What does ἀπάτη (apátē) mean in the Bible?
ἀπάτη (apátē): Deceptive allure that ensnares through false promises—wealth, sin, desire—rather than conscious lying.
Greek · G539
ἀπάτη
Delusion
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ἀπάτη G539
Pronunciation apátē
What does ἀπάτη (apátē) mean in the Bible?
ἀπάτη (apátē): Deceptive allure that ensnares through false promises—wealth, sin, desire—rather than conscious lying.
Full entry for ἀπάτη (G539) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G539?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include deceitfulness (3), deception (3), deceitful (1).
Where does ἀπάτη (apátē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:22. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Peter (1), 2 Thessalonians (1), Colossians (1), Ephesians (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 deceitfulness 3× Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19, Hebrews 3:13
deception 3× Colossians 2:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 2 Peter 2:13
deceitful 1× Ephesians 4:22
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 13:22 ἀπάτη to deceitfulness Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Mark 4:19 ἀπάτη to deceitfulness Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Ephesians 4:22 ἀπάτης to deceitful Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Colossians 2:8 ἀπάτης to deception Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ἀπάτῃ to deception Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Hebrews 3:13 ἀπάτῃ to deceitfulness Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2 Peter 2:13 ἀπάταις to deception Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 13:22
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 7
Matthew 1 Mark 1 Ephesians 1 Colossians 1 2 Thessalonians 1 Hebrews 1 2 Peter 1
Source forms
ἀπάτη 2x apatē Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19
ἀπάτῃ 2x apatē 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Hebrews 3:13
ἀπάτης 2x apatēs Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 2:8
ἀπάταις 1x apatais 2 Peter 2:13
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Hebrews 3:13
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 2:8
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2x Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural 1x 2 Peter 2:13
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Deceptive allure that ensnares through false promises—wealth, sin, desire—rather than conscious lying.
Strong's G539
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 4 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Ephesians 4:17-24 Source Gloss
delusion
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 13:22 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀπάτη apath
deceit, deception
Read verse Mark 4:19 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀπάτη apath
deceit, deception
Read verse Ephesians 4:22 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀπάτης· apathv
deceit, deception
Read verse Colossians 2:8 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀπάτης, apathv
deceit, deception
Read verse 2 Thessalonians 2:10 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀπάτῃ apath
deceit, deception
Read verse Hebrews 3:13 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀπάτῃ apath
deceit, deception
Read verse 2 Peter 2:13 Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀπάταις apataiv
deceit, deception
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 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.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 7 Case pattern Dative (3) Number pattern Singular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 13:22 · Mark 4:19 2×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Eph 4:22 · Col 2:8 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 2 Thess 2:10 · Heb 3:13 2×
Dative · Plural · Feminine 2 Pet 2:13 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Moral corruption and deceptive desires that characterize the old self needing renewal
The deceptive power of wealth that chokes spiritual growth and fruitfulness
Deception of unrighteousness used by evil forces to lead people astray from truth
The seductive power of sin that hardens hearts and leads away from God's promises
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀπάτη is built from this root:
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