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And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:15 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
  • BSB From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
  • NKJV and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • NASB and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • NLT You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

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

From childhood Timothy has known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Scripture leads to salvation as it points to Christ.

Overview

Timothy was raised on the Old Testament Scriptures, which Paul says can make one 'wise for salvation.' Crucially, this saving wisdom comes 'through faith which is in Christ Jesus,' for the Scriptures find their fulfillment and goal in him. The verse affirms both the saving purpose of Scripture and its Christ-centered focus.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • Ps 119:98–99Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
  • Luke 24:45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
  • Prov 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
  • 2 Pet 1:20–21Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
  • Matt 22:29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
  • 1 Cor 15:3–4For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
  • Luke 24:27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
  • 2 Tim 1:5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
  • John 5:39–40Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
  • Luke 2:40And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
  • Ps 19:7The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
  • Acts 10:43To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
  • Luke 24:32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
  • Rom 16:26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
  • Rom 1:2(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
  • Ps 71:17O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
  • Prov 8:17I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
  • Acts 17:2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
  • 1 Sam 2:18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
  • Dan 10:21But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.
  • Rev 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
  • 2 Chr 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
  • Acts 13:29And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
  • 2 Pet 3:16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
  • Acts 13:38–39Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
  • 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
  • 1 Pet 1:10–12Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
  • Eccl 12:1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
  • Luke 1:15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Timothy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Timothy 3:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 TimothyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Christ Jesus 'abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel' — the risen Lord whose word and kingdom endure to the end.

How 2 Timothy 3:15 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.