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ûr, er´ẽr:
To err is in the Old Testament the translation of ש××’×”, shaÌ„ghaÌ„h, and תּעה, tā‛aÌ„h, both of which mean literally,. “to wander,†“to go astray.†We have shaÌ„ghaÌ„h in , “I have played the fool, and have erredâ€; , “Mine error remaineth with myself,†i.e. “is my own concern,†or, perhaps, “only injures myselfâ€; ; the King James Version (thrice); tā‛aÌ„h, ; ; . It means also “to cause to err†(; , “a bridle that causeth to errâ€; , ; “Their lies (i.e. the unreal deities, creatures of their own imagination) have caused them to err,†).
In the New Testament the word is generally πλαναÌομαι, planaÌomai, “to wander†(, ; ; ); astocheÌoÌ„, “to miss the mark,†“to swerve,†occurs twice (; ).
Error in the Old Testament represents various words: sheghaÌ„ghaÌ„h, “mistake,†“oversight†(; compare and see INQUIRY); meshuÌ„ghaÌ„h, with the same meaning, “wandering†(; compare ); shal, “rashness,†“mistake†(, “God smote him there for his error,†the Revised Version, margin “rashnessâ€); shaÌ„luÌ„, Aramaic “mistake†(); tō‛aÌ„h, “injury†().
In the New Testament we have plaÌneÌ„, “wandering†(; ; ; , “the error of Balaamâ€); agnoÌeÌ„ma, “ignorance†(, margin, Greek “ignorancesâ€). For “is deceived†() the Revised Version (British and American) has “erreth,†margin “or reelethâ€; for “them that are out of the way†(), “the ignorant and erringâ€; for “deceit†(), “error.â€
The English word “error†has the same original meaning as the Hebrew and Greek main words, being derived from erro, “to wander.†“To err is human,†but there are errors of the heart as well as of the head. The familiar phrase just quoted seems to have its equivalent in the marginal rendering of , “in their going astray they are flesh.†Errors through ignorance are in the Bible distinguished from errors of the heart and willful errors (; ; ).