τήρ-ησις G5084
custody, keeping, imprisonment; a place or state of being guarded or held
The term carries both concrete and abstract senses: physical custody (a secure place like prison) and the act of keeping or guarding something. In secular Greek, it could mean safe-keeping of possessions, preservation of health, or observance of laws. The New Testament uses it primarily for literal imprisonment, though 1 Corinthians 7:19 extends it to the keeping or observance of God's commandments, showing how physical restraint and spiritual discipline share the same semantic root.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Two occurrences describe physical imprisonment: Acts 4:3 and 5:18 record the apostles being put in "custody" by the religious authorities in Jerusalem, temporary detention designed to intimidate and control. In striking contrast, 1 Corinthians 7:19 uses the term for "keeping" God's commandments—not imprisonment but devoted observance. The Spanish glosses (guardar, prisión), French prison, and German Bewahrung capture both the custodial location and the act of keeping. The semantic bridge between physical restraint and spiritual obedience reveals the flexibility of this custody/keeping terminology. 3×
AR["حِرَاسَةٍ", "حِفْظُ"]·ben["পালন", "হেফাজত"]·DE["Bewahrung", "τήρησιν", "τηρήσει"]·EN["custody", "keeping"]·FR["prison"]·heb["מִשְׁמָר", "שְׁמִירַת"]·HI["कल", "पालन"]·ID["pemeliharaan", "tahanan"]·IT["custodia"]·jav["nuhoni", "pakunjaran", "tahanan"]·KO["감시-에", "로", "지킴"]·PT["observância", "prisão"]·RU["соблюдение", "стражу"]·ES["guardar", "prisión"]·SW["kuzishika", "ulinzi"]·TR["-e", "tutma", "tutukluluğa"]·urd["حراست", "حوالات", "پابندی"]
Related Senses
H1129 1. Qal: build, construct (316×)H2691a 1. court, courtyard, enclosure (142×)G4864 1. synagogue, place of Jewish assembly (56×)G5438 1. prison, place of confinement (41×)H4013 1. fortress, stronghold (37×)H0875 1. well, cistern (dug water source) (35×)H0352b 1. pillar or jamb of gateway (32×)H2474 1. window, opening in wall (32×)H1406 1. roof / rooftop (31×)H4609b 1. steps, stairs, stairway (31×)H1129 2. Nifal: be built, be established (30×)H0361 1. portico, porch (architectural structure) (27×)H1129 3. Qal participle: builder (27×)H1219 1. fortified, inaccessible (25×)H4581 1. fortress, stronghold (25×)H3805 1. capital of a pillar (24×)H4350 1. stand, base, pedestal (24×)H0759 1. palace, royal residence (21×)H4692 1. siege, besiegement (20×)G3618 1. build or construct physically (19×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
τήρ-ησις, εως, ἡ, watching, safe-keeping, guarding, ἀφύλακτος ἡ τ. Refs 5th c.BC+; τῆς οἰκίας Refs 3rd c.AD+; ἀξιώματος Refs 5th c.BC+; [πλούτου] Refs 1st c.BC+; preservation, e.g. of health, Refs 2nd c.AD+; observance, νόμων, ἐντολῶν, LXX+NT+2nd c.BC+ __2 vigilance, Refs 5th c.BC+ __3 means of keeping or guarding, τὰς λιθοτομίας.., ἀσφαλεστάτην τ. the quarries.., the most secure place of custody, NT+5th c.BC+ __II observing, observation, τῶν καθόλου συμβαινόντων (as Empiric term) Refs 2nd c.AD+