[Greek] πείθω (peithō), [Latin] persuadere, [Latin] confidere, [Latin] suadere, [Latin] consentire, [Latin] confirmare, [Latin] certus, [Latin] fidens, [Latin] oboedire, [French] convaincre, [French] affirmir: to influence, to persuade, to convince, to rely, to trust, to make confident; 62 scriptures
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means to persuade, to dissuade, to compel, to obey, to have confidence, to be certain, and to take one’s word.
Homer’s Iliad 9.112: “I, for mine own self, urgently sought to dissuade thee, but thou didst yield to the lordly spirit.”
Lysias’ On the Scrutiny of Evandros 26.7: “What are we to expect of the man who will have persuaded the outgoing magistrates to commit and illegality in his interest.”
Xenophon’s Anabasis 7.7.29: “You understand, then, that those who have now become your subjects were not persuaded to live under your rule out of affection for you.”
Homer’s Iliad 4.398: “Maeon he sent forth in obedience to the portents of the gods.”
Homer’s Iliad 1.132: “Do not thus, mighty though you are, Achilles, seek to deceive me with your wit; for you will not get by me nor persuade me.”
Lysias’ Defence Against a Charge of Taking Bribes 21.10: “For by making it worth his while, I secured as my pilot for the time Phantias.”
Mythology: Peitho is the Greek goddess of persuasion and seduction. The related Roman goddess is Suada.
Old Testament: This term means to trust, to have confidence, to deceive, to delude, to seduce, to seek refuge, and to lead astray.
New Testament: This term means to persuade, to trust, to convince, to obey, to dissuade, and to confide.
More notable scriptural examples.
Mt.27:20: The chief priests and elders persuaded [incited] the crowd to release Barabbas and destroy Jesus
Mt.28:14: [Chief priests]: we will satisfy him [governor] and keep you out of trouble
Mk.10:24: How hard it is to enter [to trust in riches] to enter into the kingdom of God
Lk.18:9: Jesus addressed those who convinced of their own righteousness
Acts 5:36 All those loyal to Theudas were scattered
Acts 19:8: Paul persuaded and ‘mislead’ a great number saying the gods made by hand are not gods at all
Acts 26:26: [Paul]: I cannot believe (be persuaded) that this has escaped notice.
Gal.1:10: [Paul]: Am I currying favor with humans or God?
Gal. 5:7: You were running well; who hindered you from following the truth?
Conclusion:
Persuade, persuasion convince, convincing, confident, confidence, suasion, consent, confirm, confirmation, affirmation, obey, obedience
This term, pertaining to human behavior, can be applicable to any period in history.
One who exalts himself will be humbled. One who humbles himself will be exalted.
Paul ‘misleads’ (changes their focus) the silversmiths in saying the truth about graven images.
‘Not done in a corner’ is a Greek proverb stating that something is already well known.
The Christian is like an athlete running the race of life, trying to reach the finish line (life everlasting).
Update: Many Americans are still influenced by being persuaded by the mainstream (and social) media narratives.
Many Americans are not surprised that the government continues to protect Hunter Biden.
Unfortunately, many Catholic (and Christian) politicians, persuaded by cultural and political reasons, do not uphold traditional teaching.
Many Americans, alarmed by the direction of the country, have been persuaded to elect new leaders and representatives.
Our nation’s values and principles are continually being influenced by this society’s cancel culture.
Many Americans are no longer being persuaded in believing that President was a uniter.
Citizens, having valid election concerns, were summarily dismissed by politicians and election officials. These citizens were effectively perceived as ‘election deniers’. In fact, the politicians and election officials essentially were the ones who denied these citizens’ concerns.
Election aftermath:
The expected “red wave” was interrupted and diminished by the issues of abortions rights and ‘dangers to democracy’.
Voters showed up to support and maintain the ‘right’ to kill the unborn. (Having the legal right to have an abortion evidently was more important than its moral and ethical consequences. This is a sad reminder that we are currently living in a culture of death.)
Voters were also frightened into believing that voting for Republicans was equivalent to destroying democracy (This was an effective scare tactic).
To some supporting abortion rights were more important than addressing crime, immigration, and economic policy (inflation).
Those supporting pro-life issues were successfully demonized as ‘extreme’ and ‘hateful’. (We are now living in a bizarro post-Christian world where traditional values (coming from God) are repudiated).
To be honest, it took a lot of convincing myself to create the following three posts to tie together persuading, putting up with, and being intolerant. If you bear with me, I hope I can convince you about what I will do. At the end of the day, I think it will be difficult to persuade you otherwise. Trust me, I never realized how often this term peitho occurred in scripture. Luckily, I did not have to endure so much time researching the next term anechomai. Take my word for it, this next term is very relevant in our culture which cannot tolerate or put up with common sense or truth. After these next two posts, I hope I can persuade you to look at my upcoming posts about Advent and Christmas (Tis the season).
Next post: to put up with and to tolerate