Bible Dictionary: Entangle

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (v. t.) To complicate; to enmesh; to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated; to make tangled, confused, and intricate; as, to entangle yarn or the hair.

2. (v. t.) To involve in such complications as to render extrication a bewildering difficulty; hence, metaphorically, to ensnare; to perplex; to bewilder; to puzzle; as, to entangle the feet in a net, or in briers.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ENTANGLE

en-tan'-g'-l:

Found but 5 times in the Scriptures (the King James Version), once in the Old Testament, yet most significant as illustrating the process of mental, moral and spiritual confusion and enslavement.

(1) Physical:

Used of physical entanglement, as in the mazes of a labyrinth (bukh, to involve, "be perplexed"). At Moses' command the children of Israel, before crossing the Red Sea, took the wrong way in order to give Pharaoh the impression that they were lost in the wilderness and cause him to say "They are entangled in the land" (Exodus 14:3).

(2) Mental:

pagideuo, "to entrap," "ensnare," with words, as birds are caught in a snare; compare Ecclesiastes 9:12. The Pharisees sought to "entangle" (the Revised Version (British and American) "ensnare") Jesus in His talk (Matthew 22:15).

(3) Moral:

`empleko, "to inweave," hence, intertwine and involve. "A god soldier of Jesus Christ," says Paul, does not "entangle himself," i.e. become involved, "in the affairs of this life" (2 Timothy 2:4). Having "escaped the defilements of the world," Christians are not to be "again entangled therein" (2 Peter 2:20).

(4) Spiritual:

enecho, "to hold in," hence, to hold captive, as a slave in fetters or under a burden. Having experienced spiritual emancipation, freedom, through Christ from bondage to sin and false religion (Galatians 5:1; compare Galatians 4:8), the Gentiles were not to become "entangled again in a yoke of bondage" by submission to mere legal requirements, as the external rite of circumcision.

With reference to the thoroughness and irresistibleness of God's judgments, we read in Nahum 1:10, "For entangled like thorns" (the King James Version "while they be folden together as thorns"), damp, closely packed and intertwined, "they are consumed utterly as dry stubble" (the King James Version "devoured as stubble fully dry").

Dwight M. Pratt

Greek

1707. empleko -- to weave in, to entwine, ie to involve with
... to entwine, ie to involve with. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: empleko Phonetic
Spelling: (em-plek'-o) Short Definition: I enfold, entangle Definition: I ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1707.htm - 6k

1758. enecho -- to hold in or upon, ie to ensnare, by impl. to ...
... to keep a grudge. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: enecho Phonetic Spelling:
(en-ekh'-o) Short Definition: I am angry with, entangle Definition: (a) I have ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1758.htm - 6k

3802. pagideuo -- to set a trap
... Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: pagideuo Phonetic Spelling: (pag-id-yoo'-o)
Short Definition: I ensnare, entrap Definition: I ensnare, entrap, entangle. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3802.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

2760. charak -- perhaps to scorch, parch
... roast. A primitive root; to braid (ie To entangle or snare) or catch (game) in a
net -- roast. 2759, 2760. charak. 2761 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/2760.htm - 5k

5670. abat -- to take or give a pledge
... A primitive root; to pawn; causatively, to lend (on security); figuratively, to
entangle -- borrow, break (ranks), fetch (a pledge), lend, X surely. ...
/hebrew/5670.htm - 6k

7672. shebash -- to be perplexed
... be astonished. (Aramaic) corresponding to shabats; to entangle, ie Perplex -- be
astonished. see HEBREW shabats. 7671, 7672. shebash. 7673 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/7672.htm - 6k

Library

Cheth.
... Therefore when they threaten evils, with which to alarm the righteous, that they
may not suffer for the law of God, they, so to speak, entangle them with bands ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/cheth.htm

There Remains the Pleasure of These Eyes of My Flesh...
... Thou ceasest not to pluck them out, while I often entangle myself in the snares
on all sides laid; because Thou that keepest Israel shalt neither slumber nor ...
/.../the confessions of saint augustine/chapter xxxiv there remains the.htm

Whether Observances Directed to the Purpose of Fortune-Telling are ...
... are brought forward, not on divine authority, but rather by human vanity with the
cooperation of the malice of the demons, who strive to entangle men's minds ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether observances directed to the 2.htm

