 (A.D. 167) Ὀννῶφρις συν [έχ ]ω τὰς δραχμὰς ἐγατὸν εἴκοσι τέσσαρ [ας, ";I Onnophris have received the 124 drachmae,"; in connexion with a loan on mortgage.

(2) With the usage of the verb in Luke 22:63 of the officers who held Jesus in charge Deissmann (BS p. 160) compares P Petr II. 20i. 10 (B.C. 252) where in an official minute we read of certain sailors who went to Herakleopolis, καὶ συν [έ ]σχεν αὐτοὺς Ἡρακλείδης ὁ ἀρχιφυλακίτης, ";and Herakleides, the chief of the police, arrested them."; Add for the same sense P Magd 42.7 (B.C. 221) προσαπήγαγέν με εἰς τὴν φυλακὴν καὶ συνέσχεν ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρας ̣ δ ̣̄, P Lille I. 7.15 (iii/B.C.) εἶπεν τῶι δεσμοφύ (λακι) δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίαν συνέσχημαι, and cf. BGU IV. 1053i. 31 and 1054.9 (both B.C. 13) where συνέχεσθαι is used of debtors who are ";held"; until a loan is repaid, and P Lond 914.38 (letter regarding the Meletian schism—A.D. 335 (?)) του ̣̑τ᾽ οὖν ἤκουσεν Ἀθανάσιος ὅτι Ἀρχέλαος συνεσχέθη, πάνυ ἀθυμε ̣ῖ Ἀθανάσιος, ";so Athanasius heard this news, that Archelaus was arrested, and Athanasius is very despondent ";(Ed.).

(3) An interesting parallel to Luke 4:38 is afforded by P Oxy VI. 896.34 (A.D. 316) where a man is described as πυραιτίοις. . . συνεχ ̣[όμενον, ";seized with a slight fever"; (Edd.) : cf. P Flor III. 296.22 (vi/A.D.) τῇ συνεχούσῃ με ἀρρωστίᾳ.

(4) The more tropical sense of the word in Philippians 1:23 may be illustrated by P Oxy II. 281.25 (A.D. 20–50) where a wife petitions the ";Chief Justice"; that her husband who had deserted her should be compelled ";perforce"; to pay back her dowry, ὅπως ἐπαναγκασθῇ συνεχόμενος ἀποδοῦναι κτλ. Field (Notes, p. 128) reading συνείχετο τῷ πνεύματι in Acts 18:5 finds that the verb expresses ";some strong internal feeling.";

(5) With the description of the spirit of the Lord as τὸ συνέχον τὰ πάντα in Sap 1:7 may be compared the inscr. to Attis of A.D. 370, cited by Cumont Les Religions Orientates p. 77, cf. p. 267 (Eng. Tr. pp. 62, 226), as καὶ συνέχοντι τὸ πᾶν, and the further reference to Eleusis as συνέχοντα τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος ἁγιώτατα μυστήρια (Zosimus iv. 3. 2).

(6) The adj. συνεχής may be illustrated by P Hamb I. 65.13 (A.D. 141–2) ἐν δυ ̣[σὶ σ ]ϕ ̣ρ ̣α ̣[γ ]ι ̣ͅσ ̣ι [συν ]εχέσι ἀλλήλαις, and the adv. συνεχῶς by P Oxy II. 237 vi. 19 (A.D. 186) τοῦ Ὡρίωνος συνεχῶς ἐπαγγελλομένου (";continually threatening";).