In John 4:9, the Samaritan woman is surprised that Jesus asked her for water from the well. The reason for her surprise is that “Jews do not ____ Samaritans.” But what goes in the blank? The Greek word used, συγχράομαι, is not used elsewhere in the New Testament or the Septuagint, so there is some difficulty with figuring out its meaning.

The traditional translation is “associate with.” This is the translation used in almost all English Bibles, translations into other European languages, and one early Latin translation (but not the primary Latin translation, the Vulgate). But there is a problem with this translation: the word συγχράομαι does not seem to mean “associate with” in its uses in other Greek literature before the time of the New Testament or for hundreds of years after. On the other hand, there are two pieces of evidence in favor of this translation. The church father John Chrysostom (late fourth century) thought συγχράομαι meant “associate with” (Hom. in Ioh. 31.4). The other evidence in favor of the translation “associate with” is that χράομαι, related to συγχράομαι, occasionally means “associate with.”

Since a 1950 journal article on this topic, some scholars have instead favored the translation “share things/vessels with.” A few translations (NRSV, NET), and about half of the major commentaries since 1950 favor this view. This view was originally based on looking at the component parts of the word (σύν + χράομαι) and assuming that the resultant meaning should be “to use (something) together with.” Some people find it persuasive because it fits the possible context of Jews thinking of Samaritans (especially women) as ritually unclean. But there are three major problems with this view.

First, breaking Greek words into their component parts is not a reliable guide to the meaning of words. This error is sometimes called the “etymological fallacy.” We might compare this to the English word “important,” composed of parts that mean “in” and “carrying.” But “important” does not mean anything like “carrying in!” Similar words include “disaster” (from parts meaning “bad” and “star”) and “describe” (from parts meaning “write down”). None of those meanings derived from their component parts gives us an accurate idea of what a modern person means by those words.

Second, in the Greek phrase οὐ γὰρ συγχρῶνται Ἰουδαῖοι Σαμαρίταις, “Samaritans” is in the dative case. In all other examples of συγχράομαι, a dative noun associated with the verb is a direct object, not a subject that shares in the action. This makes the proposed translation “use vessels with Samaritans” grammatically impossible. It would have to mean “use Samaritans” together with someone else, which would not make any sense.

Third, and most importantly, there are no clear examples of συγχράομαι meaning “use something with someone else” in any ancient Greek literature. Commentaries and lexicons sometimes list documents that supposedly use συγχράομαι in this way; but my impression is that no one has carefully checked those ancient sources since the 1950 article. Each of the proposed passages uses συγχράομαι in one of the more common attested meanings.

So the main thrust of my research was to dismiss the newer proposed translation, “share vessels with.” But I also was unimpressed with the evidence for the traditional translation, “associate with.” In the process of looking at every use of συγχράομαι in all of ancient literature, I noticed that every time the object of συγχράομαι was a person or group of people, the meaning was “get help from” or “seek help from” or similar. Here are a few examples:

“being aided (συγχρώμενοι) in these outrages by the Cephallenian fleet” (Polyb. Hist. 4.6.2).

“The Romans…were desirous of employing (συγχρῆσθαι) also the forces of their Celtic allies”

(Polyb. Hist. 2.32.8; see also 1.8.1, 5.39.5, 11.20.7, 18.15.2).

“but each of you [parents] should be supported (συνχρῆσθαι) by the other” (Diog. Oen. Frag. 126, my translation).

This meaning actually fits the sense of John 4:9 very well. Jesus asks the woman for water, and she is surprised, because “Jews do not get help from Samaritans.” This meaning also fits well with Josephus’ opinion of Samaritans.

The Samaritans… when they see the Jews prospering, call them their kinsmen, on the ground that they are descended from Joseph and are related to them through their origin from him, but, when they see the Jews in trouble, they say that they have nothing whatever in common with them nor do these have any claim of friendship or race, and they declare themselves to be aliens of another race (Jos. Ant. 9.290-291).

Conclusion: the traditional translation, “associate with” for συγχράομαι in John 4:9 has some evidence to support it. The translation proposed in 1950, “use vessels together with” does not have adequate support. Another translation, “get help from,” has not previously been used in Bible translations; but it is a common ancient meaning of the word, and fits the context in John 4:9.

(This blog post summarizes my recent article in the journal New Testament Studies, “.”)