1 Timothy 1-2

Jesus Christ is a Christian's hope; all our hopes of eternal life are built upon him; and Christ is in us the hope of glory. The apostle seems to have been the means of Timothy's conversion; who served with him in his ministry, as a dutiful son with a loving father. That which raises questions, is not for edifying; that which gives occasion for doubtful disputes, pulls down the church rather than builds it up. Godliness of heart and life can only be kept up and increased, by the exercise of faith in the truths and promises of God, through Jesus Christ.

Whatever tends to weaken love to God, or love to the brethren, tends to defeat the end of the commandment. The design of the gospel is answered, when sinners, through repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ, are brought to exercise Christian love. And as believers were righteous persons in God's appointed way, the law was not against them. But unless we are made righteous by faith in Christ, really repenting and forsaking sin, we are yet under the curse of the law, even according to the gospel of the blessed God, and are unfit to share the holy happiness of heaven.

The apostle knew that he would justly have perished, if the Lord had been extreme to mark what was amiss; and also if his grace and mercy had not been abundant to him when dead in sin, working faith and love to Christ in his heart. This is a faithful saying; these are true and faithful words, which may be depended on, That the Son of God came into the world, willingly and purposely to save sinners. No man, with Paul's example before him, can question the love and power of Christ to save him, if he really desires to trust in him as the Son of God, who once died on the cross, and now reigns upon the throne of glory, to save all that come to God through him. Let us then admire and praise the grace of God our Saviour; and ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons in the unity of the Godhead, the glory of all done in, by, and for us.

The ministry is a warfare against sin and Satan; carried on under the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The good hopes others have had of us, should stir us up to duty. And let us be upright in our conduct in all things. The design of the highest censures in the primitive church, was, to prevent further sin, and to reclaim the sinner. May all who are tempted to put away a good conscience, and to abuse the gospel, remember that this is the way to make shipwreck of faith also.

The disciples of Christ must be praying people; all, without distinction of nation, sect, rank, or party. Our duty as Christians, is summed up in two words; godliness, that is, the right worshipping of God; and honesty, that is, good conduct toward all men. These must go together: we are not truly honest, if we are not godly, and do not render to God his due; and we are not truly godly, if not honest. What is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, we should abound in. There is one Mediator, and that Mediator gave himself a ransom for all. And this appointment has been made for the benefit of the Jews and the Gentiles of every nation; that all who are willing may come in this way, to the mercy-seat of a pardoning God, to seek reconciliation with him. Sin had made a quarrel between us and God; Jesus Christ is the Mediator who makes peace. He is a ransom that was to be known in due time. In the Old Testament times, his sufferings, and the glory that should follow, were spoken of as things to be revealed in the last times. Those who are saved must come to the knowledge of the truth, for that is God's appointed way to save sinners: if we do not know the truth, we cannot be ruled by it.

Under the gospel, prayer is not to be confined to any one particular house of prayer, but men must pray every where. We must pray in our closets, pray in our families, pray at our meals, pray when we are on journeys, and pray in the solemn assemblies, whether more public or private. We must pray in charity; without wrath, or malice, or anger at any person. We must pray in faith, without doubting, and without disputing. Women who profess the Christian religion, must be modest in apparel, not affecting gaudiness, gaiety, or costliness. Good works are the best ornament; these are, in the sight of God, of great price. Modesty and neatness are more to be consulted in garments than elegance and fashion. And it would be well if the professors of serious godliness were wholly free from vanity in dress. They should spend more time and money in relieving the sick and distressed, than in decorating themselves and their children. To do this in a manner unsuitable to their rank in life, and their profession of godliness, is sinful. These are not trifles, but Divine commands. The best ornaments for professors of godliness, are good works. According to St. Paul, women are not allowed to be public teachers in the church; for teaching is an office of authority. But good women may and ought to teach their children at home the principles of true religion. Also, women must not think themselves excused from learning what is necessary to salvation, though they must not usurp authority. As woman was last in the creation, which is one reason for her subjection, so she was first in the transgression. But there is a word of comfort; that those who continue in sobriety, shall be saved in child-bearing, or with child-bearing, by the Messiah, who was born of a woman. And the especial sorrow to which the female sex is subject, should cause men to exercise their authority with much gentleness, tenderness, and affection.

by the commandment of God--the authoritative injunction, as well as the commission, of God. In the earlier Epistles the phrase is, "by the will of God." Here it is expressed in a manner implying that a necessity was laid on him to act as an apostle, not that it was merely at his option. The same expression occurs in the doxology, probably written long after the Epistle itself [Alford] (Ro 16:26). God our Saviour--The Father (1Ti 2:3; 4:10; Lu 1:47; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 1:3; 2:10; 3:4; Jude 25). It was a Jewish expression in devotion, drawn from the Old Testament (compare Ps 106:21). our hope--(Col 1:27; Tit 1:2; 2:13).

