First and Second Timothy and Titus (Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament)

Christopher R. Hutson, Parsons, Mikeal C., Talbert, Charles, Longenecker, Bruce, Mikeal C. Parsons, Charles Talbert, Bruce Longenecker

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780801031939
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493419609
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Drawing from many parts of the broad Christian tradition, this commentary on First and Second Timothy and Titus helps readers gain a stronger understanding of early Christian ministry in the first two centuries. Paideia commentaries show how New Testament texts use ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies to form and shape the reader and provide a fresh reading of the biblical texts in light of ancient culture and modern issues. Students, pastors, and other readers will appreciate the historical, literary, and theological insight offered in this commentary.

1 Timothy

Introduction to 1 Timothy

Genre

In content 1 Timothy is paraenesis, or moral exhortation (see “Genre” in the general introduction). In form, 1 Timothy resembles ancient administrative letters, such as from a king to a governor or an official to an assistant, of which numerous examples survive (Welles 1934; J. White 1986, §§5–26; Stirewalt 1993, 6–10; 2003, 25–55; Klauck 2006, 77–101; Johnson 2001, 137–42; Kidson 2014; and cf. Mitchell 2002, who critiques the use of some papyrus evidence). Such letters were generally brief. After the opening address, a typical proem describes the circumstances that led to the letter. The letter body begins with a statement of the purpose of the letter, often introduced by “therefore” (Welles 1934, xliv, §36.17; §37.7; §44.18). The purpose might be simply to inform (“that you may know,” J. White 1986, §7.8; §9.10–11), or to issue some directive(s) (Welles 1934, §36.17ff.; J. White 1986, §10.6, 12; §13.6–7; §19.7ff.). First Timothy is longer than most administrative letters. The longest letter in Welles’s collection runs 108 lines of Greek text (Welles 1934, §3/4; cf. PTebt 27, a dossier of 110 lines), similar in length to Titus. Paraenetic letters sometimes ran longer. Several of Seneca’s Moral Epistles are longer than 1 Timothy. In sum, 1 Timothy is an administrative letter containing moral exhortation from an older mentor to a younger protégé (similarly, Kidson 2014).

Addressee

Timothy was one of Paul’s closest and most trusted coworkers (Hutson 1997, 60–61). According to Acts, he joined Paul on his second and third journeys (Acts 16–20; cf. 2 Cor. 1:19; Rom. 16:21). Paul trusted him to handle difficult pastoral assignments (1 Thess. 3:1–6; 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10–11), called him “soul mate” (Phil. 2:20), and credited him as coauthor of four letters (1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, and Philippians). His appearance in this letter as a “youth” (4:12; 5:1–2), then, does not square with the common theory that Paul wrote this letter during a post-Acts mission in the early 60s, by which time Timothy would have been at least 30 years old and well seasoned in ministry (see “Chronology of Paul’s Life” in the general introduction). In light of this, we might try to date this letter much earlier in the 50s (Robinson 1976, 67–85; P. Walker 2012a; 2012b) and/or consider the aims of the author in constructing an addressee who was at least in part artificial (see “Addressees” and “The PE as a letter collection” in the general introduction).

Ephesus

The letter addresses Timothy in Ephesus (1:3; see “Chronology of Paul’s Life” in the general introduction). Some have labored to read the letter in the context of the Artemis cult and/or specific history and culture of Ephesus (e.g., Padgett 1987; Kroeger and Kroeger 1992; Baugh 2005; Hoag 2015). In my opinion, the arguments of the letter are generically applicable in any Greek-speaking context of the eastern Roman Empire, certainly including but not limited to Ephesus.

Outline of 1 Timothy

Letter opening (1:1–2)

Proem: First charge to Timothy (1:3–20)

Circumstances of the charge (1:3–7)

Digression on the nature of Torah (1:8–11)

Thanksgiving prayer (1:12–17)

The charge proper (1:18–20)

First set of directives concerning the church (2:1–3:13)

Exhortation to pray for all people (2:1–7)

Proper comportment for prayer (2:8–10)

Digression on women teaching (2:11–3:1a)

Pastoral leadership (3:1b–13)

Overseers (3:1b–7)

Deacons (3:8–13)

Second charge to Timothy (3:14–4:16)

The foundation of the truth (3:14–16)

Doctrines of demons (4:1–5)

Training for piety (4:6–16)

Proper diet (4:6–7)

Exercise (4:8–11)

Practice (4:12–16)

Second set of directives concerning the church (5:1–6:2a)

Elder and younger (5:1–2)

Widows (5:3–16)

Honor for real widows (5:3)

Offspring should care for widows (5:4–8)

Enrolled widows (5:9–10)

Younger widows (5:11–15)

Women should care for widows (5:16)

Elders (5:17–25)

Honor for teaching elders (5:17–18)

Adjudication of charges against elders (5:19–21)

Ordination of elders (5:22–25)

Slaves (6:1–2a)

Third charge to Timothy (6:2b–21)

Those who teach otherwise (6:2b–10)

Exhortation to flee . . . pursue (6:11–12)

Exhortation to keep the commandment (6:13–16)

The rich in this age (6:17–19)

Exhortation to guard the deposit, and the letter closing (6:20–21)

1 Timothy 1:1–2

Letter Opening

Introductory Matters

The standard opening of an ancient Greek letter included (a) the name of the author, (b) the name of the addressee(s), and (c) a greeting. All three parts of this opening receive theological embellishment more elaborate than one expects in a private letter. The self-introduction of the author seems odd for a private letter to an intimate associate, but administrative letters typically included the formal titles of the writer and/or addressee and sometimes included a term of endearment for the addressee (Kidson 2014, 106). The elaborate self-identification here suggests that this letter was aimed at a secondary audience who did not know Paul (see comment at 6:21). My suggestion is that the targeted secondary readers are youthful ministers analogous to the “youthful” Timothy portrayed in this letter.

1 Timothy 1:1–2 in the Rhetorical Flow

▶ Letter opening (1:1–2)

Tracing the Train of Thought

1:1–2. The author identifies himself as Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, in accordance with the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope (1:1). Paul was commissioned as an “apostle of Christ Jesus” (Gal. 1:1, 15–16). The phrase “in accordance with the command [kat’ epitagēn] of God” (Rom. 16:26; 1 Cor. 7:6) reflects a standard formula for obedience to the command of a ruler (1 Esd. 1:16 LXX [= 1:18 Eng.]) or deity (NewDocs 2:§49; MM 247, s.v. epitagē). “God our Savior” introduces a motif central to the theology of this letter and Titus (2:3; 4:10; cf. Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4; Sumney 1999b). An ancient pagan would apply the epithet “Savior” to any deity who delivered from death. A Jewish reader would have no trouble applying this language to the God of Israel. Two details place this reference in a distinctly Christian context. The correlation between “God our Savior” and “Christ Jesus our hope” hints at, but does not explicitly declare, a high Christology (cf. Titus 2:13; 3:4), and the word “hope” conveys an eschatological connotation (cf. Titus 1:2; 2:13; 3:7).

The letter is addressed to Timothy, a true child in faith (1:2a). The appellation “true child” (cf. Titus 1:4) is not found in the undisputed Pauline letters, but it reflects how Paul related to his converts as a “father” to “children” (1 Cor. 4:15; 2 Cor. 6:13; Gal. 4:19; 1 Thess. 2:11–12). The word translated “true” (gnēsios) originally designated a “legitimate” child, but it came to apply in various contexts to anything genuine, honorable, or sincere (MM 128–29, s.v. gnēsios). Here it is a term of affection for a close protégé.

The opening greeting is grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God [our] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1:2b). Whereas the typical Greek letter opened with a simple “greetings” (chairein, James 1:1; Acts 15:23; Klauck 2006, 17–21), Paul routinely made it a pun with the word “grace” (charis). He usually combined this with the Jewish greeting “peace” (e.g., 2 Bar. 78.3). The greeting in 1:2 is typically Pauline, except for the insertion of “mercy” (eleos), the usual LXX translation for the Hebrew hesed, God’s “gracious love” or “faithful and merciful help” (R. Bultmann, TDNT 2:479–82). Although “mercy” appears in no other Pauline greeting except 2 Tim. 1:2 (and Titus 1:4 var.), it does appear in the benediction of Gal. 6:16 and in some epistolary greetings outside the Pauline corpus (2 John 3; Jude 2). So this greeting is atypical for Paul but consistent with Paul’s Jewish theological orientation. Rhetorically, “mercy” anticipates the thanksgiving prayer (1:13, 16).

Theological Issues

The identity of any human writer who bears witness to God is an interesting historical question, but it is secondary to the question of the content of that testimony about who God is and what God is doing. Whatever your judgment about the identity of the author (see “Author” in the general introduction), the fundamental theological question in this letter from an “apostle of Christ Jesus” (1:1) to a “minister of Christ Jesus” (4:6) is how the story of Christ Jesus defines the minister and the minister’s message.

Even though the PE fit comfortably into Greco-Roman cultural contexts, the language of “grace, mercy, and peace” indicates that their underlying theology stems from Jewish roots. Pastoral Paul does not inculcate Greco-Roman values as normative for Christian practice so much as describe how to function as a “good minister of Messiah Jesus” in a Greco-Roman social context.

1 Timothy 1:3–20

Proem: First Charge to Timothy

Introductory Matters

After the epistolary opening, ancient letters typically included an introductory section called a proem, often employing clichés and stock formulas that prepared readers for the letter body (Klauck 2006, 21–23, 31–33). Letter writers commonly included prayers for the addressees, sometimes in the middle or end of the letter, but often in the proem (Arzt 1994; Reed 1996). The proem of a Pauline letter usually takes the form of a thanksgiving prayer. In a letter from Paul, therefore, we expect a thanksgiving in verse 3 and do not find it. It is incorrect to say this letter lacks a thanksgiving prayer (Murphy-O’Connor 1995, 60–61); rather, the prayer is “interjected” (Prior 1989, 62; cf. Rom. 7:25) into a larger proem that has four parts:

1. Circumstances of the charge (1:3–7)
2. Digression on the nature of Torah (1:8–11)
3. Thanksgiving prayer (1:12–17)
4. The charge proper (1:18–20)

This proem also serves as the opening bracket of a larger inclusio around the whole letter with the idea of a “commission” or “deposit” (1:18; 6:20). Several correspondences between the opening and closing sections (1:3–20 and 6:2b–21) frame the letter (Bush 1990).

Parallels between 1 Timothy 1:3–20 and 6:2b–21

1 Timothy 1:3–20	1 Timothy 6:2b–21
just as I exhorted you (1:3)	Teach and exhort these things (6:2b)
that you might charge certain ones (1:3)	Charge those who are rich (6:17)
the goal of the charge is love (1:5)	I charge you (6:13)
this charge I deposit with you (1:18)
not to teach otherwise (1:3)	if anyone teaches otherwise (6:3)
which lead to speculations (1:4)	about speculations (6:4)
the goal of the charge is love . . . and a good conscience and sincere faith (1:5)	pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, steadfastness, long-suffering (6:11)
faith from which some, having deviated (1:6)	some deviated concerning the faith (6:21)
turned aside to empty talk (1:6)	turn aside from empty speech (6:20)
not understanding what they are talking about (1:7)	knowing nothing (6:4)
to the healthy teaching (1:10)	to the healthy words . . . and the teaching . . . (6:3)
so that Christ Jesus might d...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Foreword
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• General Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Bibliography
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Scripture and Ancient Sources
• Back Cover