μαντ-εύομαι G3132
μαντεύομαι — to practice divination, prophesy through supernatural means, tell fortunes
This verb appears in Acts 16:16, describing a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners profit through fortune-telling. The word derives from μάντις (prophet/seer) and in classical Greek referred to seeking supernatural knowledge through various mantic arts. The girl followed Paul's group, proclaiming them servants of the Most High God — technically true words from a demonic source. Paul eventually commanded the spirit to leave her, demonstrating that even accurate spiritual proclamations from occult sources must be rejected, as their origin disqualifies their message.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The present middle/passive participle 'by fortune-telling' modifies how she brought profit to her masters. The multilingual glosses (Spanish 'adivinando,' French 'pratiquer-la-magie') identify this as occult divination, the opposite of authentic prophetic revelation, showing that supernatural knowledge can come from illegitimate spiritual sources that must be renounced. 1×
AR["تَتَكَهَّنُ"]·ben["ভবিষ্যদ্বাণী-করে"]·DE["μαντευομένη"]·EN["by-fortune-telling"]·FR["pratiquer-la-magie"]·heb["מִתְנַבֵּאָה"]·HI["भविष्य-बताती-हुई"]·ID["dengan-meramal"]·IT["indovinare"]·jav["tenung"]·KO["점치며"]·PT["adivinhando."]·RU["прорицая"]·ES["adivinando"]·SW["akiagua"]·TR["fal-bakarak"]·urd["فال-کہتے-ہوئے"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μαντ-εύομαι, future -εύσομαι Refs 8th c.BC+: aorist ἐμαντευσάμην Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect μεμάντευμαι Refs:—passive, see infr. IV: (μάντις):—divine, prophesy, τί μοι θάνατον μαντεύεα; Refs 8th c.BC+; τί νύ μοι μαντεύεαι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρονRefs 8th c.BC+; τινι to one, Refs 8th c.BC+: with dative modi, draw divinations from or by means of.., ῥάβδοισι Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 generally, presage, forebode,…