"Rightly Dividing" 2 Timothy 2:15

Take any modern translation and ask what does it mean and you can literally be as general as possible. But " rightly dividing " gives us a direct understanding and something to grasp directly. To mean ' Correctly apportion"

Rightly handling ' ? How ? What does that even mean?

that phrase 'rightly dividing' is a single word, orthotomeó, from ortho ((right or accurate)) and temno ((to cut)). it's only found once in the whole Bible, right here.

This is a question that many Christians need to ask andanswer because knowing this will help a lot of Christians avoid misinterpretingthe Word of God. I want to make clear here that I am NOT saying that we do not need the Holy Spirit at all in this process. Only the Holy Spirit can give us the revelation that God wants, to speak to our heart. What I am saying is that scripture is clear that apart from relying on the Holy Spirit, known teachers were expected to put in some of their own effort to rightly divide the word.

First of all I am going to post the scripture where Paulexhorts Timothy regarding this, in one of his letters to Timothy.

“Do your best to present yourself to God asone approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctlyhandles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy2:15 NIV)

As you can see from this translation theword divide is not even used. This is because of the following:

“ Two Views of "Rightly Dividing"

One is the dispensationalist view. That view says that"rightly dividing" means, literally, dividing up God's Word -dividing up as in "cutting up." Let me quote a dispensationalistspokesman who comments on this verse:

The Bible student is to very carefully cut and divide theWord of God in order to understand it aright. As an illustration of this,consider the dissection of the human body... In much the same way, when westudy God's Word we must carefully cut and dissect the Word of truth... May theGod of truth enable us to carefully and rightly dissect His precious Word...

The result of this view is that many dispensationaliststeach a division between what they see as the Jewish portions and the Churchportions of the Word of God. And on that basis, classic dispensationalismpostulates separate programs for Israel and the Gentile church, extending outinto eternity - one group of people in the New Heaven, the other group ofpeople on the New Earth. There is some degree of disagreement among dispensationalistsabout which group will be where for eternity. And there is also significantdisagreement among them about where to "cut and divide" the Biblebetween Jewish parts and Church parts, and there is significant disagreementamong them about the number of dispensations, where they begin and end, whetheror not they overlap, and so on.

Over against this view is what I will call, for the sake ofshorthand, the covenant theology view. Now, I want to make it clear that I donot agree with all covenant theologians, because there are differences ofopinion among them, too. I mainly disagree with those who see a totaltransference of Old Testament prophecies and promises from the nation of Israelto the New Testament church, and no future at all in God's plans for ethnicIsrael. I don't believe you can read the book of Zechariah, especially in thelight of Romans chapters nine through eleven, to support that view.

But that issue aside, the covenant theology view in generalsays that "rightly dividing" in 2nd Timothy 2:15 simply means"accurately teaching" God's Word. As a result, in contrast to thedispensationalist view, what I'm calling the covenant theology view teachesthat there is one program of God, encompassing both Jew and Gentile, beginningbefore the foundation of the world and extending out into eternity - and thatwe will all be together in the New Heavens and New Earth. And it says thatGod's plan is manifested in two covenants, which Scripture calls the Old andthe New, within the over-arching framework of one unified plan of redemption.That part of the covenant theology view, the main force of it, I most heartilyagree with.

Which Does Scripture Support?

Now these are two polar opposite points of view. One saysthat "rightly dividing" means "cutting up" and the othersays it means "accurately teaching" a unified whole. The question is,which one does Scripture support? And the answer to that question is a key notonly to how you interpret the book of Zechariah. It is a key to how youinterpret all the prophetic books and passages throughout the Bible - indeed,how you interpret the entire Word of God.

The key to evaluating the two views is to look at theoriginal language of 2nd Timothy 2:15. And this is what we find. The word thatis translated "rightly dividing" in the Old and New King Jamesversions, and in several others, is a single word in the Greek. It is a form ofthe Greek verb orthotomeo. This is a very interesting word.

In New Testament times, orthotomeo was primarily a civilengineering term. It was used, for example, as a road building term. The ideaof the word was to cut straight, or to guide on a straight path. The idea is tocut a roadway in a straight manner, so that people who will travel over thatroad can arrive at their destination directly, without deviation. Orthotomeowas also used as a mining term. It meant to drill a straight mine shaft so thatthe miners can get quickly and safely to the "mother lode."

