2 Timothy 2:13
New International Version
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

New Living Translation
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

English Standard Version
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Berean Standard Bible
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Berean Literal Bible
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He is not able to deny Himself.

King James Bible
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

New King James Version
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

New American Standard Bible
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

NASB 1995
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

NASB 1977
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.

Legacy Standard Bible
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Amplified Bible
If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.

Christian Standard Bible
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

American Standard Version
if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And if we shall not have believed in him, he continues in his faithfulness, for he cannot renounce himself.

Contemporary English Version
If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful. Christ cannot deny who he is."

Douay-Rheims Bible
If we believe not, he continueth faithful, he can not deny himself.

English Revised Version
if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful because he cannot be untrue to himself.

Good News Translation
If we are not faithful, he remains faithful, because he cannot be false to himself."

International Standard Version
Our faith may fail, his never wanes— That's who he is, he cannot change!

Literal Standard Version
if we are not steadfast, He remains steadfast; He is not able to deny Himself.

Majority Standard Bible
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

New American Bible
If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

NET Bible
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.

New Revised Standard Version
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

New Heart English Bible
If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself."

Webster's Bible Translation
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Weymouth New Testament
"And even if *our* faith fails, He remains true--He cannot prove false to Himself."

World English Bible
If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he can’t deny himself.”

Young's Literal Translation
if we are not stedfast, he remaineth stedfast; to deny himself he is not able.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Grace and Perseverance
12if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.…

Cross References
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Romans 3:3
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?

1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.


Treasury of Scripture

If we believe not, yet he stays faithful: he cannot deny himself.

yet.

Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Romans 3:3
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

he cannot.

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Hebrews 6:18
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Jump to Previous
Abides Abideth Able Believe Deny Disown Fails Faith Faithful Faithless False. Keeps Prove Stedfast True. Unfaithful Untrue
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Abides Abideth Able Believe Deny Disown Fails Faith Faithful Faithless False. Keeps Prove Stedfast True. Unfaithful Untrue
2 Timothy 2
1. Timothy is exhorted again to constancy and perseverance.
17. Of Hymenaeus and Philetus.
19. The foundation of the Lord is sure.
22. He is taught whereof to beware, and what to follow after.














(13) If we believe not.--Better rendered, if we are faithless--that is, untrue to the vows of our Christian profession. The faithlessness implies more than mere unbelief in any of the fundamental doctrines of the faith, such as the Resurrection of the Lord or His divinity.

Yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.--Those who have understood these words as containing soothing, comforting voices for the sinner, for the faithless Christian who has left his first love, are gravely mistaken. The passage is one of distinct severity--may even be termed one of the sternest in the Book of Life; for it tells how it is impossible even for the pitiful Redeemer to forgive in the future life. "He cannot deny Himself"--cannot treat the faithless as though he were faithful--cannot act as though faithfulness and faithlessness were one and the same thing. The Christian teacher, such as Timothy, and the members of his flock likewise, must remember that, sure and certain as are the promises of glory and happiness to those who love the Lord and try to live His life, so surely will fall the chastisement on all who are faithless and untrue.

With the solemn words of this "faithful saying" St. Paul closes this, the second division of his Epistle--fellowship in the sufferings of Christ here, on this side the grave, and fellowship in the glory of Christ there, on the other side the grave--the one side was the sure consequence of the other; the one could not exist without the other.

Verse 13. - Are faithless for believe not. A.V.; he for yet he, A.V.; for he for he, A.V. and T.B. Are faithless (ἀπιστοῦμεν); meaning the same as the A.V. believe not, which is everywhere in the New Testament the sense of ἀπιστέω Mark 16:11; Luke 24:11; Romans 3:3, etc.). (For the contrast between man's unbelief and God's faithfulness, see Romans 3:3.) He cannot deny himself, by coming short of any promise once made by him (comp. Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Hebrews 10:23, etc.). This and the two preceding couplets in vers. 11 and 12 make up "the faithful saying" spoken of in ver. 11 (see 1 Timothy 1:15, note).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
if
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

we are faithless,
ἀπιστοῦμεν (apistoumen)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 569: To be unfaithful, disbelieve, refuse belief, prove false. From apistos; to be unbelieving, i.e. disbelieve, or disobey.

He
ἐκεῖνος (ekeinos)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.

remains
μένει (menei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3306: To remain, abide, stay, wait; with acc: I wait for, await. A primary verb; to stay.

faithful,
πιστὸς (pistos)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4103: Trustworthy, faithful, believing. From peitho; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively, trustful.

for
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

He cannot
δύναται (dynatai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1410: (a) I am powerful, have (the) power, (b) I am able, I can. Of uncertain affinity; to be able or possible.

deny
ἀρνήσασθαι (arnēsasthai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Middle
Strong's 720: Perhaps from a and the middle voice of rheo; to contradict, i.e. Disavow, reject, abnegate.

Himself.
ἑαυτὸν (heauton)
Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1438: Himself, herself, itself.


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NT Letters: 2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless he remains faithful (2 Tim. 2Ti iiTi ii Tim)
2 Timothy 2:12
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