Bible Strands
2 Timothy 1:13
Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy, his young protégé, in what appears to be a farewell letter from prison. The instruction sits between his own confidence in God's faithfulness (v.12) and the charge to guard the deposit (v.14).
The words — Hupotupōsin (ὑποτύπωσιν) is a rare word meaning a pattern or model, like a stamped design to be copied exactly; it appears only here and in 1 Timothy 1:16. The imperative eche (ἔχε) is a present command, demanding continuous holding rather than a one-time act.
The thread — The same transmission pattern runs through Titus 1:9 (hold to the faithful word as taught), 2 Timothy 3:14 (continue in what you learned from whom you learned), and Philippians 4:9 (whatever you learned or received from me). In each case the emphasis is on a fixed source and faithful reproduction.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to treat received teaching as a fixed pattern to be preserved, not a flexible idea to be adapted to taste. The standard is not personal conviction but fidelity to what was heard from a specific person.
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
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
Cross-references
- Titus 1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.
- 2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them.
- Philippians 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
- Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
- 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard me say among many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be qualified to teach others as well.
- Revelation 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
- Revelation 3:3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
- 1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 2:20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
- 1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching,