2 Timothy 2:23

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:22-26

I. Paul here exhorts Timothy to beware of youthful lusts, 2 Tim. 2:22. Though he was a holy good man, very much mortified to the world, yet Paul thought it necessary to caution him against youthful lusts: ?Flee them, take all possible care and pains to keep thyself pure from them.? The lusts of the flesh are youthful lusts, which young people must carefully watch against, and the best must not be secure. He prescribes an excellent remedy against youthful lusts: Follow righteousness, faith,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 2:22-26

2:22-26 Flee from youthful passions; run in pursuit of righteousness in the company of those who call on the Lord from a clean conscience. Have nothing to do with foolish and stupid arguments, for you know that they only breed quarrels. The servant of the Lord must not fight, rather he must be kindly to all, apt to teach, forbearing, disciplining his opponents by gentleness. It may be that God will enable them to repent, so that they will come to know the truth, and so that they will escape... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:23

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid ,.... Such as have no solid wisdom in them, and are foreign from the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, and are not useful and unedifying; such ought to be avoided, publicly and privately; they should not be started in the public ministry, nor attended to in private conversation; as being unworthy of the notice of a minister of the Gospel wise and learned, and useless to the church, and to his hearers. Knowing that they do gender strife ;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Timothy 2:23

Foolish and unlearned questions - See the notes on 1 Timothy 1:4 ; 1 Timothy 4:7 ; (note), and Titus 3:9 ; (note). read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Timothy 2:23

Verse 23 23But avoid foolish and uninstructive questions He calls them foolish, because they are uninstructive; that is, they contribute nothing to godliness, whatever show of acuteness they may hold out. When we are wise in a useful manner, then alone are we truly wise. This ought to be carefully observed; for we see what foolish admiration the world entertains for silly trifles, and how eagerly it runs after them. That an ambition to please may not urge us to seek the favor of men by such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Conduct in view of heresy appearing in the Church. I. METHOD OF THE HERETICS . "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." The method of the heretics called for solemn warning from Timothy. Its essential character was word fighting. It dealt with the form, and not with the reality; and so it came to be controversial. The word is not unimportant, but it has... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:15-26

The skilful workman. Besides the concentration of purpose, and the willingness to endure, which are necessary to the faithful minister of Christ, two other qualifications are no less needed. The one is skill in his work; the other is gentleness and patience in dealing with those that oppose themselves. By skill in his work we mean both the knowing what to avoid and shun, and the effective handling of the Word of truth. The minister of Christ who wastes his time, and spends his strength in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:23

Ignorant questionings for unlearned questions, A.V.; refuse for avoid, A.V.; gender for do gender, A.V. Ignorant ( ἀπαιδεύτους ) ; only here in the New Testament, but not uncommon in the LXX ., applied to persons, and in classical Greek. Unlearned is quite as good a rendering as ignorant. It is a term applied properly to ill-educated, ill-disciplined people, and thence, by an easy metonymy, to the questions such persons delight in. Questionings ( ζητήσεις ); see 1... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Timothy 2:23

A warning against contentious questionings. I. THE MINISTER OF CHRIST MUST AVOID INAPT DISCUSSIONS . "But foolish and ignorant questions avoid." The false teachers wasted their energies upon questions of this class, because they had no just idea of the relative importance of truth, taking small things for great and great things for small. The matters in dispute were useless and unedifying, being foreign to the true wisdom of the gospel. Four times in these two Epistles does... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Timothy 2:23

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid; - see the notes at 2 Timothy 2:16; compare the notes at 1Ti 1:4, 1 Timothy 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:7. The word “unlearned,” here, means “trifling; that which does not tend to edification; stupid.” The Greeks and the Hebrews were greatly given to controversies of various kinds, and many of the questions discussed pertained to points which could not be settled, or which, if settled, were of no importance. Such has been the character of no small part of the... read more

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