Sylagōgeō (συλαγωγέω, G4813) means to carry off as plunder, to take captive, to rob, to despoil. From sylē (spoil/plunder of war) + agō (to lead/bring). Appears only in Colossians 2:8 — 'See to it that no one takes you captive (sylagōgōn) through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.' A hapax in the New Testament.
Sylagōgeō — 'to carry off as plunder' — is Paul's alarming metaphor for what false teaching does to believers: it doesn't merely mislead but kidnaps. The victim is taken by force, stripped of their inheritance, and marched away from Christ. Paul's warning in Colossians 2:8 identifies the mechanism: 'hollow and deceptive philosophy... human tradition... elemental spiritual forces.' These are not obviously false but plausibly attractive — they carry just enough spiritual-sounding content to pass inspection. The counter to sylagōgeō is not suspicion but saturation: Colossians 2:9–10 responds immediately — 'in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.' You cannot be plundered of what you are fully possessing. The richest defense against counterfeit is deep knowledge of the genuine: Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).