tempt

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(hold). Ordinarily, the offering of an inducement to do wrong (Matt. 4:1-11¹Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. ²And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. ³And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. ⁴But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ⁵Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, ⁶And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. ⁷Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. ⁸Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; ⁹And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. ¹⁰Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. ¹¹Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (Matthew 4:1‑11); Luke 4:13¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luke 4:13)); but a trial of one’s faith (Gen. 22:1¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (Genesis 22:1); James 1:2-3²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (James 1:2‑3)); trial of God’s patience (Ex. 17:2²Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? (Exodus 17:2); 1 Cor. 10:9⁹Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. (1 Corinthians 10:9)); an effort to ensnare (Matt. 16:1; 19:3; 22:18¹The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. (Matthew 16:1)
³The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? (Matthew 19:3)
¹⁸But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? (Matthew 22:18); Mark 10:2²And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. (Mark 10:2); Luke 10:25²⁵And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (Luke 10:25)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

Three different characters of temptation are presented in the scriptures.

1. “God did tempt Abraham” when He bade him offer up Isaac (Gen. 22:1¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (Genesis 22:1)). God tried him, putting his faith to the test. Paul speaks of his thorn in the flesh as his “temptation:” it was a trial or test (Gal. 4:14¹⁴And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. (Galatians 4:14)).

2. The Israelites tempted God. “They tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust” (Psa. 78:18¹⁸And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. (Psalm 78:18)). They questioned whether God could furnish them a table in the wilderness. At other times they asked “Is the Lord among us or not?” but it is to be noticed that when Israel put God to the proof, they were really proved by Him. Compare Psalm 95:9⁹When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. (Psalm 95:9) with Deuteronomy 8:2²And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (Deuteronomy 8:2) and Deuteronomy 33:8⁸And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; (Deuteronomy 33:8) (where “holy one” is Israel). The Lord refused to put God to the proof when tempted by Satan to cast Himself down that the angels might preserve Him. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was tempting the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9⁹Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. (Acts 5:9)).

3. Temptation to evil, either by Satan, or by our own lusts (2 Cor. 11:3³But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3); James 1:13-14¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ¹⁴But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (James 1:13‑14)).

Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words:

Number:

1598 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Greek:

ἐκπειράζω

Transliteration:

ekpeirazo

Phonic:

ek-pi-rad’-zo

Meaning:

from 1537 and 3985; to test thoroughly

KJV Usage:

tempt