2 TIM 2:4 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Soldiers stay unentangled from the affairs of daily living so that they will be dedicated to pleasing their commanding officer.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT No one serving as a soldier is entangled in the affairs of life, so that he may please the one having enlisted him.

UST Consider this: soldiers focus on doing what their commanders want. Because of that, they do not participate in what civilians normally do.

BLB No one serving as a soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this life, that he might please the one having enlisted him.

AICNT No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.

OEB A soldier on active service, to please his superior officer, always avoids entangling himself in the affairs of ordinary life.

WEBBE No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please the one who recruited him.

LSV no one serving as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please him who enlisted him;

FBV A soldier on active duty doesn't get caught up in the business of everyday life. He wants to please the one who enlisted him.

TCNT No one serving as a soldier entangles himself in the affairs of civilian life, since he seeks to please the one who enlisted him.

T4T You know that soldiers, in order to please their captain, do not ◄become involved in civilian affairs/spend time doing other kinds of work► [MET]. So, like soldiers, do not let other matters ◄distract you as you serve/hinder you from serving► Christ Jesus!

LEB No one who serves as a soldier is entangled in the activities of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.

BBE A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

Moff No soldier gets entangled in civil pursuits; his aim is to satisfy his commander.

Wymth Every one who serves as a soldier keeps himself from becoming entangled in the world's business—so that he may satisfy the officer who enlisted him.

ASV No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.

DRA No man, being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with secular businesses; that he may please him to whom he hath engaged himself.

YLT no one serving as a soldier did entangle himself with the affairs of life, that him who did enlist him he may please;

Drby No one going as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please him who has enlisted him as a soldier.

RV No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.

SLT None making war is entangled with the affairs of life: that he may please him having enlisted him.

Wbstr No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

KJB-1769 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
(No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath/has chosen him to be a soldier. )

KJB-1611 No man that warreth, intangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life, that hee may please him who hath chosen him to be a souldier.
(No man that warreth, intangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath/has chosen him to be a soldier.)

Bshps No man that warreth, entangleth hym selfe with thaffayres of this lyfe, that he may please hym which hath chosen hym to be a souldier.
(No man that warreth, entangleth himself with thaffayres of this life, that he may please him which hath/has chosen him to be a soldier.)

Gnva No man that warreth, entangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life, because he woulde please him that hath chosen him to be a souldier.
(No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, because he would please him that hath/has chosen him to be a soldier. )

Cvdl No ma that warreth, tangleth him selfe with wordly busynesses, & that because he wolde please him, which hath chosen him to be a soudyer.
(No man that warreth, tangleth himself with wordly busynesses, and that because he would please him, which hath/has chosen him to be a soldier.)

TNT No man that warreth entanglith him silfe with worldely busynes and that be cause he wolde please him that hath chosen him to be a soudier.
(No man that warreth entanglith himself with worldly business and that be cause he would please him that hath/has chosen him to be a soldier. )

Wycl No man holdinge knyythod to God, wlappith hym silf with worldli nedis, that he plese to hym, to whom he hath preuyd hym silf.
(No man holdinge knighthood/army to God, wlappith himself with worldli nedis, that he please to him, to whom he hath/has preuyd himself.)

Luth Kein Kriegsmann flicht sich in Händel der Nahrung, auf daß er gefalle dem, der ihn angenommen hat.
(No/Not war/battlesmann flight itself/yourself/themselves in handsl the/of_the food, on/in/to that he gradient to_him, the/of_the him/it assumed has.)

ClVg Nemo militans Deo implicat se negotiis sæcularibus: ut ei placeat, cui se probavit.[fn]
(Nobody militans to_God implicat himself negotiis secularbus: as to_him please, to_whom himself probavit. )

2.4 Nemo militans. Quasi dicat: Si bonus miles esse vis, non implices te sæcularibus negotiis, quia nemo, etc. Negotiis. Negotia sæcularia sunt cum animus occupatur colligendæ cura pecuniæ sine labore corporis, ut negotiatores et hujusmodi: quod ne iste faceret, quia infirmus laborare non poterat, prohibet.

2.4 Nobody militans. As_if let_him_say: When/But_if good/kind/gracious miles to_be you_want, not/no implices you(sg) secularbus negotiis, because nobody/no_one, etc. Negotiis. Negotia seculara are when/with animus occupatur neckgendæ care money without with_hard_work body, as businessmen and of_this_kind: that not this would_do, because weak/sick to_work not/no he_could, prohibits.

UGNT οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματίαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ.
(oudeis strateuomenos empleketai tais tou biou pragmatiais, hina tōi stratologaʸsanti aresaʸ.)

SBL-GNT οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ·
(oudeis strateuomenos empleketai tais tou biou pragmateiais, hina tōi stratologaʸsanti aresaʸ;)

RP-GNT Οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ.
(Oudeis strateuomenos empleketai tais tou biou pragmateiais, hina tōi stratologaʸsanti aresaʸ.)

