Keep watch (69) (agrupneo from a = without + hupnos = sleep; cp agrupnia - 2Co 6:5, 11:27) literally means to abstain completely from sleep, pass sleepless nights, to be sleepless, to lie awake and think about (Liddell Scott) to stay alert, and then figuratively to stay alert, to remain vigilant and fully aware of threatening peril, "to be alertly concerned about" (BDAG). The figurative picture is one who is spiritually alert and wide awake to spiritual intrusions (Mk 13:33, Lk 21:36, Ep 6:18). Wuest adds that agrupneo "is the opposite of listlessness, expressing alertness." In sum, agrupneo expresses wakefulness and watchfulness, for the latter could hardly transpire without the former. Agrupneo is in the present tense which pictures (and calls for) the shepherd's continual watchcare over the sheep (which are prone to wander, cp Is 53:6). Vincent offers a slightly different derivation stating of agrupneo, stating that... The word is derived from agreuo, to hunt, and hupnos, sleep. The picture is of one in pursuit of sleep, and therefore wakeful, restless. Wycliffe's rendering of the whole passage is striking: See! wake ye and pray ye! TDNT says to the ancient Greeks agrupneo means “to sleep in the open,” then “to watch.” (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans or Wordsearch) Expositor's Bible says... There is the imagery of the leaders keeping awake nights in their concern for their people. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing or computer version) Why is it so needful to continually keep watch over our souls? The Christian has not just one enemy but three incessant, inveterate foes, the world, the flesh and the devil, each irrevocably, intractably determined to bring harm to our soul. They cannot keep a believer out of heaven, but they can impede the progressive incursion of "heaven" into our souls while we still exist on earth. Note the associations of agrupneo and prayer (Lk 21:36, Ep 6:18-note) Thayer writes that agrupneo may be taken to express simply ... absence of sleep, and, pointedly, the absence of it when due to nature, and thence a wakeful frame of mind as opposed to listlessness, while gregoreuo [word study] (the offspring of egreiro = to waken, rouse from sleep) represents a waking state as the effect of some arousing effort ... i.e. a more stirring image than the former. The group of synonyms is completed by nepho [word study], which signifies a state untouched by any slumberous or beclouding influences, and thence, one that is guarded against advances of drowsiness or bewilderment. Thus it becomes a term for wariness against spiritual dangers and beguilements Vine adds that in Heb 13:17 we find... a description of genuine overseers. Agrupneo signifies to be wakeful, suggestive of the watchful care of shepherds. The overseer must ever carry on his work in view of the Judgment Seat of Christ, where he will give account of his service, its motives and methods. See Ro 14:12-note and 1Pe 4:5-note (See related resource: The Judgment Seat of Christ [2Cor 5:10] - How to live with a "Bema Seat" Mindset). Agrupneo - 4x in 4v in the NT... Mark 13:33 "Take heed (blepo = beware, be careful to observe, pay attention) , keep on the alert (agrupneo = present imperative = command to do this continually. Why?); for you do not know when the appointed time will come. Luke 21:36 (Context = Lk 21:34, 35 = Return of the Lord = see Table comparing Rapture vs Second Coming) "But keep on the alert (agrupneo = present imperative = command to do this continually. When? Why?) at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." Ephesians 6:18-note With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert (present tense = continually) with all perseverance and petition for all the saints Comment: Prayer in the time of spiritual war necessitates a continual state of wakefulness, not sleepiness. Prayer is not passive. We need to remain actively engaged for the enemies of our soul are continually strategizing against us to lay traps and render us ineffective for the King and His Kingdom work. Don't get caught asleep at the post. The fort will fall when the sentry falls asleep as happened to the seemingly impregnable city of Sardis. A little carelessness was shown in Sardis, and either a watchman was wanting at the necessary point or a sentinel slept at his post for an hour; and the greatest power on the earth was hurled to destruction. Agrupneo in this verse refers to being "strategic in prayer to enable one to know what to pray at the right time and not be asleep at the switch. The person praying is to keep this alert vigil “with all perseverance” (Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry) Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. Steven Cole writes that... Godly church leaders help church members by keeping watch over their souls (Heb 13:17). The Greek word translated “keeping watch” (agrupneo) means “to keep oneself awake,” and thus, “to keep watch, guard, or care for” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Walter Bauer, William Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich [University of Chicago Press], Second Edition, p. 14). The image was drawn from shepherds keeping watch over their flocks (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament ([Harper & Brothers], 1887, p. 9). Shepherds had to stay alert in order to guard their flocks from predators. They had to know the sheep and observe them carefully enough to know when a sheep was sick or missing. They had to go after the strays and try to restore them to the flock. They had to lead them to pasture and clean