1:1 From Paul, 1 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior 2 and of Christ Jesus our hope,
1:12 I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful in putting me into ministry,
4:6 By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, 14 you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, having nourished yourself on the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 15
1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
2 sn God our Savior. Use of the title “Savior” for God the Father is characteristic of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. It occurs six times in these letters, but only twice elsewhere in the NT. However, it occurs commonly in the OT, especially in Isaiah. It emphasizes the Father as the initiator and source of salvation.
3 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.
4 tn Grk “one mediator between God and mankind, the human, Christ Jesus.”
5 tn Grk “refuse younger widows.”
6 tn With a single verb and object, this clause means “pursue sensuous desires in opposition to Christ.”
7 tn Grk “with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”
9 sn The statement those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching (Matt 20:26-28; Mark 10:43-45) that the one who wishes to be great must be a servant (διάκονος [diakonos], used here of deacons) of all, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (διακονέω [diakonew], as in 1 Tim 3:10, 13).
10 sn In the phrase the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the term faith seems to mean “what Christians believe, Christian truth,” rather than personal trust in Christ. So the whole phrase could mean that others will come to place greater confidence in them regarding Christian truth; but the word “confidence” is much more likely to refer to their own boldness to act on the truth of their convictions.
11 tn The Greek word τηρέω (threw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.
12 tn Grk “the command.”
13 tn Grk “the saying,” referring to the following citation (see 1 Tim 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8 for other occurrences of this phrase).
14 tn Grk “of whom I am the first.”
15 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
16 sn By pointing out…you have followed. This verse gives a theme statement for what follows in the chapter about Timothy’s ministry. The situation in Ephesus requires him to be a good servant of Christ, and he will do that by sound teaching and by living an exemplary life himself.
17 tn Grk “doing nothing according to partiality.”
19 tn Grk “teaches other doctrines,” (different from apostolic teaching, cf. 1 Tim 1:3).
21 tc ‡ Most witnesses, some of them important (א2 A D H 1881 Ï lat sy bo), have σοι (soi, “you”) after παραγγέλλω (parangellw, “I charge [you]”), a predictable variant because the personal pronoun is demanded by the sense of the passage (and was added in the translation because of English requirements). Hence, the omission is the harder reading, and the addition of σοι is one of clarification. Further, the shorter reading is found in several important witnesses, such as א* F G Ψ 6 33 1739 pc. Thus, both internally and externally the shorter reading is preferred. NA 27 places σοι in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
22 tn Grk “testified the good confession.”
23 tn Grk “but because of this I was treated with mercy, so that…”
24 tn Grk “in me first,” making the connection with the last phrase of v. 15.