5:1 Do not address an older man harshly 6 but appeal to him as a father. Speak to younger men as brothers, 7
6:11 But you, as a person dedicated to God, 8 keep away from all that. 9 Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.
3:1 This saying 10 is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, 11 he desires a good work.”
5:9 No widow should be put on the list 12 unless 13 she is at least sixty years old, was the wife of one husband, 14
1:8 But we know that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately,
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.”
3 sn But I do not allow. Although the Greek conjunction δέ (de) can have a simple connective force (“and”), it is best to take it as contrastive here: Verse 11 gives a positive statement (that is to say, that a woman should learn). This was a radical and liberating departure from the Jewish view that women were not to learn the law.
4 tn According to BDAG 150 s.v. αὐθεντέω this Greek verb means “to assume a stance of independent authority, give orders to, dictate to” (cf. JB “tell a man what to do”).
5 tn Grk “but to be in quietness.” The phrase ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ (en Jhsucia) is used in Greek literature either of absolute silence or of a quiet demeanor.
5 tn Or “Do not speak harshly to an older man.”
6 tn No verb “speak” is stated in this clause, but it continues the sense of the preceding.
7 tn Grk “O man of God.”
8 tn Grk “flee these things.”
9 tn Grk “the saying,” referring to the following citation (see 1 Tim 1:15; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8 for other occurrences of this phrase).
10 tn Grk “aspires to oversight.”
11 sn This list was an official enrollment, apparently with a formal pledge to continue as a widow and serve the Lord in that way (cf. v. 12). It was either (1) the list of “true widows” who were given support by the church or (2) a smaller group of older women among the supported widows who were qualified for special service (perhaps to orphans, other widows, the sick, etc.). Most commentators understand it to be the former, since a special group is not indicated clearly. See G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles, 222-23 for discussion.
12 tn Grk “let a widow be enrolled if she has reached not less than sixty years.”
13 tn Or “a woman married only once,” “was devoted solely to her husband” (see the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; Titus 1:6).
13 tn Or “violent,” “cruel.”
15 tn In context “laying hands on anyone” refers to ordination or official installation of someone as an elder.
16 tn Grk “and do not share in the sins of others.”
17 tc Most witnesses (D Ψ Ï sy) have πιστὸς ἤ (pisto" h) before πιστή (pisth), with the resultant meaning “if a believing man or woman.” But such looks to be a motivated reading, perhaps to bring some parity to the responsibilities of men and women listed here, and as a way of harmonizing with v. 4. Further, most of the earliest and best witnesses (א A C F G P 048 33 81 1175 1739 1881 co) lack the πιστὸς ἤ, strengthening the preference for the shorter reading.
18 tn Grk “has widows.”
19 tn Grk “the real widows,” “those who are really widows.”
19 tn Or “bishop.”
20 tn Or “a man married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife” (see 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9; Titus 1:6). The meaning of this phrase is disputed. It is frequently understood to refer to the marital status of the church leader, excluding from leadership those who are (1) unmarried, (2) polygamous, (3) divorced, or (4) remarried after being widowed. A different interpretation is reflected in the NEB’s translation “faithful to his one wife.”
21 tn Grk “teaches other doctrines,” (different from apostolic teaching, cf. 1 Tim 1:3).
23 sn Law. There is no definite article (“the”) with this word in Greek and so the inherent quality of the OT law as such is in view. But the OT law is still in mind, since the types of sinful people surveyed in vv. 9b-11a follow the general outline of sins prohibited in the Decalogue.
25 tn Or “faith.”