Versuchungen

Versuchungen is the plural of Versuchung in German, meaning temptation or lure to sin, and more generally an instance of trying to persuade someone to act in a certain way. The word derives from Versuch (trial, attempt) with the suffix -ung; historically the sense has shifted from a test or trial to the moral testing of a person.

In theology, Versuchung describes the attraction toward immoral or sinful acts. In Christian thought, temptations can be external (from the devil or the world) or internal (desire or weakness). Temptation is sometimes distinguished from Prüfung (a trial) or Anfechtung (spiritual distress or testing of faith). In many Bible translations, Versuchung is used for the Greek peirasmos in contexts such as “Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung” (lead us not into temptation). Some traditions hold that temptations are permitted by God to test or refine faith, while humans retain responsibility to resist.

Secular usage broadens the term to any impulse or pressure toward an action against one’s better judgment, as studied in ethics and psychology where resisting temptation relates to self-control and executive function. In literature and culture, Versuchungen appear as motifs of moral choice, conflict, or character development.

The plural Versuchungen is used when discussing multiple temptations or types of temptation across different situations or sources. Related terms include Versuch, Prüfung, Anfechtung, and the English temptation.