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 Living Translation (NLT)They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth.

Context of 1 Timothy 4:3

1Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 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. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5for 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forbiddingκωλύωkōluō · to preventG2967
• to marryγαμέωgameō · to marryG1060
• to abstain fromἀπέχωapechō · to have in fullG568
• meatsβρῶμαbrōma · foodG1033
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• hath createdκτίζωktizō · to createG2936
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• be receivedμετάληψιςmetalēpsis · partaking ofG3336
• withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• thanksgivingεὐχαριστίαeucharistia · thankfulnessG2169
• of them which believeπιστόςpistos · faithfulG4103
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• knowἐπιγινώσκωepiginōskō · to come to knowG1921
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 4:3

• Daniel 11:37He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.
• 1 Corinthians 7:28But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.
• Hebrews 13:4Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
• Romans 14:3Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
• 1 Corinthians 8:8But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
• Colossians 2:20Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
• Hebrews 13:9Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
• Genesis 1:29And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
• Genesis 9:3Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
• Acts 10:13And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:13Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
• 1 Timothy 4:4For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
• 1 Samuel 9:13As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him.”
• Matthew 14:19Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
• Matthew 15:36And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.

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