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THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
PRINTED BY MURRAY AND GIBB 
 FOR 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON, . . . HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 DUBLIN, . . . JOHN ROBERTSON AND CO. 
 
 NEW YORK, . . . SCRIBNER, WELFORD, AND ARMSTRONG. 
 
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, 
 
 Eijt ffireefe Etxt anti ^Translation. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, EXPOSITORY NOTES, AND 
 DISSERT A TIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 PATRICK "TAIRBAIRN, D.D., 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, GLASGOW ; 
 AUTHOR OF ' TYPOLOGY OF SCRIPTURE,' ' REVELATION OF LAW,' ETC. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 T. & T. CLARK, GEORGE STREET. 
 
 1874. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 THIS expository volume on the Pastoral Epistles had its 
 origin in a department of labour connected with my 
 official duties. Till lately, it was for many years my lot to 
 conduct a class of Pastoral Theology for advanced students 
 preparing for the work of the Christian ministry; and a 
 portion of the time during each session was usually devoted 
 to the exposition and illustration of more or less of those 
 Epistles. Practically, it was found impossible to overtake 
 more, in any particular session, than a comparatively limited 
 portion of them. But as comments on the whole had been 
 prepared, I have thought that the publication of them might 
 be of some advantage to students of Sacred Scripture, 
 especially to those who are either in the position of candi- 
 dates for the ministry, or without lengthened experience in 
 the discharge of its duties. The requirements and interests 
 of such have been kept specially in view throughout the 
 volume. On that account also, particular respect has been 
 had, both in the course of exposition, and in the introduc- 
 tion and supplementary dissertations, to the objections 
 which have been urged — latterly, indeed, with great bold- 
 ness and persistency — against the apostolic authorship and 
 divine inspiration of these portions of New Testament 
 Scripture. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 The aim of this volume, therefore, will readily be under- 
 stood to differ considerably from that of Bishop EUicott's, 
 whose commentary on the Pastoral Epistles bears the desig- 
 nation of " critical and grammatical." The portion of the 
 late Dean Alford's Cominentary on the New Testament which 
 embraces these Epistles is to a large extent of the same 
 description. Both commentators have very ably accom- 
 plished the objects they had more especially in view ; and 
 the frequent references I have made to their productions 
 will sufhciently evince how profoundly sensible I am of the 
 services they have rendered to the correct knowledge of 
 the language and import of the Epistles — though on points 
 of some moment I have occasionally felt myself obliged to 
 differ from each of them. While the critical and grammati- 
 cal have been with me a somewhat less prominent object, 
 neither of them has been overlooked ; and wherever the 
 text or the construction is such as to call for special exami- 
 nation or adjustment, this has uniformly received attention, 
 before anything as to doctrine or instruction has been 
 founded on the words. The text of Tischendorf, in his 
 8th edition, so nearly coincides with what I take to be the 
 correct one, that I have simply adopted it — twice with a 
 measure of hesitation (see pp. 273, 373), and once only with 
 a formal dissent (p. 233). Minor deviations from the 
 Received Text, as in respect to the spelling and order of 
 words, I have consequently deemed it unnecessary to 
 notice ; but wherever the sense has been at all affected by 
 any change, the principal grounds have uniformly been 
 adduced on which the text of Tischendorf seems entitled 
 to the preference. 
 
 In regard to the translation, my object has been simply 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 to present the meaning of the original, as I understand it, 
 in the words most nearly equivalent — whether they might 
 accord with those of the Authorized Version or not. This, 
 however, has never been needlessly departed from. With 
 the view of rendering the exposition more extensively use- 
 ful, I have also, for the most part, translated the quotations 
 taken from the Greek and Latin commentators ; but the 
 original has always been given when anything of moment 
 depended upon the precise form of expression. The edition 
 of Winer's Grammar referred to is that published by the 
 Messrs. Clark, edited by the Rev. W. F. Moulton. 
 
 May the effort here made to explain a portion of the 
 Divine Word, and to vindicate and- apply the important 
 lessons of truth and duty therein contained, carry with it 
 the Divine blessing, and prove, in however small a degree, 
 conducive both to the due appreciation of the Word, and 
 to the furtherance of the great ends of the Christian 
 ministry. 
 
 P. R 
 
 Glasgow, January 1874. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction — 
 Section I. — The Authorship of the Epistles, 
 II. — Times and Places of Writing, . 
 
 III. — Notices of Timothy, . 
 
 IV.— Notices of Titus, .... 
 
 Text and Translation of First Timothy, 
 
 Text and Translation of Titus, 
 
 Text and Translation of Second Timothy, 
 
 Expository Notes on First Timothy, 
 
 Expository Notes on Titus, .... 
 
 Expository Notes on Second Timothy, . 
 
 Appendix A. — The Peculiar Testimony for Gospel 
 Times, . . . . . 
 
 Appendix B. — The Meaning of the Expression 
 *' Husband of one Wife," in i Tim, 
 III. 2, ETC., 
 
 Appendix C— The Treatment of Slavery in New 
 Testament Scripture, 
 
 Note on i Cor. vh. 21, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I-I9 
 
 19-30 
 31-34 
 35-36 
 38-51 
 
 52-57 
 58-67 
 
 71-254 
 255-305 
 306-404 
 
 405-416 
 
 416-432 
 
 432-451 
 448-451 
 
 Erratum. — Omit "both" in chap. iv. 10, p. 45. 
 
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Section i. — The Authorship of the Epistles. 
 
 THE designation of Pastoral Epistles has been com- 
 monly applied to the two Epistles to Timothy and 
 the Epistle to Titus, because alike addressed to persons 
 engaged in pastoral work, and chiefly discoursing of matters 
 relating to such work. They all bear on their front the 
 signature of the Apostle Paul ; and never till a compara- 
 tively recent period has their connection with his name 
 been called in question by any one having a recognised 
 position in the Christian Church. There zvei-e parties in 
 ancient times who excluded them from the list of St. Paul's 
 genuine writings ; but these were the leaders of Gnosticism, 
 rationalists of a very extreme type, and always regarded 
 by the Fathers as opponents, rather than adherents, of 
 the Christian faith. Speaking of such generally, Clement 
 of Alexandria states that they rejected the Epistles to 
 Timothy {Strom, ii. ii); and Marcion, we are told by 
 Tertullian, did the same both with these and with the 
 Epistle to Titus {Adv. Marc. v. 21). Jerome, at a later 
 period, repeats the assertion in his Preface to the Epistle 
 to Titus ; and referring to Tatian, the disciple of Marcion, 
 mentions that he so far differed from his master as to accept 
 the Epistle to Titus. The conduct of these parties admits 
 
 A 
 
2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 of a ready explanation : they found the sentiments con- 
 tained in the epistles irreconcilable with their speculative 
 tenets and ascetic virtues, and so they discarded the 
 epistles in the interest of their system • as they also, for the 
 same reason, distorted the meaning of many parts of the 
 writings they actually received. The exception made by 
 Tatian in favour of Titus doubtless arose from its less marked 
 contrariety to Gnostic tendencies. But both he and Mar- 
 cion, and several also who preceded them in the Gnostic 
 schools, are witnesses to the early existence and general 
 acknowledgment of the epistles in question ; since other- 
 wise their rejection of these could not have been reported 
 ' as a noticeable circumstance. 
 
 But besides this incidental proof, the direct evidence of 
 the apostolic authority of the epistles, and of the church's 
 belief in it, is of the most satisfactory kind. The epistles 
 have a place in the most ancient versions, the Peschito and 
 the Italic. They are included in the so-called Canon of 
 Muratori, which, with reference to St. Paul's epistles, men- 
 tions ad Titum una, et ad Timotheum duas. Irenaeus com- 
 mences his work against heresies with an express quotation 
 from First Timothy, as the words of an apostle suited to the 
 occasion and object of his writings ; and in other places 
 he makes direct reference to other passages in the three 
 epistles, always identifying them with the penmanship of 
 the apostle (for example, at iii. 14. i, iv. 16. 3, i. 16. 3). 
 The same thing is done by Clement of Alexandria {Strom. 
 ii. II, iii. 6, i. 14) and by Tertullian {De Prcescr. Hcer. 
 c. 25, etc.); while by Eusebius the whole three are included 
 among the writings universally acknowledged {Eccl. Hist. 
 iii. 25). As a proof, also, of their being in very early and 
 common use, we find expressions and forms of thought 
 peculiar to them appropriated in some of the most ancient 
 Christian writings ; for example, in the Epistle of the Roman 
 Clement (as at c. 29, comp. with i Tim. ii. 8), the Epistle 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 of Polycarp (c. 4, comp. with i Tim. vi. 7, 10), and still 
 more in the writings of Athenagoras, Justin, and Theophilus 
 of Antioch. In short, the historical evidence of the authen- 
 ticity of the epistles is as full and explicit as could justly be 
 expected, and it were impossible to disparage it in their 
 case without denying its validity in respect to the best 
 accredited books of New Testament Scripture. 
 
 Schleiermacher was the first man of note in the church 
 who formally rejected the testimony of antiquity on the 
 subject, and took up a hostile position. His objections, 
 however, were laid only against the First Epistle to Timothy, 
 which he held to be chiefly a compilation out of the second, 
 and the Epistle to Titus. His views were set forth in a 
 letter, published in 1807 ; but they met with strenuous 
 opposition, even from some who were not remarkable for 
 the strictness of their orthodoxy — in particular, Planck, 
 Bertholdt, Hug, Guericke, Heydenreich. But Schleier- 
 macher had his followers, and followers who, for the most 
 part, did not confine their attacks to the First Epistle to 
 Timothy, but took exception to all the three. So, for ex- 
 ample, Eichhorn, Schott, Credner, who regarded them as 
 forgeries done with a good design, probably by Luke, or 
 some other of Paul's disciples. But Baur went further : he 
 thought the work of criticism was imperfectly done till 
 another period altogether than that to which Paul himself 
 belonged was shown to be the one which gave birth to the 
 epistles. And this he thought he found in the timxes imme- 
 diately subsequent to the rise of the Marcionite heresy, that 
 is, somewhere about the middle of the second century ; 
 when, alarmed at the appearance of this heresy, and anxious 
 to check it, some one bethought himself of a series of 
 letters as the most effectual antidote, written in the name 
 of Paul to two of his well-known companions and fellow- 
 workers. But a date so late, as a basis for such an artificial 
 hypothesis, so palpably conflicts with the historical evidence 
 
4 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 regarding the epistles, that few beyond the small circle of 
 the Tubingen school have been found ready to accept the 
 solution. De Wette. while he renounced the Pauline 
 authorship of the epistles, was equally opposed to Baur's 
 position, and to the last maintained that the epistles must 
 be ascribed to the closing period of the first century. There 
 are still probably a considerable number of critics in Ger- 
 many, and a few in our own country, who are inclined to 
 rest in this unsatisfactory conclusion, — a negative one as 
 regards the relation of the epistles to Paul, and, must we 
 not add also, as regards their claim to a place in the canon 
 of New Testament Scripture ? 
 
 Such is not the inference of the parties themselves. With 
 them the term canon, as applied to Scripture, is of some- 
 what doubtful interpretation, and may include the spurious 
 as well as the genuine, if only written with a good purpose, 
 and in conformity with sound doctrine. So Bleek, for 
 example, in respect to the First Epistle to Timothy (to which 
 he confines his objections, Introd. § i86, 187) ; but Dr. 
 Davidson gives it more roundly in the last form of his Intro- 
 duction to the New Testament ; and with reference to all 
 the Pastoral epistles, he very complacently tells us : " The 
 author chose the name of an apostle to give currency to 
 his sentiments. Being impressed with the idea that a united 
 church with sound doctrine was the best safeguard against 
 heresy [could anybody, we might ask, doubt it ?], he chose 
 Timothy and Titus as the superintendents of churches, to 
 whom Paul might address directions about ecclesiastical 
 organization and heretical views. In all this there was no 
 dishonesty, because the intention was good. The device 
 was a harmless one. Though it misled many, the object of 
 the author was gained." Does not this, however, savour of the 
 wily maxim, that the end sanctifies the means? that one may 
 innocently lie, if through the lie the truth of God can any- 
 how be made to abound more to His glory? St. Paul him- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 self said of all who espoused such a course, that " their 
 damnation was just" (Rom. iii. 7, 8). And beyond doubt 
 it is his verdict, not the loose, easy-going utilitarianism of 
 modern rationalism, that the conscience of Christendom 
 will respond to and ratify. The authority of these epistles 
 for pious uses is gone, if their apostoHc authorship cannot 
 be sustained ; they must share the fate of all hollow pre- 
 tensions. But then, how unlike to such is their real charac- 
 ter — so simple, so earnest, so elevated in tone, so resolutely 
 contending against every form of corruption, expressly 
 against speaking lies in hypocrisy ! How all this, if the 
 writer was conscious to himself of starting with a lie, and 
 lying throughout ? For it is not merely that he has at the 
 outset assumed a name not really his own, but has invented 
 a whole series of circumstances and relations which had no 
 foundation in truth ; and this, strange to say, in the interest 
 of the truth, and as the best mode of securing its perpetuity 
 in the church ! The supposition involves a moral impossi- 
 bility; for, as has been justly said, "the belief preached 
 by. the apostles was not the offspring of the morality, but 
 the morality was the natural fruit of the belief." 
 
 It is no small matter, therefore, which is at stake in this 
 controversy ; nothing less than the authoritative character 
 and practical value of these Pastoral epistles. Even this 
 consideration should not induce us to play false with any 
 portion of the evidence ; but it should certainly dispose us 
 to examine carefully, and with much deliberation weigh, the 
 objections urged against the epistles, before we assent to 
 their validity. Men of the most varied gifts, but of the 
 most approved scholarship and matured judgment, have 
 done so, both in this country and on the Continent, and 
 arrived at the result that there is nothing in the objections 
 to shake their confidence in the genuineness of the writings 
 as the veritable productions of St. Paul. But we shall, for 
 ourselves, consider the more important of them in order. 
 
6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 I. One class of objections is derived from an alleged 
 reference to parties and customs which belong to a later 
 age than the apostle's. 
 
 (i.) Of this description is the supposed allusion in several 
 places to Gnosticism of the Marcionite or Valentinian type. 
 There certainly are expressions in the epistles, especially in 
 the First Epistle to Timothy, which can scarcely be under- 
 stood otherwise than as pointing to the operation of the 
 Gnostic spirit ; but still only to this spirit in its incipient 
 state, not in any developed semi-Christian form. Thus, in 
 chap. vi. 20, Timothy is warned to avoid "profane and vain 
 babbhngs, and oppositions of science falsely so called," or 
 rather " the falsely named gnosis (ttjs x/rfuScovu^ov yvoioreoas)" 
 Nothing is here indicated as to any particular Gnostic 
 theory, which might be rising to the surface in the sphere 
 of Timothy's labours. The expression is quite general, 
 and might have been employed of the Gnostic spirit, as it is 
 known to have manifested itself in the Gospel age, and even 
 prior to it. No one acquainted with the history of the 
 times can doubt that the elements of Gnosticism were then 
 actively at work in many places, and entered deeply into 
 the Alexandrian and Eastern theosophy. But tending, as 
 this always did, to draw the mind into vain and foohsh 
 speculations upon subjects which lay beyond the range of 
 human apprehension, it was necessarily characterized by 
 much empty talk, and assumptions of knowledge which had 
 no foundation in realities — soaring idealisms, which might 
 please the imagination or gratify the pride of intellect, but 
 which were of no avail to the higher interests of the soul. 
 Even in Philo there is not a little of this sort of gnosis, 
 although in his writings the tendency exhibited itself in a 
 subdued form as compared with what it did in others. 
 
 (2.) Much the same may be said of what is intimated at 
 the beginning of chap, iv., of the apprehended forthputtings 
 of the ascetic spirit — forbidding people to marry, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 commanding to abstain from meats, which God made to be 
 received with thanksgiving. Such an intimation is perfectly 
 consistent with the apostolic authorship. For the writer 
 does not say that the teaching in question had already 
 come into operation, and was meeting with acceptance in 
 the church, but that the Spirit gave warnings of its approach ; 
 and all that there is any need for supposing is, that tend- 
 encies had begun to manifest themselves, which to men of 
 spiritual discernment seemed to point in that direction. 
 But for this there was ample ground in the apostolic age — 
 in the widespread feeling among the better class of theo- 
 sophists, that the higher degrees of purity were to be attained 
 only through corporeal fastings, and a disentanglement from 
 flesh and blood relations. Such a feeling, with correspond- 
 ing practices, had been known to exist for generations 
 among the Therapeutae of Egypt and the Essenes of Judea. 
 And it could scarcely be matter of doubt to thoughtful 
 minds, even without any special revelation from the Spirit 
 of God, that the great facts of Christianity, and the mighty 
 moral impulse that went along with them, would exert a 
 potent influence upon many of the class referred to, and 
 incline them to court an alliance with the church. Indeed, 
 we have evidence from the apostle's own hand, in another and 
 not disputed epistle, that characters of a distinctly marked 
 ascetic type had already been pressing into the Christian 
 fellowship, and in a much less likely quarter than the towns 
 of Asia Minor. It is in chap. xiv. of the Epistle to the 
 Romans where notice is taken, several years before the 
 Pastoral epistles were written, of some who, on religious 
 grounds, would eat nothing but herbs, and abstained from 
 wine ; whom the apostle, indeed, characterizes as weak, yet 
 exhorts others to receive and treat as Christian brethren. 
 Even Baur has said of this part of the apostle's writings 
 {Paidus, p. 300) : " Among the Jewish Christians at Rome 
 there already existed a dualistic view of the world, very 
 
8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 closely allied in its root to the Ebionitism of a later age ; 
 which is the less to be wondered at, as this dualism in 
 reference to civil life stands in a very natural connection 
 with that view, which sees in the life of nature an impure 
 and demoniacal principle, awakening dislike and abhor- 
 rence." 
 
 Now this mode of contemplation, and the asceticism 
 naturally springing from it, were not, it must be remembered, 
 indigenous at Rome: their native home was in the East, 
 and they were sure to be met with in greater frequency and 
 fuller efflorescence in the regions where Timothy was fulfill- 
 ing his commission, than in the western capital of the Empire. 
 The period, also, was more advanced ; and it is but natural 
 to suppose, that as elements of that description came to 
 grow and intensify in the church, what might at first be 
 considered merely as a tolerable weakness, should, a little 
 further on, be warned against as a dangerous departing from 
 
 \ the simplicity of the gospel. 
 
 ^ (3.) There is still another passage in the First Epistle to 
 Timothy, near the commencement, which has been alleged 
 to contain a reference to opinions that were first broached 
 by the Gnostics of the second century. It is at chap. i. 4, 
 where Timothy is exhorted to beware of giving heed to 
 fables (fivOoi) and endless genealogies, which served chiefly 
 to minister strife and debate. Apparently, it is things of 
 the same sort which are referred to in Tit. i. 14 under the 
 name of "Jewish fables and commandments of men," and 
 again in chap. iii. 9 as " foolish questions and genealogies, 
 and strifes, and disputations about the law." These genea- 
 logies and myths or fables are held by the party of Baur 
 to refer to the fabulous stories of the Gnostics respecting 
 the generation of aeons, and in particular to the scheme of 
 Valentinus with its regulated system of 30 aeons. It is true 
 that Irenaeus, at the beginning of his work on the Gnostic 
 heresies, prefaces what he is going to say on the Valentinian 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 gnosis, by saying certain men had arisen " who set the truth 
 aside, and brought in lying words and vain genealogies, 
 which, as the apostle says, minister questions rather than 
 godly edifying, which is in faith ;" but it is merely a passing 
 allusion, and cannot be regarded as more than an accom- 
 modation of scriptural words to the subject in hand, whether 
 they might have been originally intended to bear such a 
 reference or not. Tertullian makes a similar use of them, 
 but is more express in connecting that use with their original 
 and proper meaning; for, after noticing the Valentinian 
 fables about the aeons, he affirms, " These are the fables and 
 endless genealogies which, while the seeds of them were 
 beginning to bud forth, the spirit of the apostle by anticipa- 
 tion condemned" {Adv. Vale?if. c. iii.). Tertullian so often 
 strains Scripture to make it bear a sense favourable to his 
 own particular views, that no great stress can be laid on his 
 interpretation in the present case. But a considerable 
 number of modern commentators have substantially con- 
 curred in that interpretation, such as Grotius, Hammond, 
 Mosheim, Alford, etc. It is open, however, to serious, and 
 indeed fatal objections. First of all, the expressions of the 
 apostle, in their natural and proper sense, refer not to things 
 in heaven, but to things on earth — to the records preserved 
 of personal or family relationships, and tales associated with 
 them. If the writer had actually in view emanations pro- 
 ceeding in the spirit-world, he could with no propriety have 
 presented them under the name oi genealogies, which are not 
 e7?ia?iatmis, or even births simply, but birth-registers — a term 
 inapplicable except by way of figure or accommodation to 
 the heavenly sphere. Besides, in the parallel passages in 
 Titus, the genealogies are connected with contests about 
 the law, and the fables are expressly designated Jewish; so 
 that the parties in question must obviously have been viewed 
 as standing on distinctively Jewish ground, and dealing with 
 matters which partook more of a Jewish than a Gnostic 
 
lO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 complexion. So also, in i Tim. i. 7, the persons spoken 
 of as desiring to be teachers of the law are evidently the 
 same with those who a little before are noticed as the 
 broachers of the fables and genealogies warned against. 
 But with matters of law Gnosticism of the fully-fledged kind 
 — the Gnosticism which indulged its fancy in concocting 
 emanation-systems — took little concern ; it soared above 
 them. It is a further confirmation of the same view, that 
 Polybius, the only ancient writer out of Scripture who 
 couples together nvdoi and yeveakoyiai, does so in precisely 
 the same manner as the apostle : that is, he applies them to 
 the origins of families and nations on earth. He speaks of 
 many having narrated the genealogies and 7nyths of nations, 
 their colonies, and kindreds, and foundations (L. ix. c. 2). 
 Schottgen also has brought forward, on i Tim. i. 4, some 
 specimens of Jewish fables respecting genealogies, one of 
 which at least has an important doctrinal bearing ; and the 
 whole, whether or not as ancient as the apostle's time, are 
 yet sufficient to show how materials of this description 
 might be made to minister to much fruitless disputation, 
 and even to erroneous teaching. So that we hold — in 
 opposition to a statement made by Alford — they might, and 
 in reality did, touch religious interests quite enough to 
 account for the apostle's strong denunciations of them. We 
 conclude, therefore, that the parties meant by the apostle in 
 this class of references were a sort of pragmatical formalists, 
 if in some sense Christian, or with acknowledged leanings 
 in that direction, yet more Rabbinical than Christian — 
 persons who delighted to talk and wrangle about legal points, 
 who could raise questions and relate stories on the nature 
 and bearings of genealogies, but which were of little moment, 
 however they might be settled ; which, for the most part, 
 might be settled anyhow, so far as the great interests of- 
 truth and righteousness are concerned. It was every way 
 becoming the aged apostle to warn the youthful evangelist 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 to keep aloof from such a frivolous and fruitless line of 
 things. Indeed, it was just then that such warnings were 
 likely to be needed ; as, shortly after the close of the 
 apostolic age, troublers of that description might be said to 
 lose their standing-ground for the Christian church. After 
 that, her chief dangers came from other quarters. This is 
 virtually admitted by Alford, though it seems scarcely to 
 consist with the view he takes of the genealogies and fables. 
 He is satisfied that the false teachers alluded to in the 
 epistles have more of a Judaistic cast about them than 
 could have been the case if full-blown Gnostics had been 
 referred to ; that, looked at generally, " they seem to hold 
 a position intermediate to the apostle's former Judaizing 
 adversaries and the subsequent Gnostic heretics — distinct 
 from both, and just at that point in the progress from the 
 one form of error to the other which would suit the period 
 subsequent to the Epistle to the Philippians, and prior to 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. There is therefore nothing 
 in them and their characteristics which can cast a doubt on 
 the genuineness of the epistles" {Prolog, p. 77). No, but 
 at the period in question the church had as yet heard 
 nothing of genealogies, in the sense of generations and 
 cycles of aeons. 
 
 (4.) A class of objections belonging to the same general 
 head of references to things subsequent to the apostolic 
 period, but derived from a different quarter, has respect to 
 the notices contained in the epistles of church order and 
 organization : these seem to betoken too advanced a state 
 of matters for St. Paul's time. So De Wette, as well as 
 Baur and many others, have contended. According to 
 them, the writer gives indication of hierarchical tendencies. 
 If so, they must be allowed to have had Httle in common 
 witK the hierarchical tendencies of a later age. Here we 
 find no bishop, in the modern sense of the term ; no priest 
 with strictly sacerdotal functions ; no presiding head even 
 
12 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 is 
 
 of the common council of presbyters, who in a more 
 special manner was charged with the spiritual oversight of 
 the church in each particular place ; but an eldership, more 
 or less numerous, sharing in common the spiritual guardian- 
 ship and edification of the flock. In short, we find only 
 the earliest and simplest form known to us of church order 
 and government, that which had already existed for genera- 
 tions in the Jewish synagogues, and which with little varia- 
 tion was transferred to the newly planted churches of 
 Christian believers. Not only so, but the instructions given 
 through Timothy and Titus to those spiritual overseers are 
 entirely void of hierarchical and ritualistic elements : they 
 press only moral considerations and duties, which had no- 
 thing to do with formal distinctions and minutely prescribed 
 observances. In addition to that primitive type of spiritual 
 officers, mention is made only of deacons — the class ap- 
 pointed first, within a few years after the Ascension, in the 
 mother church at Jerusalem, then in the larger churches 
 generally, for administering the pecuniary affairs and chari- 
 table off"erings of the people. Even these are noticed but 
 once, in connection with Ephesus, not with Crete, where 
 matters were only beginning to take a regulated form when 
 the apostle wrote. All, in a word, as to official organization, 
 is as one might have expected it to be, if anything of this sort 
 was to have been noticed at all ; and it is assuredly very 
 different from the kind of references that would have been 
 found, if the epistles had been written after hierarchical 
 principles had developed themselves. 
 
 As to what is said about widows, also of marriage-rela- 
 tionships in the case of church officers, there is nothing, 
 when the passages are rightly interpreted, which can be 
 deemed indicative of a state of things aUen to the first age 
 of the church. But this can only be exhibited by an 
 analysis of the passages bearing on the subject. 
 
 II. We now therefore pass on to another feature in the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 3 
 
 epistles, to which exception has been taken; namely, 
 certain peculiarities in the cast of thought and the mode of 
 expression found in these epistles, but not in the genuine 
 writings of Paul. Undoubtedly there are differences of the 
 kind referred to, which cannot well be overlooked. The 
 only question is. Whence did they originate? Are they 
 not explicable by the different circumstances in which the 
 epistles were written, the different topics handled, and the 
 comparatively novel opinions and practices brought into 
 consideration? Beyond doubt, there were very obvious 
 and material differences in these respects. It is nothing 
 to the purpose, therefore, to be told that /a_great- many 
 words occur_in these epistles not^lsewhere found in the 
 ajSostTe's writings : for, to a certain extent, such are to be 
 'found in all his epistles ; and here, for the reasons stated, 
 they might be justly expected in greater frequency. The 
 difference is not, after all, very large. Planck has shown 
 that there are 8i words of the kind in question in First 
 Timothy, 67, in Second Timothy, and 44 in Titus. But 
 then in the Epistle to the Philippians there are 54, in Gala- 
 tians 57, in Ephesians and Colossians together 143. But 
 in these epistles it is the common truths and obligations of 
 the gospel which form the chief subjects of discourse, while 
 the three Pastoral epistles occupy ground in a great degree 
 peculiar to themselves. And^when one looks to the varieties 
 4)roduced, and finds among them such examples as the fol- 
 _lowing, — eXeo?, used in the salutation to Timothy, along with 
 
 XO-pi-S and dprjvr], TTtaTos 6 \6yos, Xoyos vyiT]s, ^r]Trj(r€is, fivdos, 
 
 (ra)(j)p(ov, evae^eia, /Se/Sr^Xo?, — words which any writer might 
 have used as the particular occasion or the impulse of the 
 moment might have prompted, — one can only wonder at the 
 frivolous ingenuity, which out of things so common could 
 have thought of discovering formidable instances. 
 
 The questions which in this respect would really be of a 
 testing kind are such as these : Does any term occur in 
 
14 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. ^ 
 
 the Pastoral epistles which was not in use when the apostle 
 lived ? Or are words used in senses which were not ac- 
 quired till a later time ? Or, finally, are these turns of 
 thought and expression not appropriate or natural for the 
 apostle to have employed in the position actually occupied 
 by him, and with reference to the ends for which he lived ? 
 Such questions would be strictly relevant, and, if capable 
 of being answered in the affirmative, would be fatal to the 
 genuineness of the epistles. But nothing of such a descrip- 
 tion has been established. There are, indeed, certain forms 
 of expression occurring with some frequency in these epistles, 
 which might, for aught that we can see, have been employed 
 in the other epistles, though in reality they are not : such, 
 for example, as the application of the term Saviour specially 
 to God (i Tim. i. i, ii. 3, iv. 10; Tit. i. 3); the designation 
 of teaching, according to its quality, as sound, healthful, or 
 unsound, diseased (i Tim. i. 10, vi. 3, 4 j 2 Tim. i. 13, iv. 3 ; 
 Tit. i. 9, 13, ii. I, 8) ; and the favourite expression of 
 "faithful is the word," or saying (i Tim, i. 15, iii. i, iv. 9 ; 
 2 Tim. ii. 11 ; Tit. i. 9). But surely it is quite conceivable 
 that the state of things in the church about the time the 
 epistles were written, especially the kind and tendencies of 
 the errors which had begun to prevail, may have naturally 
 enough led to the employment of such a phraseology. That 
 CQYtsin probable reasons can be assigned for them, will be 
 shown in the exposition. But is it not also competent to 
 ask, whether it was upon the whole less likely that the 
 apostle would himself resort to such modes of speech in 
 his latter days ; or that a mere imitator, counterfeiting his 
 name, would do so ? The latter could scarcely afford to 
 venture on a liberty of this description ; he would be afraid 
 of his speech betraying him ; while Paul himself, writing 
 in the conscious freedom of his own powers and purposes, 
 might readily vary his language, as seemed natural or 
 proper in the circumstances. There is the more force in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 5 
 
 this consideration, as the general character of the diction is 
 quite Pauline, and in a much greater number of expressions 
 is there a marked resemblance to the other epistles than in 
 those referred to a dissimilarity. On the supposition of our 
 epistles being the production of an artful but well-intentioned 
 imitator, can any reason be conceived why so many delicate 
 and pervading correspondences should have been associated 
 with such marked divergences ? Surely he who could catch 
 the one would have taken care to avoid the other. ^ 
 
 So far, then, as a change is perceptible in the style, though 
 it is not without a measure of difficulty, it seems most readily 
 accounted for by change of circumstances and lapse of time. 
 *' New words very soon are employed, when new ideas arise 
 to require them. The growth of new heresies, the develop- 
 ment of church organization, the rapid alteration of circum- 
 stances in a great moral revolution, may fitly account for 
 the use of new terms in a new sense. Moreover, the 
 language of letters to individual friends might be expected 
 to differ somewhat from that of public letters to churches" 
 (Conybeare and Howson, ii. 553). 
 
 III. A still further source of objections has been found 
 in the contents and structure of the epistles. Of these some 
 are so insignificant and captious, that it is unnecessary to 
 specify them here. Others, also, are so intimately connected 
 with the nature and design of the epistles, that they might 
 equally be urged against any author whatever, as against 
 
 1 Alford has given a pretty long list of the resemblances found in the 
 language of the three epistles with a single one of the undisputed 
 Pauline — that to the Galatians : rod lovros lavrov ^ipi, Gal. i. 4, i Tim. 
 ii. 16, Tit. ii. 14 J £'s tous alaivas tZv etlcovaiv. Gal. i. 5> I Tim. i, 17 J 
 ^poiKo-^rov, Gal. i. 14, 2 Tim. ii. 16, iii. 9 ; a-rvkos, Gal. ii. 9, i Tim. 
 iii. 15 ; avcjjra/, Gal. iii. I, I Tim. vi. 9, Tit. iii. 3 ; (AurlrYis, Gal. iii. 
 20, I Tim. ii. 5 ; Ix-rU objective, Gal. v. 5, Tit. ii. 13 ; <Tvi6fjt,a.rt 
 ayiffdi. Gal. V. 18, 2 Tim. iii. 6 ; x-xtpS l^iu, Gal. vi. 19, i Tim, ii. 
 6, Tit. i. 3. In Rom. xvi. 25, also, there are as many as five verbal 
 correspondences with expressions in the Pastoral epistles. 
 
1 6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 St. Paul, if not more so. Thus, exception is taken to the 
 constant moral reference of what is said in various passages 
 respecting faith, the identifying of sound views of Christian 
 doctrine with a good conscience, and of erroneous doctrine 
 with a bad one. In substance, the same thing is done in 
 other epistles of Paul, only in a more general way (for ex- 
 ample, Rom. i. 17, 18, Gal. ii. 17-20, v. 6, etc.). But if what 
 served in good measure to call forth the Pastoral epistles 
 was the growth of a species of heretical doctrine, which 
 tended to sophisticate the conscience, and substitute specu- 
 lative for saving knowledge, then, whoever the writer might 
 be, he could not have effectually met the evil he sought to 
 correct and guard against, without tracing the evil thus up 
 to its source. The Apostle John does precisely the same 
 thing, when writing with a similar aim, though after his own 
 pecuUar style ; for example, i John i. 6-10, iii. 5-7,2 John 
 9-1 1. '' The precepts and directions (says Davidson in his 
 more advanced criticism on these epistles, Introd. ii. 169) 
 are ethical and outward, relating to conduct. They touch 
 upon matters of conscience or propriety. The very health 
 of Timothy is attended to. Regulations about churches, 
 their organization, and their office-bearers, are such as 
 might have been left to the judgment of Timothy and Titus 
 themselves." That is to say, everything of such a nature is 
 a matter of perfect indifference as regards the true interests 
 of the church, and may be regulated as seems good to 
 persons of ordinary capacity ; although it is notorious from 
 the history of the past, that infinite evil has come into the 
 church from individual caprice in such things, and that if 
 we had wanted this portion of the apostle's writings, we 
 should have been without the best materials we now possess 
 for understanding the original polity and government of the 
 church. Indeed, as Alford has remarked, the opponents of 
 the apostolic authorship of the epistles have most effectually 
 defeated themselves on the aspect of the matter now under 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 7 
 
 consideration. " Schleiermacher, holding First Timothy to 
 be compiled out of the other two, finds it in many respects 
 objectionable and below the mark; Baur will not concede 
 this latter estimate ; and De Wette charges Schleiermacher 
 with having failed to penetrate the sense of the writer, and 
 found faults where a more thorough exposition must pro- 
 nounce a favourable judgment. These differences may 
 well serve to strike out the argument, and indeed all such 
 purely subjective estimates, from the realms of BibHcal 
 criticism." 
 
