2 Timothy 2:15

[ttreg]

2 Timothy 2:15Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

ok my freind (whose a member here) beleives at the end of the verse where it saids "rightly dividing the word of truth" means that we should only listen to Romans-Phil. i think that is wrong. this is what i think the verse means: "Study (Gr spudazo) is not the normal word you think of as a student but a word used of a workman meaning 'give diligence,' endeavor,' or 'exert oneself.' A workman is to give diligence or endeavor to show himself approved unto God. Approval means one has been put to the test and measures up, thus winning the approval of the person testing him The workman here is one who handling the Word of God and thus the conclusion of studying. It certainly takes diligent study of the Word to rightly divide it (Gr orthotomeo) meaning 'tocut a straight course,' or 'lay out a road,' or 'correctly interpret.' All of the Word of God is true. There are no contradictions when rightly laid out. You cannot add to nor take away any of it. (Rev. 22:19)." (i got that from a Bible concordance thats why its in qoutes)

what do yall think?

 

[mark kennedy]

I have no idea who or what Romans-Phil is. I do have a Bible Dictionary handy if you are interested in a good NT expostion of the word 'to divide' (orthotomeo) in 2Tim 2:15. Submitted for your general edification in the case that you should find it useful.

"Orthotomeo (lit. "to cut, straight" )- From orthos, 'straight', and temno, 'to cut'. is found in 2Tim 2:15, KJV, 'rightly dividing', RV, 'handling aright' (the word of truth). The meaning passed from the idea of cutting or 'dividing' to the more general sense of 'rightly dealing with a thing'. What is intended here is not 'dividing' Scripture from Scripture, but teaching Scripture accurately. In the Sept., of directing one's pathers, Prov. 3:6 and 11:5 ('righteousness traces out blameless paths').

(Vine's Exository Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers 1985)

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[OPAL]

Rightly dividing the word of truth is to divide between the carnal and the spiritual, the state of man before the resurrection and how one stand after the resurrection.

 

[mythbuster]

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth.

II Tim 2:15 Recovery Version

 

[FreezBee]

I have no idea who or what Romans-Phil is.

Possibly the Pauline epistles from Romans to Philippians - the idea being that there is a dividing line between those and the following. This depends on the sequence of the Pauline epistles in the Bible, and since no Bibles existed at the time of Paul, the idea is a bit anachronistic, I would say

- FreezBee

 

[Lilly of the Valley]

Rightly dividing
N.T.o. oClass. In lxx, Pro_3:6; Pro_11:5; both times in the sense of directing the way. From ὀρθός straight and τέμνειν to cut. Hence, to cut straight, as paths; to hold a straight course; generally, to make straight; to handle rightly. Vulg. recte tractare. The thought is that the minister of the gospel is to present the truth rightly, not abridging it, not handling it as a charlatan (see on 2Co_2:17), not making it a matter of wordy strife (2Ti_2:14), but treating it honestly and fully, in a straightforward manner. Various homiletic fancies have been founded on the word, as, to divide the word of truth, giving to each hearer what he needs: or, to separate it into its proper parts: or, to separate it from error: or, to cut straight through it, so that its inmost contents may be laid bare. Others, again, have found in it the figure of dividing the bread, which is the office of the household steward; or of dividing the sacrificial victims; or of cutting a straight furrow with the plough.
~commentary


Rightly dividing the word of truth - It is generally supposed that the apostle alludes here to the care taken to divide the sacrifices under the law; the priests studied, in dividing the victim down the spine, to do it so scrupulously that one half of the spinal marrow should be found on each side the backbone. Probably nothing was much farther from the apostle’s thoughts than this view, which is now commonly taken of the subject. Indeed this scrupulously dividing does not appear to have been any original ordinance among the Jews; much stress was laid upon it in later times, but from the beginning it was not so. The word ορθοτομειν signifies,
1. Simply to cut straight, or to rectify.
2. To walk in the right way; it is thus used by Gregory Nazianzen, who, in Orat. Apol. fugae, opposes ορθοτομειν to κακως ὁδευειν, walking in a right way to walking in a bad way. Thus, καινοτομειν signifies to walk in a new way, and κατευθυνειν to walk in a straight way. See Kypke.

Therefore, by rightly dividing the word of truth, we are to understand his continuing in the true doctrine, and teaching that to every person; and, according to our Lord’s simile, giving each his portion of meat in due season - milk to babes, strong meat to the full grown, comfort to the disconsolate, reproof to the irregular and careless; in a word, finding out the necessities of his hearers, and preaching so as to meet those necessities.
~commentary