# Bind/Bound

Discover how “binding” carries dual meaning in Mormon theology—from spiritual captivity to sacred sealing covenants that unite families eternally across many generations.

[Image: In scripture, binding can be read as both restriction and relationship: the same linguistic mechanism can describe captivity alongside covenantal connection, depending on its context.]

The concept of binding inherently denotes fastening, obligating, or constraining. In scripture, the term has two possible meanings depending on the context. It functions simultaneously as a metaphor for spiritual captivity and as the foundational mechanism for salvation and covenantal relationship. The semantic application dictates whether the resulting state is understood as restriction or connection.

Mormon theology gives the word a further weight through the doctrine of sealing, in which what is bound on earth is bound in heaven. Here, binding is the structural basis for eternal relationships—the means by which individuals, families, and generations are welded together in a permanent bond meant to last into the eternities.

## Captivity and Liberty

Scriptural texts frequently employ the imagery of binding to describe the restriction of agency. The Book of Mormon characterizes this state through the adversary’s effort to bind individuals with “everlasting chains” (Alma 36:18), equating sin directly with captivity and death. The antithesis to this awful state can be found in the messianic mission of Christ, who came “to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and “the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). 

## Covenants in the Ancient Near East

The relational aspect of binding has deep roots in ancient Near Eastern traditions, where a covenant (*berith)* joined two parties in a bond of mutual obligation typically formalized by oath and ritual sacrifice. To “cut” a covenant was to enter a relationship as binding as kinship, complete with specific rights, obligations, and protections. Closely related to *berith* is the verb *yada* (“to know”) which denotes an intimate, experiential knowledge shared between covenantal partners. To know God in this sense is to be joined to him in a tried-and-tested relationship. From that bond flows *hesed*—the steadfast covenantal love and mercy that God extends to those who have entered into sacred agreements with him; a loyalty that holds fast even when a child of the covenant is “overtaken in a fault” (Galatians 6:1-2).

## Bound to Christ

Restoration theology centers this covenantal framework on Christology. Entering a covenant is described as taking upon oneself Christ’s yoke, which is easy, as characterized in Matthew 11:29-30. Read in this context, binding facilitates greater access to divine grace, mercy, and power rather than relegating the individual to a life of servitude. Furthermore, the theological premise of the sealing power (Matthew 16:19) asserts that familial bonds can be solemnized “for time and all eternity.” The resulting theology frames this form of binding as connective, offering permanence to relational bonds through sustained communion.

## Bonds Worth Keeping

This distinction guides Mormon transhumanist thought as technology multiplies the ways in which people can be bound. Systems increasingly commit persons to arrangements they did not choose, binding them by debt, surveillance, or designs that quietly strip away options. The scriptural test still applies: does the binding honor agency and deepen relationships, or does it constrain and diminish? A future worth building loosens the chains that bind against consent and strengthens the bonds that join in love.

*See also*: [Accountability](/topical-guide/accountability), [Agency](/topical-guide/agency), [Bondage](/topical-guide/bondage), [Covenant](/topical-guide/covenant), [Endure](/topical-guide/endure), [Liberty](/topical-guide/liberty), [Resurrection](/topical-guide/resurrection), [Seal](/topical-guide/seal)