1 Timothy 4:5
What does 1 Timothy 4:5 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Timothy 4:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Timothy 4:5 means
Created gifts are made holy in their use when they are embraced under the authority of God’s word and with prayer. Scripture declares what is clean and good, guiding conscience and practice. Prayer acknowledges dependence on God, dedicating the gift to his purposes and seeking his blessing in its enjoyment. This is not superstition, as if words transform objects, but consecration: everyday acts are set apart for God when governed by his revelation and offered with gratitude. Thus, meals and marriage, once slandered by false teachers, become arenas of worship. The believer’s safeguard is not extra rules but Scripture-shaped faith and thankful prayer that keep God central in all of life.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
KJV
King James Version · 1611For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949For it is made holy by the word of God and by prayer.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862for it is sanctified through the word of God and intercession.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890for it is sanctified byGod's word and freely addressing [him].
Context
Paul closes his correction of ascetic forbiddings by showing the positive alternative: word and prayer sanctify the believer’s use of creation. Coming after the affirmation of goodness (verse 4), this explains the practical outworking of thanksgiving. With the immediate polemic complete, Paul now turns to Timothy’s pastoral duty: to remind the church of these truths, to refuse ungodly myths, and to pursue training in godliness that yields benefits now and in the age to come.
v.4For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving:
v.5This passage
v.6If thou put the brethren in mind of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which thou hast followed until now:
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.
- 1 Timothy 4:3
forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.
- Genesis 1:25
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
- 1 Corinthians 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
- Titus 1:15
To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
- Luke 11:41
But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, all things are clean unto you.
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