1 Timothy 1:18

1:18 I put this charge ¹  before you, Timothy my child, in keeping with the prophecies once spoken about you, ²  in order that with such encouragement ³  you may fight the good fight.

1 Timothy 6:13

6:13 I charge you ⁴  before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession ⁵  before Pontius Pilate,

[1:18]  ¹ sn This charge refers to the task Paul described to Timothy in vv. 3-7 above.

[1:18]  ² sn The prophecies once spoken about you were apparently spoken at Timothy’s ordination (cf. 1 Tim 4:14) and perhaps spoke of what God would do through him. Thus they can encourage him in his work, as the next clause says.

[1:18]  ³ tn Grk “that by them you might fight…” (a reference to the prophecies which can encourage him in his work).

[6:13]  ⁴ 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.

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “testified the good confession.”