Bible Dictionary: Liberty

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom; -- opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.

2. (n.) Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon locomotion.

3. (n.) A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted; leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave a court, and the like.

4. (n.) Privilege; exemption; franchise; immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant; as, the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.

5. (n.) The place within which certain immunities are enjoyed, or jurisdiction is exercised.

6. (n.) A certain amount of freedom; permission to go freely within certain limits; also, the place or limits within which such freedom is exercised; as, the liberties of a prison.

7. (n.) A privilege or license in violation of the laws of etiquette or propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty.

8. (n.) The power of choice; freedom from necessity; freedom from compulsion or constraint in willing.

9. (n.) A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the tongue of the horse.

10. (n.) Leave of absence; permission to go on shore.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

LIBERTY

lib'-er-ti (deror, rachabh; eleutheria): The opposite of servitude or bondage, hence, applicable to captives or slaves set free from oppression (thus deror, Leviticus 25:10 Isaiah 61:1, etc.). Morally, the power which enslaves is sin (John 8:34), and liberty consists, not simply in external freedom, or in possession of the formal power of choice, but in deliverance from the darkening of the mind, the tyranny of sinful lusts and the enthrallment of the will, induced by a morally corrupt state. In a positive respect, it consists in the possession of holiness, with the will and ability to do what is right and good. Such liberty is possible only in a renewed condition of soul, and cannot exist apart from godliness. Even under the Old Testament godly men could boast of a measure of such liberty (Psalm 119:45, rachabh, "room," "breadth"), but it is the gospel of Christ which bestows it in its fullness, in giving a full and clear knowledge of God, discovering the way of forgiveness, supplying the highest motives to holiness and giving the Holy Spirit to destroy the power of sin and to quicken to righteousness. In implanting a new life in the soul, the gospel lifts the believer out of the sphere of external law, and gives him a sense of freedom in his new filial relation to God. Hence, the New Testament expressions about "the glorious liberty" of God's children (Romans 8:21 the King James Version; compare Galatians 2:4; Galatians 5:13, etc.), about liberty as resulting from the possession of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17), about "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25). The instrument through which this liberty is imparted is "the truth" (John 8:32). Christians are earnestly warned not to presume upon, or abuse their liberty in Christ (Galatians 5:13 1 Peter 2:16).

James Orr

Greek

1657. eleutheria -- liberty, freedom
... liberty, freedom. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: eleutheria Phonetic
Spelling: (el-yoo-ther-ee'-ah) Short Definition: freedom, liberty ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1657.htm - 7k

1849. exousia -- power to act, authority
... to act, authority NASB Word Usage authorities (7), authority (65), charge (1), control
(1), domain (2), dominion (1), jurisdiction (1), liberty (1), power (11 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1849.htm - 8k

649. apostello -- to send, send away
... away (1), set (1). send forth, set at liberty. From apo and stello; set apart,
ie (by implication) to send out (properly, on a mission ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/649.htm - 10k

1658. eleutheros -- free, ie not a slave or not under restraint
... 3), free woman (4), freeman (1). free man, free woman, at liberty. Probably
from the alternate of erchomai; unrestrained (to go ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1658.htm - 7k

859. aphesis -- dismissal, release, fig. pardon
... deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission. From aphiemi; freedom; (figuratively)
pardon -- deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission. see GREEK aphiemi. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/859.htm - 7k

425. anesis -- a loosening, relaxation
... easing, liberty, rest. From aniemi; relaxation or (figuratively) relief -- eased,
liberty, rest. see GREEK aniemi. (anesin) -- 4 Occurrences. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/425.htm - 6k

3083. lutron -- a ransom
... 3083 () is used in the NT of the ultimate "liberty-price" -- the which (ransoms)
believers, freeing them from all slavery (bondage) to sin. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3083.htm - 7k

630. apoluo -- to set free, release
... or (figuratively) let die, pardon or (specially) divorce -- (let) depart, dismiss,
divorce, forgive, let go, loose, put (send) away, release, set at liberty. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/630.htm - 10k

2010. epitrepo -- to turn to, entrust, hence to permit
... give leave, let, permit. From epi and the base of trope; to turn over (transfer),
ie Allow -- give leave (liberty, license), let, permit, suffer. see GREEK epi. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2010.htm - 7k

Topical Bible Verses

John 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
Topicalbible.org

Galatians 5:13
For, brothers, you have been called to liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Topicalbible.org

1 Peter 2:16
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Topicalbible.org

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Topicalbible.org

Strong's Hebrew

1865. deror -- a flowing, free run, liberty
... 1864, 1865. deror. 1866 . a flowing, free run, liberty. Transliteration: deror
Phonetic Spelling: (der-ore') Short Definition: release. ... liberty, pure. ...
/hebrew/1865.htm - 6k

7342. rachab -- wide, broad
... Word Origin from rachab Definition wide, broad NASB Word Usage arrogant (2), broad
(7), broader (1), extensive (1), large* (2), liberty (1), proud (1 ...
/hebrew/7342.htm - 6k

2670. chophshi -- free
... free, liberty. From chaphash; exempt (from bondage, tax or care) -- free, liberty.
see HEBREW chaphash. 2669, 2670. chophshi. 2671 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/2670.htm - 6k

2668. chuphshah -- freedom
... Word Origin from chaphash Definition freedom NASB Word Usage freedom (1). freedom.
From chaphash; liberty (from slavery) -- freedom. see HEBREW chaphash. ...
/hebrew/2668.htm - 6k

3468. yesha -- deliverance, rescue, salvation, safety, welfare
... safety, salvation, saving. Or yeshai {yay'-shah}; from yasha'; liberty, deliverance,
prosperity -- safety, salvation, saving. see HEBREW yasha'. 3467, 3468. ...
/hebrew/3468.htm - 6k

4800. merchab -- a broad or roomy place
... From rachab; enlargement, either literally (an open space, usually in a good sense),
or figuratively (liberty) -- breadth, large place (room). ...
/hebrew/4800.htm - 6k

Library

The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut
The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut. <. The Development
of Religious Liberty in Connecticut M. Louise Greene, Ph. D. ...
/.../greene/the development of religious liberty in connecticut/

The Limits of Liberty
... V) THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY. ... Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other:
for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? 30. ...
/.../romans corinthians to ii corinthians chap v/the limits of liberty 2.htm

The Limits of Liberty
... ROMANS THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY. ... It is a hard saying for some of us. Is my liberty to
be restricted by the narrow scruples of 'strait-laced' Christians? Yes. ...
/.../maclaren/romans corinthians to ii corinthians chap v/the limits of liberty.htm

Spiritual Liberty
... Spiritual Liberty. A Sermon (No.9). ... "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty.""2 Corinthians 3:17. LIBERTY is the birthright of every man. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/spiritual liberty.htm

The Liberty of Obedience
... THE LIBERTY OF OBEDIENCE. I know it would seem strange if I told you that every
boy and girl has to be tied to something in order that he may be free. ...
/.../chidley/fifty-two story talks to boys and girls/the liberty of obedience.htm

Set at Liberty.
... XIV. Set at Liberty. (Mark 6:27.) ... The Christian soldier is never off duty, never
out of the enemy's reach, never at liberty to relax his watch. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/meyer/john the baptist/xiv set at liberty.htm

Concerning Christian Liberty
... CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIBERTY CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. CHRISTIAN faith
has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even ...
/.../luther/first principles of the reformation/concerning christian liberty.htm

Twentieth Day. Holiness and Liberty.
... Twentieth Day. Holiness and Liberty. 'Being made free ... 19, 22. 'Our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus.'"Galatians 2:4. 'With ...
/.../murray/holy in christ/twentieth day holiness and liberty.htm

The Charter of Gentile Liberty
... THE ACTS CHAP. XIII TO END THE CHARTER OF GENTILE LIBERTY. 'Then all the
multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture the acts/the charter of gentile liberty.htm

At Liberty
... Lesson 46 At Liberty. While Paul's labors in Rome were being blessed to the
conversion of many souls and the strengthening and encouragement ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 46 at liberty.htm

