To utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood
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G5574, pseúdomai, is the Greek verb used for lying, speaking falsely, deceiving by falsehood, or denying what is true. Its New Testament contexts include false accusations against disciples, deliberate deception in the Jerusalem church, repeated assurances that contested testimony is truthful, commands not to lie within the renewed community, and a profession of fellowship contradicted by a walk in darkness.
Reader summary
Full entry for ψεύδομαι (G5574) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5574, pseúdomai, is the Greek verb used for lying, speaking falsely, deceiving by falsehood, or denying what is true. Its New Testament contexts include false accusations against disciples, deliberate deception in the Jerusalem church, repeated assurances that contested testimony is truthful, commands not to lie within the renewed community, and a.
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I am not lying (2), to lie (2), deny (1), falsely (1), is no lie (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), 1 John (1), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G5574, pseúdomai, is the Greek verb used for lying, speaking falsely, deceiving by falsehood, or denying what is true. Its New Testament contexts include false accusations against disciples, deliberate deception in the Jerusalem church, repeated assurances that contested testimony is truthful, commands not to lie within the renewed community, and a profession of fellowship contradicted by a walk in darkness. The verb concerns an act or practice related to falsehood; the connected adjective G5571 can describe a witness, claimant, or person as false.
The passages set human lying against God's character. Hebrews says it is impossible for God to lie, so His promise provides strong encouragement to people who flee for refuge. Paul denies lying when he gives solemn testimony about his grief, ministry, and conduct. Those statements do not create a verbal formula that makes a speaker credible. They place the speaker before God and make truthfulness accountable to conscience, message, and life. Colossians commands believers not to lie to one another because the old self with its practices has been put off. First John goes deeper than a disputed sentence: a claim to fellowship becomes a lie when the person's walk remains in darkness.
G5574 therefore calls churches to truthful speech, truthful self-description, truthful financial dealing, and truthful witness about others. Acts 5 does not condemn Ananias and Sapphira for failing to surrender every possession; Peter says the property and proceeds were at their disposal. Their sin is a deceptive presentation before the Holy Spirit and the gathered church. The word must not be weaponized to demand unrestricted disclosure, to force vulnerable people to reveal confidential information, or to label every error a lie. Faithful use examines what was represented, what truth was known, whom the falsehood addressed, what harm followed, and what repentance and repair require.
G5574 moves through false accusation, deliberate deception, solemn truth claims, commands for truthful community, denial of truth by conduct, and the impossibility of falsehood in God.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Jesus names false speech as one form persecution may take against His disciples. The blessing belongs to suffering because of Christ, not to every criticism a believer receives.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
Ananias presents a partial gift through a deceptive representation. Peter's next question confirms that ownership and disposal were his; the offense lies in the false presentation before God and the church.
I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.
Paul places his grief for Israel under a solemn denial of falsehood. The appeal joins his words to Christ, conscience, and the Holy Spirit rather than asking readers to trust an unsupported assertion.
Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
The command against lying belongs to the corporate life of people who have put off the old self and are being renewed. Truthful speech is a practice of the new humanity, not merely private reputation management.
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
God's inability to lie grounds the stability of His promise and oath. The verse directs anxious believers away from the reliability of their feelings and toward the truthfulness of God.
But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
James describes boasting from bitter jealousy and selfish ambition as a denial of the truth. Falsehood can operate through self-justifying claims that contradict the character of wisdom from above.
If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
A claim of fellowship is false when a settled walk remains in darkness. John does not teach sinless perfection; the surrounding verses call believers to walk in the light through confession and cleansing.
As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
In the local conflict at Philadelphia, the risen Christ exposes opponents whose claimed identity is false and promises to vindicate the faithful church. The verse does not authorize contempt for Jewish people or ethnic hostility.
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. To lie or deceive; in NT always middle voice, emphasizing the liar's own deception rather than external deception
To lie or deceive; in NT always middle voice, emphasizing the liar's own deception rather than external deception
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.
I lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
Read verseI lie
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.
How this verb appears across 12 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 1 selected witness from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
ψεύδομαι is a primary verb - no further derivation.
The central sin is deliberate deception within the covenant community.Acts 5:1-11
G5574 shows that truthfulness is covenantal and relational. A lie does not remain trapped inside the speaker. In Matthew 5, false speech attacks disciples because of Christ. In Acts 5, a deceptive presentation of money enters the worship and trust of the gathered church, and Peter identifies the offense as lying to the Holy Spirit and to God. In Colossians 3, believers must stop lying to one another because the old self has been put off and a renewed humanity is being formed.
James exposes boasting that denies the truth, while 1 John refuses a profession of fellowship that is contradicted by a walk in darkness. These texts address speech, but they also address the life a statement attempts to present. Against all of this stands Hebrews 6: God cannot lie, and His unchangeable promise gives refuge and hope. The church therefore tells the truth because it belongs to the truthful God and lives by His trustworthy word.
Yet that calling must not become coercive control. Scripture does not require people to disclose every confidence to every questioner, nor does it allow leaders to brand unverified disagreement as lying. Wise shepherding distinguishes error, concealment, confidentiality, deception, and false accusation; establishes facts with care; protects people vulnerable to retaliation; and seeks confession, repair, and restored trust where falsehood is proven.
1John.1.6
The local Greek witness records G5574 in middle-form morphology across present and aorist tenses and several moods. That form pattern should not be turned into a special doctrine of self-deception. Context supplies the relationship: lying to the Holy Spirit, lying to one another, denying the truth, falsely speaking against disciples, or explicitly denying that one's own testimony is false.
The Old Testament forbids false witness, condemns deceptive measures, and repeatedly confesses that God's word is true. The New Testament gathers those concerns around the God who cannot lie, Christ's faithful witness, the Spirit's presence in the church, and a renewed people called to truthful speech and truthful walking. This is a thematic canonical movement; the verb alone does not carry every doctrine of truth.