 Nor is there any more force in what has been alleged 
 from the structure of the epistles, — those especially to 
 Timothy, — that they want the compactness of Paul's other 
 writings, are somewhat loosely put together, and are occa- 
 sionally abrupt in their transitions from one topic to another. 
 As if Paul, in writing to a bosom friend and fellow-labourer, 
 should have observed the same regard to method, and pur- 
 sued a like formal treatment of subjects, as in those epistles 
 which were of the nature of regular discussions ! This 
 would have been unnatural ; the more so, as the things 
 which fell to be noticed here were of a somewhat varied 
 description, partly relating to Timothy's personal behaviour, 
 and partly to the state of affairs in the church. Accord- 
 ingly, one of the most striking examples of the unmethodical 
 and abrupt character of the mode of writing characteristic 
 of the epistles — the advice, interjected amid things of 
 higher moment, that Timothy should use a little wine for 
 his stomach's sake and frequent infirmities (i Tim. v. 23) — 
 is, with his usual discrimination, seized upon by Paley as a 
 convincing proof of verisimilitude and genuineness. " In 
 actual letters (he says), in the negligence of a real corre- 
 spondence, examples of this kind frequently take place — 
 seldom, I think, in any other production. For the moment 
 a man regards what he writes as a composition^ which the 
 author of a forgery would of all others be the first to do, 
 
 B 
 
l8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 notions of order in the management and succession of his 
 thoughts suggest themselves to his judgment, and guide his 
 pen/' Thus, what the mere critic, on the outlook for ob- 
 jections, brands with his mark of suspicion, the man of 
 shrewd discernment and practical sagacity, guided mainly 
 by a regard to the habits of actual life, perceived to be one 
 of the surest indications of a genuine frankness and sim- 
 plicity. Wieseler, I may add, in a recent article in Herzog's 
 Encyclopcedia (Suppl. iii. p. 296), delivers himself even 
 more strongly, while considering the passage from a slightly 
 different point of view : he conceives the passage, so 
 peculiarly introduced, "to be a striking proof of the 
 genuineness of the epistle, because the deep solicitude 
 manifested in it by Paul for Timothy, not only corresponds 
 with what is known of his loving heart, but appears so 
 individually coloured, and breaks forth so instantaneously, 
 that it could not possibly be counterfeited." 
 
 A similar judgment might be pronounced upon a request 
 in 2 Tim. iv. 13, equally homely in its character, and 
 equally abrupt in its manner of introduction. There Timothy 
 is desired to bring with him the cloak the apostle had left 
 at Troas, and the books, especially the parchments; quite 
 natural if the apostle himself so wrote, but a most impro- 
 bable and senseless thing for any one to invent in his 
 name 1 For *' what possible motive there could be for in- 
 serting such minute particulars, unexampled in the apostle's 
 other letters, founded on no incident in history, tending to 
 no result, might well baffle the acutest observers of the 
 phenomena of falsification to declare '' (Alford). 
 
 Without going further into detail here, the conclusion 
 which forces itself upon us from the leading characteristics 
 of the contents and structure of the epistles, is that it was 
 infinitely more likely they should have proceeded from the 
 hand of St. Paul, than from any one falsely assuming his 
 name. There are ample reasons for the one supposition, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 9 
 
 but none adequate to sustain the other. Had a desire to 
 meet the rising indications of Gnosticism tempted some one 
 to enter the field under false colours, the object would have 
 appeared far more prominent than it actually does, and the 
 epistles would not have presented either the varied or the 
 earnest character which belongs to them. No sinister aim, 
 no predominant idea in the mind of a forger, but only truth 
 and reality, can account for them as they actually exist. 
 
 Section ii. — Tiine and Places of Writing. 
 
 A point remains for consideration, and one certainly not 
 unattended with difficulty, — namely, whe.-e to find in the 
 history of the apostle a probable or appropriate time and 
 place for the writing of the epistles. It is a difficulty which 
 respects more especially the First Epistle to Timothy. The 
 second epistle bears to have been written in the closing 
 stage of the apostle's career, when the prospect of martyr- 
 dom was staring him in the face. Nor is there anything in 
 the known circumstances of the time that can justly be 
 regarded as incompatible with this supposition. The only 
 room for question is, whether it may have been -written 
 toward the close of a first or of a second imprisonment. 
 And on this question opposite opinions have been, and 
 probably may still be held ; but we shall have occasion to 
 advert to it before we close. As for the Epistle to Titus, 
 since it merely implies a brief connection sometime had by 
 the apostle with Crete, — a connection never touched on in 
 the history of the Acts, — it scarcely admits either of con- 
 firmation from circumstantial evidence, or the reverse. It 
 is quite possible, that during the apostle's long sojourn at 
 Corinth, he might have paid a visit to that important island. 
 Or, supposing there was a second imprisonment taking 
 place after a considerable interval from the first, it is per- 
 fectly conceivable that opportunity was taken during the 
 
20 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 interval to visit Crete, leaving Titus behind him to complete 
 the organization of the infant churches. Our chief disad- 
 vantage here lies in the scantiness of our materials, the 
 chief historical record having closed some time before the 
 termination of his labours. But, from the striking similarity 
 both in sentiment and modes of expression which the 
 Epistle to Titus presents to the two other Pastoral epistles, 
 it can scarcely be doubted that they belong to much the 
 same period in the apostle's history ; and no solution of 
 the question can be deemed quite satisfactory which would 
 place a considerable interval between them. 
 
 The historical problem has its chief difficulty, as we have 
 said, in connection with the First Epistle to Timothy. In 
 that epistle no allusion is made to any personal arrest or 
 imprisonment ; and for aught that appears, the apostle was 
 quite free when he wrote to regulate his own movements, 
 and discharge his apostolical functions. The most specific 
 historical allusion is at chap. i. 3, where he states that, on 
 setting out for Macedonia, he had besought Timothy to 
 abide still at Ephesus, for the purpose of repressing certain 
 errors in doctrine and corrupt tendencies which had begun 
 to manifest themselves. It is clear from this, and from the 
 whole tenor of the epistle, that the charge devolved on 
 Timothy at Ephesus was one that would require some time 
 for its execution, and that it could not have been St. Paul's 
 intention to assign a very brief limit to it, when, at chap. iii. 
 14, he expressed a hope of being able to rejoin Timothy 
 shortly (rdxiou). Now there is no period in the history of the 
 apostle, as recorded in the Acts, which exactly meets these 
 conditions, although three several methods have been 
 devised to bring what is recorded into a measure of con- 
 formity with them. 
 
 I. One, and indeed the readiest to have occurred — adopted 
 by Theodoret, Benson, Michaelis, etc. — was the occasion of 
 the tumult raised in Ephesus by Demetrius and his crafts- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 men, which greatly imperilled the life of the apostle, and 
 obliged him to leave the city (Acts xix. 24-xx. i ; 2 Cor. i. 
 8). Paul did then actually go from Ephesus to Macedonia. 
 But a notice in the history shortly before, informs us that he 
 had previously sent Timothy and Erastus away into Mace- 
 donia, intending himself presently to follow (xix. 22) ; the 
 outbreak of Demetrius only served to hasten a little the 
 period of his departure. But since Timothy had on that 
 occasion been despatched before the apostle, it must plainly 
 have been of some other time that Paul spoke, when he 
 represents himself as having gone to Macedonia, and 
 Timothy as left behind for special work in Ephesus. It is 
 evident also from another consideration, viz. that when he 
 reached Macedonia, he appears either to have rejoined 
 Timothy there, or to have been immediately rejoined by 
 him ; for the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which was 
 written soon after his going into Macedonia, has the name 
 of Timothy along with his own in the opening salutation. 
 In another epistle also, that to the Romans, which was 
 written only a little later, and after he had proceeded to 
 Corinth, Timothy is mentioned as being at the time with 
 the apostle (xvi. 21). A short period further on, again, his 
 name occurs among several others who left Greece with the 
 apostle, with the view of accompanying him on his last visit 
 to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 4). In such a chain of circumstances, 
 with Timothy always present as a constituent portion, there 
 seems no possibility of getting a situation that corresponds 
 with the opening statement of the epistle. 
 
 2. Nor do they suit any better with another mode of 
 explanation, — one adopted by Grotius, Hammond, Ber- 
 th oldt, etc., — according to which, while the deputies who 
 accompanied Paul from Greece to Jerusalem went before 
 to Troas, where they waited for the apostle (Acts xx. 5), 
 Timothy, it is supposed, may have proceeded to Ephesus, 
 where he was followed by this epistle, requesting him to 
 
2 2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 attend to certain matters of importance, and to abide till 
 Paul himself should come. This is altogether improbable, 
 and at variance with the language employed. For, in such 
 a case, it could not with truth have been said that Timothy- 
 was besought to abide still at Ephesus {npoa-ii^lvai) after the 
 apostle had left it. Or, if an earlier period w ere though^ of, 
 as has been done, when Timothy 2<:/<^j- left behind at Ephesus, 
 though he had rejoined the apostle before his work was 
 completed, and again went back from Troas to resume and 
 finish it, the supposition becomes so peculiarly complicated, 
 that it cannot be accepted as a natural explanation of the 
 historical allusion in the epistle. Besides, Paul could not 
 have said at Miletus, a few days after leaving Troas, to the 
 Ephesian elders, that he expected to see their face no more 
 (Acts XX. 25), and yet have written Timothy that he hoped 
 ere long to be with him at Ephesus. 
 
 3. A third hypothesis has been formed, and, with several 
 modifications, has met with support from men of thought 
 and learning. Mosheim was the first to propose the solu- 
 tion, according to which there was a temporary visit of Paul 
 to Macedonia, and perhaps to other parts of Greece, some 
 time during his three years' sojourn at Ephesus, — a visit left 
 unnoticed in the history of the Acts. Mosheim thought 
 this view afforded an explanation of an apparent discrepance 
 in the notes of time given in the Acts respecting the duration 
 of the apostle's labours in Ephesus; in one of which, chap, 
 xix. 9, 10, he is said to have first continued for three months, 
 meeting and disputing with the Jews in the synagogue ; 
 and in another, that for two whole years he taught in the 
 school of one Tyrannus ; while he himself, in addressing 
 the Ephesian elders, reminded them that his labours among 
 them had been protracted to three years (xx. 31). It is 
 supposed that by this expression the apostle may have 
 meant merely that the burden of his time and active agency 
 for that period had been given to Ephesus, while a portion 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 of it — eight or nine months — may have been spent in 
 Macedonia and elsewhere. And if so, then Timothy may 
 have been left behind at Ephesus to supply the apostle's 
 place, and attend to the matters mentioned in the first 
 epistle. Considered by itself, this supposition is not one 
 that can be designated impossible; and if other things 
 suited, it might (notwithstanding the silence of the writer 
 of the Acts) be accepted as a probable, if not quite natural, 
 solution of the difficulty. But it is attended with serious 
 embarrassments, which cannot well be got over ; and those 
 who agree in the general about it, fall out among them- 
 selves when they go to work out the details. Mosheim 
 placed the supposed visit to Jerusalem early in the three 
 years, without allowing suffixient time for the formation of a 
 church at Ephesus so regularly organized, and the develop- 
 ment of tendencies so evidently heretical, as is implied in 
 the epistle. Therefore Schrader and Wieseler have pre^- 
 ferred throwing the time back to the latter part of the 
 period in question ; but they connect with this tour, be- 
 sides the visit to Macedonia, a visit also to Achaia and 
 Crete^ and even to Cilicia and Antioch. 
 
 It seems, however, by no means likely that Paul would 
 have pursued such a lengthened course of ministerial agency 
 in these other places, while matters were plainly emerging 
 at Ephesus which called for delicate and authoritative 
 dealing. Some very urgent reason would have been re- 
 quired to make him do so ; of which, however, we know 
 nothing. Then, it is difficult to conceive that at any 
 period during the three years, and while Paul himself was 
 taking the chief charge at Ephesus, the teachers of false 
 doctrine should have begun to assume so dangerous an 
 aspect : their having done so would rather seem to argue 
 his absence for some considerable time, and more favour- 
 able circumstances for their mischievous purposes. We 
 may the rather conclude thus, as at a later period still, when 
 
24 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 addressing at Miletus the elders from Ephesus, it was not 
 yet the actual presence, but only the probable rise, at no 
 distant period, of heretical teachers, respecting which the 
 apostle warned them. Still further, the epistle, in its gene- 
 ral character and bearing, seems plainly to point to a much 
 more prolonged and responsible agency on the part of 
 Timothy at Ephesus, than he was at all likely to have had 
 devolved on him if the apostle had only left it for a brief 
 missionary tour. And lastly, we should be obliged, on 
 the hypothesis in question, to separate the First Epistle to 
 Timothy, and also the Epistle to Titus, from the Second 
 Epistle to Timothy, by an interval of several years ; while 
 yet the cast of thought and expression in it presents so 
 many resemblances to the two other epistles, and so cha- 
 racteristically differs in that respect from those certainly 
 belonging to an earlier time, that it is difficult to believe 
 there did actually exist such an interval. The whole of 
 the Pastoral epistles must be assigned to much the same 
 period, and that later by some years than the other 
 epistles. 
 
 This combination of difficulties has been felt by many 
 of the more impartial and considerate investigators to be so 
 serious, that they have renounced as hopeless the attempt 
 to find a place for the Pastoral epistles anywhere within 
 the historical period embraced in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 and have consequently transferred them to a time subse- 
 quent to his release from the first imprisonment. So, for 
 example, Paley, Wiesinger, Huther, Conybeare and How- 
 son, Alford, Ellicott. It is no new notion, however ; for it 
 was a part of the traditional beHef in ancient times con- 
 cerning the apostle, that the appeal he took at Caesarea to 
 the Emperor terminated in his favour, and that some years 
 of freedom were granted to him afterwards for the preaching 
 of the gospel. The closing notice in the Acts may itself 
 be taken as proof; for a man who "dwelt two whole years 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto 
 him," could no longer have been looked upon as a culprit : 
 he must either have been acquitted of the charge brought 
 against him, or, as is equally probable, it must have been 
 allowed to drop by the non-appearance of his accusers to 
 support it. They must have seen long before, that in the 
 eye of Roman law they had no proper ground to stand 
 upon. The cause had been heard twice by Roman pro- 
 curators at Caesarea, and each time without any legal 
 offence being established against him. Festus even ex- 
 pressed his inability to give formal expression to the charge 
 in a form that could render it properly cognisable in a court 
 of law ; and Agrippa, after hearing him, declared his con- 
 viction, that but for his own appeal, the prisoner might 
 have been set at liberty (Acts xxv. 27, xxvi. 32). It can 
 scarcely be doubted that lawyers at Rome would come to 
 the same conclusion about it. 
 
 This result — namely, that Paul was acquitted and again 
 resumed his labours — is confirmed by various allusions and 
 testimonies. When writing from Rome to the Philippians, 
 some time during his first confinement, he spoke of it as not 
 improbable that he might again be permitted to see them 
 (i. 27). In his Epistle to Philemon also, written probably 
 a httle later, he even went further ; and as well-nigh certain 
 of being able to revisit his old field of labour in Asia 
 Minor, he requested Philemon to prepare for him a lodging 
 (ver. 22). Then, passing to the Patristic testimonies, the 
 Roman Clement, in his letter to the church at Corinth, 
 represents Paul as having, after being frequently imprisoned 
 and stoned, gone to the extreme west (r6 re/j/xa rrjs dva-eas), 
 testifying of the gospel (c. v.), which seems to point to 
 ministrations somewhere farther west than Rome, as the 
 capital of the Empire could scarcely be designated the 
 extremity of the west by any intelligent writer in the Gospel 
 age. Eusebius, giving the common tradition of his time, 
 
26 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 says that, " after pleading his cause, Paul is reported to have 
 been again sent forth upon the ministry of preaching, and 
 that, on coming a second time to the city, he finished his 
 course with martyrdom" {Eccl. Hist, ii. 22). Eusebius 
 connects with this second imprisonment the writing of the 
 Second Epistle to Timothy; and after quoting various 
 passages from it to support the view he takes, he states 
 it as probable that, " since Nero was more disposed to 
 mildness in the beginning of his reign, the apostle's de- 
 fence of his doctrine would be more wilHngly received ; " 
 but that, as he afterwards advanced to the greatest criminal 
 excesses, the apostles, as well as others, were made to 
 experience the effects. Jerome confirms this testimony in 
 its more essential parts. He says ( Vir. illiis.) that Paul was 
 dismissed by Nero to preach the gospel in the west ; and 
 he connects the martyrdom of Paul with the fourteenth year 
 of Nero's reign, probably a.d. dZ, seven years after Paul 
 first reached Rome, and five after the period at which the 
 narrative of the Acts closes. 
 
 Holding, then, to the fact of two imprisonments, we may 
 suppose that the apostle, after having regained his liberty 
 from the first, and continued his labours for some time in 
 Rome, went elsewhere to prosecute his apostolic calling. 
 It is possible that he then made good his former purpose 
 of visiting Spain (Rom. xv. 24), though we have no certain 
 evidence of the fact ; and the more advanced period of life 
 at which he had now arrived would probably induce him, 
 if not altogether to abandon the design, at least to devote 
 little time to its accomplishment. Hence no particular 
 church in Spain appears to have been able to claim him as 
 its founder. It would .naturally seem better for him, a 
 work more in accordance with his declining years, to re- 
 visit the scenes of his former labours in Greece and Asia, 
 and give to the churches he had been honoured to plant 
 the benefit of what still remained to him of active service. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 He might the more readily be induced to take this course, 
 from the knowledge he had obtained, that during his long 
 confinement, first in Csesarea and then in Rome, the seeds 
 of error had begun to spring up in several of those churches, 
 and needed to be repressed with a firm yet tender hand. 
 Indications of this are not wanting in some of the epistles 
 he wrote from Rome. But it is impossible for us to trace 
 with any certainty the course he followed. He had ex- 
 pressed a hope of soon being able to see in person his 
 beloved Philippians ; and it is quite probable that Philippi 
 and other parts of Greece, being the more easily reached, 
 might be among the first places he revisited. From thence 
 he may have passed over into Asia, spending more or less 
 time at such places as Troas, Laodicea, Colossae, Ephesus ; 
 at which last place, finding matters in a peculiarly critical 
 condition, and requiring prolonged and careful superin- 
 tendence, he left Timothy behind, himself returning to 
 Macedonia, whence he might find his way back to Ephesus 
 or to the NicopoHs which is mentioned in Tit. iii. 12 as 
 the place where he had resolved to spend a winter. It 
 was most probably the town of that name in Epirus which 
 was meant, but others have thought of Nicopohs in CiHcia. 
 In some one or other of those goings and returnings he 
 most likely took Crete on his way, and, after a short period 
 of labour, left Titus to complete the work. 
 
 When the final arrest was laid on the apostle's move- 
 ments, whether at the instance of some adversaries of the 
 gospel in the regions he was visiting, or by persons in the 
 Roman capital after he had again returned thither, we 
 cannot tell. The ferocious treatment which the Christians 
 in Rome received from Nero in a.d. 64, would naturally 
 embolden the formerly baffled opponents of the apostle to 
 renew their attempts against his Hfe ; and, taught by past 
 experience, to do it now on more general grounds. The 
 former accusation turned on what might be called dis- 
 
28 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tinctively Jewish points ; and being laid against one who 
 had the rights of a Roman citizen, the result would 
 necessarily come to be determined by the principles of 
 Roman jurisprudence. But the persecution of Nero had 
 drawn a distinction between Jew and Christian, and had 
 virtually given the adversaries of the gospel a warrant to 
 regard and treat its adherents as in a kind of exceptional 
 position, not entitled to the protection afforded to others 
 by the laws of the Empire. It would therefore be quite 
 easy to get up an accusation against so noted a Christian as 
 Paul, charging him with a violation of the law (for instance) 
 which forbade the introduction of a new and illicit re- 
 ligion {religio nova ef illicita), or of being a ringleader of 
 the party who had set fire to the city. To be so arraigned 
 was to be placed in a far more perilous position than when 
 charged merely with disrespect as to the punctilios of Jewish 
 religiousness ; it was to be brought into conflict with the 
 constitution and safety of the commonwealth, and eyed as 
 a person of dangerous revolutionary principles. On this 
 account, doubtless, it is that we are to explain, not only the 
 different termination of the second impeachment from the 
 first, but also the painfully different behaviour of his friends 
 under it. On the former occasion the apostle seems to 
 have had no reason to complain ; he received from them 
 the most gratifying proofs of sympathy and kindness, so 
 that his prison-house became a centre of attraction rather 
 than a ground of repulsion. But during the second trial all 
 seems sadly changed for the worse : at the first hearing of 
 his case, " no man stood by him ; " " all forsook him and 
 fled ; " and things looked so disastrously, that friend after 
 friend departed, one in this direction, another in that. 
 Onesiphorus is mentioned as singular in having " sought 
 him out, not being ashamed of his chain." Luke alone 
 at last remained with him. All, doubtless, because, from 
 the nature of the accusation, it was to imperil one's fife 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 even to appear in a friendly relation to the apostle ; his 
 sympathizers might be involved in the same condemnation 
 with himself. It is evident, from the notices in the closing 
 verses of Second Timothy, that Paul very keenly felt the 
 loneHness in which this state of matters left him; but he 
 clung only the more closely to the one all-sufficient Friend, 
 and found the support he needed. As to the kind of death 
 he suffered, Jerome says it was by being beheaded, and the 
 body was buried in the Ostian Way. But these are only 
 later traditions, and no great value can be attached to 
 them. 
 
 There is so much of verisimilitude in the general outline 
 just sketched, that it may be acquiesced in as by much the 
 most probable view that can now be entertained of the last 
 days of the apostle. And in addition to the various col- 
 lateral circumstances already noticed, which speak in favour 
 of it, there are a few allusions of an incidental kind in the 
 Second Epistle to Timothy, which can scarcely be made to 
 consist with anything but a later visit to Greece and Asia, 
 between a first and a second impeachment. Thus, at chap, 
 iv. 13, he requests Timothy to bring with him the cloak 
 and the books he had left at Troas, — a request which can 
 hardly be understood of things left there when the apostle 
 was on his way from Greece to Jerusalem, before his arrest 
 in the temple ; since, on any computation, a good many 
 years must have elapsed between that and the writing of 
 the epistle, and many opportunities must meanwhile have 
 occurred to regain possession of the things he had left. 
 Again, it is said in iv. 20, that the apostle had left Tro- 
 phimus at Miletus sick, which was certainly not the case 
 on the occasion of his going up from Greece to Jerusalem ; 
 for not only was Trophimus then with him, but it was his 
 appearance with Paul in the city which afforded the Jews a 
 pretext for charging Paul with defiling the temple, by bring- 
 ing Greeks into it. Still further, it is said in the same verse 
 
30 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 that "Erastus abode at Corinth," that is, remained there 
 when Paul left it. But as Timothy himself was with Paul 
 when he left Corinth to proceed to Jerusalem, Timothy- 
 could not require to be informed of it; and besides, as 
 years had anyhow elapsed since then, it would have been 
 out of place to notice it as a piece of news now. Every- 
 thing seems to point to a succession of circumstances be- 
 longing to a period subsequent to the first imprisonment. 
 
 Of the subscriptions to the three Pastoral epistles, the 
 first is manifestly wrong; for it names Laodicea as the place 
 of writing, while in the epistle itself the writer speaks of 
 himself as having left Ephesus for Macedonia: so that 
 Philippi, or some other town in that region, is most 
 naturally thought of as the place from which it proceeded. 
 There is also an error in the subscription to the Epistle to 
 Titus ; for it gives the date as from Nicopolis in Macedonia, 
 while no Nicopolis is known to have belonged to that 
 province. Probably Nicopolis in Macedonia was a mis- 
 take for Nicopolis in Epirus. But even that had been 
 wrong (see at Tit. iii. 12). So that, out of three sub- 
 scriptions, two are almost certainly erroneous. And this 
 is but a sample of the subscriptions generally, which are 
 oftener wrong than right; because, as Paley notes, they 
 were founded on loose traditions, or a hasty view of some 
 particular text. Yet, as he justly adds, " if the epistles had 
 been forged, the whole must have been made up of the 
 same elements as those of which the subscriptions are 
 composed ; and it would have remained to be accounted 
 for, how, whilst so many errors were crowded, into the con- 
 cluding clauses of the letters, so much consistency should 
 be preserved in other parts." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 Section hi. — Notices of Timothy. 
 
 The Timothy to whom two of the Pastoral epistles were 
 addressed, was from an early period a close companion and 
 attendant Of St. Paul. He is first mentioned in the narrative 
 of Paul's secojid missionary tour through the cities of Asia 
 Minor (Acts xvi. i sq.). He was a native of Derbe or 
 Lystra — of which of them cannot be quite certainly deter- 
 mined ; but the probability seems to lie on the side of 
 Lystra, as, in a passage where Gaius and Timothy are 
 mentioned together (Acts xx. 4), the epithet AeplBaTos is 
 applied only to Gaius, as if in that respect to distinguish 
 him from Timothy. His mother and grandmother were 
 exemplary and pious Jewish females (2 Tim. i. 5), but his 
 father was a Greek. That he was converted to the Christian 
 faith through the ministrations of the apostle, and on the 
 occasion of his first visit to Lystra, there can be little doubt, 
 as the apostle designates him his own or his true child in 
 the faith (i Tim. i. 2) ; and by the time of the apostle's 
 second visit, he was in good repute among the brethren 
 (Acts xvi. 2). Young as he was, there was something in 
 his spirit and deportment which deeply impressed the 
 apostle with his aptitude for the work of the ministry ; and 
 finding that Timothy himself, and those more immediately 
 interested in him, were disposed to comply with St. Paul's 
 wish in the matter, " he took and circumcised him," because 
 the Jews in the neighbourhood knew that his father was a 
 Greek, and would, as a matter of course, have refused to 
 allow Timothy to utter a word in their synagogues, until he 
 had submitted to the initiatory ordinance of the covenant 
 (ver. 3). He was afterwards solemnly destined to the work, 
 by the imposition both of the apostle's hands and of the 
 hands of the presbytery (i Tim. iv. 14; 2 Tim. i. 6), though 
 the specific time and place are not mentioned. 
 
32 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 We have no other instance of such a near, unbroken, and 
 prolonged fellowship in the history of apostolic times, as 
 that which appears to have subsisted between Paul and this 
 youthful disciple ; the more remarkable, considering the 
 disparity of their ages. From the period that Timothy 
 entered upon his ministerial discipleship, he seems rarely 
 to have been absent for any length of time from the apostle ; 
 and even when not expressly mentioned among his com- 
 panions, some turn in the affairs, or incidental expression, 
 reveals the presence of the beloved disciple. Thus, in the 
 narrative of the Acts, Paul and Silas are alone mentioned 
 as having come to Philippi, preaching the gospel : yet 
 Timothy, it appears, must also have been with them ; for, 
 when Paul was sent away from Beraea to Athens, Silas and 
 Timothy are said to have remained behind (Acts xvii. 
 14 sq.). His youthful appearance, in all probability, saved 
 him from the violent treatment which Paul and Silas had to 
 endure at Philippi, and the other places they visited in that 
 region. After staying for some time at Bersea, and, at 
 Paul's request, returning again to Thessalonica (i Thess. 
 ii. 5, iii. 2), he rejoined the apostle at Corinth, along with 
 Silas (i Thess. iii. 6). He seems to have continued with the 
 apostle during his long stay in that city ; and the name of 
 Timothy, as well as that of Silas, is coupled with his own 
 by the apostle in both of the epistles to the Thessalonians, 
 which were sent from Corinth. We next find him with St. 
 Paul at Ephesus (Acts xix. 22), whence he was sent with 
 Erastus to Macedonia and Corinth (i Cor. iv. :7, xvi. 10). 
 He was again with Paul in Macedonia when the Second 
 Epistle to the Corinthians was written, in which his name 
 has a place in the address, along with Paul's. He was 
 also with Paul at Corinth during the brief sojourn there, 
 when the Epistle to the Romans was written, although his 
 name is not in the address (Rom. xvi. 21); and he was one 
 of those who accompanied the apostle from Greece, when 
 
INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 he went towards Jerusalem with the contributions of the 
 churches (Acts xx. 4). But the last notice of him in that 
 connection reaches no further than Troas (chap. xx. 5); and 
 for a period of upwards of two years nothing more is heard 
 of him. We can scarcely doubt, however, that he was 
 chiefly at Csesarea during Paul's long imprisonment there, 
 ministering as far as possible to his comfort, and in every 
 available way acting for him, and for the interests of the gospel. 
 But the next express mention that is made of him is in some 
 of the episdes written by Paul from Rome ; though we are 
 without any information as to the mode of his transference 
 thither — whether by accompanying the apostle (as is most 
 likely) in his perilous voyage, or going by some other route. 
 His name, at any rate, occurs in three of the epistles sent 
 from Rome — those to Philippi, Colossae, Philemon — fol- 
 lowing that of Paul in the opening address ; and in the 
 Epistle to the PhiHppians there is a very strong and favour- 
 able testimony given respecting Timothy, placing him above 
 all the other fellow-labourers of the apostle for thorough 
 devotedness of spirit and self-sacrificing zeal : " But I trust 
 in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I 
 also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For 
 I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your 
 state ; for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus 
 Christ's. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with 
 his father, he hath served me in the gospel" (Phil. ii. 19-22). 
 Whether Timothy was able to fulfil the mission here con- 
 templated cannot be certainly determined ; nor do we know 
 much of his future course, except that he appears to have 
 also, like his master, suftered unto bonds (Heb. xiii. 23) — 
 showing that he did not want the martyr spirit; and after 
 having for a time accompanied Paul in his apostolic labours 
 during the period between his first and second imprison- 
 ment in Rome, Timothy (as we learn from the two epistles 
 addressed to him) was left at Ephesus for a season, while 
 
 c 
 
34 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Paul went to labour elsewhere. The last request from the 
 apostle to him, of which we have any record, is one en- 
 treating him to hasten with all speed to Rome, that Paul 
 might see him again before he suffered. But whether this 
 solace was granted to him or not, remains doubtful. The 
 connection between the two probably lasted from about 
 A.D. 51 to A.D. 67 or 68. 
 
 The character of Timothy is chiefly to be inferred from 
 the incidental notices of him which have been alluded to. 
 It speaks much for his stedfast faith, his warm piety, and 
 unflagging zeal, that he should have remained so firm in his 
 attachment to the apostle, sharing with him in all his trials, 
 dangers, and labours ; and not less that the apostle should 
 so fondly have clung to him, and so highly appreciated him. 
 Attempts have been made to show that some abatement has 
 to be made in this respect in the later period of their connec- 
 tion ; but, I am convinced, entirely without success, as I have 
 endeavoured to prove in the exposition of those passages in 
 the Second Epistle on which the charge has been chiefly 
 grounded. To the last, St. Paul appears to have reposed 
 in Timothy the fullest confidence, and to have made him 
 the object of the fondest solicitude and afii'ection. Impor- 
 tant and responsible duties were devolved on him, in the 
 discharge of which his name is associated with no failure 
 or disappointment. And yet he seems to have been fitted 
 for a subordinate rather than a primary place in ministerial 
 agency ; and he may have been constitutionally deficient, 
 to some extent, in decision and practical energy. This 
 impression is not unnaturally produced by the very urgent 
 entreaties to watchfulness and fidelity addressed to him in 
 the epistles ; and is confirmed by the total absence of any 
 memorials of his agency, except in connection with his 
 spiritual father. No church appears to have claimed him 
 as its founder. 
 
INTRODUCTION. , 35 
 
 Section iv. — Notices of Titus. 
 
 Extremely little is known of Titus, either as a man or as 
 an evangelist. The accounts that have reached us about 
 him are quite incidental and fragmentary. His name never 
 occurs in the history of the Acts ; which is somewhat strange, 
 as we know from the Epistle to the Galatians that he was 
 with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and accompanied them 
 to Jerusalem when they went to have the dispute settled 
 about circumcision (Gal. ii. 1-3). We learn, from the brief 
 notice given us of what took place on that occasion, that 
 Paul sternly refused to have him circumcised, as some of the 
 Jewish Christians wished; because he saw that in his case the 
 principle of gospel liberty was at stake, and must at what- 
 ever hazard be vindicated. It therefore appears not only 
 that Titus was a Gentile, but that he must have also been 
 employed chiefly in ministering to Gentiles, or to churches 
 in which these formed the predominating element. He 
 appears, at a later period, to have been with Paul and 
 Timothy at Ephesus, doubtless sharing with these in the 
 manifold labours attendant on the planting of the church in 
 that centre of idolatry and corruption. From Ephesus he 
 was sent forth by Paul to Corinth, for the purpose of stimu- 
 lating the brethren to get forward their contributions for the 
 poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Cor. viii. 6, xii. 18). He rejoined 
 the apostle in Macedonia, and cheered him with the report 
 he brought, not only of the progress of the contributions, 
 but also of the salutary effect produced by the first epistle 
 of Paul to the church at Corinth (vii. 6-15). In the whole 
 of these delicate transactions he appears to have conducted 
 himself with great prudence and fidelity. 
 
 The precise period when he went with the apostle to 
 Crete cannot (as already stated) be ascertained. But that 
 the work entrusted to him there bespoke the high confidence 
 
36 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 placed in him by the apostle, admits of no doubt. And 
 subsequently to this, only one notice more occurs of him ; 
 it is in 2 Tim. iv. 10, where he is said to have gone to Dal- 
 matia. The fact alone is mentioned, and we cannot be sure 
 whether it took place before the apostle was again laid 
 under arrest, or previously to it. It served, among other 
 things, to make the apostle feel more lonely and desolate ; 
 but we are not thence warranted to infer that any blame on 
 account of it was attributable to Titus. 
 
THE GREEK TEXT OF THE EPISTLES 
 
 ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 
 
nP02 TIMO0EON A'. 
 
 I. 1 IlavXos aTToo'ToXos ILpicrrov l-qcrov Kar linrayr]v ©eov 
 (TdiTTJpo^ rjixuyv koI Xpicrrov "Irjcrov tt}? iXTriSos tj/xCjv 2 Ti/xo^eo) 
 yvrjcTici) reKvo) ev Trio-ret. X^P^^' eXeos, (.Iprjvr] airo ©eov Trarpos 
 Kat Xptcrroi) It^ctov tou Kvptov rjfiijjv. 
 
