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What Does “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth” Mean? (2 Timothy 2:15)
Second Timothy 2:15 tells a workman to rightly divide the word of truth. The Greek verb means to cut straight or handle correctly. Dallas Theological Seminary reads the dispensations of law, grace, and kingdom as distinct.
On This Page
2 Timothy 2:152 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionStudy to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source (1) says a workman approved unto God rightly divides the word of truth. The Greek verb is orthotomeō, which the Dodson lexicon glosses “I cut straight” and, as a figure, “I handle correctly, teach rightly.” Dallas Theological Seminary says the dispensations of the Mosaic Law, of grace, and of the millennial kingdom “are distinct and are not to be intermingled or confused.” The verse does not use the word dispensation. This page quotes both. It does not decide.
Key Points
- The King James sentence is about study, a workman who need not be ashamed, and rightly dividing the word of truth.
- The Greek word ὀρθοτομέω is Strong’s G3718. Dodson’s longer gloss is “I cut straight; met: I handle correctly, teach rightly.”
- The paragraph around the verse says not to strive about words, to shun profane and vain babblings, and it names Hymenaeus and Philetus, who said the resurrection was past.
- Dallas Theological Seminary, Article V (7) names three dispensations of extended revelation and says they are chronologically successive.
- The same seminary’s Article I says no portion of Scripture, “even of the Old Testament, is properly read or understood until it leads to” Christ.
- Ephesians 4:15Ephesians 4:15 · King James Version
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Ephesians 4:15 · King James VersionOpen source is a different sentence, about speaking the truth in love. 1 Timothy 2:151 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionNotwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source is a different verse in a different letter.
What 2 Timothy 2:15 Says
2 Timothy 2:152 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionStudy to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source (1): “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The sentence is addressed to Timothy. It names a workman, approval before God, and the word of truth. What Is Strong’s Concordance? is the index behind the G-number on the Greek word. Which Bible Translation Is Most Accurate? is a different question, about English and the Hebrew and Greek.
What the Greek Word Means
The verb in the verse is ὀρθοτομέω. On orthotomeo the Dodson lexicon says “I cut straight; met: I handle correctly, teach rightly.” The short gloss on that page is “I cut straight, handle correctly.” The figure is a straight cut. The lexicon does not define the verb as a chart of ages.
The Paragraph Around the Verse
2 Timothy 2:142 Timothy 2:14 · King James VersionOf these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
2 Timothy 2:14 · King James VersionOpen source (2): “Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.” 2 Timothy 2:162 Timothy 2:16 · King James VersionBut shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2 Timothy 2:16 · King James VersionOpen source (3): “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” 2 Timothy 2:17–182 Timothy 2:17–18 · King James Version2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2 Timothy 2:17–18 · King James VersionOpen source (4) names Hymenaeus and Philetus, “who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.”
The workman in verse 15 stands in that paragraph: words that subvert hearers on one side, and a claim that the resurrection is already past on the other. The Resurrection of Jesus is the claim those two men were moving.
A Dispensational Reading
Dallas Theological Seminary, Article V (7): “We believe that the dispensations are stewardships by which God administers His purpose on the earth through human beings under varying responsibilities.” The article says “three of these dispensations or rules of life are the subject of extended revelation in the Scriptures—namely, the dispensation of the Mosaic Law, the present dispensation of grace, and the future dispensation of the millennial kingdom. We believe that these are distinct and are not to be intermingled or confused, as they are chronologically successive.”
The same article says the dispensations “are not ways of salvation nor different methods of administering the ‘Covenant of Grace.’” It says salvation “is always by grace through faith and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ.”
Article I, on the same page: “We believe that all the Scriptures center about the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and hence that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read or understood until it leads to Him.”
The statement does not quote 2 Timothy 2:15. Readers of that verse have used “rightly dividing” for the claim that law, grace, and kingdom stay distinct. The verse’s own paragraph is the workman, the babblings, and the resurrection. The seminary text is not a church synod. Is the Rapture Biblical? quotes the same statement on the blessed hope and does not decide the sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does 2 Timothy 2:15 Mean?
It tells Timothy to show himself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The Greek verb’s lexicon gloss is to cut straight, and figuratively to handle and teach rightly. The next verses name empty talk and two men who said the resurrection was already past.
What Is Ephesians 4:15?
Ephesians 4:15Ephesians 4:15 · King James VersionBut speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Ephesians 4:15 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says “speaking the truth in love,” so that the readers may grow up into Christ. It is not 2 Timothy 2:15. The two sentences do not share the verb ὀρθοτομέω.
What Is 1 Timothy 2:15?
1 Timothy 2:151 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionNotwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source (6) says “she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” It is the previous letter, verse 15 of chapter 2. It is not the workman sentence in 2 Timothy 2:15.
Keep Reading
References
- Second Letter to Timothy, 2:152 Timothy 2:15 · King James Version
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Second Letter to Timothy, 2:142 Timothy 2:14 · King James Version
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
2 Timothy 2:14 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Second Letter to Timothy, 2:162 Timothy 2:16 · King James Version
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2 Timothy 2:16 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Second Letter to Timothy, 2:172 Timothy 2:17 · King James Version
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2 Timothy 2:17 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Letter to the Ephesians, 4:15Ephesians 4:15 · King James Version
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Ephesians 4:15 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - First Letter to Timothy, 2:151 Timothy 2:15 · King James Version
Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:15 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Doctrinal Statement, Article V (Dallas Theological Seminary, Articles I and V. A seminary statement, not a church synod. It does not quote 2 Timothy 2:15.)
See Also
- Does Archaeology Confirm the Bible? — The Pilate stone, the Tel Dan stele, Hezekiah’s tribute on the Taylor Prism, the Siloam tunnel inscription, and the Cyrus Cylinder name people and events the Bible also names. Each find has a limit.
- Does the Bible Contradict Itself? — Some Bible passages look as if they cannot both be true. Judas, the census numbers, and Matthew’s naming of Jeremy are real differences in the text. A contradiction is two claims that cannot both be true in the same way.
- How Many New Testament Manuscripts Are There? — On 29 September 2023 the Münster Liste had 5,700 Greek New Testament entries, and the editors called that number a snapshot. Codex Sinaiticus is a fourth-century copy of the whole New Testament.
- How Many Times Does the New Testament Quote the Old Testament? — Published counts run from Easton’s 283 to the UBS figure of 343 quotations, with thousands of allusions. This site’s own list is a smaller, sourced set.
- How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha? — Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition.