1 Timotius 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior ²  and of Christ Jesus our hope,

1 Timotius 1:13

1:13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant ³  man. But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief,

1 Timotius 3:13

3:13 For those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves ⁴  and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. ⁵ 

1 Timotius 5:14

5:14 So I want younger women to marry, raise children, and manage a household, in order to give the adversary no opportunity to vilify us. ⁶ 

1 Timotius 5:22

5:22 Do not lay hands on anyone ⁷  hastily and so identify with the sins of others. ⁸  Keep yourself pure.

1 Timotius 6:3

6:3 If someone spreads false teachings ⁹  and does not agree with sound words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the teaching that accords with godliness,

1 Timotius 6:10

6:10 For the love of money is the root ¹⁰  of all evils. ¹¹  Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

1 Timotius 6:12-13

6:12 Compete well ¹²  for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession ¹³  for ¹⁴  in the presence of many witnesses. 6:13 I charge you ¹⁵  before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession ¹⁶  before Pontius Pilate,

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² sn God our Savior. Use of the title “Savior” for God the Father is characteristic of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. It occurs six times in these letters, but only twice elsewhere in the NT. However, it occurs commonly in the OT, especially in Isaiah. It emphasizes the Father as the initiator and source of salvation.

[1:13]  ³ tn Or “violent,” “cruel.”

[3:13]  ⁴ sn The statement those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching (Matt 20:26-28; Mark 10:43-45) that the one who wishes to be great must be a servant (διάκονος [diakonos], used here of deacons) of all, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (διακονέω [diakonew], as in 1 Tim 3:10, 13).

[3:13]  ⁵ sn In the phrase the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the term faith seems to mean “what Christians believe, Christian truth,” rather than personal trust in Christ. So the whole phrase could mean that others will come to place greater confidence in them regarding Christian truth; but the word “confidence” is much more likely to refer to their own boldness to act on the truth of their convictions.

[5:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “for the sake of reviling.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn In context “laying hands on anyone” refers to ordination or official installation of someone as an elder.

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “and do not share in the sins of others.”

[6:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “teaches other doctrines,” (different from apostolic teaching, cf. 1 Tim 1:3).

[6:10]  ¹⁰ tn This could be taken to mean “a root,” but the phrase “of all evils” clearly makes it definite. This seems to be not entirely true to life (some evils are unrelated to love of money), but it should be read as a case of hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point more strongly).

[6:10]  ¹¹ tn Many translations render this “of all kinds of evil,” especially to allow for the translation “a root” along with it. But there is no parallel for taking a construction like this to mean “all kinds of” or “every kind of.” The normal sense is “all evils.”

[6:12]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “confessed the good confession.”

[6:13]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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).