OET interlinear 1 TIM 4:3

4:3a

They will prohibit marriage: Paul did not use a future tense here, but a present tense, as in the NIV: “They forbid people to marry.” The false teachers were already spreading their wrong teaching and telling people that it was wrong to get married.By saying that believers should not get married, the false teachers were saying that a man and a women should not have any kind of sexual relationship. See also 1 Corinthians 7:3–5, where Paul implied that there were people who were teaching that even married couples should not have sex. There have been people throughout history who have taught that sex is bad. Among these are the Essenes, the Encratites (described by Irenaeus), and Tertullian. For more details, see Stott, page 113.

Paul implied that it is wrong to forbid people to marry. In some languages, you will need to make it clear in the translation that Paul implied that this was wrong.

4:3b

require abstinence from certain foods: That is, the false teachers taught the people not to eat some kinds of food.

certain foods: The Greek word that the BSB translates as certain foods is a general word that refers to any kind of solid food. It does not refer to drinks. The false teachers were saying that there were some kinds of food that believers should not eat. For example, they may have been saying that it was not good to eat meat.Paul used the same Greek word that he used here, brōma, to refer specifically to meat in Romans 14. The evidence that he was doing this is that he interchanged the word in that chapter with the Greek word krea, which can only mean “meat.” For example, in Romans 14:20, he said that people should not destroy the work of God for the sake of brōma. He continued teaching this point in Romans 14:21 by saying that therefore people should abstain from eating krea if they would offend another believer and damage him spiritually by eating meat.Note also that in Romans 14:2 Paul was using as an example the Christian whose faith was weak and who therefore ate only vegetables. This indicates that in this chapter he was contrasting people like that with people whose faith was stronger, so that they could eat meat without feeling guilty. It also indicates that when he spoke about brōma in Romans 14:20, he was referring to meat.In 1 Corinthians 8:13, Paul interchanged brōma in a single verse with krea. It is likely that Paul used brōma to refer specifically to meat here in 1 Timothy 4:2 also. If that is how he used this word here, then he was saying that the false teachers were saying that it was always wrong to eat meat.The main difference between the people who had weak faith, whom Paul described in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, and the false teachers against whom he was writing here in 4:3 is that the weak people did not teach other people that meat was inherently evil and that it was always wrong to eat it, as the false teachers taught. This difference was the main reason why Paul condemned the teaching of the false teachers here in 4:3 (see also Colossians 2:16–17, 2:21–23), in contrast with the gentle and considerate way that Paul recommended for strong believers to treat weaker believers in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8. See Knight, page 190. It is possible that they considered certain foods unclean or impure, as the Old Testament law had said.

4:3c

that: That is, the kinds of food that the false teachers were telling the believers not to eat.

to be received: God created food for people to eat. When Paul said that they receive it from God, he meant that God supplies the food. Paul implied that it cannot be bad because it comes from God and everything that God created is good (see 4:4a).

with thanksgiving: This means that people should thank God for their food.

by those who believe and know the truth: Paul implied that believers may eat all foods because God made food for people to receive with thanksgiving. Be careful that your translation does not make people think that God made food only for believers.

believe and know: Paul was not talking about two groups of people (one that believes, and another one that knows). He was talking about only one group of people, true believers.

the truth: The expression the truth is also used in 2:7d and 3:15d. It refers to the gospel, the message from God about Christ.