 3 Ka^cos TrapCKoXccrd ere Trpocr/xetvat ev E^e(ra), TTop€v6/x€Vo<i 
 ets MttKeSovtW, tVa TrapayyecX.rj'S tlctIv prq crepoStSacr/caAetv 
 
 4 /AiySe 7rpo(re^€LV fxvdoL^ koc yeveaXoytat? dTrepavrot?, atrtves 
 iKt,r}Ty]creL^ Trape-^ovartv fxaXXov rj olKOVOfXLay 0eoi) r^v ei/ ttlcttw 
 
 5 TO Se TeAos T^S TrapayyeAt'a? eo-riv ayair-q Ik KaOapag KapSt'a? 
 Kttt o-wetST^o-ews dya^Tys Kat TrtVrews avvTroKpiTov, 6 a>i/ rtvcs 
 do-TOX^yo-avre? i^eTpaTrrja-av Et5 ixaraioXoytav, 7 OeXovre^ etj/at 
 vo/x-oStScto-KoAot, yu,^ voowres /-tT^re a XeyovcTLV fxt^re irepl tlvo)V 
 Sta^e/SaiovvTai. 8 otSajxev Se ort KaXbs 6 vo/aos, cav rts auTw 
 vo/xLiJL(ji)<s )(p7]TaL, 9 etSws Tovro, OTt SiKacio v6fxo<s ov Ketrat, di/o- 
 /^ots 8e Kat di/VTroTctKrot?, do-e/^eo-t Kat d/xaprwAot?, dvoo-tots Kat 
 /Se/B-^XoLS, TrarpoA-wat? Kat jU-iyrpoAwat?, dvSpocfiovois, 10 Tropvots, 
 dpaevoKOLTai?, dvSpaTToSto'Tat?, i^evo^rat?, i7rL6pKOL<;, kol et rt 
 Zrepov rfj vytaLvovcrr] SiSaa-KaXia dvTLKUTai, 11 Kara ro evay- 
 yeXiov Trj<s So^i^s roO fxaKaptov ©eov, o iTTLCTTevO-qv iyo). 12 ^dptv 
 e^u) T(3 a/SvvapiuiaravTL pie Xpto-ro) 'It^ct-ou tw Kvptw tj/jlCjv, on 
 TTto-Tov />t6 r^yrja-OTO Oefxa/os ets 8taK0vtW, 13 to Trporepov oVra 
 ftXd<Tcf)r}p.ov Kat Shjjkttjv koI vjSptcTTrjv dXXd rjXerjOrjv, ort dyi/owv 
 hroCrjcra Iv dTnaTca, 14 {:7rep€7rXeovao"ev 8e i^ X^P^^ '''^^ Kvptov 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 I. I Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the 
 commandment of God our Saviour, and Christ Jesus our 
 hope ; 2 to Timothy, [my] true child in the faith : Grace, 
 mercy, peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our 
 Lord. 3 According as I besought thee when setting out 
 for Macedonia, [so I do now], to abide still at Ephesus, in 
 order that thou mightest charge some not to teach any other 
 doctrine ; 4 nor to give heed to fables, and endless genea- 
 logies, inasmuch as they minister strifes rather than God's 
 dispensation that is in faith. 5 Now the end of the charge 
 is love out of a pure heart,, and a good conscience, and faith 
 unfeigned : 6 from which some having swerved, they turned 
 aside into vain talk ; 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, 
 without understanding either what things they speak, or 
 concerning what things they affirm. 8 We know, indeed, 
 that the law is good, if one use it lawfully ; 9 knowing 
 this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but 
 for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinful, the 
 unholy and profane, for smiters of fathers and smiters of 
 mothers, for murderers, 10 for fornicators, abusers of them- 
 selves w4th mankind, men-stealers, liars, perjured persons, 
 and if there be anything else that is contrary to the sound 
 instruction ; 1 1 according to the gospel of the glory of 
 the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 12 I 
 give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath strength- 
 ened me, for that he reckoned me faithful, appointing me 
 to the servdce [of the ministry] ; 13 though I was formerly a 
 blasphemer, a persecutor, and outrageous : but I obtained 
 
40 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 rjfJLiov fxera ttiVtco)? koL ayair-q'; t^5 ev ^pLO-rQ ^lr](Tov. 15 7rio"Tos 
 6 Aoyos Kcd 7ra.(Tr]<s a7roSo)(r]<s a^tos, on Xpicrros iTycrov? ^A^ev 
 €ts Tov KOCTjxov d/xapTa)A.oi;5 cajcrat, wv Trpcoros et/xt eyw 16 aAAa 
 8ta Tovro rjXe-^Orjv, Iva iv ifJLol Trpwro) cvSct^i^Tat 'iTycrovs Xpicrros 
 Ty)v airaaav jxaKpoOv/xiav, Trpos ■yTroTwcucrtv tcov jLteXAovrwi/ 
 TTto-reuetv ctt' aurw et? ^co'^v alwvLov. 17 rw 8e (SacrtXeL tcov 
 at(oi/cov, dcf>6dpT<jo dopdroi fxovio ©ew, rt/x^ Kat 8o^a ets tovs 
 atwvas Twv aloyviov dfi-^v. 
 
 18 TavTT^v TTjv Trapayyektav Trapart'^e/xat o-oi, reKvov Tifxo- 
 ^€€, Kara ras 7rpoayoi;o-as evrt (re 7rpo</)7yreta9, tva o-TpaTevar] iv 
 avTOLS rrjv KaXrjv (TTparuav, 19 e^cov ttlo-tlv koI dyaOrjv avvei- 
 Brja-LV, y]V rives diriacrdp.cvoi irepl rrjv ttlcttlv ivavdy-qcrav 20 wv 
 ecrrtv 'Y/xeVato5 Kat 'AAe^avSpos, ovs TvapeSojKa tc3 crarava, tva 
 TratSev^cocriv fxr] l3X.acrcfi7]iJi€tv. 
 
 II. 1 napaKaXw ow Trpcorov Trai/roov TroiacrOai SeT^crets, Tvpod- 
 evvas, evre^^^ets, ev^apicrTias, vTrep Travrcoi/ dvdpdiTvoiV, 2 ^Trep pao'L" 
 X€(s)V'Kol irdvTOiv Tix)V iv VTrepoxfj ovt(DV, Iva rjpefxov kol rjorv^^^Lov 
 Piov Sidyoifxev iv irdcry] ivcrejSeLa koL aefxvorrjTL. 3 tovto KaXov kol 
 dTToSeKTOV ivdiTTiov Tov (TWT^pos r]fxC)V 0eov, 4 OS Trdvras dvOpio- 
 Trov<s diXcL (TOiOrjvai kol ets eTrtyvcjctv dAr^^etas iXOetv, 5 ets ydp 
 ©eds, ets Kat ixe(TLTr]<i ©eov Kat dvOpwTroiv, dj/^pcoTros Xptcrros 
 l7y(roi)s, 6 6 8oi)S kavTOV dvriXvrpov V7r\p Ttdvrwv, to jxaprvpiov 
 Katpots tStots, 7 ets o ireOrjv eyw Krjpv^ kol dTrocrroXos, dAr/^eiav 
 Ae'yo), ov ij/evSoixaL, StSdcrKaXos iOvC)V iv TrtoTet Kat dXrjOua. 
 
 8 BoTjAop,at ow Trpoa-ev^eo-dai rovs dv8pas ev Travrt totto) 
 eTratpovras octlovs x^^P^'^ X^P^^ opy^s Kat StaAoyto-/xov' 9 wcrad- 
 Tws Kat ywatKttS ei/ KaracTToXfj Koa-fJLLO), /xerd atSoi}s Kat (rwcfipo- 
 crvvTjS Koa-fJL€LV eavrds, p--^ ev TrXiyfxacnv kol XP'^^'^ 1 /xapyaptVats 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 4I 
 
 mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 But the 
 grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love that 
 are in Christ Jesus. 
 
 15 Faithful is the word, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of 
 whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained 
 mercy, in order that in me first Jesus Christ might show 
 forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to those who are going 
 to beHeve on him to life everlasting. 17 Now to the King 
 of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God, be honour 
 and glory, for ages of ages (or, for ever and ever). Amen. 
 
 18 This charge I commit to thee, child Timothy, accord- 
 ing to the prophecies which went before on thee, in order 
 that in them thou mayest war the good warfare ; 19 hold- 
 ing faith and a good conscience, which some having thrust 
 away, concerning faith made shipwreck : 20 of whom is 
 Hymenseus and Alexander, whom I delivered over to Satan, 
 that they might learn not to blaspheme. 
 
 II. I I exhort then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, 
 supplications, thanksgivings, be made for all men ; 2 for 
 kings, and all that are in authority ; in order that we may 
 pass a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity. 
 
 3 For this is good and acceptable before our Saviour God ; 
 
 4 Who willeth all men to be saved, and to come to the full 
 knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, one 
 Mediator also of God and men, [a] m.an Christ Jesus; 6 who 
 gave himself a ransom for all — the testimony for its own 
 seasons. 7 Whereunto I was appointed a herald, and an 
 apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the 
 Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I wish, then, that prayer be 
 made in every place by men, lifting up holy hands, without 
 wrath and doubting. 9 Likewise also, that women adorn 
 themselves in orderly apparel, with shamefastness and dis- 
 cretion ; not in plaitings, and gold, or pearls, or costly 
 
42 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 7] leaner [jiQ TroXvTeXei, 10 oAA' o TrpeTret ywat^tv cTrayyeA-Ao/xe- 
 vais ^€00-e/5etaj/, 8t' ^ywv ayaOoiV. 11 Tvi/i) ev r](TV')(ia jxavOa- 
 verw 61/ Traxry inroTayQ' 12 8t8ao-K€tv 8e yuvatKt ovk eTrtrpeTro), 
 ovSe av^evTcti/ dvSpos, ctAA' ctvat ei/ r](TV)(fa. 13 'ASa/x yap 
 TrpwTOS lirXdcrOr], elra 'Eva. 14 Kat 'ASap, ovk yiraTijOr], rj Se 
 yw^ iiaTraTTjOeicra iv TrapajSdcreL yeyovev, 15 crco^r^creTat oe ota 
 r^S TeKvoyoi/ta?, eav fJi€LVUi<JLV iv iria-ru koI dyaTrrj kol dytao-/x(3 
 fterd (Tojcfipocrvvyjs. 
 
 III. 1 Xltcrros 6 Adyos' et ti? cTrtcrKOTrjJs dpeyerat, KaXov epyov 
 €7rt^t)/A€t. 2 8et ovv Tov hrta-KOTTOv dveTrtX.rjfJi'TrTOV etvat, fjiias 
 yvvacKOS avSpa, vrjcfxxXtoVi (r(x)(f>pova, Kocrp^ioVy (faXo^evov, St8a/c- 
 TLKov, 3 p,:^ TrdpoLvov, fxrj ttXiJkttjv, dAAa €7rtetK7y, d/xa^ov, d<;^t- 
 Xdpyvpov, 4 TOV tStou ot/cou KaXws Trpo'iCTTdfxevov, reKva e^^ovra 
 ev vTTOTayfj /xerd Trdcrrjs (T€ixv6Tr)TO<s, — 5 et Se rts tov tSt'ov 
 oI'kov Trpoa-rrjvai ovk oTSev, ttws iKKXrjcrLa<s 0eov lTri}xcXrjCT€rai ; — 
 
 6 /x>) ved^VTOV, tva p,?) TvcJicoOels els Kptjxa IpiTria-rj rov Sta^oXov. 
 
 7 Set 8e Kat fxapTvptav KoXrjv ^X^''^ ^'^^ "^^^ e^oiOev, Iva fiyj et? 
 dvet8to-^ov e/xTreVry Kat 7rayt8a tov Sia/SoXov. 8 AtaKovovs 
 wcavTcos ce/xvovs, /^f^ 8tXdyov5, /x-^ otVo) ttoAAco Trpocre^ovTa?, yaT^ 
 at(T;^OKep8ets, 9 c^ovTas to fxvcTTyjpiOV t>}s Trto-Tews ev KaOapa 
 <7W€t8>^o-et. 10 Kat ovTOt 8^ 8oKt/xa^eV^a)0'av irpoiTov, etTa 
 8taKovetTOJO-av dveyKXrjTOi ovres. 11 yvvatKas wo-avTcos (refjivd'i, 
 fxr) 8ta/3dAovs, v>^<^aAtovs, Trto-Ta? ev ttoxtlv. 12 StdKovot eWw- 
 o-ai/ juttds yvvatKO? dvSpe?, T€KVOiV KaXws Trpo'icTTafxevoL Kat riov 
 iSiOiV OLKMV. 13 ot ydp KaXcos 8taKOV7^o-avTes jSaOfJiov eavTots 
 KaXov TreptTTOtovvTat Kat ttoAA'^i/ irappiqcrLav kv Trto-ret t>] ev 
 XpttrTO) 'It^o-ov. 
 
 14 TavTa o-ot ypdcfuo cATrt^wv IXOuv irpo<s (re rd^iov' 15 cdv 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 43 
 
 raiment; lo but, which becometh women professing god- 
 liness, through good works. ii Let a woman learn in 
 silence, in all subjection. 12 But I permit not a woman 
 to teach, nor to lord it over the man, but to be in silence. 
 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam 
 was not deceived ; but the woman, being wholly deceived, 
 fell into transgression. 15 But she shall be saved through 
 the child-bearing, if they abide in faith, love, and holiness, 
 with discretion. 
 
 III. I Faithful is the saying, If any one seeketh the office 
 of pastor, he desireth a good work. 2 A pastor, then, ought 
 to be blameless, husband of one wife, sober, discreet, 
 orderly, hospitable, apt to teach ; 3 not a brawler, not a 
 striker, but mild, peaceable; not a lover of money; 4 ruling 
 well his own house, having children in subjection with all 
 gravity. 5 But if one knows not how to rule his own house, 
 how shall he take charge of the church of God ? 6 Not a 
 novice, lest, being carried with conceit, he should fall into 
 the condemnation of the devil. 7 But he must also have a 
 good testimony from those that are without, lest he fall into 
 reproach and the snare of the devil. 
 
 8. In like manner, [ought] the deacons to be grave, 
 not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not lovers 
 of base gain ; 9 holding the mystery of the faith in a pure 
 conscience. 10 And these, too, let them first be proved ; 
 then let them serve as deacons, if they be without blame. 
 II Women, in like manner, [it behoves] to be grave, not 
 slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 1 2 Let the deacons 
 be husbands of one wife, ruling well their children and their 
 own houses. 13 For those who have done the office of a 
 deacon well obtain for themselves a good degree, and much 
 boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 14. These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee 
 shortly. 1 5 But if I should tarry, in order that thou mayest 
 
44 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Bk ySpaSwo), tva €lSfj<s ttws Set ei/ oikw 0eo9 a.vo.a-Tpi<ji^(T6ai, tjtl'; 
 IcTTLV eKKXrja-La ©eo9 ^covros, o"ti)Xos kol eSpaLw/xa rrjs aXr]OeLa<s. 
 16 KOL bfxoXoyovfxevtas fxeya Io-tlv to ttj? evcre^€La<; fJLvcTTijpiov' 
 OS i<fiav€p(i)67j ev crapKL, iSiKaiwOyj iv Trvevfxari, ^cfiOrj dyyeXots, 
 iK7]pv^6r] ev Wvecnv, eTncrTevOr) iv KoafXio, avekyiJLcfiOr] iv Soiy. 
 
 TV. 1 To Se Trvevfxa p7]TC)<; Xeyet ort iv vcTTepocs Katpots 
 aTro(TTrj(TOvrai tlvc<s rrj'^ TrtVrews, Trp oo-e^ovres TTvev/JLcio-LV irXd- 
 voi<s KOL 8i8ao-KaXt'ats Satfxovtojv, 2 ev viroKpio-ei ij/evSoXoyoiv, 
 K€Ka.v(rT7}pLa<rjxevoiV rrjv tSiW (TWuB-qcriv, 3 kwAvovtwi/ yajxuv, 
 aTri^ea-Qai ^poyfJLOiTMV, a 6 ©eos eKTtcreu cts ^eraX-qixxl/LV /xera 
 €v^apicrTLa<s roi^ Trto-rots Kat CTreyvwKoo't T'^v dA-ry^eiav. 4 ort 
 TTtti/ KTLCTfxa ®eov KaXov, KOL ovSev airo^X-qrov fxera ev)(api(rTia<s 
 Xafx/Savofxeuov 5 ayta^erat yap Sia A-oyoi; ©eov /cat ei/rciJ^ew?. 
 
 6 Taiira vTroriOefJicvo^ rots dSeA^ots /caAos eo"?; StciKovos 
 ^pccTTOv 'Iiycrov, lvTpe(j>6[X€vo<i rots A,oyots r-^s TriVreo)? Kat r^s 
 KaX'^S StSao-KaAtas ^ TraprjKoXovOrjKas' 7 toijs Se y8e/??yAous Kat 
 ypawSets fJLvOovs Trapairov. yJ/xva^e Se aeavTov Trpos evore/Seiav. 
 8 •i^ yap awjxaTLKr] yvfxvaa-ia Trpos oXiyov Icttlv a)</)eAt/xos- 17 Se 
 €ucre)8eta Trpos Trdvra co^eAt/xos icmv, cTrayyeAiW e^ovaa ^o>^s 
 r^s vvj/ Kat T^s fxeXXov(T7]<i. 9 Trto-ros 6 Aoyos Kat Trdorr]'? Sltto- 
 So^^s a^tos. 10 ets rovro yap KOTrtwp-ev Kat dywvt^o'/xe^a, ort 
 yXTTLKafxa/ cTTt 0e(5 ^wvrt, os ea"Ttj/ croiTrjp iravriMV dvOpwiroiVy 
 fxaXiarra 7ncrT<ji)V. 
 
 11 UapdyyeAAe ravra Kat StSao^Ke. 12 /XT^Sets o^ov t^s veo- 
 TT^TOS Kara^povetrco, dAAa tvttos yivov rdv ttlcttcov, iv Aoyw, ev 
 dvacTTpoffi'f}, iv dyaTr?/, ev TrtVret, ev ayveta. 13 ecos ep^o/xai 
 Trpoae^c rfj dvayv(ji)(r€L, rfj TrapaKAi^o-et, t^ 8iSao"KaAia. 14 p,iy 
 dp,€Aet ToC ev o-oi -^apLdjxaro'i, o eSo^vy crot Sia Trpo^-^retas /aero, 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 45 
 
 know how thou oughtest to conduct thyself in God's house, 
 which indeed is the church of the hving God, the pillar and 
 basement of the truth. i6 And confessedly great is the 
 mystery' of godliness, who was manifested in the flesh, was 
 justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached 
 among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was 
 received up into glory. 
 
 IV. I But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in after times 
 some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing 
 spirits and teachings of demons ; 2 in hypocrisy of speakers 
 of lies, who have had their conscience scarred ; 3 forbid- 
 ding to marry, [bidding] to abstain from meats, which God 
 made to be partaken of with thanksgiving by the faithful, 
 and those who have the full knowledge of the truth. 4 For 
 everything made by God is good, and nothing to be rejected, 
 being received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified 
 through the word of God and prayer. 6 By submitting these 
 things to the brethren, thou shalt be a good servant of 
 Christ Jesus, nourishing thyself up in the words of the faith, 
 and of the good instruction which thou hast diligently 
 followed. 7 But the profane and old-wives' fables avoid; 
 and rather exercise thyself unto godliness. 8 For bodily 
 exercise is profitable unto little ; but godliness is profit- 
 able unto all things, having promise of the life that now 
 is, and of that which is to come. 9 Faithful is the word, 
 and worthy of all acceptation. 10 For to this [end] we 
 both toil and strive, because we have hoped upon the living 
 God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who 
 beheve. — 11 Charge these things, and teach. 12 Let no 
 one despise thy youth ; but become thou a pattern of the 
 believers, in word, in behaviour, in love, in faith, in purity. 
 13 Till I come, give attention to the reading, the exhorta- 
 tion, the teaching. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, 
 which was given thee through prophecy, with the laying on 
 
46 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 eTTt^eorco)? Tu)V ^^etpwv tov TrpecrfSvTepLov. 15 ravra fxeXira, iv 
 
 TOVTOL<S Xo-Ql, LVa (TOV Tj TTpOKOTirj (jiOVepCL fj TTaCTLV. 16 i7r€)(€. 
 
 creavTO) kol tt} StSacTKaXt'a, eTri/xeve avrots' tovto yap ttolojv kol 
 crcavTOv (rwcrct? koX tovs aKOvovras (tov. 
 
 V. 1 Upeo-^vripw fxr] iTmrX'^irjs aXXa TrapaKoXei ws Trarepa, 
 vecorepovg ws aSeX^ovs, 2 7rpeo-/?VTepas ws /XT^repa?, veoorepas ws 
 dSeX^as ev Trdcrrj d.yj/ei'a. 3 Xv^pas rt/xa ra? oVrws )(y]pa?. 4 €t 
 8e Tts XVP^ TCKva 7^ cKvova £X^''> P-o.v^averwo'av Trpwrov rov t'Stoi/ 
 oTkoj/ evcre^etv koX d/xotySas (XTroStSoFat rots Trpoyovot?* to{)to ydp 
 ccTTtv (XTroSeKTOV evwTTtov tot) 0eov. 5 -i^ 8e oVtw? X^P^ '^^^ fxe/xo- 
 voijxiv-q rikiriKev lirl ®eov kol 7rpocrp,ei/et rat? SeT^trecrtj/ Kat rats 
 7rpo(Tev)(cus vvktos kol i^/xepas* 6 17 8e cnraraXCicra ^wcra riOvr]- 
 Keu. 7 KOL ravra TrapdyyeXXe iVa dveTTiXrjiJiTrroL S)(tlv. 8 ct Se 
 Tts T(uv tStwv Kttt /xdAto-ra oiKUoiV ov Trpovoetrat, t^v iricrrLV 
 Tjpvrjrai kox ecrrtv aTricrrov )(€Lpu)v. 
 
 9 Hrqpa KaraXeyea-Oo) fxrj tXarrov IrCiV k^rjKOvra yeyovv7a, 
 evos dvSpos yuvTy, 10 ev epyoLS KaXols fiaprvpov/Jiivrj, el ireKvo- 
 rp6cf>r)(rev, el iievoSo^rja-ev, el dyt'wv TroSas a/Lif/ev, el BXt^oixevoL^ 
 cTn^pKecrey, ci iravrl epyco dyaO<S eTrrjKoXovOrjcreu. 11 vewrepas 
 8e X'^P*^ Trapatrov- orav yap KaracrrprjVLacrwcnv rov ILpicrrov^ 
 yafxetv OeXovcnv, 12 €)(ov(raL Kpifxa on rrjv 7rp(x)rr)v ttlcttlv rjOe- 
 rrjo-av 13 dp.a Se Kat dpyat fxavOdvovcnv TrepLep^o/xevai rd? 
 olKias, ov fxovov. he apyal aXXa Kat cfiXvapot Kat Treptepyot, Xa- 
 XovcraL ra p.rj Seovra. 1 4 /5oi;Ao/xat ovv veoirepa^ yap,etv, tckvo- 
 yoveti/, otKo8€(j7roT€ti/, prjhefxiav di^opfirjv StSovat rw avrLKeifxevio 
 A.ot8optas xdptv 15 ■^877 ydp rtvcg e^erpdrrrjaav oTTtVo) tov 
 (rarava. 1 6 ct rt? Tricrrr] e)(ei XVP^^y eTrapKeLcrOo) avrats, Kat /x-^ 
 l3ap€L(rO(ji 7] eKKXrjata, tva rats oVrws xjipai^s eTrapKea-rj. 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 47 
 
 of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Be mindful of these 
 things; be in them, in order that thy progress may be 
 manifest to all. 16 Give heed to thyself and to the teach- 
 ing ; continue in them ; for, by so doing, thou shalt save 
 both thyself and them that hear thee. 
 
 V. I Reprimand not an elderly person, but exhort him as 
 a father, younger men as brothers ; 2 elderly women as 
 mothers ; the younger as sisters, with all purity. 3 Honour 
 widows that are widows indeed. 4 If, however, any widow 
 has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show 
 piety in their own home, and requite their parents, for this is 
 acceptable before God. 5 But she who is a widow indeed, 
 and desolate, has set her hope on God, and abides in suppli- 
 cations and prayers night and day. 6 But she that lives 
 deliciously is dead while she lives. 7 And these things en- 
 join, in order that they may be without reproach. 8 But if 
 any one provides not for his own, and especially for those 
 of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than 
 an unbeliever. — 9 Let a widow be enrolled who has become 
 not less than sixty years old, wife of one man, 10 well 
 reported of in respect to good works ; if she brought up 
 children ; if she entertained strangers ; if she washed the 
 feet of saints ; if she reHeved the distressed ; if she followed 
 after every good work. 1 1 But younger widows decline : 
 for when they shall become wanton against Christ, they 
 desire to marry; 12 having condemnation, because they 
 made void their first faith. 13 Moreover, they learn also to 
 be idle, going about from house to house ; and not only idle, 
 but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they 
 ought not. 14 I wish, therefore, that the younger [widows] 
 marry, bear children, manage the house, give no occasion 
 for reproach to the adversary. 15 For already some have 
 turned away after Satan. 16 If any woman that believes 
 hath widows, let support be given to them, and let not the 
 
48 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 17 Ot KaXw? 7rpoe(rTWT€<s TrpecrjSvrepoi SL7rXrj<; rt/x.^? aiuov- 
 crOoicrav, /xaXicrra ot KOTrtcovres ev Xoyio koL StSacrKaXi'a. 1 8 Xeyet 
 yap 17 ypacfiT]' /3ovv dAocovra ov (^t^wcrei?, Kar a^to? 6 ipydTr]<s 
 Tov fXLcrOov avTOv. 19 Kara '7rp€(T/3vrepov Karrjyopiav fxr] irapa- 
 hi)(pv, iKTO'i et jji-q cTTt St;o •^ rptwv fxaprvpajv. 20 Tovs dfxapTa.- 
 vovras kvoiiriov iravTOiV ^Xey^e, cva kol ol Xonrol cfi6/3ov e^wcTLV. 
 
 21 Aia/xaprupo/xat ivoiinov tov ®€ov kol 'K.pic-rov 'It^ctou Kat 
 Ttov iKXeKTiov dyyeAcov tVa ravra (fivXd^ys x^P^^ TrpoK/Dtjuaro?, 
 firjSlv iroiojv Kara TrpocrKXtcnv. 22 Xetpas ra^eo)^ /xyjSevl cTrtrt- 
 ^et, //.T^Se Kotvwvet d/xaprt'ats oAAorpt'ats. o-eavrov dyvoi/ Trjpei. 
 23 p/qK€.Ti vSpoTToreL, oXXa o'lvto oXtyo) XP^ ^'•^ ''"o*^ crTd/>taxov Kat 
 ras TTUKvd? o-ov dcr^eveias. 24 Tti^tJoi/ dv6p(i)Tro)V at dfxaprLaL 
 TrpoSrjXoL eloTLV irpodyovaai ct? Kptcnv, rtcrlv Se Kat eiraKoXov- 
 OovcTLV' 25 (Lo-avTws Kat TO, cpya to, KoAd irpoSrjXa, kol to. 
 dXX(09 e'xovTa Kpv(^rjv at ov SvvavraL. 
 
 VI. 1 "Ocrot eto-tv -utto ^i;yov SovXoi, tovs tStov? Seo-7rdra? 
 TrdcTT]^ TijJiyjs d^iovs lyyetcr^ooo-av, tVa p,^ to ovofxa tov 0€ov Kat 17 
 StSao-KaAta f^XacrcfirjixrJTaL. 2 ot Se Trto'TOiJS e^^i^TCS Seo-Trdra? p,'^ 
 Kara^poveiTMO-av, otl dSeXcf^ot elanv, aXXa jjloXXov SovXeveTwa-aVy 
 OTL iricrToi elo-cv kol dyaTrrjTol ol t7]<s evepyea-tas dvTtAap-^ai/dp.evot. 
 
 Tavra 8t8ao-Ke Kat irapaKaXeL. 3 et rt? ercpoStSao-KaAet Kat 
 fjir] Trpoai^CTai vyiaivov(Tiv Adyot? rots tov Kvpiov rj/x(x)V lyjaov 
 X^pi(TTOv Kol TYJ Kar' ero-e'ySetav 8tSaofKaAta, 4 rerve^corat, pirjhh/ 
 i7n(TTd[X€vo<i, dXXd voarwv irepX t,rjT7]a-€L<; kol Aoyop-a^ta?, e^ wj/ 
 ytverat <^^di/o?, ept?, (3Xacrcf)7]fjiiaL, vTrovoiai irovrjpai, 5 Stavrapa- 
 rpt^at 8iecf)6apfX€V(jL)V dvOpwTTOiv tov vovv koI d7rea-TepYjfxevo)v r^s 
 dXr)6eLas, voixit^ovroiv Tropta-ixbv eti/at t-j)!/ e^creySctav. 6 eWti/ Se 
 7ropL(Tixo<^ p,€yas 17 ^vo-ejSeia p^erd avrapKCtas. 7 ouSev ydp €to">^- 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 49 
 
 church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are 
 widows indeed. 17 Let the elders who govern well be 
 counted worthy of double honour, especially those who 
 labour in word and teaching. 18 For the Scripture saith, 
 Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while treading out [the corn] ; 
 and, The labourer is worthy of his hire. 19 Against an 
 elder receive not an accusation, except it be upon two or 
 three witnesses. 20 Those that sin rebuke before all, in 
 order that the rest also may have fear. 21 I solemnly 
 charge thee before God and Christ Jesus, and the elect 
 angels, that thou keep these things, without prejudging, 
 doing nothing by partiality. 22 Lay hands on no one 
 hastily, neither be partaker in other men's sins. 23 No 
 longer drink water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's 
 sake, and thy frequent ailments. 24 The sins of som.e men' 
 are manifest, going before to judgment ; with some, again, 
 they follow after. 25 In like manner also the works that 
 are good are manifest, and those that are otherwise cannot 
 be hid. 
 
 VI. I Whoever are under the yoke as bond-servants, let 
 them reckon their own masters worthy of all honour, that 
 the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphem.ed. 
 2 But such as have believing masters, let them not despise 
 them, because they are brethren ; but the rather serve them, 
 because they who receive the benefit are faithful and be- 
 loved. These things teach and exhort. 3 If any one 
 teacheth other doctrine, and does not assent to sound 
 words, those [namely] of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 instruction that is according to godliness j 4 he is carried 
 with conceit, knowing nothing, doting about questions and 
 word-fightings, whence come envy, strife, blasphemies, evil 
 surmisings, 5 settled feuds of men corrupted in their mind 
 and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godhness is 
 gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 
 
 D 
 
50 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 viyKafxcv ct? rov Koa-fxoVy OTt ovSk i^ei/eyKav ri SwdixeOa- 
 8 €^ovT€s: Be Starpo^ag kol o-KeTracr/xara, tovtols apKeadrja-o- 
 fxeOa. 9 ol 8e ^oyXo/xevot TrAovretv ifjiTTLTTTOva-LV eU Tz^ipacrixov 
 Kol Trayt'Sa koX hri6vfjiia<s TroXXas dvoi^rous kclL )3Aa/5€pa?, atrt- 
 ves fSvOi^ovarLv toiis avOpwirovs ets oXeOpov koI aTrwXetav. 
 10 jot^a ya/3 irdvTOiV tojv KaKiov ccrrtv 17 (^ikapyvpia, r}<s rives 
 opeyofxevoi aTreTrXavi^Orjcrav (xtto ti}s TrtCTTeoDS Kat eaurous Trepte- 
 TTupav oSwats TroAAats. 
 
 11 ^u 8e, w dvOp(ji)7re Oeoi), raOra ^eCyc* BcwKe Se St/cato- 
 cvvrjv, cvcrejSuaVy irtcrTLV, ayaTrrjv, vTrofJLOVijVy TrpavTraBCav. 12 dyw- 
 vt^ou Tov KoXov dyoiva t^s 7rt(rT€a)S, hrika^ov t^s atcoi/tov ^w^S, 
 €ts ^r iKXrjOrj'i koL wfJLoX6yr]aa<; rrjv KaXrjv ofxoXoytav iviiiircov 
 TToXXwv fjiapTvp(j)V. 13 irapayyiXXoi evwTrtov 0eov rov ^cooyo- 
 voOj/tos to. Trai/ra Kat XpwrTOV 'Ir^crov rov ixapTvpij(TavTO<s €7rt 
 IIovTtov IXeiA-drov tt^v KaXrjv o/JLoXoyCav, 14 rrjprjcraL ere rrjv 
 ivToXrjv dcnnXov dvcTTiXrijxirTOV p-^XP'- ''"^^ €7rt<^av£tas tou Kvpiov 
 "jy/xwv 'I?;crov Xptcrrou, 15 ^v Katpots tStots Sei^et 6 /xaKaptos Kat 
 p,6vo<s SwdcTT^s, 6 l3aariXcv<; tojv jSaaiXevovTiov kol KvpLos t^v 
 KvpL€v6vT(ov, 16 6 piovos e^oiv ddavacTLav, <^ajs otKoji/ oTrpoa-iTOV, 
 ov etSev ovSets dvOptjjTroiv ovSk iSetv Swarat* <o rt/x^ Kai Kparos 
 aloiVLOV, apuqv. 
 
 17 Tots TrAouo-tots CI/ TO) vGv atoji/t TrapayyeXAc ju^ v{(/rjXa 
 ^povctv, p-T^Se y^XiTiKivaL IttX irXovrov dSyjXorrjTL, dA.A' ctti ©ew to> 
 irapi^ovTL rjpuv Trdvra TrXovacoiS €ts aTToAavcrtv, 18 dyaBoepyuv, 
 TT/Vovretv ev epyots KoAots, evp-eraSorovs etvat, KotvwvtKOvs, 
 19 dTro6r]aavpLt,ovTa<; carrots Oep^eXiov koXov ets ro p,eAAov, a/a 
 cTTtAd^covrat ri}s 01/rws ^w^s. 
 
 20 '^O Ttp,o^ee, r^v TrapaOiJKrjv ^vXa^ov, iKTpe7r6p.evo<s rag 
 (Se(3rjXov<; Kevocfxiyviag kol avTiOicTeig r^s i(/evSo}vvpLOV yvwcrea>s, 
 21 Tjv rives eTrayyeAAo/xevot Trepi r^v ttlo-tlv -^CTTOxrja-av. 
 
 *H X'^P''^ /^c^' vp,wv. 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 5 1 
 
 For we brought nothing into the world, because neither are 
 we able to carry anything out of it. 8 But if we have food 
 and raiment, with these we shall be satisfied. 9 But they 
 who aim at being rich fall into temptation, and a snare, 
 and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as sink men into 
 destruction and perdition. 10 For a root of all evils is 
 the love of money, which some reaching after, have wan- 
 dered away from the faith, and pierced themselves through 
 with many pangs. — 1 1 But thou, O man of God, flee these 
 things ; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, 
 patience, meekness of spirit. 1 2 Maintain the good contest 
 of the faith, lay hold of eternal life, unto which thou wert 
 called, and didst confess the good confession before many 
 witnesses. 13 I charge thee before God, who preserveth 
 alive all things, and Christ Jesus, who before Pontius 
 Pilate witnessed the good confession, 14 that thou keep 
 the commandment spotless and unrebukeable, until the 
 appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ : 15 which in his own 
 seasons he shall show, [who is] the blessed and only 
 Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; 16 who 
 only has immortality, dwelling in light that is unapproach- 
 able ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see : to whom be 
 honour and power everlasting. Amen. 
 
