What does "Temptation" mean in the Bible?
Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their faith and patience to the test. Temptation appears in 9 verses across 5 books of the Bible.
What does the Bible say about Temptation?
(1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their faith and patience to the test. (2.) Ordinarily, however, the word means solicitation to that which is evil, and hence Satan is called “the tempter” (Matt. 4:3). Our Lord was in this way tempted in the wilderness. That temptation was not internal, but by a real, active, subtle being. It was not self-sought. It was submitted to as an act of obedience on his part. “Christ was led, driven. An unseen personal force bore him a certain violence is implied in the words” (Matt. 4:1-11). The scene of the temptation of our Lord is generally supposed to have been the mountain of Quarantania (q.v.), “a high and precipitous wall of rock, 1,200 or 1,500 feet above the plain west of Jordan, near Jericho.” Temptation is common to all (Dan. 12:10; Zech. 13:9; Ps. 66:10; Luke 22:31, 40; Heb. 11:17; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12). We read of the temptation of Joseph (Gen. 39), of David (2 Sam. 24; 1 Chr. 21), of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 32:31), of Daniel (Dan. 6), etc. So long as we are in this world we are exposed to temptations, and need ever to be on our watch against them.
Definition text: Easton's Bible Dictionary · 1897. Public domain.
Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.
What is the Greek word for Temptation?
Greek · G3986
πειρασμός
peirasmos
temptation/testing: temptation
TBESG, from Abbott-Smith (1922). Public domain.
Where does Temptation appear in the Bible?
Temptation is referenced in 9 verses across 5 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
- 1 Timothy 6:9
- Luke 4:13
- Luke 11:4
- Luke 22:40
- Luke 22:46
- Matthew 6:13
- Matthew 26:41
- Mark 14:38
What else appears in these passages?
These turn up in the same passages as Temptation.
Common questions
How many times does the Bible mention Temptation?
Temptation appears in 9 verses across 5 books, most often in Luke, which accounts for 4 of them.
Which books of the Bible mention Temptation?
Luke, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, Mark.
Where can I read every verse about Temptation?
This page lists 9 of them. Protos carries all 9, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.


