Beware

Beware – What that word entails in the usage at Matthew 7:15

“Beware” in English:  verb  –  be cautious and alert to the dangers of: consumers were warned to beware of faulty packaging  –  synonyms: be on your guard, watch out, look out, be alert, be on the lookout,

Matthew 7:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  “Beware (G4337 – LN27.59) of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Word in Greek:   προσέχω   –  Lemma Translation:  “prosecho”

LN 27.59 προσέχω^a; ἐπέχω^a: to be in a continuous state of readiness to learn of any future danger, need, or error, and to respond appropriately—‘to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on one’s guard against.’

προσέχω^a: προσέχετε δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ‘make certain that you do not perform your religious duties in public’ Mt 6:1.ἐπέχω^a: ἔπεχε σεαυτῷ καὶ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ ‘watch yourself and watch your teaching’ 1 Tm 4:16.^[1]

In Louw-Nida it stresses be read but also to learn of what future dangers might be.  To what error one’s false thinking could lead toward destruction and led astray from the true words of God.

That would be most fitting as ‘false prophets’ are that type of leaders that function to lead the hearer away from the truth of God.  God states that ‘narrow is the way’ and the false shepherds would modify those words to reduce the true sense of Jesus’s words with some misleading comparison.  One might say that looking at the millions of people on earth what % would consist of a few (narrow) entrance?  Questions that place man into human logic and freeing themselves from the constraints of Christ’s teaching.

This was the entire message of Jesus during this sermon on the mount  to take their (the religious leaders of that day) teachings and show what God’s way really is.   An example might be showing how they were quick to judge others and Christ reminded them as they needed to remove the blinders from their own eyes first.   Matthew 7:1-6 (ESV)
¹  “Judge not, that you be not judged.
²  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
³  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
⁴  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
⁵  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
⁶  “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

G4337 προσέχω [prosecho /pros·ekh·o/] v. From 4314 and 2192; GK 4668; 24 occurrences; AV translates as “beware” seven times, “give heed to” five times, “take heed to” three times, “give heed unto” once, “take heed” once, “take heed unto” once, “take heed whereunto + 3739” once, and translated miscellaneously five times. 1 to bring to, bring near. 1a to bring a ship to land, and simply to touch at, put in. 2 to turn the mind to, attend to be attentive. 2a to a person or a thing: of caring for, providing for. 3 to attend to one’s self, i.e. to give heed to one’s self. 3a give attention to, take heed. 4 to apply one’s self to, attach one’s self to, hold or cleave to a person or a thing. 4a to be given or addicted to. 4b to devote thought and effort to.^[2]

Note the breakdown of how this Greek word was used in various ways such as:  to beware, to attend, to serve, to heed:

Viewing the “Sense” of the word used here.  This Greek word is used with this sense some 11 of the 24 references that the root words is used in the scriptures.

The Greek word in Matt. 7:15 carried the sense of “to beware” – a verb to be on one’s guard, be cautious or wary about, or be alert to…  Here is a listing of the texts where this sense of the Greek word is used some 11 times.

In 6 of the 24 times this Greek word was used it carried the sense of:  “to give heed or attention to.

In 5 of the 24 times this Greek word was used to carry the sense of “to serve (devote)”

In 2 of the 24 times this Greek word was used to carry the sense of “to heed”

Review the definition again and note how the various forms are used in the 24 times found in scriptures listed above.

LN 27.59 προσέχω^a; ἐπέχω^a: to be in a continuous state of readiness to learn of any future danger, need, or error, and to respond appropriately—‘to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on one’s guard against.’

προσέχω^a: προσέχετε δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ‘make certain that you do not perform your religious duties in public’ Mt 6:1.ἐπέχω^a: ἔπεχε σεαυτῷ καὶ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ ‘watch yourself and watch your teaching’ 1 Tm 4:16.

In Louw-Nida it stresses be read but also to learn of what future dangers might be.  To what error one’s false thinking could lead toward destruction and led astray from the true words of God.

Compare the way it was translated in the ESV version:

To provide a clue as to the difference that various translating teams translated the same Greek Word note the KJV, NASB, NIV, LES

You see which one by the initials after the word “Translation” in the top left of each box.

LES = the Lexham English Septuagint

By reviewing the wheels one can see the various shades of the Greek word and an ideal of the more complete understanding of the message being conveyed with the first word on Matthew 7:15

Matthew 7:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

 Using the 1^st verse in each of the 4 sections shown above is an example of it’s use:

^[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, pp. 332–333). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[2] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.