Text -- 1 Timothy 1:17 (NET)

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

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ti 1:17

¹ tn Or more literally, “king of the ages.”

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.

³ tn Grk “unto the ages of the ages,” an emphatic way of speaking about eternity in Greek.