1 Timothy 6 Pulpit Commentary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Timothy 6 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_timothy/6.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/1_timothy/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > 1 Timothy 6</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_timothy/5.htm" title="1 Timothy 5">◄</a> 1 Timothy 6 <a href="../2_timothy/1.htm" title="2 Timothy 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-1.htm">1 Timothy 6:1</a></div><div class="verse">Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and <i>his</i> doctrine be not blasphemed.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="accented">Are servants</span> for <span class="accented">servants as are</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the doctrine</span> for <span class="accented">his doctrine</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Servants</span>; literally, <span class="accented">slaves</span>. That slaves formed a considerable portion of the first Christian Churches may be inferred from the frequency with which their duties are pressed upon them (see <a href="/1_corinthians/7-21.htm">1 Corinthians 7:21-22</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/12-13.htm">1 Corinthians 12:13</a>; <a href="/ephesians/6-5.htm">Ephesians 6:5-8</a>; <a href="/colossians/3-11.htm">Colossians 3:11, 22</a>; <a href="/1_peter/2-18.htm">1 Peter 2:18</a> (<span class="greek">οἱ οἰκέται</span>); see also <a href="/1_corinthians/1-27.htm">1 Corinthians 1:27-29</a>). It must have been an unspeakable comfort to the poor slave, whose worldly condition was hopeless and often miserable, to secure his place as one of Christ's freemen, with the sure hope of attaining "the glorious liberty of the children of God." <span class="cmt_word">Under the yoke</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "the yoke of bondage" (<a href="/galatians/5-1.htm">Galatians 5:1</a>). Perhaps the phrase contains a touch of compassion for their state (comp. <a href="/acts/15-10.htm">Acts 15:10</a>). How beautiful is the contrast suggested in <a href="/matthew/11-29.htm">Matthew 11:29, 30</a>! <span class="cmt_word">Masters</span> (<span class="greek">δεσπότας</span>); the proper word in relation to <span class="greek">δοῦλος</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>The doctrine</span> (<span class="greek">ἡ διδασκαλία</span>); equivalent to "Christianity," as taught by the apostles and their successors (see the frequent use of the word in the pastoral Epistles, though with different shades of meaning (<a href="/1_timothy/1-10.htm">1 Timothy 1:10</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/4-6.htm">1 Timothy 4:6, 13, 16</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/5-17.htm">1 Timothy 5:17</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/3-10.htm">2 Timothy 3:10</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/4-3.htm">2 Timothy 4:3</a>; <a href="/titus/1-9.htm">Titus 1:9</a>; <a href="/titus/2-10.htm">Titus 2:10</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Blasphemed</span> (compare the similar passage, <a href="/titus/2-5.htm">Titus 2:5</a>, where <span class="greek">ὁ λόγος</span> <span class="greek">τοῦ Θεοῦ</span> answers to <span class="greek">ἡ διδασκαλία</span> here). <span class="greek">Βλασφημεῖν</span> does not necessarily mean "blaspheme" in its restricted sense, but as often means "to speak evil of," "to defame," and the like. If Christian slaves withheld the honor and respect due to their masters, it would be as sure to bring reproach upon the Christian doctrine as if it taught insubordination and rebellion. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-2.htm">1 Timothy 6:2</a></div><div class="verse">And they that have believing masters, let them not despise <i>them</i>, because they are brethren; but rather do <i>them</i> service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="accented">Let them serve them the rather</span> for <span class="accented">rather do them service</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">that partake of the benefit are believing and beloved</span> for <span class="accented">are faithful and beloved</span>, <span class="accented">partakers of the benefit</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">They that have believing masters.</span> The direction in the preceding verse applied to all slaves, though chiefly to what, as Alford says, was far the commonest ease, that of those who had unbelieving masters. But now he adds a caution with regard to the Christian slave of a Christian master. There was a danger lest the feeling that slaves and masters are brothers in Christ should unduly interfere with the respect which he owed him as his master. And so St. Paul addresses a word of special advice to such. <span class="cmt_word">Let them not despise them.</span> Let not their spiritual equality with their masters lead them to underrate the worldly difference that separates them; or to think slightly of the authority of a master relatively to his slaves (comp. <a href="/2_peter/2-10.htm">2 Peter 2:10</a>). <span class="cmt_word">But let them serve them the rather, because they that partake of the benefit are believing and beloved.</span> There is a good deal of obscurity in this sentence, but it may be observed first that the grammatical rendering of the R.V. is clearly right, and that of the A.V. clearly wrong. "They that partake of the benefit" is beyond all doubt the subject, and not the predicate. Then the construction of the two sentences (this and the preceding one) makes it certain that the subject in this sentence (<span class="greek">οἱ τῆς εὐεργεσίας</span> <span class="greek">ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι</span>) are the same persons as the <span class="greek">δέσποται</span> in the preceding sentence, because it is predicated of them both that they are <span class="greek">πιστοί</span>, and of both that they are, in convertible terms, <span class="greek">ἀγαπητοί</span> and <span class="greek">ἀδελφοί</span>. And this leads us, with nearly certainty, to the further conclusion that the <span class="greek">εὐεργεσία</span>, the <span class="accented">beneficium</span>, or "benefit," spoken of is that especial <span class="accented">service</span> - that service of love and good will running ahead of necessary duty, which the Christian slave gives to the Christian master; a sense which the very remarkable passage quoted by Alford from Seneca strikingly confirms. The only remaining difficulty, then, is the meaning "partake of" ascribed to <span class="greek">ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι</span> But this is scarcely a difficulty. It is true that in the only two other passages in the New Testament where this verb occurs, and in its frequent use in the LXX., it has the sense of "helping" (<a href="/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54</a>; <a href="/acts/20-35.htm">Acts 20:35</a>); but there is nothing strange in this. The verb in the middle voice means to "lay hold of," You may <span class="accented">lay hold of</span> for the purpose of helping, supporting, clinging to, laying claim to, holding in check, etc. (see Liddell and Scott). Here the masters <span class="accented">lay hold</span> of the benefit for the purpose of enjoying it. There is possibly an indication in the word that the masters actively and willingly accept it - they stretch out their hand to take it. There does not seem to be any sense of reciprocity, as some think, in the use of <span class="greek">ἀντι</span>. The sense of the whole passage seems to be clearly, "Let not those who have believing masters think slightly of their authority because they are brethren; but let them do them extra service, beyond what they are obliged to do, for the very reason that those whom they will thus benefit are believing and beloved brethren." <span class="cmt_word">Teach</span> (<span class="greek">δίδασκε</span>). Observe the connection of this word with the <span class="greek">ἡ διδασκαλίΑ</span> of vers. 1, 3, and elsewhere. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-3.htm">1 Timothy 6:3</a></div><div class="verse">If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, <i>even</i> the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="accented">Teacheth</span> for <span class="accented">teach</span>, A.V.; a <span class="accented">different doctrine</span> for <span class="accented">otherwise</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">consenteth</span> for <span class="accented">consent</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">sound</span> for <span class="accented">wholesome</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Teacheth a different doctrine</span> (<span class="greek">ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖ</span>); see above, <a href="/1_timothy/1-3.htm">1 Timothy 1:3</a>, note. <span class="cmt_word">Consenteth</span> (<span class="greek">προσέρχεται</span>); very common in the New Testament, in the literal sense of "coming to" or "approaching," but only here in the metaphorical sense of "assenting to." The steps seem to <span class="accented">he</span>, <span class="accented">first</span>, approaching a subject with the mind with a view of considering it; and <span class="accented">then</span> consenting to it - coming over to it. The term <span class="greek">προσήλυτος</span>, <span class="accented">a</span> convert to Judaism, and the phrase from Irenaeus ('Fragm.,' 2.), quoted by Ellicott, <span class="greek">Οὐ</span> <span class="greek">τοῖς τῶν Ιουδαίων δόγμασι προσέρχονται</span>, "They do not fall in with, or agree to, the doctrines of the Jews," sufficiently illustrate the usage of the word here. <span class="cmt_word">Sound</span> (<span class="greek">ὑγιαίνουσι</span>) see <a href="/1_timothy/1-10.htm">1 Timothy 1:10</a>, note. <span class="cmt_word">Godliness</span> (<span class="greek">ἐυσεβεία</span>); see <a href="/1_timothy/2-2.htm">1 Timothy 2:2</a>, note. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-4.htm">1 Timothy 6:4</a></div><div class="verse">He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="accented">Puffed up</span> for <span class="accented">proud</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">questionings</span> for <span class="accented">questions</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">disputes</span> for <span class="accented">strifes</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">He is puffed up</span> (<span class="greek">τετύφωται</span>); see <a href="/1_timothy/3-6.htm">1 Timothy 3:6</a>, note. Doting (<span class="greek">νοσῶν</span>); here only in the New Testament, but found occasionally in the LXX. Applied in classical Greek to the mind and body, "to be in an unsound state." Here it means "having a morbid love of" or "going mad about." In this morbid love of questionings and disputes of words, they lose sight of all wholesome words and all godly doctrine. <span class="cmt_word">Questionings</span> (<span class="greek">ζητήσεις</span>); see <a href="/1_timothy/1-6.htm">1 Timothy 1:6</a>, note. It corresponds nearly to our word "controversies." <span class="cmt_word">Disputes of words</span> (<span class="greek">λογομαχίας</span>); found only here. The verb <span class="greek">λογομαχέω</span> is used in <a href="/2_timothy/2-14.htm">2 Timothy 2:14</a>. Would that the Church had always remembered St. Paul's pithy condemnation of unfruitful controversies about words! <span class="cmt_word">Surmisings</span> (<span class="greek">ὑπόνοιαι</span>); only here in the -New Testament. In classical Greek it means "suspicion," or any under-thought. The verb <span class="greek">ὑπονοέω</span> occurs three times in the Acts - "to deem, think, or suppose." Here the "surmisings" are those uncharitable insinuations in which angry controversialists indulge towards one another. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-5.htm">1 Timothy 6:5</a></div><div class="verse">Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="accented">Wranglings</span> for <span class="accented">perverse disputings</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">corrupted in mind</span> for <span class="accented">of corrupt minds</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">bereft</span> for <span class="accented">destitute</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">godliness is a way of gain</span> for <span class="accented">gain is godliness</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Wranglings</span> (<span class="greek">διαπαρατριβαί</span>, <span class="accented">R</span>.<span class="accented">T</span>.; <span class="greek">παραδιατριβαί</span>, T.R.). The R.T. has far the largest weight of authority in its favor (Ellicott). The substantive <span class="greek">παρατριβή</span> in Polybius means "provocation," "collision," "friction," and the like. Hence <span class="greek">διαπαρατριβή</span> (which is only found here) means "continued wranglings." The substantive <span class="greek">διατριβή</span> (English <span class="accented">diatribe</span>) means, among other things, a "discussion" or "argument." The addition of <span class="greek">πάρα</span> gives the sense of a "perverse discussion," or "<span class="accented">disputing</span>." <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Bereft</span> (<span class="greek">ἀπεστερημένων</span>). The difference between the A.V. "destitute" and the R.V. "<span class="accented">bereft"</span> is that the latter implies that they once had possession of the truth, but had lost it by their own fault. They had fallen away from the truth, and were twice dead. <span class="cmt_word">Godliness is a way of gain.</span> The A.V., <span class="accented">that gain is godliness</span>, is clearly wrong, utterly confusing the subject with the predicate, and so destroying the connection between the clause and ver. 6. <span class="cmt_word">A way of gain</span> (<span class="greek">πορισμός</span>); only here and in ver. 6 in the New Testament. but found in Wisd. 13:19 Wisd. 14:2; Polybius, etc. It signifies "a source of gain," "<span class="accented">a</span> means of malting money," or, in one word, "a trade." The same charge is brought against the heretical teachers (<a href="/titus/1-11.htm">Titus 1:11</a>). The cause in the A.V. and T.R., <span class="accented">from such withdraw thyself</span>, is not in the R.T. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-6.htm">1 Timothy 6:6</a></div><div class="verse">But godliness with contentment is great gain.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Godliness</span>, etc. The apostle lakes up the sentiment which he had just condemned, and shows that in another sense it is most true. The godly man is rich indeed. For he wants nothing in this world but what God has given him, and has acquired riches which, unlike the riches of this world, he can take away with him (comp. <a href="/luke/12-33.htm">Luke 12:33</a>). The enumeration of his acquired treasures follows, after a parenthetical depreciation of those of the covetous man, in ver. 11. The thought, as so often in St. Paul, is a little intricate, and its flow checked by parenthetical side-thoughts. But it seems to be as follows: "<span class="accented">But</span> godliness is, in one sense, a source of great gain, and moreover brings contentment with it - contentment, I <span class="accented">say</span>, for since we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out, we have good reason to be content with the necessaries of life, food and raiment. Indeed, those who strive for more, and pant after wealth, bring nothing but trouble upon themselves. For the love of money is the root of all evil, etc. Thou, therefore, O man of God, instead of reaching after worldly riches, procure the true wealth, and become rich in righteousness, godliness, <span class="accented">faith</span>," etc. (ver. 11). The phrase, <span class="greek">Αστι δὲ</span> <span class="greek">πορισμὸς μέγας ἡ εὐσεβεία μετὰ αὐταρκείας</span>, should be construed by making the <span class="greek">μετα</span> couple <span class="greek">πορισμός</span> with <span class="greek">αὐταρκείας</span>, so as to express that "<span class="accented">godliness"</span> <span class="accented">is</span> both "gain" and "<span class="accented">contentment"</span> - <span class="accented"> not</span> as if <span class="greek">αὐταρκεία</span> qualified <span class="greek">εὐσεβεία</span> - <span class="accented">that</span> would have been expressed by the collocation, <span class="greek">ἡ μετὰ αὐταρκείας</span> <span class="greek">εὐσεβεία</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Contentment</span> (<span class="greek">αὐταρκεία</span>). The word occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in <a href="/2_corinthians/9-8.htm">2 Corinthians 9:8</a>, where it is rendered, both in the R.V. and the A.V., "sufficiency." The adjective <span class="greek">αὐτάρκης</span>, found in <a href="/philippians/4-11.htm">Philippians 4:11</a> (and common in classical Greek), is rendered "content." It means "sufficient in or of itself" - needing no external aid - and is applied to persons, countries, cities, moral qualities, etc. The substantive <span class="greek">αὐταρκεία</span> is the condition of the person, or thing, which is <span class="greek">αὐτάρκης</span>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-7.htm">1 Timothy 6:7</a></div><div class="verse">For we brought nothing into <i>this</i> world, <i>and it is</i> certain we can carry nothing out.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="accented">The</span> for <span class="accented">this</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">for neither can we</span> for <span class="accented">and it is certain we can</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">anything</span> for <span class="accented">nothing</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">For neither</span>, etc. The omission of <span class="greek">δῆλον</span> in the R.T., though justified by many of the best manuscripts, makes it difficult to construe the sentence, unless, with Buttman, we consider <span class="greek">ὅτι</span> as elliptical for <span class="greek">δῆλον ὅτι</span>, The R.V. "for neither" seems to imply that the truth, "neither can we carry anything out," is a consequence of the previous truth that "we brought nothing into the world." which is not true. The two truths are parallel, and the sentence would be perfectly clear without either <span class="greek">δῆλον</span> or <span class="greek">ὅτι</span>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-8.htm">1 Timothy 6:8</a></div><div class="verse">And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="accented">But</span> for <span class="accented">and</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">covering for raiment</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">ice shall be</span> for <span class="accented">let us be</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Food</span> (<span class="greek">διατροφάς</span>); here only in the New Testament, but common in the LXX., rare in classical Greek. <span class="cmt_word">Covering</span> (<span class="greek">σκεπάσματα</span>); also <span class="accented">a</span> <span class="greek">ἅπαξ λεγόμενον</span> in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., and rare in classical Greek. The kindred words, <span class="greek">σκέπη</span> and <span class="greek">σκέπας</span>, with their derivatives, are used of the covering or shelter of clothes, or tents, or houses. St. Paul may therefore have used an uncommon word in order to comprise the <span class="accented">two</span> necessaries of raiment and house, though Huther thinks this "more than improbable." The use of the word "covering" in the R.V. seems designed to favor this double application. Ellicott thinks the word "probably only refers to clothing." Alford says, "Some take ' covering' of both clothing and dwelling, perhaps rightly." If one knew where St. Paul got the word <span class="greek">σκεπάσματα</span> from, one could form a more decided opinion as to his meaning. <span class="cmt_word">We shall be therewith content</span> (<span class="greek">ἀρκεσθήσομεθα</span>). The proper meaning of <span class="greek">ἀρκεῖσθαι</span> followed by a dative is "<span class="accented">to</span> be content with" (<a href="/luke/3-14.htm">Luke 3:14</a>; <a href="/hebrews/13-5.htm">Hebrews 13:5</a>). There is probably a covert hortative force in the use of the future here. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-9.htm">1 Timothy 6:9</a></div><div class="verse">But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and <i>into</i> many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="accented">Desire to</span> for <span class="accented">will</span>, A.V.; a <span class="accented">temptation</span> for <span class="accented">temptation</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">many</span> for <span class="accented">into many</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">such as</span> for <span class="accented">which</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">A temptation</span>. The reason of the insertion of the article before "temptation" in the R.V. seems to be that, as the three substantives all depend upon the one preposition <span class="greek">εἰς</span>, they ought all to be treated alike. But if so, the reasoning is not good, because "temptation" implies a state, not merely a single temptation. The prefixing of the article is therefore improper. It should be "temptation," as in the A.V. and in <a href="/matthew/6-13.htm">Matthew 6:13</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-41.htm">Matthew 26:41</a>; <a href="/luke/22-40.htm">Luke 22:40</a>, etc. <span class="cmt_word">Snare</span> (<span class="greek">παγίδα</span>); as <a href="/1_timothy/3-7.htm">1 Timothy 