Fetters, often made of iron or bronze, were devices used in biblical times to restrain and secure prisoners. These shackles were typically fastened around the ankles or wrists, limiting the movement of the captive and symbolizing their subjugation and loss of freedom. The use of fetters is mentioned several times throughout the Bible, illustrating both physical and spiritual bondage.

In the Old Testament, fetters are frequently associated with the captivity and punishment of individuals. For instance, in Judges 16:21, Samson, after being betrayed by Delilah, is captured by the Philistines: "Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza, where they bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison." This passage highlights the use of fetters as a means of humiliation and control over a once-powerful adversary.

The account of Joseph also involves fetters, as described in Psalm 105:18: "They bruised his feet with shackles and placed his neck in irons." Joseph's experience in fetters serves as a testament to his unjust suffering and the trials he endured before rising to a position of power in Egypt. His eventual liberation and elevation underscore the theme of divine providence and deliverance.

In the New Testament, fetters are mentioned in the context of the apostles' imprisonment. Acts 12:6 recounts the imprisonment of Peter: "On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison." The miraculous release of Peter from his chains by an angel of the Lord (Acts 12:7) serves as a powerful illustration of God's intervention and the futility of human attempts to thwart His plans.

Fetters also appear in the spiritual metaphor of bondage to sin. In Psalm 107:10-14, those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons, are delivered by the Lord when they cry out to Him. This imagery emphasizes the liberating power of God's grace and the hope of redemption for those who turn to Him.

Throughout Scripture, the use of fetters symbolizes both the physical reality of imprisonment and the spiritual condition of those separated from God. The breaking of these bonds, whether literal or metaphorical, signifies the transformative power of faith and the ultimate freedom found in a relationship with the Lord.2 Chronicles 33:11
Why the LORD brought on them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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2 Chronicles 36:6
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
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Mark 5:4
Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
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The Holy War,
... 'I have used similitudes.'"Hosea ... When they were aught in the rear, and taken
prisoners"'as they did not live so much by religion as by the fates of fortune ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the holy war.htm

Babylonia and Assyria
... the Kurdish and Median tribes, and so securing the lowlands ... He had been brought in
fetters before his lord ... into sixty shekels, and the standard used in later ...
/.../early israel and the surrounding nations/chapter vi babylonia and assyria.htm

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
... pronounced curve, and a quiver full of arrows made from reeds.* Their horsemen,
like those of other warlike nations II of the East, used neither saddle nor ...
/.../chapter iiithe medes and the.htm

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
... a few thousand men upon the opposite shore, and brought back prisoners who furnished ...
fleet, while galleys built on a special model were used as transports for ...
/.../chapter iithe last days of 2.htm

A Canticle of Love
... I often used to think that if my little brothers had not gone to Heaven,
I should have had the happiness of seeing them at the Altar. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/martin/the story of a soul/chapter xi a canticle of.htm

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