Greek word · G1185

δελεάζω

deleazō

to entice

To bait, lure with bait, entice. From delear, 'bait' put on a hook or in a trap. Used figuratively for seducing someone with something attractive.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

δελεάζω

(δέλεαρ, a bait),

to allure by a bait: metaphorically, to allure, entice: with accusative, 2 Peter 2:14, 18; pass., James 1:14.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To bait, lure with bait, entice. From delear, 'bait' put on a hook or in a trap. Used figuratively for seducing someone with something attractive.
Against the English: 'Enticed' (all major versions) is accurate. It loses only the concrete picture of a baited hook or trap, which the first readers would have heard.
Used elsewhere in the period: It occurs three times in the New Testament: here, and in 2 Pet 2:14 and 2:18, where false teachers 'entice unsteady souls' with fleshly desires. Philo regularly uses the language of bait for pleasure. Plato, Timaeus 69d: pleasure is 'the greatest bait (delear) of evil'.

Range of meaning: "To lure with bait", from delear, "bait". Used literally of fishing and trapping, and figuratively of enticing someone into harm. In the New Testament it appears only in James 1:14 and 2 Peter 2:14 and 18.
Against the English: "Beguiling" (KJV), "enticing" (WEB, YLT), "seduce" (BSB). All are correct but lose the hook-and-bait picture. "Seduce" can narrow it to sexual seduction, but the bait in 2:18–19 is "freedom" and appeals to the flesh in general.
Used elsewhere in the period: Plato calls pleasure "the greatest bait of evil" (Timaeus 69d), and Philo often uses the word for pleasure luring the soul. James 1:14 pairs it with "dragged off": desire works like a hook.

Range of meaning: To bait, lure with bait, catch by enticement. From δέλεαρ, 'bait'. It is a fishing and hunting word that came to be used for any seduction by pleasure.
Against the English: 'Entice' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) and 'allure' (KJV) are correct but lose the picture of a hook hidden inside something attractive.
Used elsewhere in the period: Plato called pleasure 'the greatest bait of evil' (Timaeus 69d), and Philo often uses δελεάζω and δέλεαρ for pleasure as bait. In the New Testament it appears only here, in 2:14 ('baiting unstable souls') and in James 1:14 (each person is 'dragged off and baited' by his own desire).

James · 1

James 1:14 δελεαζόμενος· being enticed;

But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

Here: Present passive participle from delear, 'bait'. Literally 'being baited': caught by something attractive that hides a hook or trap. The enticement works by making the forbidden thing look desirable.

2 Peter · 2

2 Peter 2:14 δελεάζοντες enticing

Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

Here: From delear, "bait". These teachers dangle a bait in front of people as a fisherman or trapper does. The present tense shows they are doing it all the time.
2 Peter 2:18 δελεάζουσιν they entice

With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

Here: The main verb, in the present tense: an ongoing activity. The word comes from δέλεαρ, 'bait', and pictures a fisherman or trapper putting something tasty on the hook.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.