English · KJV

1 Timothy 6:9

“Godliness and Contentment”1 Timothy 6:6–10

King James Version
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
But G1161 they that will G1014 be rich G4147 fall G1706 into G1519 temptation G3986 and G2532 a snare G3803, and G2532 into many G4183 foolish G453 and G2532 hurtful G983 lusts G1939, which G3748 drown G1036 men G444 in G1519 destruction G3639 and G2532 perdition G684.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
For they that will be rich, fall into tentation and snares, and into many foolish and noysome lustes, which drowne men in perdition and destruction.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
and those wishing to be rich, do fall into temptation and a snare, and many desires, foolish and hurtful, that sink men into ruin and destruction,

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
23 Greek words
  1. ΟἱHoiThoseG3588T-NPMDefinite article Nominative Plural Masculine
  2. δὲdehoweverG1161CONJConjunction
  3. βουλόμενοιboulomenoidesiringG1014V-PNP-NPMVerb Present Middle Or Passive Deponent Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
  4. πλουτεῖνplouteinto be richG4147V-PANVerb Present Active Infinitive
  5. ἐμπίπτουσινempiptousinthey fallG1706V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
  6. εἰςeisintoG1519PREPPreposition
  7. πειρασμὸνpeirasmontemptationG3986N-ASMNoun Accusative Singular Masculine
  8. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  9. παγίδαpagidaa snareG3803N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  10. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  11. ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasdesiresG1939N-APFNoun Accusative Plural Feminine
  12. πολλὰςpollasmanyG4183A-APFAdjective Accusative Plural Feminine
  13. ἀνοήτουςanoētousfoolishG453A-APFAdjective Accusative Plural Feminine
  14. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  15. βλαβεράςblaberasharmfulG983A-APFAdjective Accusative Plural Feminine
  16. αἵτινεςaitineswhichG3748R-NPFRelative pronoun Nominative Plural Feminine
  17. βυθίζουσινbuthizousinplungeG1036V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
  18. τοὺςtous[the]G3588T-APMDefinite article Accusative Plural Masculine
  19. ἀνθρώπουςanthrōpousmenG444N-APMNoun Accusative Plural Masculine
  20. εἰςeisintoG1519PREPPreposition
  21. ὄλεθρονolethronruinG3639N-ASMNoun Accusative Singular Masculine
  22. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  23. ἀπώλειανapōleiandestructionG684N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

Translation differences
Translation
Details
See on the biblical-era maps
Timothy
Timothy View full PDF
Epistles Overview
Epistles Overview View full PDF

Map © Biblica Open Bible Maps · CC BY-SA 4.0

In the KJVVerse 29,798 of 31,102 · 95.8%

Study this verse

Written with AI assistance. Always check it against Scripture.

This verse

Those who set their hearts on becoming rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into foolish, harmful desires that sink people in ruin and perdition.

“But they that will be rich”

The warning falls on the wish and purpose to become rich. Those who are already rich receive their own charge in 1 Timothy 6:17–19.

“fall into temptation and a snare,”

First the enticement, then the hidden trap that holds its prey.

“and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,”

Desires that make no sense in God’s sight and do real harm.

“which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

The desires pull a person under, into ruin and loss.

Passage study1 Timothy 6:6–10

Godliness, Contentment and the Love of Money

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Summary

Paul has just warned Timothy about teachers in Ephesus who used godliness as a way to make money. Here he answers them. Godliness joined with contentment is the real gain. We came into the world empty-handed and will leave it the same way, so food and clothing are enough to be content with. Those who set their hearts on getting rich fall into a trap of foolish and harmful desires that sink them in ruin, because the love of money is the root of all evil. Some who reached for it have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. In five verses we learn what real wealth is, how little we need, and how much harm the love of money does.

Godliness with contentment is the real gain

Verse 6 answers the men Paul describes just before it, in 1 Timothy 6:3–5: teachers of a different doctrine, proud, envious and given to strife, “supposing that gain is godliness”. They treated religion as a trade. Ephesus, where Timothy served, was a wealthy port and a centre of commerce and of the worship of Artemis, whose temple was counted among the wonders of its day, and the church there held both rich and poor. In that setting Paul keeps his opponents’ word “gain” and gives it its true meaning: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” The opening “But” is dé, the ordinary Greek connective for “and” or “but”, and here it marks the turn from their idea of gain to his.