TC-GNT Οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου [fn]πραγματείαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ.
(Oudeis strateuomenos empleketai tais tou biou pragmateiais, hina tōi stratologaʸsanti aresaʸ. )

2:4 πραγματειαις ¦ πραγματιαις WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–13: Timothy should be willing to endure hardship as he serves Jesus Christ

Paragraph 2:3–7

In this paragraph Paul compared Christians to three types of people in order to give Timothy three different instructions.

As a soldier endures hardship, endure hardship for the Lord.
As an athlete is self-disciplined, be self-disciplined.
As a farmer works hard, work hard for the Lord.

In 2:3 Paul explicitly stated one of the two main themes of the letter. That theme is that a Christian who wants to serve the Lord must be like a loyal soldier. He must be willing to endure suffering.

2:4–6

In 2:4–6, Paul compared the Christian to three types of people. Then in 2:7 he advised Timothy to think deeply about the meaning of these three comparisons. This shows that the point of comparison in Paul’s illustrations would not be immediately clear even to Timothy. He needed to think about what Paul wrote to him. Because of this, you should avoid making the points of comparison explicit in your translation.

2:4a

A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs,

A soldier who is serving in the army does not do another kind of work at the same time.
No one who is a soldier becomes involved in civilian matters,

A soldier: This refers to a soldier on active duty.

entangling himself: This phrase is the translation of one Greek verb. It occurs only here and in 2 Peter 2:20. It means “to get entangled in” or “to get mixed up with.”

in civilian affairs: This phrase is literally “matters/affairs of life.” It can refer to any matter in general, or more specifically, to a business or job that is not a military job. A soldier may have brief times when he is not actually working as a soldier, but even during those times he is not free to start working at some other kind of job.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

everyday matters (NCV)

non-military activities (GW)

2:4b

in order to please the one who enlisted him.

so that he may please his commanding officer.
because he wants to please his commanding officer.
If he does, he will not please his commander/leader.

in order to: In the Greek text, the conjunction hina (in order to) connects 2:4a and 2:4b. There are several ways to show this connection.

Make the conjunction implicit. The NIV uses a dash to indicate the connection between these two verse parts.
^4aNo one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—^4bhe wants to please his commanding officer. Other translations (GW, CEV) begin a new sentence at 2:4b.
^4aSoldiers on duty don’t work at outside jobs. ^4bThey try only to please their commanding officer. (CEV)
Make the conjunction explicit like the BSB and and NASB do. For example, the NASB says:
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
State 2:4b negatively like the NET does.
No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please the one who recruited him. See also NLT, and JBP.
Reorder 2:4a and 2:4b.
^4bA soldier wants to please his commanding officer, ^4aso he does not get involved in civilian affairs.

You should use the option that is most natural in your language.

the one who enlisted him: In Greek, this is literally “the one having enlisted (him).” The BSB, RSV, NASB, and NET translate this literally. However, a literal translation like “the enlistment officer” may give the wrong impression. In Paul’s time, each officer gathered together (or enlisted) the men he later commanded. This was different than many of today’s armies where the enlistment officer is a completely different person than the commanding officer. Therefore, a term like “commanding officer” or “commander” may be more appropriate.

General Comment on 2:4

The Christian’s commanding officer is Christ. The point of the comparison between a soldier and a person who serves Christ is that the soldier and the Christian must each completely commit himself to his commander, doing whatever the commander tells him to do.

However, the point of comparison should not be made explicit in the translation because in 2:7, Paul asked Timothy to think about what he was saying and said that the Lord would help Timothy to understand it. Therefore, Paul was not trying to be completely explicit.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματίαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐδείς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ)

Here Paul continues to speak about a soldier to help Timothy understand how to behave. Just as a soldier focuses on pleasing his commander, so Timothy should focus on pleasing Jesus. To do so, he will have to avoid becoming entangled in the affairs of life. Since Paul tells Timothy in [2:7](../02/07.md) to think carefully about the examples that he gives in this verse and in [2:5–6](../02/05.md), you should not explain the meaning of this metaphor here. However, if it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that indicates that Paul is using a metaphor or giving an example. Alternate translation: [Imagine that you are a soldier. No one serving as a soldier is entangled in the affairs of life, so that he may please the one having enlisted him]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματίαις

˓is_being˒_entangled ˱with˲_the ¬the ˱of˲_living (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐδείς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ)

Paul speaks of the affairs of life as if they were a net that could trap people and keep them from being able to move freely. He means that the affairs of life would prevent a soldier from doing what he is supposed to do. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [is trapped by the affairs of life] or [is distracted by the affairs of life]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ἐμπλέκεται

˓is_being˒_entangled

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. Alternate translation: [entangles himself]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματίαις

˱with˲_the ¬the ˱of˲_living (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐδείς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ)

Here the phrase the affairs of life refers to the normal things that people who are not soldiers do and care about, including having a job and owning a home. If it would be helpful in your language, you could refer to those things more explicitly. Alternate translation: [in the normal tasks of everyday life] or [in the everyday jobs of civilian life]

τῷ στρατολογήσαντι

˱to˲_the_‹one› ˓having˒_enlisted_‹him›

Alternate translation: [his leader] or [the one who commands him]