Deceit
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Dolos names deceit, guile, or treacherous falsehood, especially the hidden bending of speech, motive, or action away from truth. The word does not describe every mistake, incomplete statement, or wise silence.
Reader summary
Full entry for δόλος (G1388) · Open the biblical lexicon
Dolos names deceit, guile, or treacherous falsehood, especially the hidden bending of speech, motive, or action away from truth. The word does not describe every mistake, incomplete statement, or wise silence.
The BSB source-word alignment has 11 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include deceit (5), [a] covert (1), by trickery (1), covertly (1), deceitful (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:4. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (3), Mark (2), 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Dolos names deceit, guile, or treacherous falsehood, especially the hidden bending of speech, motive, or action away from truth. The word does not describe every mistake, incomplete statement, or wise silence. It names falseness that works under cover. In John 1, Jesus says Nathanael is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, placing the word in a scene where Christ knows the person beneath outward appearance.
In Acts 13, deceit belongs to a public distortion of the Lord's straight ways. In apostolic ministry, Paul denies that his appeal comes from trickery, while Peter sets Christ before believers as the sinless One in whose mouth no deceit was found. The word therefore helps readers test truthfulness before God: clean speech, open dealing, and integrity flow from standing before the Christ who sees what people hide.
Across the New Testament, dolos exposes falsehood that hides beneath religious appearance, persuasive speech, or self-protective strategy. John uses it to mark Nathanael's sincerity before Jesus. Acts shows deceit perverting the straight ways of the Lord. Paul rejects deceit as a ministry method. Peter commands believers to put deceit away and points to Christ as the one whose mouth carried no guile. The word teaches integrity without turning sincerity into sinless perfection.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
Jesus names Nathanael as a true Israelite without deceit. The scene emphasizes exposed sincerity before the Messiah who already knows him.
And said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
Paul confronts deceit as a distortion of the Lord's straight ways. The word moves from private falseness to public opposition against the gospel.
For our appeal does not arise from deceit or ulterior motives or trickery.
Paul denies that his appeal comes from deceit or trickery. Gospel ministry must not depend on hidden manipulation to gain a hearing.
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
Peter applies the servant text to Christ and says no deceit was found in His mouth. Jesus is the standard for truthful suffering and speech.
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
Peter ties love for life and good days to keeping lips from deceitful speech. The word becomes a discipleship guardrail for ordinary conversation.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Deceit as cunning craftiness designed to ensnare; craftiness applied with intent to mislead
Deceit as cunning craftiness designed to ensnare; craftiness applied with intent to mislead
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
deceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
Read versedeceit, guile, treachery
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 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 11 lexical occurrence verses.
δόλος is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Dolos presses the reader beyond surface honesty into integrity before God. In John 1, the absence of deceit is not a claim that Nathanael has no sin; it is a narrative marker of sincerity before Jesus. In Acts 13, deceit becomes open resistance because hidden falseness twists the straight ways of the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians, it is rejected as a ministry technique, because gospel appeal must not be carried by manipulation.
In 1 Peter, deceit belongs to the old life believers put away, and Christ's sinless speech becomes the pattern for truthful endurance. The word therefore helps teachers connect heart, mouth, witness, and worship without reducing truthfulness to politeness or public image.
John 1:47
Dolos is a noun for deceit or guile. Its New Testament usage often points not only to false words but to hidden design, the craft by which speech or action is bent away from truth.
The New Testament use of dolos resonates with the Old Testament concern for lips, hearts, and paths that are straight before the Lord. It reaches its clearest contrast in Christ, whose speech remains without deceit even when He suffers unjustly.