Text -- 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (NET)

Prayer for All People

2:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, 2:2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 2:3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 2:4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 2:5 For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, 2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time. 2:7 For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle– I am telling the truth; I am not lying– and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 2:8 So I want the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 1Ti 2:1

First of all ( prōton pantōn ).

Take with parakalō . My first request (first in importance).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:1

Intercessions ( enteuxeis ).

Late word (Polybius, Plutarch, etc.), only here in N.T. and 1Ti 4:5, though the verb entugchanō in Rom 8:27, Rom 8:34; Rom 11:2, Rom 11:25. The other three words for prayer are common (Phi 4:6).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:1

For all men ( huper pantōn anthrōpōn ).

The scope of prayer is universal including all kinds of sinners (and saints).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

For kings ( huper basileōn ).

And this included Nero who had already set fire to Rome and laid it on the Christians whom he was also persecuting.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

And all them that are in high place ( kai pantōn tōn en huperochēi ontōn ).

Huperochē is old word (from huperochos and this from huper and echō ), but in N.T. only here and 1Co 2:1.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

That we may lead ( hina diagōmen ).

Purpose clause with present active subjunctive of diagō , an old and common verb, but in N.T. only here and Tit 3:3.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

Tranquil ( ēremon ).

Late adjective from the old adverb ērema (stilly, quietly). Here only in N.T.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

Quiet ( hēsuchion ).

Old adjective, once in lxx (Isa 66:2), in N.T. only here and 1Pe 3:4.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

Life ( bion ).

Old word for course of life (not zōē ). So Luk 8:14.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:2

Gravity ( semnotēti ).

Old word from semnos (Phi 4:8), in N.T. only here, 1Ti 3:4; Tit 2:7.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:3

Acceptable ( apodekton ).

Late verbal adjective from apodechomai . In inscriptions and papyri. In N.T. only here and 1Ti 5:4.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:4

Willeth ( thelei ).

God’ s wish and will in so far as he can influence men.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:4

That all men should be saved ( pantas anthrōpous sōthēnai ).

First aorist passive infinitive of sōzō with accusative of general reference. See note on 1Co 10:33; 2Co 5:18.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:4

To the knowledge ( eis epignōsin ).

"The full knowledge"as in Col 1:6; Eph 4:13 (ten times in Paul). See note on 2Ti 3:7 for the whole phrase "full knowledge of the truth"(alētheia 14 times in the Pastorals). Paul is anxious as in Colossians and Ephesians that the Gnostics may not lead the people astray. They need the full intellectual apprehension of Christianity.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:5

One God ( heis theos ).

Regular Pauline argument for a universal gospel (Gal 3:20; Rom 3:30; Eph 4:6).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:5

One mediator ( heis mesitēs ).

Late word (Polybius, Philo) from mesos (middle), a middle man. In N.T. only here, Gal 3:20; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:5

Between God and men ( theou kai anthrōpōn ).

Ablative case (though objective genitive may explain it) after mesitēs (notion of separation) as in Rom 10:12; Heb 5:14.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:5

Himself man ( anthrōpos ).

No "himself"(autos ) in the Greek.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:6

A ransom for all ( antilutron huper pantōn ).

"A reminiscence of the Lord’ s own saying"(Lock) in Mat 20:28 (Mar 10:45) where we have lutron anti pollōn . In the papyri huper is the ordinary preposition for the notion of substitution where benefit is involved as in this passage. Anti has more the idea of exchange and antilutron huper combines both ideas. Lutron is the common word for ransom for a slave or a prisoner. Paul may have coined antilutron with the saying of Christ in mind (only one MS. of Psa 48:9 and Orph. Litt. 588). See note on Gal 1:4 "who gave himself for our sins."

Robertson: 1Ti 2:6

The testimony ( to marturion ).

Either the nominative absolute or the accusative absolute in apposition to the preceding clause like to adunaton in Rom 8:3.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:6

In its own times ( kairois idiois ).

Locative case as in 1Ti 6:15; Tit 1:3. See note on Gal 6:9 for "due season."There is no predicate or participle here, "the testimony in its due seasons"(plural).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:7

For which ( eis ho ).

The testimony of Jesus in his self-surrender (1Ti 2:6). See eis ho in 2Ti 1:11.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:7

I was appointed ( etethēn egō ).

First aorist passive indicative of tithēmi .

Robertson: 1Ti 2:7

Preacher and apostle ( kērux kai apostolos ).

In 2Ti 1:10 Paul adds didaskalos (herald, apostle, teacher) as he does here with emphasis. In Col 1:23. he has diakonos (minister). He frequently uses kērussō of himself (1Co 1:23; 1Co 9:27; Gal 2:2; Rom 10:8.).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:7

I speak the truth, I lie not ( alētheian legō , ou pseudomai ).

A Pauline touch (Rom 9:1). Cf. Gal 1:20; 2Co 11:31. Here alone he calls himself "a teacher of the Gentiles,"elsewhere apostle (Rom 11:13), minister (Rom 15:16), prisoner (Eph 3:1).

Robertson: 1Ti 2:8

I desire ( boulomai ).

So Phi 1:12.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:8

The men ( tous andras ).

Accusative of general reference with the infinitive proseuchesthai . The men in contrast to "women"(gunaikas ) in 1Ti 2:9. It is public worship, of course, and "in every place"(en panti topōi ) for public worship. Many modern Christians feel that there were special conditions in Ephesus as in Corinth which called for strict regulations on the women that do not always apply now.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:8

Lifting up holy hands ( epairontas hosious cheiras ).

Standing to pray. Note also hosious used as feminine (so in Plato) with cheiras instead of hosias . The point here is that only men should lead in public prayer who can lift up "clean hands"(morally and spiritually clean). See Luk 24:50. Adverb hosiōs in 1Th 2:10 and hosiotēs in Eph 4:24.

Robertson: 1Ti 2:8

Without wrath and disputing ( chōris orgēs kai dialogismou ).

See note on Phi 2:14.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:1

I exhort ( παρακαλῶ )

See on consolation , Luk 6:24.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:1

First of all ( πρῶτον πάντων )

Connect with I exhort . The only instance of this phrase in N.T.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:1

Supplications be made ( ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις )

The phrase occurs Luk 5:33; Phi 1:4. o lxx. o Class. Δέησις is petitionary prayer. Προσευχὴ prayer is limited to prayer to God, while δέησις may be addressed to men. The two are associated, 1Ti 5:5 : the inverse order, Eph 6:18; Phi 4:6.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:1

Intercessions ( ἐυντεύξεις )

Only here and 1Ti 4:5. lxx, 2 Macc. 4:8. The verb ἐντυγχάνειν , commonly rendered to make intercession , Rom 8:27, Rom 8:34; Rom 11:2; and ὑπερεντυγχάνειν to intercede in behalf of , Rom 8:26. The verb signifies to fall in with a person ; to draw near so as to converse familiarly . Hence, ἔντευξις is not properly intercession in the accepted sense of that term, but rather approach to God in free and familiar prayer. Ἑντυγχάνειν in the passages cited is not to make intercession , but to intervene , interfere . Thus in Rom 8:26, it is not that the Spirit pleads in our behalf, but that he throws himself into our case; takes part in it. So Heb 7:25 : not that Jesus is ever interceding for us, but that he is eternally meeting us at every point, and intervening in al our affairs for our benefit. In ἐντεύξεις here the idea of interposition is prominent: making prayers a factor in relations with secular rulers.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

Kings ( βασιλέων )

In Paul only 2Co 11:32.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

That are in authority ( τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ὄντων )

Ὑπεροχή authority only here and 1Co 2:1. Several times in lxx Originally, projection , prominence : metaphorically, preeminence , superiority . In Byzantine Greek, a little like our Excellency . This very phrase is found in an inscription of the early Roman period, after 133 b.c., at Pergamum. Paul has the phrase ἐξ ουσίαι ὑπερεχούσαι higher powers , Rom 13:1; and οἱ ὑπερέχοντες those in high places is found Wisd. 6:5.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

We may lead ( διάγωμεν )

Pasto . Comp. Tit 3:3.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

Quiet and peaceable ( ἤρεμον καὶ ἡσυχιον )

Ἤρεμος , N.T.o . In Class. only the adverb ἠρέμα quietly . Ἡσύχιος tranquil , o P. Only here and 1Pe 3:4. In lxx once, Isa 66:2. Ἡρεμος denotes quiet arising from the absence of outward disturbance: ἡούχιος tranquillity arising from within. Thus, ἀνήρ ἡσύχιος is the composed, discreet, self-contained man, who keeps himself from rash doing: ἤρεμος ἀνήρ is he who is withdrawn from outward disturbances. Hence, ἤρεμος here may imply keeping aloof from political agitation's and freedom from persecutions.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

Honesty ( σεμνότητι )

Better, gravity . Honesty , according to the modern acceptation, is an unfortunate rendering. In earlier English it signified becoming department , decency , decorum . So Shakespeare: " He is of a noble strain, of approved valor and confirmed honesty" ( Much Ado , ii.1). This noun and the kindred adjective σεμνὸς only in the Pastorals, except Phi 4:8. The adjective signifies reverend or venerable ; exhibiting a dignity which arises from moral elevation, and thus invites reverence. In lxx it is used to characterize the name of God (2 Macc. 6:28); the words of wisdom (Pro 8:6); the words of the pure (Pro 15:26).

Vincent: 1Ti 2:2

Godliness ( εὐσεβεία )

See on 1Pe 1:3, and see on sound doctrine , 1Ti 1:10. o P. Mostly in the Pastorals.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:3

Acceptable ( ἀπόδεκτον )

Pasto . Compare ἀποδοχή acceptation , 1Ti 1:15, and Paul's εὐρόσδεκτος acceptable , Rom 15:16, Rom 15:31; 2Co 6:2; 2Co 7:12.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved ( ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι )

Lit, who willeth all men , etc. As who , or seeing that he , giving the ground of the previous statement. Prayer to God for all is acceptable to him, because he wills the salvation of all. Θέλει willeth , marking a determinate purpose.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:4

Come to the knowledge of the truth ( εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν )

The phrase only here and 2Ti 3:7. Ἑπίγνωσις is a favorite Pauline word. See on Rom 3:20; see on Col 1:9; see on 1Ti 2:4; see on 1Ti 4:3. It signifies advanced or full knowledge. The difference between the simple γνῶσις and the compound word is illustrated in Rom 1:21, Rom 1:28, and 1Co 13:12. In N.T. always of the knowledge of things ethical or divine, and never ascribed to God. For ἀλήθεια truth , see on sound doctrine , 1Ti 1:10. It appears 14 times in the Pastorals, and always without a defining genitive. So, often in Paul, but several times with a defining genitive, as truth of God , of Christ , of the gospel . The logical relation in the writer's mind between salvation and the knowledge of the truth is not quite clear. Knowledge of the truth may be regarded as the means of salvation, or it may be the ideal goal of the whole saving work. See 1Co 13:12; Phi 3:8; Joh 17:3. The latter is more in accord with the general drift of teaching in these Epistles.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:5

For ( γὰρ )

The universality of the grace is grounded in the unity of God. Comp. Rom 3:30. One divine purpose for all implies one God who purposes.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:5

One God

These Epistles deal much with the divine attributes. See 1Ti 1:17; 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:15, 1Ti 6:16; 1Ti 3:15; 1Ti 4:10; 2Ti 2:13; Tit 1:2.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:5

Mediator ( μεσίτης )

See on Gal 3:19. The word twice in Paul, Gal 3:29, Gal 3:20, once of Moses and once generally. In Hebrews always of Christ; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:15, Heb 12:24. This is the only instance in the pastorals. As the one God, so the one mediator implies the extension of the saving purpose to all.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:5

The man Christ Jesus

The phrase only here.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:6

Who gave himself ( ὁ δοὺς ἐαυτὸν )

The phrase with the simple verb only here, Gal 1:4, and Tit 2:14. Paul uses the compound verb παραδιδόναι, Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2, Eph 5:25. Comp. Rom 8:32.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:6

Ransom ( ἀντίλυτρον )

N.T.o . o lxx. o Class. Λύτρον ransom , Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45, applied to Christ's life given for many. But neither this nor any of its kindred words is used by Paul. He uses ἀπολύτρωσις, but that means the act not the means of redemption.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:6

For all ( ὑπὲρ )

Ὑπὲρ does not mean instead of (ἀντὶ ). See on Rom 5:6. Any idea of exchange or substitution which may be implied, resides in ἀντίλυτρον ; but it is pressing that unique word too far to find in it the announcement of a substitutional atonement.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:6

To be testified in due time ( τὸ μαρτύριον καιροῖς ἰδίοις )

Lit. (gave himself a ransom) the testimony in its own times . That is, the gift of Christ as a ransom was to be the substance or import of the testimony which was to be set forth in its proper seasons. Thus μαρτύριον testimony is in apposition with the whole preceding sentence, and not with ransom only . Μαρτύριον is used sometimes simply as witness or testimony (Mat 8:4; Mar 6:11): sometimes specially of the proclamation of the gospel, as Mat 24:14; Act 4:33; 1Th 1:10. The apostles are said, μαρτυρεῖν to bear witness , as eye or ear witnesses of the sayings, deeds, and sufferings of Jesus (1Co 15:15). In 1Co 1:6, μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ is practically = the gospel. In 2Th 1:10, τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφ ' ὑμᾶς our testimony among you is our public attestation of the truth of the gospel. The idea of witness is a favorite one with John. See Joh 1:7. The exact phrase καιροῖς ἰδίοις in its own times , only in the Pastorals, here, 1Ti 6:15; Tit 1:3. In Gal 6:9 καιρῷ ἰδίῳ in due time . Comp. Gal 4:4.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:7

I am ordained ( ἐτέθην ἐγω )

Better, I was appointed . See on Joh 15:16.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:7

A preacher ( κῆρυξ )

Lit. a herald . See on 2Pe 2:5. Paul does not use the noun, but the kindred verb κηρύσσειν to proclaim or preach is very common in his writings. See Rom 10:8; 1Co 1:23; 2Co 4:5; Phi 1:15, etc.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:7

I speak the truth in Christ and lie not

Omit in Christ . A strange asseveration to an intimate and trusted friend. Apparently an imitation of Rom 9:1.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:7

A teacher of the Gentiles ( διδάσκαλος ἐθνῶν )

Paul does not use this phrase. He expressly distinguishes between teacher and apostle . See 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11. He calls himself ἐθνῶν ἀπόστολος apostle of the Gentiles (Rom 11:13); λειτουργός Χριστοῦ Ἱησοῦ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles (Rom 15:16); and δέσμιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἱησοῦ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles (Eph 3:1).

Vincent: 1Ti 2:7

In faith and verity ( ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ )

Or faith and truth . The combination only here. Paul has sincerity and truth (1Co 5:8), and sanctification of the Spirit and faith of the truth (2Th 2:13). The phrase must not be explained in true faith , nor faithfully and truly . It means that faith and truth are the element or sphere in which the apostolic function is discharged: that he preaches with a sincere faith in the gospel, and with a truthful representation of the gospel which he believes.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:8

I will ( βούλομαι )

Better, I desire . See on Mat 1:19, and comp. Phi 1:12. Paul's word is θέλω I will . See Rom 16:19; 1Co 7:32; 1Co 10:20; 1Co 14:5, 1Co 14:19, etc.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:8

Everywhere ( ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ )

Lit. in every place . Wherever Christian congregations assemble. Not every place indiscriminately.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:8

Lifting up holy hands ( ἐπαίροντας ὁσίους χεῖρας )

The phrase is unique in N.T. o lxx. Among Orientals the lifting up of the hands accompanied taking an oath, blessing, and prayer. The custom passed over into the primitive church, as may be seen from the mural paintings in the catacombs. See Clement, Ad Corinth . xxix, which may possibly be a reminiscence of this passage. The verb ἐπαίρειν to raise , twice in Paul, 2Co 10:5; 2Co 11:20; but often in Luke. Ὁσίους holy , o P. See on Luk 1:75.

Vincent: 1Ti 2:8

Without wrath and doubting ( χωρὶς ὀργῆς καὶ διαλογισμῶν )

The combination only here. Ὁργὴ is used by Paul mostly of the righteous anger and the accompanying judgment of God against sin. As here, only in Eph 4:31; Col 3:8. Διαλογισμός in N.T. habitually in the plural, as here. The only exception is Luk 9:46, Luk 9:47. By Paul usually in the sense of disputatious reasoning . It may also mean sceptical questionings or criticisms as Phi 2:14. So probably here. Prayer, according to our writer, is to be without the element of sceptical criticism, whether of God's character and dealings, or of the character and behavior of those for whom prayer is offered.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:1

Seeing God is so gracious. In this chapter he gives directions, With regard to public prayers With regard to doctrine. Supplication is here the imploring help in time of need: prayer is any kind of offering up our desires to God. But true prayer is the vehemency of holy zeal, the ardour of divine love, arising from a calm, undisturbed soul, moved upon by the Spirit of God. Intercession is prayer for others. We may likewise give thanks for all men, in the full sense of the word, for that God "willeth all men to be saved," and Christ is the Mediator of all.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:2

Seeing even the lowest country magistrates frequently do much good or much harm. God supports the power of magistracy for the sake of his own people, when, in the present state of men, it could not otherwise be kept up in any nation whatever.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:2

Inward religion; the true worship of God.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:2

A comprehensive word taking in the whole duty we owe to our neighbour.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:3

That we pray for all men. Do you ask, "Why are not more converted?" We do not pray enough.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:3

Who has actually saved us that believe, and willeth all men to be saved. It is strange that any whom he has actually saved should doubt the universality of his grace!

Wesley: 1Ti 2:4

Not a part only, much less the smallest part.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:4

Eternally. This is treated of, 1Ti 2:5-6. And, in order thereto, to come - They are not compelled.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:4

Which brings salvation. This is treated of, 1Ti 2:6-7.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:5

1Ti 2:4 is proved by 1Ti 2:5; 1Ti 2:1, by 1Ti 2:4.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:5

And they who have not him, through the one Mediator, have no God.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:5

We could not rejoice that there is a God, were there not a mediator also; one who stands between God and men, to reconcile man to God, and to transact the whole affair of our salvation. This excludes all other mediators, as saints and angels, whom the Papists set up and idolatrously worship as such: just as the heathens of old set up many mediators, to pacify their superior gods.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:5

Therefore all men are to apply to this mediator, "who gave himself for all."

Wesley: 1Ti 2:6

Such a ransom, the word signifies, wherein a like or equal is given; as an eye for an eye, or life for life: and this ransom, from the dignity of the person redeeming, was more than equivalent to all mankind.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:6

Literally, in his own seasons; those chosen by his own wisdom.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

A word strongly expressing his apostolical authority.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

This particle connects 1Ti 2:8 with 1Ti 2:1.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

Public and private. Wherever men are, there prayer should be.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

Pure from all known sin.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

In any kind, against any creature. And every temper or motion of our soul that is not according to love is wrath.

Wesley: 1Ti 2:8

Which is contrary to faith. And wrath, or unholy actions, or want of faith in him we call upon, are the three grand hinderances of God's hearing our petitions. Christianity consists of faith and love, embracing truth and grace: therefore the sum of our wishes should be, to pray, and live, and die, without any wrath or doubt.

JFB: 1Ti 2:1

Taking up again the general subject of the Epistle in continuation (2Ti 2:1). "What I have therefore to say to thee by way of a charge (1Ti 1:3, 1Ti 1:18), is," &c.

JFB: 1Ti 2:1

ALFORD takes it, "I exhort first of all to make." "First of all," doubtless, is to be connected with "I exhort"; what I begin with (for special reasons), is . . . As the destruction of Jerusalem drew near, the Jews (including those at Ephesus) were seized with the dream of freedom from every yoke; and so virtually "'blasphemed" (compare 1Ti 1:20) God's name by "speaking evil of dignities" (1Ti 6:1; 2Pe 2:10; Jud 1:8). Hence Paul, in opposition, gives prominence to the injunction that prayer be made for all men, especially for magistrates and kings (Tit 3:1-3) [OLSHAUSEN]. Some professing Christians looked down on all not Christians, as doomed to perdition; but Paul says all men are to be prayed for, as Christ died for all (1Ti 2:4-6).

JFB: 1Ti 2:1

A term implying the suppliant's sense of need, and of his own insufficiency.

JFB: 1Ti 2:1

Implying devotion.

JFB: 1Ti 2:1

Properly the coming near to God with childlike confidence, generally in behalf of another. The accumulation of terms implies prayer in its every form and aspect, according to all the relations implied in it.

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

An effectual confutation of the adversaries who accused the Christians of disaffection to the ruling powers (Act 17:7; Rom 13:1-7).

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

Literally, "in eminence"; in stations of eminence. The "quiet" of Christians was often more dependent on subordinate rulers, than on the supreme king; hence, "all . . . in authority" are to be prayed for.

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

That we may be blessed with such good government as to lead . . . ; or rather, as Greek, "to pass" or "spend." The prayers of Christians for the government bring down from heaven peace and order in a state.

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

Not troubled from without.

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

"tranquil"; not troubled from within [OLSHAUSEN]. "He is peaceable (Greek) who makes no disturbance; he is quiet (Greek) who is himself free from disturbance" [TITTMANN].

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

"in all (possible . . . requisite) piety" [ALFORD]. A distinct Greek word, 1Ti 2:10, expresses "godliness."

JFB: 1Ti 2:2

Greek, "gravity" (Tit 2:2, Tit 2:7), "decorum," or propriety of conduct. As "piety" is in relation to God, "gravity" is propriety of behavior among men. In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded to pray for their heathen rulers (Ezr 6:10; Jer 29:7). The Jews, by Augustus' order, offered a lamb daily for the Roman emperor, till near the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish Zealots, instigated by Eleazar, caused this custom to cease [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews, 2.17], whence the war originated, according to JOSEPHUS.

JFB: 1Ti 2:3

Praying for all men.

JFB: 1Ti 2:3

Not merely before men, as if it were their favor that we sought (2Co 8:21).

JFB: 1Ti 2:3

A title appropriate to the matter in hand. He who is "our Saviour" is willing that all should be saved (1Ti 2:4; Rom 5:18); therefore we should meet the will of God in behalf of others, by praying for the salvation of all men. More would be converted if we would pray more. He has actually saved us who believe, being "our Saviour." He is willing that all should be saved, even those who do not as yet believe, if they will believe (compare 1Ti 4:10; Tit 2:11).

JFB: 1Ti 2:4

"Imitate God." Since He wishes that all should be saved, do you also wish it; and if you wish it, pray for it. For prayer is the instrument of effecting such things [CHRYSOSTOM]. Paul does not say, "He wishes to save all"; for then he would have saved all in matter of fact; but "will have all men to be saved," implies the possibility of man's accepting it (through God's prevenient grace) or rejecting it (through man's own perversity). Our prayers ought to include all, as God's grace included all.

JFB: 1Ti 2:4

They are not forced.

JFB: 1Ti 2:4

Greek, "the full knowledge" or "recognition" (See on 1Co 13:12; Phi 1:9).

JFB: 1Ti 2:4

The saving truth as it is in, and by, Jesus (Joh 17:3, Joh 17:17).

JFB: 1Ti 2:5

God's unity in essence and purpose is a proof of His comprehending all His human children alike (created in His image) in His offer of grace (compare the same argument from His unity, Rom 3:30; Gal 3:20); therefore all are to be prayed for. 1Ti 2:4 is proved from 1Ti 2:5; 1Ti 2:1, from 1Ti 2:4. The one God is common to all (Isa 45:22; Act 17:26). The one Mediator is mediator between God and all men potentially (Rom 3:29; Eph 4:5-6; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24). They who have not this one God by one Mediator, have none: literally, a "go-between." The Greek order is not "and one mediator," but "one mediator also between . . . While God will have all men to be saved by knowing God and the Mediator, there is a legitimate, holy order in the exercise of that will wherewith men ought to receive it. All mankind constitute, as it were, ONE MAN before God [BENGEL].

JFB: 1Ti 2:5

Rather "man," absolutely and genetically: not a mere individual man: the Second Head of humanity, representing and embodying in Himself the whole human race and nature. There is no "the" in the Greek. This epithet is thus the strongest corroboration of his argument, namely, that Christ's mediation affects the whole race, since there is but the one Mediator, designed as the Representative Man for all men alike (compare Rom 5:15; 1Co 8:6; 2Co 5:19; Col 2:14). His being "man" was necessary to His being a Mediator, sympathizing with us through experimental knowledge of our nature (Isa 50:4; Heb 2:14; Heb 4:15). Even in nature, almost all blessings are conveyed to us from God, not immediately, but through the mediation of various agents. The effectual intercession of Moses for Israel (Num 14:13-19, and Deu. 9:1-29); of Abraham for Abimelech (Gen 20:7); of Job for his friends (Job 42:10), the mediation being PRESCRIBED by God while declaring His purposes of forgiveness: all prefigure the grand mediation for all by the one Mediator. On the other hand, 1Ti 3:16 asserts that He was also God.

JFB: 1Ti 2:6

(Tit 2:14). Not only the Father gave Him for us (Joh 3:16); but the Son gave Himself (Phi 2:5-8).

JFB: 1Ti 2:6

Properly of a captive slave. Man was the captive slave of Satan, sold under sin. He was unable to ransom himself, because absolute obedience is due to God, and therefore no act of ours can satisfy for the least offense. Lev 25:48 allowed one sold captive to be redeemed by one of his brethren. The Son of God, therefore, became man in order that, being made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, as our elder brother He should redeem us (Mat 20:28; Eph 1:7; 1Pe 1:18-19). The Greek implies not merely ransom, but a substituted or equivalent ransom: the Greek preposition, "anti," implying reciprocity and vicarious substitution.

JFB: 1Ti 2:6

Greek, "in behalf of all": not merely for a privileged few; compare 1Ti 2:1 : the argument for praying in behalf of all is given here.

JFB: 1Ti 2:6

Greek, "the testimony (that which was to be testified of, 1Jo 5:8-11) in its own due times," or seasons, that is, in the times appointed by God for its being testified of (1Ti 6:15; Tit 1:3). The oneness of the Mediator, involving the universality of redemption (which faith, however, alone appropriates), was the great subject of Christian testimony [ALFORD] (1Co 1:6; 1Co 2:1; 2Th 1:10).

JFB: 1Ti 2:7

For the giving of which testimony.

JFB: 1Ti 2:7

Literally, "I was set": the same Greek, as "putting me," &c. (1Ti 1:12).

JFB: 1Ti 2:7

Literally, "herald" (1Co 1:21; 1Co 9:27; 1Co 15:11; 2Ti 1:11; Tit 1:3). He recurs to himself, as in 1Ti 1:16, in himself a living pattern or announcement of the Gospel, so here "a herald and teacher of (it to) the Gentiles" (Gal 2:9; Eph 3:1-12; Col 1:23). The universality of his commission is an appropriate assertion here, where he is arguing to prove that prayers are to be made "for all men" (1Ti 2:1).

JFB: 1Ti 2:7

A strong asseveration of his universal commission, characteristic of the ardor of the apostle, exposed to frequent conflict (Rom 11:1; 2Co 11:13).

JFB: 1Ti 2:7

Rather, "in the faith and the truth." The sphere in which his ministry was appointed to be exercised was the faith and the truth (1Ti 2:4): the Gospel truth, the subject matter of the faith [WIESINGER].

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

The active wish, or desire, is meant.

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

Rather as Greek, "that the men," as distinguished from "the women," to whom he has something different to say from what he said to the men (1Ti 2:9-12; 1Co 11:14-15; 1Co 14:34-35). The emphasis, however, is not on this, but on the precept of praying, resumed from 1Ti 2:1.

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

Greek, "in every place," namely, of public prayer. Fulfilling Mal 1:11, "In every place . . . from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same . . . incense shall be offered unto My name"; and Jesus' words, Mat 18:20; Joh 4:21, Joh 4:23.

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

The early Christians turned up their palms towards heaven, as those craving help do. So also Solomon (1Ki 8:22; Psa 141:2). The Jews washed their hands before prayer (Psa 26:6). Paul figuratively (compare Job 17:9; Jam 4:8) uses language alluding to this custom here: so Isa 1:15-16. The Greek for "holy" means hands which have committed no impiety, and observed every sacred duty. This (or at least the contrite desire to be so) is a needful qualification for effectual prayer (Psa 24:3-4).

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

Putting it away (Mat 5:23-24; Mat 6:15).

JFB: 1Ti 2:8

Rather, "disputing," as the Greek is translated in Phi 2:14. Such things hinder prayer (Luk 9:46; Rom 14:1; 1Pe 3:7). BENGEL supports English Version (compare an instance, 2Ki 7:2; Mat 14:31; Mar 11:22-24; Jam 1:6).

Clarke: 1Ti 2:1

I exhort - that, first of all - Prayer for the pardon of sin, and for obtaining necessary supplies of grace, and continual protection from God, with gratitude and thanksgiving for mercies already received, are duties which our sinful and dependent state renders absolutely necessary; and which should be chief in our view, and first of all performed. It is difficult to know the precise difference between the four words used here by the apostle. They are sometimes distinguished thus: -

Supplications - Δεησεις· Prayers for averting evils of every kind

Clarke: 1Ti 2:1

Prayers - Προσευχας· Prayers for obtaining the good things, spiritual and temporal, which ourselves need

Clarke: 1Ti 2:1

Intercessions - Εντευξεις· Prayers in behalf of others

Clarke: 1Ti 2:1

Giving of thanks - Ευχαριστιας· Praises to God, as the parent of all good, for all the blessings which we and others have received. It is probable that the apostle gives directions here for public worship; and that the words may be thus paraphrased: "Now, I exhort first of all that, in the public assemblies, deprecations of evils, and supplications for such good things as are necessary, and intercessions for their conversion, and thanksgiving for mercies, be offered in behalf of all men - for heathens as well as for Christians, and for enemies as well as for friends."See Macknight.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:2

For kings - As it is a positive maxim of Christianity to pray for all secular governors, so it has ever been the practice of Christians. When St. Cyprian defended himself before the Roman proconsul, he said: Hunc (Deum) deprecamur-pro nobis et pro omnibus hominibus; et pro incolumitate ipsorum Imperatorum . "We pray to God, not only for ourselves, but for all mankind, and particularly for the emperors."Tertullian, in his Apology, is more particular: Oramus pro omnibus Imperatoribus, vitam illis prolixam, imperium securum, domum tutam, exercitus fortes, senatum fidelem, populum probum, orbem quietum, et quaecunque hominis et Caesaris vota sunt . Apol., cap. 30. "We pray for all the emperors, that God may grant them long life, a secure government, a prosperous family, vigorous troops, a faithful senate, an obedient people; that the whole world may be in peace; and that God may grant, both to Caesar and to every man, the accomplishment of their just desires.

So Origen: Ευχομεθα τους βασιλεις και αρχοντας μετα της βασιλικης δυναμεως και σωφρονα τον λογισμον εχοντας εὑρεθηναι . Cont. Cels., lib. viii. "We pray for kings and rulers, that with their royal authority they may be found possessing a wise and prudent mind."Indeed they prayed even for those by whom they were persecuted. If the state be not in safety, the individual cannot be secure; self-preservation, therefore, should lead men to pray for the government under which they live. Rebellions and insurrections seldom terminate even in political good; and even where the government is radically bad, revolutions themselves are most precarious and hazardous. They who wish such commotions would not be quiet under the most mild and benevolent government

Clarke: 1Ti 2:2

That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life - We thus pray for the government that the public peace may be preserved. Good rulers have power to do much good; we pray that their authority may be ever preserved and well directed. Bad rulers have power to do much evil; we pray that they may be prevented from thus using their power. So that, whether the rulers be good or bad, prayer for them is the positive duty of all Christians; and the answer to their prayers, in either ease, will be the means of their being enabled to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:3

This is good and acceptable - Prayer for all legally constituted authorities is good in itself, because useful to ourselves and to the public at large, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; and this is its highest sanction and its highest character: it is good; it is well pleasing to God.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved - Because he wills the salvation of all men; therefore, he wills that all men should be prayed for. In the face of such a declaration, how can any Christian soul suppose that God ever unconditionally and eternally reprobated any man? Those who can believe so, one would suppose, can have little acquaintance either with the nature of God, or the bowels of Christ

Clarke: 1Ti 2:4

And to come unto the knowledge of the truth - The truth - the Gospel of Christ, should be proclaimed to them; and it is the duty of all who know it, to diffuse it far and wide, and when it is made known, then it is the duty of those who hear it to acknowledge and receive it. This is the proper import of the original word, that they may come, εις επιγνωσιν αληθειας, to the acknowledgment of the truth - that they may receive it as the truth, and make it the rule of their faith, the model and director of their life and actions.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:5

There is one God - Who is the maker, governor, and preserver of all men, of every condition, and of every nation, and equally wills the salvation of all

Clarke: 1Ti 2:5

And one mediator - The word μεσιτης, mediator, signifies, literally, a middle person, one whose office it is to reconcile two parties at enmity; and hence Suidas explains it by ειρηνοποιος, a peace-maker. God was offended with the crimes of men; to restore them to his peace, Jesus Christ was incarnated; and being God and man, both God and men met in and were reconciled by him. But this reconciliation required a sacrifice on the part of the peace-maker or mediator; hence what follows.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:6

Who gave himself a ransom - The word λυτρον signifies a ransom paid for the redemption of a captive; and αντιλυτρον, the word used here, and applied to the death of Christ, signifies that ransom which consists in the exchange of one person for another, or the redemption of life by life; or, as Schleusner has expressed it in his translation of these words, Qui morte sua omnes liberavit a vitiositatis vi et poenis, a servitute quassi et miseria peccatorum . "He who by his death has redeemed all from the power and punishment of vice, from the slavery and misery of sinners."As God is the God and father of all, (for there is but one God, 1Ti 2:5), and Jesus Christ the mediator of all, so he gave himself a ransom for all; i.e., for all that God made, consequently for every human soul; unless we could suppose that there are human souls of which God is not the Creator; for the argument of the apostle is plainly this

1.    There is one God

2.    This God is the Creator of all

3.    He has made a revelation of his kindness to all

4.    He will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth; an

5.    He has provided a mediator for all, who has given himself a ransom for all. As surely as God has created all men, so surely has Jesus Christ died for all men. This is a truth which the nature and revelation of God unequivocally proclaim

Clarke: 1Ti 2:6

To be testified in due time - The original words, το μαρτυριον καιροις ιδιοις, are not very clear, and have been understood variously. The most authentic copies of the printed Vulgate have simply, Testimonium temporibus suis ; which Calmet translates: Rendant ainsi temoignage au tems marqué ; "Thus rendering testimony at the appointed time."Dr. Macknight thus: Of which the testimony is in its proper season. Wakefield thus: "That testimony reserved to its proper time"Rosenmullen: Haec est doctrina, temporibus suis reservata . "This is the doctrine which is reserved for its own times;"that is, adds he, quoe suo tempore in omni terrarum orbe tradetur , "the doctrine which in its own time shall be delivered to all the inhabitants of the earth."Here he translates μαρτυριον, doctrine; and contends that this, not testimony, is its meaning, not only in this passage, but in 1Co 1:6; 1Co 2:1, etc. Instead of μαρτυριον, testimony, one MS., Cod. Kk., vi. 4, in the public library, Cambridge, has, μυστηριον, mystery; but this is not acknowledged by any other MS., nor by any version. In D*FG the whole clause is read thus: οὑ το μαρτυριον καιροις ιδιοις εδοθη· The testimony of which was given in its own times. This is nearly the reading which was adopted in the first printed copies of the Vulgate. One of them now before me reads the passage thus: Cujus testimonium temporibus suis confirmatum est . "The testimony of which is confirmed in its own times."This reading was adopted by Pope Sixtus V., in the famous edition published by him; but was corrected to the reading above, by Pope Clement VIII. And this was rendered literally by our first translator: Whos witnessinge is confermyd in his timis. This appears to be the apostle’ s meaning: Christ gave himself a ransom for all. This, in the times which seemed best to the Divine wisdom, was to be testified to every nation, and people, and tongue. The apostles had begun this testimony; and, in the course of the Divine economy, it has ever since been gradually promulgated; and at present runs with a more rapid course than ever.

Clarke: 1Ti 2:7

I am ordained a preacher - I am set apart, ετεθην, appointed. The word does not imply any imposition of hands by either bishop or presbytery, as is vulgarly supposed

Clarke: 1Ti 2:7

I speak the truth in Christ - As I have received my commission from him, so I testify his truth. I did not run before I was sent; and I speak nothing but what I have received

Clarke: 1Ti 2:7

A teacher of the Gentiles - Being specially commissioned to preach the Gospel, not to the Jews, but to the nations of the world

Clarke: 1Ti 2:7

In faith and verity - Faithfully and truly; preaching the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth; and this fervently, affectionately, and perseveringly

Instead of εν πιστει, in faith, the Cod. Alexand. has εν πνευματι, in spirit. "A teacher of the Gentiles in spirit and truth."

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

I will therefore - Seeing the apostle had his authority from Christ, and spoke nothing but what he received from him, his βουλομαι, I will, is equal to I command

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

That men pray - That is, for the blessings promised in this testimony of God. For, although God has provided them, yet he will not give them to such as will not pray. See the note on 1Ti 2:1, the subject of which is here resumed

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

Everywhere - Εν παντι τοπῳ· In every place. That they should always have a praying heart, and this will ever find a praying place. This may refer to a Jewish superstition. They thought, at first, that no prayer could be acceptable that was not offered at the temple at Jerusalem; afterward this was extended to the Holy Land; but, when they became dispersed among the nations, they built oratories or places of prayer, principally by rivers and by the seaside; and in these they were obliged to allow that public prayer might be legally offered, but nowhere else. In opposition to this, the apostle, by the authority of Christ, commands men to pray everywhere; that all places belong to God’ s dominions; and, as he fills every place, in every place he may be worshipped and glorified. As to ejaculatory prayer, they allowed that this might be performed standing, sitting, leaning, lying, walking by the way, and during their labor. Beracoth, fol. xi. 1. And yet in some other places they teach differently. See Schoettgen

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

Lifting up holy hands - It was a common custom, not only among the Jews, but also among the heathens, to lift up or spread out their arms and hands in prayer. It is properly the action of entreaty and request; and seems to be an effort to embrace the assistance requested. But the apostle probably alludes to the Jewish custom of laying their hands on the head of the animal which they brought for a sin-offering, confessing their sins, and then giving up the life of the animal as an expiation for the sins thus confessed. And this very notion is conveyed in the original term επαιροντας, from αιρω to lift up, and επι, upon or over. This shows us how Christians should pray. They should come to the altar; set God before their eyes; humble themselves for their sins; bring as a sacrifice the Lamb of God; lay their hands on this sacrifice; and by faith offer it to God in their souls’ behalf, expecting salvation through his meritorious death alone

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

Without wrath - Having no vindictive feeling against any person; harbouring no unforgiving spirit, while they are imploring pardon for their own offenses

The holy hands refer to the Jewish custom of washing their hands before prayer; this was done to signify that they had put away all sin, and purposed to live a holy life

Clarke: 1Ti 2:8

And doubting - Διαλογισμου or διαλογισμων, as in many MSS., reasonings, dialogues. Such as are often felt by distressed penitents and timid believers; faith, hope, and unbelief appearing to hold a disputation and controversy in their own bosoms, in the issue of which unbelief ordinarily triumphs. The apostle therefore wills them to come, implicitly relying on the promises of God, and the sacrifice and mediation of Jesus Christ.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:1

1.I exhort therefore. These exercises of godliness maintain and even strengthen us in the sincere worship and fear of God, and cherish the good conscience of which he had spoken. Not inappropriately does he make use of the word therefore, to denote an inference; for those exhortations depend on the preceding commandment.

That, above all, prayers be made. First, he speaks of public prayers, which he enjoins to be offered, not only for believers, but for all mankind. Some might reason thus with themselves: “Why should we be anxious about the salvation of unbelievers, with whom we have no connection? Is it not enough, if we, who are brethren, pray mutually for our brethren, and recommend to God the whole of his Church? for we have nothing to do with strangers.” This perverse view Paul meets, and enjoins the Ephesians to include in their prayers all men, and not to limit them to the body of the Church.

What is the difference between three out of the four kinds which Paul enumerates, I own that I do not thoroughly understand. The view given by Augustine, who twists Paul’s words so as to denote ceremonial observances customary at that time, is quite childish. A simpler exposition is given by those who think that “requests” are when we ask to be delivered from what is evil; “prayers,” when we desire to obtain something profitable; and “supplications,” when we deplore before God injuries which we have endured. Yet for my own part, I do not draw the difference so ingeniously; or, at least, I prefer another way of distinguishing them.

Προσευχαὶ is the Greek word for every kind of prayer; andδεήσεις denotes those forms of petitions in which something definite is asked. In this way the two words agree with each other, as genus and species. ᾿Εντεύξεις is the word commonly used by Paul to signify those prayers which we offer for one another. The word used for it in the Latin Translation is “ intercessiones,” intercessions. Yet Plato, in his second dialogue, styled Alcibiades, uses it in a different sense, to moan a definite petition offered by a person for himself; and in the very inscription of the book, and in many passages, he shows plainly, as I have said, thatπροσευχὴ is a general term. ³¹

But not to dwell longer than is proper on a matter that is not essential, Paul, in my own opinion, simply enjoins that, whenever public prayers are offered, petitions and supplications should be made for all men, even for those who at present are not at all related to us. And yet this heaping up of words is not superfluous; but Paul appears to me purposely to join together three terms for the same purpose, in order to recommend more warmly, and urge more strongly, earnest and constant prayer. We know now sluggish we are in this religious duty; and therefore we need not wonder if, for the purpose of arousing us to it, the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of Paul, employs various excitements.

And thanksgivings. As to this term, there is no obscurity; for, as he bids us make supplication to God for the salvation of unbelievers, so also to give thanks on account of their prosperity and success. That wonderful goodness which he shews every day, when

“he maketh his sun to rise on the good and the bad,”
(Mat 5:45,)

is worthy of being praised; and our love of our neighbor ought also to extend to those who are unworthy of it.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:2

2.For kings He expressly mentions kings and other magistrates because, more than all others, they might be hated by Christians. All the magistrates who existed at that time were so many sworn enemies of Christ; and therefore this thought might occur to them, that they ought not to pray for those who devoted all their power and all their wealth to fight against the kingdom of Christ, the extension of which is above all things desirable. The apostle meets this difficulty, and expressly enjoins Christians to pray for them also. And, indeed, the depravity of men is not a reason why God’s ordinance should not be loved. Accordingly, seeing that God appointed magistrates and princes for the preservation of mankind, however much they fall short of the divine appointment, still we must not on that account cease to love what belongs to God, and to desire that it may remain in force. That is the reason why believers, in whatever country they live, must not only obey the laws and the government of magistrates, but likewise in their prayers supplicate God for their salvation. Jeremiah said to the Israelites,

“Pray for the peace of Babylon, for in their peace ye shall have peace.” (Jer 29:7.)

The universal doctrine is this, that we should desire the continuance and peaceful condition of those governments which have been appointed by God.

That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life By exhibiting the advantage, he holds out an additional inducement, for he enumerates the fruits which are yielded to us by a well regulated government. The first is a peaceful life; for magistrates are armed with the sword, in order to keep us in peace. If they did not restrain the hardihood of wicked men, every place would be full of robberies and murders. The true way of maintaining peace, therefore, is, when every one obtains what is his own, and the violence of the more powerful is kept under restraint.

With all godliness and decency The second fruit is the preservation of godliness, that is, when magistrates give themselves to promote religion, to maintain the worship of God, and to take care that sacred ordinances be observed with due reverence. The third fruit is the care of public decency; for it is also the business of magistrates to prevent men from abandoning themselves to brutal filthiness or flagitious conduct, but, on the contrary, to promote decency and moderation. If these three things are taken away, what will be the condition of human life? If, therefore, we are at all moved by solicitude about the peace of society, or godliness, or decency, let us remember that we ought also to be solicitous about those through whose agency we obtain such distinguished benefits.

Hence we conclude, that fanatics, who wish to have magistrates taken away, are destitute of all humanity, and breathe nothing but cruel barbarism. How different is it to say, that we ought to pray for kings, in order that justice and decency may prevail, and to say, that not only the name of kingly power, but all government, is opposed to religion! We have the Spirit of God for the Author of the former sentiment, and therefore the latter must be from the Devil.

If any one ask, Ought we to pray for kings, from whom we obtain none of these advantages? I answer, the object of our prayer is, that, guided by the Spirit of God, they may begin to impart to us those benefits of which they formerly deprived us. It is our duty, therefore, not only to pray for those who are already worthy, but we must pray to God that he may make bad men good. We must always hold by this principle, that magistrates were appointed by God for the protection of religion, as well as of the peace and decency of society, in exactly the same manner that the earth is appointed to produce food. ³² Accordingly, in like manner as, when we pray to God for our daily bread, we ask him to make the earth fertile by his blessing; so in those benefits of which we have already spoken, we ought to consider the ordinary means which he has appointed by his providence for bestowing them.

To this must be added, that, if we are deprived of those benefits the communication of which Paul assigns to magistrates, that is through our own fault. It is the wrath of God that renders magistrates useless to us, in the same manner that it renders the earth barren; and, therefore, we ought to pray for the removal of those chastisements which have been brought upon us by our sins.

On the other hand, princes, and all who hold the office of magistracy, are here reminded of their duty. It is not enough, if, by giving to every one what is due, they restrain all acts of violence, and maintain peace; but they must likewise endeavor to promote religion, and to regulate morals by wholesome discipline. The exhortation of David (Psa 2:12) to “kiss the Son,” and the prophecy of Isaiah, that they shall be nursing — fathers of the Church, (Isa 49:23,) are not without meaning; and, therefore, they have no right to flatter themselves, if they neglect to lend their assistance to maintain the worship of God.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:3

3.For this is good and acceptable before God. After having taught that what he enjoined is useful, he now brings forward a stronger argument — that it pleases God; for when we know what is His will, this ought to have the force of all possible reasons. By good he means what is proper and lawful; and, since the will of God is the rule by which all our duties must be regulated, he proves that it is right because it pleases God.

This passage is highly worthy of observation; and, first, we draw from it the general doctrine, that the true rule for acting well and properly is to look to the will of God, and not to undertake anything but what he approves. Next, there is likewise laid down a rule for godly prayer, that we should follow God as our leader, and that all our prayer should be regulated by his will and command. If due force had been allowed to this argument, the prayers of Papists, in the present day, would not have abounded with so many corruptions. For how will they prove that they have the authority of God for having recourse to dead men as their intercessors, or for praying for the dead? In short, in all their form of prayer, what can they point out that is pleasing to God?

Calvin: 1Ti 2:4

4.Who wishes that all men may be saved. Here follows a confirmation of the second argument; and what is more reasonable than that all our prayers should be in conformity with this decree of God?

And may come to the acknowledgment of the truth. Lastly, he demonstrates that God has at heart the salvation of all, because he invites all to the acknowledgment of his truth. This belongs to that kind of argument in which the cause is proved from the effect; for, if

“the gospel is the power of God for salvation to every one that believeth,” (Rom 1:16,)

it is certain that all those to whom the gospel is addressed are invited to the hope of eternal life. In short, as the calling is a proof of the secret election, so they whom God makes partakers of his gospel are admitted by him to possess salvation; because the gospel reveals to us the righteousness of God, which is a sure entrance into life.

Hence we see the childish folly of those who represent this passage to be opposed to predestination. “If God” say they, “wishes all men indiscriminately to be saved, it is false that some are predestined by his eternal purpose to salvation, and others to perdition.” They might have had some ground for saying this, if Paul were speaking here about individual men; although even then we should not have wanted the means of replying to their argument; for, although the will of God ought not to be judged from his secret decrees, when he reveals them to us by outward signs, yet it does not therefore follow that he has not determined with himself what he intends to do as to every individual man.

But I say nothing on that subject, because it has nothing to do with this passage; for the Apostle simply means, that there is no people and no rank in the world that is excluded from salvation; because God wishes that the gospel should be proclaimed to all without exception. Now the preaching of the gospel gives life; and hence he justly concludes that God invites all equally to partake salvation. But the present discourse relates to classes of men, and not to individual persons; for his sole object is, to include in this number princes and foreign nations. That God wishes the doctrine of salvation to be enjoyed by them as well as others, is evident from the passages already quoted, and from other passages of a similar nature. Not without good reason was it said, “Now, kings, understand,” and again, in the same Psalm,

“I will give thee the Gentiles for an inheritance, and the ends of the earth for a possession.” (Psa 2:8.)

In a word, Paul intended to shew that it is our duty to consider, not what kind of persons the princes at that time were, but what God wished them to be. Now the duty arising out of that love which we owe to our neighbor is, to be solicitous and to do our endeavor for the salvation of all whom God includes in his calling, and to testify this by godly prayers.

With the same view does he call God our Savior; for whence do we obtain salvation but from the undeserved kindness of God? Now the same God who has already made us partakers of salvation may sometime extend his grace to them also. He who hath already drawn us to him may draw them along with us. The Apostle takes for granted that God will do so, because it had been thus foretold by the predictions of the prophets, concerning all ranks and all nations.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:5

5.For there is one God This argument might, at first sight, appear to be not very strong, that God wishes all men to be saved, because he is one; if a transition had not been made from God to men. Chrysostom — and, after him, others — view it in this sense, that there are not many gods, as idolaters imagine. But I think that Paul’s design was different, and that there is here an implied comparison of one God with the whole world and with various nations, out of which comparison arises a view of both, as they mutually regard each other. In like manner the Apostle says,

“Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yea, it is one God who justifieth the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.’ (Rom 3:29.)

Accordingly, whatever diversity might at that time exist among men, because many ranks and many nations were strangers to faith, Paul brings to the remembrance of believers the unity of God, that they may know that they are connected with all, because there is one God of all — that they may know that they who are under the power of the same God are not excluded for ever from the hope of salvation.

And one Mediator between God and men This clause is of a similar import with the former; for, as there is one God, the Creator and Father of all, so he says that there is but one Mediator, ³³ through whom we have access to the Father; and that this Mediator was given, not only to one nation, or to a small number of persons of some particular rank, but to all; because the fruit of the sacrifice, by which he made atonement for sins, extends to all. More especially because a large portion of the world was at that time alienated from God, he expressly mentions the Mediator, through whom they that were afar off now approach.

The universal term all must always be referred to classes: of men, and not to persons; as if he had said, that not only Jews, but Gentiles also, not only persons of humble rank, but princes also, were redeemed by the death of Christ. Since, therefore, he wishes the benefit of his death to be common to all, an insult is offered to him by those who, by their opinion, shut out any person from the hope of salvation.

The man Christ Jesus. When he declares that he is “a man,” the Apostle does not deny that the Mediator is God, but, intending to point out the bond of our union with God, he mentions the human nature rather than the divine. This ought to be carefully observed. From the beginning, men, by contriving for themselves this or that mediator, departed farther from God; and the reason was, that, being prejudiced in favor of this error, that God was at a great distance from them, they knew not to what hand to turn. Paul remedies this evil, when he represents God as present with us; for he has descended even to us, so that we do not need to seek him above the clouds. The same thing is said in Heb 4:15,

“We have not a high priest who cannot sympathize within our infirmities, for in all things he was tempted.”

And, indeed, if this were deeply impressed on the hearts of all, that the Son of God holds out to us the hand of a brother, and that we are united to him by the fellowship of our nature, in order that, out of our low condition, he may raise us to heaven; who would not choose to keep by this straight road, instead of wandering in uncertain and stormy paths! Accordingly, whenever we ought to pray to God, if we call to remembrance that exalted and unapproachable majesty, that we may not be driven back by the dread of it, let us, at the same time, remember “the man Christ,” who gently invites us, and takes us, as it were, by the hand, in order that the Father, who had been the object of terror and alarm, may be reconciled by him and rendered friendly to us. This is the only key to open for us the gate of the heavenly kingdom, that we may appear in the presence of God with confidence.

Hence we see, that Satan has, in all ages, followed this course, for the purpose of leading men astray from the right path. I say nothing of the various devices by which, before the coming of Christ, he alienated the minds of men, to contrive methods of approaching to God. At the very commencement of the Christian Church, when Christ, with so excellent a pledge, was fresh in their remembrance, and while the earth was still ringing with that delightfully sweet word from his mouth,

“Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest,” (Mat 11:28,)

there were, nevertheless, some persons skilled in deception, who thrust angels into his room as mediators; which is evident from Col 2:18. But what Satan, at that time, contrived secretly, he carried to such a pitch, during the times of Popery, that scarcely one person in a thousand acknowledged Christ, even in words, to be the Mediator. And while the name was buried, still more was the reality unknown.

Now that God has raised up good and faithful teachers, who have labored to restore and bring to the remembrance of men what ought to have been one of the best-known principles of our faith, the sophists of the Church of Rome have resorted to every contrivance for darkening a point so clear. First, the name is so hateful to them, that, if any one mentions Christ as Mediator, without taking notice of the saints, he instantly falls under a suspicion of heresy. But, because they do not venture to reject altogether what Paul teaches in this passage, they evade it by a foolish exposition, that he is called “one Mediator,” not “the only Mediator.” As if the Apostle had mentioned God as one out of a vast multitude of gods; for the two clauses are closely connected, that “there is one God and one Mediator;” and therefore they who make Christ one out of many mediators must apply the same interpretation in speaking of God. Would they rise to such a height of impudence, if they were not impelled by blind rage to crush the glory of Christ?

There are others who think themselves more acute, and who lay down this distinction, that Christ is the only Mediator of redemption, while they pronounce the saints to be mediators of intercession. But the folly of these interpreters is reproved by the scope of the passage, in which the Apostle speaks expressly about prayer. The Holy Spirit commands us to pray for all, because our only Mediator admits all to come to him; just as by his death he reconciled all to the Father. And yet they who thus, with daring sacrilege, strip Christ of his honor, wish to be regarded as Christians.

But it is objected that this has the appearance of contradiction; for in this very passage Paul enjoins us to intercede for others, while, in the Epistle to the Romans, he declares that intercession belongs to Christ alone. (Rom 8:34.) I reply, the intercessions of the saints, by which they aid each other in their addresses to God, do not contradict the doctrine, that all have but one Intercessor; for no man’s prayers are heard either in behalf of himself, or in behalf of another, unless he rely on Christ as his advocate. When we intercede for one another, this is so far from setting aside the intercession of Christ, as belonging to him alone, that the chief reliance is given, and the chief reference made, to that very intercession.

Some person will perhaps think, that it will, therefore, be easy for us to come to an agreement with the Papists, if they place below the only intercession of Christ, all that they ascribe to the saints. This is not the case; for the reason why they transfer to the saints the office of interceding is, that they imagine that otherwise we are destitute of an advocate. It is a common opinion among them, that we need intercessors, because in ourselves we are unworthy of appearing in the presence of God. By speaking in this manner, they deprive Christ of his honor. Besides, it is a shocking blasphemy, to ascribe to saints such excellence as would procure for us the favor of God: and all the prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and even the angels themselves — are so far from making any pretension to this, that they too have need of the same intercession as ourselves.

Again, it is a mere dream, originating in their own brain, that the dead intercede for us; and, therefore, to found our prayers on this is altogether to withdraw our trust from calling upon God. But Paul lays down, as the rule for calling on God in a proper manner, faith grounded on the word of God. (Rom 10:17.) Justly, therefore, everything that men contrive, in the exercise of their own thoughts, without the authority of the word of God, is rejected by us.

But not to dwell on this subject longer than the exposition of the passage demands, let it be summed up in this manner; that they who have actually learned the office of Christ will be satisfied with having him alone, and that none will make mediators at their own pleasure but those who neither know God nor Christ. Hence I conclude, that the doctrine of the Papists — which darkens, and almost buries, the intercession of Christ, and introduces pretended intercessors without any support from Scripture — is full of wicked distrust, and also of wicked rashness.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:6

6.Who gave himself a ransom for all ³⁴ The mention of redemption in this passage is not superfluous; for there is a necessary connection between the two things, the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and his continual intercession. (Rom 8:34.) These are the two parts of his priesthood; for, when Christ is called our priest, it is in this sense, that he once made atonement for our sins by his death, that he might reconcile us to God; and now having entered into the sanctuary of heaven, he appears in presence of the Father, in order to obtain grace for us, that we may be heard in his name. (Psa 110:4; Heb 7:17.) So much the more does he expose the wicked sacrilege of the Papists, who, by making dead saints to be companions of Christ in this affair, transfer to them likewise the glory of the priesthood. Read the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, towards the conclusion, and the beginning of the fifth chapter, [Heb 4:14,] and you will find what I maintain, that the intercession by which God is reconciled to us is founded on the sacrifice; which, indeed, is demonstrated by the whole system of the ancient priesthood. It follows, therefore, that it is impossible to take from Christ any part of the office of intercession, and bestow it on others, without stripping him of the title of priesthood.

Besides, when the Apostle calls himἀντίλυτρον, “ a ransom,” ³⁵ he overthrows all other satisfactions. Yet I am not ignorant of the injurious devices of the Papists, who pretend that the price of redemption, which Christ paid by his death, is applied to us in baptism, so that original sin is effaced, and that afterwards we are reconciled to God by satisfactions. In this way they limit to a small period of time, and to a single class, that benefit which was universal and perpetual. But a full illustration of this subject will be found in the Institutes.

That there might be a testimony in due time; that is, in order that this grace might be revealed at the appointed time. The phrase, for all, which the Apostle had used, might have given rise to the question, “Why then had God chosen a peculiar people, if he revealed himself as a reconciled Father to all without distinction, and if the one redemption through Christ was common to all?” He cuts off all ground for that question, by referring to the purpose of God the season ³⁶ for revealing his grace. For if we are not astonished that in winter, the trees are stripped of their foliage, the fields are covered with snow, and the meadows are stiff with frost, and that, by the genial warmth of spring, what appeared for a time to be dead, begins to revive, because God appointed the seasons to follow in succession; why should we not allow the same authority to his providence in other matters? Shall we accuse God of instability, because he brings forward, at the proper time, what he had always determined, and settled in his own mind?

Accordingly, although it came upon the world suddenly and was altogether unexpected, that Christ was revealed as a Redeemer to Jews and Gentiles, without distinction; let us not think that it was sudden with respect to God but, on the contrary, let us learn to subject all our sense to his wonderful providence. The consequence will be, that there will be nothing that comes from him which shall not appear to us to be highly seasonable. On that account this admonition frequently occurs in the writings of Paul and especially when he treats of the calling of the Gentiles, by which, at that time, on account of its novelty, many persons were startled and almost confounded. They who are not satisfied with this solution, that God, by his hidden wisdom, arranged the succession of the seasons, will one day feel, that, at the time when they think that he was idle, he was framing a hell for inquisitive persons.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:7

7.For which I have been appointed. That it may not be thought that he makes rash assertions — as many are wont to do — on a subject which he did not well understand, he affirms that God had appointed him for this purpose, that he might bring the Gentiles, who had formerly been alienated from the kingdom of God, to have a share in the gospel; for his apostleship was a sure foundation of the divine calling. And on this account he labors very hard in asserting it, as there are many who received it with no small difficulty.

I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie. He employs an oath, or protestation, as in a matter of extraordinary weigh and importance, that he is a teacher of the Gentiles, and that in faith and truth These two things denote a good conscience, but still it must rest on the certainty of the will of God. Thus he means, that he preaches the gospel to the Gentiles, not only with pure affection, but also with an upright and fearless conscience; because he does nothing but by the command of God.

Calvin: 1Ti 2:8

8.I wish therefore that men may pray This inference depends on the preceding statement; for, as we saw in the Epistle to the Galatians, we must receive “the Spirit of adoption,” ³⁷ in order that we may call on God in a proper manner. Thus, after having exhibited the grace of Christ to all, and after having mentioned that he was given to the Gentiles for the express purpose, that they might enjoy the same benefit of redemption in common with the Jews, he invites all in the same manner to pray; for faith leads to calling on God. Hence, at Rom 15:9, he proves the calling of the Gentiles by these passages.

“Let the Gentiles rejoice with his people.” (Psa 67:5.)

Again,

“All ye Gentiles, praise God.’, (Psa 117:1.)

Again,

“I will confess to thee among the Gentiles.” (Psa 18:49.)

The material argument holds good, from faith to prayer, and from prayer to faith, whether we reason from the cause to the effect, or from the effect to the cause. This is worthy of observation, because it reminds us that God reveals himself to us in his word, that we may call upon him; and this is the chief exercise of faith.

In every place This expression is of the same import as in the beginning of the First Epistle to the Corinthians,

“with all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,” (1Co 1:2,)

so that there is now no difference between Gentile and Jew, between Greek and barbarian, because all in common have God as their Father; and in Christ is now fulfilled what Malachi had foretold, that not only in Judea, but throughout the whole world, pure sacrifices are offered. (Mal 1:11.)

Lifting up pure hands As if he had said, “Provided that it be accompanied by a good conscience, there will be nothing to prevent all the nations from calling upon God everywhere. But he has employed the sign instead of the reality, for “pure hands” are the expressions of a pure heart; just as, on the contrary, Isaiah rebukes the Jews for lifting up “bloody hands,” when he attacks their cruelty. (Isa 1:15.) Besides, this attitude has been generally used in worship during all ages; for it is a feeling which nature has implanted in us, when we ask God, to look upwards, and has always been so strong, that even idolaters themselves, although in other respects they make a god of images of wood and stone, still retained the custom of lifting up their hands to heaven. Let us therefore learn that the attitude is in accordance with true godliness, provided that it be attended by the corresponding truth which is represented by it, namely, that, having been informed that we ought to seek God in heaven, first, we should form no conception of Him that is earthly or carnal; and, secondly, that we should lay aside carnal affections, so that nothing may prevent our hearts from rising above the world. But idolaters and hypocrites, when they lift up their hands in prayer, are apes; for while they profess, by the outward symbol, that their minds are raised upwards, the former are fixed on wood and stone, as if God were shut up in them, and the latter, wrapped up either in useless anxieties, or in wicked thoughts, cleave to the earth; and therefore, by a gesture of an opposite meaning, ³⁸ they bear testimony against themselves.

Without wrath Some explain this to mean a burst of indignation, when the conscience fights with itself, and, so to speak, quarrels with God which usually happens when adversity presses heavily upon us; for then we are displeased that God does not send us immediate assistance, and are agitated by impatience. Faith is also shaken by various assaults; for, in consequence of his assistance not being visible, we are seized with doubts, whether or not he cares about us, or wishes us to be saved, and things of that nature.

They who take this view think that the word disputing denotes that alarm which arises from doubt. Thus, according to them, the meaning would be, that we should pray with a peaceful conscience and assured confidence. Chrysostom and others think that the apostle here demands that our minds should be calm and free from all uneasy feelings both towards God and towards men; because there is nothing that tends more to hinder pure calling on God than quarrels and strife. On this account Christ enjoins, that if any man be at variance with his brother, he shall go and be reconciled to him before offering his gift on the altar.

For my part, I acknowledge that both of these views are just; but when I take into consideration the context of this passage, I have no doubt that Paul had his eye on the disputes which arose out of the indignation of the Jews at having the Gentiles made equal to themselves, in consequence of which they raised a controversy about the calling of the Gentiles, and went so far as to reject and exclude them from the participation of grace. Paul therefore wishes that debates of this nature should be put down, and that all the children of God of every nation and country should pray with one heart. Yet there is nothing to restrain us from drawing from this particular statement a general doctrine.

Defender: 1Ti 2:4

This is also the testimony of 2Pe 3:9 (God is "not willing that any should perish"), and God has proved His universal love by sending His beloved Son to die for the whole world (Joh 3:16; 1Jo 2:2). Yet He has also given us the responsibility and opportunity of either receiving or rejecting His loving offer of full forgiveness and free salvation in Christ. Unfortunately many choose not to come to repentance and be saved.

With regard to the seeming conflict of our freedom to choose wrong with God's will that we choose right, and also in view of the fact that God knew those who would choose wrong before He created them, yet created them anyway, we must simply say: "O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" (Rom 9:20). "How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Rom 11:33). It is enough to know that God wants us to be saved, has provided full and free salvation to all who receive it, and has said that whosoever will may come."

Defender: 1Ti 2:5

To the pagan Greeks with their pantheon of gods and goddesses, it was vital for Timothy to insist on worship of the one true God who created all things. This emphasis is urgently needed today as well. Furthermore, in contrast to all those ancient religions and modern ones as well with their priests and priestesses, it was vital to stress that only one who was both God and man, the man Christ Jesus, could mediate between men and our Creator God. He is the only way to God (Joh 14:6) and our only true advocate with the Father (1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2)."

Defender: 1Ti 2:6

In order to pay the price of our redemption so that He might indeed bring us to God, Christ, Himself, had to be the ransom (Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45)."

Defender: 1Ti 2:8

This is not a prescription for a certain physical posture in prayer but rather of heart attitude. The "hands" are to be holy hands, clean hands, open hands, exhibiting neither wrath nor doubting."

TSK: 1Ti 2:1

exhort : or, desire, 2Co 8:6; Eph 3:13; Heb 6:11

first : 1Co 15:3

supplications : 1Ti 5:5; Gen 18:23-32; 1Ki 8:41-43; Psa 67:1-4, Psa 72:19; Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10; Jam 5:16

and : Rom 1:8, Rom 6:17; Eph 5:20; Phi 1:3; 2Th 1:3

all men : 1Ti 2:4; Act 17:30; 1Th 3:12; 2Ti 2:24; Tit 2:11, Tit 3:2

TSK: 1Ti 2:2

kings : Ezr 6:10; Neh 1:11; Psa 20:1-4, Psa 72:1; Jer 29:7

for all : Rom 13:1-7; 1Pe 2:13

authority : or, eminent place

that : Gen 49:14, Gen 49:15; 2Sa 20:19; Pro 24:21; Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 8:2-5; Rom 12:18; 1Th 4:11; Heb 12:14

all godliness : Luk 1:6, Luk 2:25; Act 10:22, Act 24:16; Phi 4:8; Tit 2:10-14; 1Pe 2:9-13; 2Pe 1:3-7

TSK: 1Ti 2:3

this : 1Ti 5:4; Rom 12:1, Rom 12:2, Rom 14:18; Eph 5:9, Eph 5:10; Phi 1:11, Phi 4:18; Col 1:10; 1Th 4:1; Heb 13:16; 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:20

God : 1Ti 1:1; Isa 45:21; Luk 1:47; 2Ti 1:9

TSK: 1Ti 2:4

will : Isa 45:22, Isa 49:6, Isa 55:1; Eze 18:23, Eze 18:32, Eze 33:11; Luk 14:23; Joh 3:15-17; Joh 6:37; Rom 3:29, Rom 3:30; 2Co 5:17-19; 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16; Tit 2:11; 2Pe 3:9

and : Mat 28:19; Mar 16:15; Luk 24:47; Rom 10:12-15; Rev 14:6

the knowledge : Isa 53:11; Hab 2:14; Luk 1:77; Joh 14:6, Joh 17:17; 2Ti 2:25, 2Ti 3:7; Heb 10:26

TSK: 1Ti 2:5

one God : Deu 6:4; Isa 44:6; Mar 12:29-33; Joh 17:3; Rom 3:29, Rom 3:30, Rom 10:12; 1Co 8:6; Gal 3:20; Eph 4:6

and : Job 9:33; Heb 7:25, Heb 8:6, Heb 9:15, Heb 12:24

the man : Mat 1:23; Luk 2:10,Luk 2:11; Joh 1:14; 1Co 15:45-47; Phi 2:6-8; Heb 2:6-13; Rev 1:13

TSK: 1Ti 2:6

gave : Job 33:24; Isa 53:6; Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45; Joh 6:51, Joh 10:15; 2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15, 2Co 5:21; Eph 1:7, Eph 1:17, Eph 5:2; Tit 2:14; Heb 9:12; 1Pe 1:18, 1Pe 1:19; 1Pe 2:24, 1Pe 3:18; 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 4:10; Rev 1:5, Rev 5:9

to be testified : or, a testimony, 1Co 1:6; 2Th 1:10; 2Ti 1:8; 1Jo 5:11, 1Jo 5:12

in : 1Ti 6:15; Rom 5:6, Rom 16:26; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:9, Eph 1:10, Eph 3:5; Tit 1:3

TSK: 1Ti 2:7

I am : 1Ti 1:11, 1Ti 1:12

a preacher : Ecc 1:1, Ecc 1:2, Ecc 1:12, Ecc 7:27, Ecc 12:8-10; Rom 10:14; Eph 3:7, Eph 3:8; 2Ti 1:11; 2Pe 2:5

I speak : Rom 1:9, Rom 9:1; 2Co 11:31; Gal 1:20

a teacher : Joh 7:35; Act 9:15, Act 22:21, Act 26:17, Act 26:18, Act 26:20; Rom 11:13, Rom 15:16; Gal 1:16, Gal 2:9

in faith : Act 14:27; Gal 2:16, Gal 3:9

verity : Psa 111:7

TSK: 1Ti 2:8

I will : 1Ti 5:14; 1Co 7:7 *Gr: Tit 3:8

pray : 2Ch 33:11, 2Ch 33:12; Psa 130:1, Psa 130:2; Lam 3:55, Lam 3:56; Jon 2:1, Jon 2:2; Mal 1:11; Luk 23:42, Luk 23:43; Joh 4:21, Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24; Act 21:5

lifting : Job 16:17; Psa 26:6, Psa 66:18, Psa 134:2; Pro 15:8, Pro 21:27; Isa 1:15, Isa 58:7-11; Jer 7:9, Jer 7:10; Mal 1:9, Mal 1:10; Act 10:2, Act 10:4, Act 10:31; Heb 10:22; Jam 4:8; 1Jo 3:20-22

without : 1Ki 3:11; Psa 35:13; Mat 5:22-24, Mat 5:44, Mat 6:12, Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15; Mar 11:25; Luk 23:34; Act 7:60; 1Pe 3:7

and : Mat 21:21; Mar 11:23, Mar 11:24; Jam 1:6-8

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Ti 2:1

I exhort, therefore - Margin, "desire."The word exhort, however, better expresses the sense of the original. The exhortation here is not addressed particularly to Timothy, but relates to all who were called to lead in public prayer; 1Ti 2:8. This exhortation, it may be observed, is inconsistent with the supposition that a liturgy was then in use, or with the supposition that there ever would be a liturgy - since, in that case, the objects to be prayed for would be prescribed. How singular would it be now for an Episcopal bishop to "exhort"his presbyters to pray "for the President of the United States and for all who are in authority."When the prayer is prescribed, do they not do this as a matter of course?

First of all - That is, as the first duty to be enjoined; the thing that is to be regarded with primary concern; compare Luk 12:1; 2Pe 1:20. It does not mean that this was to be the first thing in public worship in the order of time, but that it was to be regarded as a duty of primary importance. The duty of praying for the salvation of the whole world was not to be regarded as a subordinate and secondary thing.

Supplications - It is not entirely easy to mark the difference in the meaning of the words used here, and it is not essential. They all relate to prayer, and refer only to the different parts of prayer, or to distinct classes of thought and desire which come before the mind in pleading for others. On the difference between the words supplications and prayers, see notes on Heb 5:7.

Intercessions - The noun used occurs only in this place and in 1Ti 4:5, of this Epistle. The verb, however ἐντυγχάνω entungchanō , occurs in Act 25:4; Rom 8:27, Rom 8:34; Rom 11:2; Heb 7:25. See the meaning explained in the Rom 8:26 note; Heb 7:25 note. There is one great Intercessor between God and man, who pleads for our salvation on the ground of what he himself has done, but we are permitted to intercede for others, not on the ground of any merit which they or we possess, but on the ground of the merit of the great Advocate and Intercessor. It is an inestimable privilege to be permitted to plead for the salvation of our fellow-men.

Giving of thanks - That is, in behalf of others. We ought to give thanks for the mercy of God to ourselves; it is right and proper also that we should give thanks for the goodness of God to others. We should render praise that there is a way of salvation provided; that no one is excluded from the offer of mercy; and that God is using so many means to call lost sinners to himself.

For all men - Prayers should be made for all people - for all need the grace and mercy of God; thanks should be rendered for all, for all may be saved. Does not this direction imply that Christ died for all mankind? How could we give thanks in their behalf if there were no mercy for them, and no way had been provided by which they could be saved? It may be observed here, that the direction to pray and to give thanks for all people, showed the large and catholic nature of Christianity. It was opposed entirely to the narrow and bigoted feelings of the Jews, who regarded the whole Gentile world as excluded from covenant mercies, and as having no offer of life. Christianity threw down all these barriers, and all people are on a level; and since Christ has died for all, there is ample ground for thanksgiving and praise in behalf of the whole human race.

See Supplementary note, 2Co 5:14.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:2

For kings - On the respect due to rulers, see the notes on Rom 13:1-7. The meaning here is, that while all people should be the subjects of prayer, those should be particularly remembered before the throne of grace who are in authority. The reason is, that so much depends on their character and plans; that the security of life, liberty, and property, depends so much on them. God has power to influence their hearts, and to incline them to what is just and equal; and hence we should pray that a divine influence may descend upon them. The salvation of a king is of itself of no more importance than that of a peasant or a slave; but the welfare of thousands may depend on him, and hence he should be made the special subject of prayer.

All that are in authority - Margin, or, "eminent place."This does not necessarily mean those who hold office, but refers to any of elevated rank. The happiness of all who are under their control depends greatly on them, and hence we should pray for them that they may be converted people, and inclined to do that which is right.

That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life - That their hearts may be so inclined to what is right that they may protect us in the enjoyment of religion, and that we may not be opposed or harassed by persecution. This does not mean that their protection would dispose us to lead quiet and peaceful lives, but that under their protection we may be saved from oppression on account of our religion. Christians are disposed of themselves to be peaceful and orderly; they ask of their rulers only that they may not be harassed in the enjoyment of their rights.

In all godliness and honesty - In the practice of all our duties toward God, and of all the duties which we owe to people. The word godliness here denotes piety - or the duty which we owe to God; the word honesty refers to our duties to our fellow-men. The Christian asks from civil rulers such protection that; he maybe enabled quietly to perform both these classes of duties.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:3

For this is good and acceptable - That is, it is good and acceptable to God that we should pray for all people. The reason is, that he desires their salvation, and hence it is agreeable to him that we should pray for it. If there were no provision made for their salvation, or if he was unwilling that they should be saved, it could not be agreeable to him that we should offer prayer for them.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved - That is, it is in accordance with his nature, his feelings, his desires. The word "will"cannot be taken here in the absolute sense, denoting a decree like that by which he willed the creation of the world, for then it would certainly be done. But the word is often used to denote a desire, wish, or what is in accordance with the nature of anyone. Thus it may be said of God that he "wills"that his creatures may be happy - because it is in accordance with his nature, and because he has made abundant provision for their happiness - though it is not true that he wills it in the sense that he exerts his absolute power to make them happy. God wills that sickness should be relieved, and sorrow mitigated, and that the oppressed should go free, because it is agreeable to his nature; though it is not true that he wills it in the sense that he exerts his absolute power to produce it. A parent wills the welfare of his child. It is in accordance with his nature, his feelings, his desires; and he makes every needful arrangement for it. If the child is not virtuous and happy, it is his own fault. So God wills that all people should be saved. It would be in accordance with his benevolent nature. He has made ample provision for it. He uses all proper means to secure their salvation. He uses no positive means to prevent it, and if they are not saved it will be their own fault. For places in the New Testament where the word here translated "will"( θέλω thelō ), means to desire or wish, see Luk 8:20; Luk 23:8; Joh 16:19; Gal 4:20; Mar 7:24; 1Co 7:7; 1Co 11:3; 1Co 14:5; Mat 15:28. This passage cannot mean, as many have supposed, that God wills that all kinds of people should be saved, or that some sinners of every rank and class may be saved, because:

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 he natural and obvious interpretation of the language is opposed to such a sense. The language expresses the desire that "all men"should be saved, and we should not depart from the obvious sense of a passage unless necessity requires it.

\caps1 (2) p\caps0 rayer and thanksgiving 1Ti 2:1 are directed to be offered, not for some of all ranks and conditions, but for all mankind. No exception is made, and no direction is given that we should exclude any of the race from the expressions of our sympathy, and from an interest in our supplications. The reason given here for that prayer is, that God desires that all people should be saved. But how could this be a reason for praying for all, if it means that God desired only the salvation of some of all ranks?

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 n 1Ti 2:5-6 the apostle gives reasons showing that God wished the salvation of all people, and those reasons are such as to prove that the language here is to be taken in the most unlimited sense. Those reasons are:

\tx720 \tx1080 (a)\caps1     t\caps0 hat there is one God over all, and one Mediator between God and people - showing that God is the Father of all, and has the same interest in all; and,

(b)\caps1     t\caps0 hat Christ gave himself a ransom for all - showing that God desired their salvation.

This verse proves:

(1)\caps1     t\caps0 hat salvation is provided for all - for if God wished all people to be saved, he would undoubtedly make provision for their salvation; and if he had not made such provision, it could not be said that he desired their salvation, since no one can doubt that he has power to provide for the salvation of all;

(2)\caps1     t\caps0 hat salvation should be offered to all people - for if God desires it, it is right for his ministers to announce that desire, and if he desires it, it is not proper for them to announce anything contrary to this;

(3)\caps1     t\caps0 hat people are to blame if they are not saved.

If God did not wish their salvation, and if he had made no provision for it, they could not be to blame if they rejected the gospel. If God wishes it, and has made provision for it, and they are not saved, the sin must be their own - and it is a great sin, for there is no greater crime which a man can commit than to destroy his own soul, and to make himself the eternal enemy of his Maker.

And to come unto the knowledge of the truth - The truth which God has revealed; the "truth as it is in Jesus."notes, Eph 4:21.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:5

For there is one God - This is a reason for offering prayer for all people, and for the declaration 1Ti 2:4 that God desires that all people should be saved. The reason is founded in the fact that he is the common Father of all the race, and that he must have the same desire for the welfare of all his children, He has made them of one blood Act 17:26, and he must have the same interest in the happiness of all; compare Eph 4:6 note; Rom 3:30 note.

And one Mediator between God and men - see Gal 3:19-20 notes; Heb 9:15 note. This also is given as a reason why prayer should be offered for all, and a proof that God desires their salvation. The argument is, that there is the same Mediator between God and all people. He is not the Mediator between God and a part of the human race, but between "God and men,"implying that He desired the salvation of the race. Whatever love there was in giving the Mediator at all, was love for all the race; whatever can be argued from that about the interest which God has in man, is proof of his interest in the race at large. It is proper, therefore, to pray for all. It may be remarked here that there is but one Mediator. There is not one for kings and another for their subjects; one for the rich and another for the poor; one for the master and another for the slave. All are on the same level, and the servant may feel that, in the gift of a Mediator, God regarded him with the same interest that he did his master. It may be added also that the doctrine of the Papists that the saints or the Virgin Mary may act as mediators to procure blessings for us, is false. There is but "one Mediator;"and but one is necessary. Prayer offered to the "saints,"or to the "Virgin,"is idolatry, and at the same time removes the one great Mediator from the office which he alone holds, of making intercession with God.

The man Christ Jesus - Jesus was truly and properly a man, having a perfect human body and soul, and is often called a man in the New Testament. But this does not prove that he was not also divine - anymore than his being called God (Joh 1:1; Joh 20:28; Rom 9:5; 1Jo 5:20; Heb 1:8), proves that he was not also a man. The use of the word man here was probably designed to intimate that though he was divine, it was in his human nature that we are to consider him as discharging the office. Doddridge.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:6

Who gave himself a ransom for all - This also is stated as a reason why prayer should be offered for all, and a proof that God desires the salvation of all. The argument is, that as Christ died for all, it is proper to pray for all, and that the fact that he died for all is proof that God desired the salvation of all. Whatever proof of his desire for their salvation can be derived from this in relation to any of the race, is proof in relation to all. On the meaning of the phrase "he gave himself a ransom,"see the Mat 20:28 note; Rom 3:25 note; on the fact that it was for "all,"see the notes on 2Co 5:14.

See also the Supp. note on the same passage.

To be testified in due time - Margin, "a testimony."The Greek is, "the testimony in its own times,"or in proper times - τὸ μαρτύριον καιροῖς ἰδίοις to marturion kairois idiois . There have been very different explanations of this phrase. The common interpretation, and that which seems to me to be correct, is, that "the testimony of this will be furnished in the proper time; that is, in the proper time it shall be made known through all the world;"see Rosenmuller. Paul affirms it as a great and important truth that Christ gave himself a ransom for all mankind - for Jews and Gentiles; for all classes and conditions of people alike. This truth had not always been understood. The Jews had supposed that salvation was designed exclusively for their nation, and denied that it could be extended to others, unless they became Jews. According to them, salvation was not provided for, or offered to pagans as such, but only on condition that they became Jews. In opposition to this, Paul says that it was a doctrine of revelation that redemption was to be provided for all people, and that it was intended that the testimony to this should be afforded at the proper time. It was not fully made known under the ancient dispensation, but now the period had come when it should be communicated to all; compare Rom 5:6 note, and Gal 4:4 note.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:7

Whereunto - Greek, "Unto which;"that is, to the bearing of which testimony I am appointed.

I am ordained - Greek, "I am placed or constituted"- ἐτέθην etethēn . The word "ordain"has now acquired a technical signification, meaning to set apart solemnly to a sacred office by the imposition of hands; but it has not that meaning here. It does not refer to the manner in which he was set apart, or to any act of others in consecrating him to this work, but merely to the fact that he had been placed in this office, or appointed to it. He refers doubtless to the fact that the Lord Jesus had designated him to this work.

A preacher and an apostle - see the 1Co 9:1-6 notes; Gal 1:11-12 notes.

I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not - That is, by Christ; or I solemnly appeal to Christ - a form of an oath; notes, Rom 9:1. Paul makes a solemn declaration similar to this in regard to his call to the apostleship, in Gal 1:20. For the reasons why he did it, see the notes on that verse. It is probable that there were those in Ephesus who denied that he could be an apostle, and hence his solemn declaration affirming it.

A teacher of the Gentiles - Specially appointed to carry the gospel to the Gentiles or the pagan; see the Rom 11:13 note; Gal 2:7 note.

In faith and verity - These words mean that he was appointed to instruct the Gentiles in faith and the knowledge of the truth.

Barnes: 1Ti 2:8

I will therefore - The Greek word here ( βοὺλομαι boulomai ) is different from the word rendered "will"- θέλω thelō - in 1Ti 2:4. The distinction is, that the word there used - θέλω thelō - denotes an active volition or purpose; the word here used - βοὺλομαι boulomai - a mere passive desire, propensity, willingness. Robinson’ s Lexicon The meaning here is, "it is my will"- expressing his wish in the case, or giving direction - though using a milder word than that which is commonly employed to denote an act of will.

That men pray everywhere - Not merely in the temple, or in other sacred places, but in all places. The Jews supposed that there was special efficacy in prayers offered at the temple in Jerusalem; the pagan also had the same view in regard to their temples - for both seemed to suppose that they came nearer to God by approaching his sacred abode. Christianity teaches that God may be worshipped in any place, and that we are at all times equally near him; see the Joh 4:20-24 notes; Act 17:25 note. The direction here given that men should pray, in contradistinction from the duties of women, specified in the next verse, may be intended to imply that men should conduct the exercises of public worship. The duties of women pertain to a different sphere; compare 1Ti 2:11-12.

Lifting up holy hands - To lift up the hands denotes supplication, as it was a common attitude of prayer to spread abroad the hands toward heaven; compare Psa 68:31; Exo 9:29, Exo 9:33; 1Ki 8:22; 2Ch 6:12-13; Isa 1:15; see also Horace Odes , iii. 23. 1; Ovid, M. 9:701; Livy, v. 21; Seneca, Eph. 21. "Holy hands"here, mean hands that are not defiled by sin, and that have not been employed for any purpose of iniquity. The idea is, that when men approach God they should do it in a pure and holy manner.

Without wrath - That is, without the intermingling of any evil passion; with a calm, peaceful, benevolent mind. There should be nothing of the spirit of contention; there should be no anger toward others; the suppliant should be at peace with all people. It is impossible for a man to pray with comfort, or to suppose that his prayers will be heard, if he cherishes anger. The following exquisite and oft-quoted passage from Jeremy Taylor, is a more beautiful and striking illustration of the effect of anger in causing our prayers to return unanswered than was probably ever penned by anyone else. Nothing could be more true, beautiful, and graphic. "Anger sets the house on fire, and all the spirits are busy upon trouble, and intend propulsion, defense, displeasure, or revenge. It is a short madness, and an eternal enemy to discourse and a fair conversation; it intends its own object with all the earnestness of perception or activity of design, and a quicker motion of a too warm and distempered blood; it is a fever in the heart, and a calenture in the head, and a fire in the face, and a sword in the band, and a fury all over; and therefore can never suffer a man to be in a disposition to pray. For prayer is the peace of our spirit, the stillness of our thoughts, the evenness of recollection, the seat of meditation, the rest of our cares, and the calm of our tempest; prayer is the issue of a quiet mind, of untroubled thoughts; it is the daughter of charity and the sister of meekness; and he that prays to God with an angry, that is, with a troubled and discomposed spirit, is like him that retires into a battle to meditate, and sets up his closet in the out-quarters of an army, and chooses a frontier garrison to be wise in.

Anger is a perfect alienation of the mind from prayer, and therefore is contrary to that attention which presents our prayers in a right line to God. For so have I seen a lark rising from his bed of grass, and soaring upward, and singing as he rises, and hopes to get to heaven, and rise above the clouds; but the poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern wind, and his motion made irregular and inconsistent, descending more at every breath of the tempest than it could recover by the libration and frequent weighing of his wings, until the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and motion from an angel.""The Return of Prayers," Works , vol. i. 638. Ed. Lond. 1835.

And doubting - This word, as used here, does not mean, as our translation would seem to imply, that we are to come before God without any doubts of our own piety, or in the exercise of perfect faith. The word used ( διαλογισμός dialogismos ) means, properly, computation, adjustment of accounts; then reflection, thought; then reasoning, opinion; then debate, contention, strife; Luk 9:46; Mar 9:33-34; Phi 2:14. This is the sense evidently in this place. They were not to approach God in prayer in the midst of clamorous disputings and angry contentions. They were not to come when the mind was heated with debate, and irritated by strife for victory. Prayer was to be offered in a calm, serious, sober state of mind, and they who engaged in polemical strife, or in warm contention of any kind, are little fitted to unite in the solemn act of addressing God. How often are theologians, when assembled together, so heated by debate, and so anxious for party victory, that they are in no suitable state of mind to pray! How often do even good people, holding different views on the disputed points of religious doctrine, suffer their minds to become so excited, and their temper so ruffled, that they are conscious they are in an unfit state of mind to approach the throne of grace together! That theological debate has gone too far; that strife for victory has become too warm, when the disputants are in such a state of mind that they cannot unite in prayer; when they could not cease their contentions, and with a calm and proper spirit, bow together before the throne of grace.

Poole: 1Ti 2:1

1Ti 2:1-3 Paul exhorteth to pray and give thanks for all men,

for kings and magistrates especially.

1Ti 2:4-6 God willeth the savation of all men.

1Ti 2:7 Paul’ s commission to teach the Gentiles.

1Ti 2:8-10 He directeth how women should be attired,

1Ti 2:11-14 permiteth them not to teach,

1Ti 2:15 promiseth that they shall be saved by child-bearing

on certain conditions.

Timothy (as was said before) was left at Ephesus to manage the affairs of the church there in the absence of Paul, who in this Epistle directs him as to this management. First he exhorts him to see that prayers should be made for all men.

Supplicationsdehseiv , for supply of wants.

Prayersproseucav , signifieth much the same; some will have it to signify petitions for the conservation or increase of what good things we have.

Intercessionsenteuzeiv , prayers for others, whether for the averting of evils from them, or the collation of good things upon them.

And giving of thanks and blessings of God for good things bestowed upon ourselves or others. These Paul wills should be made uper pantwn , which may be of all men, or for all men, but the next verse plainly shows that it is here rightly rendered

for all men for there were at this time no kings in the church. Paul here establisheth prayers as a piece of the public ministry in the church of God, and a primary piece; therefore he saith, he exhorts that first of all; not in respect of time so much, as, principally, intimating it a great piece of the public ministry, which he would by no means have neglected. And he would have these prayers put up for all orders and sorts of men, such only excepted of whom St. John speaks, 1Jo 5:16 , who had sinned that sin, for which he would not say Christians should pray.

Poole: 1Ti 2:2

For kings, and for all that are in authority: the kings of the earth at that time were all heathens, and enemies to the Christian religion, so (generally) were those who were in a subordinate authority to them, yet the apostle commands that prayers should be made in the Christian congregations for them. What the matter of their petitions was to be is not expressed, but doubtless not to be limited by the next words, for that were not to have prayed for them but for themselves. Prayers for magistrates ought to be directed by their circumstances. If magistrates were idolaters and persecutors, they were to pray for their conversion, and the change of their hearts. However, they were to pray for their life and health so far forth as might be for God’ s glory, and for God’ s guidance of them in the administration of their government, and their success in their lawful counsels and undertakings, &c. The latter words,

that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty contain the reason why prayers should be made for governors, and the good effect of them. For it is for this end that the supreme Lord hath ordained the office and dignity of kings and governors, that, being armed with authority and power, they may perserve public order and peace, by punishing evil-doers, and protecting and encouraging those that do well. Thus, under the Old Testament, the Jews were commanded to pray for the peace of the nation or city whither they should be carried captives, for in their peace they should have peace, Jer 29:7 .

Poole: 1Ti 2:3

To pray for all, as well our enemies as our friends, especially for princes, and such as are in places of magistracy and authority, is

good being according to the will and commandment of God, and acceptable to God, as all acts of obedience to his will are. The word Saviour may either be understood with reference to the Divine Being, God being our Preserver, who maketh his sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the just and unjust, Mat 5:45 , which our Saviour brings as an argument to enforce his precept of love to our enemies; or with a special reference to Christ, to whom the title of Saviour, with reference to eternal salvation, more strictly belongs, who also by his death, when we were enemies reconciled us to God: so that such a charitable office must be acceptable to God, because in doing it we both show ourselves the children of our heavenly Father, and also the followers of Christ.

Poole: 1Ti 2:4

The apostle produces a clear, convincing reason, that the duty of charity in praying for all men is pleasing to God, from his love extended to all, in his willing their salvation, and their knowledge and belief of the gospel, which is the only way of salvation. From hence our Saviour’ s commission and command to the apostles was universal: Go and teach all nations, Mat 28:19 ; Preach the gospel to every creature, that is, to every man, Mar 16:15 ; he excludes no people, no person. And accordingly the apostles discharged their office to their utmost capacity, Col 1:24 . But a question arises, how it can be said that God would

have all men saved when that the most of men perish? For the resolving this difficulty, we must observe, that in the style of Scripture the will of God sometimes signifies his eternal counsel and decree; that things should be done either by his immediate efficiency, or by the intervention of means: or, secondly, his commands and invitations to men to do such things as are pleasing to him. The will of God in the first sense always infallibly obtains its effect, Psa 115:3 ; thus he declares: My counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure, Isa 46:10 ; for otherwise there must be a change of God’ s will and counsel, or a defect of power, both which assertions are impious blasphemy. But those things which he commands and are pleasing to him, are often not performed without any reflection upon him, either as mutable or impotent. Thus he declares, that he wills things that are pleasing to him; as, I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn and live, Eze 33:11 ; and sometimes that he will not those things that are displeasing to him, as contrary to holiness, though he did not decree the hindering of them: thus he complains in Isa 55:12 : Ye did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. This distinction of the Divine will being clearly set down in Scripture, answers the objection; for when it is said in the text, that God

will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth and in the same sense by St. Peter, that God will have none perish, but come to repentance, 2Pe 3:9 ; we must understand it, not with respect to his decretive will, but his complacential will, that is, the repentance and life of a sinner is very pleasing to his holiness and mercy. And this love of God to men has been declared in opening the way of salvation to them by the Mediator, and by all the instructions, invitations, commands, and promises of the gospel, assuring them that whoever comes to Christ upon the terms of the gospel shall in no wise be cast off; that no repenting believer shall be excluded from saving mercy.

Poole: 1Ti 2:5

The apostle proves the universal love of God to men by two reasons, the unity of God, and the unity of the Mediator: though there are divers societies and vast numbers of men, yet there is but one God, the Creator and Preserver of all. If there were many gods in nature, it were conceivable that the God of Christians were not the God of other men, and consequently that his good will were confined to his own portion, leaving the rest to their several deities; but since there is but one true God of the world, who has revealed himself in the gospel, it necessarily follows that he is the God of all men in the relation of Creator and Preserver. And from hence he concludes: God will have all men to be saved. He argues in the same manner that salvation by faith in Christ belongs to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, Rom 3:29,30 . The apostle adds, for the clearest assurance of his good will of God to save men, that there is

one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus When the sin of man had provoked Divine justice, and the guilt could not be expiated without satisfaction, God appointed his Son incarnate to mediate between his offended Majesty and his rebellious subjects. And it is observable, the parallel between the unity of God and the unity of the Mediator; as there is one God of all nations, so there is one Mediator of all. The strength of the apostle’ s argument from the unity of the Mediator is this: If there were many mediators, according to the numbers of nations in the world, there might be a suspicion whether they were so worthy and so prevalent as to obtain the grace of God, every one for those in whose behalf they did mediate. But since there is but one, and that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him, it is evident that all men have the same Mediator, and that every one may be assured that God is willing he should be saved, and, for that blessed end, should by faith and repentance accept the covenant of grace. The apostle for the stronger confirmation specifies the Mediator,

the man Christ Jesus to encourage the hopes of all men, from the communion they have with him in nature, that they may partake of his salvation, and that this great Mediator, having come from heaven and assumed the infirmity of our nature, Heb 4:15 , will be inclined compassionately to assist them, and raise them to his heavenly kingdom.

Poole: 1Ti 2:6

’ Antilutron , the word here translated ransom is very emphatical; it signifies the exchanging of condition with another, the laying down of one’ s life to save another’ s. This our Saviour has done for us. The Scripture discovers to us, that by nature we are the children of wrath, and guilty of many rebellious sins, and devoted to eternal death: being in this deplorable state, the Son of God, moved by his Divine love, undertook our restoring to the favour of God; and voluntarily endured the punishment due to our sins, and gave his most precious blood and life the price of our redemption, Mat 20:28 . If it be objected: How is it consistent with Christ giving

himself a ransom for all that so many perish in their sins? The answer is clear: We must distinguish between the sufficiency of his ransom and the efficacy of it; he paid a ransom worthy to obtain the salvation of all men, and has done whatever was requisite to reconcile God, and make men capable of salvation; but only those who by a lively faith depend upon him, and obey him, are actual partakers of salvation: that is, no person but may be saved in believing; and if men perish, it is not from a defect of righteousness in the Mediator, but from the love of their lusts, and their obstinate rejecting their own mercies. And it is unjust that the glory of his Divine compassion and love should be obscured or lessened for their ungrateful neglect of it.

Poole: 1Ti 2:7

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher for the publishing and making known of which testimony of the Divine goodness and truth I am set, or appointed, 2Ti 1:11 , eteyhn , a preacher, or a public officer to proclaim and make it known.

And an apostle and am immediately called by Christ, and sent out upon that employment.

I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not I call Christ to witness that I speak nothing but what I know to be true. It is a phrase which hath, if not the form, yet the force of an oath; and was necessary in this case, for it was not easy to persuade the Jews that God had sent any to reveal the way of salvation to the Gentiles.

A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity and my special province was to teach the Gentiles, Act 9:15 26:17 Gal 2:7-9 ; and to instruct them in the doctrine of faith and truth: or, I was set faithfully and truly to instruct the Gentiles.

Poole: 1Ti 2:8

I will therefore that men pray every where this is one precept that I give thee in charge as to the management of the affairs of the church, that wherever men meet together to worship God, whether in houses built for that purpose, or in more common houses, or any other place, (for the time is now come when there is no special command for one place more than another, no special promise made to men’ s prayers in one place more than another, as there was to and concerning the temple of old, Joh 4:21 ), they should pray, either ministering to others in the duty of prayer, or joining with him who doth so minister.

Lifting up holy hands but let them take heed how they pray, for God heareth not sinners, Joh 9:31 ; let them therefore lift up holy hands, not regarding iniquity in their hearts.

Without wrath and let them take heed of carrying malice, or inveterate anger, in their hearts when they go to God in prayer, for they must pray, Father: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; and, Mat 6:15 : If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. And doubting; and let them also take heed of doubting in prayer of the goodness, truth, or power of God to fulfil his wishes; but, Jam 1:6,7 , let them ask in faith, nothing wavering. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

PBC: 1Ti 2:1

See GG: 19,20 May 16, 2004

One of the most potent weapons in our spiritual arsenal is prayer. Prayer for civil government should be a very high priority for God’s children. Paul instructed us in 1Ti 2:1-3 " I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour..." We have no idea how important it is to pray for those who rule over us. There are some good men who are in high positions of government. They are under pressures that very few of us can even imagine. We live in a day when the media viciously and dishonestly assaults those public figures who make public stands for Biblical or even decent standards. These good men and women need our prayer support.

358

"all men"

Frequently the casual Bible reader will become detracted by seemingly universal sounding words, in this case "all men." As Paul expands and defines his intent, he specifically mentions governmental leaders. One might ask, "Does this mean that I am to pray, intercede with God for, and thank God for Sadam Hussein or other evil world leaders?" I believe the answer is no. Paul is quite specific in the objective for these prayers. We are not to pray for one political party over another unless one party forsakes Biblical morality (In most cases both do so.). The objective goes beyond the party spirit. Our prayers are for divine intervention with one purpose in mind, that we may live our lives quietly, peaceably, and to the honor of our God. Secondly, the term "all men" can mean more than one thing. It can mean all men without exception, brown, yellow, black, and white; rich or poor; powerful or irrelevant to our lives altogether. This idea makes no sense when compared with Paul’s stated objective for our prayers. A second meaning, and more consistent with the context of this passage, refers to all kinds of men. This idea means that you pray for the President, Senators, U. S. Congressmen, judges, governors, policemen, local governmental officials, etc. (and regardless of their political party affiliation!). With the stated objective of an orderly civil government that enables believers to live their lives peacefully to the honor of God, this meaning fits the context and appears logically appropriate to the passage. 

275

PBC: 1Ti 2:3

1Ti 2:3

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. {1Ti 2:3-6}

See GG: 19,21 May 23, 2004 for more on these verses

This passage frequently surfaces in the ongoing debate among Christians as to election and salvation. Does God actually want every human being without exception to be saved?

Those who hold to this view must face their own set of problems with the idea. Did God devise the system of salvation before creation, knowing its results-how many people would be saved and how many would not? And if He knew that a small percentage of humanity would realize actual salvation based on His chosen system (the typical view of those who hold to God’s universal "wish" for all mankind’s salvation), why did He institute such an ineffective system? Why didn’t He create a more efficient method of saving people? We have the assumption that God really wants every human being to be saved, but yet He instituted a pathetically ineffective system of salvation, knowing in advance its utter failure to accomplish His "wish". This idea is simply not reasonable, given the sovereignty of God.

We further have the conflict between this idea and such passages as Job 23:13, "But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." The conflict between the idea and this passage is irreconcilable. Does God wish the salvation of all mankind, while forcing Himself to accept the sad outcome of the system that He instituted? Or does He do whatever His soul desires? It can’t be both ways.

We also must deal with the various passages that teach the doctrine of election and make it a matter of God’s choice, not man’s decision. This theological perspective imposes even more tension onto the situation. We have a God who specifically chooses a certain finite number of mankind to salvation, but He really "wishes" that all of humanity would be saved.

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

How then do we explain this point? In the last chapter we examined the term "all men" in terms of Paul’s exhortation to prayer for civil leaders. Rather than referring to all mankind without exception (Most of humanity has nothing to do with civil government, so by definition they are excluded from this particular prayer exhortation.), it seems obvious that Paul’s intent in that verse refers to all kinds of men in governmental positions of authority, from the President to the local city councilman.

Good exegesis requires a logical and reasonable conclusion that Paul’s use of the same term in the same context carries a compatible meaning. Thus if in the first instance Paul intended that we pray for all kinds of men related to governmental authority, in this instance he intends for us to understand that it is God’s desire or will that all kinds of men (as opposed to all mankind without exception), including but not limited to all kinds of men in governmental authority, be saved. Contextually this idea harmonizes with Paul’s teaching, and it also avoids the inconsistency of making God’s "wish" and His actual system of salvation contradictory.

We find additional evidence for this interpretation. First, Paul immediately takes us from salvation to the divine means of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. It is not man’s decision, but Jesus’ mediation that saves us. Any number of people will hold firmly that Jesus is the only Savior, but that He employees "agents" or "means" to convey salvation to individuals. Look up the word translated "Mediator" in this passage. It is generally defined as "means." Jesus is God’s only agent or means of our salvation. God intends an invaluable work in faith and in the gospel, but He does not intend them to serve as surrogate agents or means. Paul clearly affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s only "agent" or "means" in our salvation.

Who gave himself a ransom for all

The statement, "Who gave himself a ransom for all," must be in some way qualified. The person who claims to believe that Jesus died for all the sins of all mankind-but who eventually faces the reality that he/she actually believes that He died for some of the sins of all mankind-must walk away from this verse. He/She really doesn’t believe that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all without qualification. They qualify their view by reserving the sin of unbelief, "unfaith," or failure to accept God’s offer in the gospel. Thus at the core of the question, they reject the universal interpretation of this statement.

Those who hold to a wholly Arminian view of the passage qualify the passage. They join in their reservation about Jesus giving Himself a ransom for all the sins of all mankind. Their view effectively holds that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all, but ransomed none unless they accept the terms of His offer of ransom to them. Thus they directly deny that Jesus actually gave the ransom price at all.

The view of those who hold that Jesus died for all the sins of some of mankind, offer, I believe, a more reasonable qualification to this passage. Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all kinds of men, but not for all mankind without exception. The actual identity of those for whom Jesus gave Himself a ransom will be testified in due time, at the resurrection and judgment when they appear with Christ in resurrected and glorified bodies.

to be testified in due time

Additionally, Paul adds another corroborating point, "...to be testified in due time." If in fact God wishes the salvation of all without exception, why would there be any need to wait till the resurrection to see the actual results of God’s salvation plan? Their presence in the resurrection at His right hand will be a factual testimony of God’s eternal purpose in salvation? When we see them at His right hand, their presence will testify that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for their sins.

Thus what appears to be a universal passage is not actually accepted by most Christians as factually as they claim to believe it. If you make the statements in this context literal and divorce them from Paul’s earlier comment regarding prayer for all men, you force yourself into the universal salvation view, that all of mankind will in fact be saved eventually. This view is so alien to Scripture that few indeed hold to it.

Central to the passage and to Biblical doctrine is the work of Jesus as the only Mediator between God and man. We cannot embrace a theology that adds endlessly to the list of mediators in the salvation process. Whatever we believe at the end of the day, we must embrace the clearest statement in the passage, the exclusive mediatorship of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot adopt a compromised theology that makes any other being or force function as mediator; not the gospel, not the faith or other actions of the sinner. Nothing can serve as the true Mediator between God and man other than the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Owen’s third premise honors Christ in this role and, I believe, states the true teaching of Scripture regarding our salvation. May we praise Him for unmerited salvation and mercy. 

51

PBC: 1Ti 2:7

See GG: 19,22 May 30, 2004

PBC: 1Ti 2:8

See GG: 19,23 June 6, 2004

Haydock: 1Ti 2:1

Intercessions, as in the Protestant translation. If men's intercessions to God in favour of others, are no injury to Christ, as our mediator, how can it be any injury to Christ for the Angels and saints in heaven to pray or intercede to God for us? (Witham) ---

St. Augustine writes thus on this verse: By supplications are meant what are said before the consecration. By prayers, are what are said in and after the consecration and communion, at mass, including the Pater Noster [the Our Father]; which St. Jerome also says, our Lord taught his apostles to recite at the daily sacrifice of his body. (lib. iii. cont. Pelag. chap. 5) By intercessions, what are said after the communion: and by thanksgivings, what both the priest and people give to God for so great a mystery then offered and received. (ep. 50. ad Paulin.) See St. John Chrysostom on this place.

Haydock: 1Ti 2:2

For kings, who were then heathens, this being in Nero's time. (Witham) ---

Upon the happiness of the king generally depends that of his subjects. We pray for the emperors, says Tertullian, that God would grant them a long life, a secure throne, and a safe family, brave armies, a faithful council, and a just people. In fine, that he would grant them peace, and whatever else they could wish, either for themselves or their empire. (Apologet. cap. 30.)

Haydock: 1Ti 2:4

All men to be saved. They contradict this, and other places of the Scripture, as well as the tradition and doctrine of the Catholic Church, who teach that God willeth only the salvation of the predestinated, of the elect, and as they say, of the first-begotten only: and that he died only for them, and not for all mankind. But if it is the will of God that all and every one be saved, and no one resists, or can frustrate the will of the Almighty, whence comes it that every one is not saved? To understand and reconcile divers places in the holy Scriptures, we must needs distinguish in God a will that is absolute and effectual, accompanied with special graces and assistances, and with the gift of final perseverance, by which, through his pure mercy, he decreed to save the elect, without any prejudice to their free will and liberty; and a will, which by the order of Providence, is conditional, and this not a metaphorical and improper will only, but a true and proper will, by which he hath prepared and offered graces and means to all men, whereby they may work their salvation; and if they are not saved, it is by their own fault, by their not corresponding with the graces offered, it is because they resist the Holy Ghost. (Acts vii. 51.) If in this we meet with difficulties, which we cannot comprehend, the words of St. Paul, (Romans ix. 20.) O man, who art thou, who repliest against God? may be sufficient to make us work our salvation with fear and trembling. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Ti 2:5-6

One mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a redemption for all. Take all these words together, and we may easily understand in what sense the apostle calls our Saviour Christ, the one or only mediator; that is, he is the only mediator, who at the same time is our Redeemer; the only mediator who could mediate betwixt God, the person offended by sin, and men the offenders; the only mediator who reconciled God to mankind by his incarnation and death, by the infinite price of his blood, by his own merits, independently of the merits of any other. All Catholics allow that the dignity and office of mediator in this sense belongs only to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made man to save us. The sense then of this place is, that as there is but one God, who created all, so there is but one mediator, who redeemed all. But yet the name of mediator is not so appropriated to Christ, but that in an inferior and different sense the Angels and saints in heaven, and even men on earth, who pray to God for the salvation of others, may be called mediators, intercessors, or advocates; and we may apply ourselves to them to pray, intercede, and mediate for us, without any injury to Christ, since we acknowledge that all their intercession and mediation is always grounded on the merits of Christ, our Redeemer. The same word for mediator, in the Greek as well as in the Latin, is given to Moses, God's servant. (Galatians iii. 19.) See also Deuteronomy v. 5. The words of our Saviour himself, (Matthew xxiii.) taken according to the letter, contains an express prohibition of being called masters, or fathers; and this reason is given, because all men have one Father in heaven, and because Christians have one master, Christ. Yet no one can justly pretend from thence, that in a different sense, a man may not be called father or master, without any injury to God, or to Christ. (Witham) ---

Christ is the one and only mediator of redemption; who gave himself, as the apostle writes, a redemption for all. He is also the only mediator, who stands in need of no other to recommend his petitions to the Father. But this is not against our seeking the prayers and intercessions, as well of the faithful upon earth, as of the saints and Angels in heaven, for obtaining mercy, grace, and salvation, through Jesus Christ. As St. Paul himself often desired the help of the prayers of the faithful, without any injury to the mediatorship of Jesus Christ. (Challoner) ---

If there be other mediators among the Angels and saints, they are only so in subordination to the first [to Christ], who by themselves have no right to mediation or favours, and who cannot demand them but through the merits of him [of Christ] who is our only essential mediator. (Estius, Menochius, &c.) Consult Judges iii. 9; 2 Esdras ix. 17; Acts vii. 35. ---

A redemption for all. Not only for the predestinated, not only for the just, not only for the faithful, but for all Gentiles and infidels: and therefore he says again, (chap. iv. 10.) that Christ is the Saviour of all men, and especially of the faithful. See St. Augustine[1] and St. John Chrysostom.[2] (Witham)

Haydock: 1Ti 2:6

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

See St. Augustine (lib. de Spi. et Lit. tom. x. chap. 33. p. 118) Vult Deus omnes homines salvos fieri....non sic tamen, ut eis adimat Liberum Arbitruim, quo vel bene, vel male utentes, justissime judicentur. Quod cum fit, infideles quidem contra voluntatem Dei faciunt, cum ejus Evangelio non credunt.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

St. Chysostom ( Greek: om. z. p. 277) Greek: kai o men Christos kai apethanen uper ellauon....[]s oun, phesin ouk episteusan, oti ouk ethelesan, to de autou moros egeneto.

Haydock: 1Ti 2:8

How beautifully does St. Paul teach that modesty and chastity are the greatest ornaments of the female sex, not only in the sight of God and of Angels, but also of men, who although by their own neglect they have not always grace and courage sufficient to be virtuous themselves, cannot help admiring virtue wherever they see it in others. Even the pagan fully acknowledges the native attractions of virtue. Virtus per se placet: Virtue pleases with unborrowed charms.

Gill: 1Ti 2:1

I exhort therefore, that first of all,.... The two principal parts of public worship, being the ministry of the word and prayer; and the apostle having insisted on the former, in the preceding chapter, in which he orders Timothy to charge some that they teach no other doctrine than that of the Gospel, gives an account of his own ministry, and call to it, and of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to his trust, and stirs up Timothy to the faithful and diligent discharge of his work and office; now proceeds to the latter, to prayer, and exhorts unto it; either Timothy in particular, for so read the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, "I exhort thee", or "desire thee"; or else the church in general; unless it should rather be thought to be a charge to Timothy to exhort, and so Beza's Claromontane copy reads, "exhort thou therefore": but it is commonly considered as an exhortation of the apostle's, which he was very urgent in: it was what lay much upon his mind, and he was greatly desirous that it should be attended unto; for so the words may be read, "I exhort first of all", or before all things; of all things he had to say, this was the chief, or it was what he would have principally and chiefly done by others: for this does not so much regard the order of time, that prayer should be made early in the morning, in the first place, before anything else is done, and particularly before preaching, which seems to have been the custom of the primitive saints, Act 4:31 but the pre-eminence and superior excellency of it; though the words may be rendered, "I exhort, that first, the supplications of all be made": and so may regard public prayer, the prayer of the whole church, in distinction from private prayer, or the prayer of a single person; which is expressed by different words,

supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks: the first of these, "supplications", signifies such petitions for things that are wanted by men, either by themselves or others; and that either for their bodies or souls, as food and raiment for the one, and discoveries of pardoning love, supplies of grace, spiritual peace, comfort, &c. for the other: and the second word, "prayers", signifies good wishes and desires, directed and expressed to God for things that are in themselves to be wished for, and desired of God, either for ourselves or others: and the next word, "intercessions", intends either complaints exhibited in prayer against others that have done injuries; or prayers put up for others, either for the averting of evil from them, or for the bestowing some good thing on them: and the last word, "thanksgivings", with which requests should always be made known to God, designs that branch of prayer in which thanks are given to God for mercies received, whether temporal or spiritual: and these are to

be made for all men; not only for all the saints, for all the churches of Christ, and, ministers of the Gospel; nor only for near relations and friends, according to the flesh; but for all the inhabitants of the country and city in which men dwell, the peace and prosperity of which are to be prayed for; yea, for enemies, and such as reproach, persecute, and despitefully use the saints, even for all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, high and low, bond and free, good men and bad men: for it cannot be understood of every individual that has been, is, or shall be in the world; millions of men are dead and gone, for whom prayer is not to be made; many in hell, to whom it would be of no service; and many in heaven, who stand in no need of it; nor is prayer to be made for such who have sinned the sin unto death, 1Jo 5:16 besides, giving of thanks, as well as prayers, are to be made for all men; but certainly the meaning is not, that thanks should be given for wicked men, for persecutors, and particularly for a persecuting Nero, or for heretics, and false teachers, such as Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom the apostle had delivered to Satan. But the words must be understood of men of all sorts, of every rank and quality, as the following verse shows.

Gill: 1Ti 2:2

For kings, and for all that are in authority,.... For supreme governors, as the emperor of Rome, and kings of particular nations; and for all sub-governors, or inferior magistrates, as procurators or governors of provinces, and proconsuls, and the like; all that were in high places, and acted under the authority of those that were supreme; these are particularly mentioned, the then governors, whether supreme or subordinate, who were avowed enemies, and violent persecutors of the saints; and it might be a scruple with some of them, whether they should pray for them, and therefore the apostle enjoins it; and this in opposition to the notions and practices of the Jews, who used to curse the Heathens, and pray for none but for themselves, and those of their own nation:

that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty; which does not merely design the end of civil government by kings and magistrates, which is to preserve the peace and quiet of the commonwealth; to protect the persons and properties of men, that they may possess their own undisturbed; and to secure to them their civil and religious rights and liberties, that they may have the free use and exercise of religion, signified by "all godliness"; and to encourage morality and virtue, expressed by "honesty"; and so is an argument for prayer, taken from the advantage of civil government: nor does this clause only point out the duty of saints to live peaceably under the government they are, and not disturb it; to mind only their religious exercises among themselves, and behave honestly and morally among men, as they generally speaking are, the quiet in the land; but also expresses the thing to be prayed for; and the sense is, that since the hearts of kings are in the hands of the Lord, and he can turn them as he pleases, prayer should be made to him for them, that he would either convert them, and bring them to the knowledge of the truth, they now persecuted; or at least so dispose their hearts and minds, that they might stop the persecution, and so saints might live peaceably under them, enjoy their religious liberty, and be encouraged in their moral conversation. The Arabic version renders it, "that they may be preserved": that is, kings, and all in authority. It is a saying of R. Hananiah, or Ananias, the sagan of the priests ^s,

"pray for the peace or safety of the kingdom (one of their commentators on it adds ^t, even of the nations of the world, which is remarkable, and agrees with the exhortation of the apostle); for if there was no fear of that, men would devour one another alive.''

Gill: 1Ti 2:3

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. Not only to live peaceably and quietly under the government men are, since that is the ordination of God, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, which his grace teaches; but to pray for all sorts of men, and for those who are set in the highest place of government, even though enemies and persecutors: this is good in itself, and in the sight of an omniscient God, who sees not as man seeth; and it is acceptable unto him through Jesus Christ, by whom every sacrifice of prayer or praise is so; for by God our Saviour is meant God the Father, who is the Saviour of all men, in a way of providence, and the Saviour of all the elect in a way of special grace; See Gill on 1Ti 2:1.

Gill: 1Ti 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved,.... The salvation which God wills that all men should enjoy, is not a mere possibility of salvation, or a mere putting them into a salvable state; or an offer of salvation to them; or a proposal of sufficient means of it to all in his word; but a real, certain, and actual salvation, which he has determined they shall have; and is sure from his own appointment, from the provision of Christ as a Saviour for them, from the covenant of grace, in which everything is secured necessary for it, and from the mission of Christ to effect it, and from its being effected by him: wherefore the will of God, that all men should be saved, is not a conditional will, or what depends on the will of man, or on anything to be performed by him, for then none might be saved; and if any should, it would be of him that willeth, contrary to the express words of Scripture; but it is an absolute and unconditional will respecting their salvation, and which infallibly secures it: nor is it such a will as is distinguishable into antecedent and consequent; with the former of which it is said, God wills the salvation of all men, as they are his creatures, and the work of his hands; and with the latter he wills, or not wills it, according to their future conduct and behaviour; but the will of God concerning man's salvation is entirely one, invariable, unalterable, and unchangeable: nor is it merely his will of approbation or complacency, which expresses only what would be grateful and well pleasing, should it be, and which is not always fulfilled; but it is his ordaining, purposing, and determining will, which is never resisted, so as to be frustrated, but is always accomplished: the will of God, the sovereign and unfrustrable will of God, has the governing sway and influence in the salvation of men; it rises from it, and is according to it; and all who are saved God wills they should be saved; nor are any saved, but whom he wills they should be saved: hence by all men, whom God would have saved, cannot be meant every individual of mankind, since it is not his will that all men, in this large sense, should be saved, unless there are two contrary wills in God; for there are some who were before ordained by him unto condemnation, and are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction; and it is his will concerning some, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned; nor is it fact that all are saved, as they would be, if it was his will they should; for who hath resisted his will? but there is a world of ungodly men that will be condemned, and who will go into everlasting punishment: rather therefore all sorts of men, agreeably to the use of the phrase in 1Ti 2:1 are here intended, kings and peasants, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, young and old, greater and lesser sinners; and therefore all are to be prayed for, even all sorts of men, because God will have all men, or all sorts of men, saved; and particularly the Gentiles may be designed, who are sometimes called the world, the whole world, and every creature; whom God would have saved, as well as the Jews, and therefore Heathens, and Heathen magistrates, were to be prayed for as well as Jewish ones. Moreover, the same persons God would have saved, he would have also

come to the knowledge of the truth: of Christ, who is the truth, and to faith in him, and of all the truth of the Gospel, as it is in Jesus; not merely to a notional knowledge of it, which persons may arrive unto, and not be saved, but a spiritual and experimental knowledge of it; and all that are saved are brought to such a knowledge, which is owing to the sovereign will and good pleasure of God, who hides the knowledge of Gospel truths from the wise and prudent, and reveals them to babes: whence it appears, that it is not his will with respect to every individual of mankind; that they should thus come to the knowledge of the truth; for was it his will they should, he would, no doubt, give to every man the means of it, which he has not, nor does he; he suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, and overlooked their times of ignorance, and sent no message nor messenger to inform them of his will; he gave his word to Jacob, and his statutes unto Israel only; and the Gospel is now sent into one part of the world, and not another; and where it does come, it is hid to the most; many are given up to strong delusions to believe a lie, and few are savingly and experimentally acquainted with the truths of the Gospel; though all that are saved are brought to the knowledge of such truths as are necessary to salvation; for they are chosen to it through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.

Gill: 1Ti 2:5

For there is one God,.... This does not so much regard the unity of God, with respect to himself, or his divine essence, though that is a truth; but does not carry in it any apparent and forcible reason why all men should be prayed for, for which it is produced; but the unity of God with respect to men, as that there is but one God, who is the Creator of all men, and who, in a providential way, is the Saviour of all men; and in a way of special grace is the one God, the one covenant God of all sorts of men, of Jews and Gentiles; for he has taken of the latter into the covenant of his grace, as well as the former, and has loved them with a special and distinguishing love, has chosen them in Christ to salvation, and has sent his Son to redeem them; and of these he calls by his grace, regenerates, sanctifies, adopts, pardons, and justifies; see Rom 3:29 and therefore all sorts of men, Gentiles as well as Jews, are to be prayed for: another argument follows,

and one Mediator between God and men; a Mediator is of more than one, and has to do with two parties; and these at variance among themselves, between whom he stands as a middle person; his business is to bring them together, and make peace between them; and such an one is Christ: the two parties are God and his elect, who in their natural state are at a distance from God, and at enmity to him, and who have broken his law, and affronted his justice; Christ stands as a middle person, a daysman between them, and lays his hands upon them both; has to do with things pertaining to the glory of God, and makes reconciliation for the sins of the people; brings them that were afar off nigh to God, and makes peace for them by the blood of his cross, by fulfilling the law, and satisfying justice for them; in consequence of this he appears for them in the court of heaven, intercedes and pleads for them, is their advocate, and sees that all covenant blessings, of which he is the Mediator, are applied unto them, and preserves their persons, which are committed to his care and charge, safe to everlasting happiness; and this Mediator is

the man Christ Jesus; not that he is a mere man, for he is truly and properly God; or that he is a Mediator only according to the human nature: it was proper indeed that he should be man, that he might have something to offer, and that he might be capable of obeying, suffering, and dying, and so of making satisfaction in the nature that had sinned; but then, had he not been God, he could not have drawn nigh to God on the behalf of men, and undertook for them, and much less have performed; nor would his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, have been available to cleanse from sin, to procure the pardon of it, justify from it, make atonement for it, or make peace with God: the reason why he is particularly mentioned as man, is, with a view to the argument in hand, praying for all men; since he who is the Mediator between God and man, has assumed a nature which is common to them all: and this Mediator is said to be one, not so much in opposition to other mediators, angels or saints departed, though it is a truth, and stands full against them, but with respect to men; there is but one Mediator between God and all sorts of men, through whom both Jews and Gentiles have an access to God, and peace with him; and therefore prayer through this Mediator should be made for all. So the Jews say of the Messiah ^u, that he is אל אמצעי, "a Mediator, God", a middle person between God and men. And they call him עמודא דאמצעיתא, "the Pillar of mediation" ^w or the middle Pillar; that is, the Mediator or Reconciler. And Philo ^x the Jew speaks of the word, as μεσος, a "middle" person, and standing in the middle between the dead and the living, and between God and men. The Ethiopic version here renders it, "there is one elect of God"; which is one of the characters of the Messiah, Isa 42:1.

Gill: 1Ti 2:6

Who gave himself a ransom for all,.... What the Mediator gave as a ransom for men is "himself", his body and his soul, which were both made an offering for sin; and his life, which is the result of union between soul and body; his whole human nature as in union with his divine person, and so might be truly said to be himself: this he gave into the hands of men, of justice and of death; and that voluntarily, which shows his great love to his people; and also as a "ransom", or a ransom price for them, αντιλυτρον, in their room and stead; to ransom them from the slavery of sin, and damnation by it, from the captivity of Satan, and the bondage of the law, and from the grave, death, hell, ruin, and destruction: and this ransom was given for "all"; not for every individual of mankind, for then all would be delivered, freed, and saved, whereas they are not; or else the ransom price is paid in vain, or God is unjust to receive a sufficient ransom price from Christ, and yet not free the captive, but punish the person for whom he has received satisfaction; neither of which can be said. But the meaning is, either that he gave himself a ransom for many, as in Mat 20:28 for the Hebrew word כל, to which this answers, signifies sometimes many, a multitude, and sometimes only a part of a multitude, as Kimchi observes ^y: or rather it intends that Christ gave himself a ransom for all sorts of men, for men of every rank and quality, of every state and condition, of every age and sex, and for all sorts of sinners, and for some out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, for both Jews and Gentiles; which latter may more especially be designed by all, as they are sometimes by the world, and the whole world; and so contains another argument why all sorts of men are to be prayed for, since the same ransom price is given for them; as that for the children of Israel was the same, for the rich as for the poor. We ^z read, that when the people of Israel comforted the high priest upon the death of his wife, or any relation, they used to say to him, אנו כפרתך, "we are thy atonement", expiation, or ransom; that is, as the commentators ^a explain it, by us thou shalt be atoned, for we will be in thy room and stead, with respect to all things that shall come upon thee; but here the High priest and Mediator is the atonement and ransom for the people:

to be testified in due time; or "a testimony in his own times"; that is, the sum and substance of what is before said is the Gospel, which is a testimony concerning the person, office, and grace of Christ, exhibited in the times of the Messiah, or the Gospel dispensation. Some copies read, "the mystery", which is another word often used for the Gospel; for that that is intended, appears by what follows.

Gill: 1Ti 2:7

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle,.... He was ordained or appointed to be a preacher of the Gospel from all eternity, and was separated or set apart unto it in time, and was put into the ministry of it by Christ himself, and was not a common or ordinary preacher of the word, but an apostle, an extraordinary officer in the Gospel church.

I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not; which are a sort of an oath, or an appeal to Christ the omniscient God, for the truth of what he said, concerning his ordination to the Gospel; see a like phrase in Rom 9:1. The phrase, "in Christ", is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in three of Beza's ancient copies, and in some others, and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions;

a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity; the Gospel of the uncircumcision, or which was to be preached to the uncircumcised Gentiles, was committed to this apostle; and his work and ministry lay among them, and therefore he is called the apostle of the Gentiles: and so he was in faith and verity; which may regard the subject matter of his teachings and ministry; it was the faith and truth of the Gospel, even the whole of it, the faith which was once delivered to the saints, and the truth as it is in Jesus; or else the character of the apostle, as a teacher, that he was a true and faithful one, who with all integrity and veracity, fully and faithfully preached the Gospel; and since he was appointed a teacher of it to the Gentiles, this is another argument why they, as well as the Jews, should be prayed for.

Gill: 1Ti 2:8

I will therefore that men pray everywhere,.... In this declaration of the apostle's will concerning prayer, he only takes notice of "men"; not but that it is both the duty and privilege of women, as well as men, to pray in their houses and closets; but because he is speaking of public prayer in the church, which only belongs to men, he speaks only of them; and his will is, that prayer should be performed by them everywhere, or in any place, in any part of the world where they lived. Now was the prophecy in Mal 1:11 fulfilled, and now was the time come our Lord refers to, Joh 4:21. This seems to be said in opposition to a Jewish notion, that the temple at Jerusalem was the only place for prayer, and that prayer made elsewhere ought to be directed towards that. The Jews say ^b, that

"there is no way for the prayer of the nations of the world to ascend, seeing the gates of heaven are only opened in the land of Israel.--And again, that the prayers without the land have no way to go up before the Lord, but the Israelites send them without the land opposite Jerusalem; and when they come to Jerusalem, from thence they remove and ascend above.--No prayer ascends above from that place in which it is made, till it come to the land of Israel, and from thence to Jerusalem, and from thence to the sanctuary, and then it ascends above.''

They have also many rules concerning places of private prayer, as that care should be taken that it be not in a place where there is any filth; or any bad scent ^c.

Lifting up holy hands; lifting up of hands was a prayer gesture among the Heathens ^d, and so it was among the Jews ^e. R. Simeon lift up his hands in prayer to the blessed God, and prayed his prayer. Yea, they ^f say,

"it is forbidden a man to lift up his hands above, except in prayer, and in blessings to his Lord, and supplications, as it is said, Gen 14:22 which is interpreted of lifting up of hands in prayer.''

And this was an emblem of the elevation of the heart in prayer to God, without which the former would be of little avail. It is an observation of the Jews ^g, we have found prayer without lifting up of hands, but we never found lifting up of hands without prayer. And these hands must be holy and pure; there must be purity of heart, and cleanness of hands, or a freedom from any governing sin, which renders prayer unacceptable unto God; see Isa 1:15. The apostle alludes to a custom of the Jews, who always used to wash their hands before prayer;

"Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp. And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.'' (Judith 12:7,8)

So it is said ^h of the Septuagint interpreters, that after the Jewish manner they washed their hands and prayed. The account Maimonides gives ⁱ, is this:

"cleanness of hands, how is it done? a man must wash his hands up to the elbow, and after that pray; if a man is on a journey, and the time of prayer is come, and he has no water, if there is between him and water four miles, which are eight thousand cubits, he may go to the place of water, and wash, and after that pray. If there is between him more than that, he may rub his hands, and pray. But if the place of water is behind him, he is not obliged to go back but a mile; but if he has passed from the water more than that, he is not obliged to return, but he rubs his hands and prays; they do not make clean for prayer but the hands only, in the rest of prayers, except the morning prayer; but before the morning prayer a man washes his face, his hands and feet, and after that prays.''

But, alas! what does all this washing signify? Unless, as Philo the Jew ^k, expresses it, a man lifts up pure, and, as one may say, virgin hands, to heaven, and so prays.

Without wrath and doubting; or reasoning, or disputation in a contentious way: the former of these, some think, has reference to "murmuring", as the Ethiopic version renders it, impatience and complaint against God in prayer, and the other to doubt and diffidence about being heard, and having the petitions answered; for prayer ought to be with praise to God, and faith in him: or rather "wrath" may intend an angry and unforgiving temper towards men, with whom prayer is made, which is very unbecoming; see Mat 5:23 and both that and doubting, or disputation, may have regard to those heats and contentions that were between the Jews and Gentiles, which the apostle would have laid aside, and they join together in prayer, and in other parts of public worship, in love and peace. Maimonides ^l says,

"men may not stand praying, either with laughter, or with levity, nor with confabulation, "nor with contention, nor with anger", but with the words of the law.''

And it is a saving of R. Chanina,

"in a day of "wrath", a man may not pray ^m.''

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:1

¹ tn Or “petitions.”

² tn Grk “all men”; but here ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used generically, referring to both men and women.

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:2

¹ tn For “even for kings” the Greek says simply “for kings.”

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:3

¹ tn Grk “this”; the referent (such prayer for all, referring to vv. 1-2) is specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:4

¹ tn Grk “who wants…” (but showing why such prayer is pleasing to God).

² tn Grk “all men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpous) is used generically, referring to both men and women.

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:5

¹ tn Traditionally this word (μεσίτης, mesith") is rendered “mediator,” but this conveys a wrong impression in contemporary English. Jesus was not a mediator, for example, who worked for compromise between opposing parties. Instead he was the only one able to go between man and God to enable them to have a relationship, but entirely on God’s terms.

² tn Grk “one mediator between God and mankind, the human, Christ Jesus.”

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:6

¹ sn Revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time is a difficult expression without clear connection to the preceding, literally “a testimony at the proper time.” This may allude to testimony about Christ’s atoning work given by Paul and others (as v. 7 mentions). But it seems more likely to identify Christ’s death itself as a testimony to God’s gracious character (as vv. 3-4 describe). This testimony was planned from all eternity, but now has come to light at the time God intended, in the work of Christ. See 2 Tim 1:9-10; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 for similar ideas.

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:7

¹ tc Most mss (א* D² H 33^vid Ï) have ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) after λέγω (legw) to read “I am telling the truth in Christ,” but this is probably an assimilation to Rom 9:1. Further, the witnesses that lack this phrase are early, important, and well distributed (א² A D* F G P Ψ 6 81 1175 1739 1881 al sy co). It is difficult to explain the shorter reading if it is not original.

NET Notes: 1Ti 2:8

¹ tn The word translated “men” here (ἀνήρ, anhr) refers to adult males, not people in general. Note the command given to “the women” in v. 9.

² sn To pray. In this verse Paul resumes and concludes the section about prayer begun in 2:1-2. 1 Tim 2:3-7 described God’s concern for all people as the motive for such prayer.

³ sn Paul uses a common ancient posture in prayer (lifting up holy hands) as a figure of speech for offering requests from a holy life (without anger or dispute).

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:1

I ^{( 1 )} exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men;

^{( 1 )} Having dispatched those things which pertain to doctrine, he speaks now in the second place of the other part of the ministry of the word, that is, of public prayers. And first of all, answering the question for whom we ought to pray, he teaches that we must pray for all men, and especially for every type of magistrate. And this thing was at that time somewhat doubted of, seeing that kings, indeed, and most of the magistrates, were at that time enemies of the Church.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:2

For kings, and [for] all that are in authority; ^{( 2 )} that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and ^{( a )} honesty.

^{( 2 )} An argument taken of the end: that is, because magistrates are appointed to this end, that men might peaceably and quietly live in all godliness and honesty: and therefore we must commend them especially to God, that they may faithfully execute so necessary an office.

^{( a )} This word includes every type of duty, which is to be used by men in all their affairs.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:3

^{( 3 )} For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

^{( 3 )} Another argument, why churches or congregations ought to pray for all men, without any difference of nation, type, age, or order: that is, because the Lord by calling of all types, indeed sometimes those that are the greatest enemies to the Gospel, will have his Church gathered together after this manner, and therefore prayer is to be made for all.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:5

^{( 4 )} For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the ^{( b )} man Christ Jesus;

^{( 4 )} God should not otherwise be manifested to be the only God of all men, unless he should show his goodness in saving all types of men. Neither should Christ be seen to be the only mediator between God and all types of men, by having taken upon him that nature of man which is common to all men, unless he had satisfied for all types of men, and made intercession for all.

^{( b )} Christ Jesus who was made man.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:6

Who gave himself a ransom for all, ^{( 5 )} to be testified in due time.

^{( 5 )} A confirmation, because even to the Gentiles is the secret of salvation now revealed and made manifest, the apostle himself being appointed for this office, which he faithfully and sincerely executes.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:7

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, [and] lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in ^{( c )} faith and verity.

^{( c )} Faithfully and sincerely: and by faith he means wholesome and sound doctrine, and by truth, an upright and sincere handling of it.

Geneva Bible: 1Ti 2:8

^{( 6 )} I will therefore that men pray every where, ^{( d )} lifting up holy hands, without ^{( e )} wrath and ^{( f )} doubting.

^{( 6 )} He has spoken of the persons for whom we must pray: and now he teaches that the difference of places is taken away: for in times past, only one nation, and in one certain place, came together to public service. But now churches or congregations are gathered together everywhere, (orderly and decently), and men come together to serve God publicly with common prayer. Neither must we strive for the nation, or for the purification of the body, or for the place, but for the mind, to have it clear from all offence, and full of sure trust and confidence.

^{( d )} He talks of the sign for the thing itself, the lifting up of hands for the calling upon God.

^{( e )} Without the griefs and offences of the mind, which hinder us from calling upon God with a good conscience.

^{( f )} Doubting, which is against faith; (Jam 1:6).

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Ti 2:1-15

1 That it is meet to pray and give thanks for all men, and the reason why.

9 How women should be attired.

12 They are not permitted to teach.

15 They shall be saved, notwithstanding the testimonies of God's wrath, in childbirth, if they continue in faith.

Maclaren: 1Ti 2:8

Where And How To Pray

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.'--1 Tim. 2:8.

THE context shows that this is part of the Apostle's directory for public worship, and that, therefore, the terms of the first clause are to be taken somewhat restrictedly. They teach the duty of the male members of the Church to take public, audible part in its worship.

Everywhere, therefore, must here properly be taken in the restricted signification of every place of Christian assembly.' And from the whole passage there comes a picture of what sort of thing a meeting of the primitive Church for worship was, very different from anything that we see nowadays. "Every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath an exhortation.' I fancy that some of the eminently respectable and utterly dead congregations which call themselves Christian Churches would be very much astonished if they could see what used to be the manner of Christian worship nineteen hundred years ago, and would get a new notion of what was meant by decently' and in order.'

But we may fairly, I suppose, if once we confess that this is so, widen somewhat the scope of these words, and take them rather as expressive of the Apostle's desire and injunction, for the word that he used here, I will,' is a very strong one, to all Christian people, be they men or women, that they pray everywhere,' in the widest sense of that expression, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting.'

I do not attempt anything more than just to go, step by step, through the Apostle's words and gather up the duties which each enjoins.

I will that men pray everywhere.' That is the same in spirit as the Apostle's other command: Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.' A very high ideal, but a very reasonable one, for unless we can find some place where God is not, and where the telegraph between heaven and earth is beyond our reach, there is no place where we should not pray. And unless we can find a place where we do not want God, nor need Him, there is no place where we should not pray. Because, then, everywhere' is equally near Him, and the straight road to His throne is of the same length from every hole and corner of the world; therefore, wherever men are, they ought to be clinging to His skirts, and reaching out their open bands for His benefits; and because, wherever a man is, there he utterly depends upon God, and needs the actual intervention of His love, and the energising of His power for everything, even for his physical life, so that he cannot wink his eyelashes without God's help, therefore, In every place I will that men pray.'

And how is that to be done? First of all, by keeping out of all places where it is impossible that we should pray; for although He is everywhere, and we want Him everywhere, there are places--and some of us know the roads to them but too well, and are but too often in them--where prayer would be a strange incongruity. A man will not pray over the counter of a public-house. A man will not pray over a sharp bargain. A man will not pray that God may bless his outbursts of anger, or sensuality and the like. A man will not pray when he feels that he is deep down in some pit of self-caused alienation from God. The possibility of praying in given circumstances is a sharp test, although a very rough and ready one, whether we ought to be in these circumstances or not. Do not let us go where we cannot take God with us; and if we feel that it would be something like blasphemy to call to Him from such a place, do not let us trust ourselves there. Jonah could pray out of the belly of the fish, and there was no incongruity in that; but many a professing Christian man gets swallowed up by monsters of the deep, and durst not for very shame send up a prayer to God. Get out of all such false positions But if the Apostle wills that men pray alway,' it must be possible while going about business, study, daily work, work at home amongst the children, work in the factory amongst spindles, work in the counting-house amongst ledgers, work in the study amongst lexicons, not only to pray whilst we are working, but to make work prayer, which is even better. ,The old saying that is often quoted with admiration, work is worship,' is only half true. There is a great deal of work that is anything but worship. But it is true that if, in all that I do, I try to realise my dependence on God for power; to look to Him for direction, and to trust to Him for issue, then, whether I eat, or drink, or pray, or study, or buy and sell, or marry or am given in marriage, all will be worship of God. I will that men pray everywhere.' What a noble ideal, and not an impossible or absurd one! This was not the false ideal of a man that had withdrawn himself from duty in order to cultivate his own soul, but the true ideal of one of the hardest workers that ever lived. Paul could say' I am pressed above measure, insomuch that I despair of life, and that which cometh upon me daily is the care of all the churches,' and yet driven, harassed beyond his strength with business and cares as he was, he did himself what he bids us do. His life was prayer, therefore his life was Christ, therefore he was equal to all demands. None of us are as hard-worked, as heavily pressed, as much hunted by imperative and baying dogs of duties as Paul was. It is possible for us to obey this commandment and to pray everywhere. A servant girl down on her knees doing the doorsteps may do that task from such a motive, and with such accompaniments, as she dips her cloth into the hot-water bucket, as to make even it prayer to God. We each can lift all the littlenesses of our lives into a lofty region, if only we will link them on to the throne of God by prayer.

There is another way by which this ideal can be attained, and that is to cultivate the habit, which I think many Christian people do not cultivate, of little short swallow-flights of prayer in the midst of our daily work. They cried unto God in the battle, and He was entreated of them.' If a Philistine sword was hanging over the man's head, do you think he would have much time to drop down upon his knees, to make a petition, divided into all the parts which divines tell us go to make up the complete idea of prayer? I should think not; but he could say, Save me, O Lord!' They cried to God in the battle--little, sharp, short shrieks of prayer--and He was entreated of them.' If you would cast swift electric flashes of that kind more frequently up to heaven, you would bring down the blessings that very often do not come after the most elaborate and proper and formal petitions. Lord, save or I perish!' It did not take long to say that, but it made the difference between drowning and deliverance.

Still further, notice the conditions of true prayer that are here required. I will that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands.' That is a piece of symbolism, of course. Apparently the Jewish attitude of prayer was unlike ours. They seem to have stood during devotion and to have elevated their hands with open, empty, upturned palms to heaven. We clasp ours in entreaty, or fold them as a symbol of resignation and submission. They lifted them, with the double idea, I suppose, of offering themselves to God thereby, and of asking Him to put something into the empty hand, just as a beggar says nothing, but holds out a battered hat, in order to get a copper from a passer-by. The psalmist desired that the lifting up of his hands might be as the evening sacrifice.'

If a man stands with his open, empty palm held up to God, it is as much as to say' I need, I desire, I expect.' And these elements are what we must have in our prayers; the sense of want, the longing for supply, the anticipation of an answer. What do you hold out your hand for? Because you expect me to drop something into it, because you want to get something. How do you hold out your handy Empty. And if I am clasping my five fingers round some earthly good it is of no use to hold up that hand to God. Nothing will come into it. How can it? He must first take the imitation diamonds out of it or we must turn it round and shake them out before He can fill it with real jewels. As for him who continues to clutch worldly goods, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.' Empty the palm before you lift it.

Still further, says Paul, lifting up holy hands.' That, of course, needs no explanation. One of the psalms, you may remember, says I will wash mine hands in innocency, so will I compass Thine altar.' The psalmist felt that unless there was a previous lustration and cleansing, it was vain for him to go round the altar. And you may remember how sternly and eloquently the prophet Isaiah rebukes the hypocritical worshippers in Jerusalem when he says to them, Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings,' and then come and pray. A foul hand gets nothing from God.

How can it? God's best gift is of such a sort as cannot be laid upon a dirty palm. A little sin dams back the whole of God's grace, and there are too many men that pray, pray, pray, and never get any of the things that we pray for, because there is something stopping the pipe, and they do not know what it is, and perhaps would be very sorry to clear it out if they did. But all the same, the channel of communication is blocked and stopped, and it is impossible that any blessing should come. Geographers tell us that a microscopic vegetable grows rapidly in one of the upper affluents of the Nile, and makes a great dam across the river which keeps back the water, and so makes one of the lakes which have recently been explored; and then, when the dam breaks, the rising of the Nile fertilises Egypt. Some of us have growing, unchecked, and unnoticed, in the innermost channels of our hearts, little sins that mat themselves together and keep increasing until the grace of God is utterly kept from permeating the parched recesses of our spirits. I will that men pray, lifting up holy hands,' and unless we do, alas! for us.

If these are the requirements, you will say, How can I pray at all?' Well, do you remember what the Psalmist says? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,' but then he goes on, Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me.' It is always true that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, if in our inmost nature we love the sin, that stops the prayer from being answered. But, blessed be God, it is not true that our having done the sin prevents our petitions being granted. For the sin that is not regarded in the heart, but is turned away from with loathing hath no intercepting power. So, though the uplifted hands are stained, He will cleanse them if, as we lift them to Him, we say, Lord, they are foul, if thou wilt Thou canst make them clean.'

But the final requirement is: Without wrath or doubting.' I do not think that Christian people generally recognise with sufficient clearness the close and inseparable connection which subsists between their right feelings towards their fellow-men and the acceptance of their prayers with God. It is very instructive that here, alongside of requirements which apply to our relations to God, the Apostle should put so emphatically and plainly one which refers to our relations to our fellows. An angry man is a very unfit man to pray, and a man who cherishes in his heart any feelings of that nature towards anybody may be quite sure that he is thereby shutting himself out from blessings which otherwise might be his. We do not sufficiently realise, or act on the importance, in regard to our relations with God, of our living in charity with all men. First, go and be reconciled to thy brother,' is as needful to-day as when the word was spoken.

Without … doubting.' Have I the right to be perfectly sure that my prayer will be answered? Yes and no. If my prayer is, as all true prayer ought to be, the submission of my will to God's and not the forcing of my will upon God, then I have the right to be perfectly sure. But if I am only asking in self-will, for things that my own heart craves, that is not prayer; that is dictation. That is sending instructions to heaven; that is telling God what He ought to do. That is not the kind of prayer that may be offered without doubting.' It might, indeed, be offered, if offered at all, with the certainty that it will not be answered. For this is the assurance on which we are to rest--and some of us may think it is a very poor one--we know that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.' To get what we want would often be our ruin. God loves His children a great deal too well to give them serpents when they ask for them, thinking they are fish, or to give them stones when they beseech Him for them, believing them to be bread. He will never hand you a scorpion when you ask Him to give it you, because, with its legs and its sting tucked under its body, it is like an egg.

We make mistakes in our naming of things and in our desires after things, and it is only when we have learned to say' Not my will but Thine be done,' that we have the right to pray, without doubting.' If we do so pray, certainly we receive. But a tremulous faith brings little blessing, and small answer. An unsteady hand cannot hold the cup still for Him to pour in the wine of His grace, but as the hand shakes, the cup moves, and the precious gift is spilled. The still, submissive soul will be filled, and the answer to its prayer will be, Whatsoever things ye desire believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.'

MHCC: 1Ti 2:1-7

The disciples of Christ must be praying people; all, without distinction of nation, sect, rank, or party. Our duty as Christians, is summed up in two words; godliness, that is, the right worshipping of God; and honesty, that is, good conduct toward all men. These must go together: we are not truly honest, if we are not godly, and do not render to God his due; and we are not truly godly, if not honest. What is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, we should abound in. There is one Mediator, and that Mediator gave himself a ransom for all. And this appointment has been made for the benefit of the Jews and the Gentiles of every nation; that all who are willing may come in this way, to the mercy-seat of a pardoning God, to seek reconciliation with him. Sin had made a quarrel between us and God; Jesus Christ is the Mediator who makes peace. He is a ransom that was to be known in due time. In the Old Testament times, his sufferings, and the glory that should follow, were spoken of as things to be revealed in the last times. Those who are saved must come to the knowledge of the truth, for that is God's appointed way to save sinners: if we do not know the truth, we cannot be ruled by it.

MHCC: 1Ti 2:8-15

Under the gospel, prayer is not to be confined to any one particular house of prayer, but men must pray every where. We must pray in our closets, pray in our families, pray at our meals, pray when we are on journeys, and pray in the solemn assemblies, whether more public or private. We must pray in charity; without wrath, or malice, or anger at any person. We must pray in faith, without doubting, and without disputing. Women who profess the Christian religion, must be modest in apparel, not affecting gaudiness, gaiety, or costliness. Good works are the best ornament; these are, in the sight of God, of great price. Modesty and neatness are more to be consulted in garments than elegance and fashion. And it would be well if the professors of serious godliness were wholly free from vanity in dress. They should spend more time and money in relieving the sick and distressed, than in decorating themselves and their children. To do this in a manner unsuitable to their rank in life, and their profession of godliness, is sinful. These are not trifles, but Divine commands. The best ornaments for professors of godliness, are good works. According to St. Paul, women are not allowed to be public teachers in the church; for teaching is an office of authority. But good women may and ought to teach their children at home the principles of true religion. Also, women must not think themselves excused from learning what is necessary to salvation, though they must not usurp authority. As woman was last in the creation, which is one reason for her subjection, so she was first in the transgression. But there is a word of comfort; that those who continue in sobriety, shall be saved in child-bearing, or with child-bearing, by the Messiah, who was born of a woman. And the especial sorrow to which the female sex is subject, should cause men to exercise their authority with much gentleness, tenderness, and affection.

Matthew Henry: 1Ti 2:1-8

Here is, I. A charge given to Christians to pray for all men in general, and particularly for all in authority. Timothy must take care that this be done. Paul does not send him any prescribed form of prayer, as we have reason to think he would if he had intended that ministers should be tied to that way of praying; but, in general, that they should make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks: supplications for the averting of evil, prayers for the obtaining of good, intercessions for others, and thanksgivings for mercies already received. Paul thought it enough to give them general heads; they, having the scripture to direct them in prayer and the Spirit of prayer poured out upon them, needed not any further directions. Observe, The design of the Christian religion is to promote prayer; and the disciples of Christ must be praying people. Pray always with all prayer, Eph 6:18. There must be prayers for ourselves in the first place; this is implied here. We must also pray for all men, for the world of mankind in general, for particular persons who need or desire our prayers. See how far the Christian religion was from being a sect, when it taught men this diffusive charity, to pray, not only for those of their own way, but for all men. Pray for kings (1Ti 2:2); though the kings at this time were heathens, enemies to Christianity, and persecutors of Christians, yet they must pray for them, because it is for the public good that there should be civil government, and proper persons entrusted with the administration of it, for whom therefore we ought to pray, yea, though we ourselves suffer under them. For kings, and all that are in authority, that is, inferior magistrates: we must pray for them, and we must give thanks for them, pray for their welfare and for the welfare of their kingdoms, and therefore must not plot against them, that in the peace thereof we may have peace, and give thanks for them and for the benefit we have under their government, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Here see what we must desire for kings, that God will so turn their hearts, and direct them and make use of them, that we under them may lead a quiet and peaceable life. He does not say, "that we may get preferments under them, grow rich, and be in honour and power under them;"no, the summit of the ambition of a good Christian is to lead a quiet and peaceable life, to get through the world unmolested in a low private station. We should desire that we and others may lead a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, implying that we cannot expect to be kept quiet and peaceable unless we keep in all godliness and honesty. Let us mind our duty, and then we may expect to be taken under the protection both of God and the government. In all godliness and honesty. Here we have our duty as Christians summed up in two words: godliness, that is, the right worshipping of God; and honesty, that is, a good conduct towards all men. These two must go together; we are not truly honest if we are not godly, and do not render to God his due; and we are not truly godly if we are not honest, for God hates robbery for burnt-offering. Here we may observe, 1. Christians are to be men much given to prayer: they ought to abound herein, and should use themselves to prayers, supplications, etc. 2. In our prayers we are to have a generous concern for others as well as for ourselves; we are to pray for all men, and to give thanks for all men; and must not confine our prayers nor thanksgiving to our own persons or families. 3. Prayer consists of various parts, of supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings; for we must pray for the mercies we want, as well as be thankful for mercies already received; and we are to deprecate the judgments which our own sins or the sins of others have deserved. 4. All men, yea, kings themselves, and those who are in authority, are to be prayed for. They want our prayers, for they have many difficulties to encounter, many snares to which their exalted stations expose them. 5. In praying for our governors, we take the most likely course to lead a peaceable and quiet life. The Jews at Babylon were commanded to seek the peace of the city whither the Lord had caused them to be carried captives, and to pray to the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof they should have peace, Jer 29:7. 6. If we would lead a peaceable and quiet life, we must live in all godliness and honesty; we must do our duty to God and man. He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile; let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it, 1Pe 3:10, 1Pe 3:11. Now the reason he gives for this is because this is good in the sight of God our Saviour; that is, the gospel of Christ requires this. That which is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour we should do, and should abound in.

II. As a reason why we should in our prayers concern ourselves for all men, he shows God's love to mankind in general, 1Ti 2:4.

1. One reason why all men are to be prayed for is because there is one God, and that God bears a good will to all mankind. There is one God (1Ti 2:5), and one only, there is no other, there can be no other, for there can be but one infinite. This one God will have all men to be saved; he desires not the death and destruction of any (Eze 33:11), but the welfare and salvation of all. Not that he has decreed the salvation of all, for then all men would be saved; but he has a good will to the salvation of all, and none perish but by their own fault, Mat 23:37. He will have all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, to be saved in the way that he has appointed and not otherwise. It concerns us to get the knowledge of the truth, because that is the way to be saved; Christ is the way and the truth, and so he is the life.

2. There is one Mediator, and that mediator gave himself a ransom for all. As the mercy of God extends itself to all his works, so the mediation of Christ extends itself thus far to all the children of men that he paid a price sufficient for the salvation of all mankind; he brought mankind to stand upon new terms with God, so that they are not now under the law as a covenant of works, but as a rule of life. They are under grace; not under the covenant of innocence, but under a new covenant: He gave himself a ransom. Observe, The death of Christ was a ransom, a counter-price. We deserved to have died. Christ died for us, to save us from death and hell; he gave himself a ransom voluntarily, a ransom for all; so that all mankind are put in a better condition than that of devils. He died to work out a common salvation: in order hereunto, he put himself into the office of Mediator between God and man. A mediator supposes a controversy. Sin had made a quarrel between us and God; Jesus Christ is a Mediator who undertakes to make peace, to bring God and man together, in the nature of an umpire or arbitrator, a days - man who lays his hand upon u both, Job 9:33. He is a ransom that was to be testified in due time; that is, in the Old Testament times, his sufferings and the glory that should follow were spoken of as things to be revealed in the last times, 1Pe 1:10, 1Pe 1:11. And they are accordingly revealed, Paul himself having been ordained a preacher and an apostle, to publish to the Gentiles the glad tidings of redemption and salvation by Jesus Christ. This doctrine of Christ's mediation Paul was entrusted to preach to every creature, Mar 16:15. He was appointed to be a teacher of the Gentiles; besides his general call to the apostleship, he was commissioned particularly to preach to the Gentiles, in faith and truth, or faithfully and truly. Note, (1.) It is good and acceptable in the sight of God and our Saviour that we pray for kings and for all men, and also that we lead a peaceable and quiet life; and this is a very good reason why we should do the one as well as the other. (2.) God has a good will to the salvation of all; so that it is not so much the want of a will in God to save them as it is a want of will in themselves to be saved in God's way. Here our blessed Lord charges the fault: You will not come unto me that you may have life, Joh 5:40. I would have gathered you, and you would not. (3.) Those who are saved must come to the knowledge of the truth, for this is God's appointed way to save sinners. Without knowledge the heart cannot be good; if we do not know the truth, we cannot be ruled by it. (4.) It is observable that the unity of God is asserted, and joined with the unity of the Mediator; and the church of Rome might as well maintain a plurality of gods as a plurality of mediators. (5.) He that is a Mediator in the New Testament sense, gave himself a ransom. Vain then is the pretence of the Romanists that there is but one Mediator of satisfaction, but many of intercession; for, according to Paul, Christ's giving himself a ransom was a necessary part of the Mediator's office; and indeed this lays the foundation for his intercession. (6.) Paul was ordained a minister, to declare this to the Gentiles, that Christ is the one Mediator between God and men, who gave himself a ransom for all. This is the substance of which all ministers are to preach, to the end of the world; and Paul magnified his office, as he was the apostle of the Gentiles, Rom 11:13. (7.) Ministers must preach the truth, what they apprehend to be so, and they must believe it themselves; they are, like our apostle, to preach in faith and verity, and they must also be faithful and trusty.

III. A direction how to pray, 1Ti 2:8. 1. Now, under the gospel, prayer is not to be confined to any one particular house of prayer, but men must pray every where: no place is amiss for prayer, no place more acceptable to God than another, Joh 4:21. Pray every where. We must pray in our closets, pray in our families, pray at our meals, pray when we are on journeys, and pray in the solemn assemblies, whether more public or private. 2. It is the will of God that in prayer we should lift up holy hands: Lifting up holy hands, or pure hands, pure from the pollution of sin, washed in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. I will wash my hands, etc., Psa 26:6. 3. We must pray in charity: Without wrath, or malice, or anger at any person. 4. We must pray in faith without doubting (Jam 1:6), or, as some read it, without disputing, and then it falls under the head of charity.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:1-7

Before we study this passage in detail we must note one thing which shines out from it in a way that no one can fail to see. Few passages in the New Testament so stress the universality of the gospel. Prayer is to be made for all men; God is the Saviour who wishes all men to be saved; Jesus gave his life a ransom for all. As Walter Lock writes: "God's will to save is as wide as his will to create."

This is a note which sounds in the New Testament again and again. Through Christ God was reconciling the world to himself (2Co 5:18-19). God so loved the world that he gave his Son (Joh 3:16). It was Jesus' confidence that, if he was lifted up on his Cross, soon or late he would draw all men to him (Joh 12:32).

E. F. Brown calls this passage "the charter of missionary work." He says that it is the proof that all men are capax dei, capable of receiving God. They may be lost, but they can be found; they may be ignorant, but they can be enlightened; they may be sinners, but they can be saved. George Wishart, the forerunner of John Knox, writes in his translation of the First Swiss Confession: "The end and intent of the Scripture is to declare that God is benevolent and friendly-minded to mankind; and that he hath declared that kindness in and through Jesus Christ, his only Son; the which kindness is received by faith." That is why prayer must be made for all. God wants all men, and so, therefore, must his Church.

(i) The gospel includes high and low. Both the Emperor in his power and the slave in his helplessness were included in the sweep of the gospel. Both the philosopher in his wisdom and the simple man in his ignorance need the grace and truth that the gospel can bring. Within the gospel there are no class distinctions. King and commoner, rich and poor, aristocrat and peasant, master and man are all included in its limitless embrace.

(ii) The gospel includes good and bad. A strange malady has sometimes afflicted the Church in modern times, causing it to insist that a man be respectable before he is allowed in, and to took askance at sinners who seek entry to its doors. But the New Testament is clear that the Church exists, not only to edify the good, but to welcome and save the sinner. C. T. Studd used to repeat four lines of doggerel:

"Some want to live within the sound

Of Church or Chapel bell;

I want to run a rescue shop

Within a yard of hell."

One of the great saints of modern times, and indeed of all time, was Toyohiko Kagawa. It was to Shinkawa that he went to find men and women for Christ and he lived there in the filthiest and most depraved slums in the world. W. J. Smart describes the situation: "His neighbours were unregistered prostitutes, thieves who boasted of their power to outwit all the police in the city, and murderers who were not only proud of their murder record but always ready to add to their local prestige by committing another. All the people, whether sick, or feeble-minded or criminal, lived in conditions of abysmal misery, in streets slippery with filth, where rats crawled out of open sewers to die. The air was always filled with stench. An idiot girl who lived next door to Kagawa had vile pictures painted on her back to decoy lustful men to her den. Everywhere human bodies rotted with syphilis." Kagawa wanted people like that, and so does Jesus Christ, for he wants all men, good and bad alike.

(iii) The gospel embraces Christian and non-Christian. Prayer is to be made for all men. The Emperors and rulers for whom this letter bids us pray were not Christians; they were in fact hostile to the Church; and yet they were to be borne to the throne of grace by the prayers of the Church. For the true Christian there is no such thing as an enemy in all this world. None is outside his prayers, for none is outside the love of Christ, and none is outside the purpose of God, who wishes all men to be saved.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:1-7

Four different words for prayer are grouped together. It is true that they are not to be sharply distinguished; nevertheless each has something to tell us of the way of prayer.

(i) The first is deesis (1162), which we have translated request. It is not exclusively a religious word; it can be used of a request made either to a fellow-man or to God. But its fundamental idea is a sense of need. No one will make a request unless a sense of need has already wakened a desire. Prayer begins with a sense of need. It begins with the conviction that we cannot deal with life ourselves. That sense of human weakness is the basis of all approach to God.

"Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness he requireth

Is to feel your need of him."

(ii) The second is proseuche (4335), which we have translated prayer. The basic difference between deesis (1162) and proseuche (4335) is that deesis (1162) may be addressed either to man or God, but proseuche (4335) is never used of anything else but approach to God. There are certain needs which only God can satisfy. There is a strength which he alone can give; a forgiveness which he alone can grant; a certainty which he alone can bestow. It may well be that our weakness haunts us because we so often take our needs to the wrong place.

(iii) The third is enteuxis (1783), which we have translated petition. Of the three words this is the most interesting. It has a most interesting history. It is the noun from the verb entugchanein (1793). This originally meant simply to meet, or to fall in with a person; it went on to mean to hold intimate conversation with a person; then it acquired a special meaning and meant to enter into a king's presence and to submit a petition to him. That tells us much about prayer. It tells us that the way to God stands open and that we have the right to bring our petitions to one who is a king.

"Thou art coming to a King;

Large petitions with thee bring;

For his grace and power are such,

None can ever ask too much."

It is impossible to ask too great a boon from this King.

(iv) The fourth is eucharistia (2169), which we have translated thanksgiving. Prayer does not mean only asking God for things; it also means thanking God for things. For too many of us prayer is an exercise in complaint, when it should be an exercise in thanksgiving. Epictetus, not a Christian but a Stoic philosopher, used to say: "What can I, who am a little old lame man, do, except give praise to God?" We have the right to bring our needs to God; but we have also the duty of bringing our thanksgivings to him.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:1-7

This passage distinctly commands prayer for kings and emperors and all who are set in authority. This was a cardinal principle of communal Christian prayer. Emperors might be persecutors and those in authority might be determined to stamp out Christianity. But the Christian Church never, even in the times of bitterest persecution, ceased to pray for them.

It is extraordinary to trace how all through its early days, those days of bitter persecution, the Church regarded it as an absolute duty to pray for the Emperor and his subordinate kings and governors. "Fear God," said Peter. "Honour the Emperor" (1Pe 2:17), and we must remember that that Emperor was none other than Nero, that monster of cruelty. Tertullian insists that for the Emperor the Christian pray for "long life, secure dominion, a safe home, a faithful senate, a righteous people, and a world at peace" (Apology 30). "We pray for our rulers," he wrote, "for the state of the world, for the peace of all things and for the postponement of the end" (Apology 39). He writes: "The Christian is the enemy of no man, least of all of the Emperor, for we know that, since he has been appointed by God, it is necessary that we should love him, and reverence him, and honour him, and desire his safety, together with that of the whole Roman Empire. Therefore we sacrifice for the safety of the Emperor" (Ad Scapulam 2). Cyprian, writing to Demetrianus, speaks of the Christian Church as "sacrificing and placating God night and day for your peace and safety" (Ad Demetrianum 20). In A.D. 311 the Emperor Galerius actually asked for the prayers of the Christians, and promised them mercy and indulgence if they prayed for the state. Tatian writes: "Does the Emperor order us to pay tribute? We willingly offer it. Does the ruler order us to render service or servitude? We acknowledge our servitude. But a man must be honoured as befits a man but only God is to be reverenced" (Apology 4). Theophilus of Antioch writes: "The honour that I will give the Emperor is all the greater, because I will not worship him, but I will pray for him. I will worship no one but the true and real God, for I know that the Emperor was appointed by him.... Those give real honour to the Emperor who are well-disposed to him, who obey him, and who pray for him" (Apology 1: 11). Justin Martyr writes: "We worship God alone, but in all other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging kings and rulers of men, and praying that they may be found to have pure reason with kingly power" (Apology 1: 14,17).

The greatest of all the prayers for the Emperor is in Clement of Rome's First Letter to the Church at Corinth which was written about A.D. 90 when the savagery of Domitian was still fresh in men's minds: "Thou, Lord and Master, hast given our rulers and governors the power of sovereignty through thine excellent and unspeakable might, that we, knowing the glory and honour which thou hast given them, may submit ourselves unto them, in nothing resisting thy will. Grant unto them, therefore, O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability, that they may administer the government which thou hast given them without failure. For thou, O heavenly Master, King of the Ages, givest to the sons of men glory and honour and power over all things that are upon the earth. Do thou, Lord, direct their counsel according to that which is good and well-pleasing in thy sight, that, administering the power which thou hast given them in peace and gentleness with godliness, they may obtain thy favour. O thou, who alone art able to do these things, and things far more exceeding good than these for us, we praise thee through the High Priest and Guardian of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom be the glory and the majesty unto thee both now and for all generations, and for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Clement 61).

The Church always regarded it as a bounden duty to pray for those set in authority over the kingdoms of the earth; and brought even its persecutors before the throne of grace.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:1-7

The Church prayed for certain things for those in authority.

(i) It prayed for "a life that is tranquil and undisturbed." That was the prayer for freedom from war, from rebellion and from anything which would disturb the peace of the realm. That is the good citizen's prayer for his country.

(ii) But the Church prayed for much more than that. It prayed for "a life that is lived in godliness and reverence." Here we are confronted with two great words which are keynotes of the Pastoral Epistles and describe qualities which not only the ruler but every Christian must covet.

First, there is godliness, eusebeia (2150). This is one of the great and almost untranslatable Greek words. It describes reverence both towards God and man. It describes that attitude of mind which respects man and honours God. Eusebius defined it as "reverence towards the one and only God, and the kind of life that he would wish us to lead." To the Greek, the great example of eusebeia (2150) was Socrates whom Xenophon describes in the following terms: "So pious and devoutly religious that he would take no step apart from the will of heaven; so just and upright that he never did even a trifling injury to any living soul; so self-controlled, so temperate, that he never at any time chose the sweeter in place of the bitter; so sensible and wise and prudent that in distinguishing the better from the worse he never erred" (Xenophon: Memorabilia, 4, 8, 11). Eusebeia (2150) comes very near to that great Latin word pietas, which Warde Fowler describes thus: "The quality known to the Romans as pietas rises, in spite of trial and danger, superior to the enticements of individual passion and selfish ease. Aeneas' pietas became a sense of duty to the will of the gods, as well as to his father, his son and his people; and this duty never leaves him." Clearly eusebeia (2150) is a tremendous thing. It never forgets the reverence due to God; it never forgets the rights due to men; it never forgets the respect due to self. It describes the character of the man who never fails God, man or himself.

Second, there is reverence, semnotes (4587). Here again we are in the realm of the untranslatable. The corresponding adjective semnos (4586) is constantly applied to the gods. R. C. Trench says that the man who is semnos (4586) "has on him a grace and a dignity, not lent by earth." He says that he is one who "without demanding it challenges and inspires reverence." Aristotle was the great ethical teacher of the Greeks. He had a way of describing every virtue as the mean between two extremes. On the one side there was an extreme of excess and on the other an extreme of defect, and in between there was the mean, the happy medium, in which virtue lay. Aristotle says that semnotes (4587) is the mean between areskeia (699), subservience, and authadeia (829), arrogance. It may be said that for the man who is semnos (4586) all life is one act of worship; all life is lived in the presence of God; he moves through the world, as it has been put, as if it was the temple of the living God. He never forgets the holiness of God or the dignity of man.

These two great qualities are regal qualities which every man must covet and for which every man must pray.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:1-7

Paul concludes with a statement of the greatest truths of the Christian faith.

(i) There is one God. We are not living in a world such as the Gnostics produced with their theories of two gods, hostile to each other. We are not living in a world such as the heathen produced with their horde of gods, often in competition with one another. Missionaries tell us that one of the greatest reliefs which Christianity brings to the heathen is the conviction that there is only one God. They live for ever terrified of the gods and it is an emancipation to discover that there is one God only whose name is Father and whose nature is Love.

(ii) There is one Mediator. Even the Jews would have said that there are many mediators between God and man. A mediator is one who stands between two parties and acts as go-between. To the Jews the angels were mediators. The Testament of Dan (Dan 6:2) has it: "Draw near unto God, and unto the angel who intercedes for you, for he is a mediator between God and man." To the Greeks there were all kinds of mediators. Plutarch said it was an insult to God to conceive that he was in any way directly involved in the world; he was involved in the world only through angels and demons and demigods who were, so to speak, his liaison officers.

Neither in Jewish nor in Greek thought had a man direct access to God. But, through Jesus Christ, the Christian has direct that access, with nothing to bar the way between. Further, there is only one Mediator. E. F. Brown tells us that that is, for instance, what the Hindus find so hard to believe. They say: "Your religion is good for you, and ours for us." But unless there is one God and one Mediator there can be no such thing as the brotherhood of man. If there are many gods and many mediators competing for their allegiance and their love, religion becomes something which divides men instead of uniting them. It is because there is one God and one Mediator that men are brethren one of another.

Paul goes on to call Jesus the one who gave his life a ransom for all. That simply means that it cost God the life and death of his Son to bring men back to himself. There was a man who lost a son in the war. He had lived a most careless and even a godless life; but his son's death brought him face to face with God as never before. He became a changed man. One day he was standing before the local war memorial, looking at his son's name upon it. And very gently he said: "I guess he had to go down to lift me up." That is what Jesus did; it cost his life and death to tell men of the love of God and to bring men home to him.

Then Paul claims to himself four offices.

(i) He is a herald of the story of Jesus Christ. A herald is a man who makes a statement and who says: "This is true." He is a man who brings a proclamation that is not his own, but which comes from the king.

(ii) He is a witness to the story of Christ. A witness is a man who says: "This is true, and I know it" and says also "It works." He is a man who tells, not only the story of Christ, but also the story of what Christ has done for him.

(iii) He is an envoy. An envoy is one whose duty is to commend his country in a foreign land. An envoy in the Christian sense is therefore one who commends the story of Christ to others. He wishes to communicate that story to others, so that it will mean as much to them as it does to him.

(iv) He is a teacher. The herald is the person who proclaims the facts; the witness is the person who proclaims the power of the facts; the envoy is the person who commends the facts; the teacher is the person who leads men into the meaning of the facts. It is not enough to know that Christ lived and died; we must think out what that meant. A man must not only feel the wonder of the story of Christ; he must think out its meaning for himself and for the world.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:8-15

The early Church took over the Jewish attitude of prayer, which was to pray standing, with hands outstretched and the palms upwards. Later Tertullian was to say that this depicted the attitude of Jesus upon the Cross.

The Jews had always known about the barriers which kept a man's prayers from God. Isaiah heard God say to the people: "When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood" (Isa 1:15). Here, too, certain things are demanded.

(i) He who prays must stretch forth holy hands. He must hold up to God hands which do not touch the forbidden things. This does not mean for one moment that the sinner is debarred from God; but it does mean that there is no reality in the prayers of the man who then goes out to soil his hands with forbidden things, as if he had never prayed. It is not thinking of the man who is helplessly in the grip of some passion and desperately fighting against it, bitterly conscious of his failure. It is thinking of the man whose prayers are a sheer formality.

(ii) He who prays must have no anger in his heart. It has been said that "forgiveness is indivisible." Human and divine forgiveness go hand in hand. Again and again Jesus stresses the fact that we cannot hope to receive the forgiveness of God so long as we are at enmity with our fellow-men. "So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Mat 5:23-24). "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Mat 6:15). Jesus tells how the unforgiving servant himself found no forgiveness, and ends: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart" (Mat 18:35). To be forgiven, we must be forgiving. The Didache (compare 1322), the earliest Christian book on public worship, which dates from about A.D. 100, has it: "Let no one who has a quarrel with his neighbour come to us, until they are reconciled." The bitterness in a man's heart is a barrier which hinders his prayers from reaching God.

(iii) He who prays must have no doubts in his mind. This phrase can mean two things. The word used is dialogismos (1261), which can mean both an argument and a doubt. If we take it in the sense of argument, it simply repeats what has gone before and restates the fact that bitterness and quarrels and venomous debates are a hindrance to prayer. It is better to take it in the sense of doubt. Before prayer is answered there must be belief that God will answer. If a man prays pessimistically and with no real belief that it is any use, his prayer falls wingless to the ground. Before a man can be cured, he must believe that he can be cured; before a man can lay hold on the grace of God, he must believe in that grace. We must take our prayers to God in the complete confidence that he hears and answers prayer.

Barclay: 1Ti 2:8-15

The second part of this passage deals with the place of women in the Church. It cannot be read out of its historical context, for it springs entirely from the situation in which it was written.

(i) It was written against a Jewish background. No nation ever gave a bigger place to women in home and in family things than the Jews did; but officially the position of a woman was very low. In Jewish law she was not a person but a thing; she was entirely at the disposal of her father or of her husband. She was forbidden to learn the law; to instruct a woman in the law was to cast pearls before swine. Women had no part in the synagogue service; they were shut apart in a section of the synagogue, or in a gallery, where they could not be seen. A man came to the synagogue to learn; but, at the most, a woman came to hear. In the synagogue the lesson from Scripture was read by members of the congregation; but not by women, for that would have been to lessen "the honour of the congregation." It was absolutely forbidden for a woman to teach in a school; she might not even teach the youngest children. A woman was exempt from the stated demands of the Law. It was not obligatory on her to attend the sacred feasts and festivals. Women, slaves and children were classed together. In the Jewish morning prayer a man thanked God that God had not made him "a Gentile, a slave or a woman." In the Sayings of the Fathers Rabbi Jose ben Johanan is quoted as saying: " 'Let thy house be opened wide, and let the poor be thy household, and talk not much with a woman.' Hence the wise have said: 'Everyone that talketh much with a woman causes evil to himself, and desists from the works of the Law, and his end is that he inherits Gehenna.' " A strict Rabbi would never greet a woman on the street, not even his own wife or daughter or mother or sister. It was said of woman: "Her work is to send her children to the synagogue; to attend to domestic concerns; to leave her husband free to study in the schools; to keep house for him until he returns."

(ii) It was written against a Greek background. The Greek background made things doubly difficult. The place of women in Greek religion was low. The Temple of Aphrodite in Corinth had a thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes and every evening plied their trade on the city streets. The Temple of Diana in Ephesus had its hundreds of priestesses called the Melissae, which means the bees, whose function was the same. The respectable Greek woman led a very confined life. She lived in her own quarters into which no one but her husband came. She did not even appear at meals. She never at any time appeared on the street alone; she never went to any public assembly. The fact is that if in a Greek town Christian women had taken an active and a speaking part in its work, the Church would inevitably have gained the reputation of being the resort of loose women.

Further, in Greek society there were women whose whole life consisted in elaborate dressing and braiding of the hair. In Rome, Pliny tells us of a bride, Lollia Paulina, whose bridal dress cost the equivalent of 432,000 British pounds. Even the Greeks and the Romans were shocked at the love of dress and of adornment which characterized some of their women. The great Greek religions were called the Mystery religions, and they had precisely the same regulations about dress as Paul has here. There is an inscription which reads: "A consecrated woman shall not have gold ornaments, nor rouge, nor face-whitening, nor a head-band, nor braided hair, nor shoes, except those made of felt or of the skins of sacrificed animals. "The early Church did not lay down these regulations as in any sense permanent, but as things which were necessary in the situation in which it found itself.

In any event there is much on the other side. In the old story it was the woman who was created second and who fell to the seduction of the serpent tempter; but it was Mary of Nazareth who bore and who trained the child Jesus; it was Mary of Magdala who was first to see the risen Lord; it was four women who of all the disciples stood by the Cross. Priscilla with her husband Aquila was a valued teacher in the early Church, who led Apollos to a knowledge of the truth (Act 18:26). Euodia and Syntyche, in spite of their quarrel, were women who laboured in the gospel (Phi 4:2-3). Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters who were prophetesses (Act 21:9). The aged women were to teach (Tit 2:3). Paul held Lois and Eunice in the highest honour (2Ti 1:5), and there is many a woman's name held in honour in Rom 16 .

All the things in this chapter are mere temporary regulations to meet a given situation. If we want Paul's permanent view on this matter, we get it in Gal 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus." In Christ the differences of place and honour and function within the Church are all wiped out.

And yet this passage ends with a real truth. Women, it says, will be saved in child-bearing. There are two possible meanings here. It is just possible that this is a reference to the fact that Mary, a woman, was the mother of Jesus and that it means that women will be saved--as all others will--by that supreme act of child-bearing. But it is much more likely that the meaning is much simpler; and that it means that women will find salvation, not in addressing meetings, but in motherhood, which is their crown. Whatever else is true, a woman is queen within her home.

We must not read this passage as a barrier to all women's service within the Church, but in the light of its Jewish and its Greek background. And we must look for Paul's permanent views in the passage where he tells us that the differences are wiped out, and that men and women, slaves and freemen, Jews and Gentiles, are all eligible to serve Christ.

Constable: 1Ti 2:1--4:6

III. INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE LIFE OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 2:1--4:5

Paul moved on from instructions aimed primarily at Timothy's person to those the young minister needed to heed in his pastoral work.

Constable: 1Ti 2:1-7

A. The priority of prayer in church life 2:1-7

The apostle's first positive instruction to Timothy regarding his leadership of the Ephesian church was that believers should offer prayer for all people. He gave this directive to emphasize its importance, defend its value, and clarify its practice.

"The ministry of prayer is the most important service that the Church of Christ can engage in.

"It [prayer] is the most dynamic work which God has entrusted to His saints, but it is also the most neglected ministry open to the believer."⁵⁸

"The most essential part of public worship is prayer."⁵⁹

Every aspect of this prayer touches the church's evangelistic mission.

"The one clear concern that runs through the whole paragraph has to do with the gospel as for everyone (all people,' vv. 1, 4-6, and 7). . . . The best explanation for this emphasis lies with the false teachers, who either through the esoteric, highly speculative nature of their teaching (1:4-6) or through its Jewishness' (1:7) or ascetic character (4:3) are promoting an elitist or exclusivist mentality among their followers. The whole paragraph attacks that narrowness."⁶⁰

2:1-2 "In saying first of all' Paul underlined the importance of this Godward aspect of the ministry of the church. Paul did not mean that such praying must be the first thing Christians do whenever they assemble, as the word order in the King James Version might imply, but rather that it is an activity he regarded as of primary importance in the total ministry of the church. His use of the present tense throughout these verses indicates that he was setting before them what he hoped would be the practice of those to whom he directed his prayer-exhortation. It is the essential and primary phase of their varied ministries."⁶¹

". . . providing a peaceful and orderly society was the state's domain, so prayer for it was calculated to ensure that the best possible conditions for spreading the gospel were obtained."⁶²

"Hence the church's prayers for the world and recognition of the authority of the state are fundamental to the church's evangelistic mission."⁶³

Though Paul used several synonyms for prayer in urging its practice, the words he chose are not significantly different. "Entreaties" (Gr. deeseis) emphasizes the earnestness with which we should make requests because we feel a need for what we ask (cf. Luke 18:1-8). "Prayer" (proseuchas) is a general word covering all types of prayer communication with God. The emphasis is on a spirit of reverence toward God (cf. Matt. 6:9-10). "Petitions" (enteuxeis) are confident requests for others and self (cf. Luke 11:5-13). "Thanksgivings" (eucharistias) is the most different word and served as a reminder that we should express gratitude as well as need in public praying. By using these synonyms Paul was evidently emphasizing the importance of praying all kinds of prayers for all people more than distinguishing its varieties.⁶⁴

Prayer is so important because it invites God into the situation we pray about and it secures His working on behalf of those in need. Paul did not deal with the reason God has incorporated prayer into His sovereign control of the universe here. He assumed his readers understood this since God has revealed this elsewhere in Scripture. His point here was that Christians must not fail to take advantage of this supernatural resource at their disposal by neglecting prayer.

"The failure of the church to pray in accordance with this exhortation is one of its great sins today."⁶⁵

In response to the requests of His people God will do things that He will not do if they do not ask (James 4:2).

"If such praying were useless, the apostle would not write what he does write."⁶⁶

This verse (v. 1) should answer the question of whether we should pray for the unsaved. "All men" certainly includes them. Paul undoubtedly meant all kinds of people rather than every single individual. The king at the time Paul wrote this epistle was Nero, an unbeliever for whom Paul specifically told his readers to pray. Furthermore the focus of their request was to be not only their own tranquillity but the king's salvation (v. 4).

Primarily we should pray for governmental leaders and those in positions of lesser authority under them so that we may lead tranquil (Gr. eremos, outwardly peaceful) and quiet (hesychios, inwardly peaceful) lives. We should not do so primarily for our personal ease and enjoyment but so we can carry out our purpose in the world as Christians (cf. 6:1). Our purpose is to bring the message of reconciliation to all people and to glorify God in all our relationships. Obviously the type of government under which people live influences their lives and affects their spiritual welfare.

"Godliness" (Gr. eusebeia, v. 2) refers to an attitude of reverence for God based on knowledge of Him. Paul used this word 10 times in the Pastorals, and this is its first occurrence. "Dignity" (semnoteti) refers to the outward manifestation of that attitude in righteous behavior.

2:3-4 Prayers of this type please God because God is essentially the Savior, the One who delights to rescue sinners from the wages of their sin. There is nothing in this text or in any other that would limit the truly universal interpretation of "all men." God wants everyone to experience eternal salvation. The fact that He allows people to perish seems to contradict this, but it does not. The solution to this apparent contradiction, I believe, lies in recognizing that God's ultimate priority is not the salvation of all people but His own glory. Somehow it will glorify God more for some to perish than it would for all to be saved. Even though this plan will result in the greater glory of God it causes God considerable pain. This is clear in the many references in Scripture to God sorrowing over the fate of those believers and unbelievers who choose to spurn Him.⁶⁷

"It's often said that the purpose of prayer is not to get man's will done in heaven, but to get God's will done on earth."⁶⁸

"Even those who will not allow you to speak to them about God, cannot prevent you speaking to God about them. What mighty conquests have been won this way--Hudson, a young schoolboy, reading tracts in his father's study one Sunday afternoon while his parents were away for the week-end; his mother constrained, where she was, to pray specially for her boy, who was called that very afternoon, miles away, to the Savior, and to become the great Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission. Reuben, a dissolute young man who has left home, has one night got out of bed to commit suicide; his mother, miles away, has that very hour been constrained also to get out of bed, and to pray specially for her erring son, who, instead of suicide, was saved, subsequently to become the famous American evangelist, Dr. R. A. Torrey."⁶⁹

2:5-6 Many commentators believed Paul was citing another common creedal statement in these verses. Another possibility is that God inspired him to form this statement himself as he wrote this epistle. In either case we have here a succinct affirmation of the person and work of Christ. The whole statement supports what Paul just said in verses 3 and 4.

The God-man is the only mediator of the New Covenant between God and man, providing salvation manward and facilitating prayer Godward. This is something that people have found hard to accept throughout history. In Paul's day the Jews looked to Moses (Gal. 3:19) or angels (Heb. 2:6) as mediators, and the Gnostics looked to intermediary deities (aeons). In our own day Roman Catholics and others look to dead "saints" for mediatorial benefits, and Buddhists look to their ancestors. Nevertheless the teaching of verse 5 is clear: the only mediator between God and people is Jesus Christ.

"This is one of the most significant verses of the NT."⁷⁰

In the "fullness of time" Jesus was born and died giving His life as payment to free the human race ("all") from slavery to sin. Jesus' death made all people savable.⁷¹ Limited redemptionists interpret "all men" to be all the elect. Universalists interpret "all men" to be every human individual. Other passages of Scripture that speak of Christ's death as providing a basis for the salvation of everyone contradict the limited redemptionists (e.g., John 3:16, 1 John 2:2; et al.). Passages that indicate not everyone will be saved refute the universalists (e.g., Matt 25:46; Rev. 20:15; et al.).

A "ransom" (Gr. antilutron, used only here in the New Testament) is a ransom price. This word and this verse clearly set forth the idea that Jesus Christ died as the substitute for all people. Some benefits of Christ's death do not belong to the elect exclusively. He paid the debt "for all."

2:7 Paul's final support of his command to pray for all people was this. God had commissioned him to herald the gospel to the Gentile world, not the Jews who were God's favored people in times past. Paul proclaimed the faith truthfully, in contrast to the false teachers. His affirmation of truthfulness further emphasized his point.

The churches of North America generally neglect this exhortation to pray. Most churches spend relatively little time at it and consequently reveal an attitude toward it that is quite different from Paul's. I believe we have an unrealistic view of life. The world system promotes the idea that we do not need God, and we have accepted this heresy. In contrast Paul and all of Scripture teach that we are absolutely dependent on God (cf. John 15:5). The degree to which we believe that will be the degree to which we pray.

"The practice of prayer cannot be forced by an outward command but must be prompted by an inner conviction of its importance and need."⁷²

Constable: 1Ti 2:8-15

B. The primary responsibilities of the men and the women in church meetings 2:8-15

"In this paragraph Paul continues his instructions on prayers' begun in verse 1. But now the concern is for proper demeanor on the part of the pray-ers.' But why these concerns, and why in this way? And why the inordinate amount of time devoted to the women in comparison with the men? Again, the solution lies with the false teachers. The word to the men is an obvious response to their controversies and strife. The word to the women, therefore, may be assumed also to respond to this conflict [cf. 5:3-16; 2 Tim. 3:5-9]."⁷³

2:8 "In every place" probably refers to wherever Christians assemble in congregations in view of the context. Should we apply these instructions to the meetings of para-church organizations as well as to local church meetings? Paul continued to give directions for the operation of local churches (ch. 3). I take it that his instructions here (cf. 2) are for local church meetings (cf. 3:15). However it seems that what he said has broader application. I think he meant that typically men should take the lead in praying. In such meetings the men (Gr. andras, lit. males) are to lead in public prayer assuming there are males able to do so present. I do not think it would have upset Paul if a woman led in prayer occasionally (cf. 1 Cor. 11:5-16).

"The use of the definite article with men and not with women [v. 10] may suggest that the apostle was laying down the pattern that public worship should be conducted by the men."⁷⁴

Paul's instruction on how they should pray follows with emphasis on the inner holiness and outward righteous behavior of those who lead. Paul did not command the men to pray with upraised hands. He simply described public praying as the Christians practiced in commonly in his day (cf. 1 Kings 8:22; 2 Chron. 6:13; Ezra 9:5; Ps. 28:2; 141:2; Lam. 2:19). Pictures on the walls of the catacombs and in other early Christian art show them praying this way. Commonly they raised their palms upward and open to heaven evidently to symbolize their inner openness to God and their desire to offer praise to God and to obtain a gift from Him. If Paul had meant the men were to lift up their physical hands when they prayed he probably would not have described the hands as holy. "Holy," "wrath," and "dissension" all point to a metaphorical use of "hands." Our hands symbolize what we do. Paul wanted the men to pray as they practiced holiness in their everyday lives.⁷⁵ Posture in prayer does not render the prayer more or less effective. It simply reflects the inner attitude of the person praying.

2:9-10 The responsibility of the women in church meetings needed more explanation. Paul's point in these verses is that works that express a godly character should characterize Christian women more than the way they dress and groom themselves. The contrast is between works and wardrobe.⁷⁶ Obviously Paul was not saying external appearance is unimportant.

"Let some say what some will about Paul, he here states that women are to dress in good taste when they prepare to attend church."⁷⁷

"Slovenliness in dress and appearance is unbecoming a Christian woman."⁷⁸

A Christian woman should be remarkable for her Christ-like behavior more than for her clothes, hairstyle, and the other externals that are of primary importance to unbelievers (cf. 1 Pet. 3:3).

"The Christian woman is not to adorn herself with gold or pearls or expensive clothes' so as to draw attention to herself. At worst, this is what the prostitutes did. At best, it shows pride and self-centeredness, both of which are contrary to the spirit of Christ. Such dress is especially unbecoming in church."⁷⁹

"The reason for Paul's prohibition of elaborate hair styles, ornate jewelry, and extremely expensive clothing becomes clear when one reads in the contemporary literature of the inordinate time, expense, and effort that elaborately braided hair and jewels demanded, not just as ostentatious display, but also as the mode of dress of courtesans and harlots . . ."⁸⁰

"But perhaps the more acute problem was that of insensitive women flaunting their dress, jewelry and hairstyles in a way that hurt the feelings of the poor and disturbed the church. The kinds of adornment mentioned (braided hair . . . gold . . . pearls . . . expensive clothes) all belonged to that culture's critical caricature of wealthy women.

"While today this manner of dress is not nearly as exclusive as it was in Paul's day, nor indeed restricted to women, its effects can be the same. I am reminded of a visit to a large, upper-middle-class church in Dallas (it could have been any large city or suburb). When I entered the sanctuary, the first thing that struck me was the glitter of jewelry, the expensive clothing and the fashionable hairstyles. The craning necks as people sized one another up gave the impression that for many the purpose of gathering together that Sunday morning was to display economic status. A newcomer of modest economic means could not help but feel a sense of exclusion."⁸¹

Spiritual qualities should mark a Christian lady always, of course. However, Paul's concern was that they be outstanding in the church meetings. There the lady's character and conduct would contribute to the orderly and edifying activities rather than detracting from them (cf. 3:15).

Perhaps Paul gave these instructions to the men (v. 8) and to the women (vv. 9-10) partially to counteract the natural (fleshly) tendencies in males and females. Most men tend to be active, so it is important that they give attention to praying, which is more contemplative than active. Women like to look good, so they need to remember that good deeds are more important than good looks.⁸²

2:11-12 Regarding their participation in the meetings of the church (3:15) Paul taught that the women were to let the men provide the public instruction and leadership.⁸³ He did not mean that women should surrender their minds and consciences to men, but that they should voluntarily take the position of learners in church meetings. Typically they should not accept the role of teacher of the congregation or of leader of the whole church. The verbs "teach" and "exercise authority" are in the present tense in the Greek text, which implies a continuing ministry rather than a single instance of ministry.

"Teach and have authority over a man (v. 12) may be references to separate activities that Paul restricted to men. Or the first term might represent a specific example of activity that falls under the general rule that follows: women's teaching in the public assembly would violate the given authority structure. In either case, we should notice that Paul did not employ his usual term for the normal exercise of authority' (exousia). He chose an unusual word (authenteo) that could carry negative connotations such as to usurp or misappropriate authority' or to domineer.' The unusual term probably signifies an unusual situation. In the Ephesian context at least, women had misappropriated authority by taking upon themselves the role of teacher."⁸⁴

Some people see red when they read "submissiveness" (v. 11; cf. Eph. 5:21-22; Col. 3:18). The Greek word (hypotage) means to rank under. It is clear in military life that a private, for example, who ranks under a colonel is not necessarily of less value or possesses less ability than his or her superior officer. Rank has to do with order and authority, not personal superiority and inferiority. Another illustration of willing submission is Jesus Christ who is superior to every other human being yet submitted to other human beings (Luke 2:51; Phil. 2:5-11). God will reward His submission to the Father, and He will reward women who submit to His will as unto the Lord (1 Pet. 5:6-7).

Paul seems to have been speaking here of the whole local congregation. I do not think he would have objected to women teaching or leading groups within the church that we commonly recognize as sub-groups (cf. Acts 18:26; 2 Tim. 3:14-15; Titus 2:3). Furthermore we should bear in mind that Paul was describing a typical church situation in which there were men who could provide teaching and leadership. If these were absent, exceptions might be necessary to achieve the higher goals of the church, namely the building up of the saints to do the work of ministry.

Exactly what did Paul prohibit women from doing in verse 12? He did not want them to teach a man or to exercise authority over a man in the local church meetings (3:15).⁸⁵ Teaching the Scriptures is in view. This is more appropriate to the male's function in the church as a mediator between God and people (cf. Gen. 2) because it involves interpreting God's Word to the church as an authoritative figure (cf. vv. 1-2, 8). Paul forbade women from regularly teaching men in local church corporate worship (3:15).

"In my opinion, whatever the specific application of teaching' it is the kind of teaching' that gives women a position of authority over men.⁸⁶

Paul approved of women teaching women and children (Titus 2:3-5; 2 Tim. 1:5) and instructing men privately (Acts 18:26). Reading a book that a woman has written is one example of private instruction.

"Paul in 1 Tim 2:12, does not forbid a woman all teaching. Paul is only prohibiting the headship of women in the Christian community."⁸⁷

The Greek word translated "exercise authority" (NASB), "have authority" (NIV), or "usurp authority" (AV) is authenteo. It means to act on one's own authority or to act in an autocratic manner.⁸⁸ To exercise authority in this way would be to submit to no higher authority in the church. If a woman exercised some authority in the church (e.g., as the leader of a ministry) and she did it in submission to the male leadership, she would not be sinning. It is taking inappropriate authority on herself that Paul prohibited. A woman can have authority over others in the church provided she is under the authority of the male leadership of the church.

"It is noteworthy . . . that Paul does not use office' terminology here (bishop/presbyter) but functional terminology (teach/exercise authority). It is thus the activity that he prohibits, not just the office (cf. again 1 Cor. 14:34, 35)."⁸⁹

How can we resolve the apparent contradiction in Paul's teaching that he presented here and what he taught in 1 Corinthians? There are two problems. First, in 1 Corinthians 14:34 Paul told the women to remain absolutely silent in the church. He used a different Greek word (sigatosan) than what we have here (hesychia), translated "quiet" (v. 12; cf. v. 2). Hesychia does not mean absolutely silent but settled down, not unruly.

Perhaps Paul imposed a stricter standard on the Corinthian church than was normal because of the turmoil there, and his instructions in 1 Timothy reflect the normal situation.⁹⁰ I think probably Paul meant that women should not take part in the judging of the prophets (1 Cor. 14:29), which was an exercise in ecclesiastical authority.⁹¹ The context of 1 Corinthians 14:34 seems to favor this view.

"Paul does not mean that women are to be absolutely silent during the service (compare 1 Cor. 11:5). Rather, he instructs them to exhibit quietness (in spirit) instead of taking the lead, or to be silent' in the sense of not teaching."⁹²

This silence is a concrete expression of the principle of submission that Paul advocated.⁹³

Second, in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Paul permitted women to pray and prophesy in church but insisted that they have their heads covered when doing so. This concession seems to contradict both 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34.

One way to resolve this difficulty is to say that in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 the women in view were single women or married women whose husbands were not present. In 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 those in view seem to have been married women whose husbands were present.⁹⁴ However there is nothing in the text or context that justifies these assumptions.

Another solution that I prefer is this. Paul permitted women to pray and prophesy in Corinth and elsewhere because these activities did not involve exercising as much authority in the church as teaching and ruling did. Teaching involved providing normative instruction from Scripture whereas prophesying in New Testament times seems to have involved only sharing something God had brought to mind. In some cases this was new revelation, but usually it was not.⁹⁵ In every case the prophet was to subject his or her prophecy to what God had inspired previously (1 Cor. 14:29).

2:13-14 Paul gave two reasons why women should conduct themselves in church meetings as he just specified. First, from Creation it was God's intention that the male should lead the female. He reminded his readers that God made Adam first and then made a suitable companion for him in Eve. God made Eve for Adam; He did not make Adam for Eve. This implies no essential superiority of the male over the female. God created Adam and Eve equals in the sense that they needed and complemented one another. However, God entrusted Adam with leadership responsibility over his wife. Eve was not responsible to God for Adam in the same sense that Adam was responsible for Eve.

". . . the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."⁹⁶

Second (v. 14), as part of the judgment on Eve at the Fall God confirmed (i.e., made permanent) the leadership of the male over the female (Gen. 3:16). It was a result of her deception by the serpent that Eve fell. I do not believe that God confirmed Eve and all women as followers because they are congenitally more susceptible to deception than males. Adequate evidence to support such a sweeping generalization is lacking (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5; Titus 2:4). Rather it was evidently because Eve on that one occasion was deceived that God confirmed her and her daughters in their position as followers.⁹⁷ In the Ephesian church, some of the women had been led astray by false teachers (5:15) who were themselves misled by Satan (cf. 4:1).

"Paul's point [in verse 14] is that this role reversal that caused such devastation at the beginning must not be repeated in the church. The woman must not be the one who leads the man in obedience to her. Thus when the teaching of the Word of God in the assembly occurs, a qualified male elder should fill the role of teacher."⁹⁸

"Verse 14 is almost certainly a local reference to the deception of some women in the Ephesian church . . . [cf. 2 Tim. 3:6-7]."⁹⁹

Some people conclude that women are to be under male authority in all areas of life, not just in church meetings, since Paul appealed to Creation and the Fall. They believe that a man should not submit himself to female authority at all, even in the workplace. Personally I do not think this is what Paul meant. He cited God's intention for male female relationships specifically in marriage, not in general social situations. Christian men and women should bring their proper relationship to one another in marriage over into church life and apply it in the household of faith (cf. 3:15) as well as in the household of the family.

2:15 Perhaps the best explanation of this difficult verse is this. God promised women a life of fulfillment as mothers in the home, provided they walk with the Lord, rather than as teachers and leaders in the church.

"The meaning of sozo [to save] in this passage is once again something like spiritual health,' a full and meaningful life. This fits the context quite well. Paul has just excluded women from positions of teaching authority in the church (1 Tim. 2:9-14). What then is their primary destiny? They will find life through fulfilling their role as a mother IF they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. A salvation which comes only to mothers who persist in faithful service is not the faith alone salvation taught elsewhere."¹⁰⁰

I believe this interpretation has fewer problems than the others. It balances Paul's argument in this section (vv. 8-15) and stays on the subject rather than switching to a discussion of a subject farther removed from the context. Some of these possible subjects are how women experience eternal salvation, or how they experience physical deliverance when giving birth, or how they experience spiritual deliverance from moral corruption. Some interpreters have even suggested that Paul was alluding to the saving effect of Jesus Christ's birth.¹⁰¹

One significant problem with the view I prefer is this. If this is the true interpretation, can a woman who does not bear children find fulfillment in life? I believe Paul would have responded that certainly a single woman or a married woman who is not a mother can find fulfillment as a woman of God. However usually women find their greatest fulfillment as mothers. Perhaps we underestimate home influence and overestimate pulpit influence (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5). An old saying goes, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." I believe Paul was again assuming a typical situation (cf. vv. 11-12). Most women bear children. Even though a woman may not be able to bear physical children she may have spiritual children and so find great fulfillment (cf. 1:2; 5:10-11, 14). Of course every human being--male or female, married or single--finds his or her greatest fulfillment in life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.¹⁰²

"Paul employed the term childbirth' as a synecdoche for that part of the woman's work that describes the whole."¹⁰³

Paul balanced what women should not do with what they can do. In popular presentations of what the Bible teaches about women's ministries this balance is frequently absent. After the presentation is over, women often leave feeling that they can do either anything or nothing depending on the presentation. We must be careful to maintain balance in our exposition of this subject as Paul did.

To summarize, I believe Paul exhorted the males in the "household of God" (i.e., the local church, 3:15) to function as mediators between Jesus Christ, humankind's mediator with God, and His people. They should do this by praying, teaching, and leading the church. The women should concentrate on facilitating godliness in the church family as well as in their homes by cultivating good works and by living godly lives.¹⁰⁴

College: 1Ti 2:1-15

1 TIMOTHY 2

III. DIRECTION FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP (2:1-15)

Following his charge to Timothy with regard to his faith and conscience and the warning with regard to false teachers, Paul moves to a series of specific instructions for what may be termed "church behavior." He first gives instructions for public prayer (2:1-7), then calls for a special role for men in that prayer (2:8), gives special admonition to the women (2:9-15), and concludes by giving qualifications for those who will serve in leadership in the church (3:1-13). In 3:14-15 Paul gives his overall purpose for the section which instructs believers as to how they are to conduct themselves within God's household or family.

In this larger section (2:1-3:15), Paul makes no direct reference to the false teachers. Some have seen these two chapters as an early church manual designed to set a local congregation in order. Often those who hold such a view see little connection between chapters 3 and 4 and the rest of the epistle, in particular to Paul's charge to Timothy in chapter 1. Such a view misses the significance of the "then" or "therefore" (ou , oun ) of 2:1, the fact that prayers are to be offered "for everyone" and not just for Jews (2:1; cf. 1:7), the soiled hands and angry hearts of false teachers which one might expect from the rest of the epistle (2:8), the turmoil within the worship assembly which false teachers might encourage on the part of the women of the congregation (2:11-12), and the plausibility of some of those false teachers serving in positions of leadership (3:1-13).

A. PRAYERS BY ALL FOR ALL (2:1-7)

¹ I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time. ⁷ And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle - I am telling the truth, I am not lying - and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

2:1 I urge, then, first of all,

The phrase "first of all" does not introduce the first item in a list of issues to be discussed. It rather indicates that prayer for all kinds of people is of primary importance to Paul.

that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving

In this verse Paul uses four words for prayer. The first word "requests" (devhsi" , deçsis ) indicates an entreaty for a specific need. The term "prayers" (proseuchv , proseuchç ) is the more general word for prayer. "Intercession" (e[nteuxi" , enteuxis ) is the only term in the list which does not appear elsewhere in Paul. The term may convey the idea of one coming to a king with an appeal for his favor. It is used in Heb 7:25 of Christ's prayers for believers. The fourth word is "thanksgiving" (eujcaristiva , eucharistia ). While the first three words indicate various aspects of requests made to God, this word refers to gratitude toward God. As is the case in other Pauline lists of synonyms, these synonyms are given not because Paul expects his readers to perceive sharp distinctions among the words; rather the list is given to emphasize the importance of the topic.

be made for everyone -

The Ephesian believers are to pray "for everyone" (pavntwn ajnqrwvpwn , pantôn anthrôpôn ), literally "all human beings." While the false teachers may have been concerned for an elite group, Paul bids the Ephesians to reach out to all.

2:2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives

"Everyone" includes especially "kings and all those in authority." Prayers for civil authorities have a practical purpose designated by "that" (i{na , hina ). Paul's desire is that Christians may lead lives that are "peaceful" (h[remo" , çremos ) and "quiet" (hJsuvcio" , hçsychios ). The two words do not indicate that Paul expects Christians to live a life that is free from persecution or distress. False teachers are disrupting the churches and casting a bad light upon the church for those outside. A word from the same root, "quiet" (hçsychios ), will appear later in 2:11 when Paul urges women in the assembly to "be silent" (hJsuciva , hçsychia ).

in all godliness and holiness.

Paul calls for these peaceful and quiet lives to be lived out "in all godliness and holiness." The term "godliness" (eujsevbeia , eusebeia ) along with the parallel verbal and adverbial forms represents a central idea in the Pastoral Epistles. The term has been rendered in various ways in the different English translations: "religion," "religious duty," "piety," and "godliness" (cf. Acts 3:12; Acts 10:7; 2 Pet 1:3, 6; 2:9; 3:11; 1 Tim 3:16; 4:7, 8; 5:4; 6:3, 5, 6, 11; 2 Tim 3:5; Titus 1:1). "Godliness" indicates a life that is lived with proper respect to deity. Fee suggests that Paul may use the false teachers' word to counteract their teaching. Holiness (semnovth" , semnotçs ) also has various renderings: "respectful," "reverence," "dignity," "holiness," and "seriousness." While this word does not appear elsewhere in Paul, the cognate adjective (semnov" , semnos ) is used in the New Testament only in Paul to describe things that are "noble," "worthy of respect" (Phil 4:8; 1 Tim 3:8, 11; Titus 2:2, 7).

2:3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,

Paul gives the reason of the prayers for "all kinds of people." It is because "God wants all men" (a[nqrwpoi , anthrôpoi ) "to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." It is noteworthy that, while God is described as "our Savior," salvation is not just "our" salvation but rather that of "all men."

2:4 who wants all men to be saved

The fact that it is God's wish that all men be saved in no way implies that all will be saved nor does it suggest that God's will has in some way been frustrated. Here Paul's concern is the universal scope of the gospel. While "all men" may mean "all kinds of men," one is not forced to conclude that "God wants" all sorts of people to be saved embracing "Jew and Gentile, but not every person."

Paul argues that God's universal concern is for the salvation of all men (pavnta" ajnqrwvpou" , pantas anthrôpous ). "Men" here indicates persons of all genders. God's desire in no way obligates him to save all men.

and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Salvation is closely connected to coming "to a knowledge of the truth." The term "truth" (ajlhvqeia , alçtheia ) appears frequently in 1 Timothy (2:7; 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; cf. 2 Tim 2:15; 3:8; Titus 1:1). It refers to the knowledge of and obedience to the gospel message. Spain suggests that the word "knowledge" (ejpivgnwsi" , epignôsis ) is "almost a technical word in the Pastorals for conversion."

2:5 For there is one God

Paul's affirmation of the desire of God for the salvation of all human beings is rooted in three facts concerning the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ, his Son. First, "there is one God." The significance of this statement can be seen in the emphasis on this doctrine in the Jewish faith (cf. Deut 6:4).

and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

The second fact is that there is "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Jesus' role as mediator between God and humankind is frequently linked to the idea of covenant (cf. Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Human beings and God are separated by sin and can be reconciled only by the act of the God-Man, Christ Jesus. Only he can serve as the go-between. Paul is again consistent in his use of a[nqrwpo" (anthrôpos , human being) for "man" rather than ajnhvr (ançr , male person) in his description of "Christ Jesus."

2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men

Third, this Jesus "gave himself as a ransom for all men." Although the word for "ransom" (ajntivlutron , antilytron ) appears only here in the NT, a related word does appear in Mark 10:45. The concept of ransom is used outside the New Testament for the sum of money paid to set free captives taken in war or to liberate slaves from their masters. Christ's death is for Paul clearly the price paid to set mankind free from captivity to sin. Morris has suggested that the compound form used here ( antilutron ) may better be rendered "substitute-ransom." The ransom was "for (uJpevr , huper ) all men," literally "in behalf of all." Notice that Paul declares that Jesus "gave himself," emphasizing the voluntary nature of his death.

- the testimony given in its proper time.

The dash before "the testimony given in its proper time" indicates the difficulty in translating the phrase and linking it to the immediate context. Literally the Greek can be translated "the witness for times of its/his own." Fee contends that the text implies that "in the 'history of salvation' the time for God's showing mercy to all people has now arrived, as witnessed in the death of Christ, which is 'for all.'"

2:7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle

Paul emphasizes God's desire that all be saved by pointing to his own ministry. "For this purpose" points to "the testimony" of v. 6. Guthrie has suggested the following paraphrase: "To spread this testimony I was appointed a preacher . . . and an apostle." Paul clearly recognizes his ministry as a gift and an appointment from God. The emphatic "I" indicates Paul's wonder that one like himself would be given such a task. He begins by describing his task as that of "a herald." The word "herald" (kh'rux , kçryx ) indicates one who publicly proclaims a message. He then moves to describe his work as that of "an apostle," that is, one sent on a mission.

- I am telling the truth, I am not lying

Easton and Harrison contend that Paul's strong assertion, "I am telling the truth, I am not lying," would be inappropriate if the book were really written to Timothy since he was well aware of Paul and had accepted his authority. The "semi-public" nature of the Pastoral Epistles and the need for Timothy to possess some authority to deal with church problems can, however, easily explain this assertion.

- and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

The third phrase used by Paul to describe his divinely appointed ministry is "a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles." As Knight has noted, "The first and third terms that Paul applies to himself . . . seem to emphasize evangelism and exhortation on the one hand and instruction on the other. . . . In addition . . . Paul is Christ's authoritative eyewitness and spokesman. . . ." The phrase "of the true faith" in the NIV is the rendering of a Greek phrase ejn pivstei kaiΙ ajlhqeiva/ (en pistei kai alçtheia ) which more literally may be rendered "in faith and truth."

B. RESPECTIVE ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE ASSEMBLY (2:8-15)

⁸ I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

⁹ I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, ¹⁰ but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship.

¹¹ A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. ¹⁵ But women ^a will be saved ^b through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

^a 15 Greek she ^b 15 Or restored

2:8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer,

Paul now resumes his discussion of prayer. The work and authority he indicated in the last section give weight to "I want" (bouvlomai , boulomai ) in this verse. "Men" here is the rendering of the Greek word ançr (male person) and not anthrôpos (human being). Attempts to argue that Paul is here giving general admonitions for both genders regarding prayer do not take into consideration Paul's consistent usage of these words both in this context and in the Pastoral Epistles in general (cf. anthrôpos in 1 Tim 2:1, 4, 5; 4:10; 5:24; 6:5, 9, 16; 2 Tim 2:2; 3:2, 8, 13, 17; Titus 2:11; 3:2, 8, 10 and ançr in 1 Tim 2:8, 12; 3:12; 5:9; Titus 1:6; 2:5) or his "also . . . women" (gunai'ka" , gynaikas ) in the following verse. Paul is clearly distinguishing between men and women . Paul's instructions in v. 8 are addressed specifically to men. While ançr can mean "husband," that is unlikely in this verse.

"Everywhere" is literally "in every place" (ejn pantiΙ tovpw/ , en panti topô ). Guthrie describes the phrase as "characteristically Pauline (cf. 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 2:14; 1 Thess 1:8)." Here, and at least in 1 Cor 1:2, it seems best to take the phrase as an indication of the place of public assembly for Christians (cf. Rom 16:3-5; Col 4:15). "Paul is probably referring to the various 'places' (house-churches) in which the Christians at Ephesus met." This coincides with Paul's use of "lifting up holy hands" as the prayer posture for the men under consideration. While other prayer postures are seen in the biblical text, praying with uplifted hands was a normal posture for public prayer among Jews and Christians. Fee paraphrases "everywhere" in this section as follows: "'Therefore,' Paul says, 'while we're on the subject, as the people gather to pray be sure it is for prayer and not in anger or disputing.'" He goes on to say that "everywhere" means "in every place where believers gather in and around Ephesus (the house-churches)." The most straightforward interpretation of this text would suggest that Paul is providing for male leadership in prayers in the public assembly.

without anger or disputing.

Paul's primary concern in the text is not the posture one assumes in prayer but the inner attitude and lifestyle of the one praying. "Holy hands" is a call for deeds that demonstrate the pure life. The closing words of this admonition, "without anger or disputing," refer to the kind of soiling hands may have. Both terms seem to point to particular sins of the false teachers. "Disputing" (dialogismov" , dialogismos ) means in general "thought," "opinion," or "reasoning." The term here refers to disputing with others.

2:9 I also want women to dress modestly,

Paul's instructions to women clearly parallel those to men in v. 8. Despite recent attempts to suggest that "women" ( gunaikas ) should be translated "wives," there is nothing within the text that would suggest the need for such a change from the traditional "women." As Fee has noted, "Paul turns next to women (without the definite article, implying a broader context than merely wives)." Similarly Knight says, "Just as Paul was asking not only husbands but men in general to pray, so also he is enjoining women in general, not just wives, to dress modestly and discreetly, and to behave in accord with their womanliness in relation to men."

Geer has suggested that also (wJsauvtw" , hôsautôs ) " may relate back to the concept of praying in v. 8. Just as he wants men to pray without arguments, Paul wants women to pray 'in modest clothing' . . ." Rather than seeing "also" as a call for a repetition of Paul's exhortation for men to pray now being offered to women, the simpler solution is to see "also" as indicating that Paul has a wish for the women as well as the men in terms of their behavior and demeanor in the worship assembly and times of public prayer. Since "to pray" and "to dress" are linked syntactically by "also" and "I wish," it is reasonable to see the same general context for both admonitions - the worship assembly.

Paul's call for women to dress "modestly" is not an exhortation for clothing which is not sexually revealing. Nor is it simply an exhortation to avoid ostentation. It is rather a call not to be "dressing up." Fee has noted that, in both Hellenistic and Jewish circles, such extravagant dress on the part of women was often equated with "wantonness and wifely insubordination. . . . tantamount to marital unfaithfulness." In addition such extravagant dress indicates a failure to recognize that the inner person is of more importance than wealth and what it has to offer. Paul is not here condemning dressing in good taste.

with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

Literally Paul's admonition may be rendered "adorn themselves in adorning attire." He clarifies his instructions by adding "with decency and propriety." The first word indicates behaving in a way that would not bring shame, and the second indicates the use of good judgment in dress. "Braided hair, gold, pearls, and expensive clothes" indicate the specific kind of dress that Paul is forbidding. Just as men need to be warned against anger and dispute when they stand to lead in public prayer, women need to be warned that their interest in clothing and apparel should not produce immodesty.

2:10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship.

Women who are believers are to adorn themselves with better things, namely "with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship." Paul argues that the greatest asset a woman can possess is a devout and godly life. Such a life adorns and enhances. "Good deeds" is a phrase common in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 3:1; 5:10, 26; 6:18; Titus 1:16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14; 2 Tim 2:21; 3:17). The phrase "who profess to worship" (ejpaggelomevnai" qeosevbeian , epangellomenais theosebeian ) has frequently been rendered "professing godliness." Although "worship," literally "godliness" ( theosebeia ) occurs only here in the NT, its cognate ( eusebeia ), also rendered "godliness," appears frequently in the Pastoral Epistles.

2:11 A woman should learn in quietness

After his discussion of how women should adorn themselves when gathering, Paul moves to the part women are to play in those church meetings. The next few verses have been the subject of much discussion. Just what was Paul permitting and what was he forbidding in the Ephesian church? What of his teaching is applicable and binding upon the modern church?

The demeanor and behavior of women in the synagogue was never questioned. Women learned in silence. However, as the Christian faith spread so did what Kelly has called "a new spirit of emancipation . . . in the young Christian congregations."

While Paul does call for women to learn, a practice not encouraged in most of the world at his time, his primary emphasis falls on "in quietness and full submission." "In quietness" (ejn hJsuciva/ , en hçsychia ) in v. 12 represents the rendering of a cognate to the adjective used in v. 2, "quiet lives" (hJsuvcion bivon , hçsychion bion ). The emphasis is not upon absolute silence as some would suggest but rather a quiet spirit, i.e., "in quietness." Paul is arguing against women "being 'up front,' talking foolishness," causing turmoil.

and full submission.

"In quietness" is further qualified by the phrase "in full submission" (ejn pavsh/ uJpotagh/' , en pasç hypotagç ). Paul does not clarify to whom woman is to show her submission. One might assume that the Adam and Eve illustration which follows would indicate that Paul was addressing wives' submission to their husbands. Fee has noted that ". . . the implication of full ('in every conceivable way') probably has a larger front in view, which includes the conduct of the younger widows and their 'going about from house to house . . . saying things they ought not to' (5:13)." Similarly Moo contends that ". . . the underlying issue in verse 11 is not just submission to the teaching of the church but the submission of women to their husbands and, perhaps, to the male leadership of the church. . . . The facts that verses 12-14 (and perhaps also 9-10) focus on the relationship of men to women incline us to think that the submission in view here is also this submission of women to male leadership." Moo goes on to argue that the context points not just to husbands but to male leadership of the church in general. The call for "full submission" probably should simply be seen as a call for women to live within their God-ordained role. The key to understanding "submission" is not inferior value or worth but the recognition of one's role in a relationship.

2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach

The phrase "full submission" serves as the link between Paul's call for women to "learn in quietness" and his call for them not "to teach or to have authority over a man." Paul's use of "permit" rather than an imperative ("Women, do not teach") has been used by some to argue that Paul is giving a limited and temporary instruction. As Moo has noted, "No doubt Paul viewed his own teaching as authoritative for the churches to whom he wrote. Paul's 'advice' to Timothy is the word of an apostle, accredited by God, and included in the inspired Scriptures."

Paul's instruction that women were not "to teach" should be seen in the general context of the worship assembly. Teaching in the Pastoral Epistles is generally to be seen in the "restricted sense of authoritative doctrinal instruction."

or to have authority over a man;

The "or" (oujdev , oude ) which links "to teach" and "to have authority over a man" can serve as a simple "and also," it can link opposites (e.g., Gentile or Jew, slave or free; Gal 3:28) or natural pairs or lengthy lists, or it can link two closely related terms where the second may define or clarify the first. The closest grammatical parallel is Acts 16:21 where infinitive phrases are linked by oude : "by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." "Accept" and "practice" are closely related, and, in fact, the text may well be amplified, "they are advocating customs which are unlawful for us as Romans to accept and, therefore, practice." Similarly, the fact that Paul sandwiches the admonition not to teach between his call for full submission and the call not to have authority (not "to domineer") indicate that teaching and domineering are related. Such a link would permit the following paraphrase: "I do not permit a woman to teach so as to exercise authority." In the ancient world authority was inherent in the role of the teacher. Likewise, teaching today is considered the role of an authority.

The teaching that is prohibited for women is not universal. Timothy was taught by his mother and grandmother. Priscilla assisted and perhaps even took the lead in teaching Apollos. Older women are instructed to teach younger women (Titus 2:4-5). The following admonition to silence could not be seen as applicable to the Christian home or the market place; it must, therefore, as the earlier context would indicate, relate to the worship assembly and the Christian community. Spencer has argued that the real problem is untrained women and that the very fact that women were to learn implies that they should eventually teach. She has unfortunately failed to realize that the prohibition against teaching is not universal, and that one can learn without later functioning as public teacher.

Recently Kroeger and Kroeger have done significant research into the nature and background of ancient Ephesus and have suggested an alternative interpretation to 1 Tim 2:11-15. While they have provided significant background data, their suggestion that the phrase "to have authority" (aujqentei'n , authentein ) should be rendered "to represent herself as originator of man" is, to say the least, far-fetched and has gained little support. Significant research on the meaning of the word has been done by Knight. He has concluded that "Paul refers, then, with authentein to the exercise of a leadership role or function in the church (the contextual setting), and thus by specific application the office of episkopos [overseer]/ presbuteros [elder], since the names of these offices . . . and the activities associated with them . . . indicate the exercise of authority."

she must be silent.

Paul's injunction that "she must be silent" (ei ai ejn hJsuciva/ , einai en hçsychia ) must be seen in the light of his use of the cognate adjective earlier in v. 2 and the use of the same phrase (en hçsuchia ) connected to the imperative "learn" in v. 11 where it is rendered "in quietness." On all three ocassions the emphasis is not upon absolute silence, as some would suggest, but rather on the quiet spirit, i.e., "in quietness." The call for silence again points to Paul's restriction that a woman is not to teach in the assembly.

2:13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

Paul uses the Adam and Eve story of Gen 2 and 3 to support his earlier admonitions. He bases his argument on the created order, something of the very nature of man and woman. Paul's argument here is very similar to the argument of Jesus regarding the permanence of marriage (Matt 19:4-6). As Knight has noted, Paul's concern in "for . . . then" goes beyond "mere chronology" but "what is entailed in this chronology." Paul's concern is the headship of man and the recognition of divinely ordained roles. Paul's concern is not dominance but role. In this regard Eve serves as representative woman.

2:14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Paul's statement that "it was the woman who was deceived" is based on the deception of Eve by the serpent in Gen 3:13. He is not removing Adam from responsibility for the fall (Rom 5:12, 19; 1 Cor 15:22). In fact, Adam's sin would make him even more culpable. Paul undoubtedly has in mind the false teachers who serve as emissaries of Satan, are plaguing the Ephesian church, and are leading astray many women (4:1; 5:15). The phrase "became a sinner" is literally "has become in transgression," emphasizing a current status.

2:15 But women will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

This verse has perhaps caused as much ink to be spilled as any passage in the New Testament. After noting that "the woman was deceived" and fell into transgression, Paul provides the location of the remedy of the problem caused by the fall. He concludes that " she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety." Paul makes a subtle shift from Eve to the women at Ephesus and women in general. Paul begins verse 15 with the singular verb " she will be saved." The NIV has accommodated their translation to Paul's change to a plural verb in the middle of the verse "if they continue" by beginning "women will be saved." This accommodation does carry the intent of Paul. As Fee has noted, "Obviously Paul is not talking about Eve's salvation but 'the woman' in Ephesus; hence the change back to the plural in the middle of verse 15."

Paul's statement that she "will be saved through childbearing" has produced several alternative interpretations. One suggestion is that woman will be kept safe through childbirth. It is suggested that the false teachers advocated abstinence and that Paul is simply saying God will preserve Christian women if they fulfill their God-ordained role. Many Christian women have, however, died in childbirth. Such an understanding is also unlikely in view of Paul's use of "saved" (swvzw , sôzô ) in the Pastoral Epistles (cf. 1:15-16; 2:4) and his use of another word to convey the idea of being "kept safe" (cf. 2 Tim 3:11; 4:8).

Another suggestion is that "childbearing" should be seen as equivalent to "child nurture." This suggestion would provide "children" as the subject of the next verb in the phrase "if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety." The difficulty with this interpretation is that woman's salvation is dependent upon works and then, even beyond that, the works of others, i.e., her children.

A third suggestion is woman will be saved even though she must bear children. This suggestion plays off of the curse upon Eve (Gen 3:16).

A fourth suggestion is that, although Eve did trangress, Christian women will be saved through the special childbirth, namely the birth of the Messiah through Mary, a woman. Although this view, originally popular among the Western Church Fathers, has recently gained some support, the critique of Guthrie is still valid: "For if that were the author's intention he could hardly have chosen a more obscure or ambiguous way of saying it. That Paul would have left the words 'child-bearing' without further definition is highly improbable." The use of the parallel verb form, "to have children" (teknogonevw , teknogoneô ), in 5:14 would also mitigate against such an interpretation.

The final interpretation may be termed "the majority view." This view would hold that Christian women are not saved through teaching and asserting authority, but by attention to their traditional role. "Childbearing" serves as a figure of speech to illustrate Paul's argument that women need not behave as men but rather fulfill their divinely appointed role to find salvation. The figure may be termed either a metonymy or a synecdoche. Paul is not suggesting that women must have children to be saved. Childbearing represents Paul's teaching "that women prove the reality of their salvation when they become model wives and mothers whose good deeds include marriage and raising children (1 Tim 5:11, 14)." 1 Tim 5:11 and 14 indicate that Paul clearly saw childbearing as a part of the role of women in his day. The text does not preclude that a woman can, within God's grace, remain single or that a married woman may work outside the home or that a married woman and her husband can decide not to have children. It is simply a call to realize that a woman's salvation is fulfilled within the role which she has been granted by God.

Paul could not leave the discussion without clarifying the fact that a saved person will demonstrate this relationship with God in terms of her lifestyle: "if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety." The change to a plural verb makes clear Paul's intent; he is discussing Christian women in general. The word "propriety" refers to her exercise of self-control.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Commentary -- Other

Contradiction: 1Ti 2:5

63. How can the ransom which Christ gives for all, which is good (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:5-6), be the same as the ransom of the wicked (Proverbs 21:18)?

(Category: misunderstood how God works in history)

This contradiction asks, 'Who is a ransom for whom?' Shabbir uses passages from Mark 10:45 and 1 Timothy 2:5-6 to show that it is Jesus that is a ransom for all. This is compared to Proverbs 21:18 which speaks of "The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright."

There is no contradiction here as they are talking about two different types of ransom. A ransom is a payment by one party to another. It can be made by a good person for others, as we see Christ does for the world, or it can be made by evil people as payment for the evil they have done, as we see in the Proverbs passage.

The assumption being made by Shabbir in the Mark and 1 Timothy passages is that Jesus was good and could therefore not be a ransom for the unrighteous. In this premise he reflects the Islamic denial that someone can pay for the sins of another, or can be a ransom for another. He must not, however impose this interpretation on the Bible. Christ as a ransom for the many is clearly taught in the Bible. Galatians 3:13-14 and 1 Peter 2:23-25 speak of Jesus becoming a curse for us. Therefore Jesus has fulfilled even this proverb.

Again Shabbir's supposition relies upon quotations being taken out of their context. The Mark 10:45 passage starts off by quoting Jesus as saying, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." This was spoken by Jesus because the disciples had been arguing over the fact that James and John had approached Jesus about sitting at his right and left side when Christ came into his glory. Here Jesus is again prophesying his death which is to come and the reason for that death, that he would be the ransom payment that would atone for all people's sin.

In 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Paul is here speaking, saying,

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time."

This comes in the middle of a passage instructing the Early Church on worshiping God. These two verses give the reason and the meaning of worshiping God. The redemptive ransom given by God, that through this mediator Jesus Christ's atoning work on the Cross, God may once again have that saving relationship with man.

The Proverbs 21:18 passage speaks however of the ransom that God paid through Egypt in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, as is highlighted in the book of Isaiah, but particularly in Chapter 43:3;

"For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead."

This picture is further heightened in verses 16 and 17 of the same Chapter. This also has some foundation from the book of Exodus 7:5; 8:19; 10:7; 12:33. Chapters 13 and 14 particularly point to this. As history records for us in the Bible it was through this action that the Old Covenant was established between God and the Kingdom of Israel.

Contradiction: 1Ti 2:6

63. How can the ransom which Christ gives for all, which is good (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:5-6), be the same as the ransom of the wicked (Proverbs 21:18)?

(Category: misunderstood how God works in history)

This contradiction asks, 'Who is a ransom for whom?' Shabbir uses passages from Mark 10:45 and 1 Timothy 2:5-6 to show that it is Jesus that is a ransom for all. This is compared to Proverbs 21:18 which speaks of "The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright."

There is no contradiction here as they are talking about two different types of ransom. A ransom is a payment by one party to another. It can be made by a good person for others, as we see Christ does for the world, or it can be made by evil people as payment for the evil they have done, as we see in the Proverbs passage.

The assumption being made by Shabbir in the Mark and 1 Timothy passages is that Jesus was good and could therefore not be a ransom for the unrighteous. In this premise he reflects the Islamic denial that someone can pay for the sins of another, or can be a ransom for another. He must not, however impose this interpretation on the Bible. Christ as a ransom for the many is clearly taught in the Bible. Galatians 3:13-14 and 1 Peter 2:23-25 speak of Jesus becoming a curse for us. Therefore Jesus has fulfilled even this proverb.

Again Shabbir's supposition relies upon quotations being taken out of their context. The Mark 10:45 passage starts off by quoting Jesus as saying, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." This was spoken by Jesus because the disciples had been arguing over the fact that James and John had approached Jesus about sitting at his right and left side when Christ came into his glory. Here Jesus is again prophesying his death which is to come and the reason for that death, that he would be the ransom payment that would atone for all people's sin.

In 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Paul is here speaking, saying,

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time."

This comes in the middle of a passage instructing the Early Church on worshiping God. These two verses give the reason and the meaning of worshiping God. The redemptive ransom given by God, that through this mediator Jesus Christ's atoning work on the Cross, God may once again have that saving relationship with man.

The Proverbs 21:18 passage speaks however of the ransom that God paid through Egypt in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, as is highlighted in the book of Isaiah, but particularly in Chapter 43:3;

"For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead."

This picture is further heightened in verses 16 and 17 of the same Chapter. This also has some foundation from the book of Exodus 7:5; 8:19; 10:7; 12:33. Chapters 13 and 14 particularly point to this. As history records for us in the Bible it was through this action that the Old Covenant was established between God and the Kingdom of Israel.

Evidence: 1Ti 2:1

Intercessory prayer . " God gave us intercessory prayer so we could partner with Him in transforming society, saving the lost, and establishing His kingdom. To be sure, God is perfectly capable of doing these things without us. He is all-wise, full of love, and almighty. In His wisdom He always knows what is best. In His love He always chooses what is best. And in His power He is able to do what is best. He doesn’t need us. Nevertheless, in His sovereign good pleasure, He has chosen to involve us, through our prayers, in accomplishing His will. Our intercessory prayers are important to God; they should also be important to us." Alvin J. Vander Griend , " Your Prayers Matter," Discipleship Journal

Evidence: 1Ti 2:4

Salvation is possible for every person . See 2Pe 3:9 .

Evidence: 1Ti 2:5

" We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this Mediator, is taken away all communication with God; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who have pretended to know God, and prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only impotent proofs.

" But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophecies which are good and valid proofs. And those prophecies, being fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the certainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals." Blaise Pascal

Evidence: 1Ti 2:8

" The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness." John Wesley

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

First Timothy

Probably a.d. 65 From Macedonia

By Way of Introduction

Assuming the Pauline authorship the facts shape up after this fashion. Paul had been in Ephesus (1Ti_1:3) after his arrival from Rome, which was certainly before the burning of Rome in a.d. 64. He had left Timothy in charge of the work in Ephesus and has gone on into Macedonia (1Ti_1:3), possibly to Philippi as he had hoped (Phi_2:24). He wishes to help Timothy meet the problems of doctrine (against the Gnostics), discipline, and church training which are increasingly urgent. There are personal touches of a natural kind about Timothy’s own growth and leadership. There are wise words here from the greatest of all preachers to a young minister whom Paul loved.

JFB: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

GENUINENESS.--The ancient Church never doubted of their being canonical and written by Paul. They are in the Peschito Syriac version of the second century. MURATORI'S Fragment on the Canon of Scripture, at the close of the second century, acknowledges them as such. IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 1; 3.3.3; 4.16.3; 2.14.8; 3.11.1; 1.16.3], quotes 1Ti 1:4, 1Ti 1:9; 1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 4:9-11; Tit 3:10. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 2, p. 457; 3, pp. 534, 536; 1, p. 350], quotes 1Ti 6:1, 1Ti 6:20; Second Timothy, as to deaconesses; Tit 1:12. TERTULLIAN [The Prescription against Heretics, 25; 6], quotes 1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 1:14; 1Ti 1:18; 1Ti 6:13, &c.; 2Ti 2:2; Tit 3:10-11. EUSEBIUS includes the three in the "universally acknowledged" Scriptures. Also THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH [To Autolychus, 3.14], quotes 1Ti 2:1-2; Tit 3:1, and CAIUS (in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 6.20]) recognizes their authenticity. CLEMENT OF ROME, in the end of the first century, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians [29], quotes 1Ti 2:8. IGNATIUS, in the beginning of the second century, in Epistle to Polycarp, [6], alludes to 2Ti 2:4. POLYCARP, in the beginning of the second century [Epistle to the Philippians, 4], alludes to 2Ti 2:4; and in the ninth chapter to 2Ti 4:10. Hegisippus, in the end of the second century, in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.32], alludes to 1Ti 6:3, 1Ti 6:20. ATHENAGORAS, in the end of the second century, alludes to 1Ti 6:16. JUSTIN MARTYR, in the middle of the second century [Dialogue with Trypho, 47], alludes to Tit 3:4. The Gnostic MARCION alone rejected these Epistles.

The HERESIES OPPOSED in them form the transition stage from Judaism, in its ascetic form, to Gnosticism, as subsequently developed. The references to Judaism and legalism are clear (1Ti 1:7; 1Ti 4:3; Tit 1:10, Tit 1:14; Tit 3:9). Traces of beginning Gnosticism are also unequivocal (1Ti 1:4). The Gnostic theory of a twofold principle from the beginning, evil as well as good, appears in germ in 1Ti 4:3, &c. In 1Ti 6:20 the term Gnosis ("science") itself occurs. Another Gnostic error, namely, that "the resurrection is past," is alluded to in 2Ti 2:17-18. The Judaism herein opposed is not that of the earlier Epistles, which upheld the law and tried to join it with faith in Christ for justification. It first passed into that phase of it which appears in the Epistle to the Colossians, whereby will-worship and angel-worship were superadded to Judaizing opinions. Then a further stage of the same evil appears in the Epistle to the Philippians (Phi 3:2, Phi 3:18-19), whereby immoral practice accompanied false doctrine as to the resurrection (compare 2Ti 2:18, with 1Co 15:12, 1Co 15:32-33). This descent from legality to superstition, and from superstition to godlessness, appears more matured in the references to it in these Pastoral Epistles. The false teachers now know not the true use of the law (1Ti 1:7-8), and further, have put away good conscience as well as the faith (1Ti 1:19; 1Ti 4:2); speak lies in hypocrisy, are corrupt in mind, and regard godliness as a means of earthly gain (1Ti 6:5 Tit 1:11); overthrow the faith by heresies eating as a canker, saying the resurrection is past (2Ti 2:17-18), leading captive silly women, ever learning yet never knowing the truth, reprobate as Jannes and Jambres (2Ti 3:6, 2Ti 3:8), defiled, unbelieving, professing to know God, but in works denying Him, abominable, disobedient, reprobate (Tit 1:15-16). This description accords with that in the Catholic Epistles of St. John and St. Peter, and, in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This fact proves the later date of these Pastoral Epistles as compared with Paul's earlier Epistles. The Judaism reprobated herein is not that of an earlier date, so scrupulous as to the law; it was now tending to immortality of practice. On the other hand, the Gnosticism opposed in these Epistles is not the anti-Judaic Gnosticism of a later date, which arose as a consequence of the overthrow of Judaism by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, but it was the intermediate phase between Judaism and Gnosticism, in which the Oriental and Greek elements of the latter were in a kind of amalgam with Judaism, just prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem.

The DIRECTIONS AS TO CHURCH GOVERNORS and ministers, "bishop-elders, and deacons," are such as were natural for the apostle, in prospect of his own approaching removal, to give to Timothy, the president of the Church at Ephesus, and to Titus, holding the same office in Crete, for securing the due administration of the Church when he should be no more, and at a time when heresies were rapidly springing up. Compare his similar anxiety in his address to the Ephesian elders (Act 20:21-30). The Presbyterate (elders; priest is a contraction from presbyter) and Diaconate had existed from the earliest times in the Church (Act 6:3; Act 11:30; Act 14:23). Timothy and Titus, as superintendents or overseers (so bishop subsequently meant), were to exercise the same power in ordaining elders at Ephesus which the apostle had exercised in his general supervision of all the Gentile churches.

The PECULIARITIES OF MODES OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION, are such as the difference of subject and circumstances of those addressed and those spoken of in these Epistles, as compared with the other Epistles, would lead us to expect. Some of these peculiar phrases occur also in Galatians, in which, as in the Pastoral Epistles, he, with his characteristic fervor, attacks the false teachers. Compare 1Ti 2:6; Tit 2:14, "gave Himself for us," with Gal 1:4; 1Ti 1:17; 2Ti 4:18, "for ever and ever," with Gal 1:5 : "before God," 1Ti 5:21; 1Ti 6:13; 2Ti 2:14; 2Ti 4:1, with Gal 1:20 : "a pillar," 1Ti 3:15, with Gal 2:9 : "mediator," 1Ti 2:5, with Gal 3:20 : "in due season," 1Ti 2:6; 1Ti 6:15; Tit 1:3 with Gal 6:9.

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING.--The First Epistle to Timothy was written not long after Paul had left Ephesus for Macedon (1Ti 1:3). Now, as Timothy was in Macedon with Paul (2Co 1:1) on the occasion of Paul's having passed from Ephesus into that country, as recorded, Act 19:22; Act 20:1, whereas the First Epistle to Timothy contemplates a longer stay of Timothy in Ephesus, MOSHEIM supposes that Paul was nine months of the "three years" stay mostly at Ephesus (Act 20:31) in Macedonia, and elsewhere (perhaps Crete), (the mention of only "three months" and "two years," Act 19:8, Act 19:10, favors this, the remaining nine months being spent elsewhere); and that during these nine months Timothy, in Paul's absence, superintended the Church of Ephesus. It is not likely that Ephesus and the neighboring churches should have been left long without church officers and church organization, rules respecting which are giver in this Epistle. Moreover, Timothy was still "a youth" (1Ti 4:12), which he could hardly be called after Paul's first imprisonment, when he must have been at least thirty-four years of age. Lastly, in Act 20:25, Paul asserts his knowledge that the Ephesians should not all see his face again, so that 1Ti 1:3 will thus refer to his sojourn at Ephesus, recorded in Act 19:10, whence he passed into Macedonia. But the difficulty is to account for the false teachers having sprung up almost immediately (according to this theory) after the foundation of the Church. However, his visit recorded in Acts 19:1-41 was not his first visit. The beginning of the Church at Ephesus was probably made at his visit a year before (Act 18:19-21). Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, carried on the work (Act 18:24-26). Thus, as to the sudden growth of false teachers, there was time enough for their springing up, especially considering that the first converts at Ephesus were under Apollos' imperfect Christian teachings at first, imbued as he was likely to be with the tenets of PHILO of Alexandria, Apollos' native town, combined with John the Baptist's Old Testament teachings (Act 18:24-26). Besides Ephesus, from its position in Asia, its notorious voluptuousness and sorcery (Act 19:18-19), and its lewd worship of Diana (answering to the Phœnician Ashtoreth), was likely from the first to tinge Christianity in some of its converts with Oriental speculations and Asiatic licentiousness of practices. Thus the phenomenon of the phase of error presented in this Epistle, being intermediate between Judaism and later Gnosticism (see above), would be such as might occur at an early period in the Ephesian Church, as well as later, when we know it had open "apostles" of error (Rev 2:2, Rev 2:6), and Nicolaitans infamous in practice. As to the close connection between this First Epistle and the Second Epistle (which must have been written at the close of Paul's life), on which ALFORD relies for his theory of making the First Epistle also written at the close of Paul's life, the similarity of circumstances, the person addressed being one and the same, and either in Ephesus at the time, or at least connected with Ephesus as its church overseer, and having heretics to contend with of the same stamp as in the First Epistle, would account for the connection. There is not so great identity of tone as to compel us to adopt the theory that some years could not have elapsed between the two Epistles.

However, all these arguments against the later date may be answered. This First Epistle may refer not to the first organization of the Church under its bishops, or elders and deacons, but to the moral qualifications laid down at a later period for those officers when scandals rendered such directions needful. Indeed, the object for which he left Timothy at Ephesus he states (1Ti 1:3) to be, not to organize the Church for the first time, but to restrain the false teachers. The directions as to the choice of fit elders and deacons refer to the filling up of vacancies, not to their first appointment. The fact of there existing an institution for Church widows implies an established organization. As to Timothy's "youth," it may be spoken of comparatively young compared with Paul, now "the aged" (Phm 1:9), and with some of the Ephesian elders, senior to Timothy their overseer. As to Act 20:25, we know not but that "all" of the elders of Ephesus called to Miletus "never saw Paul's face" afterwards, as he "knew" (doubtless by inspiration) would be the case, which obviates the need of ALFORD'S lax view, that Paul was wrong in this his positive inspired anticipation (for such it was, not a mere boding surmise as to the future). Thus he probably visited Ephesus again (1Ti 1:3; 2Ti 1:18; 2Ti 4:20, he would hardly have been at Miletum, so near Ephesus, without visiting Ephesus) after his first imprisonment in Rome, though all the Ephesian elders whom he had addressed formerly at Miletus did not again see him. The general similarity of subject and style, and of the state of the Church between the two Epistles, favors the view that they were near one another in date. Also, against the theory of the early date is the difficulty of defining, when, during Paul's two or three years' stay at Ephesus, we can insert an absence of Paul from Ephesus long enough for the requirements of the case, which imply a lengthened stay and superintendence of Timothy at Ephesus (see, however, 1Ti 3:14, on the other side) after having been "left" by Paul there. Timothy did not stay there when Paul left Ephesus (Act 19:22; Act 20:1; 2Co 1:1). In 1Ti 3:14, Paul says, "I write, hoping to come unto thee shortly," but on the earlier occasion of his passing from Ephesus to Macedon he had no such expectation, but had planned to spend the summer in Macedon, and the winter in Corinth, (1Co 16:6). The expression "Till I come" (1Ti 4:13), implies that Timothy was not to leave his post till Paul should arrive; this and the former objection, however, do not hold good against MOSHEIM'S theory. Moreover, Paul in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders prophetically anticipates the rise of false teachers hereafter of their own selves; therefore this First Epistle, which speaks of their actual presence at Ephesus, would naturally seem to be not prior, but subsequent, to the address, that is, will belong to the later date assigned. In the Epistle to the Ephesians no notice is taken of the Judaeo-Gnostic errors, which would have been noticed had they been really in existence; however, they are alluded to in the contemporaneous sister Epistle to Colossians (Col. 2:1-23).

Whatever doubt must always remain as to the date of the First Epistle, there can be hardly any as to that of the Second Epistle. In 2Ti 4:13, Paul directs Timothy to bring the books and cloak which the apostle had left at Troas. Assuming that the visit to Troas referred to is the one mentioned in Act 20:5-7, it will follow that the cloak and parchments lay for about seven years at Troas, that being the time that elapsed between the visit and Paul's first imprisonment at Rome: a very unlikely supposition, that he should have left either unused for so long. Again, when, during his first Roman imprisonment, he wrote to the Colossians (Col 4:14) and Philemon (Phm 1:24), Demas was with him; but when he was writing 2Ti 4:10, Demas had forsaken him from love of this world, and gone to Thessalonica. Again, when he wrote to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon, he had good hopes of a speedy liberation; but here in 2Ti 4:6-8, he anticipates immediate death, having been at least once already tried (2Ti 4:16). Again, he is in this Epistle represented as in closer confinement than he was when writing those former Epistles in his first imprisonment (even in the Philippians, which represent him in greater uncertainty as to his life, he cherished the hope of soon being delivered, Phi 2:24; 2Ti 1:16-18; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:6-8, 2Ti 4:16). Again (2Ti 4:20), he speaks of having left Trophimus sick at Miletum. This could not have been on the occasion, Act 20:15. For Trophimus was with Paul at Jerusalem shortly afterwards (Act 21:29). Besides, he would thus be made to speak of an event six or seven years after its occurrence, as a recent event: moreover, Timothy was, on that occasion of the apostle being at Miletum, with Paul, and therefore needed not to be informed of Trophimus' sickness there (Act 20:4-17). Also, the statement (2Ti 4:20), "Erastus abode at Corinth," implies that Paul had shortly before been at Corinth, and left Erastus there; but Paul had not been at Corinth for several years before his first imprisonment, and in the interval Timothy had been with him, so that he did not need to write subsequently about that visit. He must therefore have been liberated after his first imprisonment (indeed, Heb 13:23-24, expressly proves that the writer was in Italy and at liberty), and resumed his apostolic journeyings, and been imprisoned at Rome again, whence shortly before his death he wrote Second Timothy.

EUSEBIUS [Chronicles, Anno 2083] (beginning October, A.D. 67), says, "Nero, to his other crimes, added the persecution of Christians: under him the apostles Peter and Paul consummated their martyrdom at Rome." So JEROME [On Illustrious Men], "In the fourteenth year of Nero, Paul was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake, on the same day as Peter, and was buried on the Ostian Road, in the thirty-seventh year after the death of our Lord." ALFORD reasonably conjectures the Pastoral Epistles were written near this date. The interval was possibly filled up (so CLEMENT OF ROME states that Paul preached as far as "to the extremity of the west") by a journey to Spain (Rom 15:24, Rom 15:28), according to his own original intention. MURATORI'S Fragment on the Canon of Scripture (about A.D. 170) also alleges Paul's journey into Spain. So EUSEBIUS, CHRYSOSTOM, and JEROME. Be that as it may, he seems shortly before his second imprisonment to have visited Ephesus, where a new body of elders governed the Church (Act 20:25), say in the latter end of A.D. 66, or beginning of 67. Supposing him thirty at his conversion, he would now be upwards of sixty, and older in constitution than in years, through continual hardship. Even four years before he called himself "Paul the aged" (Phm 1:9).

From Ephesus he went into Macedonia (1Ti 1:3). He may have written the First Epistle to Timothy from that country. But his use of "went," not "came," in 1Ti 1:3, "When I went into Macedonia," implies he was not there when writing. Wherever he was, he writes uncertain how long he may be detained from coming to Timothy (1Ti 3:14-15). BIRKS shows the probability that he wrote from Corinth, between which city and Ephesus the communication was rapid and easy. His course, as on both former occasions, was from Macedon to Corinth. He finds a coincidence between 1Ti 2:11-14, and 1Co 14:34, as to women being silent in Church; and 1Ti 5:17-18, and 1Co 9:8-10, as to the maintenance of ministers, on the same principle as the Mosaic law, that the ox should not be muzzled that treadeth out the corn; and 1Ti 5:19-20, and 2Co 13:1-4, as to charges against elders. It would be natural for the apostle in the very place where these directions had been enforced, to reproduce them in his letter.

The date of the Epistle to Titus must depend on that assigned to First Timothy, with which it is connected in subject, phraseology, and tone. There is no difficulty in the Epistle to Titus, viewed by itself, in assigning it to the earlier date, namely, before Paul's first imprisonment. In Act 18:18-19, Paul, in journeying from Corinth to Palestine, for some cause or other landed at Ephesus. Now we find (Tit 3:13) that Apollos in going from Ephesus to Corinth was to touch at Crete (which seems to coincide with Apollos' journey from Ephesus to Corinth, recorded in Act 18:24, Act 18:27; Act 19:1); therefore it is not unlikely that Paul may have taken Crete similarly on his way between Corinth and Ephesus; or, perhaps been driven out of his course to it in one of his three shipwrecks spoken of in 2Co 11:25-26; this will account for his taking Ephesus on his way from Corinth to Palestine, though out of his regular course. At Ephesus Paul may have written the Epistle to Titus [HUG]; there he probably met Apollos and gave the Epistle to Titus to his charge, before his departure for Corinth by way of Crete, and before the apostle's departure for Jerusalem (Act 18:19-21, Act 18:24). Moreover, on Paul's way back from Jerusalem and Antioch, he travelled some time in Upper Asia (Act 19:1); and it was then, probably, that his intention to "winter at Nicopolis" was realized, there being a town of that name between Antioch and Tarsus, lying on Paul's route to Galatia (Tit 3:12). Thus, First Timothy will, in this theory, be placed two and a half years later (Act 20:1; compare 1Ti 1:3).

ALFORD'S argument for classing the Epistle to Titus with First Timothy, as written after Paul's first Roman imprisonment, stands or falls with his argument for assigning First Timothy to that date. Indeed, HUG'S unobjectionable argument for the earlier date of the Epistle to Titus, favors the early date assigned to First Timothy, which is so much akin to it, if other arguments be not thought to counterbalance this. The Church of Crete had been just founded (Tit 1:5), and yet the same heresies are censured in it as in Ephesus, which shows that no argument, such as ALFORD alleges against the earlier date of First Timothy, can be drawn from them (Tit 1:10-11, Tit 1:15-16; Tit 3:9, Tit 3:11). But vice versa, if, as seems likely from the arguments adduced, the First Epistle to Timothy be assigned to the later date, the Epistle to Titus must, from similarity of style, belong to the same period. ALFORD traces Paul's last journey before his second imprisonment thus: To Crete (Tit 1:5), Miletus (2Ti 4:20), Colosse (fulfilling his intention, Phm 1:22), Ephesus (1Ti 1:3; 2Ti 1:18), from which neighborhood he wrote the Epistle to Titus; Troas, Macedonia, Corinth (2Ti 4:20), Nicopolis (Tit 3:12) in Epirus, where he had intended to winter; a place in which, as being a Roman colony, he would be free from tumultuary violence, and yet would be more open to a direct attack from foes in the metropolis, Rome. Being known in Rome as the leader of the Christians, he was probably [ALFORD] arrested as implicated in causing the fire in A.D. 64, attributed by Nero to the Christians, and was sent to Rome by the Duumvirs of Nicopolis. There he was imprisoned as a common malefactor (2Ti 2:9); his Asiatic friends deserted him, except Onesiphorus (2Ti 1:16). Demas, Crescens, and Titus, left him. Tychicus he had sent to Ephesus. Luke alone remained with him (2Ti 4:10-12). Under the circumstances he writes the Second Epistle to Timothy, most likely while Timothy was at Ephesus (2Ti 2:17; compare 1Ti 1:20; 2Ti 4:13), begging him to come to him before winter (2Ti 4:21), and anticipating his own execution soon (2Ti 4:6). Tychicus was perhaps the bearer of the Second Epistle (2Ti 4:12). His defense was not made before the emperor, for the latter was then in Greece (2Ti 4:16-17). Tradition represents that he died by the sword, which accords with the fact that his Roman citizenship would exempt him from torture; probably late in A.D. 67 or A.D. 68, the last year of Nero.

Timothy is first mentioned, Act 16:1, as dwelling in Lystra (not Derbe, compare Act 20:4). His mother was a Jewess named Eunice (2Ti 1:5); his father, "a Greek" (that is, a Gentile). As Timothy is mentioned as "a disciple" in Act 16:1, he must have been converted before, and this by Paul (1Ti 1:2), probably at his former visit to Lystra (Act 14:6); at the same time, probably, that his Scripture-loving mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, were converted to Christ from Judaism (2Ti 3:14-15). Not only the good report given as to him by the brethren of Lystra, but also his origin, partly Jewish, partly Gentile, adapted him specially for being Paul's assistant in missionary work, laboring as the apostle did in each place, firstly among the Jews, and then among the Gentiles. In order to obviate Jewish prejudices, he first circumcised him. He seems to have accompanied Paul in his tour through Macedonia; but when the apostle went forward to Athens, Timothy and Silas remained in Berea. Having been sent back by Paul to visit the Thessalonian Church (1Th 3:2), he brought his report of it to the apostle at Corinth (1Th 3:6). Hence we find his name joined with Paul's in the addresses of both the Epistles to Thessalonians, which were written at Corinth. We again find him "ministering to" Paul during the lengthened stay at Ephesus (Act 19:22). Thence he was sent before Paul into Macedonia and to Corinth (1Co 4:17; 1Co 16:10). He was with Paul when he wrote the Second Epistle to Corinthians (2Co 1:1); and the following winter in Corinth, when Paul sent from thence his Epistle to the Romans (Rom 16:21). On Paul's return to Asia through Macedonia, he went forward and waited for the apostle at Troas (Act 20:3-5). Next we find him with Paul during his imprisonment at Rome, when the apostle wrote the Epistles to Colossians (Col 1:1), Philemon (Phm 1:1), and Philippians (Phi 1:1). He was imprisoned and set at liberty about the same time as the writer of the Hebrews (Heb 13:23). In the Pastoral Epistles, we find him mentioned as left by the apostle at Ephesus to superintend the Church there (1Ti 1:3). The last notice of him is in the request which Paul makes to him (2Ti 4:21) to "come before winter," that is about A.D. 67 [ALFORD]. EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.42], reports that he was first bishop of Ephesus; and [NICOPHORUS, Ecclesiastical History, 3.11], represents that he died by martyrdom. If then, St. John, as tradition represents, resided and died in that city, it must have been at a later period. Paul himself ordained or consecrated him with laying on of his own hands, and those of the presbytery, in accordance with prophetic intimations given respecting him by those possessing the prophetic gift (1Ti 1:18; 1Ti 4:14 2Ti 1:6). His self-denying character is shown by his leaving home at once to accompany the apostle, and submitting to circumcision for the Gospel's sake; and also by his abstemiousness (noted in 1Ti 5:23) notwithstanding his bodily infirmities, which would have warranted a more generous diet. Timidity and a want of self-confidence and boldness in dealing with the difficulties of his position, seem to have been a defect in his otherwise beautiful character as a Christian minister (1Co 16:10; 1Ti 4:12; 2Ti 1:7).

The DESIGN of the First Epistle was: (1) to direct Timothy to charge the false teachers against continuing to teach other doctrine than that of the Gospel (1Ti. 1:3-20; compare Rev 2:1-6); (2) to give him instructions as to the orderly conducting of worship, the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and the selection of widows who should, in return for Church charity, do appointed service (1Ti. 2:1-6:2); (3) to warn against covetousness, a sin prevalent at Ephesus, and to urge to good works (1Ti. 6:3-19).

JFB: 1 Timothy (Outline)

• ADDRESS: PAUL'S DESIGN IN HAVING LEFT TIMOTHY AT EPHESUS, NAMELY, TO CHECK FALSE TEACHERS; TRUE USE OF THE LAW; HARMONIZING WITH THE GOSPEL; GOD'S GRACE IN CALLING PAUL, ONCE A BLASPHEMER, TO EXPERIENCE AND TO PREACH IT; CHARGES TO TIMOTHY. (1Ti. 1:1-20)
• PUBLIC WORSHIP. DIRECTION AS TO INTERCESSIONS FOR ALL MEN, SINCE CHRIST IS A RANSOM FOR ALL. THE DUTIES OF MEN AND WOMEN RESPECTIVELY IN RESPECT TO PUBLIC PRAYER. WOMAN'S SUBJECTION; HER SPHERE OF DUTY. (1Ti 2:1-15)
• RULES AS TO BISHOPS (OVERSEERS) AND DEACONS. THE CHURCH, AND THE GOSPEL MYSTERY NOW REVEALED TO IT, ARE THE END OF ALL SUCH RULES. (1Ti. 3:1-16) Translate as Greek, "Faithful is the saying." A needful preface to what follows: for the office of a bishop or overseer in Paul's day, attended as it was with hardship and often persecution, would not seem to the world generally a desirable and "good work."
• PREDICTION OF A COMING DEPARTURE FROM THE FAITH: TIMOTHY'S DUTY AS TO IT: GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO HIM. (1Ti. 4:1-16)
• GENERAL DIRECTIONS AS TO HOW TIMOTHY SHOULD DEAL WITH DIFFERENT CLASSES IN THE CHURCH. (1Ti. 5:1-25)
• EXHORTATIONS AS TO DISTINCTIONS OF CIVIL RANK; THE DUTY OF SLAVES, IN OPPOSITION TO THE FALSE TEACHINGS OF GAIN-SEEKERS; TIMOTHY'S PURSUIT IS TO BE GODLINESS, WHICH IS AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION: SOLEMN ADJURATION TO DO SO AGAINST CHRIST'S COMING; CHARGE TO BE GIVEN TO THE RICH. CONCLUDING EXHORTATION. (1Ti. 6:1-21)

TSK: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

This Epistle bears the impress of its genuineness and authenticity, which are corroborated by the most decisive external evidence; and its Divine inspiration is attested by the exact accomplishment of the prediction which it contains respecting the apostasy in the latter days. This prophecy is similar in the general subject to that in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians, though it differs in the particular circumstances; and exactly corresponds with that of the prophet Daniel on the same subject (Dan 11:38). This important prediction might be more correctly rendered, " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, giving heed to erroneous spirits, and doctrines concerning demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, having their consciences seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats," etc. How applicable these particulars are to the corruptions of the Church of Rome need scarcely be insisted on. The worship of saints in that church is essentially the same with the worship of demons among the heathen; which has been established in the world by books forged in the name of the Apostles and saints, by lying legends of their lives, by false miracles ascribed to their relics, and by fabulous dreams and relations; while celibacy was enjoined and practised under pretence of chastity, and abstinence under pretence of devotion. None but the SPIRIT OF GOD could foresee and foretell these remarkable events.

TSK: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Ti 2:1, That it is meet to pray and give thanks for all men, and the reason why; 1Ti 2:9, How women should be attired; 1Ti 2:12, They are not permitted to teach; 1Ti 2:15, They shall be saved, notwithstanding the testimonies of God’s wrath, in childbirth, if they continue in faith.

Poole: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

TIMOTHY CHAPTER 2

MHCC: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

The design of the epistle appears to be, that Timothy having been left at Ephesus, St. Paul wrote to instruct him in the choice of proper officers in the church, as well as in the exercise of a regular ministry. Also, to caution against the influence of false teachers, who by subtle distinctions and endless disputes, corrupted the purity and simplicity of the gospel. He presses upon him constant regard to the greatest diligence, faithfulness, and zeal. These subjects occupy the first four chapters; the fifth chapter instructs respecting particular classes; in the latter part, controversies and disputes are condemned, the love of money blamed, and the rich exhorted to good works.

MHCC: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Ti 2:1-7) Prayer to be made for all persons, since the grace of the gospel makes no difference of ranks or stations.

(1Ti 2:8-15) How men and women ought to behave, both in their religious and common life.

Matthew Henry: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy

Hitherto Paul's epistles were directed to churches; now follow some to particular persons: two to Timothy, one to Titus, and another to Philemon - all three ministers. Timothy and Titus were evangelists, an inferior order to the apostles, as appears by Eph 4:11, Some prophets, some apostles, some evangelists. Their commission and work was much the same with that of the apostles, to plant churches, and water the churches that were planted; and accordingly they were itinerants, as we find Timothy was. Timothy was first converted by Paul, and therefore he calls him his own son in the faith: we read of his conversion, Act 16:3.

The scope of these two epistles is to direct Timothy how to discharge his duty as an evangelist at Ephesus, where he now was, and where Paul ordered him for some time to reside, to perfect the good work which he had begun there. As for the ordinary pastoral charge of that church, he had very solemnly committed it to the presbytery, as appears from Act 20:28, where he charges the presbyters to feed the flock of God, which he had purchased with his own blood.

Matthew Henry: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter Paul treats, I. Of prayer, with many reasons for it (1Ti 2:1-8). II. Of women's apparel (1Ti 2:9, 1Ti 2:10). III. Of their subjection, with the reasons of it (1Ti 2:11-14). IV. A promise given for their encouragement in child-bearing (1Ti 2:15).

Barclay: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation. He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS

Personal Letters

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have always been regarded as forming a separate group of letters, different from the other letters of Paul. The most obvious difference is that they, along with the little letter to Philemon, are written to persons, whereas all other Pauline letters are written to Churches. The Muratorian Canon, which was the earliest official list of New Testament books, says that they were written "from personal feeling and affection." They are private rather than public letters.

Ecclesiastical Letters

But it very soon began to be seen that, though these are personal and private letters, they have a significance and a relevance far beyond the immediate. In 1Ti_3:15 their aim is set down. They are written to Timothy "that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God." So, then, it came to be seen that these letters have not only a personal significance, but also what one might call an ecclesiastical significance. The Muratorian Canon says of them that, though they are personal letters written out of personal affection, "they are still hallowed in the respect of the Catholic Church, and in the arrangement of ecclesiastical discipline." Tertullian said that Paul wrote "two letters to Timothy and one to Titus, which were composed concerning the state of the Church (de ecclesiastico statu)." It is not then surprising that the first name given to them was Pontifical Letters, that is, written by the pontifex, the priest, the controller of the Church.

Pastoral Letters

Bit by bit they came to acquire the name by which they are still known--The Pastoral Epistles. In writing of I Timothy Thomas Aquinas, as long ago as 1274, said, "This letter is as it were a pastoral rule which the Apostle delivered to Timothy." In his introduction to the second letter, he writes, "In the first letter he gives Timothy instructions concerning ecclesiastical order; in this second letter he deals with a pastoral care which should be so great that it will even accept martyrdom for the sake of the care of the flock." But this title, The Pastoral Epistles, really became affixed to these letters in 1726 when a great scholar, Paul Anton by name, gave a series of famous lectures on them under that title.

These letters then deal with the care and organization of the flock of God; they tell men how to behave within the household of God; they give instructions as to how Godhouse should be administered, as to what kind of people the leaders and pastors of the Church should be, and as to how the threats which endanger the purity of Christian faith and life should be dealt with.

The Growing Church

The supreme interest of these letters is that we get in them a picture of the infant Church. In those early days it was an island in a sea of paganism. The people in it were only one remove from their heathen origin. It would have been so easy for them to relapse into the pagan standards from which they had come; the tarnishing atmosphere was all around. It is most significant that missionaries tell us that of all letters the Pastoral Epistles speak most directly to the situation of the younger Churches. The situation with which they deal is being re-enacted in India, in Africa, in China every day. They can never lose their interest because in them we see, as nowhere else, the problems which continually beset the growing Church.

The Ecclesiastical Background Of The Pastorals

From the beginning these letters have presented problems to New Testament scholars. There are many who have felt that, as they stand, they cannot have come directly from the hand and pen of Paul. That this is no new feeling may be seen from the fact that Marcion, who, although he was a heretic, was the first man to draw up a list of New Testament books, did not include them among Paulletters. Let us then see what makes people doubt their direct Pauline authorship.

In them we are confronted with the picture of a Church with a fairly highly developed ecclesiastical organization. There are elders (1Ti_5:17-19 ; Tit_1:5-6 ); there are bishops, superintendents or overseers (1Ti_3:1-7 ; Tit_1:7-16 ); there are deacons (1Ti_3:8-13 ). From 1Ti_5:17-18 we learn that by that time elders were even salaried officials. The elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of a double pay and the Church is urged to remember that the labourer is worthy of his hire. There is at least the beginning of the order of widows who became so prominent later on in the early Church (1Ti_5:3-16 ). There is clearly here a quite elaborate structure within the Church, too elaborate some would claim for the early days in which Paul lived and worked.

The Days Of Creeds

It is even claimed that in these letters we can see the days of creeds emerging. The word faith changed its meaning. In the earliest days it is always faith in a person; it is the most intimate possible personal connection of love and trust and obedience with Jesus Christ. In later days it became faith in a creed; it became the acceptance of certain doctrines. It is said that in the Pastoral Epistles we can see this change emerging.

In the later days men will come who will depart from the faith and give heed to doctrines of devils (1Ti_4:1 ). A good servant of Jesus Christ must be nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine (1Ti_4:6 ). The heretics are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (2Ti_3:8 ). The duty of Titus is to rebuke men that they may be sound in the faith (Tit_1:13 ).

This comes out very particularly in an expression peculiar to the Pastorals. Timothy is urged to keep hold of "the truth that has been entrusted to you" (2Ti_1:14 ). The word for that has been entrusted is paratheke (G3866). Paratheke means a deposit which has been entrusted to a banker or someone else for safe-keeping. It is essentially something which must be handed back or handed on absolutely unchanged. That is to say the stress is on orthodoxy. Instead of being a close, personal relationship to Jesus Christ, as it was in the thrilling and throbbing days of the early Church, faith has become the acceptance of a creed. It is even held that in the Pastorals we have echoes of the earliest creeds.

"God was manifested in the flesh;

Vindicated in the Spirit;

Seen by angels;

Preached among the nations;

Believed on in the world;

Taken up in glory" (1Ti_3:16 ).

That indeed sounds like the fragment of a creed to be recited.

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from

David, as preached in my gospel" (2Ti_2:8 ).

That sounds like a reminder of a sentence from an accepted creed.

Within the Pastorals there undoubtedly are indications that the day of insistence on acceptance of a creed has begun, and that the days of the first thrilling personal discovery of Christ are beginning to fade.

A Dangerous Heresy

It is clear that in the forefront of the situation against which the Pastoral Epistles were written there was a dangerous heresy which was threatening the welfare of the Christian Church. If we can distinguish the various characteristic features of that heresy, we may be able to go on to identify it.

It was characterized by speculative intellectualism. It produced questions (1Ti_1:4 ); those involved in it doted about questions (1Ti_6:4 ); it dealt in foolish and unlearned questions (2Ti_2:23 ); its foolish questions are to be avoided (Tit_3:9 ). The word used in each case for questions is ekzetesis (compare G1567 and G2214), which means speculative discussion. This heresy was obviously one which was a play-ground of the intellectuals, or rather the pseudo-intellectuals of the Church.

It was characterized by pride. The heretic is proud, although in reality he knows nothing (1Ti_6:4 ). There are indications that these intellectuals set themselves on a plane above the ordinary Christian; in fact they may well have said that complete salvation was outside the grasp of the ordinary man and open only to them. At times the Pastoral Epistles stress the word all in a most significant way. The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men (Tit_2:11 ). It is Godwill that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1Ti_2:4 ). The intellectuals tried to make the greatest blessings of Christianity the exclusive possession of a chosen few; and in contradistinction the true faith stresses the all-embracing love of God.

There were within that heresy two opposite tendencies. There was a tendency to asceticism. The heretics tried to lay down special food laws, forgetting that everything God has made is good (1Ti_4:4-5 ). They listed many things as impure, forgetting that to the pure all things are pure (Tit_1:15 ). It is not impossible that they regarded sex as something unclean and belittled marriage, and even tried to persuade those who were married to renounce it, for in Tit_2:4 the simple duties of the married life are stressed as being binding on the Christian.

But this heresy also issued in immorality. The heretics even invaded private houses and led away weak and foolish women in evil desires (2Ti_3:6 ). They professed to know God, but denied him by their deeds (Tit_1:16 ). They were out to impose upon people and to make money out of their false teaching. To them gain was godliness (1Ti_6:5 ); they taught and deceived for base gain (Tit_1:11 ).

On the one hand this heresy issued in an unchristian asceticism, and on the other it produced an equally unchristian immorality.

It was characterized, too, by words and tales and genealogies. It was full of godless chatter and useless controversies (1Ti_6:20 ). It produced endless genealogies (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_3:9 ). It produced myths and fables (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_1:14 ).

It was at least in some way and to some extent tied up with Jewish legalism. Amongst its devotees were those of the circumcision (Tit_1:10 ). The aim of the heretics was to be teachers of the law (1Ti_1:7 ). It pressed on men Jewish fables and the commandments of men (Tit_1:14 ).

Finally, these heretics denied the resurrection of the body. They said that any resurrection that a man was going to experience had been experienced already (2Ti_2:18 ). This is probably a reference to those who held that the only resurrection the Christian experienced was a spiritual one when he died with Christ and rose again with him in the experience of baptism (Rom_6:4 ).

The Beginnings Of Gnosticism

Is there any heresy which fits all this material? There is, and its name is Gnosticism. The basic thought of Gnosticism was that all matter is essentially evil and spirit alone is good. That basic belief had certain consequences.

The Gnostic believed that matter is as eternal as God; and that when God created the world he had to use this essentially evil matter. That meant that to them God could not be the direct creator of the world. In order to touch this flawed matter he had to send out a series of emanations--they called them aeons--each one more and more distant from himself until at last there came an emanation or aeon so distant that it could deal with matter and create the world. Between man and God there stretched a series of these emanations, each with his name and genealogy. So Gnosticism literally had endless fables and endless genealogies. If a man was ever to get to God, he must, as it were, ascend this ladder of emanations; and to do that he needed a very special kind of knowledge including all kinds of passwords to get him past each stage. Only a person of the highest intellectual calibre could hope to acquire this knowledge and know these passwords and so get to God.

Further, if matter was altogether evil, the body was altogether evil. From that, two opposite possible consequences sprang. Either the body must be held down so that a rigorous asceticism resulted, in which the needs of the body were as far as possible eliminated and its instincts, especially the sex instinct, as far as possible destroyed; or it could be held that, since it was evil, it did not matter what was done with the body and its instincts and desires could be given full rein. The Gnostic therefore became either an ascetic or a man to whom morality had ceased to have any relevance at all.

Still further, if the body was evil, clearly there could be no such thing as its resurrection. It was not the resurrection of the body but its destruction to which the Gnostic looked forward.

All this fits accurately the situation of the Pastoral Epistles. In Gnosticism we see the intellectualism, the intellectual arrogance, the fables and the genealogies, the asceticism and the immorality, the refusal to contemplate the possibility of a bodily resurrection, which were part and parcel of the heresy against which the Pastoral Epistles were written.

One element in the heresy has not yet been fitted into place--the Judaism and the legalism of which the Pastoral Epistles speak. That too finds its place. Sometimes Gnosticism and Judaism joined hands. We have already said that the Gnostics insisted that to climb the ladder to God a very special knowledge was necessary; and that some of them insisted that for the good life a strict asceticism was essential. It was the claim of certain of the Jews that it was precisely the Jewish law and the Jewish food regulations which provided that special knowledge and necessary asceticism; and so there were times when Judaism and Gnosticism went hand in hand.

It is quite clear that the heresy at the back of the Pastoral Epistles was Gnosticism. Some have used that fact to try to prove that Paul could have had nothing to do with the writing of them, because, they say, Gnosticism did not emerge until much later than Paul. It is quite true that the great formal systems of Gnosticism, connected with such names as Valentinus and Basilides, did not arise until the second century; but these great figures only systematized what was already there. The basic ideas of Gnosticism were there in the atmosphere which surrounded the early Church, even in the days of Paul. It is easy to see their attraction, and also to see that, if they had been allowed to flourish unchecked, they could have turned Christianity into a speculative philosophy and wrecked it. In facing Gnosticism, the Church was facing one of the gravest dangers which ever threatened the Christian faith.

The Language Of The Pastorals

The most impressive argument against the direct Pauline origin of the Pastorals is a fact which is quite clear in the Greek but not so clear in any English translation. The total number of words in the Pastoral Epistles is 902, of which 54 are proper names; and of these 902 words, no fewer than 306 never occur in any other of Paulletters. That is to say more than a third of the words in the Pastoral Epistles are totally absent from Paulother letters. In fact 175 words in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the New Testament at all; although it is only fair to say that there are 50 words in the Pastoral Epistles which occur in Paulother letters and nowhere else in the New Testament.

Further, when the other letters of Paul and the Pastorals say the same thing they say it in different ways, using different words and different turns of speech to express the same idea.

Again, many of Paulfavourite words are absent entirely from the Pastoral Epistles. The words for the cross (stauros, G4716) and to crucify (stauroun, G4717) occur 27 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Eleutheria (G1657) and the kindred words which have to do with freedom occur 29 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Huios (G5207), "son," and huiothesia (G5206), "adoption," occur 46 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals.

Moreover, Greek has many more of those little words called particles and enclitics than English has. Sometimes they indicate little more than a tone of voice; every Greek sentence is joined to its predecessor by one of them; and they are often virtually untranslatable. Of these particles and enclitics there are 112 which Paul uses altogether 932 times in his other letters that never occur in the Pastorals.

There is clearly something which has to be explained here. The vocabulary and the style make it hard to believe that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles in the same sense as he wrote his other letters.

PaulActivities In The Pastorals

But perhaps the most obvious difficulty of the Pastorals is that they show Paul engaged in activities for which there is no room in his life as we know it from the book of Acts. He has clearly conducted a mission in Crete (Tit_1:5 ). And he proposes to spend a winter in Nicopolis, which is in Epirus (Tit_3:12 ). In Paullife as we know it that particular mission and that particular winter just cannot be fitted in. But it may well be that just here we have stumbled on the solution to the problem.

Was Paul Released From His Roman Imprisonment?

Let us sum up. We have seen that the Church organization of the Pastorals is more elaborate than in any other Pauline letter. We have seen that the stress on orthodoxy sounds like second or third generation Christianity, when the thrill of the new discovery is wearing off and the Church is on the way to becoming an institution. We have seen that Paul is depicted as carrying out a mission or missions which cannot be fitted into the scheme of his life as we have it in Acts. But Acts leaves it quite uncertain what happened to Paul in Rome. It ends by telling us that he lived for two whole years in a kind of semi-captivity, preaching the gospel without hindrance (Act_28:30-31 ). But it does not tell us how that captivity ended, whether in Paulrelease or his execution. It is true that the general assumption is that it ended in his condemnation and death; but there is a by no means negligible stream of tradition which tells that it ended in his release, his liberty for two or three further years, his reimprisonment and his final execution about the year A.D. 67.

Let us look at this question, for it is of the greatest interest.

First, it is clear that when Paul was in prison in Rome, he did not regard release as impossible; in fact, it looks as if he expected it. When he wrote to the Philippians, he said that he was sending Timothy to them, and goes on, "And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also" (Phi_2:24 ). When he wrote to Philemon, sending back the runaway Onesimus, he says, "At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you" (Phm_1:22 ). Clearly he was prepared for release, whether or not it ever came.

Second, let us remember a plan that was very dear to Paulheart. Before he went to Jerusalem on that journey on which he was arrested, he wrote to the Church at Rome, and in that letter he is planning a visit to Spain. "I hope to see you in passing," he writes, "as I go to Spain." "I shall go on by way of you," he writes, "to Spain" (Rom_15:24 , Rom_15:28 ). Was that visit ever paid?

Clement of Rome, when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about A.D. 90, said of Paul that he preached the gospel in the East and in the West; that he instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman Empire) in righteousness; and that he went to the extremity (terma, the terminus) of the West, before his martyrdom. What did Clement mean by the extremity of the West? There are many who argue that he meant nothing more than Rome. Now it is true that someone writing away in the East in Asia Minor would probably think of Rome as the extremity, of the West. But Clement was writing from Rome; and it is difficult to see that for anyone in Rome the extremity of the West could be anything else but Spain. It certainly seems that Clement believed that Paul reached Spain.

The greatest of all the early Church historians was Eusebius. In his account of Paullife he writes: "Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close at this point, after stating that Paul had spent two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large, and preached the word of God without constraint. Thus, after he had made his defence, it is said that the Apostle was sent again on the ministry of preaching, and that on coming to the same city a second time he suffered martyrdom" (Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, 2.22.2). Eusebius has nothing to say about Spain, but he did know the story that Paul had been released from his first Roman imprisonment.

The Muratorian Canon, that first list of New Testament books, describes Lukescheme in writing Acts: "Luke related to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-witness, as also, in a separate place, he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter (he probably refers to Luk_22:31-32 ); but omits the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain."

In the fifth century, two of the great Christian fathers are definite about this journey. Chrysostom in his sermon on 2Ti_4:20 says: "Saint Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain." Jerome in his Catalogue of Writers says that Paul "was dismissed by Nero that he might preach Christgospel in the West."

Beyond doubt a stream of tradition held that Paul journeyed to Spain.

This is a matter on which we will have to come to our own decision. The one thing which makes us doubt the historicity of that tradition is that in Spain itself there is not and never was any tradition that Paul had worked and preached there, no stories about him, no places connected with his name. It would be indeed strange if the memory of such a visit had become totally obliterated. It could well be that the whole story of Paulrelease and journey to the west arose simply as a deduction from his expressed intention to visit Spain (Rom 15 ). Most New Testament scholars do not think that Paul was released from his imprisonment; the general consensus of opinion is that his only release was by death.

Paul And The Pastoral Epistles

What then shall we say of Paulconnection with these letters? If we can accept the tradition of his release, and of his return to preaching and teaching, and of his death as late as A.D. 67, we might well believe that as they stand they came from his hand. But, if we cannot believe that--and the evidence is on the whole against it--are we to say that they have no connection with Paul at all?

We must remember that the ancient world did not think of these things as we do. It would see nothing wrong in issuing a letter under the name of a great teacher, if it was sure that the letter said the things which that teacher would say under the same circumstances. To the ancient world it was natural and seemly that a disciple should write in his mastername. No one would have seen anything wrong in one of Pauldisciples meeting a new and threatening situation with a letter under Paulname. To regard that as forgery is to misunderstand the mind of the ancient world. Are we then to swing completely to the other extreme and say that some disciple of his issued these letters in Paulname years after he was dead, and at a time when the Church was much more highly organized than ever it was during his lifetime?

