5438

5438 ~φυλακή~ phulake \@foo-lak-ay’\@ from 5442; TDNT-9:241,1280; {See TDNT 835} n f AV-prison 36, watch 6, imprisonment 2, hold 1, cage 1, ward 1; 47

1) guard, watch

1a) a watching, keeping watch

1a1) to keep watch

1b) persons keeping watch, a guard, sentinels

1c) of the place where captives are kept, a prison

1d) of the time (of night) during which guard was kept, a watch i.e. a period of time during which part of the guard was on duty, and at the end of which others relieved them. As the earlier Greeks divided the night commonly into three parts, so, previous to the exile, the Israelites also had three watches in a night; subsequently, however, after they became subject to the Romans, they adopted the Roman custom of dividing the night into four watches