3:7</a>, note. The concur-pence of the two words <span class="greek">περιρασμός</span> and <span class="greek">παγίς</span> show that the agency of Satan was in the writer's mind. Several good manuscripts, Fathers, and versions, add the words <span class="greek">τοῦ</span> <span class="greek">διαβόλου</span> after <span class="greek">παγίδα</span> (Huther). <span class="cmt_word">Drown</span> (<span class="greek">βυθίζουσι</span>); only here and <a href="/luke/5-7.htm">Luke 5:7</a> in the New Testament. Found also in 2 Macc. 12:4, and in Polybius - "to sink," transitive. <span class="cmt_word">Destruction and perdition</span> (<span class="greek">ὔλεθρον</span> <span class="greek">καὶ ἀπώλειαν</span>). The two words taken together imply utter ruin and destruction of body and soul. <span class="greek">Ὄλεθρος</span>, very common in classical Greek, occurs in <a href="/1_corinthians/5-5.htm">1 Corinthians 5:5</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/5-3.htm">1 Thessalonians 5:3</a>; <a href="/2_thessalonians/1-9.htm">2 Thessalonians 1:9</a>, and is limited in the first passage to the <span class="accented">destruction</span> of the body, by the words, <span class="greek">τῆς σαρκός</span>. <span class="greek">Ἀπωλεία</span>, less common in classical Greek, is of frequent use in the New Testament, and, when applied to persons, seems to be always used (except in <a href="/acts/25-16.htm">Acts 25:16</a>) in the sense of "perdition" (<a href="/matthew/7-13.htm">Matthew 7:13</a>; <a href="/john/17-12.htm">John 17:12</a>; <a href="/romans/9-22.htm">Romans 9:22</a>; <a href="/philippians/3-19.htm">Philippians 3:19</a>; <a href="/2_thessalonians/2-3.htm">2 Thessalonians 2:3</a>; <a href="/hebrews/10-39.htm">Hebrews 10:39</a>; <a href="/2_peter/3-7.htm">2 Peter 3:7</a>; <a href="/revelation/17-3.htm">Revelation 17:3</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-10.htm">1 Timothy 6:10</a></div><div class="verse">For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - A <span class="accented">root</span> for <span class="accented">the root</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">all kinds of</span> for <span class="accented">all</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">some reaching after</span> for <span class="accented">while some coveted after</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">have been led astray</span> for <span class="accented">they have erred</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">have pierced</span> for <span class="accented">pierced</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Love of money</span> (<span class="greek">φιλαργυρία</span>); only here in the New Testament, but found in the LXX. and in classical Greek. The substantive <span class="greek">φιλάργυρος</span> is found in <a href="/luke/16-14.htm">Luke 16:14</a> and <a href="/2_timothy/3-2.htm">2 Timothy 3:2</a>. <span class="cmt_word">A root</span>. <span class="accented">The root</span> is better English. Moreover, the following <span class="greek">πάντων τῶν κακῶν</span> (not <span class="greek">πόλλων</span> <span class="greek">κακῶν</span>) necessitates the giving a definite sense to <span class="greek">ῤίζα</span>, though it has not the article; and Alford shows dearly that a word like <span class="greek">ῤίζα</span>, especially when placed as here in an emphatic position, does not require it (comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/11-3.htm">1 Corinthians 11:3</a>, where in the second and third clause <span class="greek">κεφαλή</span>, being in the emphatic place, has not the article). Alford also quotes a striking passage from Diog. Laert., in which he mentions a saying of the philosopher Diogenes that "the love of money (<span class="greek">ἡ</span> <span class="greek">φιλαργυρία</span>) is the metropolis, or home, <span class="greek">πάντων τῶν</span> <span class="greek">κακῶν</span>." <span class="cmt_word">Reaching after</span> (<span class="greek">ὀρεγόμενοι</span>). It has been justly remarked that the phrase is slightly inaccurate. What some reach after is not "the love of money," but the money itself. To avoid this, Hofmann (quoted by Luther) makes <span class="greek">ῤίζα</span> the antecedent to <span class="greek">η΅ς</span>, and the metaphor to be of a person turning out of his path to grasp a plant which turns out to he not desirable, but a root of bitterness. This is ingenious, but hardly to be accepted as the true interpretation. <span class="cmt_word">Pierced themselves through</span> (<span class="greek">περιέπειραν</span>); only here in the New Testament, and rare in classical Greek. But the simple verb <span class="greek">πείρω</span>, to "pierce through," "transfix," applied 'especially to "spitting" meat, is very common in Homer, who also applies it metaphorically exactly as St. Paul does here, to grief or pain. <span class="greek">Ὀδύνησι πεπαρμένος</span>, "pierced with pain" ('Il.,' 5:399). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-11.htm">1 Timothy 6:11</a></div><div class="verse">But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">O man of God.</span> The force of this address is very great. It indicates that the money-lovers just spoken of were not and could not be "men of God," whatever they might profess; and it leads with singular strength to the opposite direction in which Timothy's aspirations should point. The treasures which he must covet as "a man of God" were "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience meekness." For the phrase, "man of God," see <a href="/2_timothy/3-17.htm">2 Timothy 3:17</a> and <a href="/2_peter/1-21.htm">2 Peter 1:21</a>. In the Old Testament it always applies to a prophet (<a href="/deuteronomy/33-1.htm">Deuteronomy 33:1</a>; <a href="/judges/13-6.htm">Judges 13:6</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/2-27.htm">1 Samuel 2:27</a>; <a href="/1_kings/12-22.htm">1 Kings 12:22</a>; <a href="/2_kings/1-9.htm">2 Kings 1:9</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/35-4.htm">Jeremiah 35:4</a>; and a great many other passages). St. Paul uses the expression with especial reference to Timothy and his holy office, and here, perhaps, in contrast with the <span class="greek">τοὺς ἀνθρώπους</span> mentioned in ver. 9. <span class="cmt_word">Flee these things.</span> Note the sharp contrast between "the men" of the world, who reach after, and the man of God, who avoids, <span class="greek">φιλαργυρία</span>. The expression, "these things," is a little loose, but seems to apply to the love of money, and the desire to be rich, with all their attendant "foolish and hurtful lusts." The man of God avoids the perdition and maul fold sorrows of the covetous, by avoiding the covetousness which is their root. <span class="cmt_word">Follow after</span> (<span class="greek">δίωκε</span>); pursue, in direct contrast with <span class="greek">φεύγε</span>, flee from, avoid (see <a href="/2_timothy/2-22.htm">2 Timothy 2:22</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Meekness</span> (<span class="greek">πρα'υπαθείαν</span>). This rare word, found in Philo, but nowhere in the New Testament, is the reading of the R.T. (instead of the <span class="greek">πρᾳο;τητα</span> of the T.R.) and accepted by almost all critics on the authority of all the older manuscripts. It has no perceptible difference of meaning from <span class="greek">πραότης</span>, meekness or gentleness. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-12.htm">1 Timothy 6:12</a></div><div class="verse">Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="accented">The faith</span> for <span class="accented">faith</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the life eternal</span> for <span class="accented">eternal life</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">wast</span> for <span class="accented">art also</span>, A.V. and T.R.; <span class="accented">didst confess the good confession</span> for <span class="accented">hast professed a good profession</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">in the sight of</span> for <span class="accented">before</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Fight the good fight</span>. This is not quite a happy rendering. <span class="greek">Ἀγών</span> is the "contest" at the Olympic assembly for any of the prizes, in wrestling, chariot-racing, foot-racing, music, or what not. <span class="greek">Ἀγωνίζεσθαι τὸν ἀγῶνα</span> is to "carry on such a contest" (comp. <a href="/2_timothy/4-7.htm">2 Timothy 4:7</a>). The comparison is different from that in <a href="/1_timothy/1-18.htm">1 Timothy 1:18</a>, <span class="greek">Ἵνα στρατεύῃ...</span> <span class="greek">τὴν καλὴν</span> <span class="greek">στρατείαν</span>," That thou mayest war the good warfare." <span class="cmt_word">The faith.</span> There is nothing to determine absolutely whether <span class="greek">ἡ πίστις</span> here means faith <span class="accented">subjectively</span> or "the faith" objectively, nor does it much matter. The result is the same; but the subjective sense seems the most appropriate. <span class="cmt_word">Lay hold,</span> etc.; as the <span class="greek">βραβεῖον</span> or prize of the contest (see <a href="/1_corinthians/9-24.htm">1 Corinthians 9:24, 25</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Whereunto thou wast called.</span> So St. Paul continually (<a href="/romans/1-1.htm">Romans 1:1, 6, 7</a>; <a href="/romans/8-28.htm">Romans 8:28, 30</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/1-29.htm">1 Corinthians 1:29</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-1.htm">Ephesians 4:1</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/2-12.htm">1 Thessalonians 2:12</a>; and numerous other passages). He seems here to drop the metaphor, as in the following clause. <span class="cmt_word">Didst confess the good confession.</span> The connection of this phrase with the call to eternal life, and the allusion to one special occasion on which Timothy "had confessed the good confession" of his faith in Jesus Christ, seems to point clearly to his baptism (see <a href="/matthew/10-32.htm">Matthew 10:32</a>; <a href="/john/9-22.htm">John 9:22</a>; <a href="/john/12-42.htm">John 12:42</a>; <a href="/hebrews/10-23.htm">Hebrews 10:23</a>). The phrase, "the good confession," seems to have been technically applied to the baptismal confession of Christ (compare the other Church sayings, <a href="/1_timothy/1-15.htm">1 Timothy 1:15</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/3-1.htm">1 Timothy 3:1</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/4-9.htm">1 Timothy 4:9</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/2-11.htm">2 Timothy 2:11</a>; <a href="/titus/3-8.htm">Titus 3:8</a>). <span class="cmt_word">In the sight of many witnesses.</span> The whole congregation of the Church, who were witnesses of his baptism (see the rubric prefixed to the Order of "Ministration of Public Baptism" in the Book of Common Prayer). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-13.htm">1 Timothy 6:13</a></div><div class="verse">I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and <i>before</i> Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="accented">I charge thee</span> for <span class="accented">I give thee charge</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">of</span> for <span class="accented">before</span> (in italics), A.V.; <span class="accented">the</span> for a, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">I charge thee</span>. It has been well observed that the apostle's language increases in solemnity as he approaches the end of the Epistle. This word <span class="greek">παραγγέλλω</span> is of frequent use in St. Paul's Epistles (<a href="/1_corinthians/7-10.htm">1 Corinthians 7:10</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/4-11.htm">1 Thessalonians 4:11</a>: <a href="/2_thessalonians/3-4.htm">2 Thessalonians 3:4, 6, 10, 12</a>; and above, <a href="/1_timothy/3.htm">1 Timothy 3</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/4-11.htm">1 Timothy 4:11</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/5-7.htm">1 Timothy 5:7</a>). <span class="cmt_word">In the sight of God</span>, etc. (compare the adjuration in <a href="/1_timothy/5-21.htm">1 Timothy 5:21</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Who quickeneth</span>, etc. The T.R. has <span class="greek">ζωοποιοῦντος</span>. The R.T. has <span class="greek">ζωογονοῦντος</span>, with no difference of meaning. Both words are used in the LXX. as the rendering of the Pihel and Hiphil of <span class="hebrew">תָיָה</span>. As an epithet of "<span class="accented">God</span>," 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" (<a href="/matthew/26-63.htm">Matthew 26:63</a>), "the God of the spirits of all flesh" (<a href="/numbers/16-22.htm">Numbers 16:22</a>). The existence of "life" is the one thing which baffles the ingenuity of science in its attempts to dispense with a Creator. <span class="cmt_word">The good confession</span> refers to our Lord's confession of himself as "<span class="accented">the</span> Christ, the Son of <span class="accented">God</span>," in <a href="/matthew/27-11.htm">Matthew 27:11</a>; <a href="/luke/23-3.htm">Luke 23:3</a>; <a href="/john/18-36.htm">John 18:36, 37</a>, which is analogous to the baptismal confession (<a href="/acts/8-37.htm">Acts 8:37</a> (T.R.); 16:31; 19:4, 5). The natural word to have followed <span class="greek">μαρτυρεῖν</span> was <span class="greek">μαρτυρίαν</span>, as above <span class="greek">ὁμολογίαν</span> follows <span class="greek">ὡμολόγησας</span>; but St. Paul substitutes the word of cognate meaning, <span class="greek">ὁμολογίαν</span>, in order to keep the formula, <span class="greek">ἥ καλὴ ὁμολογία</span>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-14.htm">1 Timothy 6:14</a></div><div class="verse">That thou keep <i>this</i> commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="accented">The</span> for <span class="accented">this</span>, A.V. <span class="accented">without reproach</span> for <span class="accented">unrebukable</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">The commandment</span> (<span class="greek">τὴν ἐντολὴν</span>). The phrase is peculiar, and must have some special meaning. Perhaps, as Bishop Wordsworth expounds it, "the commandment" is that law of faith and duty to which Timothy vowed obedience at his baptism, and is parallel to "the good confession." Some think that the command given in vers. 11, 12 is referred to; and this is the meaning of the A.V. "this." <span class="cmt_word">Without spot, without reproach</span>. There is a difference of opinion among commentators, whether