1 Timothy 1:4

1 Timothy 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
• New International Version (NIV)or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.
• English Standard Version (ESV)nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
• New King James Version (NKJV)nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.

Context of 1 Timothy 1:4

2Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 5Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain babbling;

1 Timothy 1:4 word by word

μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις, αἵτινες ἐκζητήσεις παρέχουσιν μᾶλλον ἢ οἰκονομίαν θεοῦ τὴν ἐν πίστει.Read the interlinear

• Neitherμηδέmēde · norG3366
• give heed toπροσέχωprosechō · to watch outG4337
• fablesμῦθοςmuthos · mythG3454
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• endlessἀπέραντοςaperantos · endlessG562
• genealogiesγενεαλογίαgenealogia · genealogyG1076
• whichὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• ministerπαρέχωparechō · to furnish occasionG3930
• questionsζήτησιςzētēsis · controversyG2214
• ratherμᾶλλονmallon · more: ratherG3123
• thanἤē · orG2228
• godlyθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• edifyingοἰκοδομίαoikodomia · edificationG3620
• which isὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 1:4

• 1 Timothy 4:7But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
• 1 Timothy 6:4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
• 2 Timothy 2:14Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
• 2 Timothy 4:4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
• 2 Peter 1:16For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
• 2 Timothy 2:22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
• 1 Timothy 3:16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
• 1 Timothy 6:3If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
• 2 Corinthians 1:12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
• 2 Corinthians 7:9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
• Ephesians 4:12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
• Hebrews 13:9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Neither give heed to fables - Idle fancies; things of no moment; doctrines and opinions unauthenticated; silly legends, of which no people ever possessed a greater stock than the Jews. Their Talmud abounds with them; and the English reader may find them in abundance in Stehlin's Jewish Traditions, 2 vols. 8vo. Endless genealogies - I suppose the apostle to mean those genealogies which were uncertain - that never could be made out, either in the ascending…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Neither give heed to fables - That is, that they should not bestow their attention on fables, or regard such trifles as of importance. The “fables” here referred to were probably the idle and puerile superstitions and conceits of the Jewish rabbies. The word rendered “fable” ( ͂ muthos) means properly “speech” or “discourse,” and then fable or fiction, or a mystic discourse. Such things abounded among the Greeks as well as the Jews, but it is probable…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4myths and endless genealogies … speculation: Paul might be dismissing their teachings as not significant, or he might rejecting their interpretations and their justification of bad behavior (1:7; see also 2 Timothy 4:3–4; Titus 1:14; 3:9; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 Timothy 1:8–11; 4:1–2, 7; see also Titus 1:15–16). endless genealogies: In Judaism, a genealogy (list of ancestors) established a person's spiritual heritage. The false teachers might have focused too…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. fables--legends about the origin and propagation of angels, such as the false teachers taught at Colosse (Col 2:18-23). "Jewish fables" (Tit 1:14). "Profane, and old wives' fables" (1Ti 4:7; 2Ti 4:4). genealogies--not merely such civil genealogies as were common among the Jews, whereby they traced their descent from the patriarchs, to which Paul would not object, and which he would not as here class with "fables," but Gnostic genealogies of spirits and…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Timothy 1:4

• Commandments
• Doctrines
• Fable
• Genealogy
• Minister, Christian
• Tradition

In the dictionaries

• Acceptation
• Blasphemer
• Charity
• Fable
• Heed
• Immortal
• Save
• Titus, Epistle to
• Apostolic Age
• Edification; Edify

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 1

• 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