TEMPT

To make trial of, Lu 10:25, and usually to present inducements to sin. Satan is the great tempter, seeking thus most effectually to destroy men’s souls, 1Ch 21:1 Job 1:1-2:13 Mt 4:1 1Th 3:5. Men are also led into sin by their own evil inclinations and by other men, Jas 1:14-15. God, being holy and desirous of men’s holiness, does not thus tempt them, Jas 1:13; but he makes trial of them, to prove, exercise, and establish their graces, Ge 22:1 Jas 1:2-3. Christ stands ready to support his people under any possible temptation, 1Co 10:13 Heb 2:18 4:15 2Pe 2:19. Yet they are not to rush into temptation unbidden, Lu 11:4. Men tempt God by presumptuously experimenting on his providence or his grace, or by distrusting him, Ex 17:2,7 Isa 7:12 Mt 4:7 Ac 5:9 15:10. Sore afflictions are often called temptations or trials, as they are frequently the occasion of sin, Mt 6:13 Lu 8:13 22:28 Jas 1:12 1Pe 1:6,7. Christ, at the outset of his public ministry, was violently assailed by the tempter, who thus displayed his effrontery and his blindness, hoping perhaps that the human soul of the Redeemer would be left unaided by his divinity, Mt 4:1-25. The temptations are to be understood as real transactions, and not as visions. The tempter was baffled, and left him for a season, to meet a like rebuff on every future assault, Lu 4:13 22:53 Joh 14:30. The Savior triumphed, and paradise was regained.

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tempt. Tempt, v.t. to entice to ill, provoke, try prove

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Tempt (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tempted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tempting.] [[OE. tempten, tenten, from OF. tempter, tenter, F. tenter, fr. L. tentare, temptare, to handle, feel, attack, to try, put to the test, urge, freq. from tendere, tentum, and tensum, to stretch. See Thin, and cf. Attempt, Tend, Taunt, Tent a pavilion, Tent to probe.]] 1. 1. To put to trial; to prove; to test; to try.
God did tempt Abraham. Gen. xxii. 1. Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God. Deut. vi. 16. 2. 2. To lead, or endeavor to lead, into evil; to entice to what is wrong; to seduce.
Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James i. 14. 3. 3. To endeavor to persuade; to induce; to invite; to incite; to provoke; to instigate.
Tempt not the brave and needy to despair. Dryden. Nor tempt the wrath of heaven's avenging Sire. Pope. 4. 4. To endeavor to accomplish or reach; to attempt.
Ere leave be given to tempt the nether skies. Dryden. Syn. — To entice; allure; attract; decoy; seduce.