2 Timothy 3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

◄ 2 Timothy 3:6 ►

New International Version
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,

New Living Translation
They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.

English Standard Version
For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,

Berean Standard Bible
They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

Berean Literal Bible
For out of this sort are those entering into households and taking captive weak women, burdened with sins, being led away by various passions,

King James Bible
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

New King James Version
For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

New American Standard Bible
For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

NASB 1995
For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

NASB 1977
For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

Legacy Standard Bible
For among them are those who enter into households and take captive weak women weighed down with sins, being led on by various desires,

Amplified Bible
For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women weighed down by [the burden of their] sins, easily swayed by various impulses,

Christian Standard Bible
For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions,

American Standard Version
For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts,

Contemporary English Version
Some men fool whole families, just to get power over those women who are slaves of sin and are controlled by all sorts of desires.

English Revised Version
For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Some of these men go into homes and mislead weak-minded women who are burdened with sins and led by all kinds of desires.

Good News Translation
Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires,

International Standard Version
For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires.

Majority Standard Bible
They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

NET Bible
For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions.

New Heart English Bible
For among them are those who crawl into households and take captive weak-willed women weighed down with sins, led away by various passions and pleasures,

Webster's Bible Translation
For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts;

Weymouth New Testament
Among them are included the men who make their way into private houses and carry off weak women as their prisoners--women who, weighed down by the burden of their sins, are led by ever-changing caprice,

World English Bible
For some of these are people who creep into houses and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
for of these there are those coming into the houses and leading captive the weak women, loaded with sins, led away with manifold desires,

Berean Literal Bible
For out of this sort are those entering into households and taking captive weak women, burdened with sins, being led away by various passions,

Young's Literal Translation
for of these there are those coming into the houses and leading captive the silly women, laden with sins, led away with desires manifold,

Smith's Literal Translation
For of these are they going into houses, and taking captive little women heaped up with sins, led away with various eager desires,

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
For of these sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, who are led away with divers desires:

Catholic Public Domain Version
For among these are ones who penetrate houses and lead away, like captives, foolish women burdened with sins, who are led away by means of various desires,

New American Bible
For some of these slip into homes and make captives of women weighed down by sins, led by various desires,

New Revised Standard Version
For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires,

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
For of this sort are those who creep into houses and captivate women sunken in sin, led away with divers lusts,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For some of them are these who crawl house to house and capture women buried in sins and are led to various lusts,

NT Translations

Anderson New Testament
For of this sort are those who worm themselves into houses, and lead captive silly women that are laden with sins, and influenced by various desires,

Godbey New Testament
For of these are those creeping into houses, and leading captive little, silly women laden with sins, being led by divers lusts,

Haweis New Testament
For such are they who insinuate themselves into houses, and captivate weak women laden with accumulated sins, and actuated by a variety of passions,

Mace New Testament
Of this number are they, who insinuate themselves into families, to make a prey of the weaker sex, who are inveigled by their vitious suggestions, abetted by their own subtle passions,

Weymouth New Testament
Among them are included the men who make their way into private houses and carry off weak women as their prisoners--women who, weighed down by the burden of their sins, are led by ever-changing caprice,

Worrell New Testament
For of these are those who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, and led on by manifold desires,

Worsley New Testament
For of these are they who insinuate themselves into families, and captivate weak women, that are laden with sins,

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Evil in the Last Days
…5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Titus 1:11
who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

2 Peter 2:1-3
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. / Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. / In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

Matthew 23:14
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. / And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. / It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

Jude 1:4
For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

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.

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.

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

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.

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.

Acts 20:29-30
I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. / Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.

1 Timothy 4:1-2
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, / influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

Jeremiah 5:26-27
For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. / Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.

Ezekiel 13:17-19
Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them / and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own? / You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

Treasury of Scripture

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

of this.

Matthew 23:14
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Titus 1:11
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Jude 1:4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

laden.

Psalm 38:4
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Isaiah 1:4
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

led.

1 Corinthians 12:2
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

2 Peter 3:17
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

divers.

