Greek word · G2990

λανθάνω

lanthanō

be hidden

To escape notice, be hidden, be unknown. Joined to a participle, it forms a classical idiom: 'to do something without being aware of it' (literally, 'to escape notice doing it').

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

λανθάνω

[in LXX for עָלַם ni., etc. ;]

to escape notice, be hidden (from): Mark 7:24, Luke 8:47; with accusative of person(s), Acts 26:26, 2 Peter 3:5 3:8; as in common cl. idiom, before ptcp., ἔλαθον ξενίσαντες, entertained unawares, Hebrews 13:2 (cf. ἐκ-, ἐπι-λανθάνω).†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 13:2

Range of meaning

To escape notice, be hidden, be unknown. Joined to a participle, it forms a classical idiom: 'to do something without being aware of it' (literally, 'to escape notice doing it').

Against the English

KJV 'unawares', BSB/WEB/NASB 'without knowing it', NLT 'without realizing it'. All correctly turn the idiom into an adverb. What they lose is the Greek wordplay with epilanthanesthe ('forget') and the polish of the construction.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical Greek (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon). Grammars such as BDF §414 note this verse as the NT's only instance of the full classical lanthanō + participle idiom. The verb itself appears elsewhere in the NT (Mark 7:24; Luke 8:47; Acts 26:26; 2 Peter 3:5, 8).

From the study of 2 Peter 3:8

Range of meaning

To escape notice, be hidden from, go unnoticed. Its typical Greek pattern is "X escapes (the notice of) person Y". It can also mean doing something without being noticed. In the New Testament: Mark 7:24, Luke 8:47, Acts 26:26, Heb 13:2 ("some have entertained angels unawares").

Against the English

KJV: "be not ignorant of". NIV/WEB: "do not forget". ESV: "do not overlook". NASB/BSB: "escape your notice". "Forget" suggests memory failure, but the Greek is about attention: something in plain view slipping past you. "Escape your notice" stays closest to the Greek.

How it drifted

KJV's "ignorant" meant simply "unaware" in 1611. Today "ignorant" usually suggests ill-educated or boorish, which is not the idea.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical and Hellenistic Greek, constantly, e.g. Homer onward, "it escaped him that…". In 2 Peter 3:5 the scoffers "deliberately" (thelontas, "willing it") let it escape them that the world was made and flooded by God's word. BDAG s.v. λανθάνω.

From the study of Mark 7:24

Range of meaning

To escape notice, be unseen, remain hidden or unknown; with another verb, to do something without being noticed.

Against the English

KJV/YLT "be hid" makes him sound passively concealed. BSB/WEB "escape notice" better matches the Greek, which is about other people noticing or not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical Greek; compare Epicurus' famous maxim lathe biōsas, "live unnoticed". In the New Testament: Luke 8:47 (the woman with the bleeding "saw that she had not escaped notice"), Acts 26:26 ("none of these things has escaped his notice"), Hebrews 13:2 (some "entertained angels without knowing it").

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 7:24 λαθεῖν. to be hidden.

    Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice.

    Here: "To go unnoticed" or "to stay hidden". The verb is about escaping other people's notice, and it leads straight into verse 25, where a local woman has already "heard about him".

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 8:47 ἔλαθεν, she was hid,

    Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 26:26 λανθάνειν Hiding

    For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak freely to him. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 13:2 ἔλαθόν unawares

    Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

    Here: 'They escaped notice' or 'it was hidden from them.' Joined to the participle that follows, it is a classical Greek idiom meaning 'they did X without realizing it.' Aorist (simple past): it points to specific past events.

2 Peter · 2

  1. 2 Peter 3:5 λανθάνει It is concealed from

    But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

    Here: Present tense: 'it slips past them.' Greek says the fact escapes the people, rather than 'they forget'. The present tense makes this a continuing blind spot, not a single lapse of memory.

  2. 2 Peter 3:8 λανθανέτω should be hidden from

    Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

    Here: "Let it not escape your notice." The form is a present-tense command in the third person, so it means something ongoing: don't let this keep slipping past you. It is the same verb used of the scoffers in v. 5, who *willingly* let the truth escape them.

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