desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
Parallel Translations
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desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
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because they wolde be doctours the scripture and yet vnderstonde not what they speake nether wherof they affirme.
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They would be doctours of the Law, and yet vnderstande not what they speake, neither whereof they affirme.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to 1 Timothy 1:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- 2 Peter 2:12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
- 1 Timothy 6:4 he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions,
- Galatians 3:5 He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
- Galatians 5:3-4 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
- Romans 2:19-21 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?
- Galatians 3:2 I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
- 2 Timothy 3:7 always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
- Titus 1:10-11 For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.
- Matthew 15:14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
- John 9:40-41 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
- Galatians 4:21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law?
- Isaiah 29:13-14 The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
- Jeremiah 8:8-9 “ ‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie. The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
- Matthew 23:16-24 “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
- John 3:9-10 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?
- Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7 Wishing to be teachers of the law He…
7 Wishing to be teachers of the law He does not reprove those who openly attack the instruction of the law, but those who boast of belonging to the rank of teachers of it. He affirms that such persons have no understanding, because they harass their faculties to no purpose by curious questions. And, at the same time, he rebukes their pride by adding, —
Of what things they affirm, for none will be found more bold in pronouncing rashly on matters unknown to them than the teachers of such fables. We see in the present day with what pride and haughtiness the schools of the Sorbonne pronounce their authoritative decisions. And on what subjects? On those which are altogether hidden from the minds of men — which no word of Scripture, and no revelation has ever made known to us. With greater boldness do they affirm their purgatory than the resurrection of the dead. As to their contrivances about the intercession of the saints, if we do not hold them to be an undoubted oracle, they cry out that the whole of religion is overturned. What shall I say as to their vast labyrinths about the hierarchies of heaven, relationships, and similar contrivances? It is a matter that has no end. The Apostle declares that in all these is fulfilled what is said in a well-known ancient proverb,
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“Ignorance is rash;” as he says that, “puffed up by their carnal mind, they intrude into things which they know not.” (Colossians 2:18.)
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain There are none more unlearned, and more impudent in…
There are none more unlearned, and more impudent in usurping the name of holiness, than foolish sophistical babblers.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding…
7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Ver. 7. Understanding neither what] Non curo illos, saith Augustine, qui vel non intelligendo reprehendunt, vel reprehendendo non intelligunt. I pass not for the censures of such as dare to reprehend what they do not comprehend.
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Nor whereof they affirm] And are therefore to be slighted. Galatinus (saith Mr Sarson), as he affirmeth without reason, so he may be dismissed without refutation.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Desiring to be teachers of the law; Nomodidaskaloi. This…
Desiring to be teachers of the law; Nomodidaskaloi. This term lets us know, that the apostle reflecteth upon some who were or had been Jews, who either pressed the observance of the law in order to justification, or spent their time in pressing the traditions of the elders, and constitutions of the scribes, as sepimenta legis, hedges (as they called them) to the Divine law, though not of the letter of it; upon which there arose a great many questions as insignificant as their traditions themselves, which these vain preachers spent their time in speaking to.
Understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm; neither understanding the Divine law, nor the questions themselves started and spoke unto, yet ambitious to be accounted
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teachers of the law. This vain desire of reputation, as persons of excellent skill in the land, was the cause of their erroneous, idle sermons: and their ignorance is aggravated and inexcusable, in that they with presumptuous boldness assert the things of which they are ignorant.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Desiring to be teachers of the law,.... They were…
Desiring to be teachers of the law,.... They were very fond of being called Rabbi, Rabbi, and styled doctors of the law, and of being thought to have skill in interpreting the law, and good talents in expounding it, and preaching upon it; which was now most in vogue, and gained the greatest applause, when the preaching of the Gospel was treated with contempt, not only by the unbelieving Jews, but by judaizing Christians, and carnal professors,
Understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm: they did not understand the law, the nature and end, the purity and spirituality, and perfection of it, which they were so fond of teaching, and went into many foolish and unlearned questions about it; see Ti2 2:23, and which they as foolishly answered: these are the ignorant and unlearned men, who, notwithstanding their vain show of learning, and pretence to skill in interpreting the law, wrested the Scriptures to their own destruction, and that of others; they were ignorant of the things they talked of, and knew not by what arguments to confirm them, and yet were very bold and confident in their assertions: and generally speaking so it is, that those who can prove least assert most, and that with the greatest assurance.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Understanding neither the very things they speak, nor the…
Understanding neither the very things they speak, nor the subject they speak of.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Teachers of the law] To be esteemed…
Verse 7. Teachers of the law] To be esteemed or celebrated as rabbins; to be reputed cunning in solving knotty questions and enigmas, which answered no end to true religion. Of such the rabbinical teaching was full.
Understanding neither what they say] This is evident from almost all the Jewish comments which yet remain. Things are asserted which are either false or dubious; words, the import of which they did not understand, were brought to illustrate them: so that it may be said, They understand not what they say, nor whereof they affirm. I will give one instance from the Jerusalem Targum, on Ge 1:15: And God made two great lights, and they were equal in splendour twenty-one years, the six hundred and seventy-second part of an hour excepted: and afterwards the moon brought a false accusation against the sun, and therefore she was lessened; and God made the sun the greater light to superintend the day, &c. I could produce a thousand of a similar complexion.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Desiring to be teachers of the law - That…
Desiring to be teachers of the law - That is, to have the credit and reputation of being well versed in the law of Moses, and qualified to explain it to others. This was a high honor among the Jews, and these teachers laid claim to the same distinction.
