If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master’s use, prepared for every good work.
Parallel Translations
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If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master’s use, prepared for every good work.
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But Yf a man purdge him silfe from suche felowes he shalbe a vessell sanctified vnto honoure mete for the lorde and prepared vnto all good workes.
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If any man therefore purge him selfe from these, he shalbe a vessell vnto honour, sanctified, and meete for the Lord, and prepared vnto euery good worke.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to 2 Timothy 2:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 3:17 that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Psalms 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- 1 Peter 1:22 Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently,
- 1 John 3:3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
- 2 Timothy 2:20 Now in a large house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor.
- Isaiah 52:11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out from among her! Cleanse yourselves, you who carry Yahweh’s vessels.
- Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore Yahweh says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.
- Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
- Titus 3:8 This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men;
- Malachi 3:3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
- Titus 3:1 Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
- Titus 3:14 Let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful.
- 1 Peter 1:7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
- Isaiah 1:25 I will turn my hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 21 If any man shall cleanse himself from these…
21 If any man shall cleanse himself from these If the reprobate are “vessels for dishonor,” they have that dishonor confined to themselves, but they do not disfigure the house, or bring any disgrace on the head of the family, who, while he has a variety of articles of furniture, appropriates each vessel to its proper use. But let us learn, by their example, to apply them to better and worthier uses; for in the reprobate, as in mirrors, we perceive how detestable is the condition of man, if he do not sincerely promote the glory of God. Such examples, therefore, afford to us good ground for exhortation to devote ourselves to a holy and blameless life.
There are many who misapply this passage, for the sake of proving that what Paul elsewhere (Romans 9:16) declares to belong “to God that sheweth mercy,” is actually within the power of “him that willeth and him that runneth.” This is exceedingly frivolous; for Paul does not here argue about the election of men, in order to shew what is the cause of it, as he does in the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 9); but only means that we are unlike wicked men, whom we perceive to have been born to their perdition. It is consequently foolish to draw an inference from these words, about the question whether it is in a man’s power to place himself in the number of the children of God, and to be the author of his own adoption. That is not the present question. Let this short warning suffice against those who bid a man cause himself to be predestinated; as if Paul enjoined men to do what they must have done before they were born, and even before the foundations of the world were laid.
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Others, who infer from these words that free-will is sufficient for preparing a man, that he may be fit and qualified for obeying God, do not at first sight appear to be so absurd as the former, yet there is no solidity in what they advance. The Apostle enjoins that men who desire to consecrate themselves to the Lord cleanse themselves from the pollution of wicked men; and throughout the Scriptures God gives the same injunction; for we find nothing here but what we have seen in many passages of Paul’s writings, and especially in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
“Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.”
Beyond all controversy, we are called to holiness. But the question about the calling and duty of Christians is totally different from the question about their power or ability. We do not deny that it is demanded from believers that they purify themselves; but elsewhere the Lord declares that this is their duty, while he promises by Ezekiel that he will send
“clean waters, that we may be cleansed.” (Ezekiel 36:25.)
Wherefore we ought to supplicate the Lord to cleanse us, instead of vainly trying our strength in this matter without his assistance.
A vessel sanctified for honor means, set apart for honorable and magnificent purposes. In like manner, what is useful to the head of the family is put for that which is applied to agreeable purposes. He afterwards explains the metaphor, when he adds, that we must be prepared for every good work. Away with the wild language of fanatics, “I will contribute to the glory of God, as Pharaoh did; for is it not all one, provided that God be glorified?” For here God explicitly states in what manner he wishes us to serve him, that is, by a religious and holy life.
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 By these words is meant the execution of the…
By these words is meant the execution of the matter, and not the cause: for in that we purge ourselves, it is not to be attributeth to any free will that is in us, but to God, who freely and wholly worketh in us a good and an effectual will.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these,…
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Ver. 21. Purge himself from these] From these seducers or arch-heretics, those vessels of dishonour, whose doctrine defileth worse than any kitchen stuff or leprosy.
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He shall be a vessel, &c.] You know (said John Careless, the martyr, in a letter to Mr Philpot) that the vessel before it be made bright is soiled with oil and many other things, that it may scour the better. Oh, happy be you that you be now in this scouring house; for shortly you shall be set upon the celestial shelf as bright as angels, &c.
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 If a man therefore purge himself from these; from…
If a man therefore purge himself from these; from these wicked men that subvert the faith of others, or from their wicked opinions and courses.
He shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use; God will honour him; and he will by it be set apart, and made fit for Christ’s use in his church.
