lestes denotes a criminal assailant, portrayed in Scripture as one who attacks, is arrested, or is crucified.

The attested use consistently identifies criminal assailants: those who violently strip and wound a traveler, figures invoked in comparisons about armed arrest or unlawful entry, and men crucified beside Jesus. The same designation also occurs in the image of a place made into their cave.

1. Criminal assailant or outlaw · dominant

   In Luke 10:30, the plural dative names those among whom a traveler falls; the APB renders that they strip him, wound him, and leave him half dead. Singular and plural forms also identify persons treated as dangerous offenders in Luke 22:52, Mark 14:48, Matthew 26:55, Mark 15:27, and Matthew 27:44, where armed men come to seize Jesus or two such men are crucified with him. In Matthew 21:13, the plural genitive appears in the phrase rendered "a cave of robbers."

   Luke 10:30Luke 22:52Mark 14:48Matthew 26:55Mark 15:27Matthew 21:13

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses "robber" or "robbers," while Matthew 26:55 has "bandit" and Matthew 27:38 and Matthew 27:44 have "rebels." These are whole-verse presentations of the surrounding clauses rather than fixed word-level equivalents.