Exploring the Meaning of Peirasmos in Greek

πειρασμός describes a situation of temptation or testing, where a person is put under pressure in a way that exposes weakness or proves endurance. In the passages where it appears here, it ranges from a prayer that asks to be kept from such an encounter to narratives and letters that speak of enduring it in real circumstances.

Occurrences

“Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’” (Matthew 6:13)

Here πειρασμός is framed as a dangerous threshold—something one might “enter into” unless God restrains the path. The line pairs “temptation” with the plea for deliverance “from the evil one,” so the word functions as an arena of exposure where harm is possible and rescue is sought.

“Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

In this warning, πειρασμός is not treated as a mere inner feeling but as a condition one can “enter into,” implying a moment or season that overtakes a person. The contrast between “the spirit…willing” and “the flesh…weak” shows why vigilance and prayer are urged: temptation/testing meets human vulnerability at the level of embodied weakness.

“Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)

Mark repeats the same instruction and rationale, reinforcing πειρασμός as a scenario requiring active resistance rather than passive hope. The word sits inside a pastoral directive—“Watch and pray”—so its contribution is to name the peril that makes such alertness necessary.

“When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.” (Luke 4:13)

In Luke’s narrative, πειρασμός is pluralized in effect (“every temptation”) and portrayed as a completed sequence with a personal agent behind it (“the devil”). The departure “until another time” casts temptation/testing as recurrent: it can be pressed, withdrawn, and renewed, rather than being a single, once-for-all event.

“Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.” (Luke 8:13)

Here πειρασμός is a “time” that reveals what is beneath initial enthusiasm. The contrast between joyful reception and rootlessness makes temptation/testing the moment that discloses durability: some “believe for a while,” but under this pressure they “fall away.” The word therefore marks a proving moment that tests whether belief has depth.

“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ ” (Luke 11:4)

In this prayer, πειρασμός stands alongside requests for forgiveness and reciprocal mercy. The petition asks not to be brought “into” it, again treating temptation/testing as an environment one may enter. Joined with deliverance from “the evil one,” it is pictured as a spiritually hazardous setting that calls for God’s protective guidance.

“But you are those who have continued with me in my trials.” (Luke 22:28)

Here πειρασμός is rendered as “trials” and is located in shared experience: “continued with me in my trials.” The word contributes the idea of pressure endured over time, not merely a momentary enticement. Loyalty is measured by persistence alongside someone undergoing testing.

“When he was at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.”” (Luke 22:40)

In this scene, the imperative “Pray” is tightly linked to the danger of “enter[ing] into” πειρασμός. The word marks what prayer is meant to avert: not simply discomfort, but a testing situation that can engulf disciples unless they seek help beforehand.

“and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”” (Luke 22:46)

Sleepiness and prayerlessness are placed over against readiness for πειρασμός. “Rise and pray” implies urgency; temptation/testing is near enough that physical drowsiness becomes spiritually consequential. The word functions as a looming crisis that demands wakeful dependence rather than self-confidence.

“serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;” (Acts 20:19)

In Acts, πειρασμός appears as “trials” linked to concrete opposition—“plots of the Jews”—and to Paul’s emotional cost—“many tears.” The word here contributes the sense of testing as lived hardship encountered in ministry, where external hostility becomes the pressure that tests a servant’s perseverance and humility.

“No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

This statement treats πειρασμός as something that can “take” a person—an experience that seizes or overtakes—yet it is also bounded: it is “common to man,” and it has limits set by God’s faithfulness. The verse adds two key features to the word’s contribution: temptation/testing is endurable (“what you are able”) and it is accompanied by a “way of escape,” not necessarily removing the pressure but enabling endurance “with the temptation.”

“That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn’t despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 4:14)

Here πειρασμός is connected to Paul’s embodied condition (“in my flesh”) and to the Galatians’ response: they might have “despise[d]” or “reject[ed]” him, but they did not. The word contributes the idea of a testing moment for a community—an occasion that could have provoked scorn or refusal—yet instead became an occasion of welcome and honor.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, πειρασμός consistently names a pressure-filled encounter that exposes what a person or group will do. In the prayers of Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, it is treated as a realm one can be led into, so the request is preventative: the speaker seeks God’s guidance so that the path does not run into a spiritually dangerous test. Those same prayers join the request with deliverance “from the evil one,” which places temptation/testing in a context where personal evil can be involved and where rescue is needed, not merely advice.

In the watch-and-pray warnings (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40; Luke 22:46), πειρασμός is imminent, and the decisive issue is readiness. The phrase “enter into temptation” presents it as a doorway into a situation, and the repeated coupling of prayer with alertness shows the expected response: dependence, vigilance, and refusal to drift. The explanation “the flesh is weak” gives the internal reason why this testing is perilous; πειρασμός meets not only external circumstance but also human frailty.

Luke 4:13 portrays temptation/testing as something an adversary can press in multiple forms (“every temptation”), and the narrative note “until another time” gives it a cyclical character. The word therefore does not imply a single, isolated event; it can return, demanding sustained resistance. Luke 8:13 shifts the focus from the tempted individual to the durability of reception to “the word.” There πειρασμός is the season that reveals whether joy has become rooted faith or whether belief will collapse under strain.

Elsewhere, πειρασμός names hardships borne in ministry and relationships. In Acts 20:19 it is tied to plots and tears, showing testing as affliction that comes through opposition and leaves real emotional marks, yet is endured in “serving the Lord.” In Luke 22:28, it is something shared—“my trials”—and the defining mark of the faithful is that they “continued” through them. Galatians 4:14 uses the word for a relational test triggered by Paul’s bodily condition; the community’s response could have failed, but it did not. Finally, 1 Corinthians 10:13 places πειρασμός under the assurance of God’s faithfulness: temptation/testing is neither unique nor limitless, and endurance is possible because a “way of escape” accompanies it, making steadfastness a realistic outcome rather than a mere ideal.

Imagery in Context

The recurring picture is spatial and temporal: πειρασμός is a place one might “enter,” and it can be a “time” that arrives and reveals what is true. It can “take” someone, it can be “completed,” and it can return “until another time.” Whether experienced as spiritual assault, community pressure, physical weakness, or hostile plotting, the word gathers these scenes under one idea: a testing encounter that threatens failure but can also be endured through watchfulness, prayer, and God’s sustaining faithfulness.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).