G5578 — ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophḗtēs)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G5578
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Transliteration: pseudoprophḗtēs
Pronunciation: psyoo-dop-rof-ay'-tace
Part of Speech: Masculine noun (n-m)
Root: Compound — ψευδής (G5571, false/spurious) + προφήτης (G4396, prophet)
Occurrences: 11 unique verses (11 tokens)
Books: 7 (NT only)
First Occurrence: Mat 7:15 — "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G5571 and G4396; a spurious prophet, i.e. pretended foreteller or religious impostor.

Note: The word appears in the LXX in Jeremiah (6:13; 26:8,11,16; 27:7; 29:1,8; 33:8,11,16; 34:7; 36:1,8) and Zechariah (13:2), rendering contexts where Hebrew prophets speak שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, falsehood) or שָׁוְא (shav, vanity). It is a Greek compound formed to express what Hebrew required a phrase to convey.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 053009 — Roles and Functions (Religious Activities)
Other words in subdomain: ἀντίχριστος (G500), ἀπόστολος (G652), ἀρχιερεύς (G749), γραμματεύς (G1122), διάκονος (G1249), ἐπίσκοπος (G1985)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
053	Religious Activities	`search_relationships.py` places ψευδοπροφήτης in the religious-role field; neighbors: ἁγιάζω (G37), ἁγιασμός (G38), ἅγιος (G40), ἁγιωσύνη (G42), ἁγνίζω (G48), ἁγνισμός (G49).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
false prophets	7	63.6%
false prophet	3	27.3%
a false prophet	1	9.1%

All 11 KJV occurrences render this word as some form of "false prophet." No translation variation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Peter	1	1.6
1 John	1	1.0
Revelation	3	0.7
Matthew	3	0.3
Mark	1	0.1
Luke	1	0.1
Acts	1	0.1

Pattern: NT only. Highest density in the epistles (2 Pet, 1 John) and Revelation. Matthew clusters 3 occurrences (Mat 7:15; 24:11; 24:24). In Revelation the word shifts to singular with definite article ("the false prophet"), referring to a specific eschatological figure.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Warning Against Deceptive Teachers (Sheep's Clothing)¶

General teaching that false prophets infiltrate from within, disguising themselves. - Mat 7:15 — "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" - 2 Pet 2:1 — "there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies" - 1 John 4:1 — "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world"

2. Eschatological Warning: Signs and Wonders as Deception¶

The last-days false prophets are specifically associated with supernatural signs used to deceive. - Mat 24:11 — "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" - Mat 24:24 — "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect" - Mark 13:22 — "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect"

3. Historical Precedent¶

Jesus connects the approval of false prophets with rejection of true ones. - Luke 6:26 — "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets"

4. Individual Instance — Bar-Jesus¶

A specific named false prophet encountered in Acts, a sorcerer. - Acts 13:6 — "they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name [was] Bar-jesus"

5. Eschatological Triad: Dragon, Beast, False Prophet (Revelation)¶

In Revelation, "the false prophet" (singular, definite) becomes a specific eschatological figure paired with the dragon and beast. - Rev 16:13 — "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" - Rev 19:20 — "the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them" - Rev 20:10 — "the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occ	Typical Pattern
πλανάω (planao)	G4105	4x	"shall deceive many" — the defining activity of false prophets
θηρίον (therion)	G2342	3x	"the beast and the false prophet" — Revelation triad
σημεῖον (semeion)	G4592	3x	"shew great signs" — supernatural credentials
ἐγείρω (egeiro)	G1453	3x	"shall rise" — appearing in the last days
ψευδόχριστος (pseudochristos)	G5580	2x	"false Christs, and false prophets" — paired category
ἐκλεκτός (eklektos)	G1588	2x	"deceive the very elect" — target of deception
τέρας (teras)	G5059	2x	"signs and wonders" — paired with semeion
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	2x	"try the spirits" (1 John 4:1)
λίμνη (limne)	G3041	2x	"lake of fire" — final judgment (Revelation)
πῦρ (pyr)	G4442	2x	"lake of fire and brimstone"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G5571 ψευδής (pseudēs) — root adjective: false, untrue, erroneous (3 vv)
G4396 προφήτης (prophētēs) — root noun: prophet (143 vv)
G5580 ψευδόχριστος (pseudochristos) — parallel compound: false Christ (2 vv)

Synonyms¶

G1797 ἐνυπνιάζομαι (enypniázomai) — to dream; included by search_relationships.py as a semantic-domain neighbor.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G5578.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
προφήτης (prophetes)	G4396	both translated "prophet/prophets"	G4396 = a genuine or claimed prophet; G5578 = specifically a spurious, deceptive one
ψευδόχριστος (pseudochristos)	G5580	always appear together	G5580 = false claimant to messiahship; G5578 = false claimant to prophetic authority; Synoptics pair them as twin eschatological dangers

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 053009)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Verses	Primary KJV
G500	ἀντίχριστος	5	antichrist, antichrists
G652	ἀπόστολος	70	apostles, an apostle
G749	ἀρχιερεύς	102	chief priests, high priest
G1249	διάκονος	15	minister, a minister
G1985	ἐπίσκοπος	6	bishop, Bishop

G5578 sits in the cluster of religious roles and offices — it is the counterfeit version of G4396 (prophetes), occupying the same conceptual space as legitimate prophets, apostles, and overseers.

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
נָבִיא (nābîyʼ)	H5030	10	15.18	The base concept: prophet
כֹּהֵן (kōhēn)	H3548	7	9.60	Priest; appears in LXX Jeremiah contexts alongside false prophets
יִרְמְיָה (Yirmᵉyâh)	H3414	3	7.96	Jeremiah — the prophet who most confronted false prophets
עַם (ʻam)	H5971	6	5.97	"among the people" — the community context

Note: Hebrew has no single-word equivalent. The concept "false prophet" is expressed in phrases: נְבִיאֵי שֶׁקֶר (prophets of falsehood) or נְבִיאֵי שָׁוְא (prophets of vanity). The Greek compound ψευδοπροφήτης, coined for the LXX, condenses this into a single lexical unit.