1 Timothy 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ.—The letter to Timothy, though addressed to a very dear and intimate friend, was sent with a two-fold purpose. It was an affectionate reminder from his old master, “Paul the Aged,” to his disciple to be steadfast in the midst of the many perils to which one in the position of Timothy would be exposed in the city of Ephesus; but it was also an official command to resist a powerful school of false teaching which had arisen in the midst of that Ephesian Church over which Timothy was then presiding. So St. Paul prefaces his letter by designating himself an Apostle according to the commandment of God. The commandment especially referred to is to be found in Acts 13:2 : Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

God our Saviour.—This, designation is peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles, but frequently occurs in the Septuagint. It is fitly ascribed to the first Person of the blessed Trinity in reference to His redeeming love in Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.—The words “which is,” printed in italics in the English version, are better left out: Jesus Christ, our hope. As St. Paul felt the end of his course approaching, he loved to dwell on the thought of Jesus—to whom, during so many weary years, he had longed to depart and be with—as his hope, his one glorious hope. The same expression is found in the Epistles of Ignatius.

Benson Commentary

1 Timothy 1:1-2. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ — The apostle begins his epistle with asserting his apostolical dignity, not because Timothy was in any doubt concerning it, but to make the Ephesians sensible of the danger they incurred, if they rejected the charges and admonitions which the apostle ordered Timothy to deliver to them. Familiarity is to be set aside where the things of God are concerned. By — Or according to; the commandment — The authoritative appointment; of God our Saviour — So styled in many other places likewise, as being the grand orderer of the whole scheme of our salvation; and Christ our hope — That is, the author, object, and ground of all our hope. To Timothy, my own son — If Timothy was not at first converted by the apostle, (which it is not certain he was from any historical account that has reached us,) yet he might term him his own, or genuine son, because of the parental affection he had for him, the complacency which he found in that assistance which he had received from him in the work of the ministry, in which he had faithfully served him, like a son with his father, (Php 2:22,) and in the filial reverence and affection which this excellent young evangelist expressed to him; not to mention that Timothy had received much establishment in the faith through the apostle. Grace, mercy, and peace — St. Paul wishes grace and peace in his epistles to the churches. To Timothy he adds mercy, the most tender grace toward those who stand in need of it, as indeed all do. The experience of this prepares a man to be a minister of the gospel.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-4 Jesus Christ is a Christian's hope; all our hopes of eternal life are built upon him; and Christ is in us the hope of glory. The apostle seems to have been the means of Timothy's conversion; who served with him in his ministry, as a dutiful son with a loving father. That which raises questions, is not for edifying; that which gives occasion for doubtful disputes, pulls down the church rather than builds it up. Godliness of heart and life can only be kept up and increased, by the exercise of faith in the truths and promises of God, through Jesus Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ; - see the notes on Romans 1:1.

By the commandment of God - See the notes at 1 Corinthians 1:1.

Our Saviour - The name Saviour is as applicable to God the Father as to the Lord Jesus Christ, since God is the great Author of salvation; see the notes, Luke 1:47; compare 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:10; Jde 1:25.

And Lord Jesus Christ - The apostle Paul had received his commission directly from him; see the notes, Galatians 1:11-12.

Which is our hope - See the notes at Colossians 1:27.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

THE PASTORAL EPISTLES OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS Commentary by A. R. Faussett

INTRODUCTION

Genuineness.—The ancient Church never doubted of their being canonical and written by Paul. They are in the Peschito Syriac version of the second century. Muratori's Fragment on the Canon of Scripture, at the close of the second century, acknowledges them as such. Irenæus [Against Heresies, 1; 3.3.3; 4.16.3; 2.14.8; 3.11.1; 1.16.3], quotes 1Ti 1:4, 9; 6:20; 2Ti 4:9-11; Tit 3:10. Clement of Alexandria [Miscellanies, 2, p. 457; 3, pp. 534, 536; 1, p. 350], quotes 1Ti 6:1, 20; Second Timothy, as to deaconesses; Tit 1:12. Tertullian [The Prescription against Heretics, 25; 6], quotes 1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 1:14; 1Ti 1:18; 6:13, &c.; 2Ti 2:2; Tit 3:10, 11. Eusebius includes the three in the "universally acknowledged" Scriptures. Also Theophilus of Antioch [To Autolychus, 3.14], quotes 1Ti 2:1, 2; Tit 3:1, and Caius (in Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 6.20]) recognizes their authenticity. Clement of Rome, in the end of the first century, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians [29], quotes 1Ti 2:8. Ignatius, in the beginning of the second century, in Epistle to Polycarp, [6], alludes to 2Ti 2:4. Polycarp, in the beginning of the second century [Epistle to the Philippians, 4], alludes to 2Ti 2:4; and in the ninth chapter to 2Ti 4:10. Hegisippus, in the end of the second century, in Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 3.32], alludes to 1Ti 6:3, 20. Athenagoras, in the end of the second century, alludes to 1Ti 6:16. Justin Martyr, in the middle of the second century [Dialogue with Trypho, 47], alludes to Tit 3:4. The Gnostic Marcion alone rejected these Epistles.

The HERESIES OPPOSED in them form the transition stage from Judaism, in its ascetic form, to Gnosticism, as subsequently developed. The references to Judaism and legalism are clear (1Ti 1:7; 4:3; Tit 1:10, 14; 3:9). Traces of beginning Gnosticism are also unequivocal (1Ti 1:4). The Gnostic theory of a twofold principle from the beginning, evil as well as good, appears in germ in 1Ti 4:3, &c. In 1Ti 6:20 the term Gnosis ("science") itself occurs. Another Gnostic error, namely, that "the resurrection is past," is alluded to in 2Ti 2:17, 18. The Judaism herein opposed is not that of the earlier Epistles, which upheld the law and tried to join it with faith in Christ for justification. It first passed into that phase of it which appears in the Epistle to the Colossians, whereby will-worship and angel-worship were superadded to Judaizing opinions. Then a further stage of the same evil appears in the Epistle to the Philippians (Php 3:2, 18, 19), whereby immoral practice accompanied false doctrine as to the resurrection (compare 2Ti 2:18, with 1Co 15:12, 32, 33). This descent from legality to superstition, and from superstition to godlessness, appears more matured in the references to it in these Pastoral Epistles. The false teachers now know not the true use of the law (1Ti 1:7, 8), and further, have put away good conscience as well as the faith (1Ti 1:19; 4:2); speak lies in hypocrisy, are corrupt in mind, and regard godliness as a means of earthly gain (1Ti 6:5 Tit 1:11); overthrow the faith by heresies eating as a canker, saying the resurrection is past (2Ti 2:17, 18), leading captive silly women, ever learning yet never knowing the truth, reprobate as Jannes and Jambres (2Ti 3:6, 8), defiled, unbelieving, professing to know God, but in works denying Him, abominable, disobedient, reprobate (Tit 1:15, 16). This description accords with that in the Catholic Epistles of St. John and St. Peter, and, in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This fact proves the later date of these Pastoral Epistles as compared with Paul's earlier Epistles. The Judaism reprobated herein is not that of an earlier date, so scrupulous as to the law; it was now tending to immortality of practice. On the other hand, the Gnosticism opposed in these Epistles is not the anti-Judaic Gnosticism of a later date, which arose as a consequence of the overthrow of Judaism by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, but it was the intermediate phase between Judaism and Gnosticism, in which the Oriental and Greek elements of the latter were in a kind of amalgam with Judaism, just prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem.

The DIRECTIONS AS TO CHURCH GOVERNORS and ministers, "bishop-elders, and deacons," are such as were natural for the apostle, in prospect of his own approaching removal, to give to Timothy, the president of the Church at Ephesus, and to Titus, holding the same office in Crete, for securing the due administration of the Church when he should be no more, and at a time when heresies were rapidly springing up. Compare his similar anxiety in his address to the Ephesian elders (Ac 20:21-30). The Presbyterate (elders; priest is a contraction from presbyter) and Diaconate had existed from the earliest times in the Church (Ac 6:3; 11:30; 14:23). Timothy and Titus, as superintendents or overseers (so bishop subsequently meant), were to exercise the same power in ordaining elders at Ephesus which the apostle had exercised in his general supervision of all the Gentile churches.

The PECULIARITIES OF MODES OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION, are such as the difference of subject and circumstances of those addressed and those spoken of in these Epistles, as compared with the other Epistles, would lead us to expect. Some of these peculiar phrases occur also in Galatians, in which, as in the Pastoral Epistles, he, with his characteristic fervor, attacks the false teachers. Compare 1Ti 2:6; Tit 2:14, "gave Himself for us," with Ga 1:4; 1Ti 1:17; 2Ti 4:18, "for ever and ever," with Ga 1:5: "before God," 1Ti 5:21; 6:13; 2Ti 2:14; 4:1, with Ga 1:20: "a pillar," 1Ti 3:15, with Ga 2:9: "mediator," 1Ti 2:5, with Ga 3:20: "in due season," 1Ti 2:6; 6:15; Tit 1:3 with Ga 6:9.

Time and place of writing.—The First Epistle to Timothy was written not long after Paul had left Ephesus for Macedon (1Ti 1:3). Now, as Timothy was in Macedon with Paul (2Co 1:1) on the occasion of Paul's having passed from Ephesus into that country, as recorded, Ac 19:22; 20:1, whereas the First Epistle to Timothy contemplates a longer stay of Timothy in Ephesus, Mosheim supposes that Paul was nine months of the "three years" stay mostly at Ephesus (Ac 20:31) in Macedonia, and elsewhere (perhaps Crete), (the mention of only "three months" and "two years," Ac 19:8, 10, favors this, the remaining nine months being spent elsewhere); and that during these nine months Timothy, in Paul's absence, superintended the Church of Ephesus. It is not likely that Ephesus and the neighboring churches should have been left long without church officers and church organization, rules respecting which are giver in this Epistle. Moreover, Timothy was still "a youth" (1Ti 4:12), which he could hardly be called after Paul's first imprisonment, when he must have been at least thirty-four years of age. Lastly, in Ac 20:25, Paul asserts his knowledge that the Ephesians should not all see his face again, so that 1Ti 1:3 will thus refer to his sojourn at Ephesus, recorded in Ac 19:10, whence he passed into Macedonia. But the difficulty is to account for the false teachers having sprung up almost immediately (according to this theory) after the foundation of the Church. However, his visit recorded in Ac 19:1-41 was not his first visit. The beginning of the Church at Ephesus was probably made at his visit a year before (Ac 18:19-21). Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, carried on the work (Ac 18:24-26). Thus, as to the sudden growth of false teachers, there was time enough for their springing up, especially considering that the first converts at Ephesus were under Apollos' imperfect Christian teachings at first, imbued as he was likely to be with the tenets of Philo of Alexandria, Apollos' native town, combined with John the Baptist's Old Testament teachings (Ac 18:24-26). Besides Ephesus, from its position in Asia, its notorious voluptuousness and sorcery (Ac 19:18, 19), and its lewd worship of Diana (answering to the Phœnician Ashtoreth), was likely from the first to tinge Christianity in some of its converts with Oriental speculations and Asiatic licentiousness of practices. Thus the phenomenon of the phase of error presented in this Epistle, being intermediate between Judaism and later Gnosticism (see above), would be such as might occur at an early period in the Ephesian Church, as well as later, when we know it had open "apostles" of error (Re 2:2, 6), and Nicolaitans infamous in practice. As to the close connection between this First Epistle and the Second Epistle (which must have been written at the close of Paul's life), on which Alford relies for his theory of making the First Epistle also written at the close of Paul's life, the similarity of circumstances, the person addressed being one and the same, and either in Ephesus at the time, or at least connected with Ephesus as its church overseer, and having heretics to contend with of the same stamp as in the First Epistle, would account for the connection. There is not so great identity of tone as to compel us to adopt the theory that some years could not have elapsed between the two Epistles.

