1 Timotius 6:13-16

6:13 I charge you ¹  before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession ²  before Pontius Pilate, 6:14 to obey ³  this command ⁴  without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ 6:15 – whose appearing ⁵  the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time. 6:16 He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

[6:13]  ¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses, some of them important (א² A D H 1881 Ï lat sy bo), have σοι (soi, “you”) after παραγγέλλω (parangellw, “I charge [you]”), a predictable variant because the personal pronoun is demanded by the sense of the passage (and was added in the translation because of English requirements). Hence, the omission is the harder reading, and the addition of σοι is one of clarification. Further, the shorter reading is found in several important witnesses, such as א* F G Ψ 6 33 1739 pc. Thus, both internally and externally the shorter reading is preferred. NA ²⁷ places σοι in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[6:13]  tn Grk “I charge.”

[6:13]  ² tn Grk “testified the good confession.”

[6:13]  sn Jesus’ good confession was his affirmative answer to Pilate’s question “Are you the king of the Jews?” (see Matt 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, John 18:33-37).

[6:14]  ³ tn The Greek word τηρέω (threw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “the command.”

[6:14]  sn The command refers to the duties laid upon Timothy for his ministry in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3-20; 6:2c-5).

[6:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “which.” All of 1 Tim 6:15 is a relative clause which refers back to “appearing” in v.14. The phrase “whose appearing” was supplied to clarify this connection.