1 Timothy 6:21

6:21 By professing it, some have strayed from the faith. ¹  Grace be with you all. ² 

1 Timothy 6:2

6:2 But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect ³  because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. ⁴ 

Summary of Timothy’s Duties

Teach them and exhort them about these things. ⁵ 

1 Timothy 4:10

4:10 In fact this is why ⁶  we work hard and struggle, ⁷  because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, ⁸  especially of believers.

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ⁹  and because of greed ¹⁰  have abandoned themselves ¹¹  to ¹²  Balaam’s error; hence, ¹³  they will certainly perish ¹⁴  in Korah’s rebellion.

Revelation 2:14-15

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, ¹⁵  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ¹⁶  before the people ¹⁷  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁸  2:15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Grk “have deviated concerning the faith.”

² tc Most witnesses (א² D¹ Ψ Ï sy) conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the earliest and best witnesses (א* A D* F G 33 81 1739* 1881 it sa) lack the particle, indicating that the letter concluded with “Grace be with you all.”

³ tn Or “think the less of them”; Grk “despise them,” “look down on them.”

⁴ tn Or “those who devote themselves to service are faithful and dearly loved” (referring to slaves who serve them).

⁵ tn Grk “these things teach and exhort.”

⁶ tn Grk “for toward this,” denoting purpose. The conjunction “for” gives confirmation or emphasis to 1 Tim 4:8-9.

⁷ tc A number of mss (א² D 0241^vid 1739 1881 Ï latt sy co) read ὀνειδιζόμεθα (oneidizomeqa, “suffer reproach”), while the reading behind the translation (ἀγωνιζόμεθα, agwnizomeqa) is supported by א* A C F G K Ψ 33 1175 al. The reading from the verb ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai) has slightly better external credentials, but this verb is found in the corpus Paulinum five other times, twice in the Pastorals (1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7). The verb ὀνειδίζω (oneidizw) occurs only once in Paul (Rom 15:3), not at all in the Pastorals. In this instance, transcriptional and intrinsic evidence might seem to be opposed to each other. In such cases, the external evidence should be given more weight. With some hesitation, ἀγωνιζόμεθα is preferred.

⁸ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

⁹ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “for wages.”

¹¹ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

¹² tn Or “in.”

¹³ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

¹⁴ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

¹⁵ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

¹⁶ tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

¹⁷ tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

¹⁸ tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”

¹⁹ tn The term ὁμοίως (Jomoiws, “likewise”) is left untranslated because it is quite redundant.