ψευδάδελφος

From the study of Galatians 2:4

Range of meaning

A compound of pseudo- ('false, lying, sham') and adelphos ('brother'): someone who passes as a brother but is not one, an impostor in the family. In early Christian use 'brother' meant a fellow member of the community of Jesus' followers, a fictive kinship that carried real family duties: hospitality, loyalty, sharing at table.

Against the English

'False brothers' (BSB, ESV, NASB, WEB) and 'false brethren' (KJV) are accurate. NIV's 'false believers' is gender-inclusive but loses the family picture: Paul is accusing them of being fake kin, not only of holding wrong beliefs. NLT's 'so-called believers… false ones, really' explains the label but loses the compound's punch.

How it drifted

Little real drift. A modern reader may hear 'fake Christians' or 'hypocrites' in the sense of insincerity. Paul's charge is not mainly that they were insincere. In his view their message about circumcision put them outside the family the gospel creates. They very likely saw themselves as sincere believers in Jesus (compare Acts 15:5, 'believers from the party of the Pharisees').

Used elsewhere in the period

Very rare. In the NT it occurs only here and in 2 Cor 11:26, where Paul lists 'dangers among false brothers' with dangers from robbers and the sea. It does not appear in the LXX (the Greek Old Testament). It fits a family of early Christian pseudo- compounds: pseudoprophētēs (false prophet), pseudapostolos (false apostle, 2 Cor 11:13), pseudodidaskalos (false teacher, 2 Pet 2:1), pseudochristos (false messiah, Mark 13:22).

From the study of 2 Corinthians 11:26

Range of meaning

'False brother': someone who claims membership in the family of believers but is not truly one of them, or acts as an enemy within. The word is built from pseud- ('false') and adelphos ('brother').

Against the English

KJV/NASB 'false brethren', BSB/ESV 'false brothers' and NIV 'false believers' are all accurate in content. 'False believers' drops the family metaphor that gives the betrayal its sting. NLT's paraphrase (people who claim to be believers but are not) is clear but loses the kinship picture too.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is not found before Paul. It occurs only here and in Galatians 2:4 ('false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom'). In this same chapter Paul coins its partner pseudapostoloi, 'false apostles' (11:13). Early communities called each other 'brothers' and 'sisters'. Membership meant a new, fictive kinship (a family by commitment rather than birth), with its duties of loyalty.