However, all these arguments against the later date may be answered. This First Epistle may refer not to the first organization of the Church under its bishops, or elders and deacons, but to the moral qualifications laid down at a later period for those officers when scandals rendered such directions needful. Indeed, the object for which he left Timothy at Ephesus he states (1Ti 1:3) to be, not to organize the Church for the first time, but to restrain the false teachers. The directions as to the choice of fit elders and deacons refer to the filling up of vacancies, not to their first appointment. The fact of there existing an institution for Church widows implies an established organization. As to Timothy's "youth," it may be spoken of comparatively young compared with Paul, now "the aged" (Phm 9), and with some of the Ephesian elders, senior to Timothy their overseer. As to Ac 20:25, we know not but that "all" of the elders of Ephesus called to Miletus "never saw Paul's face" afterwards, as he "knew" (doubtless by inspiration) would be the case, which obviates the need of Alford's lax view, that Paul was wrong in this his positive inspired anticipation (for such it was, not a mere boding surmise as to the future). Thus he probably visited Ephesus again (1Ti 1:3; 2Ti 1:18; 4:20, he would hardly have been at Miletum, so near Ephesus, without visiting Ephesus) after his first imprisonment in Rome, though all the Ephesian elders whom he had addressed formerly at Miletus did not again see him. The general similarity of subject and style, and of the state of the Church between the two Epistles, favors the view that they were near one another in date. Also, against the theory of the early date is the difficulty of defining, when, during Paul's two or three years' stay at Ephesus, we can insert an absence of Paul from Ephesus long enough for the requirements of the case, which imply a lengthened stay and superintendence of Timothy at Ephesus (see, however, 1Ti 3:14, on the other side) after having been "left" by Paul there. Timothy did not stay there when Paul left Ephesus (Ac 19:22; 20:1; 2Co 1:1). In 1Ti 3:14, Paul says, "I write, hoping to come unto thee shortly," but on the earlier occasion of his passing from Ephesus to Macedon he had no such expectation, but had planned to spend the summer in Macedon, and the winter in Corinth, (1Co 16:6). The expression "Till I come" (1Ti 4:13), implies that Timothy was not to leave his post till Paul should arrive; this and the former objection, however, do not hold good against Mosheim's theory. Moreover, Paul in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders prophetically anticipates the rise of false teachers hereafter of their own selves; therefore this First Epistle, which speaks of their actual presence at Ephesus, would naturally seem to be not prior, but subsequent, to the address, that is, will belong to the later date assigned. In the Epistle to the Ephesians no notice is taken of the Judaeo-Gnostic errors, which would have been noticed had they been really in existence; however, they are alluded to in the contemporaneous sister Epistle to Colossians (Col 2:1-23).

Whatever doubt must always remain as to the date of the First Epistle, there can be hardly any as to that of the Second Epistle. In 2Ti 4:13, Paul directs Timothy to bring the books and cloak which the apostle had left at Troas. Assuming that the visit to Troas referred to is the one mentioned in Ac 20:5-7, it will follow that the cloak and parchments lay for about seven years at Troas, that being the time that elapsed between the visit and Paul's first imprisonment at Rome: a very unlikely supposition, that he should have left either unused for so long. Again, when, during his first Roman imprisonment, he wrote to the Colossians (Col 4:14) and Philemon (Phm 24), Demas was with him; but when he was writing 2Ti 4:10, Demas had forsaken him from love of this world, and gone to Thessalonica. Again, when he wrote to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon, he had good hopes of a speedy liberation; but here in 2Ti 4:6-8, he anticipates immediate death, having been at least once already tried (2Ti 4:16). Again, he is in this Epistle represented as in closer confinement than he was when writing those former Epistles in his first imprisonment (even in the Philippians, which represent him in greater uncertainty as to his life, he cherished the hope of soon being delivered, Php 2:24; 2Ti 1:16-18; 2:9; 4:6-8, 16). Again (2Ti 4:20), he speaks of having left Trophimus sick at Miletum. This could not have been on the occasion, Ac 20:15. For Trophimus was with Paul at Jerusalem shortly afterwards (Ac 21:29). Besides, he would thus be made to speak of an event six or seven years after its occurrence, as a recent event: moreover, Timothy was, on that occasion of the apostle being at Miletum, with Paul, and therefore needed not to be informed of Trophimus' sickness there (Ac 20:4-17). Also, the statement (2Ti 4:20), "Erastus abode at Corinth," implies that Paul had shortly before been at Corinth, and left Erastus there; but Paul had not been at Corinth for several years before his first imprisonment, and in the interval Timothy had been with him, so that he did not need to write subsequently about that visit. He must therefore have been liberated after his first imprisonment (indeed, Heb 13:23, 24, expressly proves that the writer was in Italy and at liberty), and resumed his apostolic journeyings, and been imprisoned at Rome again, whence shortly before his death he wrote Second Timothy.

Eusebius [Chronicles, Anno 2083] (beginning October, A.D. 67), says, "Nero, to his other crimes, added the persecution of Christians: under him the apostles Peter and Paul consummated their martyrdom at Rome." So Jerome [On Illustrious Men], "In the fourteenth year of Nero, Paul was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake, on the same day as Peter, and was buried on the Ostian Road, in the thirty-seventh year after the death of our Lord." Alford reasonably conjectures the Pastoral Epistles were written near this date. The interval was possibly filled up (so Clement of Rome states that Paul preached as far as "to the extremity of the west") by a journey to Spain (Ro 15:24, 28), according to his own original intention. Muratori's Fragment on the Canon of Scripture (about A.D. 170) also alleges Paul's journey into Spain. So Eusebius, Chrysostom, and Jerome. Be that as it may, he seems shortly before his second imprisonment to have visited Ephesus, where a new body of elders governed the Church (Ac 20:25), say in the latter end of A.D. 66, or beginning of 67. Supposing him thirty at his conversion, he would now be upwards of sixty, and older in constitution than in years, through continual hardship. Even four years before he called himself "Paul the aged" (Phm 9).

From Ephesus he went into Macedonia (1Ti 1:3). He may have written the First Epistle to Timothy from that country. But his use of "went," not "came," in 1Ti 1:3, "When I went into Macedonia," implies he was not there when writing. Wherever he was, he writes uncertain how long he may be detained from coming to Timothy (1Ti 3:14, 15). Birks shows the probability that he wrote from Corinth, between which city and Ephesus the communication was rapid and easy. His course, as on both former occasions, was from Macedon to Corinth. He finds a coincidence between 1Ti 2:11-14, and 1Co 14:34, as to women being silent in Church; and 1Ti 5:17, 18, and 1Co 9:8-10, as to the maintenance of ministers, on the same principle as the Mosaic law, that the ox should not be muzzled that treadeth out the corn; and 1Ti 5:19, 20, and 2Co 13:1-4, as to charges against elders. It would be natural for the apostle in the very place where these directions had been enforced, to reproduce them in his letter.

The date of the Epistle to Titus must depend on that assigned to First Timothy, with which it is connected in subject, phraseology, and tone. There is no difficulty in the Epistle to Titus, viewed by itself, in assigning it to the earlier date, namely, before Paul's first imprisonment. In Ac 18:18, 19, Paul, in journeying from Corinth to Palestine, for some cause or other landed at Ephesus. Now we find (Tit 3:13) that Apollos in going from Ephesus to Corinth was to touch at Crete (which seems to coincide with Apollos' journey from Ephesus to Corinth, recorded in Ac 18:24, 27; 19:1); therefore it is not unlikely that Paul may have taken Crete similarly on his way between Corinth and Ephesus; or, perhaps been driven out of his course to it in one of his three shipwrecks spoken of in 2Co 11:25, 26; this will account for his taking Ephesus on his way from Corinth to Palestine, though out of his regular course. At Ephesus Paul may have written the Epistle to Titus [Hug]; there he probably met Apollos and gave the Epistle to Titus to his charge, before his departure for Corinth by way of Crete, and before the apostle's departure for Jerusalem (Ac 18:19-21, 24). Moreover, on Paul's way back from Jerusalem and Antioch, he travelled some time in Upper Asia (Ac 19:1); and it was then, probably, that his intention to "winter at Nicopolis" was realized, there being a town of that name between Antioch and Tarsus, lying on Paul's route to Galatia (Tit 3:12). Thus, First Timothy will, in this theory, be placed two and a half years later (Ac 20:1; compare 1Ti 1:3).

Alford's argument for classing the Epistle to Titus with First Timothy, as written after Paul's first Roman imprisonment, stands or falls with his argument for assigning First Timothy to that date. Indeed, Hug's unobjectionable argument for the earlier date of the Epistle to Titus, favors the early date assigned to First Timothy, which is so much akin to it, if other arguments be not thought to counterbalance this. The Church of Crete had been just founded (Tit 1:5), and yet the same heresies are censured in it as in Ephesus, which shows that no argument, such as Alford alleges against the earlier date of First Timothy, can be drawn from them (Tit 1:10, 11, 15, 16; 3:9, 11). But vice versa, if, as seems likely from the arguments adduced, the First Epistle to Timothy be assigned to the later date, the Epistle to Titus must, from similarity of style, belong to the same period. Alford traces Paul's last journey before his second imprisonment thus: To Crete (Tit 1:5), Miletus (2Ti 4:20), Colosse (fulfilling his intention, Phm 22), Ephesus (1Ti 1:3; 2Ti 1:18), from which neighborhood he wrote the Epistle to Titus; Troas, Macedonia, Corinth (2Ti 4:20), Nicopolis (Tit 3:12) in Epirus, where he had intended to winter; a place in which, as being a Roman colony, he would be free from tumultuary violence, and yet would be more open to a direct attack from foes in the metropolis, Rome. Being known in Rome as the leader of the Christians, he was probably [Alford] arrested as implicated in causing the fire in A.D. 64, attributed by Nero to the Christians, and was sent to Rome by the Duumvirs of Nicopolis. There he was imprisoned as a common malefactor (2Ti 2:9); his Asiatic friends deserted him, except Onesiphorus (2Ti 1:16). Demas, Crescens, and Titus, left him. Tychicus he had sent to Ephesus. Luke alone remained with him (2Ti 4:10-12). Under the circumstances he writes the Second Epistle to Timothy, most likely while Timothy was at Ephesus (2Ti 2:17; compare 1Ti 1:20; 2Ti 4:13), begging him to come to him before winter (2Ti 4:21), and anticipating his own execution soon (2Ti 4:6). Tychicus was perhaps the bearer of the Second Epistle (2Ti 4:12). His defense was not made before the emperor, for the latter was then in Greece (2Ti 4:16, 17). Tradition represents that he died by the sword, which accords with the fact that his Roman citizenship would exempt him from torture; probably late in A.D. 67 or A.D. 68, the last year of Nero.

Timothy is first mentioned, Ac 16:1, as dwelling in Lystra (not Derbe, compare Ac 20:4). His mother was a Jewess named Eunice (2Ti 1:5); his father, "a Greek" (that is, a Gentile). As Timothy is mentioned as "a disciple" in Ac 16:1, he must have been converted before, and this by Paul (1Ti 1:2), probably at his former visit to Lystra (Ac 14:6); at the same time, probably, that his Scripture-loving mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, were converted to Christ from Judaism (2Ti 3:14, 15). Not only the good report given as to him by the brethren of Lystra, but also his origin, partly Jewish, partly Gentile, adapted him specially for being Paul's assistant in missionary work, laboring as the apostle did in each place, firstly among the Jews, and then among the Gentiles. In order to obviate Jewish prejudices, he first circumcised him. He seems to have accompanied Paul in his tour through Macedonia; but when the apostle went forward to Athens, Timothy and Silas remained in Berea. Having been sent back by Paul to visit the Thessalonian Church (1Th 3:2), he brought his report of it to the apostle at Corinth (1Th 3:6). Hence we find his name joined with Paul's in the addresses of both the Epistles to Thessalonians, which were written at Corinth. We again find him "ministering to" Paul during the lengthened stay at Ephesus (Ac 19:22). Thence he was sent before Paul into Macedonia and to Corinth (1Co 4:17; 16:10). He was with Paul when he wrote the Second Epistle to Corinthians (2Co 1:1); and the following winter in Corinth, when Paul sent from thence his Epistle to the Romans (Ro 16:21). On Paul's return to Asia through Macedonia, he went forward and waited for the apostle at Troas (Ac 20:3-5). Next we find him with Paul during his imprisonment at Rome, when the apostle wrote the Epistles to Colossians (Col 1:1), Philemon (Phm 1), and Philippians (Php 1:1). He was imprisoned and set at liberty about the same time as the writer of the Hebrews (Heb 13:23). In the Pastoral Epistles, we find him mentioned as left by the apostle at Ephesus to superintend the Church there (1Ti 1:3). The last notice of him is in the request which Paul makes to him (2Ti 4:21) to "come before winter," that is about A.D. 67 [Alford]. Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 3.42], reports that he was first bishop of Ephesus; and [NICOPHORUS, Ecclesiastical History, 3.11], represents that he died by martyrdom. If then, St. John, as tradition represents, resided and died in that city, it must have been at a later period. Paul himself ordained or consecrated him with laying on of his own hands, and those of the presbytery, in accordance with prophetic intimations given respecting him by those possessing the prophetic gift (1Ti 1:18; 4:14 2Ti 1:6). His self-denying character is shown by his leaving home at once to accompany the apostle, and submitting to circumcision for the Gospel's sake; and also by his abstemiousness (noted in 1Ti 5:23) notwithstanding his bodily infirmities, which would have warranted a more generous diet. Timidity and a want of self-confidence and boldness in dealing with the difficulties of his position, seem to have been a defect in his otherwise beautiful character as a Christian minister (1Co 16:10; 1Ti 4:12; 2Ti 1:7).

The DESIGN of the First Epistle was: (1) to direct Timothy to charge the false teachers against continuing to teach other doctrine than that of the Gospel (1Ti 1:3-20; compare Re 2:1-6); (2) to give him instructions as to the orderly conducting of worship, the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and the selection of widows who should, in return for Church charity, do appointed service (1Ti 2:1-6:2); (3) to warn against covetousness, a sin prevalent at Ephesus, and to urge to good works (1Ti 6:3-19).

CHAPTER 1

1Ti 1:1-20. Address: Paul's Design in Having Left Timothy at Ephesus, Namely, to Check False Teachers; True Use of the Law; Harmonizing with the Gospel; God's Grace in Calling Paul, Once a Blasphemer, to Experience and to Preach It; Charges to Timothy.

1. by the commandment of God—the authoritative injunction, as well as the commission, of God. In the earlier Epistles the phrase is, "by the will of God." Here it is expressed in a manner implying that a necessity was laid on him to act as an apostle, not that it was merely at his option. The same expression occurs in the doxology, probably written long after the Epistle itself [Alford] (Ro 16:26).

God our Saviour—The Father (1Ti 2:3; 4:10; Lu 1:47; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 1:3; 2:10; 3:4; Jude 25). It was a Jewish expression in devotion, drawn from the Old Testament (compare Ps 106:21).1Ti 1:1,2 The salutation.

1Ti 1:3,4 Timothy is put in mind of the charge before given him by Paul.

1Ti 1:5-7 The end of the commandment is charity, from which

some had turned aside to teach the law, which they

understood not.

1Ti 1:8-11 The scope of the law was to condemn wickedness, which

is the design of the gospel also.

1Ti 1:12-17 Paul blesseth God for calling him to the ministry

notwithstanding his great demerit, whereby all

penitent sinners that believe are assured of mercy

through Christ.

1Ti 1:18-20 He urgeth Timothy to a due discharge of his trust,

warning him of some who had deserted the truth, of

whom Hymeneus and Alexander had been delivered by

him unto Satan.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ; one immediately sent by Jesus Christ, by his voice from heaven, Act 9:15, though not by his voice upon earth, as those, Mat 10:1-42.

By the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ:

through the will of God, 1Co 1:1, not his permissive, but preceptive will; and this is the same with his being called to be an apostle, Rom 1:1 1Co 1:1. By our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father not being excluded, but the Son only being named, to whom the mediatory kingdom was committed.

Which is our hope: our hope, there is no more in the Greek, that is, the object of our hope: as when it is said, Gen 31:53, that Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac, that is, by the Deity whom his father feared. This glorious eulogy belongs to our Saviour, in whom there is a concurrence of all that is requisite to free us from destructive evils, and to make us everlastingly happy: for he is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Hence the Gentiles without Christ are said to be without hope, Eph 2:12. And from hence it is evident that Jesus Christ is the eternal God, for if he were only a man, though in excellence above all others, he could not be our hope, for cursed is he that trusteth in man, Jer 17:5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ,.... His name was well known to Timothy, and very dear to him; and so was his office as an apostle, and which he mentions, not so much for Timothy's sake, but for the sake of others, that what he delivers in this epistle might come with its proper weight and authority, and be regarded: of this his office, as well as name; see Gill on Romans 1:1. How he came into this office next follows, not of himself, nor by men,

by the commandment of God; the appointment and decree of God, by which he was separated to this office, even from eternity, and is the same with the counsel or will of God, Ephesians 1:1 or it may refer to the order given by the Holy Ghost to the church; to set apart him and Barnabas, to the work of the ministry, Acts 13:2 though this commandment is called the commandment of God

our Saviour; by whom is meant God the Father; and this character of him is mentioned, to show that the embassy the apostle was sent on as such, and in which the discharge of his office greatly lay, was the affair of salvation, to publish and declare that to the sons of men; and also to show the concern which God the Father has in that work: he resolved upon it, and appointed his people to it, and determined upon saving them by his Son, whom he pitched upon to be his salvation; he drew the scheme of it by his infinite wisdom, and sent his Son into the world to execute it; and he sends his ministers to publish the Gospel of it, and his Spirit to reveal and apply it to the hearts of his chosen ones; and keeps them by his power unto it, and will at last put them into the full possession of it; so that this character well suits with him, to whom it is also given, Titus 3:4 as well as with his Son Jesus Christ, to whom it is more commonly ascribed, and from whom he is here distinguished: for it follows,