water (see Ezek. 34:1-16). These tasks require the discernment to know where people are at spiritually and when they are heading toward spiritual danger. Leaders must love God and people enough to have the courage to confront those who are drifting. While you can only lead those who are willing to be led, godly leaders must always make the effort. The task is more difficult in our day when there are many different churches in town. If people get upset at one church, or if the leaders there try to confront some sin in their lives, they just move down the road to another church that welcomes them. Sadly, they usually carry their problems with them. “Keeping watch over souls” is an overwhelming task, and the responsibility for it does not fall only on church leaders. Every spiritually mature believer is responsible to help restore those who are caught in any trespass and to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:1,2). If you know of someone in the church who is straying from the Lord, but you don’t know what to do, go to one of the elders for counsel. We do our best to keep watch over the flock, but often we are not even aware when someone is in need. We all need to work together to care for one another spiritually. (Hebrews 13:7, 17-19, 22-2 The Responsibilities of Church Leaders) AGRUPNEO ILLUSTRATED BY EXCUBITORS AND SHRIKES The word excubitor is referenced in the definition of agrupneo in Liddell-Scott's lexicon and is also part of the taxonomic name of a little bird named the Great Grey Shrike = Lanius excubitor and was also the name of a palace guard corps. Liddell Scott adds that excubitor was a Latin word for a soldier of the imperial guard. Both the shrike and the imperial guard constitute an interesting picture of the meaning of the Greek word agrupneo as discussed below. The Excubitors (excubitores) were a palace guard corps, organized by the Emperor Leo to counterbalance the influence of Germans in the imperial army. Although the imperial guard is not well understood, the excubitors are significant because it is through them (indirectly) that the important emperor Justinian was able to come to power. Emperor Justin and the Excubitores - Justinian's uncle Justin (and two other Illyrians from Macedonia) migrated to Constantinople where they were enrolled by Justin in the Excubitors. Under the emperor Anastasius, Justin rose through the ranks to become the commander of the Excubitors. When Anastasius died childless, Justin was able to take over as emperor. (About.com) Shrike System - The ancient sport of falconry used trained hawks or falcons in the pursuit of wild game. When the "educated predator" was allowed to fly, however, it often rose too high for human eyes to see. So a hunter often carried a small caged bird called a shrike. By watching the antics of the little bird, the man could always tell where his hawk was, for the shrike instinctively feared the predator and cocked its head to keep it in view. All leaders and for that matter every believer desperately needs to remain on "high alert" just as did the tiny shrike ever alert to the presence of their mortal enemy the falcon. Our adversary, Satan, "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1Pe 5:8-note). Our responsibility, according to the apostle Peter, is to be sober and vigilant. In other words, we’re to be always on the alert. It would be nice if God had giant sirens to warn us of an attack by the devil. But He doesn’t operate that way. Instead, we must read the Bible regularly, meditate on its truths, maintain a prayerful attitude throughout the day, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Only then will we be sensitive to an imminent assault by the evil one, and be armed by grace to meet it. —Mart De Haan. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) Agrupneo is used 8x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX)... 2 Samuel 12:21 Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept (Lxx adds "and watched" = agrupneo); but when the child died, you arose and ate food." Ezra 8:29 "Watch (Command in Hebrew and Greek - Heb = shaqad - to watch or stay awake; Lxx = agrupneo in the present imperative = command to do this continually) and keep them until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites and the heads of the fathers' households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD." Psalm 102:7-note I lie awake (Lxx = agrupneo), I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop. Psalm 127:1-note A Song of Ascents, of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman (Lxx = agrupneo) keeps awake in vain. Proverbs 8:32 Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways. 34 "Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching (Lxx = agrupneo) daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts. Song 5:2 "I was asleep but my heart was awake (Lxx = agrupneo). A voice! My beloved was knocking: 'Open to me, my sister, my darling, My dove, my perfect one! For my head is drenched with dew, My locks with the damp of the night.' Job 21:32 "While he is carried to the grave, Men will keep watch (Lxx = agrupneo) over his tomb. Daniel 9:14-note "Therefore the LORD has kept (Heb = shaqad = watched; Lxx = agrupneo) the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. Leaders are to be alert, watchful, trustworthy and are not to use their position in an authoritarian manner. Their office is a function within the church, not over it. The church is under the headship of Christ (Ep 4:15-note, Ep 5:23-note, cp Ep 1:22, 23-note, 1Co 11:3) and is to be controlled only by the Spirit. The writer