ἀποκλείω
I shut
Definition
The verb ἀποκλείω means 'to shut out,' 'to close off,' or 'to lock.' It carries the sense of decisively closing a door or gate, often with the implication of preventing entry or exit. In its single New Testament occurrence in Luke 13:25, it describes the master of the house shutting the door, leaving some outside. This action is final and authoritative. While not used elsewhere in the New Testament, the root idea of shutting or closing is consistent.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the New Testament, in Luke 13:25. It appears in Jesus's parable about the narrow door, where the master of the house rises and 'shuts the door' (ἀποκλείσῃ τὴν θύραν). The context is eschatological, describing the finality of judgment when the opportunity for entry into the kingdom is closed. The usage is exclusively about a decisive, authoritative act of closure.
Etymology
Derived from the preposition ἀπό (apo), meaning 'away from,' and the verb κλείω (kleiō, G2808), meaning 'to shut' or 'to close.' The compound form intensifies the meaning to 'shut away from' or 'shut out.' It is related to other 'closing' words like κλείω and συγκλείω (synkleiō, G4788, 'to shut up together').
Semantic Range
This word is theologically significant as it illustrates the finality of divine judgment. In Luke 13:25, the shut door represents the end of the period of grace and opportunity for salvation. It underscores the urgency of responding to Christ's call before it is too late, a key theme in Jesus's teaching on the kingdom. Understanding this decisive closure enriches the reading of parables about readiness and exclusion.
In the ancient Near Eastern context, a securely shut door to a home or city gate provided vital protection and represented absolute privacy or exclusion. Once the master shut the door for the night, latecomers would not be admitted—a familiar cultural reality that Jesus uses to powerfully illustrate a spiritual truth about the finality of God's judgment.
κλείω (kleiō, G2808) — the simpler base verb meaning 'to shut' or 'close.' συγκλείω (synkleiō, G4788) — 'to shut up together' or 'enclose,' often used in a legal or confining sense (e.g., Galatians 3:22).
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, a concise public-domain resource suitable for introductory word study. Brief glosses are supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). For advanced research, standard scholarly references include BDAG (Danker, 3rd ed.) and LSJ.
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