Word Summary
kleis: a key
Original Word: κλεῖςTransliteration: kleis
Phonetic Spelling: (klice)
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Short Definition: a key
Meaning: a key
Strong's Concordance
key.
From kleio; a key (as shutting a lock), literally or figuratively -- key.
see GREEK kleio
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2807: κλείςκλείς,
κλειδός, accusative
κλεῖδα and
κλεῖν (
Luke 11:52;
Revelation 3:7), accusative plural
κλεῖδας and
κλείς (
Matthew 16:19;
Revelation 1:18; cf. Kühner, § 130, i., p. 357;
Winers Grammar, 65 (63), cf.
Buttmann, 24 (22); (
WH's Appendix, p. 157)),
ἡ (from
Homer down);
a key. Since the keeper of the keys has the power to open and to shut, the word
κλείς is figuratively used in the N. T. to denote power and authority of various kinds (cf.
B. D., under the word
) viz. τοῦ φρέατος, to open or unlock the pit, Revelation 9:1, cf. ; τῆς ἀβύσσου, to shut, Revelation 20:1, cf. ; τοῦ θανάτου καί τοῦ ᾅδου, the power to bring back into life from Hades and to leave there, Revelation 1:18; τῆς γνώσεως, the ability and opportunity to obtain knowledge, Luke 11:52; τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν (see βασιλεία, 3 e., p. 97b under the end), Matthew 16:19; τοῦ Δαυίδ, the power of David (who is a type of the Messiah, the second David), i. e. of receiving into the Messiah's kingdom and of excluding from it, Revelation 3:7 (apparently after Isaiah 22:22, where ἡ κλείς οἴκου Δαυίδ is given to the steward of the royal palace).