1 Timothy 4:5
in 1 Timothy 4because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
KJV
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
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This verse in 1 Timothy 4
Commentary
19 notes on this verseIt has seemed to me ridiculous that any one should make a vow to abstain from swine's flesh. Be so good as to teach men to abstain from foolish vows and promises. Represent the use to be quite indifferent. No creature of God, received with thanksgiving, is to be rejected. The vow is ridiculous; the abstinence unnecessary.
This site's exposition
Forbidding to marry
on 1 Timothy 4:3-5
The false teaching's two marks are named plainly, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, an asceticism imposed as doctrine rather than offered as private discipline, likely combining an early Jewish ascetic strain with Ephesus's own currents. Paul's answer is creation itself, every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, echoing Genesis 1's repeated verdict that what God made is good. Sanctified by the word of God and prayer names two means by which ordinary food and marriage are set apart for a believer's use, made holy again by his own grateful use of them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
that every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. that every creature of God is good. Paul speaks concerning things that are edible. He …
It is not the uncleanness of meat that I fear, but the uncleanness of an incontinent appetite.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoREPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN 14.11 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
As there is an unconscious worship of idols and devils in the fanciful legends of the Manichaeans, so they knowingly serve the creature in their worship of the sun and moon. And in what they call their service of the Creator they really serve their own fancy, and not the Creator at all. For they deny that God created those things which the apostle plainly declares to be the creatures of God, when he says of food, "Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving." This is sound doctrine, which you cannot bear, and so turn to fables. The apostle praises the creature of God, but forbids the worship of it; and in the same way Moses gives due praise to the sun and moon, while at the same time he states the fact of their having been made by God, and placed by Him in their courses,—the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night. And if earthly bodies are good, of which the apostle spoke when he said that no food is unclean, because every creature of God is good, much more the heavenly bodies, of which the sun and moon are the chief.
But as in the sensible world itself, though there is a considerable mutual opposition of its various elements, yet a certain harmony maintained in those opposites has been devised by the wisdom that rules the Universe, and thus there is produced a concord of the whole creation with itself, and the natural contrariety does not break the chain of agreement; in like manner, owing to the Divine wisdom, there is an admixture and interpenetration of the sensible with the intellectual department, in order that all things may equally have a share in the beautiful, and no single one of existing things be without its share in that superior world. For this reason the corresponding locality of the intellectual world is a subtle and mobile essence, which, in accordance with its supramundane habitation, has in its peculiar nature large affinity with the intellectual part. Now, by a provision of the supreme Mind there is an intermixture of the intellectual with the sensible world, in order that nothing in creation may be thrown aside as worthless, as says the Apostle, or be left without its portion of the Divine fellowship. On this account it is that the commixture of the intellectual and sensible in man is effected by the Divine Being, as the description of the cosmogony instructs us.
For, be it observed, there is no such thing in the world as evil irrespective of a will, and discoverable in a substance apart from that. Every creature of God is good, and nothing of His "to be rejected"; all that God made was "very good." But the habit of sinning entered as we have described, and with fatal quickness, into the life of man; and from that small beginning spread into this infinitude of evil. Then that godly beauty of the soul which was an imitation of the Archetypal Beauty, like fine steel blackened with the vicious rust, preserved no longer the glory of its familiar essence, but was disfigured with the ugliness of sin. This thing so great and precious, as the Scripture calls him, this being man, has fallen from his proud birthright.
12 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence · Written before 523.
proposed
Now with thee He hath not done thus, but He hath purified and sanctified everything, as it is written, "Everything is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer," that henceforth the patient endurance of thy discretion might appear, and that thou mightest not …
The first cause of sin crept in from the enjoyment of food. What more salutary gift of God does our redeemed liberty use than that the will, which once did not know how to restrain itself from forbidden things, now knows how to restrain itself from lawful things? "Every creature of God is good, and nothing ought to be rejected, which is received with the giving of thanks." We were not created to seek out all the riches of the world with a foul and shameless greed. We can restrain voluntarily from what is lawful.
