Passage

1 Timothy 6.4

Book: 1 Timothy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

2. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but let them serve them the rather, because they that partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. These things teach and exhort. 3. If any man teacheth a different doctrine, and consenteth not to sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

4. he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about questionings and disputes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, supposing that godliness is a way of gain. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain: (1 Timothy 6:2-6, ASV)

WEB

2. Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things. 3. If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,

4. he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions,

constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:2-6, WEB)

KJV

2. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. ^{faithful: or, believing} 3. If 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;

4. He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, ^{proud: or, a fool} ^{doting: or, sick}

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. ^{Perverse: or, Gallings one of another} 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:2-6, KJV)

YLT

2. and those having believing masters, let them not slight [them], because they are brethren, but rather let them serve, because they are stedfast and beloved, who of the benefit are partaking. These things be teaching and exhorting; 3. if any one be teaching otherwise, and do not consent to sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the teaching according to piety,

4. he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and word-striving, out of which doth come envy, strife, evil-speakings, evil-surmisings,

wranglings of men wholly corrupted in mind, and destitute of the truth, supposing the piety to be gain; depart from such; 6. but it is great gain, the piety with contentment; (1 Timothy 6:2-6, 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: the diagnosis of the false teacher (6:3-5), who rejects "sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ" (6:3).

Theological reading

"he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about questionings and disputes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings," (1 Timothy 6:4, ASV)

Puffed up, knowing nothing. The false teacher's condition begins with pride. He claims superior knowledge, yet Paul's verdict is that he knows nothing, at least nothing of what matters. Earlier the letter described the same kind of men as "desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm" (1:7).

Sick with questions. "Doting" renders a verb meaning to be sick. It stands in deliberate contrast with the "sound", that is healthy, words of the previous verse. Healthy teaching produces godliness; a morbid appetite for "questionings and disputes of words" produces disease in the community.

The fruit. Paul lists what such disputes yield: "envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings" and "wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, supposing that godliness is a way of gain" (6:4-5). The test of the teaching is in its fruit. Against the idea that religion is a way to make money Paul sets the true gain: "godliness with contentment is great gain" (6:6). See 1 Timothy 6.3, 1 Timothy 6.5 and 1 Timothy 6.6.

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

Passages:

1 Timothy 6.3

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.