6:20 O Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you. Avoid 3 the profane chatter and absurdities 4 of so-called “knowledge.” 5
1 sn Those myths refer to legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 2 Tim 4:4; and Titus 1:14.
2 tn Grk “the godless and old-wifely myths.”
3 tn Grk “avoiding.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
4 tn Or “contradictions.”
5 tn Grk “the falsely named knowledge.”
5 sn Law. There is no definite article (“the”) with this word in Greek and so the inherent quality of the OT law as such is in view. But the OT law is still in mind, since the types of sinful people surveyed in vv. 9b-11a follow the general outline of sins prohibited in the Decalogue.