2 Timothy 2:15 "Study", "be diligent" or "do your best"?

[brandplucked]

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study", "be diligent" or "do your best"?

2 Timothy 2:15 KJB - "STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."



NKJV (ESV, NASB) - "BE DILIGENT to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."



Bible critic Reese Currie again reveals his profound ignorance. He writes: 2 Timothy 2:15 
KJV: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
NKJV: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.


I was really hoping this one would come up, as it shows once again that KJV Onlyists generally have no idea what their own Bible is saying to them because they do not understand 1611 English. One of the meanings of the word "study" is to "take pains to achieve"; to be diligent. It is an excellent example of how the KJV has imprecise renderings that could be understood improperly, especially to those with poor levels of literacy, like those unfortunates who send me e-mails saying, "Only the KJV 1611 tells you to study your Bible!!!!!" The Greek word spoudazo literally means "to use speed" but figuratively means "to make effort." It simply means to be diligent." (End of Reese's Pieces criticism)



Bible correctors claim the King James Bible is wrong or incorrect when it says "STUDY...rightly dividing the word of truth." They tell us it should be translated in this place as "be diligent" or "do your best" or "make every effort".

Greek words as well as English words can have very different meanings depending on the context. Admittedly, the Greek word spoudazo can mean "to endeavor", "to be diligent", "to labor" or even "to be hasty" but it also has the meaning of "to study something with great care".

So even if you thought that "study" should be "be diligent", what are you to be diligent in? - the answer is in the verse - "rightly dividing the word of truth". That's why contextually it makes perfect sense to translate the word as "study". In fact, this is THE ONLY TIME the King James Bible translated this word as STUDY; and they got it right!



The word is spoudazo in Greeks. I have a modern Greek dictionary that has nothing to do with the Bible at all. It is like a Spanish/English- English/Spanish dictionary you buy in the stores. It is Divry's Modern English-Greek and Greek-English Desk Dictionary. If you look up the English word "study" as a noun you find spoudee and the verb form, to study, is speudazo. It MEANS TO STUDY! And this is in modern Greek, not 1611 Greek.

Also the well known lexicon of Liddell & Scott 17th edition 1887, on page 1630 lists one of the meanings of spoudazo as 'to study'. The noun form means 'study' and another noun form spoudastees means 'a student'.

If you do not know Greek and want to verify this for yourself simply go to this online Greek-English Dictionary.
ËÅÎÉʼ - LEXICON: Greek-English-Greek dictionary and do one of two things: 1. type the word spoudazo in the Greek to English side or 2. type in the word "study" on the English to Greek side and see what result you get. You don't have to have a seminary degree to do that.

Not only does the KJB translate this word as STUDY but so also do Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540 - " STUDY to shewe thy selfe laudable vnto God, a workman", Matthew's Bible 1549 - "STUDYE to shewe thy selfe laudable vnto God a workeman", the Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599 - "STUDIE to shewe thy selfe approued veto God", Douay Rheims version 1610, Whiston's Primitive New Testament 1745, Webster's 1833 translation, Murdock's Translation 1852 of the Syriac text - " And STUDY to present thyself before God", Noyles Translation 1869, the Calvin Bible 1855, Godbey New Testament 1902 - "STUDY to present yourself to God approved", the Amplified Version 1987 - "STUDY and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved", Green's interlinear and his Modern KJV - Earnestly STUDY to present yourself approved to God", the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, the Hebraic Roots Bible 2009, the Urim-Thummin Version 2001, the Third Millenium Bible 1998 and the English Jubilee Bible 2010 - "STUDY".


The Italian Diodati 1602 and the Nuova Diodati 1991, and the 1927 Italian Rivudeta have "study" spelled 'studiati'. "STUDAITI di presentar te stesso approvato a Dio..."

The French Martin 1744 also reads like the King James Bible with: "ETUDIE-toi de te rendre approuvé à Dieu

Likewise the 2010 Reina Valera Gomez Spanish bible says: "ESTUDIA con diligencia para presentarte a Dios aprobado, como obrero que no tiene de qué avergonzarse, que traza bien la palabra de verdad." = "STUDY with diligence in order to present yourself approved to God..."

And the 2014 Romanian Fidela Bible actually reads: "STUDIAZA scripturile să te arăţi tu însuţi aprobat lii Dumnezeu" = "STUDY the Scriptures to show yourself approved of God"


Even the earlier Douay-Rheims Catholic bible had "study" - "Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

But of course the more modern ones like the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 match the modern Vatican Versions like the ESV, NIV, NASB. The New Jerusalem bible says "make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker" while the St. Joseph says: "Try hard to make yourself worthy of God's approval"!!!

KJB - "STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman"

NIV - "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved"

J.B. Phillips N.T. 1962 - "Concentrate on winning God's approval"

Lexham Bible 2012 - "Make every effort to present yourself approved to God."

