What Does 2 Timothy 4:4 Mean in the King James?
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
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
The ear does not become empty when it rejects truth; it turns toward another story.
THE MEANING
When your hearing turns from what is true, another account receives its attention. The verse names this movement plainly: away from truth and toward fables.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief that rejecting truth leaves the ear neutral; this verse shows that the rejection is already a turn toward something else.
THE ROOT
ἀποστρέψουσιν
apostrepsousin
GROWS FROM
στρέφω
strephō
To turn or turn around.
The verse pairs ἀποστρέφω (apostrephō, “turn away”) with ἐκτρέπω (ektrepō, “turn aside”), a different Greek verb with the same image of turning. English smooths the pair into “turn away” and “turned unto,” while the Greek makes the passage’s central movement unmistakable: hearing is redirected from truth toward fables.
ALSO GROWS
epistrephō: To turn back or return.
ἐπιστρέφω
This related turning verb shows that the same image can describe a change of direction back toward something.
apostrophē: A turning away or departure.
ἀποστροφή
This related noun makes the direction of the first verb vivid: turning one’s ears away is a departure from what they were hearing.
ἀκοήν
akoēn
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
akouō
To hear or listen; ἀκοή can mean hearing or a report.
The Greek noun ἀκοή (akoē, “hearing” or “report”) can name both the act of hearing and what is heard. The English “ears” can sound like a passive organ, but the word’s range points to hearing as a channel for a message, one the verse says can be turned away from truth.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing, report, or message.
ἀκοή
The same noun appears in Romans 10:17 as “hearing,” linking this passage’s ears to the message a person receives.
hypakouō: To listen, heed, or obey.
ὑπακούω
This related verb connects hearing with heeding: in Greek, listening can describe a response, not merely sound entering the ear.
THE PATTERN
What a person chooses to hear can steer attention away from truth and toward a preferred account.
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;THE THREAD
From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;This verse uses the same Greek verb, ἐκτρέπω (ektrepō, “turn aside”), as “shall be turned unto” in 2 Timothy 4:4. Here the turn leads to vain jangling; there it leads to fables, tracing the same movement by where the hearing goes.
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