πανουργίαpanourgía
adroitness, i.e. (in a bad sense) trickery or sophistry
Greek (New Testament) · G3834
Meanings
cleverness, in classical Greek nearly always in bad sense, craftiness, cunning, knavery: Luke 20:23, 1 Corinthians 3:19 (LXX, φρόνησις, for עׇרְמָה) 2 Corinthians 4:2, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 4:14.
Same root
Where it appears
Appears 5 times in the Bible.
- Luke 20:23 He saw through their trickery and said,
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
- Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Source: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), public domain.