 17 Charge them that are rich in this world not to be 
 high-minded, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of 
 riches, but on God, who ministers to us all things richly for 
 enjoyment; 18 that they do good, that they be rich in 
 excellent deeds, free in distributing, ready to communicate ; 
 19 treasuring up for themselves a good foundation for the 
 future, in order that they may lay hold of what is life 
 indeed. — 20 O Timothy, keep the deposit, turning away 
 from the profane babblings, and oppositions of knowledge 
 falsely so called ; 2 1 which some professing, have erred 
 concerning the faith. Grace be with you. 
 
npo:S TiTON. 
 
 I. 1 Ilav\o<5 SovXo'i 0eov, aTrooroXo? 8e ^Itjctov ICpLCTOv Kara 
 TTLCTTLV eKXeKToJv ®€ov Kol liriyvoicnv aXr]6ua<; tt}? Kar evcre/Jetav 
 2 €77 eATTtSt ^w^9 aloiVLOV, ^v e7rr7yyctA,aro 6 dxf/evS7]<; ©eo? Trpo 
 ;)(poi/(x)j/ atwvtwi/, 3 ecf>avepo}cr€v Se Katpots tSiot? rov \6yov avTOV 
 iv K7]pvyfJiaTL, o iTTLa-TCvOrjv eyw kut iTnrayrjv tov (ro)Trjpo<s rjixiov 
 0eov, 4 TcVco yvrjaiio reKvia Kara kolvtjv ttlo-tlv. X'^P^^ '^^'•^ elpijvr} 
 aTTO 0€oi} 7rarpo<s kol Xptcrrov It^ctov toG croor^/aos r]ixu)V. 
 
 5 To^Ton X'^P'-^ airiXLTTov ere. kv K-p-^ry, tva ra XctVovra ctti- 
 SiopOwcrr} Koi KaTa(rT7](TY)<s Kara ttoXlv Trpecr/Syripov;, ws eyw o-ot 
 8t€Ta^a/x,?yv, 6 et Tts ccTTtJ/ dv€yKX>^TO?, /xtas ywatKos avrjp, T€Kva 
 €)(OiV TncrTOL, fxr] iv KaTrjyopia do-cort'as t) dvuTroraKra. 7 Set yap 
 TOV iTTLCTKOTrov dviyKXr]TOV €Lvai ws ©eoG olKOVofxov, /jlt] avOdSr], 
 jxrj opytXov, fxr] TrdpoLVOv, fir] 7rXy]KT7]v, fJLT] alarxpoKepSrj, 8 dXXd 
 cjuXoicvov, cfiiXdyaOov, (r(x)(fipova, BiKaioVy oaiov, iyKpaTrj, 9 dvT- 
 €)(6fJie.vov TOV Kara ttjv StSa^'^v ttlo-tov Xoyov, Xva hvvaro<5 fj kol 
 irapaKoXciv ev ttJ StSacTKaXLa rfj vyiaLvova-rj koX tovs avriXiyov- 
 Ta<5 iXeyx^iv. 10 Etcrtv yap ttoXXoI dvvTvoTaKTOL, yutaratoAoyot 
 KOL cfipeuci7rdTO.L, fxdXiOTTa ol Ik tt}? TrepiTOfJLr]'^, 1 1 ovs Set eTrtcrro- 
 jXL^eLV, otrtves oAovs otKovg dvaTpeTrovcnv StSctcrKOVTeg a /x-^ Set 
 al(T)(pov KepSoi;? ^Apiv. 12 etTrej/ rt? e^ avTixiV iStos avrwv Trpo- 
 <j>riTYj<i' Kp^res dei ij/evcrTaL, KaKO. drjpia, yacrrepe'S dpyat. 13 •^ 
 fxapTvpta avTY] icrrlv dXrjOi]<;. St' ^v alriav eXey^e aiuroug aTroTO- 
 /x,C(>S, ii/a vyLaLVoi(TLv iv rfj ttlo-tcl, 14 p,-^ Trpocrexovres 'Ioi;SatKOts 
 /jLvOoi<s KOL ivToXats dv6p(i)7r<j}v dTToa-rpecfiOfxevutv rrjv dXrjOeiav. 
 
 15 TTcti/Ta KaOapd rots KaOapols' rot? Se p,ep,ta/xp,ei/ois Kat aTrtV- 
 
 52 
 
THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 
 
 I. I Paul, a servant of God, also an apostle of Jesus Christ 
 for the faith of God's elect, and the full knowledge of the 
 truth that is according to godliness; 2 in hope of eternal life, 
 which God, that cannot lie, promised before eternal times ; 
 3 but in its own seasons manifested his word in preaching, 
 which was entrusted to me, according to the commandment 
 of our Saviour God ; 4 to Titus, [my] true son in respect 
 to the common faith : Grace and peace from God our 
 Father, and Christ Jesus our Saviour. — 5 For this cause I 
 left thee behind in Crete, that thou shouldest further set in 
 order the things which are wanting, and mightest appoint 
 elders in every city, as I directed thee : 6 If any one is 
 blameless, husband of one wife, having faithful children, not 
 accused of profligacy, or unruly. 7 For a pastor must be 
 blameless, as God's steward ; not self-willed, not soon angry, 
 not a brawler, not a striker, not greedy of gain ; 8 but hos- 
 pitable, a lover of good, discreet, righteous, holy, temperate ; 
 9 holding fast the faithful word according to the teaching, 
 in order that he may be able both to exhort with the sound 
 doctrine and to convince the gainsay ers. 10 For there are 
 many unruly vain-talkers and deceivers, especially they of 
 the circumcision : 1 1 whose mouths must be stopped ; who 
 for the sake of base gain subverted whole houses, teaching 
 things which they ought not. 1 2 One of them, their own 
 prophet, has said. The' Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, 
 idle bellies. 13 This testimony is true: wherefore reprove 
 them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith ; 14 not 
 giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men, 
 who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure all things 
 
 S3 
 
54 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 rots ovSev KaOapov, aXXa fxe/xiavTai avTwv kol 6 vovs kol t) 
 avv€L8r]cn<s. 1 6 0£ov ofxoXoyovcnv etSei/at, tois 8c cpyots apvovv- 
 rai, jSSeXvKToi 6vt€<s kol aTret^ets kol Trpos ttuv epyov ayaObv 
 
 II. 1 iSv Se XaXa a TrpeVet t^ vyiaivova-rj StSacrKoXta. 2 Trpecr- 
 ^VTa? vrjcfiaXLOVs ctvai, cre/xvov?, (Tw^povag, vyiaivovTa^ rfj Tricrrct, 
 T>] ayairrj, rfj virofjiovfj' 3 Trpec^uTtSa? (Loravrws ev KaraaTiqixaTi 
 lepoTrpeTrcL?, fxrj Sia/SoXovs, fxrj otvio ttoAAo) oeoovXco/x-eva?, koAo- 
 StSao-KoAoi;?, 4 tva criafjipovL^ovcnv tols vea? c^tXavSpor? clvai, 
 <fiLXoTiKVOvs, 5 cr(o<^poi/as, ayva?, otKovpyor?, dya^a?, viroTacr- 
 crofX€va<s rots tStots dvSpacriv, tva /xt) 6 Aoyo? tov 0eov /SXacr- 
 KJirjfXTjrai. 6 Tov? vewrepovs wcravrcos TrapaKoXet crax^poFetv, 
 7 Trept Trdvra (reai^rov 7rap€;>(OyLtevo? ttjttov koXCjv epycov, ev tt) 
 StSao-KaXta dcfjOopiav, (reixvoTrjTa, 8 Xoyov vyti} dKaTayvcocrroi/, 
 tva 6 e^ ei/avTtas evrpaTr^ fJirjSh/ e;((ov A.eyetv irepi t^/xcov cfiavXov. 
 9 AovAoi;? tSt'ots Seo'TTOTais v7roTd(r<J€cr6aL, kv 7rd(riv €vapia-Tov<; 
 cti/at, /xr/ di/riAeyovra5, 10 /a^ vocrcfu^ofievov?, dAXa Trdcrav TTLcmv 
 h/SuKvvfjLevov? a.ya$i]v, ti/a t^v SiSacTKoAtav t^v tov o-wrJJpo? 
 v)/xcov ©eou Koa-jxCjaiv kv Trdcnv. 
 
 11 'K7r€(fidvr) yap 7] X'^P^^ ''"^^ 0eov o-wT7^ptos Trdcnv dvOpw- 
 "TTOtg, 12 TTatSet'Oixra r]/xd<s, tva dpvyja-dfxevoL rrjv dcre^eiav kol 
 TOL? KOcr/xtKas cTTi^v/xtas (7(i}(f>p6vo)<i Kot StKaicos Kttt cucre/?cos ^^y- 
 a-fo/xeu ev t(5 v{;i/ atcovt, 13 Trpoo-Se^j^o/xevot t^v fxaKapcav eXTrtSa 
 Kttt iTTLcjidveiav r^s So^t^s toi) fjLeydXov 0eov fcat crcoTTypos T^/xaji/ 
 ILpKTTOv "Itjctov, 14 o? IS(o/cev cavToi/ vTTcp i7;Liwv tva XvTpdia-qraL 
 •jy/Aas aTTO Trda-q's dvo/xta? Kat KaOapta-rj iavT(S Xabv Treptova-iov, 
 ^TjXoiTrjv KoXwv epycuv. 
 
 15 TaCra XdXet Kat irapaKoXu kol eA.ey;(e ftcra TracTT^s €7rt- 
 ray^S* fxrjSeLS crov TrepK^poveiVco. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 55 
 
 are pure : but to them that are defiled and unbelieving is 
 nothing pure ; but both their mind and conscience are 
 defiled. i6 They profess that they know God ; but in works 
 they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and 
 unto every good work reprobate. 
 
 II. I But speak thou the things which become the sound 
 instruction [of the gospel] : 2 that the aged men be sober, 
 grave, discreet, sound in faith, in love, in patience. 3 In 
 like manner the aged women, that they demean themselves 
 as becomes holiness, not slanderers, not enslaved to much 
 wine, teachers of what is good ; 4 that they school the 
 young women to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of 
 their children, 5 discreet, chaste, workers at home, good, 
 submitting themselves to their own husbands, that the word 
 of God may not be blasphemed. 6 The younger men, in 
 like manner, exhort to be sober-minded. 7 In all things 
 showing thyself a pattern of good works : in thy teaching 
 [showing] incorruption, gravity, 8 sound discourse that 
 cannot be condemned ; in order that he who is of the con- 
 trary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of 
 us. 9 Bondmen [exhort to be] in subjection to their own 
 masters, in all things to be well-pleasing ; not gainsaying ; 
 10 not purloining, but showing all good fideUty; in order 
 that in all things they may adorn the doctrine of our 
 Saviour God. — 11 For the grace of God, having salvation 
 for all men, was manifested ; 12 disciplining us to the end 
 that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we might live 
 soberly, justly, and godlily in this present world ; 13 look- 
 ing for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of 
 the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 who 
 gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works. 1 5 These things speak, and exhort, 
 and reprove with all authority. Let no one despise thee. 
 
56 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 III. 1 'Y-TTOfJiLixvi^a-Ke avrov? dp^^ats i^ovcTLaLS vTroTacroreaOaL, 
 TraOap^CLVf Trpos Trav kpyov ayaOov eTOLfJi,ov<s etvat, 2 firjSeva 
 /SXaa^fiTjix^lv, dfxd^ovs cTvat, eTTtetKet?, irda-av ivSeiKwixevov^ 
 TTpavrrjTa Tpos -rravras dv6p(jj7rov<s. 3 rjixeu yap Trore koL rjixus 
 dvorjTOL, aTret^et?, 7rXai/(o/Aevot, SovXcvovres i7rL0vfXLaL<s koI i^Sovats 
 TTOtKtAat?, ev KaKta Kat cfiOovio Stctyovrc?, (rrvyrjTOL, (XLcrovvT€s 
 oXXt^Xovs' 4 ore 8e '17 ;(p'>^o-TOT>ys Kat -17 cjuXavOpoiTTLa i-jrccfidvr} 
 rov a-o)Tr]po<5 rjfxihv ©cov, 5 o^k e^ epyoiv twv h/ SiKaLO(Tvvr] d 
 iTTOLtjcrafxev 4^et?, oAXo, Kara to aurou eA,cos icriocTiv rjixd<; Sid 
 XovTpov TraXivyeveo-tas kol dvaKatvcoo-ews Trvevfiaro'S dyt'ov, 6 ov 
 l^i^^ev i(ji r}[xd<i TrAoucrtcos Sta 'iTycroi) Xptcrroi) tot) cro)Trjpo^ rjfxwv, 
 7 o^a StKatco^eVres ttJ Ikuvov ^dpLTL KXrjpovojxoL yevYjOiofxev Kar 
 iXiriSa ^(DTJ'i aldiVLOV. 8 TrKTTOS 6 X6yo<5, kol irepl rovTOiv /3ov- 
 Xojxac ere SLa/Se/SatovcrOaL, tVa <^povTit,ia(Tiv KoXuiV tpyoiv irpo- 
 LCTTacrOai ol TreTna-revKOTes 06(3. ravrd ecrrtv KaA.a Kat a)0eA.i/xa 
 T0t5 dv9p(i)7roiS' 9 p.oipd'S SI ^T^TT^creis Kat yeveaAoyta? Kat cptv 
 Kat [xd.)(a<; vo/xtKo.? Trepticrrao-o' et(riv yap di/ox^cXet? Kat yadraiot. 
 10 alp^TLKov dvOpoiTTov jLteTo, p,tW Kat SevTepav vovOeatav Trapac- 
 Tov, 11 etSoJS ort l^idrpcnrTai 6 tolovtos kol d/xaprdvet wi/ 
 aLfTOKaraKptros. 
 
 12 "Orav Treixif/o) 'Apre/xdv Trpos (re -^ Tv;)(iKdi/, anrovSaa-ov 
 IXBuv 7rp6<; [JL€ cts NtKOTroXtv cKet ydp KCKpLKa Trapa^^eL/xdaai. 
 13 Zyjvdv Tov vopiiKov Kat 'AttoAAwv CTTrovSatojs Trpoireixxl/oVf Iva 
 jJLTjSh/ avTOi<s XcTrrj. 14 fxavBaviriiicrav Se Kat ot rjixiTepoi /caXcoj/ 
 epyojv TrpoLCTTaaOai ets rds dvayKatas ^etas, tVa /x^ watv 
 aKapTTot. 
 
 15 'Acnrdt.ovTaL ere ol fxcT ifiov Trdvres. dcnraaai rov<i cja- 
 Xovvras rjfJids ev ttlo-t^l. 
 
 *H X^P^^ p-^rd TrdvTOiV vpifjiv. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 57 
 
 III. I Put them in mind to submit themselves to magis- 
 trates, to authorities, to obey rulers, to be ready to every 
 good work, 2 to revile no man, to be no brawlers, for- 
 bearing, showing all meekness unto all men. 3 For we 
 also were once foolish, disobedient, going astray, serving 
 divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hate- 
 ful, and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and 
 the love toward man of our Saviour God was manifested, 
 
 5 not of works — works in righteousness — which we did, but 
 according to his mercy he saved us, through the laver of 
 regeneration, and [through] renewing of the Holy Ghost ; 
 
 6 which he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour ; 7 in order that, being justified by his grace, 
 we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal 
 life. 8 Faithful is the saying, and concerning these things 
 I would have thee strenuously afiirra, to the end that they who 
 have believed God may be careful to practise good works. 
 These things are good and profitable to men. 9 But foolish 
 questionings, and genealogies, and strifes, and contentions 
 about the law, avoid ; for they are unprofitable and vain. 
 10 A heretical man, after one and a second admonition, 
 shun ; 1 1 knowing that such an one is perverted and 
 sinneth, being self-condemned. 12 When I shall send 
 Artemas to thee, or Tychicus, make haste to come to me 
 to NicopoUs ; for I have determined to spend the winter 
 there. 13 Zealously forward on their journey Zenas the 
 lawyer and Apollos, that nothing may be wanting to them. 
 14 But let ours also learn to practise good deeds for neces- 
 sary uses, in order that they may not be unfruitful. 15 All 
 that are with me salute thee. Salute those that love us in 
 the faith. The grace [of God] be with you all. 
 
UVO% TIMO0EON B'. 
 
 I. 1 IlavXos (XTrocTToXos X^lcttov ^Irjcrov 8ta Oc.Xrjixa.ro'i Q>eov 
 Kar iirayyeXiav ^(iirj<s Trj<s ev Xptcrrw 'l?yo-ov 2 Tt/xo^eo) dyaTrryrw 
 TCKVO). X^P''^> eA,eos, elp-qvq oltto 0eoi; Trarpo? Kat Xpto-rov 'It^ctov 
 tot) Kvpiov rjixCiV. 
 
 3 Xapiv e>^w T(3 0€(3, w Xarpevco ciTro Trpoyovcoi/ ey KaOapa 
 
 o-vj/etSryo'ci, ws dStaXctTrroi/ e^a> t:^i/ Trcpt o"ov p.vuav iv rats SctJctc- 
 
 o-tV /xov VVKTOS Koi rjfxepa^ 4 iirLTroOiov crc iSelv, fxciJivr]ix€vo<s aov 
 
 Twv SaKpvoiv tva ^apas TrXrjpcoOw, 5 viropLvrjcnv Xa/SixiV Trj<; iv 
 
 crot ayvTTOKpLTOV TTLCTTeu)'?, yTL<s ivioKr](T€V TrpCJTOV ev rfj fid/xfxr) crov 
 
 AtotSt Kttt rfj fXTjTpi crov ^vvlkyj, 7re7rei(r//,at Se ort Kat «/ coi'. 6 At' 
 
 ^v avTiav avafJiLfxvi^a-KO) ere di/a^wTrvpeiv to -^apLafxa rbv ©eov, o 
 
 co-Ttv ev crot 8ta t>}s iTriOea-ew'^ tcov ;(etpwv /xoi;. 7 ov yap eSwKev 
 
 rjpuv 6 0e6s TTvevfia SetXtag, dAAa Svvdfji€0)<; kol dyaTTTy? Kat o^o)- 
 
 K^povia-piov. 8 /xt) ot;v i7raLa-^vv6fj<5 to fxaprvpiov rov Kvpiov 
 
 rjiioiv fJirjSk i/xc rov SecrfXLOv avrov, dA.Aa avvKaKOTrddrjcrov rw 
 
 cvayycXto) Kara 8wa/xti/ 0eou, 9 roi) (TMO-avTOS r/fia^ kol KCtXe- 
 
 cravTOS KX-^cret dyict, ov Kara ra epya y/xwy aXXa Kara iSiav Trpo- 
 
 Oea-Lv Kttt ^dptv r^v SoOeLcrav rjfxiv ev Xptcro) 'It/ctoi) Trpo )(p6vo)v 
 
 al(siVL(siv, 10 (jiavepoiOetcTav Se vw 8ta t^5 eTTK^avetas rov a-(x)Trjpo<; 
 
 rjfjiihv Xpia-Tov Irjaov, Karapyryo'avTO? p,ev roi/ Odvarov, ^cort- 
 
 cavTOS 8e ^(jo-^v Kat afjiOapcriav 8ta rov evayyeXiov, 11 ets o 
 
 iriOrjv iyoi Krjpv^ koi diroa-roXofi koX SiSdcTKaXo?' 12 St'^vatriW 
 
 Kat Ta{)Ta 7rdo-;((u, dAA' ovk e7rato";(WOjaaf otSa yap w TreTTLdTCVKa, 
 
 Kat 7r€7reto-/Aat ort Svi/aros eo-rtv T'^v TrapaOrJKTjv fxov cfivXd^aL ets 
 
 iK€Lvr}v T7]V 7)ix€pav. 13 •UTTortJTrtuo-tv e>(€ {:ytati/oi/Ttoi/ Aoywv wv 
 
 Trap' ijxov rjKova-as iv Trto-ret Kat dydirrj ttj iv XptOTw 'iTyo-oi)* 
 
 58 ' ' 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 I. I Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, 
 according to the promise of hfe which is in Christ Jesus, 
 2 to Timothy, [my] beloved child : Grace, mercy, peace, 
 from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. — 3 I give 
 thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure 
 conscience, how unceasing remembrance I have of thee in 
 my prayers night and day ; 4 longing to see thee, mindful 
 of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 recollecting the 
 unfeigned faith [that is] in thee, which dwelt first in thy 
 grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice ; but I am per- 
 suaded that in thee also. 6 For which cause I remind thee 
 to stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the 
 laying on of my hands. 7 For God gave us not the spirit 
 of cowardice, but of power, and love, and correction. 8 Be 
 not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, 
 nor of me his prisoner : but suffer hardship with me, 
 according to the power of God ', 9 Who saved us, and 
 called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, 
 but according to his own purpose, and the grace which 
 was given us in Christ Jesus before eternal times ; 10 but 
 manifested now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, who abolished death, indeed, but brought life and 
 immortality to light : 1 1 for which I was appointed a herald, 
 and apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For which 
 cause also I suffer these things : but I am not ashamed ; 
 for I know whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that he 
 is able to keep my deposit against that day. 13 Have 
 (possess) the pattern of sound words, which thou heardest 
 
6o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 14 T'^v KoXrjv irapaOrjKriv cfivXa^ov Sta TrvevfJLaTO<s aytov tov ivoL- 
 K0VVT0<; iv yfuv. 
 
 15 OtSas TOVTO, OTL a7rc(Trpoi(f)r](TOiV fxe Travres ol kv rfj Acria, 
 S)V ia-rlv ^vyeXos kol 'Ep/xoyevT^g. 16 Siorj eXeo? 6 KvpLO^ toI 
 
 ^Ovrj(TLc}i6pOV OLKU), OTL TToWoLKLS fJLC OivixJ/vieV KOL TTjV aXvCTiV fXOV 
 
 ovK e7raLcr)(yvOr], 17 aXX.a yevo/xevos ev 'Vwfxrj CTTrovSatcas ItpfjTr]- 
 aev fX€ KOL evpev. 18 Swrj avrw 6 Kvpto? evpelv cXeos irapa kv- 
 ptov iv iKeivY) ry rjjxepa. kol ocra ev 'E<j?)ecra) SirjKovrjCTev, (HXtlov 
 (TV yirwo-/cets. 
 
 1 
 
 II. 1 ^v ow, r€KVov p.ov, ivSvvafxov iv rfj )(a.pLTL tyj iv Xpccrrw 
 Irjcrov, 2 Kol a rjKovcras Trap" ifxov Sta ttoWojv p^aprvpoiv, ravTa 
 7rapd6ov Trto-rots di/^pooTrot?, oiTLve'; LKavol ccrovrat kol erepov; 
 SiSd^aL. 3 avvKaKOTi-dOrjaov ws KaAos crTparicoTT^s XptcrroT; 'l?;- 
 oroS. 4 ovSets CTTpaTevoixevos ipLTrXeKerai rat? toO yStov Trpayjxa- 
 Ttacs, Lva rw arpaToXoyricravTL dpicra. 5 eav 8e Kat d^A^ rts, ov 
 trT£(fiavovTaL idv /jltj vofxtixoi'S dOX-^crrj. 6 tov KOTTtcovra yeojpyov 
 Set irpoiTov TOiV KapirijiV /xeraXa/x/Jdvctv. 7 voet o Xeyw Swtret 
 ya/3 crot 6 Kvptos (Tvvecriv iv Trdaiv. 8 Mv7y/xovei;6 It^ctovi/ Xptcrrov 
 iyrjyepixevov ck vcKpuyv, iK (T7repp.aTO<i AavecS, Kara to etiayyeA-iov 
 /xov, 9 €j/ w KaKOTraOo) p^^XP^ hccrp^thv tos KaKovpyos, oAXo, 6 Aoyos 
 To£i ©eo{! ov SeSerat. 10 8ta To{)ro Trdvra virop^ivoi 8ta. rous 
 eKAeKTOi's, tVa Kat avroi awTrjpias TV)((ii(TLV T7]<5 iv X.pL(TTio ^Irjcrov 
 (xeTO. S6ir]<s aiwvLov. 11 IIio-tos 6 Xoyos* et yap avvaTreOdvofJiet/, 
 KOL crvvt,'^(Top,ev' 12 et v7ro/xevop,ei/, Kat crvv/3a(TiXev(Top,€V' et 
 apvYjcTop^eOa, KotKetvos dpvt^creTai r}p.d<S' 13 et dTncTTov/jiev, cKetvo? 
 TTtcrros p^ivei, dpvrjcracrOai yap eavTOV ov Swarat. 
 
 14 Tatira vTrop.ip.vrja-Ke, Siap.apTvp6p,€vo<s ivwTnov tov ©eoD 
 /u,'^ Xoyop,a^eti/, ctt ovSev )(p->]aip.ov, iirl KaTao-Tpocf>fj tu)V dKovov- 
 T(X)V. 15 o-TTOTjSao-O]/ o-eai^Tov SoKt/x,ov Trapaa-rrja-aL rw ©ew, epyd- 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 6 1 
 
 of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 The 
 goodly deposit keep through the Holy Ghost that dwelleth 
 in us. 15 Thou knowest, that all who are in Asia turned 
 away from me ; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 
 16 The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, 
 because he ofttimes refreshed me, and was not ashamed of 
 my chain; 17 but (on the contrary), when he arrived in 
 Rome, he sought me out with greater diligence, and found 
 me. 18 May the Lord grant to him that he may find 
 mercy from the Lord in that day. And how many things 
 he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. 
 
 II. I Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the 
 grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things which thou 
 hast heard from me with many witnesses, these commit to 
 faithful men, such as shall be able to teach others also. 3 
 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
 4 No one serving as a soldier entangles himself in the 
 businesses of life, in order that he may please him who has 
 called him to be a soldier. 5 But if any one also strive in the 
 games, he is not crowned, unless he have striven lawfully. 
 
 6 The toiling husbandman must first partake of the fruits. 
 
 7 Understand what I say ; for the Lord will give thee dis- 
 cernment in all things. 8 Remember Jesus Christ as having 
 been raised from the dead, of the seed of David, according 
 to my gospel : 9 in which I suffer hardship up to bonds, as 
 a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound. 10 For 
 this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, in 
 order that they also may obtain the salvation that is in 
 Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 1 1 Faithful is the saying : 
 For if we died with him, we shall also live with him; 12 
 if we endure, we shall also reign with him ; if we shall deny 
 him, he also will deny us ; 13 if we are unbelieving, he 
 abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. — 14 Put them in 
 mind of these things, solemnly charging them before God 
 
62 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Trjv ave7raicr)(yvT0V, opOoTOixovvra tov \6yov t>;s aXr]Oeia<s. 
 16 ras 8e jSefSrjXovs Kevoc^covtas TrepucTTacro' cttI TrXetoi/ yap 
 TrpoKoij/ovcnv dcrc/^etas, 17 Kat 6 Aoyos avrdv ws yayypatva 
 vofir^v e^et. wv ecrriv 'Y/xei/atos Kat $tXr^T05, 18 otrtves Trept T>yv 
 dA,r;^etav rj(rT6)(r](Tav, Aeyovrcs avdcTTacnv ^Sr] yeyovevai, Kat dva- 
 rpeTTOvo-Lv r-qv tlvojv TTLcmv. 19 6 fxevroi crrepeos ^ep,eAtos ror 
 0eo9 €(rTr]K€Vy e;(0)v t^v cr<^paytSa TaT^rryv eyvw Kvptos rovs 
 oVras avTOv, Kat- aTroo-rr/TW (xtto dStKias ttcis 6 oi/o/xd^cov to 
 6Vo/xa KvpLOv. 20 ev [xeyaXr) Sk olklo. ovk ecmv p.6vov (TK^vrj 
 -)(jiV(Ta Kat dpyvpa, aXXa Kat ^vAtva Kat oarpaKLva, kol d /xev cts 
 TL/xrjv d Se ets drt/xtav 21 eav oiJj/ rt? iKKaOdprj iavrov drrb tov- 
 roiVy eWat aKCvos cts TLfx-qv, T^ytacrp-evov, €V)(pr](TTOv t(3 Sco-ttoti^, 
 ei? TTctv epyov dya^ov rjTOLixacrfJievov. 22 ras 8e vewrcptKa? eirt- 
 ^vp-tas cfievye, StcoKC 8e StKatocrwiyv, 7rto-Tiv, dyaTriyj/, dprjvrjv fxerd 
 Twv eTTLKaXovixivoiV TOV Kvptov CK KaOapds KapStas. 23 ras Se 
 p-wpas Kat d-TratSeiJTOvs lr}T'ij(r€L<; Trapatrov, etSoj? ort yci/vwo-tv 
 p,dvas* 24 8oi;Aov 8e Kvptov ov Sel fxd-^eaOai dXXd rjiriov etvat 
 Trpos Trdvras, StSaKTtKov, di/e^tKaKOi/, 25 ey Trpavrrjri TratSevovTa 
 rovs dyTLSiaTLOcfxivovs, p.r^Trore 8(077 avrots 6 ©eos p-erdvotav ets 
 cTTtyvojcrtv dXrjOeta';, 26 Kat dvavrjif/oiO-LV ck ttJs roi) 8ta/5oAov 
 TraytSos, e^wypT^p-evot vtt' avTOV ets to eKetVov OiXrjixa. 
 
 III. 1 Tovro 8e ytV(joo-Ke, ort ei/ icrxdrai? i^p-epats kvaTrjcrovTaL 
 Katpol ^aAcTTOt. 2 (.crovrat yap ol dvOpoiirot cftiXavroL, (fnXdp- 
 yvpot, dAa^oves, vTreprjcfiavoL, jSXdcrcfirjixoi, yovevcnv dTret^ets, 
 d)(api(TTOL, dvdcrtot, 3 da-TopyoL, dcnrovSot, Sid/SoXoi, dKparets, 
 dvT]fX€poif dcfaXdyaOoL, 4 TrpoSoTat, TrpoTreTets, Terv^cop-eVot, <^t- 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 6$ 
 
 not to wrangle about words profitable for nothing, to the 
 subversion of them that hear. 
 
 15 Give diligence to present thyself to God approved, a 
 workman not ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 
 16 But profane babblings shun, for they will advance to 
 more of ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as a 
 gangrene : of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus ; 1 8 men 
 who concerning the truth swerved, saying that the resurrec- 
 tion has already taken place, and overthrow the faith of 
 some. 19 Nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands, 
 having this seal, " The Lord knoweth them that are his." 
 Andj Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart 
 from iniquity. 20 But in a great house there are not only 
 vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; 
 and some to honour, others to dishonour. 2 1 If any one, 
 then, shall have purged himself from these, he shall be 
 a vessel for honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, 
 prepared for every good work. 22 But flee youthful lusts ; 
 but follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace with them 
 that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But foolish 
 and ignorant questions avoid, knowing that they do gender 
 strifes. 24 But the servant of the Lord must not strive, but 
 be gentle toward all, apt to teach, patient of wrong; 25 in 
 meekness correcting those who oppose themselves, if per- 
 adventure God may give them repentance unto the full 
 knowledge of the truth ; 26 and that they may return to 
 soberness out of the snare of the devil, having been taken 
 captive by him, according to the will of him (God). 
 
 III. I This know, however, that in the last days grievous 
 times shall set in : 2 for men shall be selfish, covetous, 
 boastful, haughty, censorious, disobedient to parents, un- 
 thankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, implacable, 
 false accusers, incontinent, fierce, haters of good, 4 betrayers, 
 headlong, carried with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than 
 
64 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 XtjSovol fjioXXov Yj cfaXoOeoi, 5 exovTe<; /xop<^ooo-iv cuo-c^etag rrjv 
 8e SvvafXiv avTr}<5 ypvYjixevoL' kol tovtovs airorpiTTOV. 6 €K rovrijiv 
 yap ela-LV ol ivSvvovT€S ets to.? olKLa<5 koX alxf^o-XoirLt,ovT€<; ywat- 
 Kapia crecrcopevixiya a/xaprtat?, ayofxeva eTrt^u/xtats TrotKiXat?, 
 7 TravTore fxavOdvovTa koL fxySiiroTe €ts eTrcyvwcrtv aX.r]0€La<s 
 iXOetv SvvdfJL€va. 8 ov rpoTrov Se 'lavi/?}? Kat 'la/x^p^? dvTicTTYj- 
 crav Moovcret, oiJrws Kat otSrot di/^tVravTat t>} aXrjOeta, dvOpcoTroi 
 KarecjiOapixivoi tov vovv, dSo/ct/xot Trepl r^v ttlo-tiv. 9 dAA, ov 
 TrpoKoij/ovaiv eTrt -TrXetov 17 yap avota avrwv ckSt/Xo? ecrrat Trdcriv, 
 (I)S Kat, ';7 iK€LV(jiV iyevero, 10 ^v Se 7rap7]KoXov6r](rd<i [xov rfj 
 SiSacTKaXta, rrj dywyfj, rfj Trpo^eVet, r^ Trio-ret, tt] fxaKpoOvixia, rfj 
 dydirrj, rfj viroixovfj, 11 rots Sttoy/xot?, rots TraOrjixacriv, old fxoL 
 eyevero ev 'AvTto;)(eta, ev 'Ikoviw, ev Avcrrpots* otot;s 8tcoy/x.oiJ5 
 VTr-qveyKa, koI Ik rrdvTOiV fic ipva-aro 6 Ki^pto?. 12 Kat Trdvre? 
 Se ot OeXovTCS t,rjv evcre/Sios ev XptcrTO) 'iTyo-oiS 8ta);(^?^(T0i/rat. 
 13 IIovTypot Se dvOpoiiroL kol yorjTe? irpoKoxl/ovcnv lirl to ;j(etpov, 
 TrXavwvres Kat TrXavwfxevoL. 14 cru Se /xeVe ev ots c/xa^es Kat 
 iTrLcrT(i)Or]<i, etScos Trapa tlvmv efxaOes, 15 Kat ort (xtto ^pecf)OV<s 
 lepd ypa/x/xara otSas ra Swdfjcevd ce crocfiLa-aL etg o-iorrjpiav Zlol 
 '7rLa-T€w^ rrjs iv Xpto-ro) 'IrycroiS. 16 Tracra ypacfir] 6e67rveva-TO<s 
 Kol a)(j!)eA.t/xos 7rpo5 StSao-KaXtW, Trpo? eXeyfxov, Trpos eTravop^ojcrtv, 
 TTpos TratStW T-^y ev StKatocrwr^, 17 tVa dprL0<5 r) 6 tov @€0V 
 dv6p(ti7ro<s, Trpos Trav epyov dyaOov iirjpTLcrfxivos. 
 
