1 Timothy 1:1. ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT. Characteristic of the Pastoral Epistles (Titus 1:3, and in another connexion Titus 2:15, but also in Romans 16:26). Stronger and more emphatic than the simple reference to ‘the _Will_ of God' in the earlier Epistles. GOD OUR SAVIOUR. This also is a disti... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:2. ‘ GRACE, MERCY, PEACE. ' The addition of ‘mercy' to the ‘grace and peace' of St. Paul's earlier Epistles is another characteristic of this group (2 Timothy 1; and in some MSS. Titus 1:4). As with the title ‘Saviour,' it is as though advancing years only led him to dwell more and more... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:3. AS I BESOUGHT THEE TO ABIDE AT EPHESUS. See Introduction as to the occasion thus referred to. On the assumption of the conclusion there arrived at, it would be at the close of St. Paul's last visit to Ephesus, after his first imprisonment at Rome. He had seen, as the Epistle shews, mu... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:4. FABLES AND ENDLESS GENEALOGIES. In the absence of contemporary information as to the state of the Ephesian Church at this period, the exact meaning of these words must remain doubtful. It is fair to assume, as the ‘fables' are called ‘Jewish' in Titus 1:4, that they were more or less... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:5. THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT. The statement would of course be true of the commandment, or law, of God, as in Romans 13:10. But the word so translated is not used elsewhere in the New Testament in that higher sense, and is used in 1 Timothy 1:3; 1 Timothy 1:18 of the ‘charge' or ‘instru... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:6. HAVING SWERVED. The missing of the mark, the losing of the way, that comes, not from taking aim and failing, but from making no effort to reach the mark the temper, _i.e.,_ which is the exact opposite of that which St. Paul describes as his own in 1 Corinthians 9:26; Philippians 3:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:7. DESIRING _(i.e._ pretending) TO BE TEACHERS OF THE LAW. The compound word used by St. Paul suggests (as in Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34) a more official title than the English. They claimed to be Rabbis or doctors of the law, such as Gamaliel. The word shews clearly that it was still the Jewi... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:8. IF A MAN USE IT LAWFULLY. ‘We know,' the apostle seems to say, ‘we who have been taught, through personal experience, by the Spirit of God, what is the nature and office of the law, that it is good and noble. To use it law-fully is to feel that it no longer touches us, that we are not... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:9. THE LAW. There is no article in the Greek, but St. Paul's use of the words elsewhere _(e.g. Romans 6:14_; Galatians 5:18) justifies the translation. The law would not be needed but for the lawless element in men which needs correction. DISOBEDIENT. Better ‘ _insubordinate,'_ the stat... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:10. Sins against the seventh commandment, recognising the true division of natural and unnatural vices (‘defilers of themselves with _males_ '), came first; then the worst form of offence against the eighth, the kidnapping and man-stealing to which the prevalence of slavery naturally gav... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:11. ACCORDING TO THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. Better, ‘ _the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God.'_ The translation of the characterizing genitive, as though it were simply equivalent to an adjective, is for the most part misleading. St. Paul had used the phrase before, 2 Corinthians 4:4; the... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:12. WHO HATH ENABLED ME. The order of the Greek is more emphatic. ‘I _give thanks to Him who gave me power, to Christ Jesus our Lord.'_ It is significant that the same word is used by Luke in his account of St. Paul's conversion, ‘he was strengthened' (Acts 9:19). The tense points rather... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:13. A BLASPHEMER... Probably in both senses of the word, as implying (1) violent and railing speech against men, (2) actual blasphemy against the Name which be now recognised as above every name. His own words in Acts 26:11 give prominence to the latter meaning. Comp. James 2:7. Injurio... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:14. OUR LORD. In the earlier Epistles we have the forms ‘the Lord,' ‘the Lord Jesus Christ,' ‘Jesus Christ our Lord.' The use of this shortened form belongs to St. Paul's later language (2 Timothy 1:8). WITH FAITH AND LOVE. ‘Grace' came as the result of ‘mercy,' bringing with it the ne... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:15. THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING. Better, ‘ _Faithful is the saying.'_ The formula of citation is peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles, and in them occurs frequently (1 Timothy 3:1; 1Ti 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8). It obviously indicates a stage of Christian thought in which certain truths... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:16. FOR THIS CAUSE. Besides the ignorance that made mercy possible, there was a Divine wisdom working out a purpose of love. In him ‘first,' or _‘chief_ (as a greater, more typical instance than any other), Christ Jesus would snow forth all the long-suffering which marked God's dealings... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:17. As in Romans 11:36; Romans 16:27, the thought of God's great mercy leads the apostle to break out into a jubilant doxology. THE KING ETERNAL. Literally _‘the king of the ages,'_ of all the æons or periods which man's thought can apprehend in the remotest past, or future. The phrase... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:18. Here, in writing or dictating, there must have been a pause. After the ecstasy of praise is over, the writer returns to the ‘charge' or ‘commandment' from which he had diverged, and which he now solemnly committed to Timothy as a trust for the use of which he was responsible (2 Timot... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:19. FAITH. The personal subjective trust in God, as coupled with the ‘good conscience.' HAVING PUT AWAY. The Greek implies violence, ‘ _thrusting from them.'_ CONCERNING FAITH HAVE MADE SHIPWRECK. The article in the Greek before ‘faith' implies that (as in 1 Timothy 3:9; 1 Timothy 4:6... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 1:20. HYMENÆUS AND ALEXANDER. The first probably identical with the false teacher named with Philetus in 2 Timothy 2:17, as teaching that _‘_ the resurrection was past already,' _i.e._ that it was simply ethical and ideal, as a rising to newness of life. From St. Paul's point of view, this... [ Continue Reading ]