A captive (as bound)
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Δέσμιος (desmios) means prisoner, captive, or person held in bonds. The Passion narratives mention a prisoner released by popular choice at the feast, setting Barabbas's freedom beside Jesus' condemnation.
Reader summary
Full entry for δέσμιος (G1198) · Open the biblical lexicon
Δέσμιος (desmios) means prisoner, captive, or person held in bonds. The Passion narratives mention a prisoner released by popular choice at the feast, setting Barabbas's freedom beside Jesus' condemnation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include prisoner (7), a prisoner (3), in prison (3), [other] prisoners (1), prisoners (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 27:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Ephesians (2), Hebrews (2), Matthew (2).
Δέσμιος (desmios) means prisoner, captive, or person held in bonds. The Passion narratives mention a prisoner released by popular choice at the feast, setting Barabbas's freedom beside Jesus' condemnation. In Philippi, other prisoners listen while Paul and Silas pray and sing after an unlawful beating, showing captive witness under suffering. Paul calls himself the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles, interpreting Roman confinement beneath Christ's sovereign mission rather than denying the chains.
He urges Timothy not to be ashamed of the Lord's testimony or of him as the Lord's prisoner, but to share gospel suffering by God's power. Prisoner status can result from crime, political calculation, injustice, or faithful witness. The noun does not establish innocence or guilt by itself; narrative, cause, and allegiance must supply that judgment.
Δέσμιος names a prisoner or person bound. It appears in feast-day release customs, listening prisoners at Philippi, and Paul's Christ-governed interpretation of imprisonment for gospel witness.
Now it was the governor’s custom at the feast to release to the crowd a prisoner of their choosing.
Pilate's custom allows the crowd to choose a prisoner for release, and the scene develops the exchange in which Barabbas goes free while Jesus is delivered for crucifixion.
Now it was Pilate’s custom at the feast to release to the people a prisoner of their choosing.
Mark likewise names the chosen prisoner within a crowd manipulated by leaders, exposing the governor's compromise and the people's demand.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Paul and Silas pray and sing at midnight while other prisoners listen, turning confinement into a setting for audible trust before the earthquake.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
Paul calls himself Christ Jesus' prisoner for the Gentiles, viewing Roman custody within the commission that brought the gospel across ethnic boundaries.
So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Timothy must not be ashamed of the Lord's testimony or Paul His prisoner but share suffering by God's power, making solidarity part of faithful ministry.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A prisoner literally bound by chains; Paul uses this for spiritual captivity to Christ's service and mission.
A prisoner literally bound by chains; Paul uses this for spiritual captivity to Christ's service and mission.
δεσμός), [in LXX for אסר;]
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
one bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
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Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseone bound, a prisoner
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 6 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
δέσμιος is built from this root:
A prisoner's chains do not tell the whole moral story. Barabbas is released while Jesus, declared without guilt by the Gospel's wider witness, is condemned through political fear and crowd pressure. In Philippi, unlawful prisoners become worshipers whose songs reach other captives; confinement cannot silence testimony. Paul does not pretend Rome lacks power over his body, yet he names himself Christ's prisoner because Jesus' commission gives the chains their deepest meaning.
Timothy is therefore called away from shame and toward costly solidarity. Churches should care for prisoners without assuming innocence, confront unlawful detention, support persecuted believers, and refuse a success theology that treats suffering as gospel failure. Δέσμιος identifies a bound person whose cause and master must still be discerned.
Matt.27.15
Δέσμιος is an adjective or substantive related to bonds and denotes one bound or imprisoned. A genitive may identify the one to whom the prisoner belongs or the cause interpreted as governing captivity.
Joseph and prophets suffer confinement, kings release or retain prisoners, Jesus identifies with captives, and apostles bear chains while insisting God's word is not bound.