verb
sumferamō
Strong’sG4851
I collect, am profitable to
stem sumfer-15 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books5 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Bring together, collect – used of gathering things (such as objects) into one place 134. Strong's notes that this literal, gathering sense underlies the word's root meaning of "bearing together" 2.
Be profitable, useful, or expedient; an advantage – far more common in the New Testament, this is used both personally (something is profitable to someone) and impersonally, "it is expedient" or "it is profitable," often followed by an infinitive or a clause stating what is advantageous 1234. The present participle is used as an adjective meaning "profitable" or "expedient" 1234, and the neuter form is used as a noun meaning "profit" or "advantage" 123.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
συμ-φέρω
[in LXX: Je 33 (26):14 (טוֹב), Pr 19:10 (נָאוֶה), Si 30:19, al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4851 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidsoom-fer'-o
to bear together (contribute), i.e. (literally) to collect, or (figuratively) to conduce; especially (neuter participle as a noun) advantage
Fromfrom G4862 and G5342 (including its alternate);
King Jamesbe better for, bring together, be expedient (for), be good, (be) profit(-able for).
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
future συνοίσω Refs 4th c.BC+: aorist 1 συνήνεγκα Refs 5th c.BC+, Ionic dialect -ήνεικαRefs 5th c.BC+: aorist 2 συνήνεγκον Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect συνενήνοχα Refs 4th c.BC+
A active
I bring together, gather, collect, τὰ κακὰ ἐς μέσον Refs 5th c.BC+; δαπάνην σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; especially of dead bodies, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 bring together, contribute, βουλεύματα Refs 5th c.BC+; πολλοὶ πολλὰ συνενηνόχασι μέρη Refs 4th c.BC+:—middle, of a river, Φάσιδι σ. ῥόον Refs 3rd c.BC+
I.3 bring into conflict, πολεμίους θεούς Refs 4th c.BC+; give battle, συνοίσομεν ὀξὺν Ἄρηα Refs 7th c.BC+
I.4 bear along with or together, ὁ ἵππος ὅπλον σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐγώ σοι ξυμφέρω (i.e. τὴν παμπησίαν) Refs 5th c.BC+; bring with, λύχνον.. παῖς μοι συμφέρει Refs 5th c.BC+; of sufferings, labours, and the like, bear jointly, help to bear, ξυνοίσω πᾶν ὅσονπερ ἂν σθένω Refs 5th c.BC+
I.3 Refssuffer, bear with, indulge, ὀργὰς ξυνοίσω σοι Refs 4th c.BC+
II intransitive, confer a benefit, be useful or profitable, οὔ οἱ συνήνεικε τὸ ἔχθος did not do him any good, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἅπαντ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον ξ. turn out for the best, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 impersonal, it is of use, expedient, mostly with infinitive, ξυμφέρει σωφρονεῖν ὑπὸ στένει Refs 5th c.BC+; with Article prefixed to infinitive, τὸ περιγενέσθαι.. ἀμφοτέροις σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; the infinitive is frequently to be supplied, Refs 5th c.BC+; followed by a clause, σ. τῷ κοινῷ, ἢν.. Refs 3rd c.BC+; σ. ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον, ἐπὶ τὸ ἄμεινον, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 participle συμφέρων, ουσα, ον, useful, expedient, fitting, Refs 5th c.BC+; βίος.. ἐκεῖσε συμφέρων profitable even beyond the grave, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3.b in neuter as substantive, συμφέρον, οντος, τό, use, profit, advantage, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡδίω τοῦ συμφέροντος more pleasant than is good for one, Refs 5th c.BC+; περαιτέρω τοῦ ὑμετέρου σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ μικρὰ σ., opposed to τὰ ὅλα, the petty interests, Refs 5th c.BC+; but also τὰ τῆς πατρίδος σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; also in aorist participle, τό τῳ ξυνενεγκόν Refs 5th c.BC+; συμφέρον ἐστί, = {συμφέρει}, Refs 5th c.BC+; εἰ μὴ ξυμφέρον (i.e. ἐστί) Refs 5th c.BC+
III intransitive, also,
III.1 work with, assist, σφῷν ὅπως ἄριστα συμφέροι θεός Refs 5th c.BC+; συμφέροντι (or Συμφέροντι as proper name) Ἡρακλεῖ Refs