Mark 4:19
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

1 Timothy 6:9
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Titus 3:3
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

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2 Timothy 3

1. Paul advises Timothy of the difficult times to come;
6. describes the enemies of the truth;
10. explains unto him his own example;
16. and commends the holy Scriptures;

Berean Study Bible

They are the kind
This phrase introduces a specific group of people that Paul is warning Timothy about. The Greek word used here is "ἐκ τούτων" (ek toutōn), which implies a subset of individuals characterized by certain behaviors. Historically, this refers to false teachers or deceivers who were prevalent in the early church, seeking to exploit the faith community for personal gain. This warning is timeless, reminding believers to be vigilant against those who distort the truth.

who worm their way
The imagery here is vivid, suggesting stealth and deceit. The Greek word "ἐνδύνοντες" (endynontes) conveys the idea of sneaking or insinuating oneself into a place. This reflects the subtlety with which false teachers infiltrate communities, often going unnoticed until they have already caused harm. It serves as a caution to be discerning and protective of one's spiritual environment.

into households
In the early Christian context, households were not just family units but also centers of worship and community gatherings. The Greek "οἰκίας" (oikias) indicates a domestic setting, highlighting the vulnerability of private spaces to external influences. This underscores the importance of safeguarding one's home and family from false teachings and maintaining a strong foundation in biblical truth.

and captivate
The word "αἰχμαλωτίζοντες" (aichmalōtizontes) means to take captive or lead away as a prisoner. This suggests a forceful or manipulative control over individuals, particularly those who are spiritually or emotionally vulnerable. It is a call to be aware of the power of persuasive but erroneous teachings and to remain anchored in the truth of Scripture.

vulnerable women
The phrase "γυναικάρια" (gynaikaria) refers to women who are described as weak or easily swayed. In the historical context, women often had limited access to formal education and were more susceptible to deception. However, this is not a blanket statement about all women but rather a specific warning about those who are not grounded in their faith. It emphasizes the need for all believers, regardless of gender, to be well-versed in Scripture to avoid being misled.

who are weighed down with sins
The Greek "σεσωρευμένας ἁμαρτίαις" (sesōreumenas hamartiais) paints a picture of individuals burdened by guilt and moral failings. This weight makes them more susceptible to false promises of relief or redemption offered by deceivers. It highlights the importance of addressing sin through repentance and the grace of Christ, rather than seeking solutions from misleading sources.

and led astray
The phrase "ἀγόμενα" (agomena) indicates being led or guided away from the truth. This is a passive action, suggesting that those who are not firmly rooted in their faith can be easily diverted from the path of righteousness. It serves as a reminder to actively pursue spiritual growth and discernment to prevent being misled.

by various passions
The Greek "ἐπιθυμίαις ποικίλαις" (epithymiais poikilais) refers to diverse and often conflicting desires or lusts. These passions can cloud judgment and make individuals more vulnerable to deception. The verse calls believers to exercise self-control and to align their desires with God's will, ensuring that they are not swayed by fleeting or worldly temptations.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women.--The corrupting influence of these hypocritical professors of the religion of Jesus must have been already great, and the danger to all real vital godliness in Ephesus imminent, for Paul here specifies one of the most--perhaps the most--successful work of these toilers for Satan: the power they were acquiring over women. As we shall see, these unhappy men busied themselves in securing popularity among the female portion of the flock in the Ephesian Church, and the way by which they won their popularity was by supplying anodynes for the guilty consciences of these women, laden, we are told, with sins The expression, "which creep into houses," although perfectly natural, and one which, even in these Western countries, could be used with propriety to express the method in which these deceiving and perverting men make their way into households, yet, when we remember the comparative state of seclusion in which women usually lived and still live in Eastern lands, the words used by Paul acquire an increased force. Special fraud and deceit was needful for these false teachers to creep into the women's apartments in Asia. The Greek word translated "lead captive" is a peculiar one, and is only found in comparatively later Greek. It is supposed to be a word of Alexandrian or Macedonian origin. It here represents these women as wholly under the influence of these bad men, to the utter destruction of all true, healthy, home life. The Greek word translated "silly women," in the Vulgate "mulierculas," is simply a diminutive, expressing contempt. There is no doubt but that the older Heresiarchs made great use of women in the propagation of their new and strange systems. They worked more easily, perhaps, on the impulsive and emotional female mind; but what has never sufficiently been taken into account is the reaction which was then taking place among women, so long relegated to an inferior and subordinate position, and now, by the teaching of Christ and His Apostles, raised to a position of equality with men as regards the hope of future glory. In many instances, in the first ages of Christianity, there is no doubt, but that they misunderstood their position; they claimed work they could never do, and aimed after an influence they could never exercise, and thus, no doubt, in these first feverish years many a woman fell a comparatively easy prey to these proselytisers, who, laying claim to a higher and deeper wisdom, proposed now to lead some into the knowledge of profound and hidden mysteries, now offered ease of conscience to others if they would but follow them. Irenaeus, in the second century, speaks of the special power which the Valentinian Gnostic Marcus had acquired over women; and Epiphanius, in the same century, also refers to the Gnostics' deceitful influence with the female sex. Jerome, in an interesting though rhetorical passage (Epist. ad Ctesiphontem), cites a number of instances in which a woman shared in the baleful influence exercised by the leading masters of heresy in doctrine and laxity of life.