Godliness, eusébeia, is reverence and devotion toward God, from a root meaning to revere well. Strong’s also gives it the sense of “the gospel scheme”, and in Paul’s letters it is a whole life lived in line with the truth of the gospel, with right worship and right conduct flowing from a heart that honours God.

Contentment, autárkeia, literally means self-sufficiency. Greek philosophers used it for a wise man’s independence from his circumstances. Paul uses it for a sufficiency that comes from God, a settled satisfaction that rests on his provision whatever we have or lack. He says of himself, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”, and he finds the strength for it in Christ (Philippians 4:11–13).

The two belong together. The small word metá, “with”, means accompanying, so the gain is godliness accompanied by contentment. “Is”, estí, simply joins the subject to what is said of it, and “great”, mégas, gives the size of the gain.

Gain, porismós, means a way of getting something, and it was used especially of making money, of profit. Everyone in a trading city knew the word from the market. Paul’s opponents used it for the money religion could bring them, and Paul uses it for what godliness brings: a life right with God and a heart at rest in him. Proverbs says the same: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith” (Proverbs 15:16). Hebrews joins contentment to a promise: “be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). And Jesus told his disciples to lay up treasure in heaven, where moth, rust and thieves cannot reach it, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19–21).

Why our possessions stay behind

Verse 7 gives the reason, beginning with “For”: “we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” The two verbs answer each other. The verb for “brought”, eisphérō, means to carry in or bring in, and the verb for “carry out”, ekphérō, means to carry out or bring out. Every one of us arrived empty-handed and wholly dependent, and every one of us will leave the same way. The world here, kósmos, is the world we are born into and live in for a while. “Certain” translates dēlos, clear or evident: this is plain to anyone who looks.

Scripture says this more than once. Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). The Preacher says that the rich man goes as he came, taking away none of his labour (Ecclesiastes 5:15). A psalm tells us to be unafraid when another man grows rich, “For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him” (Psalm 49:16–17).

This is the ground for contentment. What we own is ours only for the length of a life, so we hold it as stewards of what God has given, and the riches that last are the ones laid up with him. It also shows why the love of money in verse 10 is so foolish. It gives the heart’s devotion to something the heart must one day leave behind.

Food and clothing are enough

Verse 8 draws the practical conclusion: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” The “And” is dé again, carrying the thought on. Food, diatrophḗ, is nourishment, what is needed to keep the body alive. Raiment, sképasma, means a covering, so clothing, and it may reach to basic shelter as well. “Therewith” is toútois, “with these”, pointing back to the two things just named. The verb for “be content” is arkéō, to be sufficient or enough. With these, we have enough.

Food and covering are the bare necessities of life, and Paul names them as the measure of enough. He writes “let us”, counting himself among those who live this way. Contentment is a glad and settled satisfaction with what God supplies, and it is his Spirit who works it in us. Jesus taught the same trust when he told his disciples to take no thought for what they would eat or put on, because their heavenly Father knows they need these things, and to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:25–34).

Does contentment mean giving up ambition?

Contentment is a heart at peace with God’s provision, and that heart can still work hard, study, aim for excellence and seek to better its circumstances. What matters is the motive. Effort that comes from a wish to glorify God and serve others fits well with contentment. A restless chase after more, driven by greed or envy, is what Paul warns against in the next verse. Our joy and our sense of who we are rest on Christ, and possessions and achievements take the lower place.

The trap of wanting to be rich

Verse 9 turns to the opposite way of life: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare.” Paul aims the warning at those who want to be rich. “Will” is boúlomai, to will, wish, desire or purpose, a word for deliberate choice. These people have made riches their aim, and the warning concerns that aim of the heart.

They “fall into temptation”, peirasmós, the testing and enticement to evil, “and a snare”, pagís, a trap or noose set for animals. A hunter’s trap stays hidden until the animal is caught, and the pursuit of riches catches people in the same way, before they see the danger.

Inside the trap are “many foolish and hurtful lusts”. Lusts, epithymía, are strong desires. They are foolish, anóētos, senseless and empty of real understanding, and hurtful, blaberós, harming the soul, a person’s relationships and their walk with God. Covetousness, dishonesty, pride, a readiness to bend the conscience for money and an endless craving for more all grow here.

