כֶּ֫לֶא (ke.le)
ke.le
prison
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 10 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Definition
Definition
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word kele refers to a place of confinement, whether a dungeon, a cell, or a guarded enclosure. In the biblical narrative, it often appears as a setting for injustice, such as when prophets like Jeremiah were imprisoned for speaking truth, or when kings like Jehoiachin endured long years in captivity. It represents the physical reality of being held against one’s will, cut off from freedom and community.
Yet this word also carries a deeper spiritual resonance. In Isaiah 42:7, God describes His mission as bringing prisoners out of the dungeon and those in darkness into the light. This suggests that confinement is not always the final state. For believers, it serves as a reminder that human circumstances can change, and that divine intervention often meets us in our most restricted moments.
When you feel trapped by anxiety, guilt, or difficult relationships, this word invites you to look beyond your immediate surroundings. It acknowledges the pain of restriction while pointing toward the hope of release. You are not defined by the walls around you, but by the One who holds the keys to freedom and restoration.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 10 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- <the>/ imprisonment4×
- imprisonment3×
- imprisonment/ his2×
- imprisonment<s>1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- כֶּֽלֶא\׃2×
- כִלְא֑/וֹ2×
- הַ/כֶּֽלֶא\׃2×
- הַ/כֶּ֑לֶא2×
- כֶּ֖לֶא1×
- כְלָאִ֖ים1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 42:7
to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
This verse defines God’s redemptive mission as actively freeing those held in prison, linking physical confinement with spiritual liberation.
-
Jeremiah 37:15
The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
Here the word highlights the cost of prophetic truth-telling, showing how kele was used to silence those who spoke against powerful leaders.
-
II Kings 25:27
In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison,
This occurrence marks a turning point in Jehoiachin’s life, where release from prison signifies a shift from judgment to unexpected grace.