complete verse (2 Timothy 3:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 3:9:

  • Uma: “Yanes and Yambres, they were Firaun’s workers who opposed the prophet Musa with their magic. But they were not able/enough to oppose the power of the Lord God that was with the prophet Musa. Thus also is what will happen to the lying teachers at this time. They will not be able/enough to oppose the true teaching, for their stupidity will become known/obvious to all people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there will be no future-in/outcome-of the teaching of those people. Not long and their foolishness will be known by all people as happened to/experienced by Jannes and Jambes of old.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The activities of people like this will not prosper, for all will see that they are stupid just like Jannes and Jambres.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But their convincing of people will not last-long, because the people will come-to-know that they are foolish just like what happened to Jannais and Jambres.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But those two didn’t accomplish-their-goals. Well these people also, what they’re doing really won’t succeed, but rather their error will become evident to everyone.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But they will not be able to deceive many people. Because their senseless hearts will soon be known by all the people. It will happen to them as it happened to the two men who opposed the word spoken by Moses.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Timothy 3:9

Paul predicts that these people will not triumph, because their folly will be exposed, and the members of the Christian community will see them for what they really are.

They will not get very far is literally “they will not advance much,” with “advance” being used in a figurative sense to mean “to make progress” (compare New Revised Standard Version “they will not make much progress,” Revised English Bible “their successes will be short-lived”). For further comments on this kind of “progress,” see discussion about “more and more ungodliness” in 2 Tim 2.16. Other ways of expressing this are “Their success will only last for a short time,” or even “Their foolishness (or, stupidity) will only help them for a short time.” The reason for their short-lived success is because, like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to all. Folly denotes lack of understanding; hence “senselessness,” “stupidity” (compare Good News Translation “every one will see how stupid they are”). Plain translates a word that means “easily known,” “clearly evident,” “quite obvious.” This word occurs only here in the whole New Testament.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Timothy 3:9

3:9a

But they will not advance much further: The Berean Standard Bible phrase not advance much further is a figure of speech in English. Other versions have translated this as:

they will not make much progress (New Revised Standard Version)

Their successes will be short-lived (Revised English Bible)

they will not be successful (New Century Version)

Here, Paul meant that the false teachers would not be able to deceive people indefinitely. Although they might deceive them for a short period of time, eventually people would realize that the “religion” they taught and practiced did not come from God. After a while, many people would stop following them.

3:9b

For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone: This part of the verse gives a reason why the false teachers “will not advance much further.” The Berean Standard Bible reordered the phrases in this verse. In Greek, the phrase just like Jannes and Jambres is at the end of the sentence. In some languages it may be helpful to follow the word order of the Greek, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. See also the second Meaning Line of 3:9b in the Display.

folly: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as folly means “stupidity.”

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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.

Commentaire sur la traduction de 2 Timothée 3.9

Paul continue de condamner ces gens qui s’opposent à lui et aux vérités chrétiennes. La conjonction ἀλλά alla, Mais, introduit un fait inattendu. Ces gens semblent prospérer, mais Paul dit qu’ils n’iront pas plus avant. Les traducteurs devraient exprimer ce contraste. Voir aussi 1 Tim 1.14.

ils n’iront pas plus avant est proche du texte grec, comme la Bible de Jérusalem, « ils n’iront pas plus loin ». Le verbe est le même que celui en 2 Tim 2.16 qui décrit une « progression » dans l’impiété. La La Bible du Semeur offre une traduction très dynamique : « …leur succès sera de courte durée ». On pourrait aussi dire « ils n’iront pas très loin » (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie) ou utiliser une autre expression idiomatique dans la langue cible.

car leur folie deviendra manifeste pour tous : Paul donne la raison pour laquelle ces gens ne vont pas progresser dans la foi. Cette proposition commence par la conjonction γάρ gar, qui pourra être rendue soit par une conjonction introduisant une raison, soit par un mot d’affirmation, par exemple, « en effet ». La Traduction œcuménique de la Bible suit le texte grec d’assez près, mais on pourrait inverser la phrase pour dire « tout le monde verra leur folie ».

folie rend un nom grec à préfixe négatif qui indique un manque de sagesse. Mais les versions expriment ceci de plusieurs manières : folie, « stupidité », ou « erreurs ».

manifeste veut dire « évident ». Voir aussi Gal 3.11. On pourrait dire « tout le monde verra combien ils sont stupides ».

comme le devint celle de ces deux-là : il s’agit de la stupidité ou la folie des deux hommes mentionnés, Jannès et Jambrès.

Source: Zogbo, Lynell & Ellingworth, Paul La deuxième lettre à Timothée – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.