2 Timothy 2:16

2 Timothy 2:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
• New International Version (NIV)Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
• New King James Version (NKJV)But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

Context of 2 Timothy 2:16

14Continue to tell these things to God's people there, so that they remember them. Use God's authority and warn them not to quarrel about words. To quarrel about little things does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys those people who listen. 15Always try very much to serve God in a way that makes him happy. Then he will accept you as a good worker that he can trust. You must teach God's true message correctly. Then you will have no reason to be ashamed of your work. But stay away from people who talk about silly things that are not important to God. A message like that causes people to live more and more in a way that does not please God. 17It causes people to become sick in their spirits. More and more people become sick as a result. Hymenaeus and Philetus are two of the people who teach that kind of false message. 18They no longer teach God's true message. They say that God will not raise dead people any more, because he has already given life to dead people. In this way they have confused the minds of some people, so that they no longer believe in Christ.

2 Timothy 2:16 word by word

Τὰς δὲ βεβήλους κενοφωνίας περιΐστασο· ἐπὶ πλεῖον γὰρ προκόψουσιν ἀσεβείας,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Butδέde · thenG1161
• shunπεριΐστημιperiistēmi · to stand aroundG4026
• profaneβέβηλοςbebēlos · profaneG952
• vain babblingsκενοφωνίαkenophōnia · empty talkG2757
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• they will increaseπροκόπτωprokoptō · to advanceG4298
• untoἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• moreπλείων, πλεῖονpleiōn pleion pleon · greaterG4119
• ungodlinessἀσέβειαasebeia · ungodlinessnessG763

Cross-references for 2 Timothy 2:16

• 2 Timothy 2:14Continue to tell these things to God's people there, so that they remember them. Use God's authority and warn them not to quarrel about words. To quarrel about little things does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys those people who listen.
• 1 Timothy 4:7But you must refuse to listen to false stories. Stories like that are not from God and only silly people believe them. Instead, learn to live well in a way that makes God happy.
• 1 Timothy 6:20Timothy, God has given you his true message to tell people. You must keep that message safe. Do not listen to people who say a lot of silly things that are not important to God. Those people think that they have special knowledge. But their ideas are against God's true message.
• 2 Timothy 3:13Bad people like that will become even worse. Some of them will teach a false message and people will believe their lies. Those false teachers even believe their own lies!
• Ezra 10:10Then Ezra the priest stood up. He said to the people, ‘You have not been faithful to your God. You have married foreign wives. You have caused the whole nation of Israel to be guilty.
• Hosea 12:1Ephraim's people chase after useless things all the time. They think that they can catch the wind that comes from the east! But the result is more violence and lies. They make an agreement with Assyria to get their help. They also send their olive oil to Egypt to ask for their help.
• 1 Corinthians 5:6You should not be so proud of yourselves. Think about what yeast does in bread. A very small amount of yeast changes the whole loaf of bread.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this: ‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’
• 2 Thessalonians 2:7His power is already working secretly to turn people against God. But there is someone who makes it impossible for him to work freely. That person will continue to make it impossible, until God takes that person away.
• Hebrews 12:15Remember that God is very kind. Nobody should refuse to let God help them. Make sure that nobody among you causes trouble so that people turn against God. A person who is angry against God is like poison. He spoils many other people's lives so that God does not accept them.
• 2 Peter 2:2Many people will believe these false teachers. They will live in a bad way, like the false teachers. As a result, other people will say bad things against God's true way to live.
• Revelation 13:3Someone had hurt one of the wild animal's heads with a bad wound. It seemed that it would soon die. But the wound in the animal's head had become well again. This surprised all the people who were living on the earth. As a result, they were ready to obey what the wild animal said.

Commentaries on 2 Timothy 2:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Shun profane and vain babblings - This is the character he gives of the preaching of the false teachers. Whatever was not agreeable to the doctrine of truth was, in the sight of God, empty and profane babbling; engendering nothing but ungodliness, and daily increasing in that.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16But shun profane and vain babblings, - see the notes at 1 Timothy 6:20. For they will increase unto more ungodliness - Their tendency is to alienate the soul from God, and to lead to impiety. Such kinds of disputation are not merely a waste of time, they are productive of positive mischief. A man fond of contention in religious things is seldom one who has much love for the practical duties of piety, or any very deep sense of the distinction between right…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 Those disposed to strive, commonly strive about matters of small moment. But strifes of words destroy the things of God. The apostle mentions some who erred. They did not deny the resurrection, but they corrupted that true doctrine. Yet nothing can be so foolish or erroneous, but it will overturn the temporary faith of some professors. This foundation has two writings on it. One speaks our comfort. None can overthrow the faith of any whom God…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-26Timothy must focus on Paul's teaching and avoid the teachings and behavior of false teachers 2:8–13. The false teachings were probably similar to those in 1 Timothy 6:20–21.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. shun--literally, "stand above," separate from, and superior to. vain--opposed to "the truth" (2Ti 2:15). babblings--with loud voice: opposed to the temperate "word" (Tit 3:9). increase--Greek, advance"; literally, "strike forward": an image from pioneers cutting away all obstacles before an advancing army. They pretend progress; the only kind of progress they make is to a greater pitch of impiety. more ungodliness--Greek, "a greater degree of impiety."Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Timothy 2:16

• Doctrines
• Holiness
• Minister, Christian
• Preaching
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Acknowledge
• Approved
• Commit
• Deny
• Eat
• Endure
• Entangle
• Eternal
• Faithful
• Foolish

Commentaries on 2 Timothy 2

• 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