Though not quite the flash point that 1 Timothy 2:12 has become in the gender debate, 2 Timothy 2:2 presents a challenge for contemporary translators. Several modern Bible versions, following the KJV, identify the teachers Paul describes in this verse as men. The word Paul writes here is anthropois, which may refer to men, especially in this teaching context. But elsewhere biblical authors employ the word to refer to both men and women. Thus, some newer versions, including the updated NIV, translate people in 2 Timothy 2:2. In fact, the updated NIV changed the 1984 translation, which had identified the teachers as men.

How should we decide between these two options? Does this verse alone tell us enough to make the decision? Do we need to reference other canonical writings? How can we identify the teachers Paul has in mind here in 2 Timothy 2:2? That’s what I asked the panel of scholars this week for the Perspectives in Translation forum at Bible Gateway.

  • Michael Bird acknowledges the ESV translation of pistois anthrōpois as “faithful men” makes sense based on the definition and male gender of the noun anthropos. Other Pauline passages in the Pastoral Epistles, particularly 1 Timothy 2:11-14, support restricting the teaching role in the church to men. Nevertheless, Paul also encourages women to teach women (Titus 2:3-4) in the Pastoral Epistles. Might he have this kind of teaching in mind in 2 Timothy 2:2? To allow this possibility, Bird suggests we opt for the ambiguous “people.”
  • Ray Van Neste points out that anthropos can refer exclusively to a male. In fact, that’s how Paul uses the word in his hallmark marriage texts, 1 Corinthians 7:1 and Ephesians 5:31. “Thus, we cannot simply say that anthropos must refer to people in general. Nor can we say the word must refer to males. The word itself is not determinative, so we must look to context.” And the context of 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Van Neste argues, refers to training the next generation of leaders, authority exercised by church leaders holding offices forbidden to women. Thus, Paul calls on men in particular to pass on the faith.
  • Craig Blomberg contends that the NIV has a “slam dunk” case for translating people. The word used here by Paul is not the Greek word for “man” that commonly refers only to one gender. Rather, he says, anthrōpos regularly is gender-inclusive. He writes, “The so-called Colorado Springs Guidelines defended in their books on Bible translation by Wayne Grudem and Vern Poythress allow for ‘people’ as a translation for plural forms of anthrōpos whenever contextually appropriate, and the ESV, the most restrictive of all the recent new Bible translations with respect to the use of inclusive language for humanity, uses ‘people’ for anthrōpos in the plural literally dozens of times in the New Testament.” Besides, Blomberg concludes, complementarians can still interpret this passage to restrict the teaching office of elder to men even if the translation says people.