2 Timothy 2:23
in 2 Timothy 2But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that they gender strifes.
KJV
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
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This verse in 2 Timothy 2
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid; - see the notes at 2Ti 2:16; compare the notes at 1Ti 1:4, 1Ti 1:6; 1Ti 4:7. The word “unlearned,” here, means “trifling; that which does not tend to edification; stupid.” The Greeks and the Hebrews were greatly given to controversies of various kinds, and many of the questions discussed pertained to points which could not be settled, or which, if settled, were of no importance. Such has been the character of no small part of the disputes which have agitated the world.
This site's exposition
foolish and ignorant speculation
on 2 Timothy 2:23-26
The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. The goal is restoration, that God may grant them repentance, so that they escape the snare of the devil.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
A hermit said, 'Ask God to give you inner grief of heart and humility. Always look at your own sins, and do not judge another's. Be the servant of all. Do not make friends with a woman, or a boy or a heretic. Do not …
Reject foolish and ignorant questions, knowing that they generate arguments. A servant of the Lord must not argue but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. foolish and ignorant. For there are also sound and learned questions, namely those concerning the sacred Scriptures. But …
For their system is blasphemous above all [others], since they represent that the Maker and Framer, who is one God, as I have shown, was produced from a defect or apostasy. They utter blasphemy, also, against our Lord, by cutting off and dividing Jesus from Christ, and Christ from the Saviour, and again the Saviour from the Word, and the Word from the Only-begotten.
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews · Written before 258.
proposed
Also to Timothy: "But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they generate strifes. But the servant of God ought not to strive, but to be gentle towards all men."
"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes." Do you see how he everywhere draws him off from questions; not that he was not able to overthrow them; for he was well able. For had he not been able he would have said, Be diligent, that thou mayest be able to refute them; as when he says, "Give attendance to reading, for by so doing thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." (1 Tim. iv. 13, 1 Tim iv. 16) But he knew that it was useless to enter at all into these disputes, that there will be no end of it, save contentions, enmities, insults, and reproaches. These "questions" therefore "avoid"; so that there are other questions, some relating to the Scriptures, some to other things.
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
The Stoics also, whom he mentions too, say not well that the Deity, being a body, pervades the vilest matter. He calls the jugglery of logic "the tradition of men." Wherefore also he adds, "Avoid juvenile questions. For such contentions are puerile." "But virtue is no lover of boys," says the philosopher Plato. And our struggle, according to Gorgias Leontinus, requires two virtues-boldness and wisdom-boldness to undergo danger, and wisdom to understand the enigma. For the Word, like the Olympian proclamation, calls him who is willing, and crowns him who is able to continue unmoved as far as the truth is concerned.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do you see how the apostle everywhere steers Timothy away from disputes? This is not because Timothy was unable to refute them; he was able; but because it is utterly useless even to enter into such disputes. Nothing good comes from them except quarreling and …
Avoid foolish and unlearned questions: Foolish questions must be avoided, because their subject matter deals with foolish things, i.e., with things contrary to wisdom, namely, with matters contrary to divine wisdom. A man should not raise such questions, but resist them: every man is become …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), cautions him against foolish and unlearned questions, that tend to no benefit, strifes of words. Those who advanced them, and doted upon them, thought themselves wise and learned; but Paul calls them foolish and unlearned. The mischief of these is that they gender strifes, that they breed debates and quarrels among Christians and ministers.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid,.... Such as have no solid wisdom in them, and are foreign from the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, and are not useful and unedifying; such ought to be avoided, publicly and privately; they should not be started in the public ministry, nor attended to in private conversation; as being unworthy of the notice of a minister of the Gospel wise and learned, and useless to the church, and to his hearers.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Tit 3:9.) unlearned--Greek, "undisciplined"; not tending to promote the discipline of faith and morals (Pr 5:23). "Uninstructive"; in contrast with "instructing" (2Ti 2:25), and "wise unto salvation" (2Ti 3:15). avoid--"decline."
Foolish and unlearned questions - See the notes on 1Ti 1:4; 1Ti 4:7 (note), and Tit 3:9 (note).
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| τὰς | tas | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| μωρὰς | moras | foolish | G3474 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπαιδεύτους | apaideutous | ignorant | G521 → | |
| ζητήσεις | zeteseis | speculations | G2214 → | |
| παραιτοῦ | paraitou | do refuse | G3868 → | |
| εἰδὼς | eidos | knowing | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| γεννῶσιν | gennosin | they breed | G1080 → | |
| μάχας· | machas | quarrels; | G3163 → |
τὰς<the>
tasG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
μωρὰςfoolish
morasG3474 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπαιδεύτουςignorant
apaideutousG521 →
ζητήσειςspeculations
zeteseisG2214 →
παραιτοῦdo refuse
paraitouG3868 →
εἰδὼςknowing
eidos
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
γεννῶσινthey breed
gennosinG1080 →
μάχας·quarrels;
machasG3163 →
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
1 Timothy 4:7But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:16
But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Titus 2:12
It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- 1 Timothy 1:4
or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.
- 2 Timothy 2:16
Through
1 Timothy 1:4or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.
it leads to
- Titus 1:14
and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 4:7
But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Timothy 4:4
So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
- Titus 1:14
Through
Titus 3:9But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:14
Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.
- 2 Timothy 2:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About 2 Timothy
This page draws on 14 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); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1; Cyprian, Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Timothy 6; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Timothy and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Timothy.