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And prepared unto every good work; and made fit for every good work; which men are not, while they are either tainted with pernicious, damnable errors relating to the doctrine of faith, or the companions of those fools.
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 If a man therefore purge himself from these,.... That…
If a man therefore purge himself from these,.... That is, if a man clears himself, and keeps himself clear from such men as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who are comparable to wooden and earthen vessels, and are dishonourable ones; if he shuns their defiling company, and polluting principles; if he keeps clear of their heresies, and is not carried away with the errors of these wicked men, and is not drawn aside by them into immoral practices, but stands fast in the faith, and departs from iniquity:
he shall be a vessel unto honour; he will be made manifest, and appear to be a vessel chosen to honour; and will be an honourable member of the church here, and will be honoured by Christ hereafter:
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sanctified: he will appear to be one that is set apart by God the Father, and whose sins are purged away by the blood of Christ, and who is sanctified internally by the Spirit of God; for external holiness springs from internal holiness, and is, an evidence of it:
and meet for the master's use: the use and service of Christ, who is the master of the house; either for the ministry of the word, the administration of ordinances, or for some service or another, which he calls him to, and employs him in.
And prepared unto every good work; which an unregenerate man is not; he is to every good work reprobate; he is not capable of performing good works; he is not prepared for them, nor ready at them; but a true believer, one that is regenerated, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, he is created in Christ Jesus unto good works; and has in the performing of them right principles, aims, and ends, as well as a supply of grace, by which he is enabled to do them.
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 If a man purge himself from these - Vessels…
If a man purge himself from these - Vessels of dishonour, so as to have no fellowship with them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. If a man therefore purge himself from…
Verse 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these] He that takes heed to his ways and to his doctrines, and walks with God, will separate himself, not only from all false doctrine, but from all wicked men, and thus be sanctified and proper to be employed by the Master in every good word and work. The apostle has not made the application of these different similes, and it is very difficult to tell what he means.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If a man therefore purge himself from these, he…
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour - If a man “cleanse” or “purify” himself; compare the notes on Joh 15:2. The word “these” refers, here, to the persons represented by the vessels of wood and of earth - the vessels made to dishonor, as mentioned in the previous verse 2Ti 2:20. The idea is, that if one would preserve himself from the corrupting influence of such men, he would be fitted to be a vessel of honor, or to be employed in the most useful and honorable service in the cause of his Master. On the word “vessel,” see the notes at Act 9:15.
And meet for the master’s use - Suitable to be employed by the Lord Jesus in promoting his work on earth.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Man, we see here, hath free-will to make himself…
Man, we see here, hath free-will to make himself a vessel of salvation or reprobation; though salvation be attributed to God’s mercy, the other to his justice, neither repugnant to our free-will, but working with and by the same, all such effects in us, as to his providence and our deserts are agreeable. (Bristow)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain If a man . . . purge himself from…
If a man . . . purge himself from these--The Greek expresses "If one (for example, thou, Timothy) purify himself (so as to separate) from among these" (vessels unto dishonor).
sanctified--set apart as wholly consecrated to the Lord.
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and meet--Some oldest manuscripts omit "and."
the master's--the Lord's. Paul himself was such a vessel: once one among those of earth, but afterwards he became by grace one of gold.
prepared unto every good work-- (Ti2 3:17; Tit 3:1). Contrast Tit 1:16.
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 21. Purge himself (in obedience to the second motto…
21. Purge himself (in obedience to the second motto in 2Ti_2:19) from these modern Korahites, the vessels of dishonour. The simile is carried out with much completeness. The cleaned dish is ready for all cleanly use by the owner.
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 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these]…
21. If a man therefore purge himself from these] That is, as Bengel puts it, ‘if any one shall by purifying himself have gone out of their number.’ The compound verb ‘purge out’ only occurs besides in 1Co_5:7 where the preposition gives the force ‘purge out from your houses the old leaven.’ Wordsworth forcibly notes here; ‘a man may at one time of his life be numbered among vessels to dishonour, and yet may become a vessel to honour, by cleansing himself out from their number and condition. Mark this assertion of Free Will.’ And again, ‘a Christian man may not go out of the great house which is the Visible Church of God: he cannot separate himself wholly from sinners, but he must cleanse himself from them as sinners; that is, he must not communicate with them in their sins.’
sanctified] Or perhaps better ‘purified.’ ‘Sanctified’ belongs to metaphor, the implied Christian life and service; but in form the sentence remains a simile to the end. Hence R.V. rightly renders the master’s use, i.e. the master of the house, not with some printed copies of A.V. ‘the Master’s,’ which would imply an immediate reference to God. ‘Meet for use’ is the same word as in 2Ti_4:11 ‘serviceable,’ and in Phm_1:11, where Onesimus formerly ‘unprofitable’ is ‘now profitable.’
