To (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)
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πλανάω (planaō) means to cause someone to wander, lead astray, deceive, or, in intransitive and passive uses, to wander or be deceived. Matthew’s sheep goes astray from the flock and is sought by the shepherd.
Reader summary
Full entry for πλανάω (G4105) · Open the biblical lexicon
πλανάω (planaō) means to cause someone to wander, lead astray, deceive, or, in intransitive and passive uses, to wander or be deceived. Matthew’s sheep goes astray from the flock and is sought by the shepherd.
The BSB source-word alignment has 39 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include be deceived (4), deceive (3), deceives (2), deceiving (2), going astray (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 18:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (8), Revelation (8), Mark (4), 1 John (3).
πλανάω (planaō) means to cause someone to wander, lead astray, deceive, or, in intransitive and passive uses, to wander or be deceived. Matthew’s sheep goes astray from the flock and is sought by the shepherd. Jesus warns disciples not to let anyone deceive them about the signs and timing surrounding Jerusalem’s distress and His coming. James imagines a professing brother or sister wandering from the truth and another person turning the wanderer back.
First John says people deceive themselves when they deny their sin, placing falsehood inside the speaker rather than only in an outside deceiver. Revelation identifies Satan as the deceiver of the whole world. The word therefore spans physical wandering, doctrinal or moral departure, active deception, and self-deception. It does not prove that every mistaken person is malicious, every wandering believer is beyond restoration, or every deception is directly caused by Satan.
Context identifies agent, error, path, responsibility, and needed response.
πλανάω names wandering and causing others to wander. The selected passages move from a straying sheep to end-time deception, restoration to truth, denial-driven self-deception, and Satan’s worldwide deceiving work.
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?
The sheep’s wandering introduces the shepherd’s active search within Jesus’ teaching about the Father’s concern for little ones. The image supports protective restoration, not neglect of the flock or romanticizing departure.
Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
Jesus begins His answer with a command for vigilance. The following warnings about false claimants, reports, upheaval, and premature conclusions define the deception to be resisted.
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
James addresses the wandering person within the community and imagines real restoration through another believer. Truth has moral direction, and loving correction seeks return rather than public victory.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Self-deception takes the form of denying present sin. John answers not with despair but with walking in the light, confession, Christ’s cleansing blood, and God’s faithful forgiveness.
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.
Revelation identifies the dragon through several canonical titles and describes his global deceiving activity. His being hurled down also places deception under God’s sovereign victory and the Lamb’s triumph.
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. To be led astray from truth or virtue, especially through deception or spiritual error.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 39 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
Read verseI lead astray, deceive
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 35 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 39 lexical occurrence verses.
πλανάω is built from this root:
Calls for vigilance against false messianic claims. James 5:19–20
Describes spiritual deviation requiring restoration.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Deception is directional. It moves people away from truth, faithful allegiance, and safe belonging, whether through an outside teacher, a persuasive claim, inward denial, or the adversary’s work. Jesus therefore commands vigilance rather than fascination. His disciples must not let alarming events or confident claimants control their reading of His words. James adds a communal responsibility: when someone wanders from truth, another believer should seek to bring that person back.
Correction aims at rescue, not humiliation. First John exposes the most intimate deceiver, the self that says it has no sin. The Gospel answer is not denial or hopelessness but walking in the light, confessing sin, and trusting God’s faithfulness and Christ’s cleansing work. Revelation names Satan as the world’s deceiver, yet also shows him cast down through the Lamb’s victory.
Churches resist deception by remaining under Scripture, confessing sin, testing claims, speaking truth in love, and restoring wanderers with humility. Intelligence alone cannot secure this path; grace-formed honesty and persevering allegiance are required.
1John.1.8
The verb may be transitive, “lead astray” or “deceive,” or intransitive and passive, “wander” or “be deceived.” Voice, subject, object, and complement determine whether the passage emphasizes a deceiver, a wanderer, or the state of being misled. English glosses should not erase that agency.
Israel’s shepherds are condemned when the flock wanders, prophets expose false guides, wisdom warns against deceptive paths, and the serpent’s lie initiates humanity’s rebellion. The New Testament centers recovery in Christ’s truth, cleansing, shepherding care, and the Lamb’s victory over the deceiver.
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