1 Timothy 6:3-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Timothy 6:1-5

I. Here is the duty of servants. The apostle had spoken before of church-relations, here of our family-relations. Servants are here said to be under the yoke, which denotes both subjection and labour; they are yoked to work, not to be idle. If Christianity finds servants under the yoke, it continues them under it; for the gospel does not cancel the obligations any lie under either by the law of nature or by mutual consent. They must respect their masters, count them worthy of all honour... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Timothy 6:3-5

6:3-5 If any man offers a different kind of teaching, and does not apply himself to sound words (it is the words of our Lord Jesus Christ I mean) and to godly teaching, he has become inflated with pride. He is a man of no understanding; rather he has a diseased addiction to subtle speculations and battles of words, which can be only a source of envy, strife, the exchange of insults, evil suspicions, continual altercations of men whose minds are corrupt and who are destitute of the truth, men... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Timothy 6:3-5

Here in this passage are set out the characteristics of the false teacher. (i) His first characteristic is conceit. His desire is not to display Christ, but to display himself There are still preachers and teachers who are more concerned to gain a following for themselves than for Jesus Christ, more concerned to press their own views than to bring to men the word of God. In a lecture on his old teacher A. B. Bruce, W. M. Macgregor said: "One of our own Highland ministers tells how he had... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Timothy 6:3

If any man teach otherwise ,.... Or another doctrine, as the Syriac version renders it; a doctrine different from what the apostle had now taught, concerning the duty of servants to their masters; as did the false teachers, who despised dominion or government; not only civil government, and so spoke evil of rulers and magistrates; and church government, and therefore reviled the apostles, elders, and pastors of churches; but family government, and encouraged disobedience to parents and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Timothy 6:4

He is proud ,.... Or swelled and puffed up with a vain conceit of himself and his own notions, and treats with an haughty air the faithful ministers of the word. The doctrines of grace are of an humbling nature, especially when they are spiritually and experimentally understood and received; but notional knowledge, knowledge of natural things, and the doctrines of men, such as are of their own invention, fill the mind with pride and vanity: knowing nothing ; as he ought to know; not... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Timothy 6:3

If any man teach otherwise - It appears that there were teachers of a different kind in the Church, a sort of religious levellers, who preached that the converted servant had as much right to the master's service as the master had to his. Teachers of this kind have been in vogue long since the days of Paul and Timothy. And consent not to wholesome words - Ὑγιαινουσι λογοις Healing doctrines - doctrines which give nourishment and health to the soul, which is the true character of all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Timothy 6:4

He is proud - Τετυφωται· He is blown up, or inflated with a vain opinion of his own knowledge; whereas his knowledge is foolishness, for he knows nothing. Doting about questions - He is sick, distempered, about these questions relative to the Mosaic law and the traditions of the elders; for it is most evident that the apostle has the Judaizing teachers in view, who were ever, in questions of theology, straining out a gnat, and swallowing a camel. Strifes of words - Λογομαχιας· ... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Timothy 6:3

Verse 3 3If anyone teacheth differently The word ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖ, being a compound, may also, not improperly, be translated, teacheth other things Yet there is no ambiguity as to the meaning; for he condemns all those who do not agree with this manner of teaching, although they do not openly and avowedly oppose sound doctrine. It is possible that he who does not profess any wicked or open error may yet, by endeavoring to insinuate himself by means of silly babbling, corrupt the doctrine of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Timothy 6:4

Verse 4 4He is puffed up, knowing nothing Such persons Paul first charges with pride, foolish and empty pride. Next, because no punishment can be imagined that is better adapted to chastise ambitious persons than to declare that all that they delight in proves their ignorance, Paul pronounces that they know nothing, though they are swelled with many subtleties; for they have nothing that is solid, but mere wind. At the same time, he instructs all believers not to be carried away by that windy... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Timothy 6:1-10

I. DUTIES OF CHRISTIAN SLAVES . 1. Toward unbelieving masters . "Let as many as are servants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the Name of God and the doctrine be not blasphemed." Paul had to legislate for a social condition which was, to a considerable extent, different from ours. In the early Christian Churches there were not a few whose social condition was that of slaves. They are pointed to here as being under the yoke as servants. To... read more

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