Passage

1 Timothy 1.7

Book: 1 Timothy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned: 6. from which things some having swerved have turned aside unto vain talking;

7. desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm.

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, 9. as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (1 Timothy 1:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith; 6. from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned aside to vain talking;

7. desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.

But we know that the law is good, if a person uses it lawfully, 9. as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (1 Timothy 1:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6. From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; ^{having: or, not aiming at}

7. Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (1 Timothy 1:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. And the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, 6. from which certain, having swerved, did turn aside to vain discourse,

7. willing to be teachers of law, not understanding either the things they say, nor concerning what they asseverate,

and we have known that the law [is] good, if any one may use it lawfully; 9. having known this, that for a righteous man law is not set, but for lawless and insubordinate persons, ungodly and sinners, impious and profane, parricides and matricides, men-slayers, (1 Timothy 1:5-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, who names himself in the opening line (1:1) and writes in the first person throughout. Authorship of the three Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus) is disputed. Many critical scholars hold that a later follower wrote them in Paul's name, pointing to differences of vocabulary and style from the undisputed letters and to a more settled church order. Others defend Paul's authorship, among them Luke Timothy Johnson (Anchor Bible, 2001), William Mounce (Word Biblical Commentary, 2000) and Philip Towner (NICNT, 2006), citing the letter's personal details and its acceptance in the second-century church.
Audience: Timothy, Paul's "true child in faith" (1:2), whom Paul had urged to stay on at Ephesus to stop certain men from teaching "a different doctrine" (1:3). Timothy came from Lystra, the son of a believing Jewish mother and a Greek father, and had travelled with Paul since the second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3). The letter is addressed to him, but its directions on prayer, worship, overseers, deacons and widows are meant to order the church at Ephesus as a whole (3:14-15).
Location: not stated. Paul says he left Timothy at Ephesus "when I was going into Macedonia" (1:3) and hopes to rejoin him soon (3:14; 4:13), so Macedonia is the usual suggestion for where the letter was written.
Time period: on Pauline authorship, usually c. AD 62-65, after Paul's release from the Roman imprisonment that ends Acts, since the journey in 1:3 is hard to fit into the Acts narrative. Scholars who regard the letter as pseudonymous usually place it late in the first century or early in the second. The reading below does not depend on the choice.
Literary context: Paul's description of the false teachers at Ephesus (1:3-11). Having charged Timothy to stop "certain men" from teaching "a different doctrine" (1:3), he says that some "have turned aside unto vain talking" (1:6), and then names their ambition.

Theological reading

"desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm." (1 Timothy 1:7, ASV)

Teachers of the law. The compound noun nomodidaskaloi, "teachers of the law", occurs only three times in the New Testament: of the teachers of the law who sat listening to Jesus (Luke 5:17), of Gamaliel (Acts 5:34), and here. The Ephesian teachers wanted the standing that title carried. The surrounding verses show where their interest lay: "fables and endless genealogies, which minister questionings" (1:4), speculative use of the Old Testament rather than its plain moral teaching.

Confidence without understanding. The charge is double. They do not understand their own words, and they do not understand the subjects they speak about so firmly. Confidence is not the fault; ungrounded confidence is. The same portrait returns near the end of the letter, where the false teacher "is puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about questionings and disputes of words" (6:4).

The law used lawfully. Paul does not answer by dismissing the law. "We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully" (1:8). It is given to restrain the lawless and expose sin (1:9-10), and it is measured by "the sound doctrine" and "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God" (1:10-11). Used rightly, the law drives the sinner to the gospel; used wrongly, it becomes a field for speculation and a platform for teachers. See 1 Timothy 1.7-9, G3551 - nomos and Christians Not Under Mosaic Law.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

Lexicon:

G3551 - nomos, via 1 Timothy 1.7-9

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.