1 Timothy 4:2

κεκαυστηριασμένων. This is the spelling of the best MSS. (אAL); κεκαυτηριασμένων, the spelling of the text. rec., is found in CD2GKP &c.

2. ἐν ὑποκρίσει ψευδολόγων. Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies. ψευδολόγων (only here in Greek Bible) is not to be taken (see punctuation of A.V.) with δαιμονίων; these ‘speakers of lies’ are the instruments through which the demoniac powers exercise their influence.

κεκαυστηριασμένων τὴν ἰδίαν συνείδησιν. Branded in their own conscience. καυστηριάζεσθαι does not occur elsewhere in the Greek Bible, but we have καυστηρία in 4Ma 15:22; and in Hippocrates καυστηριάζειν is ‘to cauterize.’ The A.V. translates “seared as with a hot iron”; thus the thought would be of the ἀναλγησία, the lack of moral sensitiveness, apparent in the ψευδολόγοι. But the metaphor more probably has reference to the penal branding of criminals. This brand-mark of sin is not indeed visible to the world; but it is known to the man himself. Here is the force of ἰδίαν; these hypocrites, with their outward show of holiness and of extreme asceticism, dum alios tamen urgent (Bengel), have the brand of sin on their own consciences. Contrast with this τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ of Galatians 6:17 and the emphasis laid on a ‘good’ conscience all through the Pastorals; see on 1 Timothy 1:5. Cp. also Titus 3:11 and the note thereon.

2 Peter 3:5 γῆ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ δι ̓ ὕδατος συνεστῶσα τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ.

The three latter passages might be differently classified, but it is convenient to place them here, as in each case it is the source rather than the content of ὁ λόγος on which emphasis is laid.

(b) The Word spoken. i. St Luke’s writings. In this sense the phrase is a favourite one with Luke, who uses it four times in the Gospel and twelve times in the Acts, viz.:

Luke 5:1 [The multitude came] ἀκούειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Luke 8:11 ὁ σπόρος ἐστὶν ὁ λόγος τοῖ θεοῦ.

Luke 8:21 οὖτοι εἰσιν οἱ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ�.

Luke 11:28 μακάριοι οἱ�.

Acts 4:31 ἐλάλουν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ παρρησίας.

Acts 6:2 καταλείψαντας τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ διακονεῖν τραπέζαις.

Acts 6:7 ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ἤυξανεν.

Acts 8:14 δέδεκται ἡ Σαμαρία τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Acts 11:1 τὰ ἔθνη ἐδέξαντο τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Acts 12:24 ὁ δὲ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ [al. κυρίου] ηὔξανεν καὶ ἐπληθύνετο.

Acts 13:5 κατήγγελλον τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Acts 13:7 ἐπεζήτησεν�.

Acts 13:44 ἡ πόλις συνήχθη� [al. κυρίου].

Acts 13:46 … λαληθῆναι τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Acts 17:13 κατηγγέλη … ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ.

Acts 18:11 διδάσκων … τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

In some of these passages the phrase has almost come to be a synonym for the Gospel.
ii. The Epistles of St Paul.
In one passage, Romans 9:6 οὐχ οἶον δὲ ὄτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, the phrase is almost equivalent to the declared purpose of God, a sense approximating to (a); but he generally uses it in sense (b) as a synonym for the Gospel preached, viz.:

2 Corinthians 2:17 οὐ γάρ ἐσμεν ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

2 Corinthians 4:2 μηδὲ δολοῦντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Colossians 1:25 πληρῶσαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ μυστήριον τὸ�.τ.λ.

2 Timothy 2:9 ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ οὐ δέδεται.

Titus 2:5 ἵνα μὴ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ βλασφημῆται.

iii. The Apocalypse.
Here in four instances out of five, it stands for the Gospel and is coupled with the testimony of Jesus, viz.:

Revelation 1:2 ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Revelation 1:9 διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ.

Revelation 6:9 διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν εἶχον.

Revelation 20:4 διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.

iv. The Epistle to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:7 οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ. This is sense (b). Hebrews 4:12 ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐνεργής κ.τ.λ. This notable statement seems to mark the transition from (b) to (c), from the Revelation of God to the Logos, who was Himself the Revealer.

(c) The Word Incarnate. This sense of the personal, Incarnate, Logos we have explicitly once, viz.:

Revelation 19:13 κέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ὁ Λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ.

This is the sense of λὸγος brought out prominently in the Prologue to St John’s Gospel (1 Timothy 1:1-3).

(d) The Word Written. From a consideration of the passages quoted above it appears that ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ generally stands in the N.T. for the Divine message revealed to men, indirectly by the prophets of the O.T. and the Apostles of the N.T., and directly by Christ Himself. This message is recorded, in part, in the pages of the O.T., and it is thus plain that in a certain sense the title ‘the word of God’ is applicable to the revelation of the Divine counsels therein contained. The revelation recorded in the O.T. would unquestionably have been regarded by a Jew as truly ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. So Philo speaking of the βίβλος γενέσεως of Genesis 2:4 adds βιβλίον δὲ εἴρηκε τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον (Leg. All. i. 8, cp. Leg. All. ii. 26). We may be sure that no Apostle would have excluded Scripture from the agencies to which the title might be given. And there are two or three passages in the N.T. where the title seems to be actually so applied, viz.

Matthew 15:6 ἠκυρώσατε τὸν λόγον [al. νόμον] τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν.

Mark 7:13 ἀκυροῦντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ παραδόσει ὑμῶν ᾗ παρεδώκατε.

In the second of these parallel passages (at least) there is no doubt about the true reading; and it is hard to doubt that the contrast between the canonical Scripture of the O.T. and the unauthorised comments and additions of the scribes is the point of emphasis.
The other passage coming under this head has been already commented on, viz.