2 Timothy 3:4
in 2 Timothy 3traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;
KJV
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
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This verse in 2 Timothy 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verse...the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, "whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things," who are "lovers of pleasure, and not lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." These make merchandise of Christ, corrupting His word, and giving up Jesus to sale: they are corrupters of women, and covetous of other men's possessions, swallowing up wealth insatiably; from whom may ye be delivered by the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ!
This site's exposition
perilous times shall come
on 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Perilous is chalepos, the word used of the Gadarene demoniacs, times hard to bear, and the catalogue that follows runs nineteen marks from lovers of their own selves to lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, self-love at the head and God displaced at the foot. The last days span the whole age between the advents in the apostles' usage, the degeneracy recurring and ripening toward the end the site's posture expects. The summit of the list is religious: having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, morphosis without dunamis, and the command is from such turn away, for the form without the power is the danger inside the church, not outside it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
These, therefore, who have been anathematized by the brotherhood, let no one of you receive, nor admit of those things which are either said or written by them. For these seducers do always lie, nor will they ever speak the truth. They go about the …
traitors. One who betrays friendship and companionship. reckless. That is, rash and having nothing stable. snobbish. That is, full of arrogance. lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Exchanging the love of the divine for something shameful. Indeed, the very form of holiness exposes …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then he lists the vices which flow from the degeneration of the rational appetite. This appetite is made perfect by prudence, to which one vice is opposed by way of abuse, and another by way of privation. And he lists both. In regard to the …
Betrayers of friendship. That is, unsteady, inconstant. Filled with arrogance. Otherwise it cannot be but so: for where there is love of worldly pleasures, there is no place for the desire of divine things. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Traitors,.... To their princes and sovereigns, whose deaths they have contrived and compassed, and whom they have assassinated and murdered; and have been betrayers of the secrets of persons, which they have come at by auricular confession to them; and of their best and nearest friends, to preserve and secure themselves. Heady; rash, daring, bold, and impudent, fit to say and do any thing, though ever so vile and wicked.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
When men are petulant and puffed up, behaving scornfully to all about them, and when this temper generally prevails, then the times are perilous. When men are generally lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. When there are more epicures than true Christians, then the times are bad indeed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Traitors - Προδοται· From προ, before, and διδωμι, to deliver up. Those who deliver up to an enemy the person who has put his life in their hands; such as the Scots of 1648, who delivered up into the hands of his enemies their unfortunate countryman and king, Charles the First; a stain which no lapse of ages can wipe out. Heady - Προπετεις· From προ, forwards, and πιπτω, to fall; headstrong, precipitate, rash, inconsiderate. High-minded - Τετυφωμενοι· From τυφος, smoke; the frivolously aspiring; those who are full of themselves, and empty of all good.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Traitors - This word is used in the New Testament only here and in Luk 6:16; Act 7:52. It means any one who betrays - whether it be a friend or his country. Treason has been in all ages regarded as one of the worst crimes that man can commit. Heady - The same word in Act 19:36, is rendered rashly. It occurs only there and in this place in the New Testament. It properly means “falling forwards; prone, inclined, ready to do anything; then precipitate, headlong, rash.” It is opposed to that which is deliberate and calm, and here means that men would be ready to do anything without deliberation, or concern for the consequences. They would engage in enterprises which would only disturb society, or prove their own ruin. High-minded - Literally, “puffed up;” compare the notes at 1Ti 3:6, where the same word is rendered “lifted up with pride.” The meaning is, that they would be inflated with pride or self-conceit. Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God - That is, of sensual pleasures, or vain amusements. This has been, and is, the characteristic of a great part of the world, and has often distinguished even many who profess religion. Of a large portion of mankind it may be said that this is their characteristic, that they live for pleasure; they have no serious pursuits; they brook no restraints which interfere with their amusements, and they greatly prefer the pleasures to be found in the gay assembly, in the ball-room, or in the place of low dissipation, to the friendship of their Creator.
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.
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
Jude 1:4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only…
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:1–3
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…
- Galatians 2:4
This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
- 2 Peter 2:10
Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
- Titus 1:15–16
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.
- 1 Peter 2:16
Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
- 2 Peter 2:1–3
Through
1 Timothy 3:6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:4
he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
- Hebrews 5:12–13
Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Timothy 6:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About 2 Timothy
This page draws on 10 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); Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy 1.13; Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians; 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.