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prepared] This word and ‘sanctified’ are both perfect passive participles, and are more expressive than our English can shew of the resulting final state reached. See note on 2Ti_2:26.
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 (21) If a man therefore purge himself from these.—Again…
(21) If a man therefore purge himself from these.—Again the reference is general, but there was a special thought for Timothy when St. Paul wrote this. If he would separate from all that was evil in his Church at Ephesus, then would he indeed be one of those golden vessels unto honour. The image of the great house, and its many and varied vessels, though still not quite lost sight of, is passing out of sight. This verse changes into a note of direct exhortation. The good and faithful must separate themselves from the evil and faithless. The thought of those deniers of the resurrection of the body was uppermost in St. Paul’s mind. There must, as it has been well said, be no communion on the part of God’s servants with impugners of fundamentals. It was imperatively necessary for Timothy—and, by implication, for all members of Christ’s Church—if they aimed at becoming vessels for honour in the great Temple, to break off from all Church fellowship, from all intimate friendship, with those above referred to under the image of wooden or earthen vessels.
He shall be a vessel unto honour.—Chrysostom’s note upon these words is somewhat remarkable. He points out the possibility of the vessel for dishonour becoming a vessel for honour, and the reverse; and refers to St. Paul, once an earthen vessel, who became a vessel of gold, and to the traitor Judas, who, on the other hand, from being a vessel of gold became an earthen vessel.
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Meet for the master’s use.—Or, useful for the master (of the house). “Useful,” as the next sentence shows us, through those good works by means of which others’ needs are ministered to, and the salvation of others is furthered, and the glory of God is increased.
Prepared unto every good work.—“Prepared”—that is, ready to take advantage of any opportunity which may offer itself to do a generous, noble action. So, too, Chrysostom, who would have the “vessel unto honour” ready for every emergency which would enhance the glory of the Lord—ready even for death, or (any painful) witness.
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 Meet for and meet, A.V and T.R.; prepared for…
Meet for and meet, A.V and T.R.; prepared for and prepared, A.V Purge himself from these (ejkkaqarh); stronger than the simple kaqarh, "thoroughly purge himself," as in 1Co_5:7 (the only other place in the New Testament where it occurs) and as in classical Greek. It is used also by the LXX inx; Jud_1:7:4, as the rendering ofpr) to try metals. The idea, therefore, seems to be that of separation, and, if so, "from these" may certainly mean from the false teachers described under the image of the vessels unto dishonour, as usually explained. At the same time, the image is better sustained if we understand "from these" to mean the babblings, and ungodliness, and eating words of the heretics denounced. It is hardly natural to imply that one vessel in the house will become a golden vessel by purging itself from the wooden and earthen vessels. Neither is separation from the false teachers the point which St. Paul is here pressing, but avoidance of false doctrines. Meet foruse (eucrhstov); only here and ch. 4:11 and Phm_1:11. Also Pro 29:(31) Pro_29:13, LXX Common in classical Greek. The master (tw despoth); the master of the house, the oijkodespothv.
Fitness for service.
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for the Master"s use." Christ is our Lord as well as our Saviour. We are under a Master, and must bring our thought in captivity unto him.
I MEETNESS. For in man there is a power that grows by culture. Not so with the inferior animals. Take the bee: the first cell it makes is as geometrically perfect as the last. So take the bird: the first nest it makes is as soft and complete as the last. But man can grow in meetness. Self-discipline meetens. Sorrow meetens. Suffering meetens.
II MINISTRATIONS. Use. This characterizes all the works of God. The river is not only a silver thread running through the landscape; it brings freshness and verdure, and the cattle come to the banks to drink, and there is emerald verdure by the riverside. Ships, too, float on its waters. We are to be of use to the Master. He deigns to use us. "Son, go work today in my vineyard." Many in this age dislike the word "Master;" but we are always under some master, consciously or unconsciously. We serve God or Mammon, and we cannot serve both. We are to attend to spiritual means of grace, and to seek out modes of service, so as to be of use to the Master. W.M.S.
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 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these.…
21. If a man therefore purge himself from these. If a man wishes to be a noble vessel, of gold, for honorable uses in the Lord's house, let him cleanse himself from earthly lusts.
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.