συμπολίτης (G4847) — Greek Lexicon

συμπολίτης

sympolítēs

G4847 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

A fellow citizen; one who belongs to the same civic community or polity, sharing communal rights and responsibilities. In extended contexts, one who shares membership or belonging within a defined group, such as a religious or social body. The primary sense denotes co-membership in a polis (city or community), and by extension, any body united by shared status or identity.

Semantic Range

fellow citizen, co-member of a community, participant in communal rights/privileges, metaphorically: member of a group defined by shared status (including religious communities)

Root / Etymology

From the preposition σύν ('with, together with') and πολίτης ('citizen, member of a city or community'), thus literally 'one who is a citizen together with [another]'.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical and Hellenistic Greek, συμπολίτης primarily denoted someone who shared citizenship in the same polis—sharing both political and legal membership. In the New Testament (Eph 2:19), the term is used metaphorically to describe members of a new, spiritual community—those regarded as 'fellow citizens' with the 'holy ones.' Here it extends beyond municipal or ethnic identity to denote full membership in a spiritual or communal body, likely drawing on familiar Greco-Roman concepts of civic status. The term does not intrinsically carry religious connotations, but context can assign it to communities defined by religious association. Traditional English versions often render it as 'fellow-citizen', which conveys the notion of equal standing in a shared community, but may miss the broader sense of partnership or shared rights within the group implied in ancient contexts.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from σύν and πολίτης; a native of the same town, i.e. (figuratively) co-religionist (fellow-Christian):--fellow- citizen.

Root Family

συμπολίτης (sympolitēs) — fellow citizen, co-member of a polity, shared civic membership

Root συμπολιτ- to be a citizen together, to share civic membership

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE	Surface	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2	Occurrences
`G4847-01`	συνπολῖται	sunpolitai	`N NOM M PL`	fellow citizens	co-citizens	co-citizens	1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 occurrence

SIDANCE	Reference	Word	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2
`G4847-01`	Ephesians 2:19	συνπολῖται	sunpolitai	`N NOM M PL`	fellow citizens	co-citizens	co-citizens

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