2 Timothy 3:2-9
Context3:2 For people 1 will be lovers of themselves, 2 lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. 3:5 They will maintain the outward appearance 3 of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. 4 3:6 For some of these insinuate themselves 5 into households and captivate weak women 6 who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. 3:7 Such women are always seeking instruction, 7 yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 3:8 And just as Jannes and Jambres 8 opposed Moses, so these people – who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith 9 – also oppose the truth. 3:9 But they will not go much further, 10 for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres. 11
[3:2] 1 tn Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women.
[3:2] 2 tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.
[3:5] 4 tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.
[3:6] 5 tn Grk “For from these are those who sneak.”
[3:7] 7 tn Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:8] 8 sn Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus.
[3:8] 9 tn Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.”
[3:9] 10 tn Grk “for they will not progress any more.”
[3:9] 11 tn Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.