1. key (instrument of authority/access) — A key as an instrument for locking and unlocking, used both literally and metaphorically for authority and access in the NT. All occurrences (6x) in Revelation and Luke refer to keys of Death, Hades, the Abyss, the kingdom of heaven, and the key of David. Multilingual evidence is uniform: spa 'llave/llaves', hin 'kunji/chabi' (both meaning key), arb 'miftah/mafatih' (key/keys), kor '열쇠' (yeolsoe), swa 'ufunguo/funguo'. The singular-plural split (N-AFS/N-NFS vs N-AFP) is purely inflectional with no semantic distinction; all refer to the same concept of a key as symbol of authority and control over access. 6×
AR["مَفاتيحَ","مَفَاتِيحَ","مِفْتاحَ","مِفْتاحُ","مِفْتَاحُ"]·ben["চাবি","চাবিগুলি"]·DE["schliessen","κλεῖδα","κλεῖδας"]·EN["key","keys"]·FR["clef"]·heb["מַפְתְּחוֹת","מַפְתֵּחַ"]·HI["कुंजियां","कुंजी","चअबियअन","चाबी"]·ID["kunci","kunci-kunci"]·IT["chiave","klein","kleis"]·jav["kunci"]·KO["열쇠-를","열쇠가","열쇠들-을","열쇠들을","열쇠를"]·PT["chave","chaves"]·RU["ключ","ключи"]·ES["llave","llaves"]·SW["funguo","ufunguo"]·TR["-o","anahtar","anahtarlarını","anahtarını"]·urd["چابیاں","کنجی","کنجیاں","کُنجی"]
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κλείς, ἡ, genitive κλειδός; Attic dialectaccusative κλεῖν, see.below 1.3, 111, later κλεῖδα Refs 5th c.BC+:—Ionic dialect κληΐς [ῑ], κληῗδος, κληῗδα, etc. Refs 8th c.BC+:—Doric dialect κλᾱΐς, κλαΐδος [ῐ] Refs 5th c.BC+; accusative κλαῖδα or κλᾷδα Refs 3rd c.BC+; compare κλᾴξ:—Aeolic dialect κλᾶϊς (κλαῖς codex)· μοχλός, Refs 5th c.AD+; κλάϊς accusative κλάϊν Refs 5th c.AD+:—old Attic dialect κλῄς,…