noun · masculine
desmios
Strong’sG1198
one bound, a prisoner
stem desmi-16 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books6 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
δέσμιος describes something in a state of binding, or someone who has been bound.
In one sense the word means binding — the act or quality of binding, including a metaphorical use for being enchained as if by a spell 13.
More commonly it means bound, captive — someone held in bonds, a prisoner 1234. This is the sense found throughout the New Testament, where it is used as a substantive for "a prisoner," including in phrases describing someone as a prisoner belonging to Christ or a prisoner in the Lord 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
δέσμιος, -ον (also -α, -ον;
< δεσμός), [in LXX for אסר;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1198 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddes'-mee-os
a captive (as bound)
Fromfrom G1199;
King Jamesin bonds, prisoner.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
binding: metaphorically, binding as with a spell, enchaining, with genitive, ὕμνος ἐξ Ἐρινύων δ. φρενῶν Refs 4th c.BC+
II passive, bound, captive, Refs 5th c.BC+; on leash, [κύων] probably in Refs; δ. φυγών, ={ἐκ δεσμῶν}, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | desmios7×δέσμιος | desmiois1×δέσμιοι |
| object accusative | desmion5×δέσμιον | desmioin1×δεσμίους |
| direct address vocative | desmior | desmioir |
| of, belonging to genitive | desmiou | desmioiu1×δεσμίων |
| to, for dative | desmio | desmioi1×δεσμίοις |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
desmio is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
desmios“prisoner”subjectnominative singular7×
Acts 23:18… pros ton chiliarchon kai fēatō; Tos desmios Paulos proskalerantos min erōtata houton ton …… the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner sent and asked me to bring …
Acts 25:14“prisoner”… Andros tinos atō kataleiporēntos hupo Fēlikou desmios,… the king: “There is a certain man whom Felix left in prison.
Acts 28:17… lao ē tei ethei tei patrōei desmios ek Hierosolumeiu paradōima eis tain cheirain …… of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to …
Ephesians 3:1Houteu charin mis Paulos tos desmios tou Christou Iēsu huper vu teiu …For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake …
Ephesians 4:1Parakalamō oun vin mis tos desmios en kurio axiōs peripatara tau klēsiau …As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge …
Philemon 1:1Paulos desmios Christou Iēsu kai Timotheos tos adelfos …Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our …
Philemon 1:9… hōs Paulos presbutos nuni de kai desmios Christou Iēsu… Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.
desmion“prisoner”objectaccusative singular5×
Matthew 27:15… tos hēgemonos apoluarō henon to ochlo desmion hon thelale.… to release to the crowd a prisoner of their choosing.
Matthew 27:16echale de tote desmion episēmon legorōnton Iēsun Barabbon.… time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.
Mark 15:6Kata de heortan apoluate autoi henon desmion hon paraitole.… to release to the people a prisoner of their choosing.
Acts 25:27alogem gar mi dokatō pemparōnton desmion mē kai tain kata autou aitiain …… to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”
2 Timothy 1:8… tou kuriou nu mēde min ton desmion autou, alla sunkakopathasar te euangelie kata …… our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for …
desmiois“prisoners”subjectnominative plural1×
Acts 16:25… ton theon, epakroole de autoiu tois desmiois;… hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
desmioin“prisoners”objectaccusative plural1×
Acts 16:27… mellate heauton anairarō, nomizarōntos ekfeugarē toin desmioin.… to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.
desmioiu“prisoners”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Hebrews 13:3“prisoners”mimnēskovōr toiu desmioiu hōs sundorēntois, toiu kakouchorōntoiu hōs kai …Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if …
desmioi“in prison”to, fordative plural1×
Hebrews 10:34kai gar toi desmioi sumpathava, kai tan harpagan teiu huparcharōnteiu …You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of …