These desires “drown men in destruction and perdition”. The verb bythízō means to sink or submerge, as a ship goes down at sea, and the picture is of a person overwhelmed and swallowed up. Proverbs warns that “he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent” (Proverbs 28:20). Jesus said, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15), and he set the choice plainly: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

What are “destruction and perdition”?

They are two strong words for ruin. Destruction, ólethros, means utter ruin, and it is often used of ruin that comes as judgment. Perdition, apṓleia, means loss and undoing, and Scripture also uses it of eternal loss. Here the pair describes the complete moral and spiritual wreck of a life given over to the desire for money, a wreck that can end in eternal separation from God. It is the reverse of the great gain of verse 6.

The love of money, the root of all evil

Verse 10 gives the reason behind the warning: “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” In Greek “the love of money” is one word, philargyría, made from philos, loving, and argyros, silver or money. It means avarice or greed, a devotion to money that rivals God and in the end takes his place. Jesus spoke of “the deceitfulness of riches” choking the word so that it becomes unfruitful (Mark 4:19).

Paul calls this love a root. As a root feeds a whole plant, the love of money feeds a great spread of sin, such as lying, theft, betrayal, violence and injustice, as people trade away their integrity to get it. “Evil” is kakós, what is bad or evil, including moral evil, and the word also covers what is harmful.

Then Paul speaks of people he has seen: “which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith.” “Coveted after” translates orégomai, to stretch out for, to reach and grasp. While they reached for money they “erred from the faith”, apoplanáō, which means to be led astray and to wander off course from the truth of the gospel and from a Christian life. Money became an idol that drew their hearts away from Christ, and the end of that road is falling away from the faith, or at the least a deep compromise of what they once held.

They also “pierced themselves through with many sorrows”. The verb peripeírō means to pierce right through, to transfix, as if impaled. Sorrows, odýnē, are grief and anguish: regret, anxiety, broken relationships and emptiness of spirit. “Themselves” is the point of the phrase, because these wounds are the bitter fruit of their own choices. Proverbs had already warned, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4–5).

These verses sit inside a larger warning. From the start of the letter Paul has told Timothy to stand against false teaching (1 Timothy 1:3–7), and in the rest of 1 Timothy 6 he tells him, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Timothy 6:11), and then gives a charge to those who are already rich (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

Is money itself evil?

The verse names “the love of money” as the root. Money is a tool, and its rightness or wrongness lies in the heart: in how it is gained, used or hoarded. The trouble comes when money becomes an idol, the thing we look to for security and identity in the place that belongs to God. The human heart was made to worship, and when God is pushed from the centre, something else fills the space, and very often it is money.

Does every sin come from the love of money?

The word for “all”, pâs, can mean all or every, and here “all evil” is best read as all kinds of evil, every sort of evil thing. The love of money is a deep and widespread root of sin because it corrupts the heart. Scripture names other roots as well, such as pride, for “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18), and the desire that conceives and brings forth sin (James 1:14–15).

Is it wrong to work hard or to be rich?

These verses warn against the love of money and the desire to be rich, and they leave honest work and wise planning in their proper place. Paul worked at his trade as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), and he told believers to work quietly and eat their own bread (2 Thessalonians 3:10–12). Proverbs says that “the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (Proverbs 10:4), and Paul teaches glad giving, “for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Abraham and Job were wealthy and godly. A believer can be rich and content when the heart is set on God, and Paul gives the rich their own instructions a few verses later. The question these verses put to every believer, rich or poor, is where the heart’s treasure lies.

Christ, the treasure who makes us rich

All that these verses teach is seen most clearly in Jesus. He lived a life of perfect godliness, obedient to the Father “unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5–8). He rested in the Father’s will and provision, answering hunger in the wilderness with “Man shall not live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4) and praying in Gethsemane, “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). The Son of man “hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

He came into the world in humble circumstances and left it as empty-handed as verse 7 says we all do, and yet he made us rich: “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Through his death and resurrection we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7–8), every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), and “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:3–4). God gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life (John 3:16), and that is God’s rescue from the perdition of verse 9.

So the faith from which some wandered in verse 10 is faith in Christ, and the great gain of verse 6 is in the end Christ himself. Our godliness and our contentment are the fruit of our union with him, for “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). Our life is hid with Christ in God, and so our affection is set on things above (Colossians 3:1–4). Because he has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”, we can be content with food and raiment and know that in him we are rich.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers 1 Timothy 6:6–12. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 7 verses
Passage under comment1 Timothy 6:6–12
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

From the mention of the abuse which some put upon religion, making it to serve their secular advantages, the apostle,

I.Takes occasion to show the excellency of contentment and the evil of covetousness.

