G161 — αἰχμαλωσία (aichmalōsia)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G161
Original: αἰχμαλωσία
Transliteration: aichmalōsia
Pronunciation: aheekh-mal-o-see'-ah
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: From αἰχμάλωτος (aichmalōtos, G164) — captive, prisoner of war; ultimately from αἰχμή (aichmē, "spear") + ἁλίσκομαι (haliskomai, "to be captured")
Occurrences: 3 tokens in 2 unique verses (2 books)
First Occurrence: Eph 4:8 — "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Captivity. From αἰχμάλωτος (G164). The state of being a prisoner of war; captivity as an abstract condition or collective body of captives.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 55.005 — Prisoners of War - Related words in 55.005: αἰχμαλωτεύω (aichmalōteuō, G162), αἰχμαλωτίζω (aichmalōtizō, G163), αἰχμάλωτος (aichmalōtos, G164)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [055] Military Activities

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
captive	1	50%
captivity	1	50%
into captivity	1	50%

Note: Rev 13:10 contains two occurrences with different translations ("into captivity" and "captivity"), hence percentages sum to >100%.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Ephesians	1	0.6
Revelation	1	0.2

Only 2 verses total. Confined to Pauline and apocalyptic literature in the NT. The word is far more common in the LXX (translating multiple Hebrew captivity terms), making its NT rarity notable.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Captivity Conquered — Messianic Victory¶

Eph 4:8 — "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity (aichmalōsian) captive, and gave gifts unto men."

Quoting Psalm 68:18, Paul depicts Christ's ascension as a triumphal procession. "Captivity" here is personified or treated as an abstract collective — captivity itself is taken captive. The word functions as the object of a cognate verb (aichmalōteuō, G162), creating an intensifying figure: "he captured captivity."

2. Captivity as Retributive Consequence¶

Rev 13:10 — "He that leadeth into captivity (aichmalōsian) shall go into captivity (aichmalōsian): he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."

Both tokens occur in this verse. The word describes captivity as a form of divine retribution — those who impose captivity on others will themselves be subjected to it. The lex talionis pattern parallels the sword statement in the same verse.

Morphological Forms (NT)¶

All 3 tokens appear as αἰχμαλωσίαν — accusative singular feminine [N-ASF]. No nominative, genitive, or dative forms are attested in the NT.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
αἰχμαλωτεύω (aichmalōteuō)	G162	1x	"led captivity captive" — cognate verb + noun in Eph 4:8
μάχαιρα (machaira)	G3162	1x	"captivity... sword" — paired instruments of war in Rev 13:10
ὑπομονή (hypomonē)	G5281	1x	"Here is the patience" — captivity as context for endurance
πίστις (pistis)	G4102	1x	"the faith of the saints" — captivity as context for faith
ὕψος (hypsos)	G5311	1x	"ascended up on high" — captivity led in triumphal ascent
δόμα (doma)	G1390	1x	"gave gifts" — captivity conquered yields gifts to people

With only 2 verses, all collocations are 1x. The most structurally significant is the cognate pairing with G162 in Eph 4:8.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G164 αἰχμάλωτος (aichmalōtos) — adjective/noun: captive, prisoner of war (Luke 4:18 only)
G162 αἰχμαλωτεύω (aichmalōteuō) — verb: to lead captive, capture (Eph 4:8, 2 Tim 3:6)
G163 αἰχμαλωτίζω (aichmalōtizō) — verb: to take captive, bring into captivity (Luke 21:24, Rom 7:23, 2 Cor 10:5, 2 Tim 3:6)

All four words share the root αἰχμ- (spear/war). G161 is the abstract noun (the state of captivity), G164 is the adjective/noun (the captive person), and G162/G163 are near-synonymous verbs (to make captive).

Synonyms¶

No close non-cognate synonyms were identified by search_relationships.py. The nearest lexical parallels are the cognate captivity terms already listed in the word family (G162-G164).

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were identified by search_relationships.py.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
αἰχμαλωτεύω (aichmalōteuō)	G162	"captive" / "captivity"	G162 is the verb (to capture); G161 is the noun (the state/condition)
αἰχμαλωτίζω (aichmalōtizō)	G163	"captivity" / "captive"	G163 is a verb with broader metaphorical use (Rom 7:23 — sin capturing the mind); G161 stays concrete/military
ζωγρέω (zōgreō)	G2221	"taken captive"	G2221 means "to take alive" — capture with intent to preserve life (Luke 5:10, 2 Tim 2:26); G161 is the abstract state, not the act

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
שְׁבִי (shᵉbiy)	H7628	31	26.0
שְׁבוּת (shᵉbuwth)	H7622	15	20.4
גּוֹלָה (gowlah)	H1473	17	19.6
שִׁבְיָה (shibyah)	H7633	9	17.7
גָּלוּת (galuwth)	H1546	7	14.5
שָׁבָה (shabah)	H7617	7	11.2

The LXX uses αἰχμαλωσία primarily to translate the שׁבי/שׁבה word family (captivity/exile from שָׁבָה "to carry away") and the גלה word family (exile/deportation). H7628 (shᵉbiy) is the dominant Hebrew equivalent by both raw count and PMI score.

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 55.005 — Prisoners of War)¶

Word	Strong's	Gloss	Key Difference
αἰχμαλωτεύω	G162	to make captive	Verb — the act of capturing
αἰχμαλωτίζω	G163	to make captive	Verb — broader semantic range including metaphorical captivity
αἰχμάλωτος	G164	captive, prisoner of war	Adjective/noun — the person held captive, not the state