What does ἀπατάω (apatáō) mean in the Bible?
ἀπατάω (apatáō) is a Greek word meaning "to trick".
Greek · G538
ἀπατάω
To trick
Reading a lexicon entry
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ἀπατάω G538
Pronunciation apatáō
What does ἀπατάω (apatáō) mean in the Bible?
ἀπατάω (apatáō) is a Greek word meaning "to trick".
Full entry for ἀπατάω (G538) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G538?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [who] was deceived (1), deceive (1), he deceives (1).
Where does ἀπατάω (apatáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Ephesians 5:6. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (1), Ephesians (1), James (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It [who] was deceived 1× 1 Timothy 2:14
deceive 1× Ephesians 5:6
he deceives 1× James 1:26
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Ephesians 5:6
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Ephesians 1 1 Timothy 1 James 1
Source forms
ἀπατάτω 1x apatatō Ephesians 5:6
ἀπατῶν 1x apatōn James 1:26
ἠπατήθη 1x ēpatēthē 1 Timothy 2:14
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Timothy 2:14
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Ephesians 5:6
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x James 1:26
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to trick
Strong's G538
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 3 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to trick
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Ephesians 5:6 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Imperative
ἀπατάτω apatatw
I deceive, lead into error
Read verse 1 Timothy 2:14 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
ἠπατήθη, hpathqh
I deceive, lead into error
Read verse 1 Timothy 2:14 Verb Aorist Passive Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀπατηθεῖσα apathqeisa
I deceive, lead into error
Read verse James 1:26 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀπατῶν apatwn
I deceive, lead into error
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.
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 3 Tenses Present, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Active Eph 5:6 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 1×
Aorist Passive 1 Tim 2:14 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Active Jas 1:26 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 2 aorist 1
Voice
active 2 passive 1
Mood
indicative 1 imperative 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
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)
Word Origins
ἀπατάω is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain