Passage

2 Timothy 2.16

Book: 2 Timothy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

14. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they strive not about words, to no profit, to the subverting of them that hear. 15. Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.

16. But shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness,

and their word will eat as doth a gangrene: of whom is Hymenæus and Philetus; 18. men who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:14-18, ASV)

WEB

14. Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they don’t argue about words, to no profit, to the subverting of those who hear. 15. Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.

16. But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness,

and those words will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18. men who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past, and overthrowing the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:14-18, WEB)

KJV

14. Of 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. 15. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

16. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; ^{canker: or, gangrene} 18. Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:14-18, KJV)

YLT

14. These things remind [them] of, testifying fully before the Lord, not to strive about words to nothing profitable, but to the subversion of those hearing; 15. be diligent to present thyself approved to God, a workman irreproachable, rightly dividing the word of the truth;

16. and the profane vain talkings stand aloof from, for to more impiety they will advance,

and their word as a gangrene will have pasture, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18. who concerning the truth did swerve, saying the rising again to have already been, and do overthrow the faith of some; (2 Timothy 2:14-18, 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 warning against the false teachers in Ephesus (2:14-18). After urging Timothy to handle "aright the word of truth" (2:15), Paul tells him what to avoid and names two men whose teaching has already done harm, Hymenaeus and Philetus (2:17-18).

Theological reading

"But shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness," (2 Timothy 2:16, ASV)

Empty noise. "Profane babblings" translates two words: bebēlos, "profane" or common, the opposite of holy, and kenophōnia, "empty sounds". The same phrase appears in Paul's closing charge in the first letter: "turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called" (1 Timothy 6:20). The talk is not merely mistaken; it is hollow, and it treats holy things as ordinary.

Progress in the wrong direction. "Proceed further" is prokoptō, "to advance" or "make progress". The false teachers likely presented their ideas as an advance, a deeper understanding. Paul grants that they advance, but "in ungodliness". The same verb returns twice in the next chapter: they "shall proceed no further" (3:9), and evil men "shall wax worse and worse" (3:13). The only progress such teaching makes is downward. See 2 Timothy 3.13.

A spreading disease. The next verse gives the image: "their word will eat as doth a gangrene" (2:17). The error named is that "the resurrection is past already" (2:18), a denial of the bodily resurrection that "overthrow[s] the faith of some". Against the healthy teaching of 1:13, false teaching is spreading decay. See 2 Timothy 2.17-18 and Resurrection.

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.

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.