Bible Strands
2 Timothy 3:8
Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy during his final imprisonment, addressing a pastoral leader who must identify and guard against individuals infiltrating the church with corrupt teaching.
The words — The text employs ἀντὲστησαν (antestēsan), meaning "opposed," to describe how Jannes and Jambres stood against Moses, directly paralleling how these men stand against the truth. It further states they are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
The thread — This pattern of resistance echoes Exodus 7:11, where Pharaoh's magicians oppose Moses, and appears in Acts 13:8, where Elymas opposes the gospel, while Revelation 2:20 warns against tolerating those who mislead believers.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to identify spiritual opposition by its consistent resistance to truth and its resulting moral and doctrinal disqualification, demanding immediate discernment rather than accommodation.
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
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
Cross-references
- Exodus 7:11 But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
- Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
- Revelation 2:20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
- 1 Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- Galatians 2:4 This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
- Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- 2 Timothy 4:15 You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.
- Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- 2 Peter 2:14 Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
- 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.