sub'-til, sut'-'-l, sut'-'-l-ti (chakham, nakhal, mirmah; dolos): These words are used

(1) in a good sense: 2 Samuel 13:3, chakham, "wise," "Jonadab was a very subtle (the American Standard Revised Version "subtle") man" (discreet); Proverbs 1:4, `ormah, "prudence," "to give subtlety to the simple," the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version margin "prudence"; The Wisdom of Solomon 7:22, leptos, "thin," said of the spirit in Wisdom (very fine or refined); 8:8, strophe, "winding," "subtilties of speeches"; Ecclesiasticus 39:2, "subtil parables," the Revised Version (British and American) "the subtleties of parables";

(2) in a bad sense: Genesis 3:1, `arum, "crafty," "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field," the American Standard Revised Version "subtle."

Genesis 27:35, mirmah, "deceit," "fraud," "Thy brother came with subtlety," the Revised Version (British and American) "with guile"; Psalm 105:25, nakhal, "to deceive," the King James Version "deal subtlely," the American Standard Revised Version "subtly"; Proverbs 7:10, natsar, "to watch," "guard," "to be hidden or subtle of heart," the Revised Version (British and American) "wily," margin " `close,' Hebrew `guarded' "; 2 Kings 10:19, `oqebhah, "deceit" or "treachery" (here only); Judith 5:11, katasophizo, "to use subtlety"; Ecclesiasticus 19:25, panourgia, "cunning," "unscrupulousness," "There is an exquisite subtlety, and the same is unjust"; 2 Corinthians 11:3, "The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety," the Revised Version (British and American) "in his craftiness"; Matthew 26:4, dolos, "deceit," "that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him"; Acts 13:10, "O full of all subtlety and all mischief," the Revised Version (British and American) "all guile and all villany."

English Revised Version has "subtilty" for "wisdom" (Proverbs 8:5, 12), margin and the American Standard Revised Version, "prudence"; for "with subtlety" (the English Revised Version Mark 14:1, the King James Version "by craft") the American Standard Revised Version has "with subtlety."

W. L. Walker

2. (superl.) Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem.

3. (superl.) Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing distinctions; nicely discriminating; -- said of persons; as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous; insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; -- said of the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.

4. (superl.) Smooth and deceptive.