Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Timothy 1:3

καθὼς παρεκάλεσά σε. There is no apodosis here; the sentence is unfinished, and grammatically incoherent. The writer meant to add words like οὕτω καὶ νῦν παρακαλῶ or οὔτω ποίει, but he was carried away by the rapid flow of his thought (see note on 1 Timothy 1:18). Thus the A.V. adds at the end of 1 Timothy 1:4 “so do,” in italics. This is quite in St Paul’s manner (cp. Galatians 2:6), and would be beyond the art of a forger to produce.

παρεκάλεσα, I exhorted, is perhaps a shade less strong than the parallel διεταξάμην, I charged, of Titus 1:5; see on 1 Timothy 4:13.

προσμεῖναι. To abide. προσμένειν is not used by Paul outside 1 Timothy; cp. Acts 18:18.

πορευόμενος εἰς Μακεδονίαν. When I was going into Macedonia. For the necessity of remanding this visit to a time outside the period covered by the Acts, see Introd. p. xxiv. ff.

ἵνα παραγγείλῃς τισίν. That thou mightest charge certain men. Classical Greek would require the optative mood after the past tense παρεκάλεσα: but in the N.T. the use of ἵνα with the optative is seldom found. παραγγελία is a regular term for ‘an order’ passed along the line (παρά); see 1 Timothy 1:5. The purpose of Timothy’s continued residence in Ephesus was that he might check the progress of heretical doctrine. The false teachers are not named (their names were no doubt known to Timothy), but they are described vaguely as τινές: this is St Paul’s usual way of referring to opponents (cp. 1 Timothy 1:19 and 1 Corinthians 4:18; 2 Corinthians 3:1; Galatians 1:7).

μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν. Not to teach other [sc. incongruous] doctrine. The word ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν only occurs in the Greek Bible here and at 1 Timothy 6:3. The element ἑτερο- points to irrelevance and incongruity of teaching (see Introd. p. xlvi.), as in 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6 εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον; it is equivalent, in fact, to ἕτερα διδάσκειν, ‘to be a teacher of ἕτερα.ʼ In our own Ordinal both priests and bishops are instructed that it is their duty to drive away not only “erroneous” but “strange” doctrine. So the false teachers are to be warned not ‘to play at deviations’ from the faith. ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν is used by Ignatius (Polyc. 3); similar verbal forms are νομοδιδάσκαλος (1 Timothy 1:7), καλοδιδάσκαλος (Titus 2:3), ψευδοδιδάσκαλος (2 Peter 2:1), κακοδιδασκαλεῖν ([2 Clem.] 10), ἐθελοδιδάσκαλος (Hermas Sim. ix. 22. 2), λαθροδιδασκαλεῖν (Iren. Haer. iii. 4. 2).

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Timothy 1:3

Old Testament

New Testament