and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; who is both the author, and the ground and foundation of the grace of hope of salvation, and eternal life; not earthly enjoyments, nor any external thing whatever; not birth privileges, carnal descent, religious education, morality and civility, obedience to the law of Moses, moral or ceremonial; nor a profession of Christ, nor a bare subjection to his ordinances, but he himself: and there is good ground to hope for pardon through his blood, which was shed for it; and for justification by his righteousness, which is freely wrought out, and freely imputed; and for salvation by him, since it is in him, and in no other, and is completely effected by him, and that for the worst of sinners, and is wholly of free grace, and which everyone that believes in him shall enjoy; and so for eternal life, which hope is conversant with; and good reason there is for it in Christ, seeing it is in him, and in his gift; what his grace gives a meetness for, and his righteousness a title to; and which he is possessed of in the name of his people, prepares for them, and will introduce them into. The Complutensian edition reads, "of the Father, and, our Saviour Jesus Christ"; and so the Ethiopic version, "of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ".

Geneva Study Bible

Paul, {1} an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

(1) First of all, he affirms his own free vocation and also Timothy's, that the one might be confirmed by the other: and in addition he declares the sum of the apostolic doctrine, that is, the mercy of God in Christ Jesus apprehended by faith, the end of which is yet hoped for.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

1 Timothy 1:1-2. As in most of his other epistles, Paul here calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ in the narrower sense of the term, according to which it was applied only to those immediately called by Christ to the ministry of the gospel. He directs attention to the immediate nature of the call by adding the words κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν Θεοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν κ.τ.λ. In 1 Cor., 2 Cor., Eph., Col., 2 Tim., διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ is used for a like purpose. The expression κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν κ.τ.λ. is found elsewhere in the inscription only in Titus 1:3, where, however, it is not placed in such close connection with ἀπόστολος as here (comp. besides Romans 16:26, also 1 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 8:8). The θέλημα is the source of the ἐπιταγή, by which we are to understand the commission given to the apostle. By this addition the apostle expresses his “assured consciousness of the divine origin and worth of his apostleship” (Matthies). It is not, however, an “involuntary” expression. The apostle deliberately insists on his apostolic authority, for the very sufficient reason that he was laying down in his epistle rules for church life. Heydenreich’s suggestion, that Paul meant at the same time to confirm Timothy’s position, is very far-fetched.

Θεοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν] This collocation of the words is only found elsewhere in the N. T. in Judges 1:25; in all passages of the Pastoral Epistles it usually runs: ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Θεός. In this passage σωτὴρ ἡμῶν is added as in adjectival apposition to Θεοῦ; while in Luke 1:47 it is marked as a substantive by the article. In the Pastoral Epistles σωτήρ is used both of God (so frequently in O. T.; comp. LXX. Psalm 24:5; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 45:15; Isaiah 45:21; Wis 16:7; Sir 51:1) and of Christ; in the other Pauline Epistles (e.g. Ephesians 5:23; Php 3:20), as well as in John 4:42, Acts 5:31, etc., it serves to denote Christ. Heydenreich is right in remarking that God does not bear this name as preserver and benefactor of men in general, but on account of the means He has instituted for saving and blessing us through Christ.

καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ] These words are added on account of the apostle’s Christology; so also in Galatians 1:1.

τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν] Christ is so named because He is both “the ground of our hope” (Wiesinger) and the object of it. He is hoped for, because by Him the σωτηρία is brought to completion (Calvin: in eo solo residet tota salutis nostrae materia); comp. the expression in Colossians 1:27 : ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δοξῆς.

Τιμοθέῳ γνησίῳ τέκνῳ ἐν πίστει] Paul calls Timothy his child; he was not so κατὰ σάρκα but ἐν πίστει, since he was converted to the faith by Paul, as we learn from 1 Corinthians 4:14-17. Paul usually calls himself the father of those who had been led to the faith by him (comp. Galatians 4:19). The idea of τἐκνον is strengthened by γνήσιος, perhaps by way of contrast with the heretics. The opposite of γνήσιος is νόθος or οὐκ ὄντως ὤν (comp. Plato, Rep. 293). This addition also gives prominence to the fact that Timothy was his son in the faith, not in appearance but in truth; hence Paul calls him also in 1 Corinthians 4:17 his τέκνον ἀγαπητὸν καὶ πιστὸν ἐν κυρίῳ.

ἐν πίστει] “in the sphere of faith,” is not to be connected with γνησίῳ but with τέκνῳ, as defined more closely by γνησίῳ; comp. Titus 1:4, and see Winer, p. 130 [E. T. p. 171].

χάρις, ἔλεος, εἰρήνη] This collocation occurs only in the Pastoral Epistles and in 2 John 1:3; in the other Pauline Epistles it runs: χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη. In Galatians 6:16, however, εἰρήνη and ἔλεος are connected with one another. In Judges 1:2 we have: ἔλεος ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ ἀγάπη. The three expressions manifestly do not indicate three different gifts of grace, but only one. The distinction is, that χάρις points more to the soil from which the gift comes, and εἰρήνη denotes its nature, while the ἔλεος (standing between the two others in the Pastoral Epistles) lays stress on the element of compassionate love in χάρις.[39] Otto arbitrarily finds in ἜΛΕΟς “a reference to the official position,” appealing to such passages as 1 Timothy 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Corinthians 7:25; 2 Corinthians 4:1. Paul does also acknowledge that his call to the ministry of the word came from God’s ἜΛΕΟς; but it does not follow from this that the word ἜΛΕΟς is used only in reference to the official position; comp. Galatians 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:18.

ἈΠῸ ΘΕΟῦ ΠΑΤΡῸς ΚΑῚ Κ.Τ.Λ.] Even with the reading ἩΜῶΝ the genitive ΧΡΙΣΤΟῦ ἸΗΣΟῦ cannot be made to depend on ΘΕΟῦ. Next to the Father, Paul names Christ as the source from which the blessing comes, because all the Father’s gifts of blessing come through the Son.

[39] Wiesinger is right in not agreeing with Olshausen, who wishes to see in the expressions σωτήρ, ἐλπίς, ἔλεος, a special reference to the apostle’s position as a prisoner. Van Oosterzee aptly remarks: “Grace may be called the greatest benefaction for the guilty, compassion for the suffering, peace for the contending (?) disciple of the Lord.” Hofmann is right in his remark on 1 Timothy 1:1, that χάρις with ἀπό does not denote God’s thoughts, but “that in which His thoughts are shown, the grace which man receives.” In his explanation of 1 Timothy 1:2 : “χάρις is that which is imparted to man by God, who wishes him well,” the idea of χάρις is made far too general.

Expositor's Greek Testament

1 Timothy 1:1-2. SALUTATION.

1 Timothy 1:1. ἀπόστολος Χρ. Ἰησ. The use of this official title is an indication that the Pastoral Epistles were not merely private letters (ctr. Παῦλος δέσμιος Χρ. Ἰησ., Philemon 1:1), but were intended to be read to the Churches committed to the charge of Timothy and Titus respectively. The phrase means simply one sent by Christ, not primarily one belonging to Christ. Cf. Php 2:25, where Epaphroditus is spoken of as ὑμῶν ἀπόστ., and 2 Corinthians 8:23, ἀπόστ. ἐκκλησιῶν. ἀπόστ. Χρ. Ἰησ. is also found in 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Colossians 1:1, 2 Timothy 1:1; ἀπόστ. Ἰησ. Χρ. in 1 Corinthians 1:1, Titus 1:1. The difference in the use Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus seems to be this: in each case the first member of the compound name indicates whether the historical or the notional idea of the Person is chiefly in the writer’s mind. Jesus Christ briefly expresses the proposition, “Jesus is the Christ”; it embodies the first theological assertion concerning Jesus; it represents the conception of the historical Jesus in the minds of those who had seen Him. St. John, St. Peter and St. James employ this name when speaking of our Lord. But in Christ Jesus, on the other hand, the theological conception of the Christ predominates over that of the actual Jesus Who had been seen, felt and heard by human senses. Accordingly we find Christ Jesus in every stage of the Pauline Epistles; and, as we should expect, more frequently in the later than in the earlier letters. In almost every instance of the occurrence of Jesus Christ in the Pastoral Epistles the thought of the passage concerns the humanity, or historical aspect, of our Lord. Thus in Titus 1:1, “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,” we could not substitute Christ Jesus without weakening the antithesis. See note there. St. Paul, here as elsewhere, claims to have been as truly sent by Christ as were those who were apostles before him.

κατʼ ἐπιταγήν: in obedience to the command. The full phrase κατʼ ἐπιτ. θ. σ. ἡμῶν occurs again (τοῦ σωτ. ἡμ. θεοῦ) in a similar context in Titus 1:3; κατʼ ἐπιτ. τοῦ αἰωνίου θ. in Romans 16:26. In 1 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 8:8, κατʼ ἐπιτ. is used in a different sense.

St. Paul more commonly refers the originating cause of his mission to the will of God (1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1). He would hardly say through the will of Christ, θέλημα being used of the eternal counsel of the Godhead; but inasmuch as the command is the consequent of the will, he can speak of his apostleship as being due to the command of Christ Jesus, as well as of God the Father. In this matter Jesus Christ is co-ordinated with God the Father in Galatians 1:1; while in Romans 1:4-5, Paul’s apostleship is “through Jesus Christ our Lord” only. On the other hand, in Titus 1:3, St. Paul says he was intrusted with the message “according to the commandment of God our Saviour”. Here it is to be noted that the command proceeds equally from God and Christ Jesus. This language could hardly have been used if St. Paul conceived of Christ Jesus as a creature. Moulton and Milligan (Expositor, vii., vii. 379) compare St. Paul’s use of ἐπιταγή as a Divine command with its technical use in heathen dedicatory inscriptions. We cannot, with Chrys., narrow the “commandment of God” to the specific date of St. Paul’s commission by the Church, whether in Acts 13:2 or on an earlier occasion. St. Paul claimed that he had been “separated from his mother’s womb” (Galatians 1:15).

θεοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν: Westcott on 1 John 4:14 has an instructive note on the Biblical use of the term σωτήρ. “The title is confined (with the exception of the writings of St. Luke) to the later writings of the N.T., and is not found in the central group of St. Paul’s Epistles.” It may be added that in the Lucan references (Luke 1:47, of God; 1 Timothy 2:11, Acts 5:31; Acts 13:23, of Christ) the term σωτήρ has not primarily its full later evangelical import, and would be best rendered deliverer, as in the constant O.T. application of the term to God. Perhaps the same is true of Php 3:20, and Ephesians 5:23, where it is used of Christ. On the other hand, apart from ὁ σωτὴρ τ. κόσμου (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14), the conventional evangelical use is found: of God the Father in (a) 1 Timothy 1:1, Judges 1:25, θεὸς σωτὴρ ἡμῶν; (b) 1 Timothy 2:3, Titus 1:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4, ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν θεός; (c) 1 Timothy 4:10, σωτήρ in apposition to θεός in the preceding clause; of Christ, in (a) 2 Timothy 1:10, ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς; (b) Titus 1:4; Titus 3:6, Χρ. Ἰησ. ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν; (c) 2 Peter 1:11; 2 Peter 2:20; 2 Peter 3:18, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ σωτὴρ Ἰησ. Χρ.; (d) 2 Peter 3:2, ὁ Κύριος καὶ σωτήρ. To the (c) class belong, perhaps, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, ὁ [μέγας] θεὸς [ἡμῶν] καὶ σωτὴρ [ἡμῶν] Ἰησ. Χρ.; but see note on Titus 2:13.

In the text, there is an antithesis between the offices of God as our Saviour and of Christ Jesus as our hope. The one points to the past, at least chiefly, and the other to the future. In speaking of the saving action of God, St, Paul uses the aorist. 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4-5. He saved us, potentially. See further on ch. 1 Timothy 2:3. God, as the Council of Trent says (Sess. vi. cap. 7), is the efficient cause of our justification, while Jesus, “our righteousness,” besides being the meritorious cause, may be said to be the formal cause; for “the righteousness of God by which He maketh us righteous” is embodied in Jesus, Who “was made unto us … righteousness and sanctification” (1 Corinthians 1:30). We advance from salvation to sanctification; and accordingly we must not narrow down the conception Christ Jesus our hope to mean “the hope of Israel” (Acts 23:6; Acts 28:20); but rather the historical manifestation of the Son of God as Christ Jesus is the ground of our “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Our hope is that “the body of our humiliation will be conformed to the body of His glory” (Php 3:20-21). See also Ephesians 4:13. Our hope is that “we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2-3). See also Titus 2:13, προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα. For this vivid use of an abstract noun compare Ephesians 2:14, αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν.

Ignatius borrows this noble appellation: Magn. 11; Trall. inscr., “Jesus Christ Who is our hope through our resurrection unto Him”; Trall. 2, “Jesus Christ our hope; for if we live in Him, we shall also be found in Him”. See also Polycarp, 8.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ch. 1. Apostolic Faithfulness

1, 2. Greeting

1. an apostle of Jesus Christ] Read rather with the mss. an apostle of Christ Jesus, and again with a similar transposition and omitting ‘Lord,’ Christ Jesus our hope; as in 1 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 1:4. Altogether, according to the best mss., the change should be made nine times in these epp. The name ‘Christ Jesus’ is most frequently on the Apostle’s lips in old age, occurring 22 times, while ‘Jesus Christ’ is used but seven times, ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ but twice, see 1 Timothy 6:3. See further, Moule’s Colossians, I. 1.

by the commandment of] Better, by authority from; this phrase (1) recalls to English ears official titles and announcements; and (2) suits each of the seven passages in St Paul’s epistles where it occurs, suggesting the commission delegated from the supreme power of God: it gives as here, so in Titus 1:3, the warrant for St Paul’s laying down the rules of Church order, and the warrant therefore for Timothy and Titus doing the same under their delegated commission. It is a clear gain to use the same word in these passages and in Titus 2:15, ‘exhort, reprove, with all authority.’

God our Saviour] A new phrase in St Paul’s language, three times used in this epistle and three times in ep. to Titus; cf. Jude, jude 1:25: the corresponding phrase Christ our Saviour four times in these epistles (previously in Ephesians 5:23 and Php 3:20, the word ‘Saviour’ is used not as a title but in a statement, as predicate not attribute—an evidently earlier stage), five times in the Second Epistle of St Peter. Fairbairn suggests with reason that this title is given to God here rather than to Christ ‘as a kind of counteractive to the false teaching’; this personal designation of God, as originating and carrying into effect the work of salvation, would indicate the true preservative against all arbitrariness in speculation and undue licence in practice.

Jesus Christ … our hope] Again a token of the later apostolic age. Christ, who is at first in His own words ‘the Light,’ ‘the Way,’ ‘the Truth,’ ‘the Life,’ is (with still further appropriation of the abstract) in the epistles of the first captivity ‘our peace,’ Ephesians 2:14, ‘the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27, and now towards the days of the second captivity simply ‘our hope.’ This personification of the abstract has still further developed with the lapse of centuries, so that a modern writer can say,

O everlasting Health,

From which all healing springs,

Our Bliss, our Treasure, and our Wealth,

To Thee our spirit clings.

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Timothy 1:1. Ἀπόστολος, an apostle) This title serves to confirm Timothy. Familiarity must be laid aside, where the cause of God is concerned.—κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν, according to the commandment) So Romans 16:26; comp. 1 Corinthians 1:1, note.—σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, our Saviour) So God the Father is also called, ch. 1 Timothy 2:3, 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4; Judges 1:25; Luke 1:47. The reason [for the Father being so called] is explained, 2 Timothy 1:9.—τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν, who is our Hope) Synonymous with Σωτῆρος, our Saviour,

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - Christ Jesus for Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; according to for by, A.V.; Christ Jesus our hope for Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope, A.V. and T.R. For the inscription, comp. Romans 1:1, 5; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1; in all which St. Paul asserts his apostleship, and ascribes it directly to "the will of God" (comp. Galatians 1:11, 12, etc.). According to the commandment (as Titus 1:3) expresses the same truth, but possibly with a more direct reference to the command, "Separate me Paul and Barnabas," recorded in Acts 13:2. This assertion of his apostolic authority indicates that this is not a private letter to Timothy, but a public Church document for all time. Our hope (comp. Colossians 1:27; Acts 28:20). 1 Timothy 1:1

Vincent's Word Studies

An apostle of Jesus Christ

This title appears in the salutations of Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians. In Philippians, Paul and Timothy the servants of Jesus Christ. Philemon a prisoner. This formal announcement of apostleship is strange in a private letter.

By the commandment of God (κατ' ἐπιταγὴν θεοῦ)

The phrase in Romans 16:26. Κατ' ἐπιταγὴν absolutely, by commandment, 1 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 8:8. Paul uses διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ by the will of God. See 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1. Comp. 2 Timothy 1:1.

Our Savior (σωτῆρος ἡμῶν)

Comp. Luke 1:47; Jde 1:25. oP. Six times in the Pastorals. Used of both God and Christ (see Titus 1:3, Titus 1:4; Titus 2:10, Titus 2:13; Titus 3:4, Titus 3:6). The saving of men appears as God's direct will and act, 1 Timothy 2:4; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9 as Christ's work, 1 Timothy 1:15, comp. 2 Timothy 2:10. In lxx σωτὴρ occurs twenty times, and in all but two instances, of God.

Jesus Christ which is our hope

The phrase is unique in N.T. Comp. Colossians 1:27, where, however, the construction is doubtful. Ἑλπὶς hope is predicated of Christ by Ignatius, Ephesians 21. Philad. v. The salutation as a whole has no parallel in Paul.