But if it is good, why is it "sanctified by the word of God and prayers"? For it must be unclean, if it is to be sanctified? Not so, here he is speaking to those who thought that some of these things were common; therefore he lays down two positions: first, that no creature of God is unclean: secondly, that if it were become so, you have a remedy, seal it, give thanks, and glorify God, and all the uncleanness passes away.
And no doubt of such people it is reasonable when, "the Spirit says expressly that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and the teaching inspired by daemons, through hypocritical sophists who are seated in conscience and forbid marriage, and demand abstinence from foods which God created to be eaten with thanksgiving by believers who know the truth. Everything created by God is good, and none is to be rejected but accepted with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer." It necessarily follows, then, that it is wrong to forbid marriage and indeed eating meat or drinking wine.
The Medieval Church2 voices
The reason for this is that if it were evil it would only be so, because the Devil had acquired power over it after man's sin: for as a result of man's sin the Devil obtained power over man and over the things that man …
For "all things," it says, "were very good" (Gen. 1:31). By saying "creature of God," the apostle designated everything that can be used for food, and in this way already overthrew the error of those who introduce uncreated matter and say that everything came from …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is sanctified by the word of God - Creating all, and giving it to man for food. And by prayer - The children of God are to pray for the sanctification of all the creatures which they use. And not only the Christians, but even the Jews, yea, the very heathens used to consecrate their table by prayer.
For it is sanctified,....
It is a desirable thing to have a sanctified use of our creature-comforts. Now they are sanctified to us, (1.) By the word of God; not only his permission, allowing us the liberty of the use of these things, but his promise to feed us with food convenient for us. This gives us a sanctified use of our creature-comforts.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For it is sanctified by the word of God - By the authority or permission of God. It would be profane or unholy if he had forbidden it; it is made holy or proper for our use by his permission, and no command of “man” can make it unholy or improper; compare Gen 1:29; Gen 9:3. And prayer - If it is partaken of with prayer. By prayer we are enabled to receive it with gratitude, and everything that we eat or drink may thus be made a means of grace.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Amen." In the case of inspired men, "the word of God" would refer to their inspired prayers (1Ki 17:1); but as Paul speaks in general, including uninspired men's thanksgiving for meals, the "word of God" more probably refers to the Scripture words used in thanksgiving prayers.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For it is sanctified by the word of God - Δια λογου Θεου· By the command of God; probably referring to Gen 1:29: And God said, I have given you every herb - and every tree - to you it shall be for meat; and to Gen 9:3: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things; i.e. I have given you every animal that is proper for food, as I have given you every herb and fruit proper for nourishment. Therefore, all this was sanctified, set apart, and appropriated to this use by this command. And when man is about to use it, he is to sanctify or set it apart to that use by prayer to God, 1. That it may answer the end to us for which it was designed; 2. That we may use it with gratitude and moderation; 3. That all the strength derived from it may be devoted to God, in filling up the duties of those situations in which his providence has placed us. Those who thank not God for their food, and pray not for his blessing in the use of it, are unworthy even of a morsel of bread, and of the breath they breathe. Bishop Newton’s opinion of this prophecy I have reserved to the end of this chapter.
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἁγιάζεται | hagiazetai | it is sanctified | G37 → | |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| διὰ | dia | through | G1223 → | 664 times |
| λόγου | logou | [the] word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐντεύξεως.¶ | enteuxeos | prayer. | G1783 → |
ἁγιάζεταιit is sanctified
hagiazetaiG37 →
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
διὰthrough
diaG1223 →664 times
λόγου[the] word
logouG3056 →329 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐντεύξεως.¶prayer.
enteuxeosG1783 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
- Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Matthew 6:31
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
Titus 1:15To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
it leads to
- Romans 14:14
I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
- Romans 14:20
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- Romans 14:14
Through
1 Timothy 4:3They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- 1 Timothy 4:4
Through
Luke 11:41But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.
it leads to
- Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Titus 1:15
About 1 Timothy
This page draws on 19 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 10.31.46; Augustine of Hippo, REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN 14.11; Basil of Caesarea, Letter 199, Canon 28; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 3; Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism 6; Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Timothy 12; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Leo the Great, SERMONS 81.1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Timothy and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Timothy.