No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
Parallel translations
- WEB No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.
- KJV No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
- BSB A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.
- NASB No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.
- NLT Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
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
A soldier on duty avoids entanglement in civilian affairs so as to please his commanding officer. Singleminded devotion to Christ frees the minister from competing distractions.
Overview
Continuing the soldier image, Paul stresses focused loyalty to the one who enlisted him. The minister, like a soldier, must not let the ordinary concerns of life crowd out his primary allegiance to Christ. The aim is to please the Lord who called him, keeping ministry undivided in its devotion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Th 2:4But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our hearts.
- Luke 8:14That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
- 2 Pet 2:20For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
- 1 Cor 9:25–26Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
- 1 Cor 7:22–23For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
- Luke 9:59–62He said to another, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
- 2 Cor 5:9Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him.
- 2 Tim 4:10for Demas left me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
- 1 Tim 6:9–12But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.
- Deut 20:5–7The officers shall speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
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Original language
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