 IV. 1 ALa/JLapTvpofxai Ivdimov tov ©eou Kat Xpto-roi) It^o-ov 
 TOV fxeXXovTOS Kpiveiv ^covras Kat vcKpovs, kol ttjv cTrt^avetav 
 avTOi) Kat rr/v ^ao-tXetW a{»T0v, 2 Krjpv^ov tov Xoyov, iTrta-TrjOt 
 cvKaipcos ttKatpoo?, eXcy^ov, TrapaKoXecrov, cTrtrt/XT^o-oy, ev Trdar) 
 IxaKpoOvfita Kat 8t8a;)(^. 3 eo-rat yap Katpos ore t'^s vyiaivovarj<; 
 SiSacTKaXtas ovk dviiovTat, dXXd Kara ras tStas e7rt^t»/xtas eavrots 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 65 
 
 lovers of God ; 5 having a form of godliness, but denying 
 the power thereof From such turn away. 6 For of these 
 are they who creep into houses, and take captive silly women 
 laden with sins, led away by divers lusts ; 7 ever learning, 
 and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth. 
 
 8 Now in the same manner that Jannes and Jambres with- 
 stood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth : men 
 corrupted in their mind, reprobate concerning the faith. 
 
 9 But they shall not make progress ; for their folly shall 
 become manifest to all, as theirs also came to be. 
 
 10 Thou, however, hast closely followed my instruction, 
 my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my long-suffering, 
 my love, my patience, 11 my persecutions, my sufferings, 
 such as befell me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra ; such 
 persecutions as I endured : and out of them all the Lord 
 delivered me. 12 Yea, and all who are minded to live 
 piously in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. 13 But evil 
 men and deceivers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving, 
 and being deceived. 14 But do thou continue in the things 
 which thou didst learn, and wert assured of, knowing of 
 whom thou didst learn them ; 15 and that from a very 
 child thou knowest the holy Scriptures, which are able to 
 make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture [is] given by inspiration 
 of God, and [is] profitable for instruction, for conviction, 
 for correction, for discipline in righteousness; 17 in order 
 that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished 
 for every good work. 
 
 IV. I I solemnly charge thee before God, and Christ 
 Jesus, who is going to judge living and dead, and by his 
 appearance and his kingdom : 2 preach the word ; be in- 
 stant in season, out of season ; reprove, exhort, rebuke, in 
 all long-suffering and teaching. 3 For there shall be a time 
 when they will not endure the healthy instruction ; but after 
 their own lusts will heap up to themselves teachers, having 
 
 E 
 
66 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 e7rLcr(opev(rov(TLV SiSaa-KaXovs KvrjOofJicvoi ttjv aKoryr, 4 Kac airo 
 fxlv T^<i oXrjOeLa's rrjv aKoryv airocTTpixl/ovariv, cttI 8e rov'i fxvOovs 
 lKTpaTvr}crovTai. 5 (tv Se vrj(^e iv Tracrtv, KaKOTrdOrjcrov, kpyov 
 TTotrjo-ov evayye\i(TTOv, rrjv SiaKOVcav orov TrXr]po<j)6pr]crov . 6 TEyco 
 yap rj^-q cr7rei/8o/xa6, koL 6 Katpos T7J<s o.vaXv(Teoi<s fiov icfiea-TrjKev. 
 7 Tov KaXbv dytova yyayvio-fiai, rbv Spofxov rereX^Ka, rrjv ttlo-tlv 
 TeTripr]Ka' 8 Xolttov aTroKetTat fxoi 6 ttJs StKaiocrwTys crre^avo?, 
 oy d-TroSojcret /xot 6 Kvpuos iv iKetvrj rfj rjfJiepa, b StKatos Kptriy?, ov 
 fjiovov §€ e/xot oAA-a Kat Tracrt rots rjyaTrrjKOCTL ttjv e7rt<^av€iav avrov. 
 
 9 STTovSao-ov iXOecv Trpos /xe Ta^eco?. 10 At^/xS? yap p,e ey- 
 KareXtTrev dya7r?^cras rov v{5i/ alCjva, kol eTropevOr) eh 0eo-(raXo- 
 VLK7)v, KpTjcTKrj'S ct? FaAAtW, Ttro9 eis AaXfxarcav 11 AovKas 
 iarlv fjiovos fxer ifiov. MapKOV avaXajSojv aye /xera o-eaiiToi)- 
 ecrrtJ/ ydp /xot €V)(pr](TTO<s els StaKOVcav. 12 Tv;^tKOi/ Se d7recrTetA.a 
 €19 "E^eo-ov. 13 TOV (fieXovrjv, ov aTreXiirov ev TpwdSi Trapo, 
 KapTTo), ep)(6ix€V0S (ftepe, kol to. /?t/?Xta, p-ouVto-ra ra? p,ep,/5pdva?. 
 14 ^AXegavSpos 6 ;^aXKei)S TroXAd p,ot KaKo. eveSei'^aro* ctTroSojo-et 
 aiTM 6 Kvpios Kara to. epya avrov. 15 ov Kat crv cfivXda-crov Xiav 
 ydp dvTecTTr] rot? rj/JLerepots Aoyots. 16 iv Trj Trpwry fxov diro- 
 Xoyia ovSeLS fxoL irapeyevero, aXXd irdures fxe iyKareXiTrov fxr] 
 avTols XoyLcrOetT]' 17 6 8e Kvpios [jlol Trapecrrrj kol eve8vvdp,wcrev 
 fxe, Iva hi i/xov to K-qpvy/xa TrXrjpocfiOprjOfj kol oLKOvcroycrLV irdvra 
 TO, eOvrj, KOL epvcrOrjv eK (ttoixotos XeovTOS. 18 pvcrerai fxe 6 kv- 
 pios (XTTo TravTO? epyov TTovrjpov kol (rwa-et els rr]v /SacnXeLav avrov 
 ry]V iiTovpdviov' <5 rj Sd^a els rovs atcovas tcov atcovwv, dfxrjv. 
 
 19 "KdTraa-ai UplcrKav Kal ^KkvXov koX rbv Ovqcricjiopov 
 oXkov. 20 'EpacTTOS e/xetvev ev Koptv^o), Tpd(^tp,ov Se (XTreAtTrov 
 ev MtA.rJT(o dcr^evowTa. 21 o-7roi;Sacrov Trpo ^eipwvos iXOelv. 
 da-7rdt,erai ae 'Ev/^ovXos Kal HovSrjS Kal Aivos Kat KLXauSta Kat 
 ot dSeX^ot TrdvTes. 
 
 22 'O KvpLOS p.€Ta ToG TTvevp-ttTOS (TOV. rj X^pt5 p-e^' VIXU)V. 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 67 
 
 itching ears ; 4 and they will turn away their ears from 
 the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But watch thou 
 in all things ; endure hardship ; do the work of an evan- 
 gelist ; fully accomplish thy ministry. 6 For I am already 
 being offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I 
 have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I 
 have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me 
 the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
 Judge, shall award to me in that day ; and not to me only, 
 but to all them that love his appearing. 
 
 9 Do thy endeavour to come to me quickly. 10 For 
 Demas forsook me, having loved this present world, and 
 is gone to Thessalonica ; Crescens to Gaul, Titus to Dal- 
 matia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Mark take up, and 
 bring with thee, for he is serviceable to me for the ministry. 
 12 But Tychicus I sent to Ephesus. 13 The cloak which 
 I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and 
 the books, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the 
 coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord will requite him 
 according to his works. 15 Of whom be thou also on thy 
 guard, for he exceedingly withstood our words. 16 In my 
 first defence no man stood forward with me, but all forsook 
 me. May it not be laid to their charge. 17 But the Lord 
 stood by me, and strengthened me, in order that through me 
 the preaching [of the gospel] might be fully accomplished, 
 and that all the Gentiles might hear ; and he delivered me 
 out of the mouth of the lion. 18 The Lord will deliver 
 me from every evil work, and preserve me to his heavenly 
 kingdom : to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 19 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of 
 Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus abode at Corinth; but Tro- 
 phimus I left at Miletus sick. 21 Do thy endeavour to 
 come before winter. Eubulus saluteth thee, and Pudens, 
 and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. 
 
 22 The Lord be with thy spirit ; grace be with you. 
 
THE 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Vers. I, 2. Paid, an apostle of Ch'ist Jesus according 
 to the co77imandinent of God our Saviour^ and Christ Jesus 
 our hope; to Timothy, [my] true child in the faith : Grace, 
 mercy, peace, from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our 
 Lord. 
 
 If this had been simply a private letter, having for its 
 object the expression merely of kindly feelings, or the com- 
 munication of prudent advice as from one friend to another, 
 it would certainly have been unnatural in the apostle (as 
 some have objected) to begin in so formal a manner, and 
 to give such prominence at the outset to his divine call 
 to the apostleship, with which Timothy was doubtless per- 
 fectly familiar. But the letter plainly bears an official 
 character; and while partaking of the graceful and affec- 
 tionate freedom which fitly arose from the intimate relations 
 of the parties, it was designed to carry with it an authorita- 
 tive value — to convey instructions respecting church order 
 and Christian work, which called for implicit obedience. 
 Timothy, the youthful companion, was now coming in a 
 measure to take the place of the apostle in ministerial 
 agency; and he must have both the nature of the work, 
 and the warrant on which he was to proceed with it, dis- 
 
 69 
 
70 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tinctly laid upon his conscience. He might possibly need 
 such an authoritative commission to bear him up against 
 others in the discharge of his delegated function ; and 
 therefore I would not exclude (with Ellicott) a regard to 
 the due maintenance of his authority. He might have at 
 times to exhibit, or even press, the grounds on which he 
 spake and acted as he did. But for himself also it was 
 needful. For it was evidently an irksome and delicate 
 task which was assigned him at Ephesus^ with so many 
 germs of error sprouting, and headstrong, conceited men 
 bent on carr)dng matters their own way. If himself, as 
 would appear, of a meek, amiable disposition, and accus- 
 tomed hitherto to be led rather than to lead, he might in 
 some things be tempted to give way to the will or resistance 
 of others. It was right, therefore, he should feel that 
 necessity was laid upon him ; that the voice which speaks 
 to him is that not merely of a revered instructor or a 
 spiritual father, but of a Heaven-commissioned ambassador, 
 who has a right to declare the divine will and rule with 
 authority in the Christian church. So Bengel : Hie titidtcs 
 facit ad confirma7idum Timotheum ; familiaritas seponenda 
 est, ubi causa Dei agitiir. 
 
 St. Paul's mode of expressing his divine relation to the 
 apostleship here is somewhat pecuHar : he is an apostle of 
 Christ Jesus, not, as he sometimes puts it, from being called 
 thereto (Rom. i. i ; i Cor. i. i), or as having received his desti- 
 nation to it through the will of God (i Cor. i. i ; 2 Cor. i. i ; 
 also in Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Timothy), but according to 
 God's commandment {kot iTTLTayrjv @eov), or by God's appoint- 
 ment (as Kara rvxw, by chance, Kar evvoiav, by good-will). 
 His apostolic calling is thus brought into connection with 
 the direct ordering of Heaven — the active carrying out or 
 result of the diviije will. If it is asked. How or when was 
 the commandment issued ? we may point, with Chrysostom, 
 to Acts xiii. 2, where the Holy Ghost is related to have 
 
I TIMOTHY I. I, 2. 71 
 
 said by certain prophets in the church at Antioch : 
 " Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto 
 I have called them ; " only, this command of the Spirit was 
 but the echo, as indeed it professes to be, of a prior com- 
 mand or vocation given from above, which therefore was 
 the fundamental thing. And so Chrysostom himself felt, 
 for he presently refers the matter to that original source ; 
 stating, that while it was the glorified Redeemer from whom 
 the command was directly received, it was not the less 
 from God : for the things of the Father are the Son's, as 
 those again of the Son are the Spirit's. So that whether we 
 look to the Spirit's injunction to the church at Antioch, or 
 to Christ's charge to the apostle himself on the road to 
 Damascus, we see in each the expression of the Father's 
 will and appointment. In two other passages — Rom. xvi. 
 26, Tit. i. 3 — the apostle has used the same expression of 
 " God's commandment ; " in the former case generally, with 
 respect to the ministration of the gospel, in the latter 
 specially, with respect to his own commission. 
 
 It is another peculiarity here that God is called 02tr 
 Saviour, a designation applied to God with great frequency 
 in the Pastoral epistles (not only here, but at i Tim. ii. 3, 
 iv. 10, Tit. i. 3, ii. 10, iii. 4), and occurs elsewhere only in 
 Luke i. 47, and Jude, ver. 25. It is impossible to deny, 
 however, that the idea involved in the designation is com- 
 mon to all the epistles of Paul ; in some of the others, also, 
 salvation is expressly and formally coupled with God (as 
 in 2 Thess. ii. 12, i Cor. i. 21). So that it is merely the 
 employment of Saviour as a personal designation of God 
 in Christ which is peculiar to the Pastoral epistles. Why 
 the apostle should in these have not only adopted, but 
 evinced a special fondness for such a designation, can only 
 be proximately determined. But it may not improbably 
 have presented itself to his mind, as a kind of counteractive 
 to the false teaching which in his latter days was beginning 
 
72 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 to corrupt the truth. In that presumptuous, self-willed 
 spirit, which was striving to hew out new paths for itself, 
 and aiming at heights of knowledge and virtue beyond 
 those which were accessible to ordinary believers in Christ, 
 the apostle could not fail to see what tended to separate 
 between God and salvation ; in fact, to change altogether 
 the idea of salvation as a work originating in the purpose, 
 and carried into effect by the agency, of God. Christianity 
 would come to be viewed only as a higher sort of school 
 instruction and spiritual discipline, which might be ever 
 so much remodelled and improved upon by the efforts of 
 successive theosophists. To associate salvation, therefore, 
 not simply with Christ (which, however, is also done by the 
 apostle, I Tim. i. 14, Tit. i. 4, ii. 13, iii. 6), but directly 
 and prominently with God, might seem a fitting mode of 
 testifying against the false tendency of the times. It would 
 certainly have been to believers a preservative against 
 much of the evil then emerging, if they kept firm hold 
 of the truth that salvation is of God; for thus would all 
 arbitrariness in speculation and undue licence in practice 
 be repressed. 
 
 With God as our Saviour the apostle couples Christ 
 Jesus as our hope, precisely as in Eph. ii. 14 he calls Him 
 our peace; and, with a still nearer resemblance to the pre- 
 sent passage, in Col. i. 27, the hope of glory in beHevers. 
 He is so called, not merely because the reception of His 
 gospel lights up the hope of blessing and glory in the heart, 
 but because all that is hoped for is so indissolubly linked 
 to Christ Himself, that our relation to Him carries also 
 our relation to it. In eo solo iota salutis nosirce materia 
 (Calvin). 
 
 To Timothy, [///y] true child in the faith. The rendering in 
 the Authorized Version, " mine own son," is not altogether 
 correct, yi/7^Vtos being true, in opposition to false or spurious; 
 hence genuine, real. Had it been used of a relation in 
 
I TIMOTHY I. I, 2. 73 
 
 the natural sphere, own might have been taken as the proper 
 equivalent : one's own child, as contradistinguished from 
 another's, from a supposititious offspring. But it is other- 
 wise in the spiritual; for Timothy might have been a 
 genuine child of the divine kingdom, though brought into 
 it through the instrumentality of another than the apostle. 
 But as having been so brought, — brought as a mere youth, 
 and almost from the date of his conversion kept in constant 
 attendance upon the apostle, — it was natural for the latter 
 to use the term child rather than so7i to express the relation, 
 even now when Timothy was in the ripeness and vigour of 
 manhood ; it was more distinctly indicative of tenderness 
 arid aftection. The other would have been more natural 
 to an imitator. The addition, in faith, or, in the faith, — for 
 there can be no doubt that it refers to the specific faith of 
 the gospel, — is made to prevent mistake, by defining the 
 sphere to which the filial relationship belonged. So also, 
 in I Cor. iv. 17, Timothy is described by the apostle as 
 "his beloved child, and faithful in the Lord." The en- 
 dearing spiritual relationship subsisting between them had 
 on Timothy's part been properly maintained. 
 
 Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, afid Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. The only thing calling for special notice 
 here is the insertion of eA,eo9, mercy, between grace and peace. 
 In all the rest of Paul's epistles, except the Second to 
 Timothy (in Titus the word, though in the received text, 
 should likewise be omitted), mercy is not found in the 
 salutation, but only grace and peace. It seems, however, 
 a strange mode of reasoning to press this as an argument 
 against the genuineness of the two epistles ; for the very 
 uniformity of the apostle's style in his earlier epistles would 
 have been sure to catch the eye of a forger, and in a manner 
 constrained him to adopt the same. It was not for him at 
 the very outset to deviate from the beaten track ; least of 
 all to do so by such an addition to the two regular epithets 
 
74 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 as mercy, which has respect to sin and misery In the object 
 of it. Grace and peace might fitly enough be sought for 
 Timothy as an honoured member of the church of Christ, 
 and more especially as one called to the discharge of an 
 onerous and responsible commission in it ; but who, save 
 such a man as Paul, could have thought of mercy ? If even 
 In the case of the erring Galatians and the backsliding 
 Corinthians, mercy was omitted from the apostolic saluta- 
 tion, was it for an unknown, a lying imitator, to conceive of 
 Paul's dear child of faith, his substitute in the performance 
 of what was properly apostolic work, as a subject for mercy? 
 This, surely, was a very unlikely thing to come from such a 
 quarter ; and it may therefore be regarded as the apostle's 
 own signature — the impress of his pecuUarly thoughtful and 
 deeply exercised heart. He knew how much he needed 
 mercy for himself, not merely at the outset of his spiritual 
 career, when he was rescued as a brand from the burning, 
 but also when engaged in his work as an ambassador of 
 Christ. He knew that, even when he was outwardly doing 
 all, he was still spiritually coming short ; that evil was more 
 or less present with him, when seeking to do what was good ; 
 therefore he must ever feel himself a debtor to mercy. 
 And could he wish his dear child and deputy to feel other- 
 wise ? Would he not rather be disposed to consider it 
 essential to Timothy's safety and success to live In the 
 exercise of such a spirit ? It came well from so richly en- 
 dowed a workman, and so experienced a saint, to convey to 
 his youthful disciple the important instruction couched under 
 this word — from him alone could it have so come ; and it 
 embodies a lesson for all future ministers of the gospel, 
 which it well becomes them to ponder. While they are 
 ambassadors of mercy to others, let them never forget that 
 they need to be themselves partakers of mercy — never more 
 so than when they are engaged in the higher duties, and 
 pressing the more sacred interests of the gospel. If they 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 3, 4. 75 
 
 know aright what they are, and what they should be, they 
 will be ever throwing themselves on God's mercy, and also 
 looking for the glorious issue as the consummating display 
 of that same mercy toward them in Christ Jesus unto eternal 
 life (Jude 25). 
 
 The proof should not be overlooked which this impetra- 
 tion of grace, mercy, and peace for Timothy affords of the 
 essential divinity of Christ ; since He is coupled with God 
 the Father as alike concerned in the bestowal of strictly 
 divine gifts. Had our Lord possessed only a creature's 
 place and prerogatives, even though it were the highest in 
 creation, it had been impossible for a truly pious mind to 
 have presented Him, without further explanation, in this 
 apparently co-equal fellowship with the Father; such a mind 
 would have instinctively shrunk from so unseemly a con- 
 junction. We can only, therefore, regard the place given to 
 Christ here as a virtual declaration of the apostle's belief in 
 the truth enunciated by Christ Himself, " All things that the 
 Father hath are mine," and again, when He affirmed that 
 the Son hath life in Himself, even as the Father hath life 
 in Himself (Matt. xi. 27 ; John xvi. 15, v. 26). 
 I Vers. 3, 4. According as I besought thee when setting 
 Old for Macedonia, \_so I do now\ to abide still at Ephesus, iji 
 order that thou mightest charge some not to teach any other 
 doctrine, nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies, 
 inasmuch as they minister strifes rather than God's dispensa- 
 tion in faith. The sentence is elliptical in the earlier part, 
 to be explained, with Winer {Gr. § 64), by the rapidity of the 
 apostle's style, throwing into the protasis what should have 
 been expressed in an apodosis, such as ovr^n koI vvv TrapaKaXu) : 
 As before I besought, so now also I beseech. Our trans- 
 lators, after Erasmus (ita facito), have supplied, at the end 
 of the entire sentence, so do — which makes the sense plain 
 enough ; but it seems better to introduce the supplement a 
 little earher. The verb expressive of Timothy's continued 
 
76 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 residence at Ephesus, which as to the sense betokens a kind 
 of prolonged present, is put in the aorist {Trpoa-fxfivat), because 
 dependent on an aorist which precedes, according to the 
 principle of the parity of tenses, which the Greeks particu- 
 larly regarded (Winer, § 45, 8). The preceding verb itself 
 — TrapcKaXecra, / besought — was viewed by Chrysostom as 
 indicative of the apostle's gentleness and affection toward 
 Timothy : he would not authoritatively enjoin his prolonged 
 stay at Ephesus, but would only give an earnest expression 
 of his desire regarding it, as in a matter that deeply con- 
 cerned the interests of the church. There appears ground 
 for the remark; and Tit. i. 5, where a stronger word is used 
 in regard to the evangelistic labours of Titus in Crete — " as 
 I appointed," or ordered thee (Stera^a/xyyv) — is no argument to 
 the contrary, for the cases were not strictly similar. Titus 
 stood in a somewhat different relation to Paul from Timothy. 
 The latter, like a beloved son and bosom companion, had 
 his appropriate place beside the apostle ; and any arrange- 
 ment which involved a departure from this rule, was rather 
 a subject for mutual consent, or at the most for earnest 
 entreaty on the one side, and submissive compliance on the 
 other, than for express command. Titus, however, was 
 simply one of various fellow-labourers in the gospel, and 
 by the nature of his ofhce stood under the authority and 
 direction of the apostle. So that, viewed with respect to 
 the relative position of the parties, there was a fitness and 
 dehcacy in the choice of the words -appHed to each, such 
 as might quite naturally present itself to the mind of the 
 apostle, though by no means likely to occur to another 
 person. The difficulties connected with the apostle's going 
 into Macedonia, and leaving Timothy to tarry on at Ephesus, 
 in a historical point of view, have already been considered 
 in the Introduction. 
 
 The more special and immediate object of Timothy's 
 continued residence at Ephesus, was that he might charge 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 3, 4. 77 
 
 some not to teach any other dodi'ine — irepoSiSacTKaXeLv. By 
 €T€pos is meant other, or differe7it^ in the sense of diverse, or 
 of another kind ; so that the teaching meant was teaching 
 after a different type of doctrine from that which bore on it 
 the sanction of apostoHc authority. This, it is impHed, was 
 the standard ;■ all right teaching must conform to it ; what 
 did not do so was an unwarranted deviation — a heterodoxy. 
 So, at an earlier period, the apostle had designated the 
 Jewish leaven introduced into the churches of Galatia ; it 
 was another gospel (hepov evayyiXLov, i. 6) which they had 
 received, and the persons who had pressed it on their 
 acceptance were false teachers. But in neither case might 
 there be any formal abjuration of the essential facts of the 
 gospel, such as to constitute them heretics in the modern 
 sense ; the error lay rather in superinducing thereupon 
 foreign elements, and giving way to considerations and 
 practices which were at variance with the proper genius of 
 the gospel, and inevitably tended to corrupt its character 
 and mar its design. Here, the false admixtures are described 
 as fahles and endless genealogies. The application which 
 began to be made at an early period of these words to the 
 generations of aeons in the Gnostic systems of the second 
 century, has already been noticed in the Introduction : it 
 was an accommodation, as there stated, rather than a just 
 and proper interpretation ; both because the term ge?iealogies 
 could not, except in a kind of secondary and figurative 
 sense, be understood of such ethereal fancies ; and also 
 because alike here and in Titus they are connected directly 
 with Jewish perversions and misuses of the law. 
 
 We have undoubted evidence, that about, and even pre- 
 vious to, the gospel era, the minds of a certain portion of 
 the Jewish dispersion took a set in that direction, and from 
 a strange, incongruous combination of their own religion 
 with the spirit of heathen philosophy, formed a sort of 
 Cabalistic system, made up of allegory, fable, mystic notions, 
 
78 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and legal technicalities. Philo partly reflected and partly 
 also aided this false tendency, though with him it was kept 
 free from many of the extravagances which discovered them- 
 selves among the inferior class of Jews, who often sought 
 through such things to secure their own carnal and selfish 
 ends. But with whatever view prosecuted, as they were in 
 their nature entirely speculative and fanciful, they necessarily 
 tended, as the apostle says, to give occasion to questions 
 and strifes which admitted of no proper settlement, and 
 yielded no real profit : atVtveg ^T^xT^o-eis Trapexovcnv, being such 
 as do so, having that for their natural consequence. 
 
 The converse of this has unhappily been obscured by a 
 corruption in the received text. Following this, the A. V. 
 reads, " rather than godly edifying," a fair enough rendering 
 of oLKoSofxiav ®eov. But it should undoubtedly be oLKovofxiav 
 0eo9, which is the reading of all the older mss. ; and this 
 can only mean God's dispensation^ or economy — His specific 
 plan or arrangement for the administration of His kingdom. 
 So it is plainly used by St. Paul in other parts of his writings, 
 as at I Cor. ix. 17, Eph. i. 10, iii. 9. The method of salva- 
 tion by Jesus Christ unfolded in the gospel is God's dispensa- 
 tion, as connected with the fulness of the times (Eph. i. 10); 
 and as an apostle of Christ, Paul had this dispensation en- 
 trusted to him ; as a steward, he was put in charge, to a cer- 
 tain extent, with the direction of its affairs (i Cor. iv. i, ix. 17). 
 The idea, it is true, does not exactly suit the verb in the 
 preceding clause (irapexova-iv) ; as one can scarcely say, " do 
 not minister God's dispensation ; " and hence, no doubt, 
 the tendency in the later copyists and the versions to sub- 
 stitute edification for dispensation. But it is merely an 
 example of what is of frequent occurrence in Greek — of 
 construction by zeugma, which requires that a verb, when 
 coupled with words too diversified in import to be strictly 
 applicable to each, be taken in a looser sense with its more 
 remote than with its more immediate object. Here, the 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 5. 79 
 
 apostle chose a verb that was quite appropriate to the 
 things which were foremost in his regard — namely, the 
 frivolous disputations which the fondness for fables and 
 genealogies naturally generated ; and he left it to the good 
 sense of his reader to make the requisite adaptation of the 
 import to the- matter subsequently presented : they minister 
 questions rather than subserve what belongs to God's dis- 
 pensation. And he indicates the reason, when he adds rrjv 
 iv TTto-ret, f/iaf is ill faith, has its sphere therein, or stands 
 vitally related to that humble, confiding principle in the 
 soul, as the bond more especially which connects men with 
 it, and the avenue through which it developes spiritual life 
 and hope in their experience. But fables and genealogies 
 of whatsoever sort belonged to a different category ; they 
 did not address themselves to the principle of faith ; they 
 merely exercised the fancy and the intellect, and did so in 
 a manner fitted rather to create a distaste for the proper 
 objects of faith. The more one might give himself to such 
 a line of things, the more would he find himself carried away 
 from the sphere of God's merciful economy for the salvation 
 of sinners. 
 
 Ver. 5. Now the end of the charge is love out of a pure 
 heart, and a good co?iscieiice, and faith unfeigned. The chaige 
 (Tra/aayyeXtas) here meant cannot be the law strictly so called 
 — as if irapay. were all one with v6ixo<i or hroXrj — for the word 
 is never so used; but it indicates the charge lying upon 
 those who have a part to do in connection with God's dis- 
 pensation — the obligation they have to fulfil in order to 
 carry out its design. They are emphatically persons under 
 charge {vTro TrapayyeXm?), being put in trust with the scheme 
 of God for the wellbeing of men, and so having love for its 
 grand aim (riXo^) — love in the fullest sense — love to God, 
 the author of the dispensation, and love to mankind as the 
 objects whose present and eternal good it contemplates. 
 The possession and exercise of such love may be taken as 
 
8o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the measure of one's sympathy with the spirit of the dispen- 
 sation, and preparedness for executing the charge which 
 comes along with the knowledge and belief of its realities, 
 and which rests especially upon those who are called to act 
 as its more select instruments of working. — [The word 
 Trapay. was probably suggested in this connection by the 
 7rapayyetA|7s in ver. 3, and only makes general what was there 
 given with a special application. Timothy was to charge the 
 teachers in the church at Ephesus, who seemed in danger 
 of turning aside from the right path, to beware of giving 
 heed to things which were quite alien to the proper aim and 
 calHng of the evangelical office. And proceeding now from 
 the particular to the general, the apostle briefly describes 
 the nature of the charge which lies upon all true evangelists 
 — what, from the very nature of the gospel, is and must be 
 the heart and spirit of their calhng. Comp. also ver. 18, 
 iv. II, V. 7, vi. 13, I Thess. iv. 2.] 
 
 But as the apostle has indicated the relation of the gospel 
 charge to love, so, lest the nature of love itself might be 
 mistaken, he shows its connection with the internal state 
 and condition of the regenerated man : it is love out of a 
 pure hearty hence incapable of working to ignoble ends, or 
 the gratification of corrupt desires, but issuing like crystal 
 streams from a pure fountain ; also out of a good conscience, 
 properly responsive to the claims of moral obligation, 
 honestly bent on following out its convictions of truth and 
 duty ; finally, out of faith Jinfeigned {dvvTroKpLTov), — a term 
 frequently used to characterize the graces of the Christian 
 character — love (Rom. xii. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 6), brotherly kind- 
 ness (i Pet. i. 22), spiritual wisdom (Jas. iii. 17) ; but when 
 applied to faith, serving to indicate its reality and power as 
 an internal principle, its living apprehension and firm grasp 
 of the things presented to its view ; hence widely difi'erent 
 from that lazy assent to the doctrines of the gospel, that 
 merely formal profession of adherence to them, which often 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 6. 8 1 
 
 goes by the name of faith. In specifying so many sources 
 of Christian love, the apostle is not to be understood as 
 giving a theoretical exposition of the matter, or presenting 
 in strict philosophical order the relation of love to the heart, 
 conscience, and faith respectively, or of these to each other. 
 He is contemplating the subject in a practical point of view, 
 and simply unfolding, in the order that seemed natural to 
 him at the time, the several elements which must conspire to 
 the production and exercise of genuine Christian love. In 
 the order of nature, the unfeigned faith must undoubtedly 
 be placed first ; for in fallen men, laden with guilt and 
 alienated from the life of God, there is no way of attaining 
 to real purity of heart and a purged conscience but through 
 faith in Christ. When through this faith entering, however, 
 the soul is brought into fellowship with the realities of sal- 
 vation, the bonds of its captivity are broken ; it becomes 
 re-united to the one source of life and blessing, and at once 
 experiences and reciprocates a love which prompts it to a 
 life of, beneficence and worth. But considered with respect 
 to practical working, the order adopted by the apostle is 
 quite natural : furthest in, as the deep fountainhead of all 
 the outgoings of Christian love, there is the purified heart ; 
 then, to regulate the actings of love, and determine their 
 course and measure, there is the good conscience ; and 
 finally, to sustain and animate the soul in the varied works 
 and labours proper to love, there is the faith unfeigned, 
 embracing the glorious promises of God, and ministering 
 strength from the things therein contained to its vital 
 energy. Such, probably, is the order and relation in which 
 these spiritual characteristics presented themselves to the 
 mind of the apostle ; and in the concurrent action and due 
 subordination of them to each other will ever be found to 
 consist the stability and progress of the Christian life. 
 1/ Ver. 6. From which — namely, the several moral qualities 
 just mentioned — some having swerved, a.(TTO)(ija-avTes (found 
 
 F 
 
82 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 only besides in chap. vi. 20, 2 Tim. ii. 18, where it is 
 coupled with vrepi), — " said in regard to those who do not 
 reach whither they are tending — do not attain their aim" 
 (Bengel) : failing, either because they did not set the aim 
 properly before them, or did not prosecute it in a manner 
 fitted to accomphsh what was sought. They wanted, in 
 short, the requisite moral bent and energy of soul ; and so 
 they tii7'ned aside into vain talk — the preposition in the verb 
 {i^erpaTT-qo-av) having respect to the path or direction which 
 should have been followed, but from which the parties in 
 question deviated. They had not the root of the matter in 
 them ; and having thus no heart for the great things of the 
 gospel, they naturally fell to discoursing about vain ques- 
 tions, the debateable and speculative points about which 
 they could find themselves at home. The secret undoubt- 
 edly lies here of much unsatisfactory and unprofitable 
 
 . preaching. If the heart is not in the great things of the 
 gospel, if it is out of accord with their deep spiritual tone, it 
 cannot delight to speak of them, and will be only too glad 
 to turn aside to inferior topics. 
 
 1/ Ver. 7. The parties warned against are further character- 
 ized as desiring {6iXovTe<;, wishing) to be teachers of the law ; 
 implying that it was but a wish, a bootless aiming at what, 
 in its proper reality, lay far from them, as is afterwards 
 more distinctly brought out. The interpretation of Baur, 
 which was demanded by his hypothesis, would find in this 
 description not law teachers, but law opposers, Antinomians 
 of the Marcionite school ; but the view is so arbitrary, and 
 so much at variance with the natural import of the words, 
 that it has met with almost universal rejection. The 
 apostle is evidently speaking of men who by no means 
 disparaged the law as vile, or at least as too low and car- 
 nal for persons aspiring to perfection, but rather had high 
 notions of the law, and set themselves up as its more 
 advanced and enlightened advocates, though utterly dis- 
 
A 
 
 I TLMOTHY I. 7. ^^ 
 
 qualified for the office they assumed It is also evident, 
 from the concession made in regard to their pretensions 
 in ver. 8, '' We know, indeed, that the law is good ; " so far 
 there is no dispute between us. It was an admission to the 
 parties against whom he was contending, in favour of that 
 which they so zealously lauded, in case the apostle's own 
 osition regarding it might be perverted or misunderstood. 
 The false teachers, then, were in sojne sense legalists ; the 
 question is, in what sense ? In what form, or with what 
 intent, did they press the claims of law ? Not, we have 
 good reason to believe, after the manner of the Jewish 
 Christians, who first disturbed the church — zealous for the 
 maintenance of the ancient customs ; for the way in which 
 the apostle meets them (as noticed by all the recent better 
 commentators) is quite different from what we find in the 
 Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Colossians. Here 
 he charges the parties in question, not with bringing in 
 legal observances out of their proper place, but with utter 
 ignorance and misapprehension as to the real nature and 
 design of the law : /xi) voovvT€.<i ix-qtc a Xeyovcriv, /XTJre vrcpt tlvmv 
 Bia^e^aiovvTai — no^ understanding neither, or, as suits our 
 idiom better, tuitJioiit understanding either what thijigs they 
 speak, or conces'uing what things they affirm. They spoke, it 
 would seem, dogmatically enough ; for the verb (Sta/3eySaio{S- 
 a-Bo.1) means to make asseveration, or give forth one's view in 
 a firm, dogmatic tone. But in doing so, the apostle declares 
 they went beyond their depth ; they merely displayed their 
 own ignorance, and tJiat in two respects — both as regards 
 the things they said, and the topics concerning which they 
 uttered their sentiments. The language is such as might 
 very readily be applied to persons of a dreamy and 
 speculative mood, disposed to take things otherwise than 
 in their plain natural sense ; attempting, as men of a higher 
 order of thought, to refine and soar, and lose themselves 
 in mystic reveries or fanciful allegorizings. And this, as 
 
84 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 already stated, is precisely the form of evil which we are 
 led to understand then began to develope itself. It was a 
 compound of Gnostic and Judaic elements. The" persons 
 who advocated it would keep the law — they would even 
 make more of it than the apostle did ; but then, the law 
 not according to the letter — the law sublimated by the 
 speculative reason, and explained in accordance with the 
 theosophy of the East. A dangerous spirit this in which 
 to meddle with the law ! Even as applied by the thought- 
 ful, discreet, Platonic mind of Philo, it served in good 
 measure to evacuate the moral element in the old reve- 
 lation, and sought to explain by the help of a mistaken 
 physics many things that should have been viewed with a 
 direct reference to the heart and conscience. But in the 
 hands of inferior men — especially men of a sophistical 
 cast of mind, who wished to employ religion to their 
 own sinister purposes — both the fancifulness of the ex- 
 planations given of the law, and its misapplication to other 
 than its legitimate and proper ends, may justly be supposed 
 to have been of a much more marked and conspicuous 
 kind. There would now, probably, be frivolous distinc- 
 tions, wild extravagance, possibly licentious freedom cloaked 
 under high-sounding professions, a hunting after everything 
 but that which should have been most especially regarded. 
 And so, indeed, the corresponding passage in Titus dis- 
 tinctly tells us, chap. i. 10 sq., "There are many unruly 
 and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circum- 
 cision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole 
 houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy 
 lucre's sake." Then he refers to the Jewish ^fables and 
 commandments of men that turn from the truth, and 
 .speaks of those who set them forth as unbelieving, and 
 in their very conscience defiled. Their dreamy refine- 
 -ments and speculations on the law not only led them into 
 practical neglect of its profoundly ethical spirit, but left 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 8. 85 
 
 them in a manner incapable of perceiving it — deadened 
 their whole moral nature. And in the writings of St. John, 
 so far as they bore respect to the state of things existing 
 at a later period, and existing in that very region in which 
 Timothy now laboured, we perceive indications of the 
 same spirit, only in a more advanced stage of development. 
 They make mention of " the blasphemy of those which say 
 they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of 
 Satan" (Rev. ii. 9); of persons "teaching the doctrine of 
 Balaam," practising the seductions of Jezebel, and knowing 
 the depths of Satan (chap. ii. 14, 20, 24) ; in short, of men 
 who Jiadso ^sophisticated their own minds, and tried so 
 to sophisticate the minds of others, that the apostle had 
 to warn the disciples to remember that "he who doeth 
 righteousness is righteous, and that he who committeth 
 sin is of the devil;" that "no lie is of the truth;" that for 
 one to say he has fellowship with God, while he walks in 
 darkness, is practically to lie (i John iii. 7, ii. 21, i. 6). The 
 state of things had come to be such, that it was found 
 necessary to recall them to first principles, and teach them, 
 as it were, the A B C of Christian truth and morality. 
 
 [Mark here the progression of error in false teaching. 
 What in its first movements may be but a deflection in a 
 single line, may in course of time lead to a general de- 
 pravation; for example, ritualism in the early church. Mark, 
 too, what is the result of that knowledge and teaching which 
 would soar above the simplicity of the gospel : it ends in 
 licence and corruption — becomes dazzled in the clearer 
 light it affects to live in, and stumbles as in gross darkness.] 
 
 Ver. 8. The apostle turns here from the false to the true, 
 gives his own view of the nature of the law, and of the right 
 use of it, as contradistinguished from that which he had 
 condemned in others. We k?iow, i?ideed (so Se here may be 
 best rendered), that the law is good : our quarrel, therefore, 
 with those pretentious law-teachers is not about the quality 
 
S6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, 
 
 of the instrument they profess to handle, but only about 
 their manner of handling it ; we know it to be like Him 
 from whom it proceeds — good. The theme, in this point 
 of view, had been already discussed at considerable length 
 in other parts of the apostle's writings, especially in his 
 Epistle to the Romans. Here, as what he says is of the 
 nature of an admission, he merely asserts it ; and then 
 brings in a regulating principle as to that respecting which 
 there teas a difference betwixt him and the false teachers at 
 Ephesus, — namely, as to the use or application to be made 
 of the law. The principle is, i/one use it lawfully ; that is, 
 in accordance with its proper nature and design. For, if a 
 man mistakes regarding this, he cannot possibly handle the 
 law rightly ; he necessarily turns it into a wrong direction, 
 and loses at least the spirit, if not also the substance, of its 
 teaching. 
 
 Vers. 9, lo. The specific application is here given of the 
 general principle just announced — not, of course, the only 
 application which it admitted of, but the one which was of 
 importance for the present time : knowing this (holding it 
 as a settled point regarding the proper design of the law), 
 that the law is not made for a righteous person. Although 
 j/o/Aos is here without the article, there seems no reason why 
 it should not be understood of the law of God as revealed 
 in Old Testament Scripture, rather than, with some, of law 
 generally. For parallel passages, see Rom. ii. 25, iii. 30, 
 vii. I ; Gal. ii. 19, vi. 13, etc.^ Middleton would take an 
 intermediate view ; he would understand law in the general 
 sense, but take it as inclusive of the law of Moses. It is, 
 however, of this law, specially and peculiarly, that the 
 
 1 See Winer, Gr. § 19. i. He brings the usage under the general rule, 
 that appellatives often want the article, when they are such that only- 
 one of the kind exists, or are so used that there can be no reasonable 
 doubt as to what object is intended. Besides vo^o?, such words as 
 liKonoawn, uya-rn, and others, are similarly used. 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 9, lO. 87 
 
 apostle is evidently speaking : for the persons against whom 
 he is directing his remarks assumed to be teachers of law- 
 only in this specific sense ; and we have no reason for sup- 
 posing that the subject of law was in any other respect 
 before the mind of the apostle. But law so considered, 
 unless the context plainly determines otherwise, always 
 bears pointed reference to the decalogue ; for this was the 
 law in the more emphatic sense — the heart and essence of 
 the whole economy of law ; hence alone deposited in the 
 ark of the covenant. And that this here also is more 
 especially in the eye of the apostle, is evident from the 
 different sorts of character presently after mentioned as in- 
 tended to be checked and restrained by the law : they 
 admit of being all ranged under the precepts of the two 
 tables. Now this law is not made (ov Keirai, the appropriate 
 expression for the introduction or enactment of a law ; 
 whence ol vojxoi ol KeLfievoL is equivalent to our phrase, " the , 
 established laws ") /or the rigliteoiis (SiKaLio). By the latter 
 expression is to be understood, not one who in a worldly 
 sense is just or upright (for the apostle is not here speaking 
 of such), but who in the stricter sense is such, — one who, 
 whether by nature or by grace, has the position and cha- 
 racter of a righteous man. Why is the law not made for 
 such ? It can only be because he is of himself inclined to 
 act in conformity with its requirements. If Adam had con- 
 tinued in such a state of righteousness, he would not have 
 needed any objective revelation of law ; the spirit of the 
 law in his bosom would spontaneously have prompted him 
 to all that is pure and good. And of justified believers now 
 the apostle elsewhere says : " They are not under law, but 
 under grace ; " yet so under grace that sin cannot have 
 dominion over them, and their walk is not after the flesh, 
 but after the Spirit (Rom. vi. 14, viii. 4). It is thus they 
 have found whatever goodness belongs to them, and thus 
 also that they are to go on to perfection — not by serving 
 
88 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 themselves of the law, or using it as the ladder for reaching 
 to higher attainments in goodness, but by laying hold of, 
 or apprehending, that for which they are apprehended of 
 Christ ; drinking more deeply into the spirit of His gospel, 
 and receiving into their souls fuller impressions of the great 
 realities and hopes it presents to their acceptance. But this 
 bespeaks nothing as to imperfection in the law itself, or the 
 possibihty of attaining to a height of excellence beyond its 
 requirements. What is said has respect, not to the kind or 
 measure of goodness men are called to aspire after, but to^ 
 the way and means necessary to reach it; and when the 
 law is represented as the antithesis of moral evil, in its 
 various forms of irreligious and wicked behaviour, it is 
 manifestly implied that the spirit and aim of the law itself 
 is the perfection of moral excellence. 
 
 In regard to those for whom, he says, the law is made, — 
 those, that is, who need the check and restraint of its dis- 
 cipline, — the apostle gives first a general description : they 
 are the lawless and unruly, or disobedient, the self-willed, 
 fiery and arrogant spirits that would fain spurn from them 
 all surveillance and control. Then he branches out into 
 particulars, the earlier portion of which have respect to 
 offences against God, the later to offences against one's 
 fellow-men : for the ungodly ajid sinful {da-e/^eatv koL a/xap- 
 rwXot?, both words occurring in i Pet. iv. i8), the unholy and 
 profane (dvoo-tots kcCi /^e/SyjXoLs), differing from the preceding 
 pair only in pointing more distinctly to certain manifesta- 
 tions of the ungodly spirit, in irreverent and contemptuous 
 behaviour toward the things more peculiarly associated with 
 the name of God. What follows has respect to human 
 relations : for smiters of fathers and smiters of mothers — 
 TrarpoXwats koX fxrjrpoXfaaLs — such is the proper import of 
 the terms, rather than murderers of fathers and mothers j 
 for the verb (dAoaw or aXoiaw) which forms the root of the 
 second part of the compound expressions signifies merely 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 9, lO. 89 
 
 to thresh, smite, or beat down ; and so the smiting of father 
 and mother, in itself a most unnatural and shameful viola- 
 tion of the honour due to them, whether or not it might 
 issue in fatal consequences, was in the Old Testament 
 legislation reckoned so heinous a transgression of the fifth 
 command, th-at the penalty of death was attached to it 
 (Ex. xxi. 15). Then come the violators of the sixth com- 
 mand, murderers ; those of the s&-w^T\\ki, fornicators, abusers 
 of themselves with mankind (apo-o/oKoirat?, a term for which 
 fortunately our language has no proper equivalent) ; those 
 of the eighth, the most repulsive and inhuman class of 
 them, men-steakrs, kidnapping and making merchandise of 
 their fellow-creatures j finally, those of the ninth command- 
 ment, liars, perjured persons. But as in this enumeration the 
 apostle had mentioned only the more flagrant forms of trans- 
 gression, and had no intention of furnishing a complete list 
 of lawless characters, he winds up the description with a 
 comprehensive form of expression, which includes whatever 
 besides that can be reckoned evil : and if there be anything 
 else that is contrary to the sound instruction (rfj vyiaivova-y 
 StSao-KoAia), — that sort of instruction, namely, which was 
 exemplified in the teaching of our Lord and His apostles. 
 Why such teaching should be characterized as sound or 
 healthful — why, at least, it should be so characterized here, 
 and often besides in the Pastoral epistles (as at i Tim. vi. 3 ; 
 2 Tim. i. 13, iv. 3 ; Tit. i. 9, ii. i), but not in Paul's other 
 writings, we may be but imperfectly competent to say. But 
 neither can others be entitled to deny that the circum- 
 stances of the time were of a kind to render such an expres- 
 sion natural to Paul— natural for him now, as contradistin- 
 guished from a preceding time. And the simple fact of its 
 absence" from the earlier epistles of Paul was almost certain 
 to have deterred a forger of Paul's name to have used it, at 
 least with such marked frequency. The apostle himself, 
 however, might well enough do it, if the erring tendencies 
 
90 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 against which he warned and wrote in the dosing period 
 of his ministry differed materially from those which had 
 manifested themselves previously, and, in a moral respect, 
 were of a sickly and distempered nature. Such appears to 
 have been actually the case. It was no longer the avowed 
 adversaries of the gospel that the apostle had to meet, nor 
 its mistaken and bigoted corrupters of the pharisaical type, 
 but a class of sophistical, dreamy, self-sufficient theosophists, 
 who, without directly opposing or disparaging the gospel, 
 sought to introduce a fine-spun but sickly sentirnentalism, 
 — teaching abstinence from things in themselves proper and 
 lawful, as if incompatible with the higher attainments of the 
 divine life, and refining upon the law so as to derive from 
 it an instruction it could not yield in its direct and natural 
 import. This was essentially a morbid, an unhealthful sort 
 of teaching, to which the apostle fitly opposed the sound 
 and robust character of his own teaching and that of the 
 other apostles. It was therefore the altered circumstances 
 of the times which gave rise to this change in the language 
 of the apostle ; and it is absurd to urge the phraseology 
 employed as an argument against the apostolic origin of 
 the epistles, unless one could disprove the previous altera- 
 tion in the circumstances — which has certainly not yet been 
 done. 
 
 Ver. II. Accordi7ig to the gospel of the glory of the blessed 
 God, which was committed to my trust — not the glorious 
 gospel, taking r^s So^t/s as a qualitative genitive, equivalent 
 to evSo^os (see Winer, Gr. § 34. 6). The gospel of God's 
 glory is the gospel which peculiarly displays His glory, — 
 unfolds this to the view of men by showing the moral 
 character and perfections of God exhibited as they are no- 
 where else in the person and the work of Christ. Quite 
 similarly, the apostle speaks in 2 Cor. iv. 4 of '' the gospel 
 of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God ; " and 
 elsewhere of " the riches of God's glory toward the vessels 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 12. 91 
 
 of mercy," or of the power which He gives them, " accord- 
 ing to the riches of His glory" (Rom. ix. 23 ; Eph. iii. 16). 
 By presenting the gospel thus as the manifestation of God's 
 glory, and the God from whom it comes as the blessed God, 
 the apostle evidently intends to make it known as adequate 
 to all the wants of men's spiritual natures, and the purposes 
 of their salvation. But while the meaning of the words is 
 thus clear, what precisely is the nature of the connection 
 between them and the preceding context ? What does the 
 apostle mean to tell us is according to his gospel? Is 
 it simply the sound doctrine spoken of immediately be- 
 fore ? So some have thought (as Theophylact, Bengel) ; 
 but in that case there must have been required a connect- 
 ing link with the StSaa-KaXta, such as rfj Kara to ei^ay. (as is 
 done in D ; and Theophylact has the gloss, rfj ova-rj Kara 
 TO evay.). But there being no such connecting particle, we 
 are obliged to refer this concluding statement to the whole 
 of the preceding passage ; and so the meaning comes to 
 be, that the assertion about the law being made rather for 
 restraining the wicked, than for establishing and perfecting 
 the righteous, is according to the gospel of the grace of God 
 with which the apostle was entrusted. 
 
 Ver. 12. The thought of such a gospel having been 
 committed to him — one so unworthy in himself of having 
 any treasure of God entrusted to him — leads the apostle 
 to recall with adoring gratitude the treatment he had received 
 from God /lis Saviour. In doing so, he in one sense breaks 
 off the thread of his former discourse, — leaving, as he does, 
 for a time the false teachers, against whom he had been 
 cautioning Timothy ; but, in another, he is still prosecuting 
 his design : for undoubtedly his main object was to inspire 
 Timothy with right views of the nature of the gospel, and 
 of the course it behoved him to follow in teaching and 
 enforcing its lessons. The reference to false teachers was 
 itself subordinate to this design ; so that the occasion now 
 
92 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 taken to discourse of his own case as a singular exempli- 
 fication of the gospel of God's glory, is not of the nature 
 of a digression, but is in perfect keeping with the general 
 drift and aim of his instructions. It is also such an experi- 
 mental record as might well come from the pen of the 
 apostle himself, though we can scarcely conceive any one 
 presuming to indite it in his behalf, far less to palm it on 
 the church in his name. Ellicott, who vindicates the entire 
 suitableness of the passage to the purpose of the apostle, 
 justly says of it : " Thus, without seeking to pursue the sub- 
 ject in the form of a studied contrast between the law and 
 the gospel (he was not now writing against direct Judaizers), 
 or of a declaration how the transgressors of the law were 
 to attain righteousness, he more than implies it all in the 
 history of his own case. In a word, the law was for the co7i- 
 dcmnatio7i of sinners, the gospel of Jesus Christ was for the 
 saving of sinners and the ministration of forgiveness ; verily, 
 it was a gospel of t he glory of the blessed God'^ 
 
 XdpLv I'xw — / give thanks. This is not the apostle's 
 usual mode of expressing thanks : he generally uses the 
 single verb evxo-pia-Toi ; but x^P'-^ ^'x^^^ ^^^^ occurs in 2 Tim. 
 i. 3, in Heb. xii. 28, Luke xvii. 9 ; and x^P^^ itself in the 
 sense of thanks frequently by our apostle, Rom. vi. 17 ; 
 I Cor. XV. 57; 2 Cor. ii. 14, etc. The apostle gives 
 thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord^ who had given him power ^ 
 or strengthe?ied him — h/Swa/xworavTi ■ — namely, to receive 
 such a commission or charge as had been entrusted to him. 
 He has respect to the work of an apostle, in relation to the 
 gospel of Christ's glory, as at once a very arduous and a 
 very responsible undertaking, which, however honourable, 
 would have oppressed and crushed him, but for the strength- 
 ening and sustaining grace which he received from above. 
 This endowment of grace is undoubtedly to be connected 
 with the whole work of his apostleship ; not merely, as some, 
 with the performance of miracles, or, as others, with the 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 12. 93 
 
 patient endurance of trial and suffering : for, while super- 
 natural power was needed for these, they still formed an 
 incidental and subsidiary, not the primary, object of the 
 apostolic calling. The great end for which he received this 
 calling, as Paul himself elsewhere testifies, was to preach 
 the unsearchable riches of Christ, and thereby win men to 
 the love and service of God, and form them into communi- 
 ties of believing Christians. And as this was emphatically 
 a divine work, in which, if left to himself, he should have 
 laboured in vain, the same gracious Lord who gave him 
 the call to the work, gave him also the aid necessary to its 
 successful prosecution. 
 
 "(Vith thanks for the power conferred on him, however, 
 the apostle couples the acknowledgment of his own deep 
 unworthiness : he had been counted worthy to be put in 
 trust with the weightiest charge, and furnished with the 
 noblest gifts for its execution, though in himself lie had 
 been an offender of the deepest dye. The Lord, he says, 
 reckoned me faithful, or trustworthy {ttkttov) ; adding the 
 proof in a participial clause, appointing me for service — et? 
 StaKovcav — for ministerial employ. Such employ necessarily 
 requires fidelity in the person appointed to discharge it ; 
 and on this account, no doubt, the apostle chose the 
 humbler and more general term of service, rather than 
 apostleship, to designate his office, because viewing it here 
 with reference to the work he had to do, not to the pre- 
 rogatives given him to exercise. He thus also, for practical 
 purposes, brought his case down to a level with Timothy's, 
 or that of any other servant of Christ. Whatever specific 
 office they may hold, it is essentially a service they have to 
 render ; and the higher the office, the more onerous and 
 important also the service : so that every one bearing office 
 in the church of Christ is here admonished, by the example 
 of the apostle, to regard himself as appointed to a duty of 
 service, and to see in that a proof of the trust reposed in 
 
94 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 him by the great Head of the church ; therefore also a call 
 to fidelity in the work given him to do. 
 
 Ver. 13. Then comes the contrast between the present 
 and the past, enhancing in the apostle's esteem the mercy 
 and loving-kindness he had experienced : though 1 formerly 
 was (to Trporepov ovra, the participle of concession, or limi- 
 tation, Jeif, § 697, c) a blasphemer — one, that is to say, who 
 was wont to speak evil of the name of Jesus, and compel 
 others to do the same (Acts xxvi. 11) — a persecutor^ and out- 
 rageous. Our English version is here too weak, translating 
 vf^piOTT-qv by "injurious;" for the word signifies a doer of 
 violence and outrage. " The v/3pL(rTi]<; is contumelious ; his 
 insolence and contempt of others break forth in acts of 
 wantonness and outrage" (Trench, Syn.). Such, certainly, 
 was Paul's behaviour toward the Christian party before his 
 conversion, and such also too commonly was the behaviour 
 of his countrymen towards him after it (i Thess. ii. 2, where 
 the verb -y/Jpto-^eis is used with reference to his treatment 
 at Philippi). But I obtained mercy ^ the apostle continues : 
 great as his wickedness and guilt were, he yet became a 
 subject of divine compassion ; because (he adds) / did it 
 ig7torajitly in unbelief: not meaning thereby to lessen the 
 enormity of his guilt ; for his very ignorance was culpable, 
 having within his reach the means of correcting it, if he had 
 been seriously minded to arrive at the truth. What he 
 intends by the statement is, that his outrageous and violent 
 procedure, however inexcusable in itself, was still not of 
 such a kind as placed him beyond the pale of mercy ; since 
 he had not, like the worse part of the blaspheming and 
 persecuting Pharisees, sinned against his better convictions 
 (Mark iii. 28-30) ; he had not deliberately set at nought the 
 counsel of God, and defied Heaven to its face. He stood, 
 therefore, substantially on a footing with the Jerusalem 
 sinners who, on and after the day of Pentecost, were charged 
 by St. Peter with the awful crime of having crucified the 
 
r TIMOTHY I. 14, 15. 95 
 
 Lord of glory, yet with the quaUfying circumstance of having 
 done it in ignorance (Acts iii. 17). In both cases aUke the 
 sin was of the deepest dye, only not unpardonable ; it still 
 lay within the sphere of redeeming grace — but of grace in 
 its more rare, one might even say, its exceptional exercise. 
 This the apostle virtually admits in the words that follow. 
 
 Ver. 14. But the grace of our Lord superahounded — virep- 
 TrXeovaa-cv — not merely manifested itself in an act of mercy, 
 and exhibition of undeserved goodness, as in the case of 
 ordinary sinners, but overflowed, in a manner, its wonted 
 channels, and like a mighty flood poured its gifts of love 
 into his bosom. And with the wonderful grace received, 
 the 'apostle couples the frame of mind awakened by it : wit/i 
 faith and love that ai-e in Christ Jesus — the fruit, certainly, 
 of the grace bestowed, yet, as De Wette justly notes, not 
 indicated here precisely as the fruit, but rather as the 
 concomitants of grace — the subjective side of a work of 
 grace. While he continued a stranger to the grace of 
 Christ, he was also without faith, in unbelief ; and so far 
 from being animated by a spirit of love, he pursued a course 
 of blasphemy, persecution, and outrage. But with grace 
 came also faith and love, because by grace he was brought 
 into living fellowship with Christ, the causal source and 
 nourisher of both. There is a singular pregnancy in the 
 passage, and also a profound Christian feehng pervading it, 
 which leads the apostle to find all his springs in Christ, and 
 in Christ as at once the embodiment of sovereign redeem- 
 ing mercy, and the grand medium of its communication to 
 the soul. In the strongest possible form he here again 
 utters the confession, " By the grace of God I am what I 
 am" (i Cor. xv. 10 ; Eph. iii. 8). 
 
 ■ Ver. 15. Now follows a general announcement respecting 
 this grace, grounded on the apostle's own experience, and 
 exemplified by it. Faithful is the word, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, etc. The expression at the commencement, 
 
96 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 introducing the great truth which follows, Faithful is the 
 word (ttlo-tos o \6yo<s), is one of those peculiar to the Pastoral 
 epistles, occurring in these no fewer than five times (besides 
 here, i Tim. iii. i, iv. 9 ; 2 Tim. ii. 11 ; Tit. iii. 8), but 
 occurring nowhere else, — a proof, therefore, that it had 
 somehow passed into a kind of proverbial utterance with 
 the apostle in the later period of his ministry, and a proof 
 also that those epistles belonged to about the same period. 
 If we have nothing exactly parallel to this in Paul's other 
 epistles, we have at least what approaches it, in his marked 
 predilection for particular words and modes of thought. 
 By designating the word he is going to enunciate as faith- 
 /?//, he presents it to our view as perfectly reliable, entitled 
 to implicit credit ; and the additional characteristic, worthy 
 of all acceptation (that is, of every sort and manner of it, 
 Trao-r;? being without the article), commends it to us as 
 deserving not only of being rested on with confidence, but 
 of being received with every mark of inward afiection and 
 regard. It should be everywhere hailed by men, and 
 embraced with the full accord of their soul, because of the 
 benign aspect it carries towards them, and the blissful 
 efi"ect it is fitted to produce on their condition and destiny. 
 The word is, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners — the whole gospel in a sentence — and, indeed, but 
 a slightly modified form of the original announcement made 
 to Joseph, " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall 
 save His people from their sins" (Matt. i. 21). Only here, 
 along with the fact of the salvation of sinners as the one 
 and all, in a manner, of Christ's undertaking. He is repre- 
 sented as coming into the world to accomplish it, which 
 implies His pre-existence in a higher condition, and His 
 descent from that into this lower world for the execution of 
 the task He had previously undertaken. So also in John 
 i. 9, xvi. 28. 
 
 But the apostle is not satisfied with expressing the 
 
I TIMOTHY I. l6. 97 
 
 general object of Christ's mission ; he must also indicate 
 his own specific relation to it, or to the class whose good* 
 it contemplates. And this is the more remarkable part of 
 the statement, as he places himself in the foremost rank 
 of sinners : of whom I am chief (or first, wv irpwros d/jLL eyoj 
 — first in the sense of greatest, as at Mark xii. 28, 29). 
 Commentators have often sought to qualify the strength of 
 the expression by confining the reference to converts from 
 Judaism, and understanding the apostle merely to mean, 
 that he had gone further in a sinful antagonism to the 
 claims of Jesus than his believing countrymen generally, 
 or that he held a leading place among such. But there is . 
 no warrant for any limitation of this sort. It accorded with 
 the deep practical insight which St. Paul had through the 
 Spirit obtained into his own case, that he should set his 
 guilt in the foremost place : to his own eye it bulked more 
 than all ; as, indeed, for direct and palpable hostility to the 
 cause of Jesus, it could scarcely be exceeded. It is not 
 surely for t^s to extenuate what he has himself so broadly 
 marked — the less so, as in this very depth and intensity of 
 feeling respecting his sinfulness we recognise the essential 
 element of his spiritual greatness, according to our Lord's 
 declaration, that he who humbles himself most shall be 
 greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matt, xviii. 4). 
 
 Ver. 16. Howbeit (so the A. V. well, giving full expres- 
 sion to the contrast indicated by the dXAa between the 
 apostle's behaviour toward Christ, and Christ's procedure 
 toward him), for this cause I obtained mercy, in order that 
 i?i me first Christ Jesus might shoia forth all long-sufferi7ig, 
 for a pattern to those who are going to believe on Hiin to life 
 eternal. The former reason assigned by the apostle for his 
 obtaining mercy had respect to his personal relation to the 
 principles of the divine government, as one little entitled 
 to expect any manifestation of mercy, yet not placed 
 beyond the sphere of its exercise. But the reason here 
 
 G 
 
95 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 adduced points to the economical design of God in select- 
 ing such a sinner to be a vessel of mercy : it was that he 
 might be a living exemplar or pattern, as well as herald, of 
 the wonderful grace exhibited in the gospel ; so that from 
 what had been wrought in him others might take courage, 
 and repair to Christ for the pardon of sin and life eternal, 
 — might, as it is put by Bengel, conform themselves to the 
 pattern, and say to themselves, If thou believest as Paul, 
 thou shalt be saved as Paul. Such is the general import, 
 and the particular words and phrases involve no special 
 difficulty. There is a difference in the reading in one part ; 
 the received text having Trjv -n-acrav /xaKpo^v/xtW, while Lach. 
 and Tisch. prefer rrjv airaaav fiaK. This last is certainly 
 somewhat better supported, being found in X, A, F, G, while 
 the other has only D, I, K. But the difference in meaning 
 is not material. If we adopt airaa-av, it merely renders the 
 entireness or fulness of the long-suffering manifested toward 
 the apostle more distinctly pronounced : the whole of His 
 lo?2g-s7iffenng^ all that He had to show of it. But the other 
 reading (Tracrav) also includes all; for 7ra?, when standing 
 between the article and the noun, according to the rule, 
 marks the noun as an abstract, and indicates that it is 
 to be taken in its entirety, without respect to individual 
 members or component parts (Winer, Gr. § 17, 10; Green, 
 Gr. p. 194). So that rrjv iracrav fxaK. denotes all that can 
 be comprised in the term long-sicfferifig — this in its totality. 
 And so Chrysostom explains, though the reading he followed 
 was that of the received text : " As if he said, In none 
 more than in me has He need to show long-suffering ; nor 
 can He find one who has been so much a sinner, needing 
 all His mercy, all His long-suffering, not a part merely, as 
 they who have sinned in part." He could not have said 
 more, if he had read airacrav. The Avord for pattern^ 
 vTTOTVTrwo-t?, which is found only here and in 2 Tim. i. 13, 
 does not materially differ from TVT:o<i^ the term commonly 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 1 6. gg 
 
 used by Paul (Rom. v. 14; i Cor. x. 6, 11, etc.) ; but is of 
 more active import — expresses not so properly the inani- 
 mate form as the living exemplification, the personified 
 action of the long-suffering referred to. And being coupled 
 with the genitive of possession — rwr /AeAAoVrwv TrLcrrevav — it 
 is represented as in some sense belonging to these future 
 believers — called into existence and set forth for their 
 special behoof. In St. Paul ^rs/ — first in the sense of chief, 
 or foremost exemplification — had the attribute of mercy 
 been displayed, that they might be the more distinctly 
 assured of the divine purpose to extend its manifestation to 
 themselves. And being described as going to believe on 
 Christ to life eternal, these future believers, who would 
 take the benefit of the apostle's marvellous experience, have 
 presented to them at once the high destiny to which they 
 should be called, and the ground on which their hope of it 
 must rest — faith in the person and work of Christ. 
 
 [The question here naturally suggests itself, how far 
 Christian ministers should in their preaching disclose 
 their more marked personal experiences, or should inter- 
 weave references to their spiritual history with their mani- 
 festations of divine truth to their fellow-men. But it were 
 unwise to lay down any precise rule in the matter, or 
 prescribe one method for all. That there may occasionally 
 be made such personal references, and with advantage to 
 the hearers, the example of the apostle is itself a sufficient 
 proof. Not only here, but in several other parts of his 
 epistles, he brings prominently forward what had befallen 
 or had been done by himself; and these are universally 
 felt to be among the most interesting and instructive por- 
 tions of his writings. And so will it ever be with men of 
 like minds, men of ardent temperaments, vivid imagina- 
 tions, and energetic wills, in whom everything in experience 
 and behaviour naturally assumes a distinctly personal, 
 characteristic impress. It will be natural for such persons 
 
lOO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 to reveal themselves at times in their discourses, whether 
 by direct reference to the past workings of their own mind, 
 and God's dealings with them, or by subjective exhibitions 
 of Christian truth and duty, raised on the background of 
 their own experience. When fitly and discreetly done, it 
 may throw a peculiar charm and glow over the preacher's 
 discourse. But very great caution is needed in the use of 
 such an element, lest it should degenerate into egotism, or 
 become merely a display of individual singularity and 
 importance. Deep sincerity — the impulse of strong feel- 
 ing — a conviction of its fitness to subserve some spiritual 
 end, should ever go along with, and condition, any personal 
 references one may make in public discourse. And if 
 some men of note have dealt much in them, and by doing 
 so have lent an attractive power to their mode of address, 
 such as Luther, Bunyan, Irving, Guthrie ; others, again, of 
 the very highest mark as public speakers, — for example, 
 Leighton, R. Hall, Chalmers, — have studiously avoided it : 
 their individuality has discovered itself only in the dis- 
 tinctive character and spirit of their discourse.] 
 
 Ver. 17. Now, to the King of the ages, the incorruptible^ 
 invisible, only God, be ho7iour and glory for ages of ages (or, 
 for ever and ever). Amen. The language in this doxology 
 is somewhat peculiar, and has no exact parallel in New 
 Testament Scripture. In a very few passages is the epithet 
 X/;z^ applied to God, as in Matt. v. 35, "the great King;" 
 I Tim. vi. 15, "King of kings;" Rev. xv. 3, "King of 
 nations" (according to the correct reading), but here only 
 Kiiig of the ages. Our translators have softened and gene- 
 rahzed the expression, by rendering "the King eternal." 
 It is better, however, to adhere to the proper import of the 
 word. Atwv, from ato), a^y/xi, to breathe (Hom. //. xv. 252), 
 means (i) lifetime, life; (2) long period of time, perpe- 
 tuity =Lat. cBvn?n; and in this latter sense various shades 
 of meaning quite naturally arise according to the con- 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 17. 10 r 
 
 nection : in particular, {a) past time, from of old, or since 
 time began (Luke i. 70 ; Acts iii. 21 ; Col. i. 26); {b) the 
 present epoch of passing ti?ne, the age in which one lives, or 
 the existing world (Matt. xiii. 22 ; Luke xvi. 8 ; Rom. xii. 2, 
 etc.) ; {c) the successive stages or epochs of the worlcVs history, 
 dispensational' time (Matt. xxiv. 3 ; Heb. ix. 26 ; i Cor. 
 X. 11), — the termination of the aeons or ages being in this 
 case coincident with the end of the world. But as the in- 
 definite extension of such successive periods may readily 
 enter into our conceptions of the future as well as of the 
 past, so there naturally came, {d) by a reduplication of the 
 word, the idea of eternity — ages of ages, dispensational 
 epochs of indefinite number = eternity. So here, for 
 example, at the close of the doxology, cts rot's ani)va<; twv 
 atwvcov, for ever and ever ; and in other passages, the word, 
 sometimes in the singular, sometimes in the plural, stands 
 simply for eternity, whether as before or as after the 
 periods we designate by the general name of time, as in 
 Eph. iii. II, 21 j I Pet. i. 25 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18; Mark iii. 
 29, xi. 14, etc. There is no diflficulty in understanding 
 the import of the expression as connected with God ; and 
 it is best, as we have said, to retain it in its simplicity. 
 When He is spoken of as King of the ages. He is presented 
 to our view as supreme Lord and Director of the successive 
 cycles or stages of development through which this world, 
 or creation at large, was destined to pass — the Sovereign 
 Epoch-maker, who arranges everything pertaining to them 
 beforehand, according to the counsel of His own will, and 
 controls whatever takes place, so as to subordinate it to 
 His design. The idea is presented in many other parts of 
 Scripture, in the Old Testament as well as in the New ; 
 and in Ps. cxlv. 13, the kingdom of God is in the Septua- 
 gint described as (Saa-iXeta Travrwv twv atwi/cov, a kingdom of 
 all the ages. In the apocryphal books the expression King 
 of ages is distinctly applied to God (Ecclus. xxxvi. 17 {22) \ 
 
I02 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Tob. xiii. 6). — The epithets which follow, a(f>9dpTio, aopario, 
 fiovio (the received text has also o-o<fi^, but against the best 
 authorities), are to be coupled with the ©ew which follows, 
 —the whole specifying and characterizing the Being de- 
 signated as King of the ages; He is f/ie incorruptible, in- 
 visible^ sole God. To Him alone belong honour and glory, 
 and to Him they belong to all eternity. The same ex- 
 pressions are together applied to God in Rev. iv, 9, ii, and 
 to the glorified Christ in Heb. ii. 9, Rev. v. 13. 
 
 As to the reason for introducing here such an ascription 
 of praise to God, no other can be assigned than the devout 
 and grateful emotions of the apostle's heart; nor is any 
 other needed. The train of reflection into which he had 
 been led, naturally brought the thought of God very pro- 
 minently before him ; of God as the free and sovereign 
 dispenser of the grace which he had received, and which 
 had changed the whole state of his condition and prospects. 
 And penetrated widi a sense of the infinite greatness and 
 overruling wisdom, power, and goodness of God as mani- 
 fested in his own singular history, he rises from the particular 
 to the general, and winds up this touching and personal 
 interlude in his discourse by a devout acknowledgment 
 of God as the Lord of the universe, — of all its ages, and the 
 issues therewith connected, — and glorifying Him as such. 
 
 Vers. 18-20. In these verses the apostle again returns 
 to his proper theme — that, namely, of giving specific coun- 
 sels and directions to Timothy. This charge I commit 
 to thee, child Timothy. What charge? Referring back 
 to ver. 3, we find the apostle charging Timothy (Iva 
 Trapayyukrji) respecting those who were acting as teachers 
 at Ephesus, that they should be urged to avoid teaching 
 after a certain manner ; and at ver. 5 he had spoken gene- 
 rally of what he held to be the end of the gospel charge 
 (TrapayyeAta), for all who might assume the office of Chris- 
 tian instructors. Several commentators have consequently 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 18-20. 103 
 
 brought the charge mentioned here into direct connection 
 •with those earher passages, as Theodoret, Mack, and some 
 others. It is a serious objection, however, to such a view, 
 that the preceding references to a charge lie so remote from 
 the one before us ; and the subject, also, as here introduced, 
 has the appearance of being in itself both special and com- 
 plete. Most recent commentators, therefore, justly con- 
 ceive that nothing more than perhaps an indirect allusion 
 can be supposed to exist here to the charges or commands 
 mentioned previously, and that the more direct and im- 
 mediate object of the present charge is expressed in the ti/a 
 o-rparevT; which follows. The apostle, in short, has passed 
 from his own peculiar calling, and the trust therewith con- 
 nected, to the inferior yet still very important office and 
 trust now committed to Timothy, and lays on him the 
 command to do in regard to it the part of a good soldier 
 of Christ, that he might wage successfully the conflict with 
 evil. The more remarkable part of the passage is the 
 reference it contains to certain prophecies which had been 
 uttered concerning Timothy, and which the apostle in- 
 troduces as a kind of justification of the command he is 
 going to lay on his disciple : according to the prophecies that 
 went before on thee, or that were at an early period pro- 
 nounced over thee. When precisely these prophecies 
 were uttered, we are nowhere informed ; but the proba- 
 bility is that they belong to the period of Timothy's 
 special designation to Christian work under the authority 
 and guidance of the apostle, given then for the purpose of 
 encouraging the church to make the designation, and dis- 
 posing Timothy to accede to it. His extreme youth, and 
 possibly also slender frame, might render such intimations 
 of the Divine mind .respecting the future course of Timothy 
 in a sense necessary at the commencement of his official 
 connection with St. Paul. And it may be inferred, from the 
 allusion to them here, that they contained indications both 
 
I04 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 of the arduous nature of the work which he was called to 
 do, and of the divine aid that should be given him to dis- 
 charge it. On this account the apostle speaks of them, 
 not simply as having been given at a definite period in the 
 past, but as being still in a manner operative : in order that 
 in them thou mayest war the good warfai'e ; in them {kv 
 avTOL<s), not simply, according to them (Huther), but as 
 being, so to speak, encompassed by them, and finding in 
 them whatever thou needest to stimulate and encourage 
 thee amid the perils and difficulties which thou hast to 
 encounter. The apostle thus had, in the prophecies in 
 question, a specific occasion for the charge he was going 
 to deliver; and the object of both was, that the early 
 promise made to Timothy of a successful career in the 
 cause of the gospel might be realized. The image em- 
 ployed to describe Timothy's course of Christian activity — 
 that of a warfare — was quite familiar to the apostle. In other 
 passages he uses it of beHevers generally, Eph. vi. 12; of 
 himself as an apostle, 2 Cor. x. 3, 4 ; and of Timothy again 
 in the second epistle, chap. ii. 3. 
 
 Ver. 19. Here follows an instruction as to the more 
 essential qualifications for prevailing in such a spiritual 
 warfare : having (or holding, ex^^) /^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ good con- 
 sciefzce; possessirg these moral elements as indispensable 
 prerequisites, or accompaniments of the work. Faith fitly 
 goes first ; for it is this which provides the Christian com- 
 batant with his only valid standing-ground for the conflict, 
 and supplies him with the weapons which alone can enable 
 him to repel the assaults of the adversary, and counterwork 
 his devices. But a good conscience is here faith's necessary 
 handmaid ; for the contest is in the strictest sense a moral 
 one, and a depravation of the conscience is a virtual aban- 
 donment of the struggle : it is yielding to the adversary an 
 entrenchment in the citadel. A single flaw even in the 
 conscience is fatal to the believer's security, and his hearti- 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 19. Io5 
 
 ness in the work ; nor can it be permitted to exist without 
 gnawing hke a worm at the root of faith itself. The man 
 who would do battle for the truth of God must be respon- 
 sive in his inmost soul to the claims of divine truth, and 
 render it clear as day that he identifies himself with its 
 interests — is ready, in a manner, to live and die in its 
 behalf. The two, therefore, must go together as insepar- 
 able companions : the good conscience can no more be 
 dispensed with than the living faith ; and much must ever 
 depend on the healthful, harmonious, and concurrent 
 action of the two for the result that is attained in the 
 Christian warfare. 
 
 Sacred history presents too many instances of the dis- 
 astrous effects of holding these qualifications apart — the 
 faith without a good conscience, as, in Old Testament times, 
 Balaam, Saul ; in New, Judas, Demas. And here the apostle 
 points to several in the region of Timothy's labours, though 
 he only specifies two by name : ivhich some having thrust away 
 (aTrwa-dixevoi), concerni7ig faith made shipwreck. The relative 
 {rjv) can only refer to the second of the two qualifications 
 previously mentioned, the good conscience; and the manner 
 of deahng with it affirmed of certain parties, can only be 
 understood of violent overbearing suppression : they reso- 
 lutely stifled its monitions, or drove from them whatever it 
 suggested in the way of moral suasion to restrain them in 
 the course they were pursuing. They thus, in the first 
 instance, proved false to the convictions of their better 
 nature ; and this, by a natural process of reaction, led them 
 to make shipwreck of faith itself. For faith, having failed to 
 influence their practice, turned as a matter of course into a 
 speculation : their views of divine truth became dim and 
 wavering ; they began first to undervalue, then to disrefish 
 what should have been prized as their necessary food, until 
 at last faith lost its hold altogether of the foundations, and as 
 an anchorless vessel drifted among the rocks of scepticism. 
 
I06 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 A melancholy history, of which no age of the church has 
 been without its memorable examples ! 
 ^Ver. 20. Of whom (the apostle adds) is JETymenmis and 
 Alexander. Both these names occur again in an unfavour- 
 able connection (Hymenaeus in 2 Tim. ii. 17, and Alex- 
 ander in 2 Tim. iv. 14); and it is a question among com- 
 mentators, whether the same persons are in each case 
 denoted by them. In regard to Hymenaeus, there seems 
 no proper reason for doubting the identity. For the name 
 was by no means a common one ; and that it should have 
 been borne by two different persons, both in the same 
 locality, and both exhibiting heretical tendencies, so near 
 the beginning of the church, is against all probability. It 
 has been alleged against this view (by Mosheim and others), 
 that the Hymenaeus in the second epistle is spoken of in 
 milder terms than the one here — in the later reference only 
 as a dangerous errorist to be shunned, in the earlier as one 
 cast out like *' an abominable branch" from the communion 
 of the faithful. But the different aspects under which the 
 subject is contemplated in the two places, sufficiently 
 account for the different sort of representation employed 
 in each. In the second reference it is his erroneous teach- 
 ing which is brought into prominence, and which is charac- 
 terized as a denying of the doctrine of the resurrection, 
 and a consequent overthrowing of the faith of those who 
 listened to it, — in that point of view, surely, a strong enough 
 statement, since it denounces Hymenaeus as erring in regard 
 to one of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and there- 
 by undermining what he should have striven to establish. 
 Here, however, it is the diseased moral state of the man him- 
 self, and the disciplinary treatment which it called for, if there 
 was to be any chance of arresting its progress, and saving 
 him from perdition. But this representation concerning the 
 person is no way incompatible with what is afterwards said 
 respecting the doctrine. Both notices are brief; they give 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 20. 107 
 
 US only the more prominent features ; but the probability is, 
 from what we otherwise know, that the denial dodrinally of 
 the literal resurrection was far from standing alone, — that 
 it was simply an indication of that pretentious spiritualistic 
 Gnosti cism, which had its worst effect in the moral sophisti- 
 cation it ^vrought in the heart — distorting men's views of 
 the divine life, and blunting their consciences as to the 
 essential distinctions between right and wrong, holiness and 
 sin. — The Alexander who is here coupled with Hymenseus 
 may or'm'ay not l5e the same person who is mentioned in 
 Second Timothy, designated there as the coppersmith, and 
 a personal enemy of the apostle, " who did him much harm." 
 The name was a very common one, and may have belonged 
 to several persons in the same church or neighbourhood at 
 the period the apostle wrote. It tells also somewhat against 
 the identification, that while both Hymenaeus and Alex- 
 ander reappear in the second epistle as the names of false 
 disciples, they are no longer connected together. Philfitiis 
 is there associated with Hymen^us ; and Alexander is 
 mentioned alone, and apparently as a worker of evil, not at 
 Ephesus, but in Rome, though it is possible enough he 
 may have belonged to the region of Asia. Our materials 
 are too scanty to enable us to draw more definite con- 
 clusions. 
 
 I How had the apostle dealt with such offenders ? Whom 
 i(says he) / delivered over to Safa?i, that they might be dis- 
 \cipli7ied (or taught by chastisement) not to blaspheme. The 
 ■verb TratSevo), though its primary meaning was to educate or 
 train up, and it is sometimes so used in the New Testament 
 (as in Acts vii. 22), yet usually bears, both in the Sept. and 
 in the New Testament, the sense of scourging, correcting, 
 or chastising with a view to reformation and improvement 
 (Luke xxiii. 16, 22 ; Heb. xii. 6, 7 ; i Cor. xi. 32 j 2 Cor. 
 vi. 9, etc.). A severe schooling of some sort is therefore 
 meant here — a subduing and corrective discipline, having 
 
Io8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 for its object the recovery of the persons subjected to it 
 from their grievous backsHding, and being made to cease 
 from blaspheming, that is, misrepresenting and calumni- 
 ating the truth of God. But what is to be understood of 
 the kind of discipline itself, expressed in the very solemn 
 and peculiar phraseology of delivering them over to Satan ? 
 It might seem as if this, were it really effected, must have 
 precluded all hope of a better future, and was like con- 
 signing the parties concerned to utter perdition. So 
 doubtless it would, if, according to the doctrine of Scripture 
 and the truth of things, Satan were an absolutely inde- 
 pendent as well as hostile power, who had an indefeasible 
 right to retain whatever was given as a prey into his hand. 
 But such is by no means the case. Satan is but a creature 
 and an instrument — one who has a definite sphere to 
 occupy and a power to exercise, in relation to the purposes 
 of God's moral governm.ent, but still only of a subordinate 
 and ministerial kind. Thus, in Old Testament times, Job 
 was for a season left to be bruised and afflicted by Satan ; 
 only, however, for a season, and in order that he might 
 through the fiery ordeal be raised to a higher purity and 
 a more serene bliss. David, also, in a time of carnal 
 pride and security, was allowed to be tempted by Satan, 
 so as to be thereby drawn into the vortex of severe retri- 
 butory judgments, yet with the ultimate design of having 
 the flesh destroyed and the spirit raised to a nobler ele- 
 vation (i Chron. xxi. i ; Ps. xxx.). In New Testament 
 Scripture we are met with the numerous demoniacs on 
 whom our Lord so frequently exercised His healing power ; 
 cases, indeed, respecting which as a whole we have very 
 imperfect information, while yet we have no reason to 
 doubt that in most, if not all of them, the demoniacal agency 
 was of the nature of a chastisement, and was rendered sub- 
 servient to great moral purposes for the individuals affected 
 by it (see Matt. xii. 43-45). Still more nearly allied, per- 
 
I TIMOTHY I. 20. 109 
 
 haps, to the point in hand, was the giving up of Peter 
 and his fellow-disciples to Satan for a season, that they 
 might, for their obstinate blindness and corruption, be 
 sifted as wheat (Luke xxii. 31, 32). It was doubtless on 
 the basis of such considerations and examples that St. Paul 
 acted here, as previously, in a somewhat parallel case, at 
 Corinth (i Cor. v. 5). In respect to that earlier occasion 
 he told the Corinthians, since they had failed in their duty 
 concerning it, that " in the name of the Lord Jesus he had 
 adjudged the offending person to Satan for the destruction 
 of the flesh : " he had done it by virtue of his apostolic 
 function, yet so that the church might bring it home to the 
 party concerned ; as in this case also the church at Ephesus 
 would certainly have to indorse and act upon the apostle's 
 judgment. The infliction in both cases is purposely left 
 general j its ohjed rather than its natiwe is indicated : it was 
 for the destruction of the flesh. But this might partly be 
 accomplished by the shame and mortification of a formal 
 removal from the flock and guardianship of Christ to the 
 desert world, partly by inward remorse and sorrow on 
 account of the guilt incurred, by the sense of forlornness and 
 desolation produced, and possibly also by some outward 
 tribulations — sickness of body, or calamities of life — as 
 salutary warnings and preludes of coming wrath. For the 
 working of such bitter experiences Satan was the proper 
 instrument — the antinomy, indeed, in his aim and imme- 
 diate action of the Spirit of God, whose presence ever 
 makes itself felt in all peace, and joy, and blessing ; 
 yet an antinomy which is capable of being turned by the 
 benignant will and controlling agency of God into an 
 ultimate harmony; since the destruction of the flesh 
 effected by the one class of operations might through the 
 other become a fit preparation for awakening in the soul 
 convictions of sin and longings for salvation. So that the 
 delivering to Satan was in the apostle's intention and desire 
 
no THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 only an expedient for accomplishing a spiritual cure. It was 
 the most solemn form of excommunication, and betokened 
 that those against whom it was employed were in a most 
 perilous condition — trembling on the brink of final impeni- 
 tence, and if capable of being saved at all, saved only as 
 by fire. The form, indeed, was such that it seems to have 
 been regarded as fit for none but an apostle to use, as if 
 he alone had the spiritual discernment to perceive when it 
 should be done, or the authority requisite for doing it with 
 efiect. Hence, however common excommunication was 
 in the ancient church, the authorities did not presume to 
 give it this form, not even in the case of the greatest 
 offenders (see Bingham, A7it. B. xvi. c. 2). At the same 
 time, there can be no doubt that the apostolic practice in 
 this respect tended materially to sustain the ancient church 
 in enforcing that stringent discipline by which she was so 
 long distinguished, but which was ultimately carried to an 
 excess that ministered to prevaiHng errors. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ver. I. / exhort then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, 
 supplications, thanksgivings, be made for all men. The con- 
 nection marked here by the ow with what precedes cannot be 
 designated very close, and our then may more fitly be taken 
 to represent the illative particle than the therefore of the Autho- 
 rized Version. But it is absurd to deny, with some German 
 critics (Schleiermacher, De Wette), that there is any logical 
 connection whatever. The apostle had immediately before 
 been charging Timothy and others situated like him to take 
 heed to fulfil with all good fidelity the gospel charge, so 
 that they might be able to war a good warfare, and escape 
 the dangers amid which others had made shipwreck. What 
 
I TIMOTHY II. I. Ill 
 
 could be more natural, after this, than to exhort to the 
 presentation of constant prayers in behalf generally of men, 
 and especially of kings and rulers, that by the proper 
 exercise of their authority these might restrain the evils of 
 the time, and make it possible for God-fearing men to lead 
 quiet and peaceable lives ? The multiplication of terms 
 for this intercessory function is somewhat remarkable : 
 petitions (Seijcret?, the simple expression of want or need), 
 prayers (Trpocrevxois), supplicatio7ts (evrei'^et?, the same as the 
 preceding, with the subordinate idea of closer dealing, 
 entreaties, or earnest pleadings). The distinction between 
 them cannot be very sharply drawn ; for in several passages 
 certain of them are used where w^e might rather have ex- 
 pected others, if respect were had to the distinctive shade 
 of meaning suggested by the etymology (as in chap. iv. 5, 
 where evrev^cts is used of ordinary prayer for the divine 
 blessing, and Eph. vi. 18, where supplications of the most 
 earnest kind are intended, and yet only the two first of the 
 words found here are employed). The variety of expres- 
 sion is perhaps chiefly to be regarded as indicating the 
 large place the subject of intercessory prayer had in the 
 apostle's mind, and the diverse forms he thought should be 
 given to it, according to the circumstances in which, re- 
 latively to others, the people of God might be placed. 
 Hence, thanksgivings were to be added, when the conduct of 
 the parties in question was such as to favour the cause of 
 righteousness and truth, — a fit occasion being thereby pre- 
 sented for grateful acknowledgments to God, who had so 
 inclined their hearts. And when it is said, that first of all 
 such thanksgivings and suppHcations should be offered, if 
 the expression is coupled with the acts of devotion referred 
 to, it can only mean that they should have a prominent 
 place in worship, should on no account be overlooked or 
 treated as of Httle moment, not that they should actually 
 have the precedence of all others. But the expression is 
 
I I 2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 most naturally coupled with the apostle's request on the 
 subject ; he first of all entreats that this be done ; it is his 
 foremost advice that people should deal with God in the 
 matter, as the most effectual safeguard. 
 
 Ver. 2. By mentioning all men' as the object of their 
 prayers and thanksgivings, the apostle undoubtedly meant 
 to teach Christians to cherish wide and generous sym- 
 pathies, and to identify their own happiness and wellbeing 
 with those of their fellow-men. But he specially associates 
 the duty with those on whose spirit and behaviour the 
 peace and good order of society more directly depended 
 — kijigs (quite generally, as in the address of our Lord to 
 His disciples. Matt. x. i8 ; also Rom. xiii. i ; i Pet. ii. 13 ; 
 hence affording no ground to the supposition of Baur, that 
 the emperor and his co-regents in the time of the Antonines 
 were meant by the expression), and all that are in authority 
 (vTrepoxfj, strictly eminence^ but here, as elsewhere, the emi- 
 nence of social position — a place of authority). Then follows 
 the more immediate end, as regards the praying persons 
 themselves : in order that we may pass a quiet a?id tranquil 
 life, in all godliness and gravity ; that is, may be allowed 
 freely to enjoy our privileges, and maintain the pious and 
 orderly course which becomes us as Christians, without the 
 molestation, the troubles, and the unseemly shifts which 
 are the natural consequence of inequitable government and 
 abused power. The last epithet, gravity, crejjLvoTrjn, is quite 
 in its proper place ; for though it has respect to deportment 
 rather than to Christian principle or duty, it is very closely 
 allied to this, and is such a respectable and decorous bear- 
 ing as is appropriate to those who live under the felt appre- 
 hension of the great realities of the gospel. The term 
 honesty in the A. V. is quite unsuitable, in the now received 
 sense of that word. 
 
 Vers. 3, 4. J^or this — namely, to make intercession to 
 God in behalf of kings, of rulers generally, and of men of 
 
I TIMOTHY IT. 3, 4. 113 
 
 all sorts — is good and acceptable before our Saviour God, — 
 a thing which in His reckoning is good, and is sure of 
 meeting with His approval : for there seems no need for 
 confining the before God to the latter epithet alone ; it 
 should be connected as well with what is good as what is 
 acceptable, though things really and properly good are such 
 also apart from Him. But by placing both epithets in 
 connection with God, it is more distinctly implied that they 
 are to be taken in their fullest import. ('A-TroSeKTo? found in 
 New Testament only here and at chap. vi. 4.) Then follows 
 the reason why such conduct meets with God's approval as 
 right and proper : who willeth all men to be saved, and to 
 come to the full knowledge of the truth — eVtyi/coo-iv, knowledge 
 in the fuller sense, knowledge that reaches its end, saving 
 kiiowledge; and the governing verb, it will be observed, is 
 ^eAet, not the stronger /^ovAerat, which would have expressed 
 will with an implied purpose or intent (see at ver. 8). 
 Nothing can be better than the comment of Chrysostom 
 here : " Imitate God. If He is willing that all men should 
 be saved, it is meet to pray for all. If He willed that all 
 should be saved, do thou also will it ; but if thou wiliest, 
 pray ; for it is the part of such to pray. . . . But if God 
 wills it, you will say, what need is there for my prayers ? 
 This is of great benefit both for you and for them : it draws 
 them to love ; thyself, again, it prevents from being treated 
 as a wild beast ; and such things are fitted to allure them 
 to faith." There seems no need for going beyond this 
 practical aspect of the matter; and either to press the 
 passage on the one side, with some, to universalism, — as if 
 it bespoke the comprehension of all within God's purpose 
 of salvation, — or, on the other, to limit it, so as to make, 
 not strictly all men, but only all sorts of men (with Calvin 
 and others), the object of the good contemplated, is equally 
 to strain the natural import of the words. It seems to me 
 unnatural to understand the all men, twice so distinctly and 
 
 H 
 
114 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 emphatically expressed, as indicative of anything but man- 
 kind generally — men not merely without distinction of class 
 or nation, but men at large, who certainly, as such, are to 
 be prayed for. As the objects of the church's intercessions, 
 there can be no difference drawn between one portion and 
 another ; and we are expressly taught to plead for all, 
 because it is the will of God that they should be saved 
 — aoiOrjvai : not His will absolutely to save them, as if the 
 word had been trwo-at ; but that they may be brought 
 through the knowledge and belief of the truth into the 
 state of the saved. And the whole character of the gospel 
 of Christ, with its universal call to repent, its indiscriminate 
 offers of pardon to the penitent, and urgent entreaties to 
 lay hold of the hope set before them, is framed on very 
 purpose to give expression to that will ; for, surely, in 
 pressing such things on men's acceptance, yea, and holding 
 them disobedient to His holy will, and liable to aggravated 
 condemnation, if they should refuse to accept, God cannot 
 intend to mock them with a mere show and appearance of 
 
 / some great reality being brought near to them. No ; there 
 is the manifestation of a benevolent desire that they should 
 not die in sin, but should come to inherit salvation (as at 
 Ezek. xxxiii. ii), if only they will do it in the way that alone 
 
 I is consistent with the principles of His moral government 
 and the nature of Christ's mediation. This, necessarily, is 
 implied ; and it is the part of the church, by her faithful 
 exhibition of the truth in Christ, by her personal strivings 
 with the souls of men, and earnest prayers in their behalf, 
 to give practical effect to this message of goodwill from 
 Heaven to men, and to do it in the spirit of tenderness and 
 affection which itself breathes. 
 
 Such appears to be the fair and natural interpretation of 
 the apostle's declaration, and the whole that it properly 
 calls us to intermeddle with. It is true that all whom God 
 wills to be thus entreated and prayed for shall not actually 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 5, 6. 115 
 
 be saved — not even many who have enjoyed in the highest 
 degree the means and opportunities of such deaUng. And 
 seeing, as God does, the end from the beginning, knowing 
 perfectly beforehand whom He has, and whom He has not 
 destined to salvation, grave questions are ready to arise 
 as to whether the work of Christ can be really sufficient 
 to meet the emergency occasioned by the ruin of sin, or 
 whether God be sincere in seeking through His church the 
 salvation of all, — questions which touch upon the deep 
 things of God, and which it is impossible for us, with the 
 materials we now possess, to answer satisfactorily to the 
 speculative reason. Knowing who and what He is with 
 whom in such things we have to do, we should rest assured 
 that His procedure will be in truth and uprightness ; and 
 that the mysteries which meanwhile appear to hang around 
 it will be solved to the conviction of every reasonable mind, 
 when the proper time for doing so shall have arrived. But 
 enough is known for present duty. God has unfolded for 
 one and all alike the terms of reconciliation : He is willing, 
 nay desirous, for His own glory's sake, that men should 
 everywhere embrace them ; and for this end has committed 
 to His church the ministry of reconciliation, charging it 
 upon the conscience of her members to strive and pray 
 that all without exception be brought to the saving know- 
 ledge of the truth. What more can be required for faith 
 to rest on, and for the intercessions and labours of an 
 earnest ministry ? 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. For there is one God, one Mediator also of God 
 and men. The connective particle (yap) presents what is 
 here stated as an adequate ground, more immediately for 
 the statement in the preceding verse, that God would have 
 all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the 
 truth; but also, more remotely, for the call to prayer in 
 behalf of all men, that so the benevolent desires of God 
 toward them may come into effect. For in the mind of 
 
Il6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the apostle the two are essentially connected together ; and 
 what affords a valid reason for the one, provides it also for 
 the other. What, then, is the reason ? It is, that all stand 
 related to one and the same God, also to one and the same 
 Mediator ; for mankind generally there is but one Dispenser 
 of life and blessing, and one medium through which the 
 dispensation flows ; and in the invitations and precepts of 
 the gospel all are put on a footing in regard to them : 
 there is no respect of persons, .or formal preference of some 
 over others. Substantially the same thought is exhibited 
 in the Epistles to the Romans (iii. 30) and the Galatians 
 (iii. 20) ; there, as grounding the universality of the gospel 
 offer, as Jwe the universaHty of the goodwill, which the 
 provisions of the gospel on God's part, and the prayers of 
 His people on theirs, are ever breathing toward men. The 
 oneness of the Mediator is followed by a declaration re- 
 specting His person and work : mait ChfHst Jesus, who gave 
 Himself a ransom for all. The want of the article before 
 avOpwiro's is noticeable ; not Ihe man as contradistinguished 
 from some others, but 7;ian, one possessing the nature, and 
 in His work manifesting the attributes, of humanity. Not, 
 however, as if this were all ; for the very fact of Christ's 
 mediating between God and men implies that He was 
 Himself something that other men were not : they men, 
 indeed, but in a state that men should not occupy toward 
 God (hence requiring a Mediator) ; He, man in the ideal 
 or proper sense, true image and representative of God, and 
 as such capable of restoring the relations which had been 
 disturbed by sin, between Creator and creature, and ren- 
 dering earth, as it was designed to be, the reflex of heaven. 
 Jfan, therefore, is used here much in the same emphatic 
 manner that Son of man was by Daniel in his prophetic 
 vision (vii. 13), and by our Lord Himself in His public 
 ministry; man as ordained by God to hold the lordship 
 of this lower world, to hold it for God, and therefore to 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 5, 6. 117 
 
 establish truth and righteousness through all its borders 
 (Heb. ii. 6-18). He who should be this is the true Head 
 as well as pattern of humanity — the New Man, and at the 
 same time "the Lord from heaven/' because only as re- 
 lated to that higher sphere, and having at command powers 
 essentially divine, could He either be or do what such an 
 exalted position indispensably requires. So that the use 
 made of this passage by Unitarians is without any just 
 foundation. 
 
 Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all — 6 Sot;? 
 eavToi/ avTikvT^ov vTrep TrdvToiv ; a participial clause indicating 
 how especially Christ did the part of Mediator = Christ 
 Jesus — He who, as Mediator, gave Himself, etc. The ex- 
 pression plainly involves the idea of substitution, an ex- 
 change of forfeits, one in the room of all, and for their 
 deliverance. The words are, with a slight variation, an 
 adoption of our Lord's own, who said that He came to 
 give His life Xvrpov avrl TToXXcov (Matt. xx. 28). For that 
 in both passages it is mainly the death of Christ by which 
 the ransom was paid for, or in exchange of, the persons 
 indicated by the fua/iy in the one place, and by the all in 
 the other, can admit of no reasonable doubt. And as the 
 apostle is here contemplating Christ as the Messiah that 
 had been promised, and now come for mankind at large, 
 it is perhaps most natural to understand the language here 
 with reference to those prophetical passages which repre- 
 sent the Messiah as obtaining from the Father the heritage 
 of all famihes or nations of the earth; not the preserved 
 of Israel alone, nor a few scattered members besides of 
 other nations, but also the fulness of the Gentiles (Ps. ii. 8, 
 xxii. 27; Isa. xhx. 6; Luke xxi. 24). So Cocceius, who 
 remarks : "When it is said that Christ gave a ransom pi-ice 
 for all, it is also signified that Christ of His own right 
 demands all for His inheritance and possession. This, 
 therefore, is a sure foundation for our prayers, that those 
 
115 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 whom the Father gave for an inheritance to the Son, we 
 should ask may become the Son's possession ; and since 
 we know that all are given to the Son, we should pray for 
 all, because we know not at what time God may be going 
 to give this rich inheritance to the Son, and who may 
 belong to the inheritance of Christ, who not; yet we do 
 know, that if we ask all, we shall imitate the love of the 
 Son." ^ 
 
 The itestimony — that which is to be testified or set forth — 
 for its own seasons: a pregnant clause standing in apposi- 
 tion not to the immediately preceding term ransom^ but to 
 the whole participial clause, which declares Christ to have 
 given Himself a ransom for all. '' I understand it to 
 mean," says Scholfield {Hints for Imp. Versio?i), ^' that the 
 great fact of Christ's having given Himself a ransom for all 
 is that which is to be testified by His servants in His times ; 
 that is, in the times of the gospel : it is to be the great 
 subject of their preaching." (Katpot? iSiot?, the dative of 
 time, the temporal sphere or space within which the action 
 takes place; Winer, Gr. § 31. 9; Fritzsche on Rom. xii. i, 
 note. The oum, however, is more appropriately coupled with 
 the testimony than with Christ : comp. Gal. vi. 9 ; here, 
 vi. 15 ; Tit. i. 3.) The matter in question being primarily 
 a fact — the death of Christ — but that fact in its doctrinal 
 bearing as a ransom for the sins of men, it is here and in 
 other places presented under the aspect of a testimony. It 
 was above all other things the subject to which the apostles 
 had to bear testimony, since it was through Christ's name, 
 as that of the crucified, atoning Saviour, that they pro- 
 claimed the pardon of sin and eternal life to the penitent. 
 And its times — the times specially appropriate for the bear- 
 ing of such a testimony, and the witnessing of its results — 
 are those which follow the great event itself, and reach 
 onward to the second advent. All was but preparatory 
 before ; it was the time only for the anticipations of hope 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 7. 119 
 
 respecting it, or the longings of spiritual desire. But with 
 the introduction of the reality, there came also the period 
 destined for its fall and proper exhibition, that through 
 belief of the testimony its merciful design might be realized.^ 
 Ver. 7. The apostle here introduces his own relation to 
 this testimony-bearing : Whereunto I was appointed a herald 
 and an apostle (/ speak the truth ^ 1 lie not), a teacher of the 
 Gentiles in faith and truth. This personal asseveration, 
 which seems at first thought peculiarly strong for the 
 occasion, especially in an epistle addressed to his bosom 
 companion and associate Timothy, we must remember, is 
 brought in as an important part of the evidence which 
 existed for the universal aspect and bearing of the gospel, 
 in its character as a remedial scheme for the salvation of 
 all who were willing to accept it. The position and calling 
 he had received in the church of Christ had nothing 
 partial, nothing exclusive about it. More even than any 
 or all the original delegates of Christ, he was a witness to 
 the universality of Christ's overtures of mercy, having been 
 appointed a herald to proclaim everywhere the glad tidings ; 
 a herald even of the highest rank — an apostle (however 
 some of a grudging or contentious spirit might dispute his 
 authority, he at least will hold fast to it, as a fact written 
 in the depths of his spiritual consciousness, and will have 
 Timothy also to assert it) ; and as an apostle, a teacher of 
 the Gentiles in faith and truth. In this his declaration 
 respecting himself reaches its proper climax, announcing as 
 it does his destination to labour among the Gentiles — the 
 far off, the aliens — as the more special objects of his apos- 
 tolic agency, and signalizing faith and truth as the elements 
 in which it was to move, the prominent characteristics of 
 
 ^ See Appendix A. 
 
 2 The received text has iv Xpta-TM, but it is wanting in the best mss., 
 A, D, F, G, also It. Vulg. Syr, Cop. versions, and is therefore justly 
 omitted by Tisch. and others. 
 
I20 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the spirit in which he was to teach, and the subjects he was 
 to handle. If emphatically faithful and true in the testi- 
 mony he was called to give concerning God, how could he 
 be otherwise in what he delivered concerning himself? 
 Self, however, was not an object of concern with him, ex- 
 cept in so far as it bore on the nature of the mission he 
 was appointed to fulfil, and the gloriously free and world- 
 embracing character of the interests it sought to promote. 
 But both were of a piece ; the one was the proper image 
 and reflex of the other. In principle, we have the same 
 mode of representation at 2 Cor. i. 18-20. Taking this 
 view of the passage, I would discard as very needless 
 questions, whether the expressions y^zV/z and truth are to be 
 taken both objectively, or the former only (with Huther 
 and Ellicott) objectively, and the latter subjectively. In 
 an experimental utterance of this kind, in which the internal 
 and the external necessarily go together, it is hypercritical, 
 and can serve no good purpose, to draw such distinctions. 
 
