{We were buried therefore with him by means of baptism unto
death} (sunetaph(886d)en oun aut(9369) dia tou baptismatos eis ton
thanaton). Second aorist passive indicative of sunthapt(935c), old
verb to bury together with, in N.T. only here and  Col 2:12 .
With associative instrumental case (aut(9369)) and "by means of
baptism unto death" as in verse  3 . {In newness of life} (en
kainot(8874)i z(9388)s). The picture in baptism points two ways,
backwards to Christ's death and burial and to our death to sin
(verse  1 ), forwards to Christ's resurrection from the dead and
to our new life pledged by the coming out of the watery grave to
walk on the other side of the baptismal grave (F. B. Meyer).
There is the further picture of our own resurrection from the
grave. It is a tragedy that Paul's majestic picture here has been
so blurred by controversy that some refuse to see it. It should
be said also that a symbol is not the reality, but the picture of
the reality.