ἀπᾰτ-η G0539
Deceit, deception, trickery; the act or quality of misleading through falsehood or guile.
An abstract noun denoting deceit, fraud, or deception — the deliberate act or insidious quality of misleading others. In the Parable of the Sower, it is 'the deceitfulness of riches' that chokes the word (Matt 13:22; Mark 4:19), personifying wealth's seductive power to deceive. Paul warns against being captured through 'empty deceit' (Col 2:8) and identifies the eschatological 'man of lawlessness' with 'every deception of unrighteousness' (2 Thess 2:10). Spanish 'engano,' French 'tromperie,' and German 'Betrug' all converge — deceit is deceit, and the word admits no subdivision in NT usage.
Senses
1. deceit, deception, trickery — The act, practice, or quality of deceiving — fraud, guile, trickery. All NT occurrences express a single undifferentiated concept of deception, confirmed by uniform multilingual rendering: Spanish 'engano,' French 'tromperie,' German 'Betrug,' English 'deceit/deceitfulness.' In Matt 13:22 and Mark 4:19 it describes the beguiling nature of riches; in Eph 4:22 it characterizes the old self's 'deceitful desires'; in Col 2:8 Paul warns of 'empty deceit' masquerading as philosophy; in 2 Thess 2:10 it accompanies the lawless one's arrival. The case/number variations across occurrences reflect grammar, not semantic divergence. 7×
AR["الخِداعِ", "الغُرورِ", "بِخِدَاعِ", "خِداعاتِهِم", "خِداعِ", "غُرورُ", "غُرُورُ"]·ben["প্রতারণা", "প্রতারণা-র", "প্রতারণায়", "প্রতারণার"]·DE["Betrug", "ἀπάτη"]·EN["by-deceit", "deceit", "deceitfulness", "deceptions"]·FR["tromperie"]·heb["בְּמִרְמַת-", "הוֹנָאַת", "הוֹנָאָה", "מִרְמַת", "רַמָּאוּת"]·HI["की", "छल", "छल-से", "छलों", "धोख", "धोखे"]·ID["oleh-tipu-daya", "penipuan;", "tipu daya", "tipu-daya"]·IT["inganno"]·jav["apus", "apus;", "apusé", "godha", "mawi-apus", "pambujuk", "tipu-daya"]·KO["미혹이", "속임들", "속임수", "속임으로", "속임의;", "속임이"]·PT["engano", "engano;", "enganos", "pelo-engano"]·RU["обман", "обмана;", "обманах", "обмане", "обманом", "обольщение"]·ES["con-engaño", "engaño", "engaños"]·SW["hadaa", "udanganyifu"]·TR["aldatmacain", "aldatmacainin", "aldatmacasıyla", "aldatmalarında", "aldatmasında", "aldatıcılığı"]·urd["دھوکا", "دھوکہ", "دھوکے", "دھوکے-کی", "فریب-سے", "فریبوں-میں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀπᾰτ-η, ἡ, trick, fraud, deceit, νῦν δὲ κακὴν ἀπάτην βουλεύσατοRefs 8th c.BC+: in plural, wiles, οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες.. λήξειν ἀπατάων, says Athena to Ulysses, Refs 8th c.BC+ __2 guile, treachery, ἄταν ἀπάτᾳ μεταγνούςRefs 5th c.BC+; ἀ. εὐπρεπής, opposed to βία ἐμφανής, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀ. λεχέων a being cheated out of the marriage, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἄνευ δόλου καὶ ἀπάτης 'without fraud or covin', Refs…