There is another word in Greek, katatomeo, which means"to cut into sections." But that is not the word that the ApostlePaul, under divine inspiration, uses here in 2nd Timothy 2:15. Paul is nottalking about "rightly dividing" in terms of dissecting the Word ofGod, or cutting it into sections based on Jew and Gentile, or Israel andChurch, or any other criterion. It's interesting that the Apostle Paul does usethat other word - katatomeo, cutting up - in Philippians 3:2, where he says,literally, "beware of those who would divide you up" - in otherwords, beware of those who would try to make a difference among believersbetween Jews and Gentiles.

So what is the proper meaning of orthotomeo - "rightlydividing" the Word of truth? What is intended is not the dividing ofScripture, not cutting it up, but teaching Scripture accurately, as a single,unified whole, without being turned aside by false teaching or man-madeagendas.”
(What does Paul mean by 'rightly dividing the Word of truth'? - TeachingTheWord Ministries - Equipping the Scripture-Driven Church)

Now I am going to break this scripture down into the Greeklanguage.

Be earnest
spoudazó: to make haste, hence to give diligence
Original Word: σπουδάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: spoudazó
Phonetic Spelling: (spoo-dad'-zo)
Short Definition: I hasten
Definition: I hasten, am eager, am zealous.
Cognate: 4704 spoudázō – properly, be swift (go fast, bespeedy); (figuratively) to move speedily by showing full diligence (fullyapplying oneself); acting fervently (speedy commitment) to accomplish all thatGod assigns through faith ("His inbirthed persuasion"). Accordingly,4704 (spoudáz&#333 and faith (4102 /pístis) are directly linked (see Eph 4:3-5; 2Tim 4:7-9). See 4710 (spoud&#275.
(Strong's Greek: 4704. ???????? (spoudazó) -- to make haste, hence to give diligence)

yourself,
approved
dokimos: tested, approved
Original Word: δόκιμος, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: dokimos
Phonetic Spelling: (dok'-ee-mos)
Short Definition: approved, acceptable
Definition: approved, acceptable, tried.
1384 dókimos (an adjective, derived from 1209/dexomai,"to receive, welcome") – properly, what passes the necessary test(scrutiny); hence acceptable because genuine (validated, verified).
[1384 (dókimos) is the root of: 1381 (dokimáz&#333, 1382 (dokim&#7703and 1383 (dokímion). 1384 (dókimos) was used for the proving (testing) ofcoins, i.e. confirming they were genuine (not counterfeit, corrupted).]
(Strong's Greek: 1384. ??????? (dokimos) -- tested, approved)

to present
paristémi: to place beside, to present, stand by, appear
Original Word: παρίστημι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: paristémi
Phonetic Spelling: (par-is'-tay-mee)
Short Definition: I bring, present, come up to and stand by
Definition: I bring, present, prove, come up to and standby, am present.
[3936 parístēmi (from 3844 /pará, "fromclose-beside" and 2476 /hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, standclose beside, i.e. ready to present (exhibit).
(Strong's Greek: 3936. ?????????, (paristémi) -- to place beside, to present, stand by, appear)

to God,
a workman
ergatés: a workman
Original Word: ἐργάτης, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: ergatés
Phonetic Spelling: (er-gat'-ace)
Short Definition: a field-laborer, workman
Definition: a field-laborer; then: a laborer, workman ingeneral.

Cognate: 2040 ergátēs(from 2038 /ergázomai, "to work") – a workman (laborer). See 2041(ergon).
not ashamed,
anepaischuntos: not to be put to shame
Original Word: ἀνεπαίσχυντος, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: anepaischuntos
Phonetic Spelling: (an-ep-ah'-ee-skhoon-tos)
Short Definition: having no cause to be ashamed
Definition: having no cause to be ashamed.

422 anepaísxyntos (from 1 /A "not" and1870/epaisxynomai, "ashamed") – properly, not ashamed, because havingdischarged needed responsibility which appropriately accomplishes what Godassigns (note the prefix, epi).
422/anepaisxyntos ("not disgraced"), used only in2 Tim 2:15, refers to the (positive) result of being a good interpreter ofScripture.
[422 (anepaísxyntos) is a rare word and "very seldomoccurs in the ancient world. It does not appear in classical Greek at all"(CBL).]
(Strong's Greek: 422. ????????????? (anepaischuntos) -- not to be put to shame)

