1 Timothy 3:6

1 Timothy 3:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
• New International Version (NIV)He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
• English Standard Version (ESV)He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
• New King James Version (NKJV)not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

Context of 1 Timothy 3:6

4He must take care of his own family. His children must obey him and respect him. 5A man must know how to take care of his own family. If he cannot do that, he will not be able to take care of God's people in the church. A leader of the church must not be someone who has believed in Christ for only a short time. Someone like that might boast that he is great and important. Then he would receive punishment, as the Devil did. 7Also, people outside the church should agree that the leader is a good person. Then nobody can say anything bad against him. And so, he will not come under the Devil's power. 8In the same way, deacons must live good lives, so that people respect them. They must not be hypocrites. They must not drink too much wine. They must not want to get a lot of money for themselves.

1 Timothy 3:6 word by word

μὴ νεόφυτον, ἵνα μὴ τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρίμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαβόλου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·ἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• Notμήmē · notG3361
• a noviceνεόφυτοςneophutos · new convertG3504
• being lifted up with prideτυφόωtuphoō · be conceitedG5187
• he fallἐμπίπτωempiptō · to fall intoG1706
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the condemnationκρίμαkrima · judgmentG2917
• of the devilδιάβολοςdiabolos · devilish/the DevilG1228

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 3:6

• 1 Corinthians 3:1My Christian friends, I could not teach you as I would teach people who have God's Spirit. I had to teach you as people who belong only to this world. You were like little children who could not understand the message about Christ very well.
• Hebrews 5:12After all this time as believers in Jesus, you ought to be teachers. Instead of that, you still need someone to teach you the first lessons about God's message. You have become like babies, who need milk instead of proper food.
• 1 Peter 2:2Instead, you should want to learn about God more and more. New babies always want their mothers' milk, which makes them grow strong. God's true message is like good food that will make you strong in your spirits. Then you will continue to grow as believers so that God saves you.
• Deuteronomy 8:14Then be careful! Do not become proud. Never forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. He rescued you from the place where you were slaves.
• Deuteronomy 17:20If he does that, he will not become proud. He will not think that he is better than other Israelites. He will continue to obey the Lord's commands. Then he and his descendants will rule Israel as kings for many years.
• 2 Kings 14:10Yes! You have won the fight against Edom. But do not boast about your power! You may be very happy, but stay at home! Do not try to fight against us. If you do that, you will cause trouble that destroys both you and your kingdom, Judah.’
• 2 Chronicles 26:16Uzziah was so powerful that he became proud. That caused him to lose his power. He began to turn away from the Lord his God. He went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the special altar there.
• 2 Chronicles 32:25But Hezekiah did not thank the Lord for the kind thing that he had done for him. The king was too proud to do that. So the Lord became angry with him, and with the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
• Proverbs 16:18If you are proud, you will soon come to an end. Anyone who boasts will soon fall down.
• Proverbs 18:12If you become proud, something will soon destroy you. But if you are humble, you will soon receive honour.
• Proverbs 29:23A person's pride will bring shame to him. But a humble person will receive honour.
• Isaiah 2:12Yes! The Lord Almighty will choose his great day. On that day, he will judge all the proud people who think that they are great. He will bring them all down very low.
• 1 Corinthians 4:6My Christian friends, I want to help you to understand these things. That is why I have used Apollos and myself as examples. You should learn from us what this means: ‘Obey what is written in the Bible.’ None of you should be proud of one leader and not respect another leader.
• 1 Corinthians 8:1You asked me a question about food that people have offered to idols. You say, ‘We all know about these things.’ We know that is true. But when you know about something, that can make you proud. Love is better. Love helps people to become strong.
• 2 Corinthians 12:7Yes, God did show me many things that were very special. But he did not want me to be proud because of that. So he gave me a pain in my body, like a sharp thorn. Satan uses that pain to give me much trouble. It is like Satan's angel that he sends to hurt me. That certainly stops me from being proud of myself!
• 1 Peter 5:5I want to say the same thing to you who are young men. You must respect the authority of the leaders. All of you who are believers must respect one another. Do not think that you are more important than other people. The Bible says: ‘God is against proud people. But he is kind to humble people.’

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 3:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Fifteenth - It is required that he be not a novice - · Not a young plant, not recently ingrafted, that is, one not newly converted to the faith; (old MS. Bible); one who has been of considerable standing in the Christian Church, if he have the preceding qualifications, may be safely trusted with the government of that Church. It is impossible that one who is not long and deeply experienced in the ways of God can guide others in the way of life. Hence…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Not a novice - Margin, “one newly come to the faith.” The Greek word, which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, means, properly, that which is “newly planted.” Thus it would mean a plant that was not strong, or not fitted to bear the severity of storms; that had not as yet struck its roots deep, and could not resist the fierceness of a cold blast. Then the word comes to mean a new convert; one who has had little opportunity to test his own faith, or…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-13The topic shifts to church leadership by overseers and deacons (3:1–7; 8–13). Timothy’s role in the appointments is less plain than that of Titus (see 5:17–22; Titus 1:5). This may be because the church in Ephesus was more mature and better able to manage the process (see Acts 6:2–6). The criteria listed here focus on character rather than function. It partly responds to the local false teachers and their followers. Reading this letter in the churches…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. not a novice--one just converted. This proves the Church of Ephesus was established now for some time. The absence of this rule in the Epistle to Titus, accords with the recent planting of the Church at Crete. Greek, "neophyte," literally, "a young plant"; luxuriantly verdant (Ro 6:5; 11:17; 1Co 3:6). The young convert has not yet been disciplined and matured by afflictions and temptations. Contrast Ac 21:16, "an old disciple." lifted up with…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Timothy 3:6

• Bishop
• Church
• Commandments
• Minister, Christian
• Pride
• Satan

In the dictionaries

• Bishop
• Blameless
• Controversy
• Covetous
• Degree
• Hospitality
• Mystery
• Novice
• Rule
• Wife

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 3

• 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