noun · masculine
peirasmos
Strong’sG3986
trial, testing, temptation
stem peirasm-21 times in the New Testamentin 12 of 27 books6 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
πειρασμός means a trial or testing — the experience of being put to the test, whether through hardship, affliction, or difficult circumstances 1234. This can be a neutral or even good experience, such as trials or sufferings that reveal or prove character, including afflictions understood as sent by God 1; it also covers the act of putting God to the test through demanding proof from him 1. Strong's adds that this putting-to-proof can carry the sense of experience gained through hardship, or of adversity itself 2. LSJ separately notes a sense of worry 3.
πειρασμός also means temptation — a trial viewed as an enticement toward wrongdoing, an inducement to sin 1234. This includes solicitation to sin generally, and specifically the temptation of a person by the devil 12.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
† πειρασμός, -οῦ, ὁ
(< πειράζω), [in LXX for מַסָּה, עִנְיָן;]
SYN.: δοκίμιον.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3986 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpi-ras-mos'
a putting to proof (by experiment (of good), experience (of evil), solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity
Fromfrom G3985;
King Jamestemptation, X try.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
trial, LXX+NT; οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν παθῶν π. Refs 1st c.AD+
2 worry, LXX
II temptation,LXX+NT
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | peirasmos1×πειρασμὸς | peirasmois |
| object accusative | peirasmon11×πειρασμόν | peirasmoin |
| direct address vocative | peirasmor | peirasmoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | peirasmou4×πειρασμοῦ | peirasmoiu1×πειρασμῶν |
| to, for dative | peirasmo1×πειρασμῷ | peirasmoi3×πειρασμοῖς |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
peirasmo is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
21 occurrences, every one of them listed
peirasmos“temptation”subjectnominative singular1×
1 Corinthians 10:13peirasmos vin ouk labatē ei mē anthrōpinos; …No temptation has seized you except what is …
peirasmon“temptation”objectaccusative singular11×
Matthew 6:13kai mē eisferaseia nin eis peirasmon, alla ruesar nin apo teu ponēreu.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil …
Matthew 26:41… kai proseuchovōr, hina mē eiserchaveia eis peirasmon; tem men pneumem prothumem tas de …… that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but …
Mark 14:38… kai proseuchovōr, hina mē erchaveia eis peirasmon; tem men pneumem prothumem tas de …… that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but …
Luke 4:13kai suntelarantos panton peirasmon tos diabolos apostēata apo autou achri …When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune …
Luke 11:4… ni; kai mē eisferaseia nin eis peirasmon.… us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Luke 22:40… legata autoi; Proseuchovōr mē eiserchara eis peirasmon.… that you will not enter into temptation.”
Luke 22:46… anastēarantois proseuchovōr, hina mē eiserchaveia eis peirasmon.… that you will not enter into temptation.”
Galatians 4:14kai ton peirasmon vu en ta sarka mu ouk …And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise …
1 Timothy 6:9tois de boulorōntois ploutarō empiptalō eis peirasmon kai pagidan kai epithumiain pollain anoētain …… to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish …
James 1:12Makarios andros hos hupomenatō peirasmon, hoti dokimos generantos labeti ton stefanon …… is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the …
1 Peter 4:12“test”… xenizovōr ta en vi purōsia pros peirasmon vi genorōnta hōs xeneu vi sumbainarōnteu,… not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
peirasmou“testing”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Luke 8:13… pros kairon pisteualō kai en kairo peirasmou apostēolō.… season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
Hebrews 3:8… to parapikrasmo, kata tan hēmeran tou peirasmou en ta erēma,… the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
2 Peter 2:9oidatē kurios euseboin ek peirasmou ruorō, adikoin de eis hēmeran krisiau …… how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for …
Revelation 3:10“trial”… sin tērami ek tau hōrau tou peirasmou tau mellarōntau erchorō epi tau oikoumenau …… will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
peirasmo“temptation”to, fordative singular1×
1 Corinthians 10:13“temptation”… hem dunovō, alla poiati sun to peirasmo kai tan ekbasian teu dunorō hupoferara.… tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can …
peirasmoiu“trials”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Acts 20:19… meta pantau tapeinofrosunau kai dakrueiu kai peirasmoiu toiu sumbainarantoiu mi en tai epiboulai …… and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the …
peirasmoi“trials”to, fordative plural3×
Luke 22:28… tois diamenarēntois meta mu en toi peirasmoi mu;… have stood by Me in My trials.
James 1:2Pantan charan hēgevar, adelfoir mu, hotan peirasmoi peripiptaveia poikiloi,… joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
1 Peter 1:6… arti ei darōntem lupirantois en poikiloi peirasmoi,… had to suffer grief in various trials