verb
ptaiamō
Strong’sG4417
I stumble, fall, sin
stem ptai-5 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books5 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
πταίω,
[in LXX chiefly for נגף ni.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4417 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidptah'-yo
to trip, i.e. (figuratively) to err, sin, fail (of salvation)
Froma form of G4098;
King Jamesfall, offend, stumble.
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
Refs 5th c.BC+: future πταίσω Refs 4th c.BC+: aorist ἔπταισα Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect ἔπταικα Refs 5th c.BC+ — passive, see #1:
I transitive, cause to stumble or fall, σύνθεσιν ποτὶ ψεύδει LXX+5th c.BC+:—passive, to be missed, of things, Refs 2nd c.AD+; τὰ πταισθέντα failures, errors, Refs 2nd c.AD+; ἃ ἐπταίσθη his failures, Refs 1st c.AD+
II intransitive, stumble, trip, fall, π. πρός τινι stumble against, fall over, π., ὥσπερ πρὸς ἕρματι, πρὸς τῇ πόλει Refs 5th c.BC+; πρὸς τὰς πέτρας conjecture in Refs 5th c.BC+; also π. περί τινι, μὴ περὶ Μαρδονίῳ πταίσῃ ἡ Ἑλλάς lest Hellas should get a fall over him, i.e. be defeated by him, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 metaphorically, make a false step or mistake, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐὰν πταίωσί τι when they make a blunder, of medical men, Refs 4th c.BC+; οὐκ ἐλάττω, ἐλάχιστα, τὰ πλείω π., Refs 5th c.BC+; τῇ μάχῃ, τοῖς ὅλοις, τοῖς πράγμασι, etc., Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 π. τῆς ἐλπίδος to be baulked of.. , Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.4 ἡ γλῶττα π. stutters, Refs 4th c.BC+
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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| ptaiatōπταίει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | stumble | 1× |
| ptaianōπταίομεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | stumble | 1× |
| ptaialaἔπταισαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | stumble | 1× |
| ptaiateiaπταίσῃ | happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular | stumbles | 1× |
| ptaiaveiaπταίσητέ | happened · yeaorist active subjunctive 2nd person plural | stumble | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ptaiamō | ptaiame | ptaiami | ptaiama | ptaiamē | ptaiamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | ptaiasō | ptaiase | ptaiasi | ptaiasa | ptaiasē | ptaiaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ptaiatō1×πταίει | ptaiate | ptaiati | ptaiata | ptaiatē | ptaiatelē |
| we 1st person plural | ptaianō1×πταίομεν | ptaiane | ptaiani | ptaiana | ptaianē | ptaianelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ptaiavō | ptaiave | ptaiavi | ptaiava | ptaiavē | ptaiavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | ptaialō | ptaiale | ptaiali | ptaiala1×ἔπταισαν | ptaialē | ptaialelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ptaiameiō | ptaiameia | ptaiameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | ptaiaseiō | ptaiaseia | ptaiaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ptaiateiō | ptaiateia1×πταίσῃ | ptaiateiē |
| we 1st person plural | ptaianeiō | ptaianeia | ptaianeiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ptaiaveiō | ptaiaveia1×πταίσητέ | ptaiaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | ptaialeiō | ptaialeia | ptaialeiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ptaiasōr | ptaiasar | ptaiasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ptaiatōr | ptaiatar | ptaiatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | ptaiavōr | ptaiavar | ptaiavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | ptaialōr | ptaialar | ptaialēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ptaiamoiō | ptaiamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | ptaiasoiō | ptaiasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ptaiatoiō | ptaiatoia |
| we 1st person plural | ptaianoiō | ptaianoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | ptaiavoiō | ptaiavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | ptaialoiō | ptaialoia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | ptaiarō | ptaiari | ptaiara | ptaiarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | ptaiarōntos | ptaiarintos | ptaiarantos | ptaiarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
ptai 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.
5 occurrences, every one of them listed
ptaiatō“stumble”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular1×
James 3:2“stumble”… hapantois. ei tinos en logo ouk ptaiatō, houtos teleios andros, dunatos chalinagōgara kai …We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control …
ptaianō“stumble”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
James 3:2polleim gar ptaianō hapantois. ei tinos en logo ouk …We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is …
ptaiala“stumble”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Romans 11:11Legamō oun, mē ptaiala hina piptaleia? mē genetoia; alla te …I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery …
ptaiateia“stumbles”happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
James 2:10hotinos gar holon ton nomon tērateia, ptaiateia de en hene, genatē panteiu enochos.Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty …
ptaiaveia“stumble”happened · yeaorist active subjunctive 2nd person plural1×
2 Peter 1:10… poiorō; houteim gar poiarōntois ouk mē ptaiaveia pote;… practice these things you will never stumble,