Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
them—those over whom thou dost preside (Titus 3:1).
charging—Greek, "testifying continually": "adjuring them."
before the Lord— (I Timothy 5:21).
that they strive not about words—rather, "strive with words": "not to have a (mere) war of words" (II Timothy 2:23-24; I Timothy 6:4) where the most vital matters are at stake (II Timothy 2:17-18; Acts 18:15). The oldest manuscripts put a stop at "charging them before the Lord" (which clause is thus connected with "put them in remembrance") and read the imperative, "Strive not thou in words," etc.
to no profit—not qualifying "words"; but Greek neuter, in apposition with "strive in words," "(a thing tending) to no profit," literally, "profitable for nothing"; the opposite of "meet for the master's use" (II Timothy 2:21).
to the subverting—sure to subvert (overturn) the hearers: the opposite of "edifying" (building up) (II Corinthians 13:10).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 2 Timothy 2:14:
1 Thessalonians 5:12
1 Timothy 1:4
1 Timothy 6:4
2 Timothy 2:15
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