Imposter
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Goēs means impostor, deceiver, or charlatan, historically associated with manipulative claims and enchantment. Second Timothy says evil people and impostors will progress from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Reader summary
Full entry for γόης (G1114) · Open the biblical lexicon
Goēs means impostor, deceiver, or charlatan, historically associated with manipulative claims and enchantment. Second Timothy says evil people and impostors will progress from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include imposters (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Timothy 3:13. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (1).
Goēs means impostor, deceiver, or charlatan, historically associated with manipulative claims and enchantment. Second Timothy says evil people and impostors will progress from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. The surrounding chapter describes people maintaining an appearance of godliness while denying its power and compares resistant teachers to Jannes and Jambres.
Those nearby verses provide literary context, not additional occurrences of the rare noun. An impostor does more than make an ordinary mistake: deception becomes practiced identity and influence, even while the deceiver may also be captured by falsehood. Discernment must test teaching, character, methods, and fruit without using the label for every disagreement.
Goēs identifies a manipulative deceiver whose practice worsens through both misleading others and being misled. Second Timothy surrounds the warning with hollow religion, exploitative influence, resistance to truth, and the call to remain in learned Scripture.
While evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Second Timothy 3:13 says evil people and impostors will advance from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Active manipulation and personal self-deception reinforce one another.
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
Second Timothy 3:5 describes people holding a form of godliness while denying its power. This is immediate literary context for the impostor warning, not another occurrence of goēs.
Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
Second Timothy 3:8 compares opponents to Jannes and Jambres resisting Moses, corrupt in mind and disqualified regarding faith. The comparison supplies contextual features of deception while Paul says their folly will become evident.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A fraudulent impostor who deceives through magical tricks or sorcerous deception, not mere falsehood
A fraudulent impostor who deceives through magical tricks or sorcerous deception, not mere falsehood
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-SmithTextus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a conjurer, deceiver, imposter
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
False teachers are described as deceptive manipulators who distort truth while claiming authority. 2 Timothy 3:10-13
Goēs names deception that has become a way of operating. The impostor misleads others, but Paul adds the sobering phrase "being deceived": repeated manipulation can entangle the manipulator in his own false world. The surrounding chapter shows why appearances are insufficient. A form of godliness may conceal denied power, vulnerable households may be targeted, and clever opposition may resist truth while claiming insight.
Timothy's protection is not suspicion of everyone but continuity in apostolic teaching and the God-breathed Scriptures. Churches should examine claims, finances, power, secrecy, sexual conduct, and accountability with evidence-based care. They must protect those harmed without turning "impostor" into a weapon for silencing honest disagreement or unproven accusation.
2Tim.3.13
Goēs is a rare noun meaning impostor, charlatan, or deceiver and in earlier usage could refer to a sorcerer or conjurer. The New Testament context emphasizes manipulative deception rather than supplying a full occult category.
False prophets use signs, flattering speech, and claims of authority to mislead, while wisdom warns against seducers and self-deception. Scripture tests messengers by truth, covenant fidelity, and fruit.
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