It may be a rebellious trait for some to deviate from a set course of God given principles. Note the following Scripture, “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling” (1 Timothy 1:5-6 KJV). The King James Version uses the word “swerved.” This word is only used once in the KJV. Other translations such as the American Standard Version and the English Standard Version also use the same word, “swerved,” to describe those who have missed the mark and have turned away from serving God Almighty. According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, the definition of “swerved” is to “miss the mark, deviate from truth: err, swerve.” Our English dictionary defines to swerve as to “depart, digress, stray, veer, turn away from a straight or prescribed course, strays from the truth, veered away, etc.”
Note the following brief commentary on 1 Timothy 5-6
It is like useless reasoning, argumentation that gets nowhere, dry as dust disputation, wrangling about fanciful tales anent pedigrees! It has finally landed them in the no-man’s-land of ceremonial subtleties, in the dreary marsh of ridiculous hairsplitting. And the owner of that quagmire is Satan, who heads the welcoming committee. (James Burton Coffman; William Hendriksen)
The Word of God is to be taught with simplicity and without veering from the truth. “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (2 Corinthians 1:12). To grasp the thrust of 1 Timothy 1:5 as it reads, “From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling,” it would be wise to read the previous verses 3-4. From the KJV note the following. “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.”
We can readily see that some were teaching other doctrines, fables and genealogies, all of which generated ceaseless questions. Consequently, the result was complete confusion by people who wanted to know what God needed them to do. From my point of view, some Bible teachers are still puzzling folks with doctrines that contradict the pure Word of God. Many have put their trust in biblical opposition of manmade creeds and individual belief systems, along with a host of inconsistent dogmas. The apostle Paul told Timothy that some swerved from the truth using vain jangling. These few verses condemn such behavior and must be taken seriously. As we meditate on these truths, honestly as believers, don’t we owe our allegiances to God and not to men?
