πλεονεκτέω

From the study of 2 Corinthians 2:11

Range of meaning

From pleon 'more' + echō 'have': (1) to have more than others or get the upper hand; (2) to take advantage of someone, exploit or defraud them, usually by greed or trickery. The related noun pleonexia is the standard Greek word for greed or covetousness, the urge to have more at someone else's expense.

Against the English

BSB and NIV 'outwit' and NLT 'outsmart' stress cleverness, as if Satan were winning a battle of wits. KJV 'get an advantage of us' and NASB/WEB 'advantage … be taken' keep the idea of gain at someone's expense. 'Outwit' is not wrong, because trickery is part of the picture, but it loses the greed, the sense of a rival grabbing what is yours.

How it drifted

Translators chose 'outwit' to fit the next clause about 'schemes'. That pulls the verb toward intellect, while Greek readers heard acquisitiveness in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paul uses the verb only in 2 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians. In 2 Cor 7:2 he writes 'we have taken advantage of no one', and in 12:17–18 he asks 'Did I take advantage of you?' (about money and the collection). In 1 Thess 4:6 it is used of wronging a brother in sexual matters. Classical and papyrus usage includes overreaching or defrauding in business and getting the upper hand in war (BDAG; LSJ). In the LXX the cognate pleonexia means unjust gain (e.g. Ps 119:36 LXX 118:36; Jer 22:17).

From the study of 1 Thessalonians 4:6

Range of meaning

From pleon ("more") + echō ("have"): to have more than others, to gain an advantage, and from there to take advantage of, cheat, or exploit someone for one's own gain. The related noun pleonexia means grasping greed, the desire to have more at others' expense (BDAG).

Against the English

KJV/YLT "defraud" and BSB "exploit" both catch the idea of gain at another's loss. "Defraud" makes modern readers think of money and deception. ESV/NIV-type "wrong" or "take advantage of" are broader and lose the picture of grabbing more than one's share.

How it drifted

"Defraud" in modern English has narrowed to financial or legal deception. In 1611 it could still mean depriving someone of what is theirs in any sphere.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Hellenistic Greek for overreaching and getting the better of someone. In Paul: 2 Cor 2:11 (Satan "outwitting" us), 2 Cor 7:2; 12:17–18 (taking advantage of the church). The noun pleonexia is paired again and again with sexual sin in early Christian lists: Eph 4:19; 5:3, 5; Col 3:5. Hellenistic moralists also treated sexual excess as a form of pleonexia, wanting more than one's due.

From the study of 2 Corinthians 7:2

Range of meaning

From pleon, 'more', and echō, 'to have': to have or get more than one's share; to gain an advantage over someone; to outwit, exploit, defraud. The related noun pleonexia, 'greed, grasping for more', appears in New Testament vice lists (Rom 1:29; Col 3:5).

Against the English

KJV 'defrauded' sounds like a specific legal offence (cheating someone out of money or property), which is part of the meaning but too narrow. BSB 'exploited' and WEB 'took advantage of' come closest to the broader idea of profiting at someone else's expense.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament the verb is almost all Paul's: 2 Cor 2:11 (so that Satan may not 'outwit' us), 7:2, 12:17–18 (twice: 'Did I take advantage of you through any of those I sent? … Titus did not take advantage of you, did he?'), and 1 Thess 4:6. In 1 Thess 2:5 Paul says he did not come with 'a pretext for greed' (pleonexia). Writers of the time who criticised travelling teachers for being in it for the money used the same vocabulary of greed.