2 Timothy 3:7 (DRB)

Passage

Ever learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth.

Nearby Context

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:

2 Timothy 3:7 Ever learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 3:8 Now as Jannes and Mambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith.

2 Timothy 3:9 But they shall proceed no farther: for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as theirs also was.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ever", "learning", "never", "attaining", "knowledge", and "truth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ever" and "learning", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For of these sort are they who..." into verse 8's "Now as Jannes and Mambres resisted Moses...", so "ever" and "learning" 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 "ever" and "learning" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.