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OET (OET-LV) But evil people and swindlers will_be_progressing to the worse, deceiving and being_strayed.
OET (OET-RV) Meanwhile evil people and scammers will get worse and worse—deceiving others and then being deceived themselves.
In 3:10–4:8 Paul reminded Timothy that Timothy had thoroughly learned true doctrine, so he should continue to preach it faithfully, even if he had to suffer because of it.
while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse,
But wicked people and deceivers will become worse and worse.
But wicked men and those who pretend to be who they are not are doing evil acts now, and they will do things that are even more evil
while: The Greek word that the BSB translates as while is the common Greek conjunction de. Most scholars and English versions interpret this word as indicating a contrast between the godly people in 3:12 and the evil people in 3:13.
evil men and imposters: The two terms evil men and impostors refer back to the false teachers. Scholars disagree about how these terms are related. The interpretations are:
These two terms describe two separate groups of people. For example, the NLT says:
But evil people and impostors will flourish. See also BSB, NIV, GNT, RSV, NASB, REB, KJV, GW, NET.
These two terms refer to the same group of people: the evil men are also impostors. So these two nouns express a single idea. For example, the CEV says:
evil people who pretend to be what they are not See also NJB and NCV.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
imposters: An impostor is a person who pretends to be someone that he is not in order to deceive other people. A synonym for this term is “deceivers.”
go from bad to worse: Paul did not specify in what way these men would continually become worse. He probably was referring to their moral lives and to their teaching. Make the translation of this portion of the verse as general as possible.
deceiving and being deceived.
They deceive people, and they themselves will be deceived by others.
as they mislead people, and other people deceive them.
deceiving: The Greek word that the BSB translates as deceiving also means “misleading.” The implied object for the verb deceiving is “other people.”
and being deceived: The text does not say who deceives the evil men and impostors. It is probably “other people,” but would not be the same group of people that they deceived.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πονηροί Δέ ἄνθρωποι καί γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπί τό χεῖρον πλανῶντες καί πλανώμενοι)
Here the word But introduces what happens to evil men and impostors in contrast with what happens to people who want to live in godly ways. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this kind of contrast, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [However,] or [In contrast,]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἄνθρωποι
people
Although the term men is masculine, Jesus is using the word in a generic sense that includes both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a phrase that makes this clear. Alternate translation: [men and women]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys
πονηροὶ & ἄνθρωποι καὶ γόητες
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πονηροί Δέ ἄνθρωποι καί γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπί τό χεῖρον πλανῶντες καί πλανώμενοι)
Here the phrase evil men and impostors could: (1) refer to two different groups of people. Alternate translation: [men who are evil and men who are impostors] (2) describe one group of people using two terms connected with and. Alternate translation: [evil people who are impostors] or [evil impostors]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
προκόψουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον
˓will_be˒_progressing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: πονηροί Δέ ἄνθρωποι καί γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπί τό χεῖρον πλανῶντες καί πλανώμενοι)
Here Paul speaks of these people as if they could physically advance or progress in a certain direction, and he speaks of the worse as that direction. He means that these people become worse and worse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [will grow worse and worse] or [will be characterized by being increasingly worse]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πονηροί Δέ ἄνθρωποι καί γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπί τό χεῖρον πλανῶντες καί πλανώμενοι)
Paul is using the adjective worse as a noun to mean behavior and character that is worse. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [to worse behavior] or [to worse character]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
πλανῶντες καὶ πλανώμενοι
deceiving (Some words not found in SR-GNT: πονηροί Δέ ἄνθρωποι καί γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπί τό χεῖρον πλανῶντες καί πλανώμενοι)
Here Paul speaks as if the evil men and impostors could literally lead people astray and be led astray. He means that they will deceive others and be deceived themselves. If it would be helpful for your readers, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [causing people to believe what is wrong and themselves believing what is wrong]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
πλανώμενοι
˓being˒_strayed
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, you could use an indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [others leading them astray]
OET (OET-LV) But evil people and swindlers will_be_progressing to the worse, deceiving and being_strayed.
OET (OET-RV) Meanwhile evil people and scammers will get worse and worse—deceiving others and then being deceived themselves.
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.