Bible Strands
1 Timothy 4:3
They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy, warning him about future false teachers who will enforce strict ascetic rules.
The words — The text highlights κωλυόντων (kōluontōn), meaning forbidding, and ἔκτισεν (ektisen), meaning created. These terms frame the conflict between human prohibition and divine origin.
The thread — This theme of rejecting God’s good creation appears in 1 Timothy 4:4, which affirms that nothing received with thanksgiving should be rejected. The defense of marriage and dietary freedom also echoes Hebrews 13:4 and Romans 14:6.
Why it lands — The verse demands that readers accept God’s created order without imposing unbiblical restrictions. It requires gratitude over asceticism when receiving what God has made.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 4:4 For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Romans 14:6 He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
- Genesis 9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
- 1 Corinthians 8:8 But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
- 1 Corinthians 10:30 If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
- Colossians 2:16 Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
- Romans 14:3 The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- 1 Corinthians 7:28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
- Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.