Mar 13:5 Take heed lest any [man] deceive you:
Mar 13:5 Take heed lest any [man] deceive you:
Alternative: See that no one leads you astray.
Hidden meaning:The key word here is to "take heed," which is really the word for physically seeing things (as opposed to seeing them intellectually). While throughout the Gospels, the word used here, blepô, is almost always translated as "see," but both here and in the parallel passage in Matthew, it is changed to "take heed" or "beware," depending on the translation.
The contrast here is between seeing and being lead astray, the physical reality and the subjective interpretations of that reality. The issue of being deceived is not simply that people lie to us, but that we can act on their misrepresentations, following them.
The previous verse warns about the existing social order coming to an end with the analogy of a building, where one stone depends upon another as one person depends upon another in society. The issue in the end times is the choice we make about what we depend upon, what we see with our own eye or what people tell us in trying to get us to support them.
Thematically and Linguistically Related Verse(s): Mat 24:4 is the parallel verse in Matthew.
Vocabulary:
"Take heed" is from blepô (blepo), which means "to look" and "to see." It is the more tangible sense of seeing, such as seeing what is right in front of you rather than understanding.
"Lest" is from mê (me), which is the negative used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt meaning "not" and "no."
"Any" is from tis (tis) which can mean "someone," "any one," "everyone," "many a one," "whoever," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what."
"Deceive" is from planaô (planao) which means "to cause to wander," "to lead astray," "to mislead," "to wander," "to stray," and "to be misled."
