1 Timothy 5:23

1 Timothy 5:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.
• New International Version (NIV)Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
• English Standard Version (ESV)(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
• New King James Version (NKJV)No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.

Context of 1 Timothy 5:23

21I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels that you guard and keep these rules without bias, doing nothing out of favoritism. 22Do not hurry to lay hands on anyone [ordaining and approving someone for ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders], and thereby share in the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. No longer continue drinking [only] water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. 24The sins of some people are conspicuous, leading the way for them into judgment [so that they are clearly not qualified for ministry]; but the sins of others appear later [for they are hidden and follow behind them]. 25Likewise, good deeds are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be hidden [indefinitely].

1 Timothy 5:23 word by word

μηκέτι ὑδροπότει, ἀλλ᾽ οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ διὰ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σου ἀσθενείας.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Drinkὑδροποτέωhudropoteō · to drink waterG5202
• no longerμηκέτιmēketi · never againG3371
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• useχράωchraomai · to useG5530
• a littleὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• wineοἶνοςoinos · wineG3631
• forδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• stomach’sστόμαχοςstomachos · stomachG4751
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• oftenπυκνόςpuknos · oftenG4437
• infirmitiesἀσθένειαastheneia · weakness: illG769

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 5:23

• 1 Timothy 3:3not addicted to wine, not a bully nor quick-tempered and hot-headed, but gentle and considerate, free from the love of money [not greedy for wealth and its inherent power—financially ethical].
• 1 Timothy 4:4For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
• Leviticus 10:9“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the Tent of Meeting, so that you will not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations—
• Psalms 104:15And wine which makes the heart of man glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.
• Proverbs 31:4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
• Ezekiel 44:21Nor shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.
• Ephesians 5:18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 5:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Drink no longer water, but use a little wine - The whole of this verse seems, to several learned critics and divines, strangely inserted in this place; it might have been, according to them, a note which the apostle inserted in the margin of his letter, on recollecting the precarious state of Timothy's health, and his great abstemiousness and self-denial. I believe the verse to be in its proper place; and, for reasons which I shall adduce, not less…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Drink no longer water - There has been much difficulty felt in regard to the connection which this advice has with what precedes and what follows. Many have considered the difficulty to be so great that they have supposed that this verse has been displaced, and that it should be introduced in some other connection. The true connection, and the reason for the introduction of the counsel here, seems to me to be this: Paul appears to have been suddenly…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 Care must be taken that ministers are maintained. And those who are laborious in this work are worthy of double honour and esteem. It is their just due, as much as the reward of the labourer. The apostle charges Timothy solemnly to guard against partiality. We have great need to watch at all times, that we do not partake of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure, not only from doing the like thyself, but from countenancing it, or any way helping…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23The concern with being pure might have been excessive regarding wine or food (5:22; see 3:3; Numbers 6:1–21; 1 Corinthians 10:21). People may have considered wine as medicine.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. no longer--as a habit. This injunction to drink wine occasionally is a modification of the preceding "keep thyself pure." The presbyter and deacon were enjoined to be "not given to wine" (1Ti 3:3, 8). Timothy seems to have had a tendency to undue ascetical strictness on this point (compare Note, see on 1Ti 4:8; compare the Nazarene vow, Nu 6:1-4; John the Baptist, Lu 1:15; Ro 14). Paul therefore modifies the preceding words, "keep thyself pure,"…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Timothy 5:23

• Dyspepsia
• Wine

In the dictionaries

• Beforehand
• Deny
• Guide
• Marry
• Reproachfully
• Requite
• Reward
• Infirmity
• Often
• Stomach

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings