The Greek verb enecho means to hold within, to be entangled or ensnared, or to harbor a grudge against someone. Its range of meanings reveals the way that resentment holds a person captive from within.
Enecho appears in Mark 6:19, where Herodias 'held a grudge (enecho) against John' and wanted to kill him. The word is vivid: she is held within her own hostility — resentment as a form of self-imprisonment. Luke 11:53-54 uses enecho for the Pharisees 'lying in wait' to catch Jesus in His words. Galatians 5:1 uses a related phrase: 'do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery' — the same entanglement concept. Enecho thus illuminates the spiritual dynamics of unforgiveness: the person who holds a grudge is themselves held. Paul's call to forgive 'as the Lord has forgiven you' (Colossians 3:13) is ultimately liberation — releasing the grip of enecho so that we ourselves are free.