Simon Magus, he tells us, was accompanied by the wicked Helen. Nicolas, of Antioch, a teacher of immorality, gathered round him what Jerome calls choros faemineos. Montanus is associated with the well-known names of Maximilla and Prisca. Donatus is coupled with Lucilla. Marcion, Arius, Priscillian, and other Heresiarchs, famous in the annals of the early churches, he speaks of as intimately associated with or supported by female influence.

Laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.--This gives us some insight into the source of the power which these false teachers acquired over those women of Ephesus who in name were Christians. They had accepted the faith of Christ, but were unable to live His life; over their passions and lusts had these no mastery. "Laden with sins," and "led away with divers lusts," these weak women fell an easy prey to men who procured them, by means of their lying doctrines, a false peace. By their words they seemed to have lulled the consciences of their female listeners to sleep. They showed them, no doubt, how in their school they might still be Christians and yet indulge their divers lusts.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - These for this sort, A.V.; tact for which, A.V.; take for lead, A.V.; by for with, A.V. Creep into (ἐνδύνοντες); here only in the New Testament. It has the sense of "sneaking into," "insinuating themselves into," as in Xenophon, 'Cyrop.,' 2. 1. 13. Take captive (αἰχμαλωτεύοντες); as in Ephesians 4:3. The other form, αἰχμαλωτίζοντες which is that of the R.T., is in Luke 21:24; Romans 7:23; 2 Corinthians 10:5. The word well describes the blind surrender of the will and conscience to such crafty teachers. Silly women (τὰ γυναικάρια, diminutive of γυνή); nowhere else in the New Testament or LXX., but is used by some late Greek authors. It is a term of contempt - he will not call them γυναῖκας - they are only γυναικάρια. In the passages quoted by Alford from Irenaeus and Epiphanius, the women made use of by the later Gnostics are called γυναικάρια. See, too, the striking quotation in the same note from Jerome, specifying by name the women whom Nicolas of Antioch, Marcion, Montanus, and others employed as their instruments in spreading their abominable heresies. So true is St. Paul's forecast in the text. Laden with sins (σεσωρευμένα ἁμαρτίαις); elsewhere only in Romans 12:20, "heap coals of fire." It occurs in Aristotle and other Greek writers in the sense of heaping one thing upon another, and heaping up anything with something else. The last is the sense in which it is here used. It seems to convey the idea of passive helplessness. Led away (ἀγόμενα); with a strong intimation of unresisting weakness (comp. 1 Corinthians 12:2; Acts 8:32; Luke 23:32). Lusts (ἐπιθυμίαις); all kinds of carnal and selfish desires (see Matthew 4:19; John 8:44; Romans 1:24; Romans 6:12; Romans 7:7, 8; Galatians 5:24; Ephesians 2:3; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:9; 2 Timothy 2:22; 2 Timothy 4:3: Titus 2:12; fit. 3; 1 Peter 1:14, etc.; 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16, etc.).

Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

They are
εἰσιν (eisin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

the kind who
τούτων (toutōn)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

worm their way
ἐνδύνοντες (endynontes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1744: To clothe; mid: I enter, creep into. From ennomos and duno; to sink (compare enduo) on, i.e. (figuratively) sneak.

into
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

households
οἰκίας (oikias)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3614: From oikos; properly, residence, but usually an abode; by implication, a family.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

captivate
αἰχμαλωτίζοντες (aichmalōtizontes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 163: To take captive (in war); I subdue, ensnare. From aichmalotos; to make captive.

vulnerable women
γυναικάρια (gynaikaria)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 1133: A woman, with all a woman's weakness, a poor weak woman, a silly woman. A diminutive from gune; a little woman.

who are weighed down
σεσωρευμένα (sesōreumena)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4987: To heap up, load. From another form of soros; to pile up.

with sins
ἁμαρτίαις (hamartiais)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 266: From hamartano; a sin.

[and] led astray
ἀγόμενα (agomena)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 71: A primary verb; properly, to lead; by implication, to bring, drive, go, pass, or induce.

by various
ποικίλαις (poikilais)
Adjective - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 4164: Various, of different colors, diverse, various. Of uncertain derivation; motley, i.e. Various in character.

passions,
ἐπιθυμίαις (epithymiais)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 1939: Desire, eagerness for, inordinate desire, lust. From epithumeo; a longing.

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NT Letters: 2 Timothy 3:6 For of these are those who creep (2 Tim. 2Ti iiTi ii Tim)