📖 Biblical Definition
The snare of the devil is Paul's metaphor for the devil's trap. Twice in the Pastoral Epistles: 1 Tim 3:7 (the elder must have a good report from outside the church, lest he fall into reproach and the snare) and 2 Tim 2:26 (the false teacher's captives are taken captive by him at his will; recovery is escape from his snare). The picture is the noose-trap: bait, hidden, sprung on the unwary.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(1 Tim 3:7; 2 Tim 2:26.) Paul's metaphor for the devil's trap, especially baiting the unwary.
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SNARE, n. An instrument for catching animals; especially a noose; a trap; figuratively, anything by which one is entangled and brought into trouble.
Greek pagis in 1 Tim 3:7 and 6:9 names the trap; Greek thanasimos (deadly) is sometimes paired with it (Heb 2:14-15 of the fear of death as Satan's lifelong snare).
📖 Key Scripture
1 Timothy 3:7 — "Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
2 Timothy 2:26 — "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
1 Timothy 6:9 — "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts."
Psalm 91:3 — "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often imagines spiritual danger as overt assault; Paul names the devil's typical method as the hidden snare.
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Snares work by bait. The animal sees something it wants and steps where it should not have stepped. Pride, lust, greed, despair, and anger are the typical baits; the snare is sprung when the unwary heart commits to one of them.
The household's defense is recognition. Naming the bait (this is pride; this is lust; this is the desire to be rich) breaks the snare's mechanism. The trap depends on the saint not knowing he is being baited.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek pagis (trap, snare).
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Greek pagis — trap, snare; from pēgnumi, to fix (the trap is fixed in place to be sprung).
Hebrew moqesh — snare, lure, bait.
Usage
"Snares work by bait; the unwary step before they look."
"Naming the bait breaks the snare's mechanism."
"The trap depends on the saint not knowing he is being baited."