Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned - `which ye learned;'
And avoid them. The fomenters of "divisions" who are here meant are probably those who were unfriendly to the truths taught in this letter; while those who caused "offences" were probably those referred to in Romans 14:15, as haughtily disregarding the prejudices of the weak. The direction as to both is, first, to "mark" such, lest the evil should be done before it was fully discovered; and next, to "avoid" them (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:14), so as neither to bear any responsibility for their procedure nor seem to give them the least countenance.