1.The excellency of contentment, 1 Timothy 6:6-8. Some account Christianity an advantageous profession for this world. In the sense they mean this is false; yet it is undoubtedly true that, though Christianity is the worst trade, it is the best calling in the world. Those that make a trade of it, merely to serve their turn for this world, will be disappointed, and find it a sorry trade; but those that mind it as their calling, and make a business of it, will find it a gainful calling, for it has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.

(1.)The truth he lays down is that godliness with contentment is great gain. Some read it, godliness with a competency; that is, if a man have but a little in this world, yet, if he have but enough to carry him through it, he needs desire no more, his godliness with that will be his great gain. For a little which a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, Psalm 37:16. We read it, godliness with contentment; godliness is itself great gain, it is profitable to all things; and, wherever there is true godliness, there will be contentment; but those have arrived at the highest pitch of contentment with their godliness are certainly the easiest happiest people in this world. Godliness with contentment, that is, Christian contentment (content must come from principles of godliness) is great gain; it is all the wealth in the world. He that is godly is sure to be happy in another world; and if withal he do by contentment accommodate himself to his condition in this world he has enough. Here we have,

[1.]A Christian's gain; it is godliness with contentment, this is the true way to gain, yea, it is gain itself.

[2.]A Christian's gain is great: it is not like the little gain of worldlings, who are so fond of a little worldly advantage.

[3.]Godliness is ever accompanied with contentment in a great or less degree; all truly godly people have learned with Paul, in whatever state they are, to be therewith content, Philippians 4:11. They are content with what God allots for them, well knowing that this is best for them. Let us all then endeavour after godliness with contentment.

(2.)The reason he gives for it is, For we brought nothing with us into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, 1 Timothy 6:7. This is a reason why we should be content with a little.

[1.]Because we can challenge nothing as a debt that is due to us, for we came naked into the world. Whatever we have had since, we are obliged to the providence of God for it; but he that gave may take what and when he pleases. We had our beings, our bodies, our lives (which are more than meat, and which are more than raiment), when we came into the world, though we came naked, and brought nothing with us; may we not then be content while our beings and lives are continued to us, though we have not every thing we would have? We brought nothing with us into this world, and yet God provided for us, care was taken of us, we have been fed all our lives long unto this day; and therefore, when we are reduced to the greatest straits, we cannot be poorer than when we came into this world, and yet then we were provided for; therefore let us trust in God for the remaining part of our pilgrimage.

[2.]We shall carry nothing with us out of this world. A shroud, a coffin, and a grave, are all that the richest man in the world can have from his thousands. Therefore why should we covet much? Why should we not be content with a little, because, how much soever we have, we must leave it behind us? Ecclesiastes 5:15, Ecclesiastes 5:16.

(3.)Hence he infers, having food and raiment, let us be therewith content, 1 Timothy 6:8. Food and a covering, including habitation as well as raiment. Observe, If God give us the necessary supports of life, we ought to be content therewith, though we have not the ornaments and delights of it. If nature should be content with a little, grace should be content with less; though we have not dainty food, though we have not costly raiment, if we have but food and raiment convenient for us we ought to be content. This was Agur's prayer: Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, Proverbs 30:8. Here we see,

[1.]The folly of placing our happiness in these things, when we did not bring any thing into this world with us, and we can carry nothing out. What will worldlings do when death shall strip them of their happiness and portion, and they must take an everlasting farewell of all these things, on which they have so much doted? They may say with poor Micah, You have taken away my gods; and what have I more? Judges 18:24.

[2.]The necessaries of life are the hounds of a true Christian's desire, and with these he will endeavour to be content; his desires are not insatiable; no, a little, a few comforts of this life, will serve him, and these may hope to enjoy: Having food and raiment.

2.The evil of covetousness. Those that will be rich (that set their hearts upon the wealth of this world, and are resolved right or wrong, they will have it), fall into temptation and a snare, 1 Timothy 6:9. It is not said, those that are rich, but those that will be rich, that is, that place their happiness in worldly wealth, that covet it inordinately, and are eager and violent in the pursuit of it. Those that are such fall into temptation and a snare, unavoidably; for, when the devil sees which way their lusts carry them, he will soon bait his hook accordingly. He knew how fond Achan would be of a wedge of gold, and therefore laid that before him. They fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts. Observe,

(1.)The apostle supposes that,

[1.]Some will be rich; that is, they are resolved upon it, nothing short of a great abundance will satisfy.