ESV - "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved"

NASB - "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman"

NKJV - "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker"

NET - " Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker"


Matthew Henry comments on this verse saying: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, 2 Timothy 2:15. Observe, The care of ministers must be to approve themselves unto God, to be accepted of him, and to show that they are so approved unto God. In order thereunto, there must be constant care and industry: STUDY to show thyself such a one, a workman that needs not be ashamed. Ministers must be workmen; they have work to do, and they must take pains in it. Workmen that are unskilful, or unfaithful, or lazy, have need to be ashamed; but those who mind their business, and keep to their work, are workmen that need not be ashamed. And what is their work? It is rightly to divide the word of truth. Not to invent a new gospel, but rightly to divide the gospel that is committed to their trust. Observe here, 1. The word which ministers preach is the word of truth, for the author of it is the God of truth. 2. It requires great wisdom, STUDY, and care, to divide this word of truth rightly; Timothy must study in order to do this well."


The Pulpit Commentary - “The A.V. "study," if we give it its proper force, as in the Latin studeo, studium, studiosus, expresses the sense of σπούδασον exactly.

To me the difference is the new versions with their "do your best" or "be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved" seem to imply a lot of self effort to gain approval, whereas the King James Bible seems to be saying "study so you can be sure you have the right doctrines God has revealed."

Perhaps the reason the Every Man For Himself Bible Versionists prefer "do your best", "work hard", "be diligent" etc. is due to a fundamental difference in one's approach to God's words.

Maybe those who do not believe that any Bible in any language is or ever was the preserved, inspired and infallible words of God feel they need to gear up for a rigorous Bible reconstruction project, since they have no Bible they can trust completely.

They must work hard, sweat nails to ferret out every Greek nuance, every learned scholar's conjecture; they first consult 50 different versions, Cardinal Martini, James White, R.C. Sproul, Dan Wallace, then consult Thayer, Kittel, Driver; look for some fragment from an Egyptian garbage dump, Ugaritic tablet, Dead Sea scroll etc. - anything that could aid the never ending search for what God possibly, maybe, might have said so as to reach a tentative idea on the meaning of the text.

Or maybe they just want a translation that "feels right" to them. The "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" syndrome.

In contrast to this, the Bible Believer is blessed to have God's inerrant preserved words in the King James Bible. They feed upon and study God's infallible words and rejoice in them as Jeremiah of old who said: "Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16)

The King James Bible believers don't try to correct it, or alter it or change it to fit the passing fads of modern "scholarship". The Bible Believer praises God that He has providentially preserved His words so we can read them today in the 17th century English of the King James Holy Bible, the only Bible seriously believed by thousands of living saints to be the very words of the living God.

I believe the modern version editors who change this word here to something like "be diligent" or "do your best" or "make every effort", have neglected the context of the verse and made a change only for the sake of changing things to get their copyrights, make money, and to undermine the Christian's faith in an inerrant Bible.

Even the secular world has noted that those who actually READ their Bibles are those who read and study the King James Bible, as this article from USA Today called 'Bible Readers Prefer the King James Version' shows.

Bible readers prefer King James version - USATODAY.com

"for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." Luke 16:8

Will Kinney

Return to Articles - Articles - Another King James Bible Believer

 

[FerventDisciple]

The MEV(Modern English Version) which is being released next month and is based on the TR has "study" in 2 Tim 2:15.

MEV | Modern English VersionHome | MEV | Modern English Version

 

[brandplucked]

The MEV(Modern English Version) which is being released next month and is based on the TR has "study" in 2 Tim 2:15.

MEV | Modern English VersionHome | MEV | Modern English Version

Thanks, FD. I was unaware of this new version.

God bless,

Will K

 

[bcbsr]

All of the above. The word is spoudazo in Greek which means to hasten - and thus "diligence". But as the subject matter is the Word of God, the word "study" is appropriate. And being diligent is to do your best.

 

[brandplucked]

All of the above. The word is spoudazo in Greek which means to hasten - and thus "diligence". But as the subject matter is the Word of God, the word "study" is appropriate. And being diligent is to do your best.

Obviously you did not bother to actually READ the article first. That, or you have a serious comprehension problem.

 

[Radagast]

All of the above. The word is spoudazo in Greek which means to hasten

It also means "exert one's self" or "be diligent" (see G4704). In Classical Greek it sometimes means "study," but it doesn't have that meaning anywhere else in the N.T., and the N.T. uses different words when it talks about studying (e.g. anakrinō in Acts 17:11).

Modern Greek is of course completely irrelevant here ... Greek has changed a lot in 2,000 years.

The ESV probably gets the translation right with "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

 

[robycop3]

I agree that an ARCHAIC definition of 'study' is 'strive, be diligent, do one's best', but such usage in MODERN versions is simply incorrect. Like it or not, Brandplucked, much of the KJV is in archaic language.

 

[jwmealy]

as a person who reads Paul in Greek, I can affirm with some confidence that he uses the word spoudazw to mean "put forth your best effort." I suspect that the translators of the AV were influenced by their classical Greek training to understand Paul as meaning "study" here. What does Jerome have here?

 

[robycop3]

as a person who reads Paul in Greek, I can affirm with some confidence that he uses the word spoudazw to mean "put forth your best effort." I suspect that the translators of the AV were influenced by their classical Greek training to understand Paul as meaning "study" here. What does Jerome have here?