straightly cutting
orthotomeó: to cut straight
Original Word: ὀρθοτομέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: orthotomeó
Phonetic Spelling: (or-thot-om-eh'-o)
Short Definition: I cut straight, handle correctly
Definition: I cut straight; met: I handle correctly, teachrightly.
3718 orthotoméō(from temnō, "to cut" and 3717/orthós, "straight") – properly, cut straight (on a straight line),i.e. "rightly divide" (correctly apportion).
(Strong's Greek: 3718. ????????? (orthotomeó) -- to cut straight)
the
word
logos: a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech
Original Word: λόγος, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: logos
Phonetic Spelling: (log'-os)
Short Definition: a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy
Definition: a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy.
3056 lógos (from 3004 /légō, "speaking to aconclusion") – a word, being the expression of a thought; a saying. 3056/lógos ("word") is preeminently used of Christ (Jn 1:1), expressingthe thoughts of the Father through the Spirit.
[3056 (lógos) is a common term (used 330 times in the NT)with regards to a person sharing a message (discourse,"communication-speech"). 3056 (lógos) is a broad term meaning"reasoning expressed by words."]
(Strong's Greek: 3056. ????? (logos) -- a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech)

the
of truth;
alétheia: truth
Original Word: ἀλήθεια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: alétheia
Phonetic Spelling: (al-ay'-thi-a)
Short Definition: truth
Definition: truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth ofidea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed toman, straightforwardness.
225 alḗtheia (from 227 /alēthḗs, "true to fact") –properly, truth (true to fact), reality.
[In ancient Greek culture, 225 (alḗtheia) was synonymous for"reality" as the opposite of illusion, i.e. fact.]
(Strong's Greek: 225. ??????? (alétheia) -- truth)

So why would Paul say to a budding Pastor, who was recognised by numerous otherLeaders as a Leader, that his being approved was dependant on his diligent workto handle God’s word correctly?
I ask this because of the view of most Christians that wecan solely rely on the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word for us. Wouldn’t Timothy, already recognised with acalling to Pastor and Teach, have a pretty good ability to hear from the HolySpirit?
Interestingly, and not without coincidence, a similar Greekword, but the same root word, used inthis scripture encouraging Timothy to show himself approved, is also used inthe following scripture that many Christians are familiar with:
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
Test
dokimazo: I put to the test, prove, examine
Original Word: δοκιμάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: dokimazo
Phonetic Spelling: (dok-im-ad'-zo)
Short Definition: I put to the test, prove, examine
Definition: I put to the test, prove, examine; I distinguishby testing, approve after testing; I am fit.
Cognate: 1381 dokimázō (from 1384 /dókimos,"approved") – properly, to try (test) to show something is acceptable(real, approved); put to the test to reveal what is good (genuine). See 1384(dokimos).
1381 /dokimázō ("to approve by testing") is doneto demonstrate what is good, i.e. passes the necessary test. 1381 (dokimáz&#333does not focus on disproving something (i.e. to show it is bad).
(Strong's Greek: 1381. ???????? (dokimazo) -- I put to the test, prove, examine)

So basically, the action of testing spirits, is actually theaction pre-empting being approved. In Timothy’s case he was actually advised byPaul, that there was effort required on his (Timothy’s) part to be consideredapproved. Effort in checking out the truth which the Greek word also defines asknown facts.
So why is it then that average Christians (by this I meanthose not yet recognised by other leaders as being leaders) think that they canproperly interpret scripture, but make no effort to seek out historical facts,cultural facts, linguistic facts, geographical facts, literary facts, etc etc? This is like following a recipe butneglecting to weigh up the ingredients.
Now please do not get me wrong! Not everyone can afford thebooks or the time to study like Timothy or indeed experienced ChristianTeachers. However, Christians do need to realise that there is definitelyeffort required to get a correct interpretation from scripture. One that is truthful and that can stand up tothe “testing of the spirits”.

i pray that this speaks you in spirit and in truth

here's a post from a previous thread in 2012 ont he same topic, that didn't get much attention: some good info in here

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.(2 Timothy 2:15, nkjv)

People who depend on commentators rather than personal study often fall into error.

Perhaps the real problem is the KJV translators only knew modern Greek, & not koine Greek.

The Bible says study, I’m going to study.

Did you say this backwards from what you actually meant to say?

KJV NT translated from 100% Koine Greek

I would add that the sword besides cutting to the truth can be used to parry attacks of the adversary or to completely disarm him in our Christian life .

Perhaps the real problem is the KJV translators only knew modern Greek, & not koine Greek.

Perhaps I should try again. They translated "from" koine Greek, but they didn't translate well because they were "trained" in modern Greek. Hope that works.

HAHA

That at least makes more sense!

What makes you think that the KJV translators knew nothing about koine Greek?