Enedreuo (ἐνεδρεύω) means to lay an ambush, lie in wait, or secretly plot against someone — to lurk with harmful intent. It appears in Acts 23:21 warning Paul about a Jewish plot: 'more than forty men have taken an oath... They are ready now, waiting for your consent [enedreuo-ing you].' Luke 11:54 uses it for the Pharisees who lay in wait to catch Jesus in something he might say. The word captures the sinister patience of those who plot against God's messengers.
The enedreuo plots against Paul in Acts 23 is a vivid example of the spiritual warfare that accompanies bold witness. Forty men bound themselves by oath not to eat or drink until they killed Paul — an ambush so calculated that it required divine intervention and a nephew's courage to be uncovered. The pattern of enedreuo against God's servants — ambush, conspiracy, hidden plots — runs through both Testaments (Psalm 10:8-10; Jeremiah 18:22). God consistently exposes and thwarts such plans, as he did here through an apparently ordinary family connection.