Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
Parallel translations
- WEB Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
- KJV Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.
- NKJV No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
- NASB Do not go on drinking only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
- NLT Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul advises Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments rather than drinking only water. The counsel shows pastoral concern for Timothy's bodily health.
Overview
Amid weighty instruction, Paul offers a personal, practical note about Timothy's physical health, recommending moderate use of wine for his ailments. This balances his call to purity in the previous verse, clarifying that bodily care is not unspiritual. It reflects a sane, non-ascetic view of the body and the apostle's tender concern for his younger colleague.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 104:15wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- Prov 31:4–7It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- 1 Tim 4:4For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- 1 Tim 3:3not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
- 1 Tim 3:8Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money.
- Titus 1:7As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
- Ezek 44:21No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.
- Eph 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Titus 2:3Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.
- Lev 10:9–11“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
There is 'one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all' — the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.
How 1 Timothy 5:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.