Key
κλείςStrong’s G2807kleis
Appears in 6 verses of the New Testament
In short
Kleis is the Greek word usually translated “key” and “keys”. It appears in 6 verses of the New Testament.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Meaning
Usually translated “key” and “keys”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- key 4
- keys 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Revelation 4
- Matthew 1
- Luke 1
3 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Luke 11:52Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
- Revelation 1:18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
- Revelation 3:7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
- Revelation 9:1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
- Revelation 20:1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Greek dictionary
κλείς kleis · key
κλείς, -δός Att.. accusative, κλεῖν, later -εῖδα, pl., κλεῖδες, -ας, contr., -εῖς, ἡ, [in LXX for מַפְתֵּחַ, Isa.22:22, al. ;] a key. Fig., τ. βασιλείας τ. οὐρανῶν, Mat.16:19; τ. γνώσεως, Luk.11:52; of David (cf. LXX, l.with), Rev.3:7; τ. θανάτου κ. τ. ᾅδου, Rev.1:18; τ. ἀβύσσαυ, Rev.20:1; τ. φρέατος τῆς ἀ., Rev.9:1.† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “key” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
KEY, noun
ke. In a general sense, a fastener; that which fastens; as a piece of wood in the frame of a building, or in a chain, etc.
- An instrument for shutting or opening a lock, by pushing the bolt one way or the other.
- An instrument by which something is screwed or turned; as the key of a watch or other chronometer.
- The stone which binds an arch. [See Key-stone.]
- In an organ or harpsichord, the key or finger key is a little lever or piece in the fore part by which the instrument is played on by the fingers.
All definitions and other forms of “key”
- In music, the key or key note, is the fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece is accommodated, and with which it usually begins and always ends.
- An index, or that which serves to explain a cypher.
- That which serves to explain any thing difficult to be understood.
- In the Romish church, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or the power of the pope, or the power of excommunicating or absolving.
- A ledge or lay of ricks near the surface of the water.
- The husk containing the seed of an ash.
KEY, noun
A bank or wharf built on the side of a river or harbor, for the convenience of loading and unloading ships, and securing them in their stations. Hence keys are furnished with posts, rings, cranes, capstans, etc. It is sometimes written quay.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.