Knit Together

Greek Word Pronunciation: sum-bi-BAD-zo
Strong’s Number: 4822
Goodrich/Kohlenberger Number: 5204
Key Verse: “… that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love.” -- Colossians 2:2

Sumbibadzo is a compound verb comprised of sun (“with”) and bibadzo (“to force”), meaning “to join together, compact,” hence, “to compare and examine, to prove, conclude.”

In the New Testament, this verb appears 7 times. In Acts 9:22, it is used in the sense of bringing together Old Testament scriptures, thus “proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” In Acts 16:10, Paul was concluding that God called him to preach in Macedonia. In Acts 19:33, the NASB says that the confused crowd “concluded Alexander.” [A better translation is in the NIV, “the Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him.”] And in 1 Corinthians 2:16, “who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct Him?”

Colossians 2:19 and Ephesians 4:16 both reference the body of Christ being held together (compacted), being orderly and firmly united among themselves, every one in his proper place and station. It is like the veins and arteries in the body, serve to unite Christians to Christ their head, and to one another as fellow-members. It is also useful to note that in these verses, sumbibadzo is in the passive voice, indicating that we cannot hold the body of Christ together, of our own will, but only through Christ can this be done, and for His purpose.

Finally, in the key verse of COLOSSIANS 2:2, love is that which binds all believers together, the way of comforting each other by solid Christian friendship. It was united, as the beams or the timbers of a building, by mortices and pins. It makes them to be of one heart and one soul; it renders their communion with one another comfortable and delightful, and strengthens them against the common enemy.