Understanding neither what they say - That is, they do not understand the true nature and design of that law which they attempt to explain to others. This was true of the Jewish teachers, and equally so of those in the church at Ephesus, who attempted to explain it. They appear to have explained the law on the principles which commonly prevailed among the Jews, and hence their instructions tended greatly to corrupt the faith of the gospel. They made affirmations of what they knew nothing of, and though they made confident observations, yet they often pertained to things about which they had no knowledge. One needs only a slight acquaintance with the manner of teaching among Jewish rabbies, or with the things found in their traditions, to see the accuracy of this statement of the apostle. A sufficient illustration of this may be found in Allen’s “Modern Judaism.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Sample of their "vain talk" (Ti1 1:6).
Sample of their "vain talk" (Ti1 1:6).
Desiring--They are would-be teachers, not really so.
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the law--the Jewish law (Tit 1:14; Tit 3:9). The Judaizers here meant seem to be distinct from those impugned in the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans, who made the works of the law necessary to justification in opposition to Gospel grace. The Judaizers here meant corrupted the law with "fables," which they pretended to found on it, subversive of morals as well as of truth. Their error was not in maintaining the obligation of the law, but in abusing it by fabulous and immoral interpretations of, and additions to, it.
neither what they say, nor whereof--neither understanding their own assertions, nor the object itself about which they make them. They understand as little about the one as the other [ALFORD].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Teachers of the law—The Mosaic law; the Old…
7. Teachers of the law—The Mosaic law; the Old Testament. These teachers wanted to transform the Churches into rabbinical schools, in which themselves should be the rabbies, and the teachings should be the new fangled fantasies of which Grotius gives us specimens above.
What they say—Their words and phrases really often express no meaning, because they have no understanding of the subject whereof they affirm. That is, they explained an unintelligible subject by unmeaning words.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. understanding] More exactly, though they understand; the negative…
7. understanding] More exactly, though they understand; the negative particle used shews that the clause is subordinate to, not parallel with ‘setting themselves up,’ or ‘desiring,’ and expresses their thoughts. ‘We choose to teach, without understanding.’ Winer, § 55. 5 b, p. 607.
neither what they say, nor whereof] They neither understand the statements they make nor even what the questions are about which they make such confident assertions. Confidently affirm gives the force of the preposition in the compound verb; it occurs in Tit_3:8; but not elsewhere in N. T. The middle voice expresses the secondary kind of making firm, by speech, instead of act, as commonly in Class. Gr. Compare to draw up a narrative, Luk_1:1; ‘I laid before them the Gospel,’ Gal_2:2; Winer, Pt. iii. § 38, 2–6, p. 317.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Desiring to be teachers of the law.—“Desiring,” though…
(7) Desiring to be teachers of the law.—“Desiring,” though they really were not. They coveted the respect and influence which was ever paid to the acknowledged teachers of the Law of Moses; but these men utterly failed to understand the real spiritual meaning of that Law which they pretended to teach. Similar pretenders in a neighbouring Church, some years later, received from another Apostle—St. John—a stern rebuke for such pretensions. “I know,” wrote St. John to the Christians of Smyrna, “the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan” (Rev_2:9).
Understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.—A wise teacher must understand what he teaches, and must, at the same time, be clear in his own mind that what he teaches is true.
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The false teachers are here charged (1) with not understanding the wild fables and traditions upon which their teaching was based, and (2) with not comprehending the things whereof they make their assertions: that is, they had no real belief in those great truths which really underlie that Law with which they were meddling.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Though they understand for understanding. A.V; confidently affirm for…
Though they understand for understanding. A.V; confidently affirm for affirm, A.V Teachers of the Law. (nomodidaskaloi as Luk_5:17; Act_5:34) This, again, distinctly marks the Jewish origin of these heretics. Though they understand, etc. So our Lord rebuke, 1 the scribes and teachers of the Law in his day: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God;" "Ye do greatly err" Mat_22:29; Mar_12:27; Mat_12:7, etc.. (compare, Rom_2:17-24) They confidently affirm (diabebaiountai). Elsewhere in the New Testament only in Tit_3:8, "I will that thou affirm confidently." So in classical Greek, "to maintain strongly," "to be positive." This was right in the minister of Christ declaring Divine truth, but very wrong in these vain janglers. The nature of their confident assertions is apparent from what follows they spoke of the Law, but not lawfully.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 7. Desiring to be teachers. To be teachers of…
7. Desiring to be teachers. To be teachers of law; there is no article. These aspire to a work for which they are totally unfitted. Who has not met the class of men described?
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:7 Their aspirations to be teachers of the law…
1:7 Their aspirations to be teachers of the law of Moses were ironic; their handling of the law was deficient in the light of the Good News, and they neither understood nor fulfilled the law (see 1:8-11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.