2 Timothy 3:13
in 2 Timothy 3while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
KJV
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
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This verse in 2 Timothy 3
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse - That is, it is the character of such men to do this; they may be expected to do it. This is the general law of depravity - that if men are not converted, they are always growing worse, and sinking deeper into iniquity. Their progress will be certain, though it may be gradual, since “nemo repente turpissimus.” The connection here is this: that Timothy was not to expect that he would be exempt from persecution 2Ti 3:12, by any change for the better in the wicked men referred to.
This site's exposition
go from bad to worse
on 2 Timothy 3:13-14
Evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, imposters rendering goetes, the enchanter's word. Timothy is to continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. The oldest manuscripts make whom plural, reaching past Paul to Lois and Eunice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And what am I saying about myself? For all who desire to live piously will be persecuted, Paul …
Make progress, make progress in well-doing, for, according to the apostle, there are certain people who go from bad to worse. If you are progressing, you are advancing. Progress in well-doing, progress in good faith, progress in good deeds. Keep singing. Keep advancing. Do not wander. Do not return. Do not remain stationary.
These ignorant men are drunk, not with wine but with their own wickedness. They make a profession of priesthood and glory in their threats. Do not believe them. When we are tried, let us humble ourselves, not being made captive by them.… So we, when we are tried by these things, must not become separated from the love of God.
These spirits, therefore, are lurking under the statues and consecrated images: these inspire the breasts of their prophets with their afflatus, animate the fibres of the entrails, direct the flights of birds, rule the lots, give efficiency to oracles, are always mixing up falsehood with truth, for they are both deceived and they deceive;
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." Let none of these things, he says, disturb thee, if they are in prosperity, and thou in trials. Such is the nature of the case. From my own instance thou mayest learn that it is impossible for man, in his warfare with the wicked, not to be exposed to tribulation. One cannot be in combat and live luxuriously, one cannot be wrestling and feasting. Let none therefore of those who are contending seek for ease or joyous living. Again, the present state is contest, warfare, tribulation, straits, and trials, and the very scene of conflicts. The season for rest is not now, this is the time for toil and labor. No one who has just stripped and anointed himself thinks of ease. If thou thinkest of ease, why didst thou strip, or prepare to fight? "But do I not maintain the fight?" you say. What, when thou dost not conquer thy desires, nor rest the evil bias of nature?
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do not be troubled at all if they prosper while trials befall you: such is the order of things. Having stripped down for the struggle, you must exert effort. It is foolish to seek rest in the midst of a struggle. Even if they seem …
Then when he says, but evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, he shows that evil men fall into worse evils, namely, of guilt. He says, evil, in themselves, because they cling to their sins: he will bring these evil men to an …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,....
Observe, As good men, by the grace of God, grow better and better, so bad men, through the subtlety of Satan and the power of their own corruptions, grow worse and worse. The way of sin is down-hill; for such proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Not contradictory to that verse: there the diffusion of the evil was spoken of; here its intensity [ALFORD]. deceiving, and being deceived--He who has once begun to deceive others, is the less easily able to recover himself from error, and the more easily embraces in turn the errors of others [BENGEL].
Evil men and seducers shall wax worse - They will yet get on for a season, deceiving themselves and deceiving others; but, by and by, their folly will become manifest to all, 2Ti 3:9. The word γοητες, which we render seducers, signifies jugglers, pretenders to magical arts; probably persons dealing in false miracles, with whom the Church in all ages has been not a little disgraced.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| πονηροὶ | poneroi | Evil | G4190 → | |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἄνθρωποι | anthropoi | men | G444 → | 549 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| γόητες | goetes | imposters | G1114 → | |
| προκόψουσιν | prokopsousin | will advance | G4298 → | 6 times |
| ἐπὶ | epi | to | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τὸ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| χεῖρον | cheiron | worse | G5501 → | |
| πλανῶντες | planontes | deceiving | G4105 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πλανώμενοι. | planomenoi | being deceived. | G4105 → |
πονηροὶEvil
poneroiG4190 →
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
ἄνθρωποιmen
anthropoiG444 →549 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
γόητεςimposters
goetesG1114 →
προκόψουσινwill advance
prokopsousinG4298 →6 times
ἐπὶto
epiG1909 →883 times
τὸ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
χεῖρονworse
cheironG5501 →
πλανῶντεςdeceiving
planontesG4105 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πλανώμενοι.being deceived.
planomenoiG4105 →
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 4:1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:1–9
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
- 2 Peter 2:1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- 2 Corinthians 11:13–15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- Jude 1:18
when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- 2 Timothy 3:1–9
Through
2 Peter 2:20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse…
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:26–27
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Hebrews 6:4–8
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- Hebrews 10:26–27
Through
Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:1–3
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Ephesians 2:1–3
Where this verse is studied
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); Athanasius of Alexandria, FESTAL LETTERS 13.7; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS 256; Cyprian, Treatise VI On the Vanity of Idols; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Timothy 8; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; 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.