1 Timothy 4:3

1 Timothy 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
• New International Version (NIV)They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Context of 1 Timothy 4:3

1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, 5because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

1 Timothy 4:3 word by word

κωλυόντων γαμεῖν, ἀπέχεσθαι βρωμάτων ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἔκτισεν εἰς μετάλημψιν μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τοῖς πιστοῖς καὶ ἐπεγνωκόσιν τὴν ἀλήθειαν.Read the interlinear

• They will prohibitκωλύωkōluō · to preventG2967
• marriageγαμέωgameō · to marryG1060
• abstinenceἀπέχωapechō · to have in fullG568
• from certain foodsβρῶμαbrōma · foodG1033
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• has createdκτίζωktizō · to createG2936
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• be receivedμετάληψιςmetalēpsis · partaking ofG3336
• withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• thanksgivingεὐχαριστίαeucharistia · thankfulnessG2169
• believeπιστόςpistos · faithfulG4103
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• knowἐπιγινώσκωepiginōskō · to come to knowG1921
• truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 4:3

• Daniel 11:37He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.
• 1 Corinthians 7:28But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
• Hebrews 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
• Romans 14:3The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
• 1 Corinthians 8:8But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
• Colossians 2:20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
• Hebrews 13:9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.
• Genesis 1:29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
• Genesis 9:3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
• Acts 10:13Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
• 1 Corinthians 6:13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
• 1 Timothy 4:4For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
• 1 Samuel 9:13As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.”
• Matthew 14:19And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
• Matthew 15:36Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Forbidding to marry - These hypocritical priests pretending that a single life was much more favorable to devotion, and to the perfection of the Christian life. This sentiment was held by the Essenes, a religious sect among the Jews; and we know that it is a favourite opinion among the Romanists, who oblige all their clergy to live a single life by a vow of continency. To abstain from meats - Both among the heathens, Jews, and Romanists, certain meats…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Forbidding to marry - That is, “They will depart from the faith through the hypocritical teaching - of those who forbid to marry;” see notes on 1 Timothy 4:2. This does not necessarily mean that they would prohibit marriage altogether, but that it would be a characteristic of their teaching that marriage would “be forbidden,” whether of one class of persons or many. They would “commend” and “enjoin” celibacy and virginity. They would regard such a state…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-5Paul’s plain teaching contrasts with the false teachings he criticizes (3:16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Sensuality leads to false spiritualism. Their own inward impurity is reflected in their eyes in the world without them, and hence their asceticism (Tit 1:14, 15) [Wiesinger]. By a spurious spiritualism (2Ti 2:18), which made moral perfection consist in abstinence from outward things, they pretended to attain to a higher perfection. Mt 19:10-12 (compare 1Co 7:8, 26, 38) gave a seeming handle to their "forbidding marriage" (contrast 1Ti 5:14); and the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Timothy 4:3

• Animals
• Apostasy
• Asceticism
• Celibacy
• Commandments
• Doctrines
• Food
• Marriage
• Minister, Christian
• Prayer
• Thankfulness
• Truth

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Attendance
• Charge
• Example
• Faithful
• Godliness
• Marriage
• Nourish
• Presbytery

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 4

• 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