1 Timotius 3:11

3:11 Likewise also their wives ¹  must be dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in every respect.

1 Timotius 3:8

3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, ²  not two-faced, ³  not given to excessive drinking, ⁴  not greedy for gain,

1 Timotius 6:12-13

6:12 Compete well ⁵  for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession ⁶  for ⁷  in the presence of many witnesses. 6:13 I charge you ⁸  before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession ⁹  before Pontius Pilate,

1 Timotius 3:1

Qualifications for Overseers and Deacons

3:1 This saying ¹⁰  is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, ¹¹  he desires a good work.”

1 Timotius 1:4

1:4 nor to occupy themselves with myths and interminable genealogies. ¹²  Such things promote useless speculations rather than God’s redemptive plan ¹³  that operates by faith.

1 Timotius 6:2

6:2 But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect ¹⁴  because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. ¹⁵ 

Summary of Timothy’s Duties

Teach them and exhort them about these things. ¹⁶ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Or “also deaconesses.” The Greek word here is γυναῖκας (gunaika") which literally means “women” or “wives.” It is possible that this refers to women who serve as deacons, “deaconesses.” The evidence is as follows: (1) The immediate context refers to deacons; (2) the author mentions nothing about wives in his section on elder qualifications (1 Tim 3:1-7); (3) it would seem strange to have requirements placed on deacons’ wives without corresponding requirements placed on elders’ wives; and (4) elsewhere in the NT, there seems to be room for seeing women in this role (cf. Rom 16:1 and the comments there). The translation “wives” – referring to the wives of the deacons – is probably to be preferred, though, for the following reasons: (1) It would be strange for the author to discuss women deacons right in the middle of the qualifications for male deacons; more naturally they would be addressed by themselves. (2) The author seems to indicate clearly in the next verse that women are not deacons: “Deacons must be husbands of one wife.” (3) Most of the qualifications given for deacons elsewhere do not appear here. Either the author has truncated the requirements for women deacons, or he is not actually referring to women deacons; the latter seems to be the more natural understanding. (4) The principle given in 1 Tim 2:12 appears to be an overarching principle for church life which seems implicitly to limit the role of deacon to men. Nevertheless, a decision in this matter is difficult, and our conclusions must be regarded as tentative.

[3:8]  ² tn Or “respectable, honorable, of serious demeanor.”

[3:8]  ³ tn Or “insincere,” “deceitful”; Grk “speaking double.”

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “not devoted to much wine.”

[6:12]  ⁵ tn This phrase literally means “compete in the good competition of the faith,” using words that may refer to a race or to a boxing or wrestling match: “run the good race” or “fight the good fight.” The similar phrase in 1 Tim 1:18 uses a military picture and is more literally “war the good warfare.”

[6:12]  ⁶ sn At some point in Timothy’s life, he publicly acknowledged Jesus as the resurrected Lord, perhaps either at his baptism or his ordination as a minister of the gospel. With this reminder of the historical moment of his good confession, Timothy is encouraged to remain steadfast in his faith and to finish his life as a minister in the same way it began (see G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles [NIGTC], 264-65).

[6:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “confessed the good confession.”

[6:13]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the saying,” referring to the following citation (see 1 Tim 1:15; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8 for other occurrences of this phrase).

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “aspires to oversight.”

[1:4]  ¹² sn Myths and interminable genealogies. These myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 4:7; 2 Tim 4:4; and Titus 1:14. They were perhaps built by speculation from the patriarchal narratives in the OT; hence the connection with genealogies and with wanting to be teachers of the law (v. 7).

[1:4]  ¹³ tc A few Western mss (D* latt Ir) read οἰκοδομήν (oikodomhn, “[God’s] edification”) rather than οἰκονομίαν (oikonomian, “[God’s] redemptive plan”), which is read by the earliest and best witnesses.

[1:4]  tn More literally, “the administration of God that is by faith.”

[1:4]  sn God’s redemptive plan. The basic word (οἰκονομία, oikonomia) denotes the work of a household steward or manager or the arrangement under which he works: “household management.” As a theological term it is used of the order or arrangement by which God brings redemption through Christ (God’s “dispensation, plan of salvation” [Eph 1:10; 3:9]) or of human responsibility to pass on the message of that salvation (“stewardship, commission” [1 Cor 9:17; Eph 3:2; Col 1:25]). Here the former is in view (see the summary of God’s plan in 1 Tim 2:3-6; 2 Tim 1:9-10; Titus 3:4-7), and Paul notes the response people must make to God’s arrangement: It is “in faith” or “by faith.”

[6:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “think the less of them”; Grk “despise them,” “look down on them.”

[6:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “those who devote themselves to service are faithful and dearly loved” (referring to slaves who serve them).

[6:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “these things teach and exhort.”