4:7a

But reject: The phrase But reject: means to ignore or choose not to pay attention to something. Paul told Timothy that he should study and obey the truths of the faith. He should reject: false teachings.

irreverent, silly myths: Paul said that the false teachings were really only myths. A myth is a story that has been made up and passed down from one generation to another and taught to the people. It may be based on something that happened in the past or it may be something made up to explain why people follow certain customs. But it is not true like history. See the note on 1:4a.

irreverent: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as irreverent means that these myths did not help people to respect God.

silly myths: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as silly myths is literally “old wives’ tales.” That is a common idiom in English as well as Greek. It refer to foolish stories, or to stories that are not worth telling. However, the term did not imply that women or old people were foolish. Paul was simply using a common term for a story that was not worth believing or even telling. If you have an idiom that is used for similar stories, you may be able to use it here. Otherwise it is recommended that you use a general expression like “silly” as the Berean Standard Bible has done.

4:7b

Instead: This is the way that the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek word de that connects 4:7a with 4:7b. Many English versions leave the connection implicit. The connection between 4:7a and 4:7b is that instead of paying attention to worthless teachings (4:7a), Timothy should train himself to be godly (4:7b).

train yourself: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as train refers to doing regular and intense physical exercise to prepare for a sport or athletic contest. Paul used this figure of speech to describe the continual effort and discipline that is needed to behave in a way that pleases God.

In some languages, it may not be possible to use a word that relates to sports in order to talk about a person’s spiritual life. Other languages may not even have the concept of training for a sport. If this figure of speech will not work in your language, you could say something like:

Instead, constantly be forming good habits in order to behave like God wants you to.

godliness: Paul had already used the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as godliness in 2:2c A person who practices godliness expresses his faith by what he does; he behaves in a way that shows that he respects God.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.