1 Timothy 4:8 (DBY)

Passage

for bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but piety is profitable for everything, having promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come.

Nearby Context

1 Timothy 4:6 Laying these things before the brethren, thou wilt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which thou hast fully followed up.

1 Timothy 4:7 But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;

1 Timothy 4:8 for bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but piety is profitable for everything, having promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come.

1 Timothy 4:9 The word [is] faithful and worthy of all acceptation;

1 Timothy 4:10 for, for this we labour and suffer reproach, because we hope in a living God, who is preserver of all men, specially of those that believe.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "bodily", "exercise", "profitable", "little", "piety", "everything", and "having". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "bodily" and "exercise", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "But profane and old wives' fables avoid..." into verse 9's "The word is faithful and worthy of...", so "bodily" and "exercise" belong inside that flow. In 1 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "bodily" and "exercise" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.