Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Tim 6 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) But you, Oh person of_god, be_fleeing these things, but be_pursuing righteousness, devoutness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.
OET (OET-RV) But you, Timothy, as a godly person, flee from those things and instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
In this paragraph, Paul told Timothy some specific ways that he should behave. He gave him four main instructions:
to “pursue…perseverance” (6:11c, 6:11e)
to “fight the good fight of the faith” (6:12a)
to “take hold of…eternal life” (6:12b)
to “keep this commandment…until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14a, 6:14c)
But you, O man of God,
¶ Timothy, since you belong to God,
¶ However, you have devoted yourself to God.
But you: Paul began this verse with an emphatic pronoun you(sing) along with the Greek word that the BSB translates as But. He used these words to introduce a contrast. He had described those who wanted to become rich and therefore eventually wandered from the faith (6:3–10). Now he described the way that Timothy should behave (6:11–16).
O man of God: Paul called Timothy man of God. There are two ways to understand this:
Paul meant that Timothy was a Christian and that he was someone who belonged to God and desired to behave as God wanted him to behave. For example, the NET says:
a person dedicated to God (NET, NLT, CEV)
Paul was using the words man of God in a special sense to say that Timothy was like a prophet. This is what the expression man of God meant in the Old Testament. For example, Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1), Samuel (1 Samuel 9), Elijah (1 Kings 17:18) and others were called by this title.
Most English versions translate this phrase literally. If you wish to follow one of the above interpretations in your translation, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Paul called Timothy man of God to highlight that he was commanding Timothy to behave in a way that showed that he belonged to God. This expression is used in 2 Timothy 3:17 as a general term for a believer.
flee from these things
you must avoid all that.
That is why you must stay away from all such behavior.
flee: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as flee literally means “to run away from.” But here Paul used it in a figurative way to mean “avoid” or “stay away from.” People “avoid” or flee from danger. In the same way, Paul wanted Timothy to avoid behaving in the ways mentioned in 6:3–10.
these things: Paul was talking about the issues that he had discussed in the previous verses: all the ways in which people might sin when they want to become rich.
and pursue righteousness, godliness,
Make every effort to do only what is right. Behave as God wants you to behave.
pursue righteousness, godliness: This is also a figure of speech. In some languages a verb like pursue can only be used with an animate object like a person or an animal. It is not possible to pursue something like righteousness or the other qualities in this list (6:11c–e). People use all their physical energy when they chase after someone or something. Paul meant that Timothy should use all his effort to behave in these ways.
righteousness: This is the first of six qualities that Paul told Timothy to pursue. The Greek word that the BSB translates as righteousness refers to doing things that God considers right.
godliness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as godliness refers to the way people behave when they respect God. See godliness, godly in the Glossary.Louw and Nida define righteousness (88.13) as “the act of doing what God requires” and define godliness (53.5) as “behavior reflecting correct religious beliefs and attitudes.” They recommend translating the word “godliness” in 1 Timothy 2:2 as “to live as God would have us live” or “to live as God has told us we should live.” So, you can see how similar the two words are.
faith, love,
Trust Christ. Love other people.
faith: See faith, meaning 1, in the Glossary.
love: In this verse, Paul was probably talking about love for other people rather than love for God.Knight, page 262, says, “Where, however, Paul indicates or implies the object of love, it is most often human beings (e.g., Rom. 12:9; 13:10; 14:15; 2 Cor. 8:7; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 1:15; 4:2; Col. 1:4; 2:2; 1 Thes. 3:12; 5:13; 2 Thes. 1:3; Phm. 5, 7). Humans seem to be the object in 1 Corinthians 13, which is followed by words similar to those here, i.e., διώκετε τὴν ἀγάπην [=‘pursue love’] (1 Cor. 14:1). Thus if a specific object is intended here, and it need not be, it would probably be humans.”
perseverance, and gentleness.
Never give up obeying God. Do not become angry with people.
perseverance: When Paul said that Timothy should pursue perseverance, he meant that Timothy should persist in trusting God and in doing what pleased God, no matter what happened.
gentleness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as gentleness refers to not being harsh or rough with other people. In the New Testament it usually refers to the way in which a person talks to other people. It can also include the way that a person treats other people.The actual word which Paul uses here, praupathia, does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament. However, its synonym prautēs occurs eight times, in 1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:23, 6:1; Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12; 2 Timothy 2:25; and Titus 3:2.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
ἄνθρωπε Θεοῦ
person ˱of˲_God
Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe a man who serves and obeys God. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [man who obeys God] or [man who worships God]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ταῦτα φεῦγε
these_‹things› ˓be˒_fleeing
Paul speaks of these temptations and sins as if they were things a person could physically run away from. He means that Timothy should always avoid these things. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [make sure that you do not do these things]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / extrainfo
ταῦτα
these_‹things›
Here, the phrase these things refers to sinful behaviors and desires that Paul has been writing about. He could be referring more specifically to everything he has written about in this section of the letter (false teachings, pride, arguments, and the love of money). On the other hand, he could be referring just to what he wrote about most recently (the love of money). Since Paul used a general phrase, if possible, you should use a general phrase that could refer to any of these ideas. Alternate translation: [these sinful things] or [the things I have been writing about]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δίωκε
˓be˒_pursuing
Paul speaks of righteousness and other good qualities as if they were things that a person could run after and catch. He means that Timothy should try very hard to be characterized by these good things. Alternate translation: [seek to acquire] or [work hard to be characterized by]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
δικαιοσύνην, εὐσέβειαν, πίστιν, ἀγάπην, ὑπομονήν, πραϋπαθίαν
righteousness devoutness faith love endurance gentleness
If your language does not use abstract nouns for some or all of the ideas in this list, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: [becoming more righteous, godly, believing, loving, persistent, gentle]
OET (OET-LV) But you, Oh person of_god, be_fleeing these things, but be_pursuing righteousness, devoutness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.
OET (OET-RV) But you, Timothy, as a godly person, flee from those things and instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.