Word study

Deceiver

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: deceiver, deceivers. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “deceiver” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • תָּעַע tâamocktranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8591Verb  ·  Translated: deceiver 1, scoffing 1

    Genesis 27:12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

    Full study and all 2 verses →
  • שָׁגָה shâgâhgo astray, errtranslated this way 1 time of its 21 uses · Strong’s H7686Verb  ·  Translated: stray 4, strays unintentionally 2, captivated 2, led astray 2

    Job 12:16 True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • נָכַל nâkalbe crafty, deceitful, knavishtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H5230Verb  ·  Translated: plotted 1, seduced 1, conspire 1, deceiver 1

    Malachi 1:14 “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.’’

    Full study and all 4 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • πλάνος plánosmisleading, a deceivertranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4108Adjective  ·  Translated: deceiver 2, imposters 1, deceitful 1, deceivers 1

    Matthew 27:63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

    2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • πλανάω planáōI lead astray, deceivetranslated this way 1 time of its 39 uses · Strong’s G4105Verb  ·  Translated: deceived 10, deceive 7, deceives 3, deceiving 2

    Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

    Full study and all 37 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.