Namely, to Check False Teachers; True Use of the Law; Harmonizing with the Gospel; God's Grace in Calling Paul, Once a Blasphemer, to Experience and to Preach It; Charges to Timothy.

my own son--literally, "a genuine son" (compare Ac 16:1; 1Co 4:14-17). See Introduction. mercy--added here, in addressing Timothy, to the ordinary salutation, "Grace unto you (Ro 1:7; 1Co 1:3, &c.), and peace." In Ga 6:16, "peace and mercy" occur. There are many similarities of style between the Epistle to the Galatians and the Pastoral Epistles (see Introduction); perhaps owing to his there, as here, having, as a leading object in writing, the correction of false teachers, especially as to the right and wrong use of the law (1Ti 1:9). If the earlier date be assigned to First Timothy, it will fall not long after, or before (according as the Epistle to the Galatians was written at Ephesus or at Corinth) the writing of the Epistle to the Galatians, which also would account for some similarity of style. "Mercy" is grace of a more tender kind, exercised towards the miserable, the experience of which in one's own case especially fits for the Gospel MINISTRY. Compare as to Paul himself (1Ti 1:14, 16; 1Co 7:25; 2Co 4:1; Heb 2:17) [Bengel]. He did not use "mercy" as to the churches, because "mercy" in all its fulness already existed towards them; but in the case of an individual minister, fresh measures of it were continually needed. "Grace" has reference to the sins of men; "mercy" to their misery. God extends His grace to men as they are guilty; His "mercy" to them as they are miserable [Trench]. Jesus Christ--The oldest manuscripts read the order, "Christ Jesus." In the Pastoral Epistles "Christ" is often put before "Jesus," to give prominence to the fact that the Messianic promises of the Old Testament, well known to Timothy (2Ti 3:15), were fulfilled in Jesus.

Timothy's superintendence of the Church at Ephesus was as locum tenens for the apostle, and so was temporary. Thus, the office of superintending overseer, needed for a time at Ephesus or Crete, in the absence of the presiding apostle, subsequently became a permanent institution on the removal, by death, of the apostles who heretofore superintended the churches. The first title of these overseers seems to have been "angels" (Re 1:20). As I besought thee to abide still--He meant to have added, "so I still beseech thee," but does not complete the sentence until he does so virtually, not formally, at 1Ti 1:18. at Ephesus--Paul, in Ac 20:25, declared to the Ephesian elders, "I know that ye all shall see my face no more." If, then, as the balance of arguments seems to favor (see Introduction), this Epistle was written subsequently to Paul's first imprisonment, the apparent discrepancy between his prophecy and the event may be reconciled by considering that the terms of the former were not that he should never visit Ephesus again (which this verse implies he did), but that they all should "see his face no more." I cannot think with Birks, that this verse is compatible with his theory, that Paul did not actually visit Ephesus, though in its immediate neighborhood (compare 1Ti 3:14; 4:13). The corresponding conjunction to "as" is not given, the sentence not being completed till it is virtually so at 1Ti 1:18. I besought--a mild word, instead of authoritative command, to Timothy, as a fellow helper. some--The indefinite pronoun is slightly contemptuous as to them (Ga 2:12; Jude 4), [Ellicott]. teach no other doctrine--than what I have taught (Ga 1:6-9). His prophetic bodings some years before (Ac 20:29, 30) were now being realized (compare 1Ti 6:3).

fables--legends about the origin and propagation of angels, such as the false teachers taught at Colosse (Col 2:18-23). "Jewish fables" (Tit 1:14). "Profane, and old wives' fables" (1Ti 4:7; 2Ti 4:4). genealogies--not merely such civil genealogies as were common among the Jews, whereby they traced their descent from the patriarchs, to which Paul would not object, and which he would not as here class with "fables," but Gnostic genealogies of spirits and aeons, as they called them, "Lists of Gnostic emanations" [Alford]. So Tertullian [Against Valentinian, c. 3], and Irenæus [Preface]. The Judaizers here alluded to, while maintaining the perpetual obligation of the Mosaic law, joined with it a theosophic ascetic tendency, pretending to see in it mysteries deeper than others could see. The seeds, not the full-grown Gnosticism of the post-apostolic age, then existed. This formed the transition stage between Judaism and Gnosticism. "Endless" refers to the tedious unprofitableness of their lengthy genealogies (compare Tit 3:9). Paul opposes to their "aeons," the "King of the aeons (so the Greek, 1Ti 1:17), whom be glory throughout the aeons of aeons." The word "aeons" was probably not used in the technical sense of the latter Gnostics as yet; but "the only wise God" (1Ti 1:17), by anticipation, confutes the subsequently adopted notions in the Gnostics' own phraseology. questions--of mere speculation (Ac 25:20), not practical; generating merely curious discussions. "Questions and strifes of words" (1Ti 6:4): "to no profit" (2Ti 2:14); "gendering strifes" (2Ti 2:23). "Vain jangling" (1Ti 1:6, 7) of would-be "teachers of the law." godly edifying--The oldest manuscripts read, "the dispensation of God," the Gospel dispensation of God towards man (1Co 9:17), "which is (has its element) in faith." Conybeare translates, "The exercising of the stewardship of God" (1Co 9:17). He infers that the false teachers in Ephesus were presbyters, which accords with the prophecy, Ac 20:30. However, the oldest Latin versions, and Irenæus and Hilary, support English Version reading. Compare 1Ti 1:5, "faith unfeigned."

But--in contrast to the doctrine of the false teachers. the end--the aim. the commandment--Greek, "of the charge" which you ought to urge on your flock. Referring to the same Greek word as in 1Ti 1:3, 18; here, however, in a larger sense, as including the Gospel "dispensation of God" (see on 1Ti 1:4; 1Ti 1:11), which was the sum and substance of the "charge" committed to Timothy wherewith he should "charge" his flock. charity--LOVE; the sum and end of the law and of the Gospel alike, and that wherein the Gospel is the fulfilment of the spirit of the law in its every essential jot and tittle (Ro 13:10). The foundation is faith (1Ti 1:4), the "end" is love (1Ti 1:14; Tit 3:15). out of--springing as from a fountain. pure heart--a heart purified by faith (Ac 15:9; 2Ti 2:22; Tit 1:15). good conscience--a conscience cleared from guilt by the effect of sound faith in Christ (1Ti 1:19; 1Ti 3:9; 2Ti 1:3; 1Pe 3:21). Contrast 1Ti 4:2; Tit 1:15; compare Ac 23:1. John uses "heart," where Paul would use "conscience." In Paul the understanding is the seat of conscience; the heart is the seat of love [Bengel]. A good conscience is joined with sound faith; a bad conscience with unsoundness in the faith (compare Heb 9:14). faith unfeigned--not a hypocritical, dead, and unfruitful faith, but faith working by love (Ga 5:6). The false teachers drew men off from such a loving, working, real faith, to profitless, speculative "questions" (1Ti 1:4) and jangling (1Ti 1:6).

From which--namely, from a pure heart, good conscience, and faith unfeigned, the well-spring of love. having swerved--literally, "having missed the mark (the 'end') to be aimed at." It is translated, "erred," 1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 2:18. Instead of aiming at and attaining the graces above named, they "have turned aside (1Ti 5:15; 2Ti 4:4; Heb 12:13) unto vain jangling"; literally, "vain talk," about the law and genealogies of angels (1Ti 1:7; Tit 3:9; 1:10); 1Ti 6:20, "vain babblings and oppositions." It is the greatest vanity when divine things are not truthfully discussed (Ro 1:21) [Bengel].

Sample of their "vain talk" (1Ti 1:6). Desiring--They are would-be teachers, not really so. the law--the Jewish law (Tit 1:14; 3:9). The Judaizers here meant seem to be distinct from those impugned in the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans, who made the works of the law necessary to justification in opposition to Gospel grace. The Judaizers here meant corrupted the law with "fables," which they pretended to found on it, subversive of morals as well as of truth. Their error was not in maintaining the obligation of the law, but in abusing it by fabulous and immoral interpretations of, and additions to, it. neither what they say, nor whereof--neither understanding their own assertions, nor the object itself about which they make them. They understand as little about the one as the other [Alford].

But--"Now we know" (Ro 3:19; 7:14). law is good--in full agreement with God's holiness and goodness. if a man--primarily, a teacher; then, every Christian. use it lawfully--in its lawful place in the Gospel economy, namely, not as a means of a "'righteous man" attaining higher perfection than could be attained by the Gospel alone (1Ti 4:8; Tit 1:14), which was the perverted use to which the false teachers put it, but as a means of awakening the sense of sin in the ungodly (1Ti 1:9, 10; compare Ro 7:7-12; Ga 3:21).

law is not made for a righteous man--not for one standing by faith in the righteousness of Christ put on him for justification, and imparted inwardly by the Spirit for sanctification. "One not forensically amenable to the law" [Alford]. For sanctification, the law gives no inward power to fulfil it; but Alford goes too far in speaking of the righteous man as "not morally needing the law." Doubtless, in proportion as he is inwardly led by the Spirit, the justified man needs not the law, which is only an outward rule (Ro 6:14; Ga 5:18, 23). But as the justified man often does not give himself up wholly to the inward leading of the Spirit, he morally needs the outward law to show him his sin and God's requirements. The reason why the ten commandments have no power to condemn the Christian, is not that they have no authority over him, but because Christ has fulfilled them as our surety (Ro 10:4). disobedient--Greek, "not subject"; insubordinate; it is translated "unruly," Tit 1:6, 10; "lawless and disobedient" refer to opposers of the law, for whom it is "enacted" (so the Greek, for "is made"). ungodly and ... sinners--Greek, he who does not reverence God, and he who openly sins against Him; the opposers of God, from the law comes. unholy and profane--those inwardly impure, and those deserving exclusion from the outward participation in services of the sanctuary; sinners against the third and fourth commandments. murderers--or, as the Greek may mean, "smiters" of fathers and ... mothers; sinners against the fifth commandment. manslayers--sinners against the sixth commandment.

whoremongers, &c.--sinners against the seventh commandment. men-stealers--that is, slave dealers. The most heinous offense against the eighth commandment. No stealing of a man's goods can equal in atrocity the stealing of a man's liberty. Slavery is not directly assailed in the New Testament; to have done so would have been to revolutionize violently the existing order of things. But Christianity teaches principles sure to undermine, and at last overthrow it, wherever Christianity has had its natural development (Mt 7:12). liars ... perjured--offenders against the ninth commandment. if there be any other thing--answering to the tenth commandment in its widest aspect. He does not particularly specify it because his object is to bring out the grosser forms of transgression; whereas the tenth is deeply spiritual, so much so indeed, that it was by it that the sense of sin, in its subtlest form of "lust," Paul tells us (Ro 7:7), was brought home to his own conscience. Thus, Paul argues, these would-be teachers of the law, while boasting of a higher perfection through it, really bring themselves down from the Gospel elevation to the level of the grossly "lawless," for whom, not for Gospel believers, the law was designed. And in actual practice the greatest sticklers for the law as the means of moral perfection, as in this case, are those ultimately liable to fall utterly from the morality of the law. Gospel grace is the only true means of sanctification as well as of justification. sound--healthy, spiritually wholesome (1Ti 6:3; 2Ti 1:13; Tit 1:13; 2:2), as opposed to sickly, morbid (as the Greek of "doting" means, 1Ti 6:4), and "canker" (2Ti 2:17). "The doctrine," or "teaching, which is according to godliness" (1Ti 6:3).

According to the glorious gospel--The Christian's freedom from the law as a sanctifier, as well as a justifier, implied in the previous, 1Ti 1:9, 10, is what this 1Ti 1:11 is connected with. This exemption of the righteous from the law, and assignment of it to the lawless as its true object, is "according to the Gospel of the glory (so the Greek, compare Note, see on 2Co 4:4) of the blessed God." The Gospel manifests God's glory (Eph 1:17; 3:16) in accounting "righteous" the believer, through the righteousness of Christ, without "the law" (1Ti 1:9); and in imparting that righteousness whereby he loathes all those sins against which (1Ti 1:9, 10) the law is directed. The term, "blessed," indicates at once immortality and supreme happiness. The supremely blessed One is He from whom all blessedness flows. This term, as applied to God, occurs only here and in 1Ti 6:15: appropriate in speaking here of the Gospel blessedness, in contrast to the curse on those under the law (1Ti 1:9; Ga 3:10). committed to my trust--Translate as in the Greek order, which brings into prominent emphasis Paul, "committed in trust to me"; in contrast to the kind of law-teaching which they (who had no Gospel commission), the false teachers, assumed to themselves (1Ti 1:8; Tit 1:3).

The honor done him in having the Gospel ministry committed to him suggests the digression to what he once was, no better (1Ti 1:13) than those lawless ones described above (1Ti 1:9, 10), when the grace of our Lord (1Ti 1:14) visited him. And--omitted in most (not all) of the oldest manuscripts. I thank--Greek, "I have (that is, feel) gratitude." enabled me--the same Greek verb as in Ac 9:22, "Saul increased the more in strength." An undesigned coincidence between Paul and Luke, his companion. Enabled me, namely, for the ministry. "It is not in my own strength that I bring this doctrine to men, but as strengthened and nerved by Him who saved me" [Theodoret]. Man is by nature "without strength" (Ro 5:6). True conversion and calling confer power [Bengel]. for that--the main ground of his "thanking Christ." he counted me faithful--He foreordered and foresaw that I would be faithful to the trust committed to me. Paul's thanking God for this shows that the merit of his faithfulness was due solely to God's grace, not to his own natural strength (1Co 7:25). Faithfulness is the quality required in a steward (1Co 4:2). putting me into--rather as in 1Th 5:9, "appointing me (in His sovereign purposes of grace) unto the ministry" (Ac 20:24).

Who was before--Greek, "Formerly being a blasphemer." "Notwithstanding that I was before a blasphemer," &c. (Ac 26:9, 11). persecutor--(Ga 1:13). injurious--Greek, "insulter"; one who acts injuriously from arrogant contempt of others. Translate, Ro 1:30, "despiteful." One who added insult to injury. Bengel translates, "a despiser." I prefer the idea, contumelious to others [Wahl]. Still I agree with Bengel that "blasphemer" is against God, "persecutor," against holy men, and "insolently injurious" includes, with the idea of injuring others, that of insolent "uppishness" [Donaldson] in relation to one's self. This threefold relation to God, to one's neighbor, and to one's self, occurs often in this Epistle (1Ti 1:5, 9, 14; Tit 2:12). I obtained mercy--God's mercy, and Paul's want of it, stand in sharp contrast [Ellicott]; Greek, "I was made the object of mercy." The sense of mercy was perpetual in the mind of the apostle (compare Note, see on 1Ti 1:2). Those who have felt mercy can best have mercy on those out of the way (Heb 5:2, 3). because I did it ignorantly--Ignorance does not in itself deserve pardon; but it is a less culpable cause of unbelief than pride and wilful hardening of one's self against the truth (Joh 9:41; Ac 26:9). Hence it is Christ's plea of intercession for His murderers (Lu 23:34); and it is made by the apostles a mitigating circumstance in the Jews' sin, and one giving a hope of a door of repentance (Ac 3:17; Ro 10:2). The "because," &c., does not imply that ignorance was a sufficient reason for mercy being bestowed; but shows how it was possible that such a sinner could obtain mercy. The positive ground of mercy being shown to him, lies solely in the compassion of God (Tit 3:5). The ground of the ignorance lies in the unbelief, which implies that this ignorance is not unaccompanied with guilt. But there is a great difference between his honest zeal for the law, and a wilful striving against the Spirit of God (Mt 12:24-32; Lu 11:52) [Wiesinger].

And--Greek, "But." Not only so (was mercy shown me), but the grace--by which "I obtained mercy" (1Ti 1:13). was exceeding abundant--Greek, "superabounded." Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Ro 5:20). with faith--accompanied with faith, the opposite of "unbelief" (1Ti 1:13). love--in contrast to "a blasphemer, persecutor, and injurious." which is in Christ--as its element and home [Alford]: here as its source whence it flows to us.

faithful--worthy of credit, because "God" who says it "is faithful" to His word (1Co 1:9; 1Th 5:24; 2Th 3:3; Re 21:5; 22:6). This seems to have become an axiomatic saying among Christians the phrase, "faithful saying," is peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles (1Ti 2:11; 4:9; Tit 3:8). Translate as Greek, "Faithful is the saying." all--all possible; full; to be received by all, and with all the faculties of the soul, mind, and heart. Paul, unlike the false teachers (1Ti 1:7), understands what he is saying, and whereof he affirms; and by his simplicity of style and subject, setting forth the grand fundamental truth of salvation through Christ, confutes the false teachers' abstruse and unpractical speculations (1Co 1:18-28; Tit 2:1). acceptation--reception (as of a boon) into the heart, as well as the understanding, with all gladness; this is faith acting on the Gospel offer, and welcoming and appropriating it (Ac 2:41). Christ--as promised. Jesus--as manifested [Bengel]. came into the world--which was full of sin (Joh 1:29; Ro 5:12; 1Jo 2:2). This implies His pre-existence. Joh 1:9, Greek, "the true Light that, coming into the world, lighteth every man." to save sinners--even notable sinners like Saul of Tarsus. His instance was without a rival since the ascension, in point of the greatness of the sin and the greatness of the mercy: that the consenter to Stephen, the proto-martyr's death, should be the successor of the same! I am--not merely, "I was chief" (1Co 15:9; Eph 3:8; compare Lu 18:13). To each believer his own sins must always appear, as long as he lives, greater than those of others, which he never can know as he can know his own. chief--the same Greek as in 1Ti 1:16, "first," which alludes to this fifteenth verse, Translate in both verses, "foremost." Well might he infer where there was mercy for him, there is mercy for all who will come to Christ (Mt 18:11; Lu 19:10).

Howbeit--Greek, "But"; contrasting his own conscious sinfulness with God's gracious visitation of him in mercy. for this cause--for this very purpose. that in me--in my case. first--"foremost." As I was "foremost" (Greek for chief, 1Ti 1:15) in sin, so God has made me the "foremost" sample of mercy. show--to His own glory (the middle Greek, voice), Eph 2:7. all long-suffering--Greek, "the whole (of His) long-suffering," namely, in bearing so long with me while I was a persecutor. a pattern--a sample (1Co 10:6, 11) to assure the greatest sinners of the certainty that they shall not be rejected in coming to Christ, since even Saul found mercy. So David made his own case of pardon, notwithstanding the greatness of his sin, a sample to encourage other sinners to seek pardon (Ps 32:5, 6). The Greek for "pattern" is sometimes used for a "sketch" or outline--the filling up to take place in each man's own case. believe on him--Belief rests ON Him as the only foundation on which faith relies. to life everlasting--the ultimate aim which faith always keeps in view (Tit 1:2).

A suitable conclusion to the beautifully simple enunciation of the Gospel, of which his own history is a living sample or pattern. It is from the experimental sense of grace that the doxology flows [Bengel]. the King, eternal--literally, "King of the (eternal) ages." The Septuagint translates Ex 15:18, "The Lord shall reign for ages and beyond them." Ps 145:13, Margin, "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom," literally, "a kingdom of all ages." The "life everlasting" (1Ti 1:16) suggested here "the King eternal," or everlasting. It answers also to "for ever and ever" at the close, literally, "to the ages of the ages" (the countless succession of ages made up of ages). immortal--The oldest manuscripts read, "incorruptible." The Vulgate, however, and one very old manuscript read as English Version (Ro 1:23). invisible--(1Ti 6:16; Ex 33:20; Joh 1:18; Col 1:15; Heb 11:27). the only wise God--The oldest manuscripts omit "wise," which probably crept in from Ro 16:27, where it is more appropriate to the context than here (compare Jude 25). "The only Potentate" (1Ti 6:15; Ps 86:10; Joh 5:44). for ever, &c.--See note, above. The thought of eternity (terrible as it is to unbelievers) is delightful to those assured of grace (1Ti 1:16) [Bengel].

He resumes the subject begun at 1Ti 1:3. The conclusion (apodosis) to the foregoing, "as I besought thee ... charge" (1Ti 1:3), is here given, if not formally, at least substantially. This charge--namely, "that thou in them (so the Greek) mightest war," that is, fulfil thy high calling, not only as a Christian, but as a minister officially, one function of which is, to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine" (1Ti 1:3). I commit--as a sacred deposit (1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 2:2) to be laid before thy hearers. according to--in pursuance of; in consonance with. the prophecies which went before on thee--the intimations given by prophets respecting thee at thy ordination, 1Ti 4:14 (as, probably, by Silas, a companion of Paul, and "a prophet," Ac 15:32). Such prophetical intimation, as well as the good report given of Timothy by the brethren (Ac 16:2), may have induced Paul to take him as his companion. Compare similar prophecies as to others: Ac 13:1-3, in connection with laying on of hands; Ac 11:28; 21:10, 11; compare 1Co 12:10; 14:1; Eph 4:11. In Ac 20:28, it is expressly said that "the Holy Ghost had made them (the Ephesian presbyters) overseers." Clement of Rome [Epistle to the Corinthians], states it was the custom of the apostles "to make trial by the Spirit," that is, by the "power of discerning," in order to determine who were to be overseers and deacons in the several churches planted. So Clement of Alexandria says as to the churches near Ephesus, that the overseers were marked out for ordination by a revelation of the Holy Ghost to St. John. by them--Greek, "in them"; arrayed as it were in them; armed with them. warfare--not the mere "fight" (1Ti 6:12; 2Ti 4:7), but the whole campaign; the military service. Translate as Greek, not "a," but "the good warfare."

Holding--Keeping hold of "faith" and "good conscience" (1Ti 1:5); not "putting the latter away" as "some." Faith is like a very precious liquor; a good conscience is the clean, pure glass that contains it [Bengel]. The loss of good conscience entails the shipwreck of faith. Consciousness of sin (unrepented of and forgiven) kills the germ of faith in man [Wiesinger]. which--Greek singular, namely, "good conscience," not "faith" also; however, the result of putting away good conscience is, one loses faith also. put away--a wilful act. They thrust it from them as a troublesome monitor. It reluctantly withdraws, extruded by force, when its owner is tired of its importunity, and is resolved to retain his sin at the cost of losing it. One cannot be on friendly terms with it and with sin at one and the same time. made shipwreck--"with respect to THE faith." Faith is the vessel in which they had professedly embarked, of which "good conscience" is the anchor. The ancient Church often used this image, comparing the course of faith to navigation. The Greek does not imply that one having once had faith makes shipwreck of it, but that they who put away good conscience "make shipwreck with respect to THE faith."

Hymenaeus--There is no difficulty in supposing him to be the Hymenæus of 2Ti 2:17. Though "delivered over to Satan" (the lord of all outside the Church, Ac 26:18, and the executor of wrath, when judicially allowed by God, on the disobedient, 1Co 5:5; 2Co 12:7), he probably was restored to the Church subsequently, and again troubled it. Paul, as an apostle, though distant at Rome pronounced the sentence to be executed at Ephesus, involving, probably, the excommunication of the offenders (Mt 18:17, 18). The sentence operated not only spiritually, but also physically, sickness, or some such visitation of God, falling on the person excommunicated, in order to bring him to repentance and salvation. Alexander here is probably "the coppersmith" who did Paul "much evil" when the latter visited Ephesus. The "delivering him to Satan" was probably the consequence of his withstanding the apostle (2Ti 4:14, 15); as the same sentence on Hymenæus was the consequence of "saying that the resurrection is past already" (2Ti 2:18; his putting away good conscience, naturally producing shipwreck concerning FAITH, 1Ti 1:19. If one's religion better not his morals, his moral deficiencies will corrupt his religion. The rain which falls pure from heaven will not continue pure if it be received in an unclean vessel [Archbishop Whately]). It is possible that he is the Alexander, then a Jew, put forward by the Jews, doubtless against Paul, at the riot in Ephesus (Ac 19:33). that they may--not "might"; implying that the effect still continues--the sentence is as yet unremoved. learn--Greek, "be disciplined," namely, by chastisement and suffering. blaspheme--the name of God and Christ, by doings and teachings unworthy of their Christian profession (Ro 2:23, 24; Jas 2:7). Though the apostles had the power of excommunication, accompanied with bodily inflictions, miraculously sent (2Co 10:8), it does not follow that fallible ministers now have any power, save that of excluding from church fellowship notorious bad livers.

therefore--taking up again the general subject of the Epistle in continuation (2Ti 2:1). "What I have therefore to say to thee by way of a charge (1Ti 1:3, 18), is," &c. that, first of all ... be made--Alford takes it, "I exhort first of all to make." "First of all," doubtless, is to be connected with "I exhort"; what I begin with (for special reasons), is ... As the destruction of Jerusalem drew near, the Jews (including those at Ephesus) were seized with the dream of freedom from every yoke; and so virtually "'blasphemed" (compare 1Ti 1:20) God's name by "speaking evil of dignities" (1Ti 6:1; 2Pe 2:10; Jude 8). Hence Paul, in opposition, gives prominence to the injunction that prayer be made for all men, especially for magistrates and kings (Tit 3:1-3) [Olshausen]. Some professing Christians looked down on all not Christians, as doomed to perdition; but Paul says all men are to be prayed for, as Christ died for all (1Ti 2:4-6). supplications--a term implying the suppliant's sense of need, and of his own insufficiency. prayers--implying devotion. intercessions--properly the coming near to God with childlike confidence, generally in behalf of another. The accumulation of terms implies prayer in its every form and aspect, according to all the relations implied in it.

since Christ Is a Ransom for All. The Duties of Men and Women Respectively in Respect to Public Prayer. Woman's Subjection; Her Sphere of Duty.

For kings--an effectual confutation of the adversaries who accused the Christians of disaffection to the ruling powers (Ac 17:7; Ro 13:1-7). all ... in authority--literally, "in eminence"; in stations of eminence. The "quiet" of Christians was often more dependent on subordinate rulers, than on the supreme king; hence, "all ... in authority" are to be prayed for. that we may lead--that we may be blessed with such good government as to lead ... ; or rather, as Greek, "to pass" or "spend." The prayers of Christians for the government bring down from heaven peace and order in a state. quiet--not troubled from without. peaceable--"tranquil"; not troubled from within [Olshausen]. "He is peaceable (Greek) who makes no disturbance; he is quiet (Greek) who is himself free from disturbance" [Tittmann]. in all godliness--"in all (possible ... requisite) piety" [Alford]. A distinct Greek word, 1Ti 2:10, expresses "godliness." honesty--Greek, "gravity" (Tit 2:2, 7), "decorum," or propriety of conduct. As "piety" is in relation to God, "gravity" is propriety of behavior among men. In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded to pray for their heathen rulers (Ezr 6:10; Jer 29:7). The Jews, by Augustus' order, offered a lamb daily for the Roman emperor, till near the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish Zealots, instigated by Eleazar, caused this custom to cease [Josephus, Wars of the Jews,

17], whence the war originated, according to Josephus.

this--praying for all men. in the sight of God--not merely before men, as if it were their favor that we sought (2Co 8:21). our Saviour--a title appropriate to the matter in hand. He who is "our Saviour" is willing that all should be saved (1Ti 2:4; Ro 5:18); therefore we should meet the will of God in behalf of others, by praying for the salvation of all men. More would be converted if we would pray more. He has actually saved us who believe, being "our Saviour." He is willing that all should be saved, even those who do not as yet believe, if they will believe (compare 1Ti 4:10; Tit 2:11).

"Imitate God." Since He wishes that all should be saved, do you also wish it; and if you wish it, pray for it. For prayer is the instrument of effecting such things [Chrysostom]. Paul does not say, "He wishes to save all"; for then he would have saved all in matter of fact; but "will have all men to be saved," implies the possibility of man's accepting it (through God's prevenient grace) or rejecting it (through man's own perversity). Our prayers ought to include all, as God's grace included all. to come--They are not forced. unto the knowledge--Greek, "the full knowledge" or "recognition" (See on 1Co 13:12; Php 1:9). the truth--the saving truth as it is in, and by, Jesus (Joh 17:3, 17).

