BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G4021
periergos — meddlesome/magic
περίεργος, -ον I. of persons; 1. over careful. 2. curious, meddling, a busybody: 1Ti.5:13. II. Of things; 1. over-wrought. 2. superfluous. 3. curious, uncanny; τὰ π., curious arts, magic: Act.19:19 (see Deiss., BS, 3235.).† (AS)
2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →(Acts 19:19), magical arts; jugglery practised by the Ephesian conjurers. Ephesus was noted for its wizard and the “Ephesian spells;” i.e., charms or scraps of parchment written over with certain formula, which were worn as a safeguard against all manner of evils. The more important and powerful of these charms were written out in books which circulated among the exorcists, and were sold at a great price.
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
