τηρέω tēreō

Greek word for “to keep” · Strong’s G5083 · used 70 times in 64 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

τηρέω, -ῶ; 1. to watch over, guard, keep, preserve:, al.;

Senses in the lexicon

• to keep: observe (37)
• to keep: protect (17)
• to keep: guard (16)

How it is translated

Glosses given for tēreō in context, with how often each is used:

• keeping 11
• keep 10
• kept 7
• have kept 6
• do keep 5
• will keep 5
• may keep 5
• shall keep 4
• does keep 2
• being kept 2
• has been reserved 2
• do observe 1

Where it is used

Also in 3 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

John 14 (4), John 17 (4), Jude 1 (4), John 8 (3), 2 Peter 2 (3), 1 John 2 (3), Revelation 3 (3), Matthew 27 (2), Matthew 28 (2), John 15 (2)

Forms

• τηρεῖν 7
• τηρῶν 6
• τηρήσῃ 4
• τηροῦντες 4
• τηρεῖ 3
• ἐτήρουν 3
• τηρεῖσθαι 3
• τήρησον 2
• τετήρηκα 2
• τηρῶμεν 2

Words used with it

Words that share verses with tēreō more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• ἐντολή entolē “commandment” 12
• λόγος logos “word” 14
• ζόφος zophos “darkness” 4
• ἐάν ean “if” 9
• γινώσκω ginōskō “to know” 7
• ἑαυτοῦ heautou “themself” 7
• πατήρ patēr “father” 7
• ἀγαπάω agapaō “to love” 5
• κρίσις krisis “judgment” 4
• τε te “and/both” 5
• δίδωμι didōmi “to give” 6
• αἰών aiōn “an age” 4

Key verses

The verses using tēreō that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Matthew 28:20 — Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
• John 14:21 — He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will…
• John 17:6 — I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
• John 17:11 — And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that…
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 — And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus…
• 2 Timothy 4:7 — I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
• 2 Peter 2:4 — For 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 2:9 — The 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 3:7 — But 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.
• 1 John 3:22 — And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
• Jude 1:1 — Jude, 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:
• Revelation 3:10 — Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell…

See all 64 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.