For there is one God--God's unity in essence and purpose is a proof of His comprehending all His human children alike (created in His image) in His offer of grace (compare the same argument from His unity, Ro 3:30; Ga 3:20); therefore all are to be prayed for. 1Ti 2:4 is proved from 1Ti 2:5; 1Ti 2:1, from 1Ti 2:4. The one God is common to all (Isa 45:22; Ac 17:26). The one Mediator is mediator between God and all men potentially (Ro 3:29; Eph 4:5, 6; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). They who have not this one God by one Mediator, have none: literally, a "go-between." The Greek order is not "and one mediator," but "one mediator also between ... While God will have all men to be saved by knowing God and the Mediator, there is a legitimate, holy order in the exercise of that will wherewith men ought to receive it. All mankind constitute, as it were, ONE MAN before God [Bengel]. the man--rather "man," absolutely and genetically: not a mere individual man: the Second Head of humanity, representing and embodying in Himself the whole human race and nature. There is no "the" in the Greek. This epithet is thus the strongest corroboration of his argument, namely, that Christ's mediation affects the whole race, since there is but the one Mediator, designed as the Representative Man for all men alike (compare Ro 5:15; 1Co 8:6; 2Co 5:19; Col 2:14). His being "man" was necessary to His being a Mediator, sympathizing with us through experimental knowledge of our nature (Isa 50:4; Heb 2:14; 4:15). Even in nature, almost all blessings are conveyed to us from God, not immediately, but through the mediation of various agents. The effectual intercession of Moses for Israel (Nu 14:13-19, and De 9:1-29); of Abraham for Abimelech (Ge 20:7); of Job for his friends (Job 42:10), the mediation being PRESCRIBED by God while declaring His purposes of forgiveness: all prefigure the grand mediation for all by the one Mediator. On the other hand, 1Ti 3:16 asserts that He was also God.

gave himself--(Tit 2:14). Not only the Father gave Him for us (Joh 3:16); but the Son gave Himself (Php 2:5-8). ransom--properly of a captive slave. Man was the captive slave of Satan, sold under sin. He was unable to ransom himself, because absolute obedience is due to God, and therefore no act of ours can satisfy for the least offense. Le 25:48 allowed one sold captive to be redeemed by one of his brethren. The Son of God, therefore, became man in order that, being made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, as our elder brother He should redeem us (Mt 20:28; Eph 1:7; 1Pe 1:18, 19). The Greek implies not merely ransom, but a substituted or equivalent ransom: the Greek preposition, "anti," implying reciprocity and vicarious substitution. for all--Greek, "in behalf of all": not merely for a privileged few; compare 1Ti 2:1: the argument for praying in behalf of all is given here. to be testified--Greek, "the testimony (that which was to be testified of, 1Jo 5:8-11) in its own due times," or seasons, that is, in the times appointed by God for its being testified of (1Ti 6:15; Tit 1:3). The oneness of the Mediator, involving the universality of redemption (which faith, however, alone appropriates), was the great subject of Christian testimony [Alford] (1Co 1:6; 2:1; 2Th 1:10).

Whereunto--For the giving of which testimony. I am ordained--literally, "I was set": the same Greek, as "putting me," &c. (1Ti 1:12). preacher--literally, "herald" (1Co 1:21; 9:27; 15:11; 2Ti 1:11; Tit 1:3). He recurs to himself, as in 1Ti 1:16, in himself a living pattern or announcement of the Gospel, so here "a herald and teacher of (it to) the Gentiles" (Ga 2:9; Eph 3:1-12; Col 1:23). The universality of his commission is an appropriate assertion here, where he is arguing to prove that prayers are to be made "for all men" (1Ti 2:1). I speak the truth ... and lie not--a strong asseveration of his universal commission, characteristic of the ardor of the apostle, exposed to frequent conflict (Ro 11:1; 2Co 11:13). in faith and verity--rather, "in the faith and the truth." The sphere in which his ministry was appointed to be exercised was the faith and the truth (1Ti 2:4): the Gospel truth, the subject matter of the faith [Wiesinger].

I will--The active wish, or desire, is meant. that men--rather as Greek, "that the men," as distinguished from "the women," to whom he has something different to say from what he said to the men (1Ti 2:9-12; 1Co 11:14, 15; 14:34, 35). The emphasis, however, is not on this, but on the precept of praying, resumed from 1Ti 2:1. everywhere--Greek, "in every place," namely, of public prayer. Fulfilling Mal 1:11, "In every place ... from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same ... incense shall be offered unto My name"; and Jesus' words, Mt 18:20; Joh 4:21, 23. lifting up holy hands--The early Christians turned up their palms towards heaven, as those craving help do. So also Solomon (1Ki 8:22; Ps 141:2). The Jews washed their hands before prayer (Ps 26:6). Paul figuratively (compare Job 17:9; Jas 4:8) uses language alluding to this custom here: so Isa 1:15, 16. The Greek for "holy" means hands which have committed no impiety, and observed every sacred duty. This (or at least the contrite desire to be so) is a needful qualification for effectual prayer (Ps 24:3, 4). without wrath--putting it away (Mt 5:23, 24; 6:15). doubting--rather, "disputing," as the Greek is translated in Php 2:14. Such things hinder prayer (Lu 9:46; Ro 14:1; 1Pe 3:7). Bengel supports English Version (compare an instance, 2Ki 7:2; Mt 14:31; Mr 11:22-24; Jas 1:6).

