UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to raise to life together with

Semantic entry: 23.95

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Live, Die

Definition: to cause to live again together with others

Notes: There are serious semantic difficulties involved in a literal translation of συνεγείρω or συζωοποιέω, for a literal rendering could either be interpreted as ‘to be raised to life at the same time with’ or ‘to be raised to life in the same way as,’ but the reference in RV COL 3:1 · LV COL 3:1 · Read together COL 3:1 and RV EPH 2:5 · LV EPH 2:5 · Read together EPH 2:5 is to a spiritual existence more than to a literal resurrection of the body. This means that both συνεγείρω and συζωοποιέω must be understood as highly figurative. Hence, in RV COL 3:1 · LV COL 3:1 · Read together COL 3:1 it may be necessary to translate εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ as ‘since you have been raised to life, so to speak, with Christ’ or ‘since, as it were, you have been raised to life with Christ.’ In this way one may point to the fact of a figurative element involved.