What Does 2 Timothy 2:23 Mean in the King James?
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Some questions do not open a path to understanding; they give birth to fights.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to the moment when discussion multiplies heat instead of understanding. It names some inquiries as foolish and unformed, and says they beget fights. Their fruit reveals what they are producing now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that every question automatically serves the truth, or that conflict proves a subject deserves more debate. Some inquiries are recognized by the contention they produce.
THE ROOT
γεννῶσιν
gennōsin
GROWS FROM
γεννάω (gennaō), γεν-
Beget, generate, bring forth.
“gender” in this verse is gennōsin. The Greek pictures these questionings as parents and strife as their offspring. Conflict is not incidental noise here; it is what these inquiries bring forth.
ALSO GROWS
gennēma: Offspring; what has been produced.
γέννημα
It makes the parent-and-offspring image explicit: strife is the product of the questionings.
genea: Generation; lineage.
γενεά
This branch also carries the sense of what proceeds from a source, echoing the verse’s picture of conflict arising from inquiry.
ἀπαιδεύτους
apaideutous
GROWS FROM
παιδεύω (paideuō), παιδευ-
Train, educate, discipline.
“unlearned” in this verse is apaideutous. The Greek word describes what lacks training or instruction. The warning concerns inquiries without formation, not questioning as such.
ALSO GROWS
paideia: Training; instruction.
παιδεία
The word names the formation missing from these inquiries.
paideutēs: Instructor; trainer.
παιδευτής
Its connection to a trainer recalls the possibility of inquiry being shaped by instruction.
ζητήσεις
zētēseis
GROWS FROM
ζητέω (zēteō), ζητ-
Seek; inquire after.
The Greek carries the sense of seeking or sustained inquiry, while the plural can refer to debates or disputed questions. The verse distinguishes inquiry by its fruit: these pursuits generate strife.
ALSO GROWS
zētēma: A question; a matter under inquiry.
ζήτημα
It shows the same seeking-root at work in a particular issue being investigated.
zētētēs: Seeker; inquirer.
ζητητής
This branch names the one who seeks, while the verse focuses on what certain forms of seeking produce.
THE PATTERN
Contention can begin with a small opening, spread into disorder, and be interrupted before it grows.
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.THE THREAD
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.The same Greek word, ζητήσεις (zētēseis), appears as “questions” in both verses. Here it is set against what builds up in trust, showing that the hinge is not whether a question is asked, but what it produces.
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