'Captive' in the Bible

they looted all their wealth, and [took captive] all their children and their wives, even everything that was in the houses.

Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

“Nevertheless the Kenites will be consumed.How long will Asshur (Assyria) keep you (Israel) captive?”

The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their children; and all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their property they took as spoil [of war].

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you lead them away captive,

and they had taken captive the women [and all] who were there, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off [to be used as slaves] and went on their way.

When David and his men came to the town, it was burned, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.

Now David’s two wives had been captured, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy’s land, [whether] far away or near;

if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’

if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and they pray to You toward their land [of Israel] which You gave to their fathers, the city [of Jerusalem] which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name and Presence;

and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before their captors, that they will be merciful to them

The Arameans (Syrians) had gone out in bands [as raiders] and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife [as a servant].

Elisha answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Serve them bread and water, so that they may eat and drink, and go back to their master [King Ben-hadad].”

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of [the tribe of] Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

So the king of Assyria listened to him; and he went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried its people away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin [king of Aram] to death.

Nebuchadnezzar led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also he took the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land [including Ezekiel] as exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon.

And the king of Babylon brought as exiles to Babylon all the brave men, seven thousand [of them], and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand [of them], all strong and fit for war.

The sons (descendants) of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) the prisoner: Shealtiel his son,

Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a leader of the tribe of Reuben.

So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness [to God].

“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far away or near,

if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’;

And the sons of Israel led away captive 200,000 of their kinsmen [of Judah]—women, sons, and daughters—and they also took a great quantity of spoil from them and brought it to Samaria.

Now therefore, hear me and return the captives whom you have captured from your brothers (fellow descendants of Israel, i.e. Jacob), for the burning anger of the Lord is against you.”

“There the prisoners rest together;They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.

“He makes nations great, and He destroys them;He enlarges nations, and leads them away [captive].

You have ascended on high, You have led away captive Your captives;You have received gifts among men,Even from the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there.

He also made them objects of compassionAmong those who had carried them away captive.

For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads;I, the king, am held captive by your tresses.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).

The peoples will take them along and bring them to their own place (Judea), and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take captive those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors.

All your leaders have fled together [with your king],And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];All of you who were found were taken captive together,Though they had fled far away.

The [captive] exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his food be lacking.

Shake yourself from the dust, arise,O captive Jerusalem;Rid yourself of the chains around your neck,O captive Daughter of Zion.

“Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave by birth?Why has he become a captive and a prey?

“The wise men are shamed,They are dismayed and caught.Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the Lord,And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?

But if you will not listen and obey,My soul will weep in secret for your pride;My eyes will weep bitterlyAnd flow with tears,Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,And there is no one to open them;All Judah has been carried into exile,Completely carried away into exile.

For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.

he will die in the place where they led him captive and not see this land again.

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm and fulfill your words which you have prophesied to bring back the articles of the Lord’s house and all the captives, from Babylon to this place.

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders in exile and to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Seek peace and well-being for the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its peace (well-being) you will have peace.’

I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Then Nebuzaradan the [chief executioner and] captain of the bodyguard took the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted and surrendered to him, and the rest of the [so-called better class of] people who were left and carried them into exile in Babylon.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken as exiles to Babylon.

Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king’s daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites.

So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah.

But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they may [either] put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”

And [through him] I will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them (Egyptian idols) captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will go away from there safely.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“The children of Israel are oppressed,And the children of Judah as well;And all who took them captive have held them tightly,They have refused to let them go.

“I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in BabylonAnd take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere].The nations will no longer flow to him.Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, those who were left in the city [at the time it was captured], along with those who deserted to join the king of Babylon [during the siege] and the rest of the artisans.

Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its own land.

This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive and exiled: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, [he took captive] 832 persons from Jerusalem;

in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the [Babylonian] guard took captive 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.

Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be exiled, how I have been broken by their lewdness and their adulterous hearts which have turned away from Me, and by their eyes which lust after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed, for all their repulsive acts.

It came about in the sixth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin], on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I sat in my house [near Babylon] with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there.

In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

I will also put fear into the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction [and captivity] among the nations, into countries which you have not known.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Gaza [in Philistia] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because [as slave traders] they took captive the entire [Jewish] population [of defenseless Judean border villages, of which none was spared]And deported them to Edom [for the slave trade].

Therefore, they will now go into exile with the first of the captives,And the cultic revelry and banqueting of those who lounge around [on their luxurious couches] will pass away.

For in this way Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’”

“On the day that [Jerusalem was destroyed] you stood aloof [from your brother Jacob]—On the day that strangers took his forces captive and carried off his wealth,And foreigners entered his gatesAnd cast lots for Jerusalem [dividing the city for plunder]—You too were like one of them [collaborating with the enemy].

And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Even the Lord, who [now and ever] has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is this not a log snatched and rescued from the fire?”

But now we have been released from the Law and its penalty, having died [through Christ] to that by which we were held captive, so that we serve [God] in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter [of the Law].

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,

Therefore it says,“When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive,And He bestowed gifts on men.”

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.

and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

I appeal to you for my [own spiritual] child Onesimus, whom I have fathered [in the faith] while a captive in these chains.