1 Timothy 6:12

ἀγωνίζου … ἀγῶνα : There is evidence that ἀγωνίζομαι ἀγῶνα had become a stereotyped expression, perhaps from the line of Euripides: καίτοι καλόν γʼ ἂν τόνδʼ ἀγῶνʼ ἠγωνίσω (Alcestis, 648 or 664). See an Athenian inscription quoted by Moulton and Milligan, Expositor, vii., vi. 370. Nevertheless the metaphor has its full force here, and in 2 Timothy 4:7 : Engage in the contest which profession of the faith entails; it is a noble one. Allusions to the public games are notoriously Pauline (1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:12). The present imperative indicates the continuous nature of the ἀγών, while the aor. ἐπιλαβοῦ expresses the single act of laying hold of the prize (so 1 Timothy 6:19). It does not seem an insuperable objection to this view that καταλαμβάνω is the word used in 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:12. On the other hand, Winer-Moulton (Gram., p. 392) argues from the asyndeton (cf. Mark 4:39) that ἐπιλαβοῦ, κ. τ. λ. forms one notion with ἀγωνίζου; that “it is not the result of the contest, but itself the substance of the striving”. Yet in 1 Timothy 6:19 (ἵνα ἐπιλάβωνται τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς) there is nothing in the context suggestive of struggle.

εἰς ἣν ἐκλήθης : We are called to eternal life (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Peter 5:10); it is placed well within our reach; but it is not put into our hands; each man must grasp it for himself.

καὶ ὡμολόγησας, κ. τ. λ.: This clause has no syntactical connexion with what has preceded. It refers to ἀγῶνα, the contest on which Timothy entered at his baptism, when he was called, enrolled as a soldier in the army of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:4; 1 Corinthians 9:7), and professed fidelity to his new Leader (his response to the divine call) before many witnesses. ὁμολογία is perhaps best referred to a formal profession of faith, here as in the reff. Cyril Jer., when recalling the baptismal ceremonies to the newly baptised, says in reference to their profession of belief in the Trinity, ὡμολογήσατε τὴν σωτήριον ὁμολογίαν (Cat. xx. 4).

In the primitive Church the baptism of an individual was a matter in which the Church generally took an interest and part. The rule laid down in The Didache, 7, shows this: “Before the baptism let him that baptizeth and him that is baptized fast, and any others also who are able”. Also Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 61, ἡμῶν συνευχομένων καὶ συννηστευόντων αὐτοῖς. These passages explain “the many witnesses” of Timothy's good confession. It is not so natural to refer the good confession to a crisis of persecution, or to his ordination. The epithet καλήν here and in the following verse does not characterise the particular act of confession made by Timothy or by Christ, but refers to the class of confession, its import, as Ell. says.