Astray - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ASTRAY

a-stra' (ta`ah, "to wander," "to err"; planaomai, "to go astray," each carrying the idea of being lost):

With one exception (Exodus 23:4 "his ass going astray") used metaphorically of moral wandering, going astray in paths of error and sin, like "sheep going astray" (1 Peter 2:25 the King James Version; Isaiah 53:6; Psalms 119:176).

This wandering may be due

(1) to inherent evil (Psalms 58:3);

(2) to false shepherds (Jeremiah 50:6); contrast the beautiful and classic passage, Matthew 18:12,13, the Son of man (verse 12) seeketh that which is gone astray. No word more vividly portrays sin as a straying, a separation from God. To be morally "astray" is to be "lost."

Dwight M. Pratt

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'ASTRAY'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.