pictures leaders as "excubitores" or “watchmen” (Ezek 3:17; 35:7; cf. Isa 21:8; Hab 2:1) over their flock. Dear pastor, are you serving well as a watchman over your flock such that you are assured you will hear "Well done"? You will be held accountable for your guiding and guarding the sheep, as the writer is quick to add. Leaders should be stirred up to diligence, remembering the gravity of their responsibility (to be good stewards). Peter offers an excellent parallel to the Hebrews passage... Therefore, I exhort (parakaleo [word study] in present tense) the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (cp "give an account" - see Bema Seat - Judgment Seat). (1Pe 5:1, 2, 3, 4-see notes) Paul in his last words of encouragement to the Ephesian elders also gave them a solemn warning which all leaders need to completely hear and carefully heed... And when they (Ephesian elders) had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Where has the teaching of repentance gone in our day? This verse is quite clear about the call to repent and believe. Cp our Lord's two commands in Mk 1:15, see also Acts 26:20, Mt 3:2, Acts 3:19, Acts 5:31 [a gift!], Acts 8:22, 17:30, 2Ti 2:25-note). "And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus (The phrase describes every God ordained leader), to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard (present imperative = command to do this continually) for yourselves (Leaders first need to watch their own conduct) and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (Think "Stewardship" see Lk 16:1-13, 1Co 4:1, 2, 1Co 9:17, Ep 3:2-note, Col 1:25-note, see especially Titus 1:7-note, 1Pe 4:10-note), to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you (Where will the false teachers and leaders come from?!), not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (How can a leader "survive" and "succeed"? Paul gives the answer) And now I commend (paratithemi = used in Greek meaning to give someone something in trust and so to "deposit" with another. It conveys the picture of a precious treasure being deposited as a trust into the hands of other persons. Those to be entrusted with the message must be “faithful” persons, reliable and trustworthy men “who will not swerve aside because of fear or favor, who will not compromise with the spirit of the age through which they are passing.”) you (the elders) to God (note the order - #1 To God) and to the Word of His grace (How do leaders preach grace [power to transform] that their sheep might grow it grace - 2Pe 3:18-note?), which (Note - Growth comes only from the supernatural living and active Word [1Pe 2:2, 1Th 2:13), not from funny stories, cute illustrations, etc. That's why Paul said "Preach the Word" 2Ti 4:2-note) is able (dunamai in the present tense = speaks of continual inherent ability or power of the Word of God) to build you up (edify, equip, produce growth in Christlikeness) and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32) Guzik commenting on "give an account" reminds us that... this does not relieve individual responsibility, but it puts an additional accountability and responsibility to leaders. LET THEM DO THIS WITH JOY AND NOT WITH GRIEF FOR THIS WOULD BE UNPROFITABLE FOR YOU: hina meta charas touto poiosin (3PPAS) kai me stenazontes (PAPMPN) alusiteles gar humin touto: (With joy: Php 1:4-note Php 2:16-note Php 4:1-note 1Th 2:19, 20-note 1Th 3:9,10-note) (Grief: Ex 32:31 Jer 13:17 Php 3:18-note) Let them do this with joy - That is, lead with joy! Just try to do this in your own strength! You can't naturally! You can (only) supernaturally! Joy is an integral component of the fruit of the Spirit filled leader's life (Leaders, are you allowing Him to control you?) (Eph 5:18-note Gal 5:16-note; , Gal 5:17-note, Gal 5:22-note), clearly necessitating the leader's continual dependence on the Spirit (cp Gal 5:25-note where live and walk are both present tense = continuous action ~ continual dependence) and God's grace to function effectively in his role. For the leaders to lead with joy indicates that the sheep are willingly submitting to their leaders. W E Vine writes... that is, that they may hereafter render their account with joy, and not lamenting (present participle of stenazo), joy because of obedience to their admonitions and the spiritual progress of these whom they have guided. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos) Steven Cole writes that... Godly church leaders help church members by aiming at their joy and spiritual profit (He 13:17)....This refers first to the leaders’ joy, but it obviously extends to the joy and spiritual profit of all of the members. Those who are walking in obedience to Christ will know His joy (John 15:10,11). Godly leaders rejoice to see those in the flock walking in the truth (3John 1:4). (Hebrews 13:7, 17-19, 22-2 The Responsibilities of Church Leaders) Not with grief - All who have been in leadership (if they are honest) would readily acknowledge that being a lead can be a thankless, even grievous task. In context they would have grief over sheep that are going astray (disobedience). And so this passage ("with joy and not with grief") speaks to the congregation. They need to be submitting to their leaders, responding to the Word which is being preached (to not do so would be a cause of grief for the leaders) and not continually criticizing, complaining and bickering which would be grievous to the leaders. This does not mean you have to be a body of "yes" men and women but that you still follow their leadership. Not with grief - Literally =“not a (present tense = continually) groaning.”