What does δεσμοφύλαξ (desmophýlax) mean in the Bible?
δεσμοφύλαξ (desmophýlax): Compound term specifically denoting the official custodian responsible for guarding imprisoned persons and maintaining security
Greek · G1200
δεσμοφύλαξ
A jailer (as guarding the prisoners)
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δεσμοφύλαξG1200
Pronunciationdesmophýlax
What does δεσμοφύλαξ (desmophýlax) mean in the Bible?
δεσμοφύλαξ (desmophýlax): Compound term specifically denoting the official custodian responsible for guarding imprisoned persons and maintaining security
Full entry for δεσμοφύλαξ (G1200) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1200?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include jailer (3).
Where does δεσμοφύλαξ (desmophýlax) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 16:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itjailer3×Acts 16:23, Acts 16:27, Acts 16:36
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 16:23
Aligned rows3
Books represented1
Acts3
Source forms
δεσμοφύλαξ2xdesmophylaxActs 16:27, Acts 16:36
δεσμοφύλακι1xdesmophylakiActs 16:23
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular2xActs 16:27, Acts 16:36
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular1xActs 16:23
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Compound term specifically denoting the official custodian responsible for guarding imprisoned persons and maintaining security
Strong'sG1200
Lexical occurrences3 versesGreek text appearances3 timesWord forms2 forms3 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a jailer (as guarding the prisoners)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 16:23Noun Dative Singular Masculine
δεσμοφύλακιdesmofulaki
a keeper of a prison, a jailer
Read verseActs 16:27Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
δεσμοφύλαξ,desmofulax
a keeper of a prison, a jailer
Read verseActs 16:36Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
δεσμοφύλαξdesmofulax
a keeper of a prison, a jailer
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 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.
Form patterns2Aligned forms3Case patternNominative (2)Number patternSingular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · MasculineActs 16:27 · Acts 16:362×
Dative · Singular · MasculineActs 16:231×
Word Origins
δεσμοφύλαξ is built from these roots: