1 Timothy 1:3

Timothy’s Task in Ephesus

1:3 As I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus ¹  to instruct ²  certain people not to spread false teachings, ³ 

1 Timothy 1:6

1:6 Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion.

Romans 16:17

16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ⁴  to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them!

Galatians 1:6-7

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ⁵  who called you by the grace of Christ ⁶  and are following ⁷  a different ⁸  gospel – 1:7 not that there really is another gospel, ⁹  but ¹⁰  there are some who are disturbing you and wanting ¹¹  to distort the gospel of Christ.

[1:3]  ¹ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[1:3]  ² tn This word implies authoritative instruction: “direct, command, give orders” (cf. 1 Tim 4:11; 5:7; 6:13, 17). See BDAG 760 s.v. παραγγέλλω.

[1:3]  ³ tn Grk “to teach other doctrines,” different from apostolic teaching (cf. 1 Tim 6:3).

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[1:6]  ⁵ sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).

[1:6]  ⁶ tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì⁵¹ א A B F^c Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg sy^p bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241^s pc sy^h**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thret^lem), a few mss (Ì^46vid F* G H^vid ar b Tert Cyp Ambst Pel) have simply χάριτι with no modifier. Internally, the reading that seems best to explain the rise of the others is the shortest reading, χάριτι. Indeed, the fact that three different adjuncts are found in the mss seems to be a natural expansion on the simple “grace.” At the same time, the witnesses for the shortest reading are not particularly impressive, being that they largely represent one textual strand (Western), and a less-than-reliable one at that. Further, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see the construction χάρις (cari", “grace”) followed by Χριστοῦ without some other name (such as κυρίου [kuriou, “Lord”] or ᾿Ιησοῦ). The construction χάρις θεοῦ is likewise frequent in Paul. Thus, upon closer inspection it seems that the original wording here was χάριτι Χριστοῦ (for it is difficult to explain how this particular reading could have arisen from the simple χάριτι, in light of Paul’s normal idioms), with the other readings intentionally or accidentally arising from it.

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “another.”

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “which is not another,” but this could be misunderstood to mean “which is not really different.” In fact, as Paul goes on to make clear, there is no other gospel than the one he preaches.

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “except.”

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “trying.”