[2.]Such will not be safe nor innocent, for they will be in danger of ruining themselves for ever; they fall into temptation, and a snare, etc.

[3.]Worldly lusts are foolish and hurtful, for they drown men in destruction and perdition.

[4.]It is good for us to consider the mischievousness of worldly fleshly lusts. They are foolish, and therefore we should be ashamed of them, hurtful, and therefore we should be afraid of them, especially considering to what degree they are hurtful, for they drown men in destruction and perdition.

(2.)The apostle affirms that the love of money is the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6:10. What sins will not men be drawn to by the love of money? Particularly this was at the bottom of the apostasy of many from the faith of Christ; while they coveted money, they erred from the faith, they quitted their Christianity, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Observe,

[1.]What is the root of all evil; the love of money: people may have money, and yet not love it; but, if they love it inordinately, it will push them on to all evil.

[2.]Covetous persons will quit the faith, if that be the way to get money: Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, 2 Timothy 4:10. For the world was dearer to him than Christianity. Observe, Those that err from the faith pierce themselves with many sorrows; those that depart from God do but treasure up sorrows for themselves.

II.Hence he takes occasion to caution Timothy, and to counsel him to keep in the way of God and his duty, and particularly to fulfil the trust reposed in him as a minister. He addresses himself to him as a man of God. Ministers are men of God, and ought to conduct themselves accordingly in every thing; they are men employed for God, devoted to his honour more immediately. The prophets under the Old Testament were called men of God.

1.He charges Timothy to take heed of the love of money, which had been so pernicious to many: Flee these things. It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of this world; men of God should be taken up with the things of God.

2.To arm him against the love of the world, he directs him to follow that which is good. Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness: righteousness in his conversation towards men, godliness towards God, faith and love as living principles, to support him and carry him on in the practice both of righteousness and godliness. Those that follow after righteousness and godliness, from a principle of faith and love, have need to put on patience and meekness - patience to bear both the rebukes of Providence and the reproaches of men, and meekness wherewith to instruct gainsayers and pass by the affronts and injuries that are done us. Observe, It is not enough that men of God flee these things, but they must follow after what is directly contrary thereto. Further, What excellent persons men of God are who follow after righteousness! They are the excellent of the earth, and, being acceptable to God, they should be approved of men.

3.He exhorts him to do the part of a soldier: Fight the good fight of faith. Note, Those who will get to heaven must fight their way thither. There must be a conflict with corruption and temptations, and the opposition of the powers of darkness. Observe, It is a good fight, it is a good cause, and it will have a good issue. It is the fight of faith; we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 2 Corinthians 10:3, 2 Corinthians 10:4. He exhorts him to lay hold on eternal life. Observe,

(1.)Eternal life is the crown proposed to us, for our encouragement to war, and to fight the good fight of faith, the good warfare.

(2.)This we must lay hold on, as those that are afraid of coming short of it and losing it. Lay hold, and take heed of losing your hold. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown, Revelation 3:11.

(3.)We are called to the fight, and to lay hold on eternal life.

(4.)The profession Timothy and all faithful ministers make before many witnesses is a good profession; for they profess and engage to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life; their calling and their own profession oblige them to this.

Historical interpretation

Seven Centuries of Reception

8 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

8 quotes · AD 258–990
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
3004005006007008009001000

