2585. kapéleuó
Strong's Lexicon
kapéleuó: To peddle, to huckster, to trade deceitfully

Original Word: καπηλεύω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: kapéleuó
Pronunciation: kah-peh-LOO-oh
Phonetic Spelling: (kap-ale-yoo'-o)
Definition: To peddle, to huckster, to trade deceitfully
Meaning: I hawk, trade in, deal in for purposes of gain.

Word Origin: Derived from κάπηλος (kapelos), meaning "a huckster" or "a retailer."

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: While there is no direct Hebrew equivalent for καπηλεύω, the concept of deceitful trade or exploitation can be related to Hebrew words such as מִרְמָה (mirmah, Strong's 4820), meaning "deceit" or "fraud."

Usage: The verb καπηλεύω primarily refers to the act of peddling or trading, often with a connotation of deceit or exploitation. In the New Testament, it is used metaphorically to describe the corrupt handling or adulteration of God's word for personal gain or dishonest purposes.

Cultural and Historical Background: In the ancient Greco-Roman world, a κάπηλος (kapelos) was a small-scale merchant or retailer who often sold goods in the marketplace. These traders were sometimes viewed with suspicion, as they were known to dilute or adulterate their products to increase profits. This cultural context informs the metaphorical use of καπηλεύω in the New Testament, where it describes those who would corrupt the message of the Gospel for selfish motives.

HELPS Word-studies

2585 kapēleúō – properly, to act as an unscrupulous merchant, i.e. "a huckster" who profits by "peddling the Word of God" for personal gain. 2585 /kapēleúō ("peddler") is only used in 2 Cor 2:17 – of people "marketing the ministry" (the Word of God) for fast gain.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from kapélos (a huckster, peddler)
Definition
to make a trade of
NASB Translation
peddling (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2585: καπηλεύω

καπηλεύω; (κάπηλος, i. e.

a. an inn-keeper, especially a vintner;

b. a petty retailer, a huckster, pedler; cf. Sir. 26:29 οὐ δικαιωθήσεται κάπηλος ἀπό ἁμαρτίας);

a. to be a retailer, to peddle;

b. with the accusative of the thing, "to make money by selling anything; to get sordid gain by dealing in anything, to do a thing for base gain" (οἱ τά μαθήματα περιαγοντες κατά πόλεις καί πωλοῦντες καί καπηλεύοντες, Plato, Prot., p. 313 d.; μάχην, Aeschylus the Sept. 551 (545); Latincauponari bellum, i. e. to fight for gain, trade in war, Ennius quoted in Cicero, offic. 1, 12, 38; ἑταιραν τό τῆς ὥρας ἄνθος καπηλευουσαν, Philo de caritat. § 14, cf. leg. ad Gaium § 30, and many other examples in other authors). Hence, some suppose that καπηλεύειν τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ in 2 Corinthians 2:17 is equivalent to to trade in the word of God, i. e. to try to get base gain by teaching divine truth. But as pedlers were in the habit of adulterating their commodities for the sake of gain (οἱ κάπηλοί σου μίσγουσι τόν οἶνον ὕδατι, Isaiah 1:22 the Sept.; κάπηλοί, οἱ τόν οἶνον κεραννύντες, Pollux, onomast. 7, 193; οἱ φιλοσοφοι ἀποδιδονται τά μαθήματα, ὥσπερ οἱ κάπηλοί, κερασάμενοι γέ οἱ πολλοί καί δολωσαντες καί κακομετρουντες, Lucian. Hermot. 59), καπηλεύειν τί was also used as synonymous with to corrupt, to adulterate (Themistius, or. 21, p. 247, Hard. edition says that the false philosophers τό θειοτατον τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀγαθῶν κιβδηλεύειν τέ καί αἰσχύνειν καί καπηλεύειν); and most interpreters rightly decide in favor of this meaning (on account of the context) in 2 Corinthians 2:17, cf. δολουν τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, 2 Corinthians 4:2. (Cf. Trench, § lxii.)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
corrupt.

From kapelos (a huckster); to retail, i.e. (by implication) to adulterate (figuratively) -- corrupt.

Forms and Transliterations
εκαπνίζετο καπηλευοντες καπηλεύοντες κάπηλοί καπνιζόμενον καπνιζόμενος καπνιζομένων καπνίζον καπνίζονται καπνισθήσονται kapeleuontes kapeleúontes kapēleuontes kapēleúontes
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Englishman's Concordance
2 Corinthians 2:17 V-PPA-NMP
GRK: οἱ πολλοὶ καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον
NAS: many, peddling the word
KJV: many, which corrupt the word
INT: the many are peddling the word

Strong's Greek 2585
1 Occurrence


καπηλεύοντες — 1 Occ.

















2584
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