2 Timothy 3:4 (DRB)

Passage

Traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasure more than of God:

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 3:2 Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked,

2 Timothy 3:3 Without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness,

2 Timothy 3:4 Traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasure more than of God:

2 Timothy 3:5 Having an appearance indeed of godliness but denying the power thereof. Now these avoid.

2 Timothy 3:6 For of these sort are they who creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, who are led away with divers desires:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "traitors", "stubborn", "puffed", "lovers", "pleasure", and "than". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "traitors" and "stubborn", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Without affection without peace slanderers incontinent unmerciful..." into verse 5's "Having an appearance indeed of godliness but...", so "traitors" and "stubborn" belong inside that flow. In 2 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

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