As we see it, the answer is no. It is incredible that any disciple would put into Paulmouth a claim to be the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:15 ); his tendency would be to stress Paulholiness, not to talk about his sin. It is incredible that anyone writing in the name of Paul would give Timothy the homely advice to drink a little wine for the sake of his health (1Ti_5:23 ). The whole of 2Tim 4 is so personal and so full of intimate, loving details that no one but Paul could have written it.

Wherein lies the solution? It may well be that something like this happened. It is quite obvious that many letters of Paul went lost. Apart from his great public letters, he must have had a continuous private correspondence; and of that we possess only the little letter to Philemon. It may well be that in the later days there were some fragments of Paulcorrespondence in the possession of some Christian teacher. This teacher saw the Church of his day and his locality in Ephesus threatened on every side. It was threatened with heresy from without and from within. It was threatened with a fall away from its own high standards of purity and truth. The quality of its members and the standard of its office-bearers were degenerating. He had in his possession little letters of Paul which said exactly the things that should be said, but, as they stood, they were too short and too fragmentary to publish. So he amplified them and made them supremely relevant to the contemporary situation and sent them out to the Church.

In the Pastoral Epistles we are still hearing the voice of Paul, and often hearing it speak with a unique personal intimacy; but we think that the form of the letters is due to a Christian teacher who summoned the help of Paul when the Church of the day needed the guidance which only he could give.

FURTHER READING

Timothy

D. Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (TC; E)

W. Lock, The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Pastoral Epistles (MC; E)

E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

The Universality Of The Gospel (1Ti_2:1-7)

The Way Of Prayer (1Ti_2:1-7 Continued)

Prayer For Those In Authority (1Ti_2:1-7 Continued)

The Gifts Of God (1Ti_2:1-7 Continued)

One God And One Saviour (1Ti_2:1-7 Continued)

Barriers To Prayer (1Ti_2:8-15)

Women In The Church (1Ti_2:8-15 Continued)

Constable: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

Timothy apparently became a Christian as a result of Paul's missionary work in Lystra (Acts 14:6-23). He joined Paul on the second missionary journey when the apostle's evangelistic team passed through that area where Timothy lived (Acts 16:1-3). On the second journey Timothy helped Paul in Troas, Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth. During the third journey he was with Paul in Ephesus. From there Paul sent him to Macedonia (Acts 19:22). Later he was with Paul in Macedonia (2 Cor. 1:1, 19) and apparently traveled with the apostle to Corinth (Rom. 16:21). On the return trip to Ephesus, Timothy accompanied Paul through Macedonia as far as Troas (Acts 20:3-6). Still later Timothy was with Paul in Rome (Col. 1:1; Phile. 1; Phil. 1:1), and from there he probably made a trip to Philippi (Phil. 2:19-23).

At the end of the Book of Acts, Paul was under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30-31). Our knowledge of his activities after that time comes mainly from scanty references in his epistles and conjectures since we have no canonical history of his work.

Following his trial before Caesar and his acquittal, Paul evidently left Rome. He made his way eastward and eventually arrived in Ephesus. While in Ephesus Paul doubtless visited other churches in the area and later set out for Macedonia and probably for other provinces intending to continue his pioneer missionary work (cf. Rom. 15:24, 28). When Paul departed from Ephesus he left Timothy in charge as his special representative to continue the work there (1 Tim. 1:3). Sometime after that Timothy evidently wrote to Paul probably asking if he could leave Ephesus perhaps to rejoin Paul. Paul responded with this letter in which he instructed Timothy to remain in Ephesus and to continue his needed ministry until Paul would rejoin him there (3:14; 4:13).

Timothy's function in Ephesus was to represent Paul to the church.¹ He evidently was not an elder in that church. Paul spoke of the Ephesian elders in this epistle as individuals different from Timothy.

When Paul had met with the Ephesian elders toward the end of his third missionary journey, he had warned them about false teachers who would arise in their midst (Acts 20:29-30). This situation had happened (cf. 1:6; 6:21; 2 Tim. 2:18). Evidently Hymenaeus and Alexander were two of those "wolves" (1:20). Paul alluded to others in this epistle as well (1:3-11; 4:1-5; 6:3-10). We shall consider their errors in the exposition to follow.

If Caesar released Paul from prison in Rome in the early 60s A.D., he may have written this epistle in the middle 60s, perhaps 63-66 A.D. Paul's reference to his going from Ephesus to Macedonia (1:3) suggests that he may have been in Macedonia when he wrote 1 Timothy. Nevertheless, since we have no other references to guide us, he could have been in any one of a number of other provinces as well.

The authorship of the Pastorals is a major critical problem in New Testament studies, but I believe the arguments for Pauline authorship are most convincing.²

"The majority of modern scholars maintain that the Pastoral Epistles are pseudepigraphical--that is, written pseudonymously (in Paul's name) sometime after Paul's death (so Dibelius and Conzelmann, Brox, Barrett, Hanson, Houlden, Karris, Hultgren). Most today locate these three letters around the turn of the century, suggesting that the author aimed to revive Pauline teaching for his day or to compose a definitive and authoritative Pauline manual for denouncing heresy in the postapostolic church."³

Purpose

First and 2 Timothy and Titus are called "Pastoral Epistles" because Paul wrote them to pastors (shepherds) of churches outlining their pastoral duties.⁴ Their main pastoral duties were to defend sound doctrine and to maintain sound discipline.⁵

"The pastoral Epistles are primarily practical rather than theological. The emphasis lies rather on the defense of doctrine than on its explication or elaboration. The distinctively doctrinal passages comprise only a small part of the whole; Timothy and Titus had already been instructed."⁶

Message⁷

All three of the Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) deal with the same subject: the order of the local church. Paul had already expounded the doctrines of the church universal and the ministry of the saints in Christ's body in his other epistles. In these he also gave some direction concerning life in the local churches. Now in the Pastorals he expounded on the effective operation of the local church as a microcosm of the universal church. Remember that the church is people.

First Timothy deals with two aspects of the subject of order in the local church: the life of the church, and the leadership of the church. Titus elaborates on the leadership of the church. Second Timothy elaborates on the life of the church. First Timothy is more general and fundamental. Titus expounds how to set the church in order, and 2 Timothy expounds the leader's personal responsibility.

In 1 Timothy, Paul taught that the function of the local church is to proclaim God's truth in the world. He also taught that the function of the church leaders (Timothy and the elders) is to expound God's truth in the church. The purpose for which the church exists is the proclamation of God's truth in the world. The purpose for which the leaders of the church exist is the exposition of God's truth in the church. This is the message statement.

These are the same points Paul made in Ephesians 4:11-12 concerning the universal church. The saints are to do the work of the ministry, and the gifted men (apostles, prophets, etc.) are to equip the saints for their work. In 1 Timothy he applied the same truth to the local church.

On the one hand then the purpose of the church is to declare God's truth to the world (3:14-16). The key terms in this central passage are "church" and "mystery of godliness."

The local church is an instrument God designed to support and display His truth. Every individual believer is a light in a dark world. God has called us to let our light shine among men (Matt. 5:14-16).

The local church exists to support and display the light of the testimony of believers, not only individually but also corporately.

The "mystery of godliness" is essentially Christ. It is more broadly the truth that the church proclaims that centers on Christ. It is a mystery in that we know it only by special revelation. "Godliness" means piety. This word describes faith in Christ worked out in everyday living. Where does one find godliness? We see it in concrete manifestation in Jesus Christ (3:16). Paul summarized the three stages of His ministry in the three couplets of an ancient hymn. These are His past humiliation, His present proclamation, and His future glorification.

The purpose of the local church then is to proclaim godliness. We do this by presenting Christ and by demonstrating before the world godlike behavior ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit. Audio witness builds on visual witness.

The purpose of the leaders of the local church, in the second place, is to expound the truth in the church. Church leaders do this by teaching, by exhortation, and by example. The exposition of the truth is not only spoken or written communication (teaching) followed by intellectual comprehension. It also requires encouragement and sensitivity to the condition of the learners (exhortation). The church leader prepares others to reveal God's truth most importantly by exemplifying the truth and illustrating it in his or her life. Truth must be incarnate in the teacher before the learner can thoroughly grasp it. God did this for us in the incarnation of His Son. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world," not, "You announce the light of the world."

Paul drew several implications from these truths.

Notice first some implications concerning the purpose of the local church.

In view of its purpose the local church must be careful to present an unchanged gospel. There must be no majoring in the minors, no claim to "higher knowledge," and no distortion of the truth. In this epistle Paul warned Timothy about all these threats to the purity of God's truth. Preachers and teachers take note. We should be creative in delivering the message, but we must not be creative in the content of the message.

Second, the local church's worship must be unceasing. This was Paul's point when he gave instructions concerning the priority of prayer in church life (2:1-7).

Third, the local church must persevere in its ministry without failing. If it is to do this it needs leaders who incarnate the truth and consistently minister to and motivate the saints. Thus the need for qualified leaders is obvious (3:1-13). Personal example is every bit as important as persuasive explanation.

Note also some implications of the truth that the purpose of the church leader is to expound God's truth to the saints. These are the same as those already pointed out for the church, but they are true of the leader on a personal level.

First, the leader must be absolutely loyal to the truth. "Preach the Word!" (2 Tim. 4:2).

Second, his behavior toward others must be consistent. He must have a deep commitment to fulfilling his purpose of being a good example as well as to his purpose of communicating verbally.

Third, in his personal life he must persevere. He must continue to let God's truth sit in judgment on his life. He must continue to be responsive to the truth. He must also continue to behave in harmony with the truth. Watch out for spiritual calluses.

By way of application let me point out three things the church needs to watch out for and then three things the church leader should beware of. They are very similar.

The local church, Paul warns in this epistle, should beware of false doctrine. By this I mean any doctrine that deviates from the essential teaching of the faith. This will weaken her testimony to the world. Guard the doctrine of your church.

Second, the church should beware of a failure in prayer. This will hinder both her witness to the world and her own growth in godliness (cf. James 4:2; John 15:5).

Third, the church should beware of feeble government. By feeble government I mean government by elders and deacons who lack godly character. Too often church leaders gain appointment for other reasons. Church oversight must fulfill the purposes of God's truth by men who incarnate God's truth. Don't recognize elders too soon, or at all, if they are unqualified.

The dangers to the church leader correspond to these. There must be no failure in his doctrine, nor in his duty, nor in his diligence. If we know and respond to God's truth we will be free from those influences that would hinder us from fulfilling our ministry.

Teaching is life-changing not only to the extent people understand it and appreciate its importance but also to the extent that the life of the teacher illustrates it. We can be completely orthodox and effective in our methods of presentation. However if our life does not harmonize with what we say, those who listen will reject what we say. Not only does our preaching then become ineffective, it also becomes blasphemous. The life of the preacher can promote the growth of his church as much as his pastoral skill. People will put up with many deficiencies, and we all have many, if they can have a good example of a sincere Christian. You can be effective because you have God's Word, God's Spirit, and God's grace.

Constable: 1 Timothy (Outline)

Outline

I. Salutation 1:1-2

II. Timothy's mission in Ephesus 1:3-20

A. The task Timothy faced 1:3-11

B. Exhortations to be faithful 1:12-20

1. A positive encouragement 1:12-17

2. A negative warning 1:18-20

III. Instructions concerning the life of the local church 2:1-4:5

A. The priority of prayer in church life 2:1-7

B. The primary responsibilities of the men and the women in church meetings 2:8-15

C. The qualifications for church leaders 3:1-13

1. Qualifications for elders 3:1-7

2. Qualifications for deacons 3:8-13

D. The nature of the local church 3:14-16

E. The problem of apostasy in the church 4:1-5

IV. Instructions concerning leadership of the local church 4:6-5:25

A. The leader's personal life and public ministry 4:6-16

B. Basic principles of effective interpersonal relationships 5:1-2

C. How to deal with widows and elders 5:3-25

1. Provisions for widows 5:3-16

2. The discipline and selection of elders 5:17-25

V. Instructions for groups within the church 6:1-19

A. Slaves 6:1-2

B. False teachers 6:3-10

C. Those committed to Christ 6:11-16

D. The wealthy 6:17-19

VI. Concluding charge and benediction 6:20-21

Constable: 1 Timothy

1 Timothy

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Lewis, Robert M. "The Women' of 1 Timothy 3:11." Bibliotheca Sacra 136:542 (April-June 1979):167-75.

Liddon, Henry Parry. Explanatory Analysis of St. Paul's First Epistle to Timothy. Limited Classical Reprint Library series. Longmans, Green, and Co., 1897; reprint ed., Minneapolis: Klock and Klock Christian Publishers, 1978.

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_____. "The Nature of the Pastoral Role: The Leader as Completer." Bibliotheca Sacra 139:553 (January-July 1982):57-66.

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Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981.

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_____. "The Elder' in the Old and New Testaments." Bibliotheca Sacra 154:613 (January-March 1997):80-92.

_____. "The Heresy Paul Opposed in 1 Timothy." Bibliotheca Sacra 156:624 (October-December 1999):452-58.

_____. "The Laying on of Hands' of Elders." Bibliotheca Sacra 154:616 (October-December 1997):473-79.

_____. "The New Testament Elder, Overseer, and Pastor." Bibliotheca Sacra 154:614 (April-June 1997):162-74.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO TIMOTHY.

INTRODUCTION.

St. Paul passing through Lycaonia, about the year 51, some of the brethren at Derbe or Lystra recommended to him a disciple, by name Timothy, who from his infancy had studied the Holy Scriptures. St. Paul took him, making him his companion and fellow-labourer in the gospel: and not to offend the Jews, who could not be ignorant that Timothy's father was a Gentile, he caused him to be circumcised. Afterwards he ordained him bishop of Ephesus. (Witham) --- St. Paul writes this epistle to his beloved Timothy, to instruct him in the duties of a bishop, both in respect to himself and to his charge; and that he ought to be well informed of the good morals of those on whom he was to impose hands: Impose not hands lightly upon any man. He tells him also how he should behave towards his clergy. This epistle was written about thirty-three years after our Lord's ascension; but where it was written is uncertain: the more general opinion is, that it was in Macedonia. (Challoner) --- After his epistles to the Churches, now follow those to particular persons; to Timothy and Titus, who were bishops, and to Philemon. Timothy was the beloved disciple of St. Paul, whom he frequently styles his son; but it is not certain that they were at all related. After having accompanied the apostle in many of his travels, the latter at last ordained him bishop, and fixed him permanently at Ephesus. Shortly after he wrote him this epistle, to instruct him in the episcopal duties, as he was but young for those great functions. He might be then about thirty-five. He mentions, likewise, in short the chief heresies which were then making mischief at Ephesus, and gives regulations and instructions for different states of persons in the Church. St. Timothy, who had been so long the disciple of St. Paul, and who never left him except when ordered by his master, could not be ignorant of his duties, but it was destined for the use of bishops of every age. Hence St. Augustine says that such as are destined to serve the Church, should have continually before their eyes the two epistles to Timothy and that to Titus.

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Gill: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY

Timothy, to whom this epistle is written, was eminent for his early piety and acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; his mother was a Jewess, and his father a Greek, which was the reason why he was not circumcised in his infancy. Mention is made in the second epistle to him of his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois, as believers, and of his knowledge of the Scriptures from a child: this excellent person the apostle meeting with at Lystra, and having a good report of him from the brethren there, he chose him to be his companion in his travels, and to assist him in the spread of the Gospel; and knowing that it would be very disagreeable to the Jews to hear the word of God from the lips of an uncircumcised person, he took him and circumcised him, becoming all things to all, that he might gain some. This being done, he went along with him into several parts, and he made great use of him, in preaching the word, planting churches, and writing epistles; he sent him to various places with messages from him, to Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica; and now had left him at Ephesus, where he besought him to abide for a while; for that he was the bishop, pastor, or overseer of that church is not likely, since his residence here was not constant, and was afterwards called away from hence by the apostle, who desired his stay there, under whom, and by whose directions, he acted while there; and seeing that this church had elders, bishops, or overseers, whom the Holy Ghost had set over them, whom the apostle called to him at Miletus, and gave them some advice and instructions. The design of Timothy's continuance there was to check growing errors and heresies, and to take care of, and preserve the discipline of God's house; and to charge him with these things was the design of this epistle; in which he teaches him how to behave himself in the church of God, by taking heed to his doctrine and conversation; and gives rules relating to the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and to the care of widows, and with regard to church censures, and the becoming walk and conversation of all sorts of persons of every office, age, sex, rank, and order. This epistle is thought to be written about the year 55.

Gill: 1 Timothy 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY 2

In this chapter the apostle exhorts to prayer for all sorts of men, gives rules and directions about the dress of women, and their subjection to their husbands; and concludes with some comfort to them. The apostle exhorts to prayer in the first place, directs to the several parts and branches of prayer, and points to the persons to be prayed for, and what should be prayed for on their account, 1Ti 2:1. And next follow the reasons or arguments engaging to it, which are taken from the agreeableness of it in the sight of God; from the will of God, that all men should be saved: from there being but one God of all, and one Mediator between God and men; from Christ's giving himself a ransom price for all; and from the apostle being a preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as Jews, 1Ti 2:3 wherefore he concludes and determines, according to his apostolical power and authority, that prayer be made in any place, provided there were faith and purity, and wrath and doubting were laid aside, 1Ti 2:8. Also, he exhorts women to appear, especially in public service, in a modest and becoming dress, and to adorn themselves with good works, 1Ti 2:9, and that they should be silent learners, and not teachers, and be in subjection to their husbands, 1Ti 2:11. The reasons of which subjection are taken from the formation of Adam before Eve, and from Eve's being deceived, and not Adam, 1Ti 2:13. However, for the comfort of women, it is observed, that though in sorrow they bring forth children, yet through the birth of a Son, the promised Messiah, they shall be saved, who continue in faith, charity, and holiness, with sobriety, 1Ti 2:15.

College: 1 Timothy (Book Introduction)

FOREWORD

A movement which prides itself in its back-to-the-Bible underpinnings and its plea for unity should welcome any effort of the stature of the College Press NIV Bible Commentary. The exegesis of the biblical text must always be at the heart of who we are, and the effort to do so in a way that reaches across lines that have divided our movement signals an emphasis on the original hallmarks of the movement.

Having taught Bible and Greek at David Lipscomb University for eleven years, I have come to appreciate how many good commentaries there are on nearly every book in the New Testament. I am, in some ways, reluctant about adding another book to that pile. All of those commentaries have helped to shape my understanding of the biblical text for its original audiences and its import for Christians today.

I especially want to thank my family who have supported me and encouraged me when I spend hours at my computer typing away, my students whose questions have always caused me to look at the biblical text in fresh ways, and my colleagues who have always served as a constant encouragement.

When I was asked to participate as an author in this project, I was hesitant. When I was asked to write on Timothy and Titus, I was even more hesitant. To be a part of this series is an honor. To undertake writing a commentary on 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus is a challenging task. This is, after all, the section of Scripture that has fueled the debate about the role of women, has been at the heart of effort to redefine church leadership, and has provided encouragement to those who feel as if they "have fought the good fight" and are about to "finish the course." I began the study hoping for wonderful insights, and, although I gained a few, I came out of the study convinced that many of the more traditional interpretations were still reasonable. I discovered that, although I did not have all the answers, Paul's advice to those two young preachers and to their churches still made sense both for Paul's original audiences and for the preacher and his church today. May we today heed the words of Paul to "guard what has been entrusted to" our care and to "preach the Word."

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

While several passages in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have provided the fodder for tomes of theological discussion (e.g., 1 Tim 2:9-15 and the role of women; 1 Tim 3:11 and deaconesses; 1 Tim 3:1-8 and Titus 1:6-9 and the characteristics of those to serve as elders), the real value of these epistles lies in their message to two young ministers, to second generation believers in Ephesus and to a young church facing a pagan world in Crete. These epistles provide teaching which the church in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries needs to hear.

The two letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus stand in a very close relationship to one another. They are written to fellow workers of the Apostle Paul; they are bound together by similar content: false teachers who bear similar characteristics, a discussion of church leaders, similar situations for the churches addressed, and the same basic time frame.

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have been known as the Pastoral Epistles since the eighteenth century. As early as the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas referred to 1 Timothy as a "pastoral rule." In 1703 D.N. Berdot described Titus as a "Pastoral Epistle," based on the assumption that it was an instruction manual for a pastor. In reality, neither the term "pastor" nor its equivalent, "shepherd," appears in any of the three epistles. Paul Anton popularized the term in lectures he delivered on Timothy and Titus published posthumously in 1753-1755. Anton applied the term "Pastoral Epistles" to all three epistles.

Although the term "the Pastoral Epistles" has become a convenient designation for these three epistles which have much in common, it can be misleading. These epistles are not really a manual of pastoral theology. Only a fraction of these books contains what could be termed ecclesiastical teaching (1 Tim 3:1-13; 5:3-22; Titus 1:5-9). The three epistles are very different. There is nothing within the epistles that would indicate they were written from the same place and time or that the author intended them to be studied together.

AUTHORSHIP

A crucial issue in the Pastoral Epistles (PE) is the authorship of the epistles. Despite widespread denial of Pauline authorship in modern times, ancient authors generally accepted the works as authentic epistles of the Apostle Paul. Serious challenges to Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles began in the nineteenth century, especially with the forceful challenge espoused by Schleiermacher in 1807.

Testimony of the Books Themselves

The letters claim to be by Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus (1 Tim 1:1; Titus 1:1; 2 Tim 1:1). This assertion matches claims of the other Pauline letters. The author describes himself as "a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man" (1 Tim 1:13), a description which fits the account of Paul's pre-Christian life as seen in Acts. The author describes Timothy and Titus as his spiritual sons (1 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4); this too is in full accord with their relationship to Paul as seen in Acts and the other Pauline epistles. The epistles frequently refer to events in the Apostle's life and mention co-workers like Tychicus, Apollos, Barnabas, and Mark who are known from the other Pauline epistles.

With all of this data in mind, it is little wonder that there was almost unanimous agreement regarding Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles for nearly 1800 years.

Attestation by the Early Church

The early church clearly regarded Paul as the author of the Pastoral Epistles. Clement of Alexandria (ca. 155-ca. 220) frequently referred to and cited the Pastoral Epistles. He even cited 1 Tim 6:20, "what is falsely called knowledge," and ascribed the passage to "the apostle." Similarly Origen, his student, ascribed 1 Tim 1:15 to Paul: "Moreover, Paul, who himself also at a later time became an apostle of Jesus, says in his epistle to Timothy, 'This is a faithful saying, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.'" Eusebius (ca. 265-ca. 339) attributed the Pastoral Epistles to Paul. He said, "The epistles of Paul are fourteen, all well known and beyond doubt. It should not, however, be overlooked that some have set aside the epistle to the Hebrews." The Muratorian Canon (ca. 200) refers to the Pastoral Epistles as Pauline. The extensive citations of the Pastoral Epistles by the church fathers, including Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Ignatius, and Irenaeus, demonstrate the early consensus that the Pastoral Epistles are Pauline.

The evidence is not, however, all positive. According to Tertullian, Marcion (ca. 140) excluded the Pastoral Epistles from his canon. Marcion, of course, rejected any book which did not fit his heretical view of Christianity. He omitted Matthew, Mark, and John; and he accepted only a mutilated copy of Luke. It seems likely that Marcion objected to the Pastoral Epistles because of their denunciation of tenets of his brand of Christianity (cf. 1 Tim 1:8; 6:20; 2 Tim 3:16).

An additional bit of negative evidence is seen in the apparent absence of the Pastoral Epistles from ⁴⁶ of the Chester Beatty papyri. The codex dates from the mid-third century and contains Pauline epistles. Portions of the manuscript are missing. It lacks a portion of Romans which stood at the beginning of the codex, a portion of 1 Thessalonians, and all of 2 Thessalonians. Most scholars feel that the manuscript did not have room for the Pastoral Epistles and Philemon, which are also missing.

If one looks only at external evidence, the victory would clearly be won in favor of acceptance of the Pastoral Epistles as Pauline.

Modern Times

Until the nineteenth century the Pastoral Epistles were deemed authentic and Pauline. The first attack on apostolic authorship was made by Schmidt (1804) and Schleiermacher (1807).

Today Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles is disputed on five grounds:

Historical Allusions. Scott has said, "That Paul cannot have been the author [of the PE] is most clearly apparent when we examine the historical framework of the letters." The problem may be summarized as follows: the Pastoral Epistles do not fit into the historical framework of Acts and the Pauline epistles. Acts mentions only two imprisonments: Caesarea and Rome.

The modern reader is not provided with many of the details of Paul's early life (i.e., the period described in Acts). Nowhere in Acts, or for that matter anywhere in the Pauline corpus outside 2 Corinthians, can one find Paul's frequent imprisonments, his five beatings, or his three shipwrecks (2 Cor 11:23-27). Also one is not bound to place the events described in the Pastoral Epistles into the period described in Acts. In fact the situation there seems to indicate likelihood of Paul's being released from prison. The traditional interpretation which proposes a release from the imprisonment mentioned in Acts during which 1 Timothy and Titus were written and a subsequent Roman imprisonment as described in 2 Timothy has much to offer and provides few difficulties. There is nothing improbable about Paul being released from prison, engaging in the kind of ministry indicated in 1 Timothy and Titus, and then later being imprisoned again with death being imminent.

Ecclesiastical Situation. It is argued that the church situation described in the Pastoral Epistles is akin to the second century and far too developed for Paul. At this juncture it is worth noting that very little of the Pastoral Epistles can really be termed "ecclesiastical teaching."

Paul does have an interest in ecclesiastical matters: he and Barnabas appoint elders (Acts 14:23); Paul addresses the bishops and deacons at Philippi (Phil 1:1); Paul lists pastor-teachers among the divine gifts provided to the early church (Eph 4:11-13); and Paul calls for the elders at Ephesus on his way to Rome, calling upon them to oversee (verb from which the noun "bishop" comes) and shepherd (verb from which the noun "pastor" comes) their flocks (Acts 20:13-35).

Nothing in the Pastoral Epistles would demand the later phenomenon of monarchical bishops. As Carson, Moo, and Morris have noted, "Clearly none of this amounts to much in the way of organization, certainly to nothing more than can have appeared in the church in comparatively early days."

The Nature of the False Teaching. It is usually assumed that all three Pastoral Epistles face the same false teaching, an assumption which has been questioned in recent years. Many have wanted to see the Pastoral Epistles addressing a heresy seen only after the early second century and therefore as being non-Pauline. Easton argued that the Pastoral Epistles painted a picture of Christianity threatened by a "coherent and powerful heresy," a heresy which claimed to be more profound than the revelation of the Church. That the heresy seen here is "coherent and powerful" and that one must see it as second century Gnosticism is still to be demonstrated. The heresy or heresies seen in the Pastoral Epistles betray a strong Jewish element much akin to what one meets in the Qumran literature and the apocryphal work, Jubilees. There are no real grounds to see the false teaching confronted in the Pastoral Epistles as something which would not, indeed did not (cf. Colossians), arise in Paul's lifetime.

It does seem that the false teaching and false teachers encountered in all three of the Pastoral Epistles are of the same sort. They have similar tendencies and use similar language even though every element seen in one book may not appear in the other. One must simply piece together the elements that compose this heresy: emphasis on myths and genealogies (1 Tim 1:4; Titus 1:14; 3:9; 2 Tim 4:4); concern for the Law and Jewishness (1 Tim 1:7; Titus 1:10, 14; 3:9); emphasis on "knowledge" (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 3:6-9); controversy, speculation and arguments (1 Tim 1:4, 6; 6:4, 20; Titus 1:10; 3:9; 2 Tim. 2:14, 16, 23; 3:1-5); immorality (1 Tim 1:19, 20; Titus 1:15, 16; 2 Tim 2:16, 19; 3:1-5); deception (1 Tim 4:1-3; Titus 1:10-13; 2 Tim 3:6-13); some ascetic practices (1 Tim 4:1-5); and teaching for material gain (1 Tim 6:5; Titus 1:11; 2 Tim 3:2-4).

Vocabulary and Style. As Guthrie has noted, "the majority of those who favor the non-Pauline authorship of the Epistles are swayed more by linguistic considerations than by any of the objections mentioned above." Perhaps no scholar has presented this argument for non-Pauline authorship in stronger fashion than P.N. Harrison. Harrison built upon the work of previous scholars to argue that the vocabulary and style of the Pastoral Epistles indicated that they did not share the same author as the ten epistles generally accepted as Pauline.

Harrison noted that well over one third of the words, excluding proper names, used in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the New Testament. Many of the words used in the Pastoral Epistles and the universally accepted Pauline epistles have different meanings. Many of the words used only in the Pastoral Epistles are found in the early church fathers and in the apologists. On the surface Harrison's arguments seem most convincing; however, Carson, Moo, and Morris have noted that one could use the same line of argument to suggest that the three Pastoral Epistles were themselves written by different authors.

In examining the style of the Pastoral Epistles, Harrison gives special emphasis to particles, prepositions, and pronouns - elements that are indicative of style which an imitator might not follow. After noting a drastic difference in usage, he concludes that it is unlikely that "within a very few years we should find the same writer producing three epistles without once happening to use a single word in all that list - one or the other of which has hitherto appeared on the average nine times to every page that Paul wrote. " Guthrie, however, has noted that Harrison's data is selective and "would seem to be invalid."

One must allow any author to use differing vocabulary and styles which would fit a differing situation, audience, purpose, and time frame. Arguments offered thus far on the basis of vocabulary and style neither prove nor disprove Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles.

The Theology of the Pastoral Epistles. It has been argued that the theology of the Pastoral Epistles is not that of Paul: the cross is no longer the center of theology, and there is undue emphasis on works. This argument fails to take into consideration the whole of the teaching, both in the ten epistles generally accepted as Pauline and in the Pastoral Epistles as a whole. Hendriksen has rightly noted, "The truth is that the doctrine taught and presupposed in the Pastorals is clearly the same as that which is held before us in the ten [Pauline epistles]." Hendriksen goes on to list nine theological concepts, including salvation by grace through faith, which are central to the ten epistles generally accepted as Pauline and then delineates their occurrence in the Pastoral Epistles.

Modern Solutions to These Issues. Several solutions have been offered to these apparent inconsistencies by serious critics. Some have suggested one must simply opt for non-apostolic authorship. Others, like Harrison (1921), Scott (1936), and Easton (1948), have suggested non-Pauline authorship for the documents as a whole while allowing for a few genuine Pauline fragments.

A central issue in the discussion is the attitude of the early church toward the pseudepigrapher. Carson, Moo, and Morris have noted that the contention that pseudonymous epistles circulated freely and were widely accepted by early Christians cannot be supported. Tertullian spoke of a church leader who composed writings which wrongly bore the name of Paul. Even though this was done out of love, the man was dismissed from his office. Similarly, the Muratorian Canon says that forgeries in Paul's name were to be rejected. As Carson, Moo, and Morris have noted, "Nowhere is evidence cited that any member of the New Testament church accepted the idea that a pious believer could write something in the name of an apostle and expect the writing to be welcomed." Indeed discussion of canonicity tended to focus on the issue of authorship.

The traditional position of Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles fits the data. One who deems these works to be authentic Pauline epistles is not without support from a good number of excellent scholars (cf. Carson, Fee, Guthrie, Hendriksen, Johnson, Moo, and Morris). When one accepts Pauline authorship, the issues of language and style remain. They are still more like Paul than different from Paul. Is the change due simply to subject? Can it be an aging Paul? Should one see an amanuensis as the one responsible for the differences? The final words of Fee on the issue of authorship of the Pastoral Epistles are worth repeating:

To say that Paul is the author of the Pastoral Epistles means that the letters ultimately come from him in the historical settings contained within them. It does not say how they came from him; the final answer to that question is not available to us.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

INTRODUCTION

PLACE OF ORIGIN AND DATE

Little can be said with certainty of Paul's location when he penned 1 Timothy. Although Paul does not say explicitly that he was in Macedonia, he appears to indicate that he had been in Ephesus with Timothy, had left Timothy behind, and had gone on to Macedonia: "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus" (1:3).

If Paul was released from "house arrest" in Rome as the data in Acts 28:30 and the prison epistles might suggest and wrote this epistle at a subsequent time, the date for 1 Timothy would likely be 63-66. A chronology of Paul's life from Acts would indicate his imprisonment lasted until 61/62. The Neronian persecution of 64 would indicate that his release should precede that date. Eusebius recorded that Paul died in 67. If one accepts those dates, Paul would have penned 1 Timothy between 63 and 66.

Other suggestions are given by those who would contend that Paul died at the height of the Neronian persecution of 64. Some would, therefore, provide a date of 62-63 for composition of 1 Timothy. Robinson has suggested Paul's departure for Macedonia, leaving behind Timothy in Ephesus (1:3), reflects the situation seen in Acts 20:1-4. He, therefore, places 1 Timothy within the historical data of Acts and suggests a date of 55. Scholars who argue for pseudonymity generally date the epistle during the second century (cf. Kümmel).

A date of 63-66 seems best to fit the data currently available.

DESTINATION AND AUDIENCE

Although on the surface 1 Timothy seems to be personal correspondence between Paul and Timothy, his son in the faith, there is much in the epistle that indicates Paul intended the letter to be read and heeded by the congregation at Ephesus. "Grace be with you" in 6:21 is plural. Many of Paul's admonitions to Timothy (e.g., "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young," 4:21) may also have served to advise the church of their correct path of action.

Timothy is well known from Acts and the epistles of Paul. He was a native of Lystra; his mother was Jewish and his father a Gentile. About A.D. 49 he became a co-worker of Paul. As a young man likely converted and trained by Paul, Paul found a special place in his heart for him (1 Cor 4:17; Phil 2:22; 1 Tim 1:2). Timothy appears alongside Paul in the opening greetings of several epistles (2 Cor 1:1; Phil 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1). He was undoubtedly considered a trusted colleague and co-worker (1 Thess 3:2) who could be trusted to be sent on special missions (1 Cor 16:10; Phil 2:20). If one accepts the traditional site for the place of writing of the prison epistles, Timothy was with Paul in Rome (Col 1:1; Phlm 1). He has, at this juncture, been left behind in Ephesus to set things in order. He is a young man (see the discussion of 1 Tim 4:12) who was perhaps not in the best of health (1 Tim 5:23).

The church where Timothy was laboring found itself in the midst of the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. Ephesus housed a famous shrine to Artemis, the great mother goddess, known by the Romans as Diana of the Ephesians. Upon arriving at Ephesus Paul met a group of disciples whose knowledge of the gospel was so incomplete that it would seem they were still looking for the Messiah and they clearly knew nothing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). Paul's next encounter was with a group of Jews, the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. These men were seeking to do exorcisms in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:8-16). The citizens of Ephesus were so impressed with what happened to these men and with the preaching of Paul that many came to belief. Some who had previously practiced sorcery even burned their books (Acts 19:17-20). During this stay Timothy worked with Paul at Ephesus before being sent by Paul on to Macedonia (Acts 19:21-22). Feeling the pinch of their pocketbooks, the silversmiths, who made their livelihood selling images of Artemis, instigated a riot that led to Paul's moving on to other fields (Acts 19:23-20:1). Paul's love and concern for the Ephesian church did not end there. As Paul headed along the coast of Asia Minor on his way to Jerusalem, he summoned the elders from that church to meet him at Miletus. Paul warns them of the impending dangers, especially the false teachers, and charges them to watch after the flock (Acts 20:13-38). These dangers facing the church are a recurrent theme whenever the church at Ephesus is mentioned (1 Cor 16:8-9; Eph 4:14, 17-24; 5:6-14; Rev 2:6). The nature of Paul's correspondence with Timothy in the two epistles addressed to him follows this same theme.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF 1 TIMOTHY

Perhaps the greatest contribution 1 Timothy makes is the insight it provides into Paul's view of ministry: his own, that of Timothy, and that of the church (elders/bishops, deacons, women, and believers called to godliness). The church today needs to heed that call to ministry and godliness. Paul's emphasis on prayer (2:8), the demeanor of women in worship (2:9-15), the relationships between the old and the young (5:1-2), the treatment of widows (5:3-16), the response of slaves to their masters and ultimately to the Lord (6:1-2), and the warning against arrogance and trusting in wealth (6:17-19) produce a book rich in wisdom for the believer.

Paul does warn of needless controversies which do not produce growth. While the "godless myths" (1:4), forbidding of marriage, and enforcing of food laws (4:3) may seem far removed from the issues facing the church today, it is not immune from "an unhealthy interest in controversies and arguments that result in envy, quarreling, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction" (6:4-5). Similarly the modern church should give heed to Paul's warning against those "who think that godliness is a means to financial gain" (6:5).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

SELECTED

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ABBREVIATIONS

BAGD Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker Greek Lexicon (2nd. ed.)

DSB Daily Study Bible

ICC International Critical Commentary

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JSNT Journal of Studies for the New Testament

KJV King James Version

LWC Living Word Commentary

LXX Septuagint

MNTC Moffatt New Testament Commentary

NAC New American Commentary

NCB New Clarendon Bible

NCBC New Century Bible Commentary

NEB New English Bible

NIBC New International Bible Commentary

NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NTC New Testament Commentary

NTS New Testament Studies

PNTC Pelican New Testament Commentary

RSV Revised Standard Version

TBC Torch Bible Commentaries

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by

Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich

TEV Today's English Version

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 1 Timothy (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. THE SALUTATION - 1:1-2

II. PAUL'S CHARGE TO TIMOTHY - 1:3-20

A. The Charge and the False Teachers - 1:3-7

B. The Lawful Use of the Law - 1:8-11

C. Paul's Own Ministry, A Positive Example - 1:12-17

D. The Negative Example of Hymenaeus and Alexander - 1:18-20

III. DIRECTION FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP - 2:1-15

A. Prayers by All for All - 2:1-7

B. Respective Roles of Men and Women - 2:8-15

IV. DIRECTIONS FOR CHURCH ;LEADERS - 3:1-16

A. Bishops/Overseers - 3:1-7

B. Deacons and "Women" - 3:8-13

C. The Basis for These Directions - 3:14-16

V. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR TIMOTHY - 4:1-16

A. The Apostasy Timothy Was to Face - 4:1-5

B. The Discipline of a Good Minister - 4:6-16

VI. RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY - 5:1-6:2

A. The Minister and the Church - 5:1-2

B. The Care of Widows - 5:3-16

1. Family Responsibilities - 5:3-8

2. Widows to Be Enrolled - 5:9-10

3. Younger Widows - 5:11-15

4. Women and Widows - 5:16

C. Elders - 5:17-25

D. Slaves - 6:1-2

VII. FINAL EXHORTATIONS - 6:3-21

A. An Indictment of False Teachers - 6:3-5

B. Godliness, Contentment, and Money - 6:6-10

C. A Charge to Timothy - 6:11-16

D. Instructions for the Rich - 6:17-19

E. Paul's Final Charge to Timothy 6:20-21

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV