Greek word · G1748
ἐνεδρεύω
enedreuō
to ambush
To lie in ambush, to lie in wait with hostile intent, and by extension to plot against someone. Built on the idea of sitting concealed (compare the noun ἐνέδρα, "an ambush"). BDAG gives "lie in wait, plot."
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἐνεδρεύω
(ἐνέδρα), [in LXX chiefly for אָרַב ;]
to lie in wait for: with accusative of person(s), Luke 11:54, Acts 23:21.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To lie in ambush, to lie in wait with hostile intent, and by extension to plot against someone. Built on the idea of sitting concealed (compare the noun ἐνέδρα, "an ambush"). BDAG gives "lie in wait, plot."
- Against the English
KJV, YLT, WEB and ESV keep the picture ("laying wait," "lying in wait"). NASB moves to the plain sense ("plotting against"). BSB and NIV say only "waiting," which removes both the hiding and the hostility from the word itself, leaving "to catch" to carry the whole idea.
- How it drifted
No historical shift in the word. The loss comes from a translation choice, likely for smooth modern English: "waiting" reads easily but is far milder than the Greek.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Its only other New Testament use is by the same author, in Acts 23:21, where more than forty men are lying in ambush to kill Paul. In the Greek Old Testament it describes a man who hates his neighbour and lies in wait to strike him (Deuteronomy 19:11) and God pictured as a bear lying in wait (Lamentations 3:10). Wisdom of Solomon 2:12 has the wicked say, "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man," because he reproaches them for sins against the law. Josephus regularly uses the noun for military ambushes.
Where it appears
Luke · 1
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Luke 11:54 ἐνεδρεύοντες watching
waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
Here: The scribes and Pharisees of verse 53 are lying in ambush for Jesus. This is a hostile, deliberate concealment, and the present-tense form pictures it as ongoing rather than a single moment.
Acts · 1
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Acts 23:21 ἐνεδρεύουσιν Lie in wait
Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.