a.sar denotes fastening people or animals, confining prisoners, harnessing chariots, and placing an injunction upon oneself.

The term most often describes physically securing a person or animal with ropes, cords, chains, or fetters; it also characterizes people held in confinement, the harnessing of chariots and horses, and an injunction bound upon a person’s own soul in vow language.

1. Fastening with ropes, cords, chains, or fetters · dominant

   The Qal forms describe securing persons or animals: in Judges 16:8 the APB renders Delilah’s action, “she bound him with them,” after the cords are supplied, while 1 Samuel 6:10 has heifers bound to a cart. In 2 Chronicles 33:11 and 2 Kings 25:7, the same verbal use occurs with bronze fetters during capture and removal.

   Judges 16:8Judges 16:121 Samuel 6:101 Samuel 6:72 Chronicles 33:112 Kings 25:7
2. Being held under restraint or in custody · common

   Passive participles identify people as bound in a custodial setting: Genesis 39:20 describes the prison as the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and Isaiah 49:9 addresses “the bound” with a command to come out. In Genesis 42:19, the Niphal imperfect concerns one brother remaining bound in custody.

   Genesis 39:20Genesis 40:3Genesis 40:5Genesis 42:19Isaiah 49:9Isaiah 61:1
3. Harnessing a chariot or horses · occasional

   In Exodus 14:6, the Qal sequential imperfect occurs in the clause the APB renders “He harnessed his chariot.” Genesis 46:29 likewise places the form before Joseph goes out in his chariot, and Jeremiah 46:4 gives a plural imperative in the instruction to harness the horses.

   Exodus 14:6Genesis 46:29Jeremiah 46:42 Kings 9:21
4. Placing an injunction upon oneself · occasional

   In Numbers 30:3, the Qal infinitive construct occurs when a woman vows and binds an injunction upon her soul. The Qal feminine singular perfect forms in Numbers 30:4 and Numbers 30:11 recur in clauses concerning the injunction she has bound upon her soul.

   Numbers 30:3Numbers 30:4Numbers 30:5Numbers 30:10Numbers 30:11Numbers 30:12

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “bound” and “bind” where the clauses concern cords, carts, chains, fetters, or prisoners; it also uses “harnessed” for chariots and horses and “bound an injunction” in Numbers 30:3. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings confirm the clauses’ presentation without fixing an English equivalent in every occurrence.