1 Timothy 6:13

I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) I give thee charge in the sight of God.—Better rendered, I charge thee in the sight of God. If possible, with increased earnestness and a yet deeper solemnity as the letter draws to an end does St. Paul charge that young disciple—from whom he hoped so much, and yet for whom he feared so anxiously—to keep the commandment and doctrine of his Master spotless; and, so far as in him lay, to preserve that doctrine unchanged and unalloyed till the coming again of the blessed Master. So he charges him as in the tremendous presence of God.

Who quickeneth all things.—The older authorities adopt here a reading which implies, who keepest alive, or preservest, all things. The Preserver rather than the Creator is here brought into prominence. Timothy is exhorted to fight his good fight, ever mindful that he is in the presence of that great Being who could and would—even if Timothy’s faithfulness should lead him to danger and to death—still preserve him, on earth or in Paradise.

And before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.—Better rendered, who before Pontius Pilate bore witness to the good confession. The good confession which (1Timothy 6:12) Timothy confessed before many witnesses, Jesus Christ, in the presence of Pilate, had already borne witness to. In other words, Jesus Christ, before Pontius Pilate, bore witness by His own solemn words, that He was the Messiah—the long-looked-for King of Israel. If the preposition which we have, with the majority of expositors, construed “before” (Pontius Pilate) have here its local meaning, the “witness” must be limited to the scene in the Judgment Hall—to the interview between the prisoner Jesus and the Roman governor.

Although this meaning here seems the most accurate, it is possible to understand this preposition in a temporal, not in a local, signification—under (that is, in the days of) Pontius Pilate—then the “witness” was borne by the Redeemer to the fact of His being “Messiah:” first, by His own solemn words; secondly, by His voluntary death. The confession was that “He, Jesus, was a King, though not of this world.” (See Matthew 27:11; John 18:36-37, where the noble confession is detailed.) He bore His witness with a terrible death awaiting Him. It was, in some respects, a model confession for all martyrs, in so far as it was a bold confession of the truth with the sentence of death before His eyes.

Benson Commentary

1 Timothy 6:13-16. I give thee charge, &c. — See note on 1 Timothy 5:21; in the sight — In the presence; of God — Whose eye is upon us both; and who quickeneth all things — Who is the source of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal, and therefore is able to raise those from the dead that suffer for him: a suitable, though oblique intimation, that should Timothy, after the example of his great Lord, sacrifice his life to the honour of his profession, God, who raised Christ from the dead, would raise him. See 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:10-12. The earnestness and solemnity with which the apostle addresses Timothy on this occasion, did not proceed from any suspicion of his fidelity as a minister, but from his own deep sense of the importance of the truths which Timothy was to confess and maintain. Hence the ministers of the gospel may learn that these truths ought to be often and earnestly insisted on by them in their public discourses. And before — In the presence of; Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession — This was made by our Lord most explicitly before Caiaphas and the Jewish council, when, being asked whether he was Christ, the Son of the Blessed, he acknowledged that he was; and added, Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, &c, Mark 14:61-62. This confession was adhered to by our Lord in the presence of Pilate, when he acknowledged himself the King of the Jews, John 18:33; John 18:37; that is, acknowledged that he was Messiah the prince, and suffered death rather than conceal or retract it. And the apostle calls it a good confession, because all our hopes of salvation are built upon the truth of it. That thou keep this commandment — That thou observe whatsoever I have enjoined thee, or, that thou keep the doctrine which I have committed to thee; without spot — Without adding to it, detracting from it, concealing or misrepresenting any part of it; and unrebukable — So that no one may have cause to find any fault with thee, or reprove thee for thy neglect; till the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ — Till he shall call thee hence by death; or the meaning of the exhortation is, that Timothy, by keeping the doctrines and precepts which the apostle had committed to him without spot, was to hand them down pure to his successors in the ministry, and thereby to contribute his part toward preserving them in the world till Christ’s second coming. Which appearing, in his appointed time — (The power, the knowledge, the revelation of which remain in his own eternal mind;) he shall show — In the most awful and conspicuous manner; who is the blessed and only Potentate — Before whom no other name or power is worthy of being mentioned; the King of kings, and Lord of lords — These titles the apostle gave to God, because all who have dominion, whether in heaven or on earth, have it from God, and are absolutely subject to him. The eastern princes affected these titles very improperly, being weak, mortal men: the true King of kings, and Lord of lords, who hath the fates and lives of all the monarchs on earth entirely in his hands, is alone worthy of them. Who only hath — Underived and independent; immortality — Life without beginning and without ending; and as this implies immutability, he only is immutable, as well as immortal; whence he is called, (Romans 1:23,) αφθαρτος Θεος, the incorruptible, or immutable God, as also 1 Timothy 1:17. Every other being, angel or man, that hath life without end, hath it by his gift. Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto — Which is absolutely inaccessible to mortals, and probably also to angels. Whom no man hath seen, nor can see — With bodily eyes; yet there is a sense in which the pure in heart shall see God, in the future and eternal state: yea, shall see him as he is, Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2. To whom be honour, &c. — Ascribed by every intelligent being in the universe, through eternal ages.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:11-16 It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of this world; men of God should be taken up with the things of God. There must be a conflict with corruption, and temptations, and the powers of darkness. Eternal life is the crown proposed for our encouragement. We are called to lay hold thereon. To the rich must especially be pointed out their dangers and duties, as to the proper use of wealth. But who can give such a charge, that is not himself above the love of things that wealth can buy? The appearing of Christ is certain, but it is not for us to know the time. Mortal eyes cannot bear the brightness of the Divine glory. None can approach him except as he is made known unto sinners in and by Christ. The Godhead is here adored without distinction of Persons, as all these things are properly spoken, whether of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost. God is revealed to us, only in and through the human nature of Christ, as the only begotten Son of the Father.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I give thee charge in the sight God - see the notes on 1 Timothy 5:21.

Who quickeneth all things - Who gives life to all; notes on Ephesians 2:1. It is not quite clear why the apostle refers to this attribute of God as enforcing the charge which he here makes. Perhaps he means to say that God is the source of life, and that as he had given life to Timothy - natural and spiritual - he had a right to require that it should be employed in his service; and that, if, in obedience to this charge and in the performance of his duties, he should be required to lay down his life, he should bear in remembrance that God had power to raise him up again. This is more distinctly urged in 2 Timothy 2:8-10.

And before Christ Jesus - As in the presence of Christ, and stimulated by his example.

Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession - Margin, "profession." The same Greek word is used which in 1 Timothy 6:12 is translated "profession." The reference is to the fact that the Lord Jesus, when standing at the bar of Pilate who claimed to have power over his life, did not shrink from an open avowal of the truth; John 18:36-37. Nothing can be better fitted to preserve our minds steadfast in the faith, and to enable us to maintain our sacred vows in this world when allured by temptation, or when ridiculed for our religion, than to remember the example of the Lord Jesus; Let us place him before us as he stood at the bar of Pilate - threatened with death in its most appalling form, and ridiculed for the principles which he maintained; let us look on him, friendless and alone, and see with what seriousness, and sincerity, and boldness he stated the simple truth about himself, and we shall have one of the best securities that we can have, that we shall not dishonor our profession. A clear view of the example of Christ our Saviour, in those circumstances, and a deep conviction that his eye is upon us to discern whether we are steadfast as he was, will do more than all abstract precepts to make us faithful to our christian calling.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. quickeneth all things—that is, "maketh alive." But the oldest manuscripts read, "preserveth alive"; as the same Greek means in Ac 7:19; compare Ne 9:6. He urges Timothy to faithfulness here by the present manifestation of God's power in preserving all things, as in 1Ti 6:14, by the future manifestation of God's power at the appearing of Christ. The assurance that "eternal life," 1Ti 6:12, will be the result of "fighting the good fight," rests on the fulness and power of Him who is the God of all life, present and to come.

witnessed—It was the Lord's part to witness, Timothy's part to confess (or "profess," 1Ti 6:12) "the good confession" [Bengel]. The confession was His testimony that He was King, and His kingdom that of the truth (see on [2485]1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:15; Mt 27:11). Christ, in attesting, or bearing witness to this truth, attested the truth of the whole of Christianity. Timothy's profession, or confession, included therefore the whole of the Christian truth.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The apostle’s care of the church showeth itself in these severe charges laid upon Timothy; though one whom he knew to be a faithful minister, he chargeth him, calling God to witness that he had fulfilled his part in laying this charge upon him. The name he here giveth unto God may possibly have a particular reference to the state of the gospel at that time, the doctrine and profession of which had many enemies, and so it is made use of here to comfort and encourage Timothy. God is called he

who quickeneth the dead, Romans 4:17; here, he

who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; he proposeth the example of Christ to Timothy, as being the Head of those that witness a good confession.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I give thee charge in the sight of God,.... Who is omniscient and omnipotent:

who quickeneth all things; all creatures, for all animate creatures have their life, motion, and bring in him; and who quickeneth all his people, at first conversion, when dead in sin, and afterwards when dull and lifeless; and who will quicken the dead at the last day. This seems to be mentioned to strengthen Timothy against the fears of death, that should he die in fighting the Lord's battles, he was able to raise him from the dead, and would do it.

And before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; or rather "under Pontius Pilate"; or, as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it, "in the time of Pontius Pilate"; for this may refer not only to the confession Christ made in his presence, at his examination by him, when he owned himself to be a King, declared the nature of his kingdom, and signified that the end of his incarnation was to bear a testimony to the truth; but it may also refer to the faithful, plain, and open witness Christ bore to truth throughout the whole of his ministry, under Pontius Pilate, by his doctrine and miracles, and at last by his sufferings and death, which he endured under him; and this is mentioned for Timothy's imitation, and to encourage him, and all other saints, to hold fast the profession of their faith to the end.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

(10) A most earnest request and charge, to observe and keep all the things faithfully, with our eyes set upon the coming of Jesus Christ, whose glory we have to contrast with the vain glittering of this world, and his power with all the terrors of the wicked.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

1 Timothy 6:13-14. Παραγγέλλω σοι] Matthies regards τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν as the subject belonging to this; but against this construction there is both the meaning of the verb and the τηρῆσαί σε following.[204] Leo justly says: quo magis ad finem vergit epistola, eo gravior existit apostoli oratio. To give his exhortation greater force, Paul adds to παραγγέλλω (comp. 1 Timothy 1:3) the words of adjuration: ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ κ.τ.λ.

Τοῦ ζωογονοῦντος τὰ πάντα] ζωογονεῖν in the classic usage, equivalent to “bring forth alive, make alive,” serves in the LXX. for translating the Piel and Hiphil of הָיָה in the double signification: “maintain in life,” Exodus 1:17; Jdg 8:19, and other passages; and “make alive,” 1 Samuel 2:6 (comp. 2 Kings 5:7). In the N. T. it occurs here and at Luke 17:33, Acts 7:19, in the sense of “maintain in life.” When connected with τὰ πάντα, ζωογ. is not to be understood specially of the resurrection (de Wette, van Oosterzee), but either “of God’s might that upholds everything” (Wiesinger, Hofmann), or, still better, of “His power that quickens everything” (Plitt), in the same sense as it is said of God in Nehemiah 9:6 : ΣῪ ΖΩΟΠΟΙΕῖς ΤᾺ ΠΆΝΤΑ. God is therefore mentioned here as the source of life for the universe (ΤᾺ ΠΆΝΤΑ), there being a special reference to 1 Timothy 6:12 : ἘΠΙΛΑΒΟῦ Τῆς ΑἸΩΝΊΟΥ ΖΩῆς.

ΚΑῚ ΧΡ. ἸΗΣ. ΤΟῦ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΉΣΑΝΤΟς ἘΠῚ ΠΟΝΤΊΟΥ ΠΙΛΆΤΟΥ ΤῊΝ ΚΑΛῊΝ ὉΜΟΛΟΓΊΑΝ] ΤῊΝ Κ. ὉΜΟΛΟΓΊΑΝ is not dependent on ΠΑΡΑΓΓΈΛΛΩ (Matthies: “I make known to thee … the good confession”), but on ΜΑΡΤΥΡΉΣΑΝΤΟς. It is open to question, however, whether the ΚΑΛῊ ὉΜΟΛΟΓΊΑ is the confession of the Christian which Timothy too has made (Wiesinger, Plitt, Hofmann), or the confession which Christ made (Leo, van Oosterzee). In the former case, ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕῖΝ is much the same as “testify, i.e. confirm, declare for truth;” in the latter it is kindred in meaning with ὁμολογεῖν. Wiesinger asserts that μαρτυρεῖν never has the latter meaning, but unjustly; because in John 5:32 we have μαρτυρίαν μαρτυρεῖν, and in John 3:11 we have ὃ οἴδαμεν λαλοῦμεν καὶ ὃ ἑωράκαμεν μαρτυροῦμεν (1 John 1:2; Revelation 1:2). On the contrary, there is no passage to be found where μαρτυρεῖν with the accus. means so much as “confirm the truth of an utterance by a testimony in regard to it.”[205] The first view, therefore, is to be rejected as contrary to usage. Besides, the confession made by Jesus, and Timothy’s confession mentioned in 1 Timothy 6:12, are not in contents different from one another. De Wette thinks that ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕῖΝ “is used here in the well-known ecclesiastical signification, consequently that Christ is represented as the first martyr,” and that the meaning is: “Christ confirmed the confession of the truth by His suffering and death.” This is not only against the usage of the N. T., but fails also by generalizing in an arbitrary way the idea of Ἡ ΚΑΛῊ ὉΜΟΛΟΓΊΑ.

If Ἡ Κ. ὉΜΟΛ. is the confession which Christ witnessed of Himself, ἘΠῚ ΠΟΝΤ. ΠΙΛ. cannot mean: “under Pontius Pilate” (de Wette), but only: “before Pontius Pilate.” Ἐπί stands here as in Matthew 28:14, Acts 25:9; Acts 26:2, and other passages.

As the words added with ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ point back to ΤῊς ΑἸΩΝ. ΖΩῆς, so do those added here with ΧΡ. ἸΗΣ. point back to ΚΑῚ ὩΜΟΛΌΓΗΣΑς Κ.Τ.Λ.

ΤΗΡῆΣΑΊ ΣΕ ΤῊΝ ἘΝΤΟΛῊΝ ἌΣΠΙΛΟΝ, ἈΝΕΠΊΛΗΠΤΟΝ] These words, depending on ΠΑΡΑΓΓΈΛΛΩ), give the purpose of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy. ΤΗΡΕῖΝ, joined with ἘΝΤΟΛΉ in many passages of the N. T., means “keep, observe,” as in chap. 1 Timothy 5:22 (de Wette and most expositors; Wiesinger differs).

ΤῊΝ ἘΝΤΟΛΉΝ is not a single moral or official law given specially to Timothy; it is synonymous with Ἡ ΠΑΡΑΓΓΕΛΊΑ in 1 Timothy 1:5 (so, too, Hofmann), pointing out the law of the gospel as the divine standard, according to which the Christian has to regulate his life.[206]

ἄσπιλον and ἀνεπίληπτον must, from their position, be referred to ἐντολήν (with de Wette, van Oosterzee, Plitt, Hofmann, and others), and not to σε, as Leo, Matthies, Wiesinger, and most suppose.[207] Expositors take ἌΣΠΙΛΟΝ and ἈΝΕΠΊΛΗΠΤΟΝ as two co-ordinate adjectives, so that for the sense ΚΑΊ has to be supplied between them (so hitherto in this commentary). This, however, is against usage; ΚΑΊ is dropped only when more than two attributes are reckoned, comp. e.g. 1 Timothy 3:2 ff., or when the one adjective forms one idea with the substantive, so that the other adjective defines the compound idea more precisely (comp. e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:4; see Winer, pp. 488 f. [E. T. p. 659]). It is more correct, therefore, to connect ἄσπιλον closely with ἘΝΤΟΛΉ, and to take ἈΝΕΠΊΛΗΠΤΟΝ in such a way that it declares how Timothy is to keep this ἘΝΤΟΛῊ ἌΣΠΙΛΟς: he is to keep the commandment which is in itself spotless, and to keep it so as to expose it to no blame.

ΜΈΧΡΙ Τῆς ἘΠΙΦΑΝΕΊΑς Τ. ΚΝΡΊΟΥ ἩΜ. ἸΗΣ. ΧΡ]. Ἡ ἘΠΙΦΆΝΕΙΑ is the second coming of Christ. The word occurs outside of the Pastoral Epistles only in 2 Thessalonians 2:17 (2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:13; in 2 Timothy 1:10, it is used to denote Christ’s first coming in the flesh). For the second coming we usually have ἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙς (1 Corinthians 1:7) or ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ. The word ἘΠΙΦΆΝΕΙΑ brings into prominence the element of visibility in the ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ; comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (Wiesinger). Chrysostom’s explanation is wrong: ΜΈΧΡΙ Τῆς Σῆς ΤΕΛΕΥΤῆς.

Bengel: fideles in praxi sua proponebant sibi diem Christi, ut appropinquantem, nos solemus nobis horam mortis proponere.

[204] The objections made by Matthies against the correct construction are only founded on this, that he considers the definite article τήν to be unsuitable before καλὴν ὁμολογίαν.

[205] Had Paul wished to express the thought that Christ had confirmed, by word or deed, the truth of the Christian confession, he would have written the dative τῇ καλῇ ὁμολογίᾳ.—The expression μαρτυρίαν μαρτυρεῖν, also occurring in classic Greek, does not mean: “confirm the truth of a testimony,” but simply: “testify, i.e. make a testimony.”—The old expositors justly directed attention to Matthew 27:11 and John 18:26 f. in regard to ἡ καλὴ ὁμολογία.

[206] The special reference to ver. 12 (van Oosterzee) is arbitrary. Still it might perhaps be said that Paul sums up in τὴν ἐντολήν commands which he gave to Timothy in vv. 11, 12. In this command, however, there is also contained the sum of the whole Christian law.

[207] Wiesinger thinks that ἄσπ. and ἀνεπίλ. denote the result of τηρῆσαι τὴν ἐντολήν. But how can this he justified grammatically?

Expositor's Greek Testament

1 Timothy 6:13. παραγγέλλω σοι: St. Paul passes in thought from the past epoch in Timothy’s life, with its human witnesses, among whom was the apostle himself, to the present probation of Timothy, St. Paul far away; and he feels impelled to remind his lieutenant that there are Witnesses of his conduct whose real though unseen presence is an encouragement as well as a check. See on 1 Timothy 6:21.

ζωογονοῦντος: This word has the sense preserve alive, as R.V. m. See reff. A good example from O.T. is 1 Samuel 2:6, Κύριος θανατοῖ καὶ ζωογονεῖ. The word has here a special appropriateness. Timothy is stimulated to exhibit moral courage by an assurance that he is in the hands of One whose protective power is universal, and by the example of One who, as Man, put that protective power to a successful test, and was “saved out of death” (Hebrews 5:7).

τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν must have the same reference here as in the preceding verse. We have seen that in the case of Timothy, it means his baptismal profession of faith in God as revealed by Jesus Christ. In the case of Jesus Himself it is best understood of His habitual sense of His heavenly Father’s presence and protection, which found its supreme expression on the Cross (Luke 24:46).

μαρτυρήσαντος: Although Jesus, as Man, and His followers make the same ὁμολογία, yet their respective relations to it are different. μαρτυρέω indicates a power of origination and authentication which ὁμολογέω does not. The utterances and acts of Jesus, as Man, are human; yet He spoke and acted as no other man ever did. Matthew 17:27 (“That take, and give unto them for me and thee,” not “for us”) and John 20:17 (“I ascend unto my Father and your Father,” etc. not our Father or our God) illustrate very well this difference between Jesus and His brethren in relations which they share alike. This is why St. Paul does not here use ὁμολογέω ὁμολογίαν of Christ, but employs instead the unusual μαρτυρέω ὁμολογίαν. Jesus is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, Revelation 1:5, ὁ μαρτ. ὁ πιστ. καὶ ἀληθινός, Revelation 3:14. Bengel suggests that the two verbs indicate the attitudes of the bystanders in each case: “confessus est, cum assensione testium: testatus est, non assentiente Pilato”. The Vulg. treats τὴν καλ. ὁμολ. as an acc. of closer specification, qui testimonium reddidit sub Pontio Pilato, bonam confessionem.

ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πειλάτου: With the explanation of the ὁμολογία of Jesus which has just been given, it would be natural to render this, with the Vulg., under Pontius Pilate; and this view is favoured by the change from ἐνώπιον, 1 Timothy 6:12, to ἐπί, and by the likelihood that this is a fragment of a creed. Yet the rendering before Pontius Pilate (Chrys., etc.), is not inconsistent with the notion that the ὁμολογία in one sense was made all during our Lord’s ministry; for undoubtedly from one point of view it was when Jesus’ life was hanging in the balance, depending on the decision of Pontius Pilate, that His trust in the protective love of His Father was most tried. His calm repose of soul on the assurance of God’s wise and good disposition of events is well illustrated by His words as recorded in John 19:11, “Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above”. Until it has been been proved that the Fourth Gospel is not a record of facts, it is reasonable to suppose that St. Paul and his contemporaries were acquainted with the general account of the trial of Jesus as therein described.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. God, who quickeneth] The word which has the sanction of the mss. points to God as Preserver of Life, rather than as Creator; but R.V. leaves quickeneth in the text because ‘New every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove.’

The word is especially suitable, looking back to the charge to ‘lay hold strongly of the true heavenly life.’

before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession] the good confession. The meaning may be either (1) ‘suffered under (i.e. in the time of) Pontius Pilate,’ and as the faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5) made that good confession of the Cross, and in it of His Father’s love, His own Sacrifice, which has inspired every life of witness and every martyr’s death, or (2) ‘before (i.e. before the tribunal of) Pontius Pilate attested the good confession’ as ‘true King,’ i.e. ‘very Lord and Christ;’ this it is which the oral Gospel must have taught as the basis on which Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3; John 18:33-37 were founded; this it is which from St Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:36) to St John’s epistles (1 John 4:14-15) and thence to every Ordination and every Holy Baptism has been confessed by Christendom. Though the whole passage is more than polemical, the form of ‘the charge’ is affected perhaps by the thought of that teaching which was beginning to assail the old ‘knowledge’ and creed about the person of Christ; and so the second which is the sharper, more defined, interpretation may be preferable. The later phraseology seems to take up and draw out more fully the language here, 1 John 4:14-15; 1 John 3:23.

‘Before’ of place and ‘under’ of time are equally admissible for the preposition: see note on 1 Timothy 5:19.

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Timothy 6:13. Παραγγέλλω, I give thee charge) See how important is the office of preaching the Gospel; 2 Timothy 4:1.—τοῦ ζωοποιοῦντος τὰ πάντα, who quickeneth all things) LXX., Nehemiah 9:6 [σὺ ἐποίησας—καὶ σὺ ζωοποιεῖς τὰ πάντα]. Here the creation of all things, which is there mentioned, is taken for granted. Part of the hymn is expressed, the whole hymn is implied. The power of God quickens (gives life to) thee also, O Timothy, in the discharge of thy duty, and will raise thee up to everlasting life.—τοῦ μαρτυρήσαντος, who witnessed) The confession of Christ quickens [gives life to] all confessions (professions, 1 Timothy 6:12). To witness a confession was the part of the Lord; to confess a confession (profession, 1 Timothy 6:12) belonged to Timothy.—ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, before Pontius Pilate) A well-known chronological era.—τὴν) that which all Christians know was made by Him, viz. that concerning His kingdom, 1 Timothy 6:15.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - I charge thee for I give thee charge, A.V.; of for before (in italics), A.V.; the for a, A.V. I charge thee. It has been well observed that the apostle's language increases in solemnity as he approaches the end of the Epistle. This word παραγγέλλω is of frequent use in St. Paul's Epistles (1 Corinthians 7:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:11: 2 Thessalonians 3:4, 6, 10, 12; and above, 1 Timothy 3; 1 Timothy 4:11; 1 Timothy 5:7). In the sight of God, etc. (compare the adjuration in 1 Timothy 5:21). Who quickeneth, etc. The T.R. has ζωοποιοῦντος. The R.T. has ζωογονοῦντος, with no difference of meaning. Both words are used in the LXX. as the rendering of the Pihel and Hiphil of תָיָה. As an epithet of "God," it sets before us the highest creative act of the Almighty as "the Lord, and the Giver of life;" and is equivalent to "the living God" (Matthew 26:63), "the God of the spirits of all flesh" (Numbers 16:22). The existence of "life" is the one thing which baffles the ingenuity of science in its attempts to dispense with a Creator. The good confession refers to our Lord's confession of himself as "the Christ, the Son of God," in Matthew 27:11; Luke 23:3; John 18:36, 37, which is analogous to the baptismal confession (Acts 8:37 (T.R.); 16:31; 19:4, 5). The natural word to have followed μαρτυρεῖν was μαρτυρίαν, as above ὁμολογίαν follows ὡμολόγησας; but St. Paul substitutes the word of cognate meaning, ὁμολογίαν, in order to keep the formula, ἥ καλὴ ὁμολογία. 1 Timothy 6:13

Vincent's Word Studies

Quickeneth (ζωογονοῦντος)

oP. Rend. who preserveth alive. Quickeneth is according to the reading ζωοποιοῦντος maketh alive. Comp. lxx, Exodus 1:17; Judges 8:19. This association of God as the preserver with confession is noteworthy in Matthew 10:28-33.

Witnessed a good confession (μαρτυρήσαντος τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν)

Letter, the or his good confession. The phrase is unique. The good confession is the historical confession of Jesus before Pilate, which is the warrant for the truthfulness of Timothy's confession. Christ is called "the faithful and true witness" (μάρτυς), Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14. It is true that μάρτυς was used very early of those who laid down their lives for the truth (see Acts 22:20; Revelation 2:13), and Polycarp speaks of τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ σταυροῦ the witness of the cross (Philippians 7.; but this did not become general until after the end of the second century.

Before Pontius Pilate

The mention of Pontius Pilate in connection with the crucifixion is of constant occurrence in early Christian writings. See Ignatius, Magn. xi; Tral. ix; Smyrn. i. It has been supposed that these words were taken from a liturgical confession in which the Christian faith was professed.