III.2 agree with, τοὐμὸν ξυνοίσειν ὄνομα τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς Refs 5th c.BC+; come to terms with, give way to, τοῖς κρείσσοσι Refs 5th c.BC+; see below Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 fit, suit, ᾗ μήτε Χλαῖνα μήτε σισύρα συμφέρει (see. Χλαῖνα) Refs 5th c.BC+
III.4 of events, happen, take place, turn out, with accusative et infinitive, Refs 5th c.BC+; with ὥστε.., Refs; τὰ ἄλλα.. αὐτῇ συνήνεικε ἐς εὐτυχίην γενόμενα turned out for her advantage, Refs; see below Refs 5th c.BC+
B passive συμφέρομαι: future συνοίσομαι: aorist passive ξυνηνέχθην Refs 5th c.BC+, Ionic dialect συνηνείχθην Refs 5th c.BC+perfect συνενήνεγμαι Refs 8th c.BC+, see {συνενείκομαι}:—come together, opposed to διαφέρεσθαι, Refs 5th c.BC+; meet, associate with, Refs 3rd c.BC+; of sexual intercourse, Refs 2nd c.AD+
B.2 in hostile sense, meet in battle, engage, πτόλεμόνδε Refs 8th c.BC+; τινι with one, Refs 8th c.BC+; σ. κακῷ encounter it, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II agree with, οὐδαμοῖσι ἄλλοισι σ. ἀνθρώπων, in custom, Refs; opposed to διαφέρεσθαι, Refs 5th c.BC+; live on friendly terms with, τισι Refs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, agree together, be of one mind, εἰ δὲ μὴ συμφεροίατο if they could not agree, Refs 5th c.BC+; καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς ξ. settle their affairs by themselves, Refs; concur, τῇδε γὰρ ξυνοίσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.2 to be in harmony with, εὖ τοῖς πράγμασι σ. Refs; adapt oneself to, τοῖς παροῦσιν Refs 1st c.AD+; σ. τὰ πολλὰ πολλοῖς correspond with, Refs 5th c.BC+; Χαίτης πῶς συνοίσεται πλόκο; correspond, be like, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III of events, happen, turn out, occur, come to pass, ἔμελλε τοιοῦτό σφι συνοίσεσθαι Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III.2 impersonal, συμφέρεται ἐπὶ τὸ ἄμεινον it happens, falls out for the better, Refs 5th c.BC+; αὐτῷ συνεφέρετο παλιγκότως it turned out ill to him,Refs 5th c.BC+; see above Refs 4th c.BC+
B.IV literally, to be carried along with, ἀστράσι μήνη σ. Refs 4th c.AD+; κύδεα.. ψυχαῖς οὐ μάλα σ. do not follow them (beyond the grave), Refs 6th c.AD+
B.V Grammars, to be constructed with, αἰτιατικῇ, etc., Refs 2nd c.AD+: also, agree in form with, σ. φωνῇ [τῇ] πρὸς τὰς δοτικάς Refs
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| sumferatōσυμφέρει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | better | 10× |
| sumferarōntemσυμφέρον | happening now · subjectpresent active participle direct singular neuter | gained | 1× |
| sumferarōntemσυμφέρον | happening now · objectpresent active participle direct singular neuter | good | 2× |
| sumferarōnteiuσυμφερόντων | happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural neuter | profitable | 1× |
| sumferarantoisσυνενέγκαντες | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine | brought … together | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 10 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sumferamō | sumferame | sumferami | sumferama | sumferamē | sumferamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | sumferasō | sumferase | sumferasi | sumferasa | sumferasē | sumferaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sumferatō10×συμφέρει | sumferate | sumferati | sumferata | sumferatē | sumferatelē |
| we 1st person plural | sumferanō | sumferane | sumferani | sumferana | sumferanē | sumferanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | sumferavō | sumferave | sumferavi | sumferava | sumferavē | sumferavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | sumferalō | sumferale | sumferali | sumferala | sumferalē | sumferalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sumferameiō | sumferameia | sumferameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | sumferaseiō | sumferaseia | sumferaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sumferateiō | sumferateia | sumferateiē |