The issue is simple...archaic English as compared to current English. We know many English words have changed in meaning and general usage in the 400 years since the KJV was made. Other examples are "let", which useta be commonly used for "hinder" or "block". That use is now limited to tennis, I. E. a "let ball". and "prevent", which useta mean "precede" as well as "stop", depending upon the context. "Study" also falls into this group.

The KJV's 1 Thess. 4:11 reads "STUDY to be quiet", showing the same usage as found in Timothy.usage

 

[jwmealy]

I haven't looked into this deeply before, but when I heard that a contemporary Italian version used the word "study" here, that suggested that the matter was not simply and unambiguously one of English usage. Back at my desk, I've dug around a little and found:

Douay Rheims, based on Jerome's Vulgate, has "Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God." Jerome--writing 1600 years ago in Latin, before the English of King James was ever a language at all, and standing far closer to the Koine than any modern person--has "sollicite cura te ipsum probabilem exhibere Deo," literally, "Carefully study to present yourself approved to God."

Consulting the Perseus online version of LSJ (the authoritative dictionary of ancient Greek) confirms that "study" is a possible sense, citing a clear and multiple use by Philostratus the Athenian (c. 230 CE). (sorry I can't supply a link... go to perseus dot tufts dot edu); you'll have to input the search word in special English characters: σπουδάζω becomes spouda/zw.

I'm just theorizing here, but I'm thinking that the translators of the AV, who conferred with Jerome's Vulgate all the time, and who themselves also were probably aware of the sense "study" plus the context of teaching and the "word of truth," i.e. the gospel, may have thought Paul intended "study" here, as opposed to "strive hard," or the like. Either that, or, not feeling confident which of the familiar meanings Paul had in mind, used an English word that split the difference--so that the translation was correct either way. So I would still prefer "do your best," or "try hard," or something like that, but I'd be tempted to put "Or, possibly, study" in a footnote.

 

[robycop3]

I haven't looked into this deeply before, but when I heard that a contemporary Italian version used the word "study" here, that suggested that the matter was not simply and unambiguously one of English usage. Back at my desk, I've dug around a little and found:

Douay Rheims, based on Jerome's Vulgate, has "Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God." Jerome--writing 1600 years ago in Latin, before the English of King James was ever a language at all, and standing far closer to the Koine than any modern person--has "sollicite cura te ipsum probabilem exhibere Deo," literally, "Carefully study to present yourself approved to God."

Consulting the Perseus online version of LSJ (the authoritative dictionary of ancient Greek) confirms that "study" is a possible sense, citing a clear and multiple use by Philostratus the Athenian (c. 230 CE). (sorry I can't supply a link... go to perseus dot tufts dot edu); you'll have to input the search word in special English characters: σπουδάζω becomes spouda/zw.

I'm just theorizing here, but I'm thinking that the translators of the AV, who conferred with Jerome's Vulgate all the time, and who themselves also were probably aware of the sense "study" plus the context of teaching and the "word of truth," i.e. the gospel, may have thought Paul intended "study" here, as opposed to "strive hard," or the like. Either that, or, not feeling confident which of the familiar meanings Paul had in mind, used an English word that split the difference--so that the translation was correct either way. So I would still prefer "do your best," or "try hard," or something like that, but I'd be tempted to put "Or, possibly, study" in a footnote.

I see where you're coming from. At times one must 'strive diligently' when 'studying'. But most later Bible translators were going by the common English translation of "spoudazo", rather than trying to guess what Paul was thinking.

And, of course, both 'study' and 'strive diligently' are correct in the English of 1611 for "spoudazo".

 

[jwmealy]

You would hope that later translations would be going by the ancient definitions of words in Greek, and not by what other translators into English had done. Otherwise all you are doing is fooling around with a pre-existing translation or translations, and not actually translating yourself. Translations actually have a way of being ingrown and incestuous like that--if even on an unconscious level. Ken Taylor's Living Bible would be an example of someone going explicitly from English versions. He was not working from the Greek of the New Testament, but only from contemporary translations. When I was preparing my translation of the New Testament, The Spoken English New Testament (Oakland: SENT Press, 2008), perhaps the single most important translation that I consulted as I worked from the Greek was Richmond Lattimore's, because he, more than any other translator I was aware of, read the Greek NT as a person widely read in and truly familiar with ancient Greek, and was not unconsciously leaning on other translators all the time.

All that said, I guess you may just be speaking inexactly.

 

[robycop3]

As none of us has ever met paul, of course, to know what he was actually thinking, all we can do is translate the body of his writings, using context to make some translations where multiple English meanings are possible for a given word or phrase. Thus, translators suppose that Paul meant "work diligently" to become a workman approved of God. And that must necessarily include to STUDY the Scriptures closely and prayerfully.

Again, while the KJV & other translations that read "study" in 2 Tim. 2:15 aren't incorrect, neither are those that read "work diligently" or similar.

Again, this thread is simply an attempt by Brandplucked to support the KJVO myth.

 

[Restoresmysoul]

Study-

Read, meditate, do. Renew mind.

Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.





Sword of the spirit-

Mathew 4:4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.