The context requires that we understand these directions as to women, in relation to their deportment in public worship, though the rules will hold good on other occasions also. in modest apparel--"in seemly guise" [Ellicott]. The adjective means properly. orderly, decorous, becoming; the noun in secular writings means conduct, bearing. But here "apparel." Women are apt to love fine dress; and at Ephesus the riches of some (1Ti 6:17) would lead them to dress luxuriously. The Greek in Tit 2:3 is a more general term meaning "deportment." shamefacedness--Trench spells this word according to its true derivation, "shamefastness" (that which is made fast by an honorable shame); as "steadfastness" (compare 1Ti 2:11, 12). sobriety--"self-restraint" [Alford]. Habitual inner self-government [Trench]. I prefer Ellicott's translation, "sober-mindedness": the well-balanced state of mind arising from habitual self-restraint. with--Greek, "in." braided hair--literally, "plaits," that is, plaited hair: probably with the "gold and pearls" intertwined (1Pe 3:3). Such gaud is characteristic of the spiritual harlot (Re 17:4).

professing--Greek, "promising": engaging to follow. with good works--The Greek preposition is not the same as in 1Ti 2:9; "by means of," or "through good works." Their adorning is to be effected by means of good works: not that they are to be clothed in, or with, them (Eph 2:10). Works, not words in public, is their province (1Ti 2:8, 11, 12; 1Pe 3:1). Works are often mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles in order to oppose the loose living, combined with the loose doctrine, of the false teachers. The discharge of everyday duties is honored with the designation, "good works."

learn--not "teach" (1Ti 2:12; 1Co 14:34). She should not even put questions in the public assembly (1Co 14:35). with all subjection--not "usurping authority" (1Ti 2:12). She might teach, but not in public (Ac 18:26). Paul probably wrote this Epistle from Corinth, where the precept (1Co 14:34) was in force.

usurp authority--"to lord it over the man" [Alford], literally, "to be an autocrat."

For--reason of the precept; the original order of creation. Adam ... first--before Eve, who was created for him (1Co 11:8, 9).

Adam was not deceived--as Eve was deceived by the serpent; but was persuaded by his wife. Ge 3:17, "hearkened unto ... voice of ... wife." But in Ge 3:13, Eve says, "The serpent beguiled me." Being more easily deceived, she more easily deceives [Bengel], (2Co 11:3). Last in being, she was first in sin--indeed, she alone was deceived. The subtle serpent knew that she was "the weaker vessel" (1Pe 3:7). He therefore tempted her, not Adam. She yielded to the temptations of sense and the deceits of Satan; he, to conjugal love. Hence, in the order of God's judicial sentence, the serpent, the prime offender, stands first; the woman, who was deceived, next; and the man, persuaded by his wife, last (Ge 3:14-19). In Ro 5:12, Adam is represented as the first transgressor; but there no reference is made to Eve, and Adam is regarded as the head of the sinning race. Hence, as here, 1Ti 2:11, in Ge 3:16, woman's "subjection" is represented as the consequence of her being deceived. being deceived--The oldest manuscripts read the compound Greek verb for the simple, "Having been seduced by deceit": implying how completely Satan succeeded in deceiving her. was in the transgression--Greek, "came to be in the transgression": became involved in the existing state of transgression, literally, "the going beyond a command"; breach of a positive precept (Ro 4:15).

be saved in childbearing--Greek, "in (literally, 'through') (her, literally, 'the') child-bearing." Through, or by, is often so used to express not the means of her salvation, but the circumstances AMIDST which it has place. Thus 1Co 3:15, "He ... shall be saved: yet so as by (literally, 'through,' that is, amidst) fire": in spite of the fiery ordeal which he has necessarily to pass through, he shall be saved. So here, "In spite of the trial of childbearing which she passes through (as her portion of the curse, Ge 3:16, 'in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children'), she shall be saved." Moreover, I think it is implied indirectly that the very curse will be turned into a condition favorable to her salvation, by her faithfully performing her part in doing and suffering what God has assigned to her, namely, child-bearing and home duties, her sphere, as distinguished from public teaching, which is not hers, but man's (1Ti 2:11, 12). In this home sphere, not ordinarily in one of active duty for advancing the kingdom of God, which contradicts the position assigned to her by God, she will be saved on the same terms as all others, namely, by living faith. Some think that there is a reference to the Incarnation "through THE child-bearing" (Greek), the bearing of the child Jesus. Doubtless this is the ground of women's child-bearing in general becoming to them a blessing, instead of a curse; just as in the original prophecy (Ge 3:15, 16) the promise of "the Seed of the woman" (the Saviour) stands in closest connection with the woman's being doomed to "sorrow" in "bringing forth children," her very child-bearing, though in sorrow, being the function assigned to her by God whereby the Saviour was born. This may be an ulterior reference of the Holy Spirit in this verse; but the primary reference required by the context is the one above given. "She shall be saved ([though] with childbearing)," that is, though suffering her part of the primeval curse in childbearing; just as a man shall be saved, though having to bear his part, namely, the sweat of the brow. if they, &c.--"if the women (plural, taken out of 'the woman,' 1Ti 2:14, which is put for the whole sex) continue," or more literally, "shall (be found at the judgment to) have continued." faith and charity--the essential way to salvation (1Ti 1:5). Faith is in relation to God. Charity, to our fellow man. Sobriety, to one's self. sobriety--"sober-mindedness" (see on 1Ti 2:9, as contrasted with the unseemly forwardness reproved in 1Ti 2:11). Mental receptivity and activity in family life were recognized in Christianity as the destiny of woman. One reason alleged here by Paul, is the greater danger of self-deception in the weaker sex, and the spread of errors arising from it, especially in a class of addresses in which sober reflectiveness is least in exercise [Neander]. The case (Ac 21:9) was doubtless in private, not in public.