Thesaurus

Liberty (32 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted; leave; as,
liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave a court, and the ...
/l/liberty.htm - 20k

Year (4027 Occurrences)
... According to Leviticus 25:9 a loud trumpet should proclaim liberty throughout the
country on the 10th day of the 7th month (the Day of Atonement), after the ...
/y/year.htm - 26k

Jubilee (25 Occurrences)
... According to Leviticus 25:9 a loud trumpet should proclaim liberty throughout the
country on the 10th day of the 7th month (the Day of Atonement), after the ...
/j/jubilee.htm - 27k

Bondage (55 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) The state of being bound; condition of being under restraint; restraint
of personal liberty by compulsion; involuntary servitude; slavery; captivity. ...
/b/bondage.htm - 28k

Release (61 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) To let loose again; to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude;
to give liberty to, or to set at liberty; to let go. ...
/r/release.htm - 26k

Glorious (91 Occurrences)
... the Revised Version (British and American) has the noun "glory." So among others
in Romans 8:21, the King James Version has "glorious liberty," the Revised ...
/g/glorious.htm - 34k

Adoption (5 Occurrences)
... Greek 3. Roman II. PAUL'S DOCTRINE 1. In Galatians as Liberty 2. In Romans
as Deliverance from Debt III. THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE ...
/a/adoption.htm - 23k

Broad (113 Occurrences)
... Relief from distress: "Yea, he would have allured thee out of (Hebrew "the mouth
of") distress into a broad place" (Job 36:16); the liberty of obedience or ...
/b/broad.htm - 40k

Freedom (45 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1. (n.) The state of being free; exemption from
the power and control of another; liberty; independence. ...
/f/freedom.htm - 21k

Free (454 Occurrences)
... control, or compulsion; able to follow one's own impulses, desires, or inclinations;
determining one's own course of action; not dependent; at liberty. ...
/f/free.htm - 38k

Bible Concordance

Liberty (32 Occurrences)

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
(KJV ASV WBS RSV)

Acts 24:23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.
(KJV WBS YLT RSV)

Acts 26:32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
(KJV WEY ASV WBS)

Acts 27:3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.
(KJV WBS)

Acts 28:18 They, after they had sharply questioned me, were willing to set me at liberty, because they found no offence in me for which I deserve to die.
(WEY ASV RSV)

Romans 8:21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
(KJV WEY WBS)

1 Corinthians 8:9 But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV WBS NAS RSV)

1 Corinthians 9:6 Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
(WEY)

1 Corinthians 10:29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other's conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Galatians 2:4 This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage;
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Galatians 5:1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
(WEB KJV WBS)

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Hebrews 2:15 and might set at liberty all those who through fear of death had been subject to lifelong slavery.
(WEY)

Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
(KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS)

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

1 Peter 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
(KJV DBY WBS)

2 Peter 2:19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Revelation 9:14 It said to the sixth angel--the angel who had the trumpet, "Set at liberty the four angels who are prisoners near the great river Euphrates."
(WEY)

Revelation 9:15 And the four angels who had been kept in readiness for that hour, day, month, and year, were set at liberty, so that they might kill a third part of mankind.
(WEY)

Revelation 13:5 And there was given him a mouth full of boastful and blasphemous words; and liberty of action was granted him for forty-two months.
(WEY)

Revelation 20:3 He closed the entrance and put a seal upon him in order that he might be unable to lead the nations astray any more until the thousand years were at an end. Afterwards he is to be set at liberty for a short time.
(WEY)

Leviticus 25:10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Psalms 119:45 I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 34:8 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Jeremiah 34:15 You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Jeremiah 34:16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 34:17 Therefore thus says Yahweh: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Ezekiel 46:17 But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: Bondage of Man

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: Corruption

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: Jewish Ordinances

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: Sin

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: The Curse of the Law

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: The Fear of Death

Christian Liberty is Freedom From: The Law

Christian Liberty: Called the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God

Christian Liberty: Conferred by Christ

Christian Liberty: Conferred by God

Christian Liberty: Conferred by the Holy Spirit