What Does Mark 13:5 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word behind “deceive” pictures being led off course, so the danger is not only a false claim but a voice that redirects your path.
THE MEANING
This verse meets the reader where a confident voice can redirect attention before its claim is recognized as false. It presents deception as something another person can do to you, so error is not always a private failure of judgment. Jesus’ warning names the danger wherever a voice competes to define what is true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that deception is only a private mistake: the verse says another person can actively lead you astray.
THE ROOT
πλανήσῃ
planēsē
GROWS FROM
πλαν
To wander or stray; to lead someone astray.
The verb frames deception as movement away from a path, with another person capable of setting that movement in motion. English “deceive” can sound like a wrong idea accepted in the mind, while the Greek also carries the image of being led astray.
ALSO GROWS
planē: Wandering, error, or delusion.
πλάνη
This noun shows deception as a course that has drifted from what is true.
planos: A wanderer or deceiver.
πλάνος
The deceiver is named through the same image: one who strays or leads others astray.
יֵשׁוּעַ
Yēšūaʿ
GROWS FROM
ישע
To deliver, bring out of danger, or make spacious.
The name carries deliverance as his nature, not merely an action he performs. Being led astray narrows a person’s way, while the nature carried in Jesus’ name is deliverance toward spaciousness.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuʿah: Deliverance.
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun shares the name’s root and makes its deliverance meaning explicit.
mōšîaʿ: One who delivers; a deliverer.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
This word from the same root links the name to the one who brings people out.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents deception as misdirection, whether it comes through another voice or through the self, and places discernment in examining what is heard.
The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.Mark uses the πλαν- word family for being led astray; John uses the same verb when some say Jesus “deceiveth the people.” The shared root shows that the label of deception can itself enter a dispute over who is leading people astray.
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