Paideuo: Handling the Opposition

Word of the Week

September 20,  2025

Paideuō: Handling the Opposition

 

With gentleness correcting those who are in opposition . . .

2 Timothy 2:25 NASB

 

Bobby Knight was a legendary basketball coach.  His teams won 902 games, and his 1975-1976 Indiana team was the last college squad to win the national championship with an undefeated record.

But he was also famous for his fierce temper.  On February 23, 1985, his team was playing archrival Purdue.  He protested vigorously when the referee called a foul against Indiana, and when he persisted in berating the official, he was given a technical foul.  In frustration, he picked up a chair and threw it across the floor in the general direction of the referee.  Unsurprisingly, Knight was ejected from the game.

We live in time when merely throwing a chair seems like a relatively moderate response compared to the unfettered hostility that marks many current conflicts.

Followers of Jesus know that God expects something better from His children.  No chairs, no grenades.

But if we aren’t supposed to punch the other guy, what should we do?

He told his younger associate Timothy to correct the opponents of the gospel.  “Correct” translates the Greek word paideuō [pye-DYOO-oh], which appears 13 times in the New Testament.

It comes from the Greek word pais, usually meaning “child.”  Appropriate, isn’t it?  Parents spend much of their time correcting their kids in an attempt to civilize them.  Let’s look more closely at its meaning.

In ancient Greece, paideuō was an educational term.  Instructors would explain the truths that would enable young people to become good citizens.

We can see this usage in the New Testament.

• Moses was instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22) as a young man, grooming him for potential leadership roles.
• Paul could claim that he was brought up in Jerusalem, “educated under Gamaliel,” one of the leading Jewish teachers (Acts 22:3)

In the Greek Old Testament, however, it took on a different flavor.  Paideuō meant discipline, bringing unpleasant consequences to bear in order to discourage wrong behavior.  Proverbs speaks often about the need for fathers to use the rod if necessary to prevent rebellion. Other passages describe the way God Himself corrected His people by sending judgments.

The literal form of this usage also appears in the New Testament.  Pontius Pilate was attempting to appease the voices calling for the death of Christ, and he proposed a compromise:  he would punish him and release him (Luke 23:16, 22).  In context, he was using the word for a whipping, a violent method to “teach someone a lesson.”

When Paul was presenting a catalog of his credentials, including the ways he had suffered for the gospel, he mentions that he was “punished yet not put to death” (2 Corinthians 6:9).

One of the primary roles of a parent is to prevent your kids from doing things that will lead to destruction.  That’s the idea of paideuō.  Mommy might remind little Susie to “Look both ways before you go into the street.”  Or Dad might tackle a two-year-old who’s dashing into the path of an oncoming car.  The mode may be instruction or intervention.

In the New Testament, many of the verses about correction describe drastic action where the Lord “spanks” His children.

• Paul warned that some Corinthian believers had become ill or even died because of their misbehavior in connection with the Lord’s Supper. He pointed out that “we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned (1 Corinthians 11:32).
• The book of Hebrews draws a detailed parallel between a father’s discipline and God’s discipline of His children: “For those whom the Lord loves he disciplines . . . God deals with you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:6-7)  Verse 10 points out that human fathers often punish their kids unfairly, but the Lord always “disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.”
• Jesus Himself warns the church at Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (Revelation 3:19).

In short, God is more interested in our holiness than our happiness, and He may allow painful circumstances in order to get our attention.

Paideuō doesn’t always involve punishment.  If we are not running headlong into sin, the Lord can correct our course by simply instructing us about right behavior.

• Titus 2:11-12 declares that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.”

How then should we deal with our opponents?  2 Timothy 2:25 gives a clear strategy:  invest the time and effort to correct them, exposing false ideas and warning against wrong actions.  But don’t do it out of anger or pride.  Whether you teach or take action, do it with a spirit of gentle kindness.  As another passage says, speak the truth in love.

As the rest of2 Timothy 2 urges, aim to win the person, not the argument.

 

Study Hint:

1. For a Word of the Week study on pais, click on this link: https://ezraproject.com/pais-and-teknon-being-a-child-of-god/

 

2. Expand your study by reading the verses that use the corresponding noun paideia, “instruction, discipline.”

Ephesians 6:4

2 Timothy 3:16

Hebrews 12:5, 7, 8, 11

 

Coming Up

Next week we will spend a final week looking at key words from 2 Timothy 2.  The Greek words in this passage provide a fresh slant on our interactions with those who have so far rejected faith.

Ezra Project 2025