False prophet
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Pseudoprophetes means false prophet, a person who claims or carries prophetic authority while speaking or working against God's truth. The word is not a casual insult for everyone who is mistaken, immature, or theologically imprecise.
Reader summary
Full entry for ψευδοπροφήτης (G5578) · Open the biblical lexicon
Pseudoprophetes means false prophet, a person who claims or carries prophetic authority while speaking or working against God's truth. The word is not a casual insult for everyone who is mistaken, immature, or theologically imprecise.
The BSB source-word alignment has 11 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include false prophets (7), false prophet (3), [and] false prophet (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), Revelation (3), 1 John (1), 2 Peter (1).
Pseudoprophetes means false prophet, a person who claims or carries prophetic authority while speaking or working against God's truth. The word is not a casual insult for everyone who is mistaken, immature, or theologically imprecise. Jesus warns that false prophets may come in sheep's clothing while inwardly remaining ravenous wolves, and He warns that false prophets will deceive many with impressive signs.
Acts names Bar-Jesus as a sorcerer and false prophet in a mission setting. First John tells believers to test the spirits because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Revelation uses the term for the beast-aligned deceiver who performs signs and shares final judgment. The word therefore requires sober discernment: claims of spiritual authority must be tested by truth, fruit, allegiance to Christ, and fidelity to apostolic witness.
Pseudoprophetes gathers the New Testament's warnings about deceptive spiritual authority. Jesus teaches watchfulness because false prophets can appear harmless while their fruit reveals danger. The Olivet warnings connect false prophets with deception in crisis. Acts shows the term in missionary conflict. First John makes testing necessary because false prophetic influence is already active. Revelation shows the false prophet as a climactic deceiver bound to idolatrous power and final judgment.
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Jesus warns that false prophets come in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Discernment must look beyond harmless appearance.
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
Jesus warns that false prophets will perform signs and wonders to deceive. Spectacular activity does not by itself prove faithfulness to God.
They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
Bar-Jesus is identified as a sorcerer and false prophet during the mission to Paphos. The word appears where gospel witness confronts deceptive influence.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
John commands believers to test the spirits because many false prophets have gone out. The word grounds congregational discernment in apostolic Christ confession.
But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
The false prophet is captured with the beast after deceiving those marked by the beast. The title marks anti-Christ deception joined to idolatrous power.
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The devil, beast, and false prophet share final judgment. Revelation shows the end of spiritual deception under God's justice.
The vocabulary of false prophecy in the OT uses בְּנְבִיא שָׁקֶר (false prophet) and cognates, which the LXX sometimes renders with ψευδοπροφήτης. The concept has deep OT roots: Deuteronomy 13 and 18 establish the criteria for identifying false prophets (the prophet whose words do not come true, or who leads Israel after other gods), and Jeremiah battles a sustained conflict with prophets who announce peace when God has announced judgment. Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:15 draws on that entire tradition.
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. One who claims prophetic authority but speaks falsehoods, deceiving believers about God's will.
One who claims prophetic authority but speaks falsehoods, deceiving believers about God's will.
a false prophet (= cl. ψευδόμαντις): Mat.7:15 24:11, 24, Mrk.13:22 (see Swete, in l), Luk.6:26, Act.13:6, 2Pe.2:1, 1Jn.4:1, Rev.16:13 19:20 20:10
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
11 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
Read versea false prophet
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 6 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 11 lexical occurrence verses.
ψευδοπροφήτης is built from these roots:
Identifies deceptive covenant leadership opposed to Christ. Matthew 7:15–20
Pseudoprophetes is a word for dangerous spiritual deception, not ordinary fallibility. Jesus warns that the danger can wear sheep's clothing, which means outward religious softness does not settle the matter. He also warns that signs and wonders can be used to deceive, so spectacle must bow to truth. Acts shows false prophecy resisting mission, while First John gives churches a practical command: test the spirits, especially by the confession of Christ.
Revelation then portrays the false prophet as an end-stage deceiver allied with beastly power and destined for judgment. The word therefore calls the church to serious discernment with humble restraint. It protects the flock from wolves without authorizing suspicion as a way of life.
Matthew 7:15
Pseudoprophetes combines the false or lying prefix pseudo with prophetes, prophet. The compound names a counterfeit prophetic figure, not simply a person who lacks complete knowledge.
The Old Testament repeatedly warns against prophets who speak falsely in the Lord's name. The New Testament continues that concern by centering discernment on Jesus Christ, apostolic truth, fruit, and final allegiance.
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