The Tables Turned: the Questioners Questioned
... Their questions were cunningly contrived to entangle Him in the cobwebs of casuistry
and theological hair-splitting, but He walked through the fine-spun snares ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the tables turned the questioners.htm

An Account of the Organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church ...
... them. And how grievously would this entangle us! 4. As our American brethren
are now totally disentangled both from the state and ...
/.../chapter 3 an account of.htm

The Beatific vision.
... neither just nor peaceful"Is not a man's soul, I say, sometimes among lions?"among
greedy, violent, tyrannous persons, who are ready to entangle him in a ...
/.../kingsley/westminster sermons/sermon xxvii the beatific vision.htm

The Festival of Games, in Honor of Augustus, were About to Begin ...
... Each tried to entangle the other in his net and secure a hold. ... Down came the net,
grazing his head. Swiftly he sprang upon the Jew, striving to entangle him. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bacheller/vergilius/chapter 24 the festival of.htm

All Internal Livers Obliged to Attend to God's Inspirations. ...
... to adhere to former customs, because she finds them commended in books, &c., or
because she did formerly reap profit by them, this is to entangle, fetter, and ...
/.../chapter v all internal livers.htm

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Events of that Day - the ...
... cunningly concocted. The object was to spy' out His inmost thoughts, [5124]
and, if possible, entangle' Him in His talk. [5125] For ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter iii the third day.htm

Of Repentance, in the Case of Such as have Lapsed after Baptism.
... observes, assaults, besieges him, in the hope that he may be able in some way either
to strike his eyes with carnal concupiscence, or else to entangle his mind ...
/.../tertullian/on repentance/chapter vii of repentance in the.htm

Thesaurus

Entangle (7 Occurrences)
... complicate; to enmesh; to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily
separated; to make tangled, confused, and intricate; as, to entangle yarn or ...
/e/entangle.htm - 11k

Entangled (11 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (imp. & pp) of Entangle. Multi-Version Concordance
Entangled (11 Occurrences). Galatians 5:1 Stand firm ...
/e/entangled.htm - 9k

Numerous (88 Occurrences)
... Luke 11:53 After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement
attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous ...
/n/numerous.htm - 33k

Off-hand (1 Occurrence)
... Luke 11:53 After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement
attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous ...
/o/off-hand.htm - 6k

Lime (4 Occurrences)
... plastering, mortar, etc. 6. (vt) To smear with a viscous substance, as birdlime.
7. (vt) To entangle; to ensnare. 8. (vt) To treat ...
/l/lime.htm - 11k

Web (5 Occurrences)
... See Feather. 20. (vt) To unite or surround with a web, or as if with a web; to
envelop; to entangle. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. WEB. ...
/w/web.htm - 9k

Involve (2 Occurrences)
... 6. (vt) To envelop, enfold, entangle, or embarrass; as, to involve a person in debt
or misery. 7. (vt) To engage thoroughly; to occupy, employ, or absorb. ...
/i/involve.htm - 7k

Fold (23 Occurrences)
... as thorns," the English Revised Version "like tangled thorns" the American Standard
Revised Version "entangled like thorns"; see ENTANGLE); helisso "to roll or ...
/f/fold.htm - 17k

Folding (14 Occurrences)
... as thorns," the English Revised Version "like tangled thorns" the American Standard
Revised Version "entangled like thorns"; see ENTANGLE); helisso "to roll or ...
/f/folding.htm - 11k

Foul (41 Occurrences)
... (vt) To entangle, so as to impede motion; as, to foul a rope or cable in paying
it out; to come into collision with; as, one boat fouled the other in a race. ...
/f/foul.htm - 21k

Bible Concordance

Entangle (7 Occurrences)

Matthew 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
(KJV WBS RSV)

Luke 11:53 After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous points,
(WEY)

2 Timothy 2:4 No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.
(Root in WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 30:12 Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
(See JPS)

Psalms 35:8 Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
(See NIV)

Proverbs 22:25 For fear of learning his ways and making a net ready for your soul.
(See RSV)

Joel 2:7 They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.
(See JPS)

Subtopics

Entangle

Related Terms

Entangled (11 Occurrences)

Numerous (88 Occurrences)

Off-hand (1 Occurrence)

Lime (4 Occurrences)

Web (5 Occurrences)

Involve (2 Occurrences)

Fold (23 Occurrences)

Folding (14 Occurrences)

Foul (41 Occurrences)