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 258CyprianAnte-NiceneSourceTreatise VIII. On Works and Alms 10
You are afraid that your wealth may fail. You may have begun to do some good generously from it, yet you do not know, in your wretchedness, that your life itself may fail, and your salvation as well. While you are anxious lest any of your possessions be diminished, you do not take notice that you yourself, a lover of mammon rather than of your soul, are being diminished. While you are afraid lest for your own sake you lose your estate, you yourself are perishing for the sake of your estate.
d. AD 258CyprianAnte-NiceneSourceTreatise III. On the Lapsed.
But how can they follow Christ, who are held back by the chain of their wealth? Or how can they seek heaven, and climb to sublime and lofty heights, who are weighed down by earthly desires? They think that they possess, when they are rather possessed; as slaves of their profit, and not lords with respect to their own money, but rather the bond-slaves of their money. These times and these men are indicated by the apostle, when he says, "But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and in perdition. For the root of all evil is the love of money, which, while some have coveted, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." But with what rewards does the Lord invite us to contempt of worldly wealth? With what compensations does He atone for the small and trifling losses of this present time? "There is no man," saith He, "that leaves house, or land, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, but he shall receive seven fold even in this time, but in the world to come life everlasting." If we know these things, and have found them out from the truth of the Lord who promises, not only is not loss of this kind to be feared, but even to be desired; as the Lord Himself again announces and warns us, "Blessed are ye when men shall persecute you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall cast you out, and shall speak of your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake! Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven."
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on 1 Timothy 17
"But they that will be rich"; not those that are rich, but those who wish to be. For a man may have money and make a good use of it, not overvaluing it, but bestowing it upon the poor. Such therefore he does not blame, but the covetous.

"They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."

He has justly said, "they drown men," since they cannot be raised from that depth. "In destruction and perdition."

But what is the "temptation and snare," which he says, those that would be rich fall into? It causes them to err from the faith, it involves them in dangers, it renders them less intrepid. "Foolish desires," he says. And is it not a foolish desire, when men like to keep idiots and dwarfs, not from benevolent motives, but for their pleasure, when they have receptacles for fishes in their halls, when they bring up wild beasts, when they give their time to dogs, and dress up horses, and are as fond of them as of their children? All these things are foolish and superfluous, nowise necessary, nowise useful.

"Foolish and hurtful lusts!" What are hurtful lusts? When men live unlawfully, when they desire what is their neighbor's, when they do their utmost in luxury, when they long for drunkenness, when they desire the murder and destruction of others. From these desires many have aimed at tyranny, and perished. Surely to labor with such views is both foolish and hurtful.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHOMILIES ON MATTHEW 74.4
Do you see the skill of physicians, who besides health are supplying you also with the riches of wisdom? Sit down therefore with them, and learn from them the nature of your disease. For instance, do you love wealth and greedy gain, like the fevered love water? Listen to their admonitions. For it is just as the physician says to you, If you wish only to gratify your desire, you will perish and undergo this or that consequence. In the same way Paul wrote, “They that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare of the devil, and into foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-NiceneSourceSERMONS 11.3
He did not say: Those who are rich. He said: Those who seek to become rich.… The name of riches is, as it were, sweet-sounding to the ear. But, “many vain and harmful desires”—does that sound sweet? To be “involved in many troubles”—does that sound sweet? Do not be so misled by one false good that you will thereby cling to many real evils.
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-NiceneSourceAGAINST JULIAN 2.9.32
See what a fight we have with our dead sins, as that active soldier of Christ and faithful teacher of the church shows. For how is sin dead when it works many things in us while we struggle against it? What are these many things except foolish and harmful desires which plunge into death and destruction those who consent to them? And to bear them patiently and not to consent to them is a struggle, a conflict, a battle.
d. AD 460Valerian of CimiezPost-NiceneSourceHOMILIES 7.3
Therefore, dearly beloved, the rust is that worm which alone possesses the recesses of the human heart: the worm of envy and of avarice. But the thief is the devil. Believe this. To lay his plots against good deeds, he flatters us with the pomp of the world. To keep a man from sharing in the heavenly kingdom, he puts gold in his hands, silver before his eyes, gems about his neck. In this way he nourishes pride and by the goad of covetousness enkindles the desires of the flesh.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceCOMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, some of which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Paul does not speak of those who use wealth well, but of those who desire it. And the desirer would not share it with another, so that the things of desire would not be diminished for him.

who desire to be rich. For wealth flows abundantly, and having power, it leads to unreasonable desires.

some of which plunge people. To the point of no recovery anymore.

some have wandered away. For desire darkens the eye of the soul and does not allow it to walk straight.

and pierced themselves. For greed, like a thorn, causes the hands of the one who touches to bleed.

with many pains. Not only, Paul says, does the desire to be rich obstruct matters concerning God, but it also physically weakens the lovers, surrounding them with cares, sleeplessness, and fears.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

Continue studying 1 Timothy 6:9 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.

Read & Compare

Commentaries

Original Language & Research

Sermons, Hymns & Audio

TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.

Related study articles8