Guile
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
Guile is the usual translation of δόλος (Lat. dolus ), which, meant first ‘a bait for fish’ ( Od. xii. 259), and then, in the abstract, ‘wile,’ ‘craft,’ ‘deceit.’ Guile is traced to the workings of that ‘abandoned mind’ which is itself the punishment, natural and in a sense automatic, of those who reject God ( Romans 1:29). The guile which characterized Jacob the Jew as well as Ulysses the Greek was indeed often admired as a national trait by which duller races could be outwitted. But it is one of the unmistakable marks of a Christian convert that he puts away all guile, and, like a new-born babe, desires the milk that is without guile (ἅδολον γάλα, 1 Peter 2:2). Henceforth be refrains his lips that they speak no guile ( 1 Peter 3:10). People who are themselves guileful find it difficult to believe that anybody can be disinterested, and St. Paul the Apostle (like many a modern missionary) was often supposed to be cunningly seeking some personal ends. ‘Being crafty, I caught them with guile’ ( 2 Corinthians 12:16), is a sentence in which he catches up some wiseacre’s criticism of his actions, and gives it a new turn. His own conscience was clear; his ‘guile’ as a soul-winner was not only innocent but praiseworthy. His exhortation (παράκλησις, evangelical preaching’) was not of error nor (in any bad sense) in guile ( 1 Thessalonians 2:3); ho was neither deceived nor deceiver, neither fool nor knave. But he had not infrequently encountered men of the latter type. Bar-Jesus the Magian, who tried to undermine his influence at the court of Sergius Paulus ( Acts 13:8), was actuated by a mad jealousy, realizing as he did that the position which he had skilfully won was fast becoming insecure. Driven to his wits’ end, and seeing that exposure was imminent, he felt the ground shaking beneath his feet. His punishment had a Dantesque appropriateness. ‘Full of all guile,’ he was yet made a spectacle of pitiful impotence; ‘there fell on him a, mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand’ Acts 13:10-11).
James Strahan.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [2]
"a bait, snare, deceit," is rendered "guile" in John 1:47 , negatively of Nathanael; Acts 13:10 , RV, AV, "subtlety" (of Bar-Jesus); 2—Corinthians 12:16 , in a charge made against Paul by his detractors, of catching the Corinthian converts by "guile" (the Apostle is apparently quoting the language of his critics); 1—Thessalonians 2:3 , negatively, of the teaching of the Apostle and his fellow missionaries; 1—Peter 2:1 , of that from which Christians are to be free; 1—Peter 2:22 , of the guileless speech of Christ (cp. Guileless No. 2); 1—Peter 3:10 , of the necessity that the speech of Christians should be guileless. See also Matthew 26:4; Mark 7:22; 14:1 . See Craft , Deceit , SUBTLETY.
Revelation 14:5
Holman Bible Dictionary [3]
Genesis 27:35 John 1:47 John 1:51 Genesis 28:12 1 Peter 2:22 Romans 16:19 1 Peter 2:1
King James Dictionary [4]
GUILE, n. gile. Craft cunning artifice duplicity deceit usually in a bad sense.
We may, with more successful hope, resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal war.
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. John 1
GUILE, To disguise craftily.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [5]
gı̄l ( מרמה , mirmāh ; δόλος , dólos ): "Guile" is twice the translation of mirmāh , "fraud," "deceit" ( Psalm 34:13 , "Keep ... thy lips from speaking guile"; Psalm 55:11 , "deceit and guile," the Revised Version (British and American) "oppression (margin "fraud") and guile"); once of ‛ormāh , "craftiness," "guile" ( Exodus 21:14 ); once of remı̄yāh , "deception," "fraud" ( Psalm 32:2 , "in whose spirit there is no guile"); in the New Testament of dolos , "bait," hence, generally, "fraud," "guile," "deceit"; Septuagint for mirmāh ( Isaiah 53:9 , English Versions of the Bible "deceit") and for remı̄yāh ( Job 13:7 , English Versions of the Bible "deceitfully"; John 1:47; 2 Corinthians 12:16 , "Being crafty, I caught you with guile"; 1 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Peter 2:1; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 Peter 3:10 , quoted from Psalm 34:13; Revelation 14:5 , "In their mouth was found no guile," the Revised Version (British and American) after corrected text, "no lie").
Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:16 have sometimes been quoted in justification of "guile" in religious work, etc.; but he is not describing his actual procedure; but that which the Corinthians might have attributed to him; the lips of the Christian must be kept free from all guile ( Psalm 34:13; 1 Peter 2:1 , etc.; The Wisdom of Solomon 1:5 "A holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit" ( dolos ), the Revised Version (British and American) "A holy spirit"). "Guile" does not appear in Apocrypha; dolos is frequently rendered "deceit."
The Revised Version (British and American) has "guile" for "subtilty" ( Genesis 27:35; Acts 13:10 ); "cover itself with guile" for "is covered by deceit" ( Proverbs 26:26 ); "with guile" for "deceitfully" ( Genesis 34:13 ); "spiritual milk which is without guile" for "sincere milk of the word," the English Revised Version, margin "reasonable," the American Revised Version, margin, Greek "belonging to the reason" (compare Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:2 ); "guileless" for "harmless" ( Hebrews 7:26 ).
