Greek word · G3815
παίζω
paizō
to play
From pais, 'child'. 'To play like a child'. Also to sport, jest, amuse oneself, dance, perform music. In festival settings it means the dancing and merrymaking of a celebration (in Homer, Odyssey 8.251, dancers are told to 'play', i.e. dance).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
παίζω
(παῖς), [in LXX: Genesis 21:9 26:8, Exodus 32:6 (צָחַק pi.); and more frequently (Judges 16:25, al.) for (שָׂחַק pi. ;]
prop., to play as a child, hence, generally, to play (as with singing and dancing) : 1 Corinthians 10:7 (LXX) (cf. ἐμ-παίζω).†
(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 1 Corinthians 10:7
- Range of meaning
From pais, 'child'. 'To play like a child'. Also to sport, jest, amuse oneself, dance, perform music. In festival settings it means the dancing and merrymaking of a celebration (in Homer, Odyssey 8.251, dancers are told to 'play', i.e. dance).
- Against the English
KJV/ESV/WEB 'play' is literal but sounds harmless to modern readers: games, recreation, children playing. BSB and NIV 'indulge in revelry' and NLT 'pagan revelry' capture the festive, unrestrained, cultic character better, though they lose the simple, ironic word of the original.
- How it drifted
In 1611 English 'play' could still mean sport, dalliance, and festive or erotic revelry. Today it has narrowed toward innocent recreation.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Exodus 32:6 the Greek Old Testament uses paizein to translate Hebrew letsaḥeq (from tsaḥaq, 'laugh, jest, make sport'). In the same story the noise of the camp is singing, and Moses sees 'the calf and the dancing' (Exod 32:18–19). The Hebrew verb carries sexual overtones elsewhere: Isaac 'fondling' Rebekah (Gen 26:8), and Potiphar's wife's accusation (Gen 39:14, 17). It is also used of mocking (Gen 21:9). Rabbinic tradition (Tosefta Sotah 6:6; Genesis Rabbah 53:11) read tsaḥaq as covering idolatry, sexual immorality and bloodshed. The Greek verb and its relatives are also used for David dancing before the LORD (2 Sam 6:5, 21) and for Samson made to 'entertain' the Philistines (Judg 16:25).
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
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1 Corinthians 10:7 παίζειν. to play.
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
Here: Festive revelry: dancing, singing and carousing around the calf (Exod 32:18–19 mentions singing and dancing). Jewish readers also heard sexual overtones in the Hebrew word behind it. Not harmless 'play' in the modern sense, but the celebratory part of an idol festival.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.