1 Timotius 1:17

1:17 Now to the eternal king, ¹  immortal, invisible, the only ²  God, be honor and glory forever and ever! ³  Amen.

1 Timotius 6:15-16

6:15 – whose appearing ⁴  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.

[1:17]  ¹ tn Or more literally, “king of the ages.”

[1:17]  ² tc Most later witnesses (א² D¹ H^c Ψ 1881 Ï) have “wise” (σόφῳ, swfw) here (thus, “the only wise God”), while the earlier and better witnesses (א* A D* F G H* 33 1739 lat co) lack this adjective. Although it could be argued that the longer reading is harder since it does not as emphatically affirm monotheism, it is more likely that scribes borrowed σόφῳ from Rom 16:27 where μόνῳ σόφῳ θεῷ (monw sofw qew, “the only wise God”) is textually solid.

[1:17]  ³ tn Grk “unto the ages of the ages,” an emphatic way of speaking about eternity in Greek.

[6:15]  ⁴ 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.