Passage

2 Timothy 2.11

Book: 2 Timothy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

9. wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound. 10. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

11. Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him:

if we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us: 13. if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:9-13, ASV)

WEB

9. in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God’s word isn’t chained. 10. Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

11. This saying is trustworthy: “For if we died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. 13. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. For he can’t deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:9-13, WEB)

KJV

9. Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 10. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

11. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:9-13, KJV)

YLT

9. in which I suffer evil, unto bonds, as an evil-doer, but the word of God hath not been bound; 10. because of this all things do I endure, because of the choice ones, that they also salvation may obtain that [is] in Christ Jesus, with glory age-during.

11. Stedfast [is] the word: For if we died together, we also shall live together;

if we do endure together, we shall also reign together; if we deny [him], he also shall deny us; 13. if we are not stedfast, he remaineth stedfast; to deny himself he is not able. (2 Timothy 2:9-13, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, who names himself in the opening line (1:1) and writes as a prisoner (1:8; 2:9). 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 many personal details.
Audience: Timothy, "my beloved child" (1:2), whose "unfeigned faith" dwelt first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (1:5). He is probably still at Ephesus: Paul reminds him of Onesiphorus's service there, which Timothy "knowest very well" (1:18), and greets Prisca and Aquila (4:19). Paul urges him to come to Rome quickly (4:9, 21).
Location: Rome, where Paul is in chains; Onesiphorus "sought me diligently, and found me" there (1:16-17).
Time period: on Pauline authorship, Paul's final imprisonment, usually dated c. AD 64-67, shortly before his death; he writes, "the time of my departure is come" (4:6). 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 fourth of the five "faithful sayings" of the Pastoral Epistles, a short rhythmic saying (2:11-13) that follows Paul's statement that he endures all things "for the elect's sake" (2:10).

Theological reading

"Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him:" (2 Timothy 2:11, ASV)

A saying in four lines. Verses 11 to 13 form four balanced conditional lines: if we died with him, we shall live with him; if we endure, we shall reign with him; if we deny him, he will deny us; if we are faithless, he abides faithful. Many commentators regard them as an early Christian hymn or confession that Paul quotes, and take "Faithful is the saying" to point forward to them. The formula appears five times in the Pastorals (1 Timothy 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8).

Died with him. The first line states the believer's union with Christ in his death and life, in close agreement with Romans 6:8: "But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him". In Romans the dying is tied to baptism, "buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). Given Paul's chains (2:9) and the call to "Suffer hardship with me" (2:3), some readers also hear a reference to martyrdom. The two are not exclusive: the one who has died with Christ in baptism can face death for him without fear. See Romans 6.8.

The lines that follow. Endurance leads to reigning with him (2:12; compare Romans 8:17), and denial brings denial, echoing Jesus' warning, "whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:33). The last line breaks the pattern: "if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself" (2:13). Readers differ on whether it is a comfort to the wavering or a warning that Christ's faithfulness to his own word includes judgment. See 2 Timothy 2.12, 2 Timothy 2.13 and Perseverance and Apostasy.

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.

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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.