1 Timothy 6:8
What does 1 Timothy 6:8 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Timothy 6:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Timothy 6:8 means
Paul sets a simple baseline: with “food and covering” we can be content. He neither glorifies poverty nor baptizes luxury; he calls for a settled heart when God supplies necessities. “Covering” likely includes clothing and shelter—what sustains life and dignity. Contentment here is not complacency but gratitude and freedom from anxious craving. It blesses God’s good gifts without demanding more to be at peace. This posture liberates believers to live generously and focus on eternal priorities. By lowering the bar of what we deem necessary, Paul raises the quality of our joy and keeps us from the restless comparisons that fuel discontent and strife.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000but having food and covering we shall be therewith content.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901but having food and covering we shall be therewith content.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But if we have food and a roof over us, let that be enough.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862but having food and raiment--with these we shall suffice ourselves;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752But having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But having sustenance and covering, we will be content with these.
Context
Verse 8 concludes the short argument for contentment that began in verse 6. After reminding us that nothing can be carried out of the world (verse 7), Paul affirms that basic provision is enough for a contented life. With that foundation laid, verses 9–10 issue a sober caution: the deliberate pursuit of wealth becomes a snare and a source of many evils. Then the letter turns sharply in verses 11–12 to exhort Timothy personally to flee greed and to chase the virtues fitting for a “man of God,” signaling the practical response to the danger just described.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.
- Genesis 48:15
And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long unto this day,
- Deuteronomy 2:7
For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:24
There is nothing better for a manthanthat he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
- Matthew 6:25
Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?
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