| we 1st person plural | sumferaneiō | sumferaneia | sumferaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | sumferaveiō | sumferaveia | sumferaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | sumferaleiō | sumferaleia | sumferaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | sumferasōr | sumferasar | sumferasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sumferatōr | sumferatar | sumferatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | sumferavōr | sumferavar | sumferavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | sumferalōr | sumferalar | sumferalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sumferamoiō | sumferamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | sumferasoiō | sumferasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sumferatoiō | sumferatoia |
| we 1st person plural | sumferanoiō | sumferanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | sumferavoiō | sumferavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | sumferaloiō | sumferaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | sumferarō | sumferari | sumferara | sumferarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 5 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | sumferarōntos4× | sumferarintos | sumferarantos1× | sumferarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
sumfer is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
15 occurrences, every one of them listed
sumferatō“better”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular10×
Matthew 5:29… exairasar auton kai balasar apo su, sumferatō gar si hina apoleteia henem teiu …… and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part …
Matthew 5:30… ekkoptasar autan kai balasar apo su, sumferatō gar si hina apoleteia henem teiu …… and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part …
Matthew 18:6… mikroiu houtoiu toiu pisteuarōntoiu eis min, sumferatō auto hina kremannuiteia mulos onikos eis …… Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large …
Matthew 19:10… tou anthrōpou meta tau gunaikau, ouk sumferatō gamara.… man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”
John 11:50oude logizovō hoti sumferatō vi hina henos anthrōpos apothnēskateia huper …… do not realize that it is better for you that one man die …
John 16:7“advantage”alla mis tan alētheian legamō vi, sumferatō vi hina mis aperchameia. ean gar …But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going …
John 18:14“expedient”… Kaiafos tos sumbouleuarantos toi Ioudaioi hoti sumferatō henon anthrōpon apothnēskara huper tou laou.Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better if one man died for the people.
1 Corinthians 6:12Panteim mi exestinatō; alla ouk panteim sumferatō. panteim mi exestinatō; alla ouk mis …… for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but …
1 Corinthians 10:23Panteim exestinatō; alla ouk panteim sumferatō. panteim exestinatō; alla ouk panteim oikodomatō.… is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything …
2 Corinthians 8:10“appropriate”… en houte dōamō; houtem gar vi sumferatō, hotinois ouk monem tem poiara alla …And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to …
sumferarōntem“gained”happening now · subjectpresent active participle direct singular neuter1×
2 Corinthians 12:1“gained”Kauchorō datō; ouk sumferarōntem men, erchemi de eis optasiain kai …… go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from …
sumferarōntem“good”happening now · objectpresent active participle direct singular neuter2×
1 Corinthians 12:7… tas fanerōsias teu pneumeu pros tem sumferarōntem.… the Spirit is given for the common good.
Hebrews 12:10… autoi paideuale, tos de epi tem sumferarōntem eis tem metalabara tau hagiotau autou.… but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in …
sumferarōnteiu“profitable”happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural neuter1×
Acts 20:20“profitable”hōs oudenem hupostelema teiu sumferarōnteiu teu mē anangelara vi kai didaskara …I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I …
sumferarantois“brought … together”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 19:19hikanois de toiu teim periergeim prassarantoiu sumferarantois tain biblain katakaiale enōpion pantoiu; kai …… those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in …