[B-Greek] PNEUMASI PLANOIS "seducing spirits" in 1 Tim. 4:1
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Aug 20 03:30:18 EDT 2006
>
> 1 Tim 4:1 contains the expression
> PNEUMASI PLANOIS
>
> English translations render PNEUMASI PLANOIS variously as
> "seducing spirits" (KJV ASV Young Webster HNV etc)
> or as "lying / deceiving / deceitful spirits" (NLT NIV NASB etc)
>
> Two questions:
> 1. The more common sense of PLANOS appears to be "deceiving; causing
> to go astray, etc". Fine. Is there any justification for
> understanding PLANOS in the "sexual" sense of seduction, or is that
> only an accident of English translation?
It is not so much a translation problem as an interpretational accident based on assuming that the English language at
the time of the KJV is the same as today. "Seduce" (from Latin: seducere) at the time did mean "lead astray" (in
Biblical context: from the truth), but has shifted focus over the centuries. There are many such semantic shifts in
English and other languages when you look at the development over a few centuries. I am afraid you have been seduced by
reading the KJV and similar Old-English versions.
Iver Larsen
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