these two adjectives (<span class="greek">ἄσπιλον</span> <span class="greek">ἀνέπιληπτον</span>) belong to the commandment or to the person, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> Timothy. The introduction of <span class="greek">σέ</span> after <span class="greek">τηρῆσαι</span>; the facts that <span class="greek">τηρῆσαι</span> <span class="greek">τὰς ἐντόλας</span>, without any addition, means "to keep the commandments," and that in the New Testament, <span class="greek">ἄσπιλος</span> and <span class="greek">ἀνέπιληπτος</span> always are used of persons, not things (<a href="/james/1-27.htm">James 1:27</a>; <a href="/1_peter/1-19.htm">1 Peter 1:19</a>; <a href="/2_peter/3-14.htm">2 Peter 3:14</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/3-2.htm">1 Timothy 3:2, 5</a>:7); and the consideration that the idea of the person being found blameless in, or kept blameless unto, the coming of Christ. is a frequent one in the Epistles (<a href="/jude/1-24.htm">Jude 1:24</a>; <a href="/2_peter/3-14.htm">2 Peter 3:14</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/1-8.htm">1 Corinthians 1:8</a>; <a href="/colossians/1-22.htm">Colossians 1:22</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/3-13.htm">1 Thessalonians 3:13</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/5-23.htm">1 Thessalonians 5:23</a>), - seem to point strongly, if not conclusively, to the adjectives <span class="greek">ἄσπιλον</span> and <span class="greek">ἀνεπίληπτον</span> here agreeing with <span class="greek">σέ</span>, not with <span class="greek">ἐντολήν</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>The appearing</span> (<span class="greek">τὴν ἐπιφανείαν</span>). The thought of the second advent of the Lord Jesus, always prominent in the mind of St. Paul (<a href="/1_corinthians/1-7.htm">1 Corinthians 1:7, 8</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/4-5.htm">1 Corinthians 4:5</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/15-23.htm">1 Corinthians 15:23</a>; <a href="/colossians/3-4.htm">Colossians 3:4</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/3-13.htm">1 Thessalonians 3:13</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/4-15.htm">1 Thessalonians 4:15</a>; <a href="/2_thessalonians/1-9.htm">2 Thessalonians 1:9</a>, etc.), seems to have acquired fresh intensity amidst the troubles and dangers of the closing years of his life, both as an object of hope and as a motive of action (<a href="/2_timothy/1-10.htm">2 Timothy 1:10</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/2-12.htm">2 Timothy 2:12</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/4-1.htm">2 Timothy 4:1, 8</a>; <a href="/titus/2-13.htm">Titus 2:13</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-15.htm">1 Timothy 6:15</a></div><div class="verse">Which in his times he shall shew, <i>who is</i> the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="accented">Its own</span> for <span class="accented">his</span>, A.V. This correction seems to be manifestly right. The same phrase is rendered in <a href="/1_timothy/2-6.htm">1 Timothy 2:6</a> and <a href="/titus/1-3.htm">Titus 1:3</a> "in due time," in the A.V.; but in the R.V. 2:6 is "its own times," and in <a href="/titus/1-3.htm">Titus 1:3</a> "his own seasons. In <a href="/galatians/6-9.htm">Galatians 6:9</a> <span class="greek">καίρῳ ἰδίῳ</span> is also rendered "in due season," in both the A.V. and the R.V. Such a phrase as <span class="greek">ἐν καιροῖς ἰδίοις</span> must be taken everywhere in the same sense. It clearly means at the <span class="accented">fitting</span> or <span class="accented">proper</span> time, and corresponds to the <span class="greek">πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου</span>, "the fullness of time," in <a href="/galatians/4-4.htm">Galatians 4:4</a>. The two ideas are combined in <a href="/luke/1-20.htm">Luke 1:20</a> (<span class="greek">πληρωθήσονται</span> <span class="greek">εἰς τὸν καιρὸν αὐτῶν</span>) and Luke 21:24 (comp. <a href="/ephesians/1-10.htm">Ephesians 1:10</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Shall show</span> (<span class="greek">δείξει</span>). <span class="greek">Δεικνύειν ἐπιφανείαν</span>, "to show an appearing," is a somewhat unusual phrase, and is more classical than scriptural. The verb and the object are not of cognate sense (as "to display a display," or "to manifest a manifestation"), but the invisible God, God the Father, will, it is said, display the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. The wonder displayed and manifested to the world is the appearing of Christ in his glory. The Author of that manifestation is God. <span class="cmt_word">The blessed</span>; <span class="greek">ὁ μακάριος</span> (not <span class="greek">εὐλογητός</span>, as in <a href="/mark/14-61.htm">Mark 14:61</a>), is only here and in <a href="/1_timothy/1-11.htm">1 Timothy 1:11</a> (where see note) applied to God in Scripture. <span class="cmt_word">The blessed and only Potentate.</span> The phrase is a remarkable one. <span class="greek">Δυνάστης</span> (Potentate), which is only found elsewhere in the New Testament in <a href="/luke/1-52.htm">Luke 1:52</a> and <a href="/acts/8-27.htm">Acts 8:27</a>, is applied to God here only. It is, however, so applied in 2 Macc. 3:24 2Macc. 12:15 2Macc. 15:23, where we have <span class="greek">Πάσης</span> <span class="greek">ἐξουσιας δυνάστης Γόν μέγαν τοῦ κόσμου</span> <span class="greek">δυνάστην</span>, and <span class="greek">Δυνάστα τὧ῀ν οὐρανῶν</span>; in all which places, as here, the phrase is used to signify, by way of contrast, the superiority of the power of God over all earthly power. In the first of the above-cited passages the language is singularly like that here used by St. Paul. For it is said that <span class="greek">ὁ πάσης ἐξουσίας</span> <span class="greek">δυνάστης</span>, "the Prince (or Potentate) of all power made a great apparition," or "appearing" (<span class="greek">ἐπιφονείαν μεγάλην ἐποίησεν</span>), for the overthrow of the blasphemer and persecutor Heliodorus. St. Paul must have had this in his mind, and compared the effect of "the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ," in overthrowing the Neros of the earth with the overthrow of Heliodorus (comp. <a href="/1_thessalonians/1-7.htm">1 Thessalonians 1:7-10</a>). <span class="cmt_word">King of kings, and Lord of lords</span>, etc. (compare the slightly different phrase in <a href="/revelation/17-14.htm">Revelation 17:14</a> and Revelation 19:16, applied to the Son). So in <a href="/psalms/136-2.htm">Psalm 136:2, 3</a>, God is spoken of as "God of gods, and Lord of lords." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-16.htm">1 Timothy 6:16</a></div><div class="verse">Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom <i>be</i> honour and power everlasting. Amen.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="accented">Light unapproachable</span> for <span class="accented">the light which no man can approach unto</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">eternal</span> for <span class="accented">everlasting</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Unapproachable</span> (<span class="greek">ἀπρόσιτον</span>); only here in the New Testament, but found occasionally in. the later classics, corresponding to the more common <span class="greek">ἄβατος</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Whom no man hath seen, nor can see</span> (comp. <a href="/1_timothy/1-17.htm">1 Timothy 1:17</a> (where see note) and <a href="/exodus/33-20.htm">Exodus 33:20-23</a>). The appearance of the "God of Israel" to Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, related in <a href="/exodus/34-9.htm">Exodus 34:9-11</a>, was that of the Son in anticipation of the Incarnation. The invisibility of the essential Godhead is also predicated in our Lord's saying, "God is a Spirit" (<a href="/john/4-24.htm">John 4:24</a>). This whole passage is a magnificent embodiment of the attributes of the living God, supreme blessedness and almighty power, universal dominion, and unchangeable being, inscrutable majesty, radiant holiness, and glory inaccessible and unapproachable by his creatures, save through the mediation of his only begotten Son. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-17.htm">1 Timothy 6:17</a></div><div class="verse">Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="accented">This present</span> for <span class="accented">this</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">have their hope set on the uncertainty of</span> for <span class="accented">trust in uncertain</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">on</span> <span class="accented">God</span> for <span class="accented">in the living God</span>, A.V. and T.R. <span class="cmt_word">Charge</span> (<span class="greek">παράγγελλε</span>); as in <a href="/1_timothy/1-3.htm">1 Timothy 1:3</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/4-11.htm">1 Timothy 4:11</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/5-7.htm">1 Timothy 5:7</a>; and in ver. 13, and elsewhere frequently. <span class="cmt_word">Rich in this present world.</span> Had St. Paul in his mind the parable of Dives and Lazarus (comp. <a href="/luke/16-19.htm">Luke 16:19, 25</a>)? <span class="cmt_word">That they be not high-minded</span> (<span class="greek">μὴ ὑψηλοφρονεῖν</span>); elsewhere only in <a href="/romans/11-20.htm">Romans 11:20</a>. The words compounded with <span class="greek">ὑψηλός</span> have mostly a bad sense - "haughtiness," "boastfulness," and the like. <span class="cmt_word">The uncertainty</span> (<span class="greek">ἀδηλότητι</span>); here only in the New Testament, but used in the same sense in Polybius (see <span class="greek">ἄδηλος</span> in <a href="/1_corinthians/14-8.htm">1 Corinthians 14:8</a>; and <span class="greek">ἀδήλως</span> in <a href="/1_corinthians/9-6.htm">1 Corinthians 9:6</a>). The A.V., though less literal, expresses the sense much better than the R.V., which is hardly good English. <span class="cmt_word">Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy</span>; for enjoyment. The gifts are God's. Trust, therefore, in the Giver, not in the gift. The gift is uncertain; the Giver liveth forever. (For the sentiment that God is the Giver of all good, comp. <a href="/james/1-17.htm">James 1:17</a>; <a href="/psalms/104-28.htm">Psalm 104:28</a>; <a href="/psalms/145-16.htm">Psalm 145:16</a>, etc.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-18.htm">1 Timothy 6:18</a></div><div class="verse">That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="accented">That they be ready</span> for <span class="accented">ready</span>, A.V. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Do good</span> (<span class="greek">ἀγαθοεργεῖν</span>; here only, for the more common <span class="greek">ἀγαθοποιεῖν</span>). <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>That they be rich in good works</span> (<a href="/1_timothy/5-10.htm">1 Timothy 5:10</a>, note); not merely in the perishing riches of this present world - the same sentiment as <a href="/matthew/6-19.htm">Matthew 6:19-21</a>; <a href="/luke/12-33.htm">Luke 12:33</a> and 21. <span class="cmt_word">Ready to distribute</span> (<span class="greek">εὐμεταδότους</span>); here only in the New Testament, and rarely in later classical Greek. The opposite, "dose-handed," is <span class="greek">δυσμετάδοτος</span> The verb <span class="greek">μεταδίδωμι</span> means "to give to others a share or portion of what one has" (<a href="/luke/3-11.htm">Luke 3:11</a>; <a href="/romans/1-11.htm">Romans 1:11</a>; <a href="/romans/12-8.htm">Romans 12:8</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-28.htm">Ephesians 4:28</a>; <a href="/1_thessalonians/2-8.htm">1 Thessalonians 2:8</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Willing to communicate</span> (<span class="greek">κοινωνίκους</span>); here only in the New Testament, but found in classical Greek in a slightly different sense. "Communicative" is the exact equivalent, though in this wider use it is obsolete. We have the same precept in <a href="/hebrews/13-16.htm">Hebrews 13:16</a>, "To do good and to communicate forget not." (For <span class="greek">κοινωνεῖν</span> in the sense of "giving," see <a href="/romans/12-13.htm">Romans 12:13</a>; <a href="/galatians/6-6.htm">Galatians 6:6</a>; <a href="/philippians/4-15.htm">Philippians 4:15</a>; and for <span class="greek">κοινωνία</span> in the same sense, see <a href="/romans/15-26.htm">Romans 15:26</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/9-13.htm">2 Corinthians 9:13</a>; <a href="/hebrews/13-16.htm">Hebrews 13:16</a>.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-19.htm">1 Timothy 6:19</a></div><div class="verse">Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="accented">The life which is life indeed</span> for <span class="accented">eternal life</span>, A.V. and T.R. <span class="cmt_word">Laying up in store</span> (<span class="greek">ἀποθησαυρίζοντες</span>); only here in the New Testament, but once in Wisd. 3:3, and occasionally in classical Greek. <span class="cmt_word">A good foundation</span> (<span class="greek">θεμέλιον καλόν</span>). The idea of a <span class="accented">foundation</span> is always maintained in the use of <span class="greek">θεμέλιος</span>, whether it is used literally or figuratively (<a href="/luke/11-48.htm">Luke 11:48</a>; <a href="/ephesians/2-20.htm">Ephesians 2:20</a>; <a href="/revelation/21-14.htm">Revelation 21:14</a>, etc.). There is, at first sight, a manifest confusion of metaphors in the phrase, "laying up in store a foundation." Bishop Ellicott, following Wiesinger, understands "a wealth of good works as a foundation." Alford sees no difficulty in considering the "foundation" us a treasure. Others have conjectured <span class="greek">κειμήλιον</span>, "a stored treasure," for <span class="greek">θεμέλιον</span>. Others understand <span class="greek">θεμέλιον</span> in the sense of <span class="greek">θέμα</span>, a deposit. Others take <span class="greek">ἀποθησαυρίζειν</span> in the sense of "acquiring," without reference to its etymology. But this is unlikely, the context being about the use of money, though in part favored by the use of <span class="greek">θησαυρίζειν</span> in <a href="/2_peter/3-7.htm">2 Peter 3:7</a>. The reader must choose for himself either to adopt one of the above explanations, or to credit St. Paul with an unimportant confusion of metaphors. Anyhow, the doctrine is clear that wealth spent for God and his Church is repaid with interest, and becomes an abiding treasure. <span class="cmt_word">Life indeed</span> (<span class="greek">τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς</span>); so <a href="/1_timothy/5-3.htm">1 Timothy 5:3, 5</a>, <span class="greek">τὰς ὅντως χήρας ἡ ὄντως χήρα</span>, "widows indeed;" and (<a href="/john/8-36.htm">John 8:36</a>) <span class="greek">ὄντως ἐλεύθεροι</span>, "free indeed," in opposition to the freedom which the Jews claimed as the seed of Abraham. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-20.htm">1 Timothy 6:20</a></div><div class="verse">O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane <i>and</i> vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="accented">Guard</span> for <span class="accented">keep</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">unto thee</span> for <span class="accented">to thy trust</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">turning away from</span> for <span class="accented">avoiding</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the profane</span> for <span class="accented">profane and vain</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">the knowledge which is falsely</span> for <span class="accented">science</span>, <span class="accented">falsely</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Guard that which is committed unto thee</span>; <span class="greek">τὴν παραθήκην</span> (<span class="greek">παρακαταθήκην</span>, T.R.). <span class="accented">Guard</span> for <span class="accented">keep</span> is hardly an improvement. The meaning of "keep," like that of <span class="greek">φυλάττω</span>, is <span class="accented">to guard</span>, <span class="accented">keep watch over</span>, and, by so doing, <span class="accented">to preserve</span> safe and uninjured. This meaning is well brought out in the familiar words of <a href="/psalms/121.htm">Psalm 121</a>, "He that keepeth thee will not slumber.... He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord himself is thy Keeper" (so too <a href="/psalms/127-1.htm">Psalm 127:1</a>; <a href="/genesis/28-15.htm">Genesis 28:15</a>, etc.). <span class="greek">Παραθήκη</span> or <span class="greek">παρακαταθήκη</span>, occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in <a href="/2_timothy/1-12.htm">2 Timothy 1:12, 14</a>, where the apostle uses it (in ver. 12) of his own soul, which he has committed to the safe and faithful keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ; but in ver. 14 in the same sense as here. "That good thing which was committed unto thee guard ['keep,' A.V.]." There does not seem to be any difference between <span class="greek">παραθήκη</span> and <span class="greek">παρακαταθήκη</span>, which both mean "a deposit," and are used indifferently in classical Greek, though the latter is the more common. The precept to Timothy here is to keep diligent and watchful guard over the faith committed to his trust; to preserve it unaltered and uncorrupt, so as to hand it down to his successors exactly the same as he had received it. Oh that the successors of the apostles had always kept this precept (see Ordination of Priests)! <span class="cmt_word">Turning away from</span> (<span class="greek">ἐκτρεπόμενος</span>); only here in the middle voice, "turning from," "avoiding," with a transitive sense. In the passive voice it means "to turn out of the path," as in <a href="/1_timothy/1-6.htm">1 Timothy 1:6</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/5-15.htm">1 Timothy 5:15</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/4-4.htm">2 Timothy 4:4</a>. <span class="cmt_word">The profane babblings</span> (see <a href="/1_timothy/4-7.htm">1 Timothy 4:7</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/2-16.htm">2 Timothy 2:16</a>); <span class="greek">κενοφωνία</span>; only here and <a href="/2_timothy/2-16.htm">2 Timothy 2:16</a>, "the utterance of empty words," "words of the lips" (<a href="/2_kings/18-20.htm">2 Kings 18:20</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Oppositions</span> (<span class="greek">ἀντιθέσεις</span>); here only in the New Testament. It is a term used in logic and in rhetoric by Plato, Aristotle, etc., for "oppositions" and "antitheses," laying one doctrine by the side of another for comparison, or contrast, or refutation. It seems to allude to the particular method used by the heretics to establish their tenets, in opposition to the statements of the Church on particular points - such as the Law, the Resurrection, etc. <span class="cmt_word">The knowledge which is falsely so called.</span> There is a very similar intimation of the growth of an empty philosophy, whose teaching was antagonistic to the teaching of Christ in <a href="/colossians/2-8.htm">Colossians 2:8</a>, and with which St. Paul contrasts the true <span class="greek">γνώσις</span> in ver. 3. This was clearly the germ (called by Bishop Lightfoot "Gnostic Judaism") of what was later more fully developed as the <span class="accented">Gnostic</span> heresy, which, of course, derived its name from <span class="greek">γνῶσις</span>, knowledge or science, to which they laid claim (see Bishop Lightfoot's able 'Introduction to the Epistle to Colossians,' specially p. 100; and his notes on <a href="/1_timothy/2-8.htm">1 Timothy 2:8</a>, <span class="accented">sqq</span>.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_timothy/6-21.htm">1 Timothy 6:21</a></div><div class="verse">Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace <i>be</i> with thee. Amen. </div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="accented">You</span> for <span class="accented">thee</span>, A.V. and T.R. The R.T. omits <span class="accented">Amen</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Professing</span> (<span class="greek">ἐπαγγελλομένοι</span>) see <a href="/1_timothy/2-10.htm">1 Timothy 2:10</a>, note. <span class="cmt_word">Have erred</span> (<span class="greek">ἠστόχησαν</span>); <a href="/1_timothy/1-6.htm">1 Timothy 1:6</a>, note. <span class="cmt_word">Grace be with you.</span> The authorities for <span class="greek">σοῦ</span> and <span class="greek">ὑμῶν</span> respectively are somewhat evenly balanced. The T.R. <span class="greek">σοῦ</span> seems in itself preferable, as throughout St. Paul addresses Timothy personally, and as there are no salutations here, as in 2 Timothy and Titus (see <a href="/1_timothy/1-18.htm">1 Timothy 1:18</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/3-14.htm">1 Timothy 3:14</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/4-6.htm">1 Timothy 4:6</a>, etc.; 1 Timothy 6:11, 20). This shorter form, <span class="greek">ἡ χάρις</span>, is used in the pastoral Epistles (<a href="/2_timothy/4-22.htm">2 Timothy 4:22</a>; <a href="/titus/3-15.htm">Titus 3:15</a>)for the fuller and more usual form, <span class="greek">Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν</span> <span class="greek">Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ</span> (<a href="/romans/16-20.htm">Romans 16:20</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/16-23.htm">1 Corinthians 16:23</a>; <a href="/2_thessalonians/3-18.htm">2 Thessalonians 3:18</a>, and elsewhere). The short form also occurs in <a href="/hebrews/13-25.htm">Hebrews 13:25</a>. The words are a gracious, peaceful ending to the Epistle. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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1 Timothy 6 Pulpit Commentary