deō · bind, tie

What it means

deō (δέω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “bind, tie”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To fasten someone or something with ropes.
2. To forbid or bind: "whatever you bind on earth".
3. Something that has to be done.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To bind, to tie; to forbid. In this edition's word list the impersonal forms δεῖ, “it is necessary, one must” are also placed here.

• Binding a person or an animal Mark 6:17Mark 11:2
• “Whatever you bind on earth” Matthew 16:19
• Lazarus comes out bound John 11:44
• “He must … suffer”; “Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer” Matthew 16:21Luke 24:26
• “{We} must obey God” Acts 5:29John 3:7

How we translate it

“Must” 62 times, “ought” 18, “Should” 4, “It is necessary” 3, “necessary” 3… (these are the forms of δεῖ), and “bound” 26, “bind” 6, “tied” 4 (the verb to bind). δεῖ is translated “must”, “ought” or “it is necessary”, whichever sounds natural in the sentence.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• must ×62
• bound ×26
• ought ×18
• bind ×6
• Should ×4
• had ×4
• tied ×4
• It is necessary ×3
• chains ×3
• necessary ×3
• others ×7

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×17
• Mark×13
• Luke×21
• John×14
• Acts×33
• Romans×4
• 1 Corinthians×6
• 2 Corinthians×4
• Ephesians×1
• Colossians×3
• 1 Thessalonians×1
• 2 Thessalonians×1
• 1 Timothy×3
• 2 Timothy×3
• Titus×3
• Hebrews×3
• 2 Peter×1
• Revelation×9

• Matthew 12:29

  Or how can anyone enter into the strong man’s house and carry off his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

• Matthew 13:30

  Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the darnel first and tie it in bundles to burn it, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

• Matthew 14:3

  For Herod, having seized John, bound him and put him away in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother,

• Matthew 16:19

  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

• Matthew 16:21

  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go away to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

• Matthew 17:10

  And the disciples asked him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

• Matthew 18:18

  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.

• Matthew 18:33

  Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I also had mercy on you?’

• Matthew 21:2

  saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.

• Matthew 22:13

  Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind his feet and hands and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

• Matthew 23:23

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe the mint and the dill and the cumin, and you have left aside the weightier things of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without leaving aside those.

• Matthew 24:6

  And you will hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for it must happen, but the end is not yet.

• Matthew 25:27

  Then you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and when I came I would have received back what is mine with interest.

• Matthew 26:54

  How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”

• Matthew 27:2

  And they bound him and led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

• Mark 3:27

  But no one can enter into the strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

• Mark 5:3

  He had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him any longer, not even with a chain,

• Mark 5:4

  because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

• Mark 6:17

  For Herod himself had sent and seized John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her.

• Mark 8:31

  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise.

• Mark 9:11

  And they were asking him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

• Mark 11:2

  and says to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once, as you enter into it, you will find a colt tied, on which no person has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it.

• Mark 11:4

  And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untie it.

• Mark 13:7

  And when you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be alarmed; this must happen, but the end is not yet.

• Mark 13:10

  And first the good news must be proclaimed to all the nations.

• Mark 13:14

  But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those in Judea flee to the mountains;

• Mark 15:1

  And at once, early in the morning, the high priests, having held a council with the elders and scribes and the whole council, bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

• Mark 15:7

  And there was the man called Barabbas, bound with the rebels who in the uprising had committed murder.

• Luke 2:49

  And he said to them, “Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father?”

• Luke 4:43

  But he said to them, “I must bring the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because for this purpose I was sent.”

• Luke 8:38

  But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging him to be with him; but he sent him away, saying,

• Luke 9:22

  saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

• Luke 11:42

  But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every garden herb, and you pass over justice and the love of God; but these you ought to have done, and not neglected those.

• Luke 12:12

  for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you must say.”

• Luke 13:14

  But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had cured her on the Sabbath, answered and was saying to the crowd, “There are six days in which one must work; so come on them and be cured, and not on the day of the Sabbath.”

• Luke 13:16

  And this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound, look, for eighteen years, ought she not to be released from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?”

• Luke 13:33

  Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.

• Luke 15:32

  But it was necessary to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life, and was lost and has been found.’”

• Luke 17:25

  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

• Luke 18:1

  And he was telling them a parable about the need for them to pray always and not lose heart,

And 100 more times.