To keep
τηρέωStrong’s G5083tēreō
Appears in 66 verses of the New Testament
In short
Tēreō is the Greek word usually translated “keep”, “keeping” and “do keep”. It appears in 66 verses of the New Testament.
“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”
Meaning
Usually translated “keep”, “keeping” and “do keep”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- to keep 11
- keeping 8
- do keep 5
- have kept 2
- shall keep 2
- to be kept 2
- will keep 2
- may keep 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- John 16
- Revelation 10
- Acts 9
- 1 John 7
- Matthew 6
- 2 Peter 4
15 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- 1 Timothy 6:14In contextThat thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
- 2 Peter 2:4In contextFor if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- 2 Peter 2:9In contextThe Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
- 2 Peter 2:17In contextThese are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
- 2 Peter 3:7In contextBut the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
- Jude 1:1In contextJude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
All 66 verses, by book
Greek dictionary
τηρέω tēreō · to keep
τηρέω, -ῶ [in LXX for שָׁמַר, נָצַר, etc. ;] 1. to watch over, guard, keep, preserve: Mat.27:36, Act.16:23, al.; ἑαυτόν, 2Co.11:9, 1Ti.5:22, Jas.1:27, Ju 21; before εἰς, Jhn.12:7, Act.25:21, 1Pe.1:4, 2Pe.2:4 2:9 3:7, Ju 6; ἐν, Jhn.17:11-12, Ju 21; ἐκ, Jhn.17:15, Rev.3:10; τ. πίστιν, 2Ti.4:7, Rev.14:12; τ. ἑνότητα τ. πνεύματος, Eph.4:3. …
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “keep” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
KEEP, verb transitive
preterit tense and participle passive kept. [Latin habeo, and capio.]
- To hold; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose or part with; as, to keep a house or a farm; to keep any thing in the memory, mind or heart.
- To have in custody for security or preservation.
- To preserve; to retain.
- To preserve from falling or from danger; to protect; to guard or sustain.“And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee” Genesis 28:15
All definitions and other forms of “keep”
- To hold or restrain from departure; to detain.
- To tend; to have the care of.“And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it” Genesis 2:15
- To tend; to feed; to pasture; as, to keep a flock of sheep or a herd of cattle in a yard or in a field.
- To preserve in any tenor or state. keep a stiff rein.
- To regard; to attend to.
- To hold in any state; as, to keep in order.
- To continue any state, course or action; as, to keep silence; to keep the same road or the same pace; to keep reading or talking; to keep a given distance.
- To practice; to do or perform; to obey; to observe in practice; not to neglect or violate; as, to keep the laws, statutes or commandments of God.
- To fulfill; to perform; as, to keep one's word, promise or covenant.
- To practice; to use habitually; as, to keep bad hours.
- To copy carefully.
- To observe or solemnize.
- To board; to maintain; to supply with necessaries of life.
- To have in the house; to entertain; as, to keep lodgers.
- To maintain; not to intermit; as, to keep watch or guard.
- To hold in one's own bosom; to confine to one's own knowledge; not to disclose or communicate to others; not to betray; as, to keep a secret; to keep one's own counsel.
- To have in pay; as, to keep a servant.“I will keep nothing back from you” Jeremiah 42:4
- To restrain;; to prevent from advancing.“KEEP back thy servant also from presumptuous sins” Psalms 19:13
- To reserve; to withhold; not to deliver. Acts 5:3
- To conceal; not to tell or disclose.
- To restrain; to curb.
- To maintain; to continue; to hinder from ceasing.
- To remain in the house; to be confined.
KEEP, verb intransitive
To remain in any state; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out of reach.
- To last; to endure; not to perish or be impaired.
- To lodge; to dwell; to reside for a time.
KEEP, noun
Custody; guard. [Little used.]
- Colloquially, case; condition; as in good keep
- Guardianship; restraint. [Little used.]
- A place of confinement; in old castles, the dungeon.
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.