 Ver. 8. / wish, then (the ovv at once resuming the sub- 
 ject of prayer, with an exhortation to which in a particular 
 direction this part of the epistle commenced, and pressing 
 as a conclusion from the views more recently advanced — I 
 wish, then), that prayer be made in eveiy place by men, lifting 
 up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In the verb 
 PoyXofiaL the active wish is expressed, as of one who, 
 having a right to speak in the name of Christ, should in 
 expressing a wish be regarded as virtually uttering a com- 
 mand. If it had been iOiXo), the apostle would merely 
 have said he was willing that the thing in question should 
 be done ; but in using ^ovXofjLac he indicates his desire or 
 wish that such a course should be pursued. (See Donaldson, 
 Cratylus, § 463, for the clear exhibition and proof of this 
 distinction. 1) In respect to the object of his wish, the 
 
 ^ Donaldson has gone into the discussion of this point at great length, 
 refuting an opposite view which had been advanced by Buttmann in his 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 8. 121 
 
 point of greatest prominence undoubtedly is the praying — 
 hence the irpoGrevx^Ea-OaL stands first : it is the immediate 
 object of the desire he was breathing in connection with 
 the proper place and responsibiHties of believers. But as 
 these are contemplated with reference to the public worship 
 of God, so a certain degree of prominence is also given to 
 the men to whom it properly belongs to manage and direct 
 such worship ; while for women, who are presently after 
 mentioned, duties of a more retired and quiet kind are 
 assigned. It seems, however, an awkward way of indicating 
 this subordinate distinction, which is but allusively intro- 
 duced, to translate with Alford, " that f/ie men pray," which 
 is formally correct, no doubt, as the article is found in the 
 original {jov^ avSpas), but gives a sense which to English 
 readers must appear abrupt and unnatural. Indeed, Alford 
 himself seems partly conscious of this, since he admits that 
 the distinction in respect to men cannot be regarded as the 
 apostle's main object in this verse, and that their relation 
 to public prayer is taken for granted. If so, the kind of 
 double end aimed at in the passage is better gained by 
 such a rendering as we have adopted, giving the act of 
 prayer the chief prominence, but giving the subject, men, 
 also a sort of prominent position by throwing it a little 
 
 Lexilogus. As regards Biblical usage, the respective meanings of the 
 two verbs are correctly and succinctly stated by Mr Webster, Syntax 
 and Synonyms of the Greek Testa?}ient, p. 197 : ^^ (iavXofjcoct expresses a 
 wish, intention, purpose, formed after deliberation, and upon consider- 
 ing all the circumstances of the case ; fiXu denotes a natural impulse or 
 desire, the ground of which is generally obvious, or for which it is 
 unnecessary to assign a reason. Matt. i. 19, fji,h ^ikav, being reluctant, 
 as was naturally the case; IfhovXyih, 'was minded,' deliberately pur- 
 posed, intended after careful consideration." He refers to the contrary 
 view of Buttmann, that ^ovXitrSon indicates mere inclination, passive 
 desire ; but points to Jas. iv. 4, also to i Tim. vi. 9, in both of which 
 cases he justly says ^sXs/v would be altogether out of place. On the 
 contrary, in i Tim. v. ii, where the impulse of natural desire is in 
 question, 6'i'kiiv is the proper word, and p>ouXoi/,cn would be unsuitable. 
 
122 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 forward, and thus also rendering the transition easy and 
 natural from the male to the female section of believers : 
 that prayer be made in every place^ by me7i lifting np, etc. ; 
 likewise also that women ... In mentioning eiie7y place 
 in connection with the offering of prayer, the apostle is not 
 to be regarded, with some, as indicating any contrast with 
 the temple, the synagogue, or other conspicuous places of 
 worship, but merely as giving expression to the universal 
 nature of the duty ; so that wherever the assemblies of 
 Christian worshippers might meet, there prayer should be 
 offered. And with the duty he couples a brief description 
 of the spirit and manner in which it should be done by the 
 persons who conduct it : lifting up holy hands, without wrath 
 or doubting (oo-lovs, a masculine termination joined to the 
 feminine x^'-P^^? ^^ ovpaviov at Luke ii. 13, and ofioLos in 
 Rev. iv. 3). The Ufting up of the hands in their more 
 formal exercises of devotion appears to have been common 
 among the nations of antiquity, Jew as well as Gentile 
 (Gen. xiv. 22 ; Ps. xxviii. 2, Ixiii. 4, cxxxiv. 2 ; Virgil, y^n. 
 i. 92) ; and from the Jewish it naturally passed into the 
 Christian assemblies. Here it is referred to without expla- 
 nation, as a thing famiHarly known ; so also by the Roman 
 Clement in his letter to the Corinthians, c. 29, where, 
 with evident respect to the words of the apostle, he says : 
 " Let us come near to Him in holiness of soul {iv oa-iOTrjTc 
 i}/vxrj<;), raising pure and undefiled hands toward Him." ^ 
 The hands so employed might fitly be regarded as bear- 
 ing the petitions of the suppliants Heavenwards, and, in 
 
 * In this primary stage the lifting of the hands in public prayer is 
 spoken of as a mere usage or custom, which was deemed suitable and 
 appropriate. But by and by, like other things of a like kind, it was 
 turned into a piece of sacred pantomime or symbolism, and to make it 
 more expressive the stretched-out hands and anns were thrown into the 
 figure of the cross. See quotations to this effect in Bingham, B. xiii. 
 10, from Tertullian, Minutius, and many others. 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 9, lO. 123 
 
 accordance with the action, should themselves possess a 
 character of holiness ; in other words, should be the hands 
 of those who are not pursuing courses of iniquity, but are 
 lovers of what is pure and good. All spiritual excellence 
 is necessarily implied in this ; yet the apostle adds the 
 further qualifications, without wrath and doubtiJig : without 
 wrath, to which especially, .in their relation to the heathen, 
 the early Christians were often under great provocation, 
 and might consequently be disposed to offer up impreca- 
 tions rather than supplications in regard to them. What, 
 however, is meant precisely by the other term (StaAoyicr/xov) 
 — whether it is to be understood of disputation in the 
 ordinary sense, contendings with others, or disputation in 
 one's own mind, thought contending with thought, doubting 
 — interpreters are not agreed. As the word may be under- 
 stood either way, we are thrown upon the connection for 
 something to determine our judgment; and in this point of 
 view the second of the two senses indicated seems plainly 
 the most natural and fitting : for the indispensable condi- 
 tion of acceptable prayer is faith ; and therefore doubting, 
 which is the mark of a wavering spirit, the conflict between 
 faith and unbelief, must, so far as it prevails, be a hindrance 
 to success. Prayer offered without wrath and doubting is 
 simply prayer animated by a spirit of meek, generous 
 loving-kindness in respect to those for whom it is pre- 
 sented, and by a spirit of faith or assured confidence in 
 Him whom we supplicate in their behalf. This is intelli- 
 gible, and perfectly cognate to the subject ; but not so the 
 reference supposed by some to personal disputations among 
 the parties concerned in the exercise of devotion. Nothing 
 had been said or implied which might seem to call for any 
 particular reference to this. 
 
 Vers. 9, 10. Likewise also, that womeii adorn the7nselves 
 in orderly apparel, with shajnefast?iess afid discretion. The 
 passage is obviously elliptical ; and the connection with 
 
124 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 what precedes, indicated by wcra^Vws {likewise), cannot be 
 very close. Looking to the apostle's use of it elsewhere 
 (for example, at Tit. ii. 3, Rom. viii. 26), we must regard it 
 as intended simply to couple the women with the men in 
 having equally with them a relation to duty, bound to a 
 becoming line of conduct in their own particular sphere. 
 Having expressed his wish in respect to the one class, the 
 apostle now turns to the other, and wishes (^oi;Ao/Aat again 
 understood) that they too, on their part, would adorn 
 themselves in seemly apparel, or in seemly apparel would 
 adorn themselves with shamefastness and discretion. The 
 adorning, from the structure of the sentence, seems more 
 directly connected with the two latter epithets, pointing to 
 qualities of mind and behaviour, while the sort of apparel 
 proper to them is implied as a thing that should certainly 
 be possessed, only not of itself sufficient without the other, 
 the adornments of the spirit. That Kwraxnok-r] is properly 
 taken in the sense of apparel, and not, as Ellicott would 
 understand it, deportment, — including look and manner as 
 well as dress, — there seems no just reason to doubt. It 
 points by its etymology (from KaTacrreAAw) to the letting 
 down of things about one's person, adjusting or arranging 
 them, then the apparel as so arranged (see Alford). The 
 apostle does not further characterize it than that it should 
 be of a becoming or seemly nature {Koa-^kloi), as contradis- 
 tinguished from gaudy and extravagant as well as slovenly 
 attire. And with this he couples the inward feelings, which 
 should accompany and give adequate expression to this 
 modest apparel — with shamefastness (not shamefacedness, as 
 in the Authorized Version, which is a corruption) and dis- 
 cretion. The correct import and mutual relation of the two 
 words here employed {aiS(I)<5 and o-w^/aoo-wT^) have been, 
 with his usual discrimination and accuracy, exhibited by 
 Trench {Syn. § 20), and appUed thus to the explication of 
 our verse : " If alSws is that shamefastness or pudency which 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 9, 10. 125 
 
 shrinks from overpassing the limits of womanly reserve 
 and modesty, as well as from the dishonour which would 
 justly attach thereto, croxjipoavvr] is that habitual inner self- 
 government, with its constant rein on all the passions and 
 desires, which would hinder the temptation to this from 
 arising, or at all events from arising in such strength as 
 should overbear the checks and barriers which atSws op- 
 posed to it." We have no English word that exactly 
 corresponds to the latter of the two terms ; but sober- 
 mindedness or discretion substantially coincides with it, 
 though self-control, perhaps, might more closely approach 
 the original. 
 
 In the remaining part of the verse we have a further 
 delineation, in a negative form, of the modest or seemly 
 attire which was noticed in the earlier : nof in plaitings^ 
 — namely, of the hair, but obviously meaning excessive 
 refinements in this line, the meretricious plaitings, and 
 modes of dressing up the hair in nicely adjusted tresses, 
 which Clement of Alexandria, for example, condemns as 
 unsuitable to Christians {Paid. iii. 11), condemned also by 
 St. Peter in very similar language to that employed here 
 (i Pet. iii. 3). And gold (in rings, bracelets, tie), or pearls, 
 or costly raiment. These are not to be understood as any 
 further prohibited than they are inconsistent with the 
 seemly apparel previously recommended ; only, if used at 
 all, it should manifestly be with moderation, and so as not 
 to befit the impression that they are displayed as the most 
 precious personal adornments. For such the truly Chris- 
 tian mind will look in another direction, and lay the chief 
 stress upon the spiritual and moral qualities, which are 
 the noblest distinctions of rational beings, the only things 
 which are of value in the sight of God. This, therefore, is 
 what the apostle puts in contrast to the worldly equipments 
 of rich jewellery and costly dress : But, which becomes women 
 professing godliness^ through good zvorks — not (with Theodoret, 
 
126 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 CEcum., Luther, Calvin, Huther, and many others), but in 
 that which, or according to that which (taking o as = ev rovna 
 6, or Ktt^' o, referring back to the ev KaTacrroXfj koo-ixlo)) becomes 
 women pj'ofessing godliness, by means of good works. For this 
 has against it both an artificial construction, which should 
 only be resorted to if absolutely necessary, and the coupling 
 of good works .with a godly profession in a way which is 
 not usual, — as if godliness were a kind of art which Chris- 
 tian women were to show their skill or proficiency in by 
 their works of faith and love. This cannot be called a 
 natural style of representation, and it is certainly nowhere 
 else found in St. Paul's writings. The expression lirayycXo- 
 fjievai? must be taken here in the ordinary sense of profess- 
 ing, — a sense it unquestionably bears again at chap. vi. 21 ; 
 while the verb is used in Tit. i. 2, with reference to God, 
 in the cognate sense of promising, or giving open exhibition 
 of. By the women in question must be understood those 
 who make profession of godliness (^eocre/?ctav only used 
 here, but substantially equivalent to evo-e/?eiav), in the ordi- 
 nary way such profession was made, — by taking up the 
 Christian name, submitting to Christian teaching and ordi- 
 nances, and mingling in the assemblies of Christian worship- 
 pers. And as making this profession, the apostle would 
 have them to understand, first, that the kind of dress which 
 becomes them is of a neat and plain as contradistinguished 
 from a luxurious or costly one ; and second, that the dis- 
 tinction which women of gay and worldly dispositions seek 
 to acquire by their splendid ornaments and fine apparel, 
 they should endeavour to reach through their good works, 
 — a distinction of a far nobler kind, and the only one that 
 fitly accords with their calling. Such seems to be the most 
 natural and appropriate import of the passage, — only, in 
 connection with the latter point, the apostle varies the 
 construction, so as the better to suit the change involved 
 in the subject itself: he does not say with (iv) good works. 
 
I TIMOTHY II. II, 12. 127 
 
 as he could say both in regard to the apparel itself, and the 
 outward ornaments on which vain and worldly-minded 
 females prided themselves ; but through or by means of (8ta) 
 good works, since it was not so properly the works them- 
 selves which invested true Christian females with their 
 distinctive honour or adornment, as rather the reflex opera- 
 tion of these, — the consideration and regard, the spiritual 
 halo, as it were, which the performance of such works 
 threw around those who abounded in them. 
 
 Vers. II, 12. The apostle proceeds now to give prescrip- 
 tions of a more general kind respecting the proper sphere 
 and behaviour of women. Let a woman learn in silence in 
 all subjection — spoken primarily and mainly with reference 
 to the public assemblies of the church, and only an abbre- 
 viated reinforcement of the instruction previously issued to 
 the church at Corinth (i Cor. xiv. 34) : " Let your women 
 keep silence in the churches ; for it is not permitted unto 
 them to speak, but to be under obedience, as also saith the 
 law." The all subjection, however, can only be understood 
 to reach as far as the authoritative teaching is of the right 
 stamp. Woman does not lose her rational power of thought 
 and responsibility by abiding in the place assigned her by 
 the gospel ; and she also has a right to prove all things — 
 only in a manner suited to her position — in order that she 
 may hold fast that which is good, and reject what is other- 
 wise. But to teach (the best authorities place StSao-Kciv 
 first) / permit not a woman — namely, in public : she is not 
 to act the part of a teacher in the meetings of the faithful ; 
 nor to lord it over the man, but to be in silence. The verb 
 avOevTelv scarcely means to usurp authority, the sense 
 ascribed to it in the Authorized Version, but only to exercise 
 it in an imperious manner. Leo (as quoted by Huther) : 
 *' avOevTetv et avOevTr]<; apud seriores tantum scriptores ita 
 occurrit, ut dominii notionem involvat ; melioribus scrip- 
 toribus est avO€VTr]<s idem quod avroxctp." Here it is plainly 
 
128 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the later use that must be adopted ; and what is forbidden 
 by it to woman is, that she is not to assume the part of 
 ruling or domineering over man. When she attempts this 
 she goes out of her proper place, and ventures upon a line 
 of things which is not compatible either with her natural 
 constitution or with her distinctive vocation. And in proof 
 of this, the apostle appeals to the original order and 
 course of things as marking out the great landmarks for 
 all time. 
 
 Ver. 13. For Ada?n was first for77ied (iTrXda-Or) taken from 
 the Sept. version of Gen. ii. 7 ; iKTca-Qr) is used in the corre- 
 sponding passage at i Cor. xi. 9), t/ien Eve ; the precedence 
 in time implying superiority in place and power. The 
 relation in this respect is still more strongly marked in the 
 Epistle to the Corinthians : " For the man is not of the 
 woman, but the woman of the man ; for also the man was 
 not made for the sake of the woman, but the woman for 
 the sake of the man." Thus did God in the method of 
 creation give clear testimony to the headship of man — to 
 his right, and also his obligation, to hold directly of God, 
 and sfand under law only to Him ; while woman, being 
 formed for his helpmate and partner, stands under law to 
 her husband, and is called to act for God in him. And 
 simply by inverting this relative position and calling — the 
 helpmate assuming the place of the head or guide, and the 
 head facilely yielding to her governance — was the happy 
 constitution of paradise overthrown, and everything in- 
 volved in disorder and evil. 
 
 Ver. 14. From this sinful violation of the primeval order, 
 with its disastrous results, the apostle fetches his second 
 reason for fixing in the manner he does the social position 
 of woman : And Adam was not deceived ; but tJie woman, 
 being altogether deceived,^ fell into transgression : literally, 
 
 ^ The best reading is ilaTocTadilffci, a stronger form of the verb, in 
 order to emphasize the deception in Eve's case. 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 14. 129 
 
 became in ; but the expression yiyvecrOai iv is always used of 
 entering or falling into a particular state (Luke xxii. 44 ; 
 Acts xxii. 17 ; 2 Cor. iii. 7 ; Phil. ii. 7). This explanatory- 
 statement has often been deemed strange, or partially mis- 
 apprehended, from not sufficiently regarding the precise 
 light in which the matter is contemplated by the apostle, 
 and the purpose for which it is here brought into considera- 
 tion. As already indicated, the case is referred to as a 
 grand though mournful example, at the commencement of 
 the world's history, of the evil sure to arise if in the general 
 management of affairs woman should quit her proper posi- 
 tion as the handmaid of man, and man should concede to 
 her the ascendency. She wants, by the very constitution of 
 nature, the qualities necessary for such a task — in particular, 
 the equability of temper, the practical shrewdness and dis- 
 cernment, the firm, independent, regulative judgment, which 
 are required to carry the leaders of important interests above 
 first impressions and outside appearances, to resist solicita- 
 tions, and amid subtle entanglements and fierce conflicts 
 to cleave unswervingly to the right. Her very excellences 
 in other respects — excellences connected with the finer 
 sensibilities and stronger impulses of her emotional and 
 loving nature — tend in a measure to disqualify her here. 
 With man, on the other hand, in accordance with his 
 original destination, the balance as between the intellectual 
 and the emotional, the susceptible and the governing 
 powers, inclines as a rule in the opposite direction. Hence, 
 in the great trial to which the parents of the human family 
 were subjected as the test of their allegiance, it was Adam 
 who was mainly charged with the responsibility, and who 
 should have been, in everything relating to it, the prime 
 agent. But Eve, affecting to play the master, and to decide 
 the question for herself and her husband, soon gave proof 
 of her incompetency ; she was overreached by a subtler 
 intellect than her own, and induced, under specious pre- 
 
 ] 
 
130 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 texts, to prefer an apparent to the real good. " The 
 serpent beguiled (or deceived) me, and I did eat" (Gen. 
 iii. 13), was her confession before the Judge, thereby in 
 effect acknowledging her weakness and folly in taking her 
 impressions from such a quarter, and acting independently 
 of her appointed head. But Adam, says the apostle, was 
 not deceived, although the representation of Eve may, in 
 point of fact, have wrought like a deception on his mind. 
 That, however, was not exactly the point of weakness in his 
 case, nor is anything said of it in the original account. 
 ''The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me," was his 
 confession to the Lord, " she gave me of the tree, and I 
 did eat" (Gen. iii. 12). Yes, but God had given her, not 
 for authority and rule, but for kindly ministrations ; to be a 
 helpmate by his side, not a directress to control his judg- 
 ment or determine for him the course of life. And in 
 allowing her to become this, in what touched the very heart 
 of his calling, whether it might be in the way of deception, 
 by the constraint of love, or by threats of evil, it booted 
 not; anyhow, Adam showed that he had fallen from his 
 true position, and ceased to rule, as he sJiotild have done, 
 with God. This aspect of the matter, however, it was not 
 necessary for the apostle's purpose to bring out. As his 
 theme was the place and calling of females in respect to 
 things of public moment, he contents himself with pointing 
 to that part of the transactions connected with the fall 
 which more directly concerned Eve, and presents it as a 
 beacon to future generations, in particular to the female 
 members of Christian congregations, lest, amid the greater 
 liberty of gospel times, they might be tempted to assume 
 functions which they were not qualified or called in provi- 
 dence to fill. 
 
 Ver. 15. But she shall be saved through tJie child-hearings 
 if they abide in faith, and love, and holiness, with discretion. 
 It is clear from the structure of the passage, that while Eve 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 15. 131 
 
 was formally before the eye of the apostle, it was she as the 
 representative of her sex, womankind : hence, she shall be^ 
 not she has been saved ; and to render still more plain how 
 the general was contemplated in the particular, it is added, 
 if they abide. Viewing womankind as personated in Eve, 
 the apostle had shown how, through one grievous mistake, 
 leading to- a departure from her proper place and calling, 
 not a rise, as had been imagined, but a fall, had taken 
 place, — a fall involving in its consequences her partner, 
 along with herself, in present ruin, which also, but for the 
 interposition of divine mercy, would have been irremediable. 
 By reason of this interposition, however, a way of escape 
 was opened to her, in connection, too, with that part of her 
 destination which was in an especial manner to bear the 
 impress of the fatal step which she had taken. She was 
 still, in pursuance of her original appointment, to give birth 
 to offspring — to be the mother, indeed, of all living ; but 
 trouble was henceforth to weigh heavily upon this portion 
 of her lot : in travail she was to bring forth children ; yet 
 at the same time in hope, for it was precisely through the 
 seed thus to be given her that the lost ground was to be 
 recovered, that the doom of evil should be reversed, and 
 the serpent's head, in relation to humanity, should be 
 bruised. It is this complex destination as to child-bearing 
 pronounced over woman at the fall — mournful enough in 
 one respect, but fraught with consolation and hope in 
 another — to which the apostle here briefly alludes. Salva- 
 tion lay for her through this one channel ; and if it was her 
 condemnation to have been so directly concerned in the 
 guilt which required its appointment, and the pains and 
 perils through which it must be made good, it should also 
 be her peculiar honour, even through such a troubled ex- 
 perience, to be the more immediate instrument of accom- 
 pHshing for herself and others the destined good. Do we, 
 then, say that the child-bearing here spoken of has direct 
 
132 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 respect to the birth of Christ, through whom the work of 
 salvation was really secured? We are certainly not inclined, 
 with some commentators (Hammond, for instance), to fix the 
 meaning down simply and exclusively to that. Undoubtedly 
 it is the prime and essential thing, — that without which the 
 woman's child-bearing could have wrought no deliverance, 
 and the prospect of which was like the hidden germ which 
 from the first lay enfolded in the promise of a seed of 
 blessing, — yet not without regard, at the same time, to the 
 collective seed associated in the divine purpose with the 
 One. The apostle, in his brief allusion, abstains from 
 details ; he merely points to the original word, and the 
 prominent place assigned to woman in connection with its 
 fulfilment, as indicating her proper glory in relation to the 
 plan of salvation. Let her be content, he virtually says, 
 with this, that through her as the mother of a seed, given 
 by the God of grace and blessing, she herself, as well as 
 others, are to find salvation. But lest women should 
 imagine that, by their participation in the simply natural 
 part of the process, they should attain also to the higher 
 good in question, he couples certain spiritual qualifications 
 as indispensable to the result : if they abide in faith^ and 
 love, and holiness, with discretion (or sober-mindedness). In 
 short, they must fall in here (as Eve should have done in 
 Paradise, but did not) with the spiritual provisions and 
 requirements of the plan of God; \n faith, implicitly resting 
 upon God's word of promise ; in love, yielding themselves 
 heartily to the duties of their special calling, as well as 
 consenting to live and act within its appointed limits ; in 
 holiness, wakefiil, and striving against occasions of sin ; and 
 all tempered and controlled by that spirit of meek and 
 wise discretioji which instinctively shrinks from whatever is 
 unbecoming, heady, or high-minded. 
 
 The view now given, it is scarcely necessary to add, 
 implies that women, as a rule, though admitting of occa- 
 
I TIMOTHY II. 15. 133 
 
 sional exceptions, should keep within their proper sphere, 
 and give themselves to the family and domestic affairs 
 especially connected with it — which is all that some would 
 find in the passage ; but it includes also a great deal 
 more. Alford, who appears to think he had discovered 
 the only tenable interpretation, represents the reKvoyovca as 
 that in which the curse finds its operation (an extravagant 
 statement to begin with, since dea^/i was plainly set forth as 
 for both man and woman the proper embodiment of the 
 curse), then that she was to be exempted from this curse in 
 its worst and heaviest efi"ects (of which, however, nothing 
 is said in the original word), and that, besides, she should 
 be saved through — that is, passing through the curse of her 
 child-bearing trials — saved, notwithstanding the danger and 
 distress connected with these ! Surely a most unnatural 
 and forced explanation, and ending in a very lame and im- 
 potent conclusion ! The peculiar passage of i Cor. iii. 16, 
 where the apostle speaks of certain parties being saved, yet 
 so as through fire, which is chiefly leant upon, cannot be 
 fairly applied here : for fire is there figuratively represented 
 as the saving element, since it is that which tests every 
 one ; and the parties in question, who had along with the 
 sterling gold at bottom many combustible materials about 
 them, were just saved, and nothing more — escaped, as it 
 were, only with their lives. There is no proper parallel 
 between such a style of representation and the one before 
 us. Ellicott, though very brief, and adhering perhaps some- 
 what too closely to Hammond, comes nearer the point, 
 and justly lays stress on " the high probability that the 
 apostle, in speaking of woman's transgression, would not 
 fail to specify the sustaining prophecy which even preceded 
 her sentence,^' also " the satisfactory meaning which the 
 preposition (8ta) thus bears," " the uncircumscribed refer- 
 ence of the o-w^T^o-erai, and the force of the article [ttJ? 
 TeKvoy., the child-bearing, — that, namely, so prominently 
 
134 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 exhibited from the first]." Indeed, it seems only necessary 
 to present the view which takes all these into account in a 
 judicious manner, not pressing it too much in one direction 
 or another, to commend it to general acceptance. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The apostle here continues his special instructions to 
 Timothy, but directs them to another topic, and one of 
 still greater moment to the right order and government 
 of the church ; namely, to the calling and qualifications of 
 its official representatives and guides. The subject, how- 
 ever, is very briefly handled, and with reference chiefly to 
 the personal characteristics which ought to distinguish those 
 who might hold office in the church. Nothing is said 
 about the original institution of the offices themselves ; 
 nothing about their distinctive spheres of operation ; no- 
 thing even respecting the numbers that should fill them, 
 relatively to the membership of the particular church with 
 which they might be associated. It is simply what sort of 
 persons, how qualified and endowed, in whom the rights 
 and responsibilities should be invested. 
 
 Ver. I. Faithful is the saying, If any one seeketh the office of 
 pastor (lit. overseership), he desireth a good work. The saying 
 or word here designated faithful is to be understood of what 
 follows respecting the episcopal or pastoral office, not, with 
 Chrysostom, Theophylact, and some moderns, of the state- 
 ment made in the preceding context. In designating the 
 office itself, the nearest equivalent in our language now to 
 the original {hrKTKOTrqi) is undoubtedly that of pastor. The 
 term bishop, which originally bore the same import, has ac- 
 quired in modern times a different meaning. Alford adopts 
 the Uteral rendering overseer ship, justly remarking that 
 
I TIMOTHY III. I. 135 
 
 " we thus avoid any chance of identifying it with a present 
 and different office, and take refuge in the meaning of the 
 word itself, which at the same time bears an important 
 testimony to the duties of the post." It labours, however, 
 under the disadvantage of novelty, as a term applied to a 
 sacred function ; and as pastorate is substantially equiva- 
 lent, involving the same general idea of watchful and re- 
 sponsible oversight (hence the epithet Pastoral applied by 
 general consent to these Epistles), it is plainly entided to 
 the preference. By comparing what is written here with 
 the passage in Tit. i. 5-7, it is clear that St. Paul uses the 
 terms e-Trto-KOTro? and 7rp€(T/3vTepo^ of the same office : for in 
 Titus the words are interchanged, as of one import ; and here 
 much the same description is given of the cVio-kotto? which 
 we find given there of the irpea^vT^po^. While, therefore, 
 there were two designations, there was but one office ; and 
 the designations were two, because they were derived from 
 two different quarters. Presbyter os was of Jewish origin, 
 and was undoubtedly the earlier of the two, having been in 
 use as a term of office in the synagogue for generations be- 
 fore the Christian era, whence it passed over, with little varia- 
 tion, into the Christian church. The term originally had 
 doubtless some respect to the age of the persons who were 
 called to preside over the rehgious community ; they were 
 its seniors, its -more experienced and venerated members ; 
 but in course of time the etymological was lost sight of in 
 the current official meaning, and the presbyters (^''^p], 
 elders), whatever might be their relative age, were simply 
 the presiding heads of the synagogal communities in the 
 first instance, and then of the Christian church. Partaking, 
 however, as it did so distinctly, of a Jewish impress, it was 
 natural that, in the churches where the Greek or Gentile 
 element predominated, a properly Greek word, of equiva- 
 lent import as a designation of office, should come into use. 
 Such a term was cVto-KOTros, overseer, the specific or official 
 
136 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 designation among the Athenians of those whom they sent 
 forth to take the oversight of their subject cities (Suidas on 
 cTTto-. ; Dion. Hal. Ant. ii. 76) ; so that, by an easy trans- 
 ference from the civil to the spiritual sphere, the episcopoi of 
 the church were those who had the pastoral oversight of 
 the several churches. Quite naturally, therefore, it is the 
 term employed here, where immediate respect is had to 
 Ephesus, and such like churches in Asia Minor, which were 
 largely made up of converted Greeks; but even in such 
 churches at an earlier stage, when the primary nucleus con- 
 sisted mainly of converts from Judaism, the name presbyters 
 took precedence of it. So we find this the term employed 
 in respect to the officers set by St. Paul over the churches 
 in his first missionary tour through portions of Asia Minor 
 (Acts xiv. 23) ; and in the infant churches of Crete, which 
 probably partook as much of the Jewish as the Greek 
 element, the one term was used along with the other. 
 
 The sentiment here expressed, then, is, that one who 
 seeks (opeyerai, Stretches forth towards, longs after) the pas- 
 toral office, desires to be engaged in what is emphatically 
 a good work. It is not merely a post of honour, or a 
 position of influence ; not that primarily at least, or in its 
 more direct aspect, but a work of active service, and one 
 that from its very nature brings one into Hving fellowship 
 with the pure and good. The seeking here intended, 
 therefore, after such an office, must be of the proper kind, 
 not the prompting of a carnal ambition, but the aspiration 
 of a heart which has itself experienced the grace of God, 
 and which longs to see others coming to participate in the 
 heavenly gift. Other objects of a subordinate or collateral 
 kind may not be unlawful, and may justly enough be allowed 
 a certain share in the motives which draw men to the pas- 
 toral office ; but if the heart is right with God, and takes 
 anything like a correct estimate of the work of the ministry, 
 it will be that work itself, considered with respect to its 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 2. 137 
 
 own excellent nature, and the blessed fruits that may be 
 expected to spring from it, which ought more especially 
 to awaken the desire and determine the choice. Hence 
 the prominence given in the directions that follow to quali- 
 fications of a spiritual and moral kind, in order to its efficient 
 discharge ; introduced also by an ovv, therefore, as much as to 
 say : The work being so good, there is of necessity required 
 in him who would enter on its functions a corresponding 
 character of goodness. 
 
 Ver. 2. A pastor, therefore, ought to he blameless (dveTrt- 
 XrjixTTTov, irreproachable), husband of one wife, sober, discreet^ 
 orderly, hospitable, apt to teach. With one exception, all 
 these qualifications are so easily understood, and so ob- 
 viously becoming in a Christian pastor, that they scarcely 
 call for any remark. The epithet sober {yy]<^aXiov) , while 
 it necessarily includes moderation in the use of intoxicat- 
 ing liquors, freedom from intemperance, has also a wider 
 meaning, and denotes a wakeful, vigilant habit, opposed 
 to all kinds of excess. Hospitable, also, though simple 
 enough in import, denoted what was relatively of greater 
 moment in apostolic times than it usually is now. For 
 there were not the same conveniences for travellers in those 
 times that almost everywhere exist in the present day; and 
 the loose, ungodly manners which prevailed in all places of 
 public resort, rendered it of especial importance that Chris- 
 tian strangers should know where to find a kindly reception 
 and a proper fellowship. The last of the epithets in the 
 verse, ScSaKxcKos, having the teacJmig gift, apt or skilled i7i 
 teaching, is remarkable as the only one, either here or in the 
 corresponding passage in Titus, which directly bears on the 
 discharge of ministerial functions. In Titus it is more fully 
 expressed : " that he may be able by sound doctrine both 
 to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." The place given 
 to the quahfication in both passages is a clear proof of the 
 importance attached by the apostle to the teaching gift in 
 
138 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 relation to the pastoral ofifice. But even this, possessed 
 too in no ordinary measure, will prove of little avail for 
 the great practical ends of the ministry, unless it is accom- 
 panied with not only the sobriety which shuns all lawless 
 excess, but also the discreet and orderly or becoming de- 
 portment which instinctively shrinks from needless occasions 
 of offence, and indicates a temper and habits under due 
 management and control. Both for the comfort and the 
 success of pastoral work, a great deal depends upon the 
 possession of such quaHties. How often do ministers, 
 otherwise highly endowed, lose well-nigh the fruit of all 
 their gifts and labours, by marked failings and imperfections 
 here! It is not obvious unfaithfulness in duty; not sloth- 
 fulness of spirit ; not deficiency of life and power in pulpit 
 ministrations, or anything distinctly criminal in behaviour : 
 in these and other respects a man may stand clear from any 
 charge of blame or palpable shortcoming, and yet, by ever 
 recurring exhibitions of ungoverned temper, or specific acts 
 of indiscretion, may as thoroughly defeat the ends of his 
 high calling as if he were living in a course of worldliness 
 and indifference. There is but one safeguard against the 
 evil — the possession of what may be called sanctified com- 
 mon sense ■ and for this the godly pastor should earnestly 
 strive and pray, under the conviction that for him, not open 
 transgression merely, but imprudence also, indiscretion, is 
 sin, since it throws a stumbling-block in the way of his 
 usefulness, and in a manner robs him of his talents and 
 opportunities. 
 
 One part, however, of the apostle's description has given 
 rise to difference of opinion, and calls for more considera- 
 tion. It is that in which he says the pastor ought to be 
 husband of one wife. Does this mean that he must never 
 have been more than once married ? Or simply, that he 
 must not stand related to more than one living woman as 
 his wife ? On this point interpreters have been from early 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 2. 139 
 
 times, and still are, divided ; though, if one were to have 
 respect merely to the words themselves employed by the 
 apostle, there might seem no reason, and even no propriety, 
 in looking beyond an existing relationship. For it is of 
 what the individual pastor is or has, at any particular 
 period during his pastorate, that the apostle is speaking, 
 not of this' along with what he may have previously had or 
 been. If he should, after having been deprived of a wife 
 by death, become married to another, he still is the man of 
 but one wife ; for the previous relationship no longer exists, 
 it was dissolved by death — dissolved absolutely and for 
 ever, since in the life to come the flesh and blood relations 
 of this life are unknown. So that re-marriage cannot with 
 justice be said to constitute him more than the husband of 
 one wife. And, as justly remiarked by Harless {C/i?istia?i 
 Ethics, § 52), since the not being husband of one wife is 
 mentioned as a reproach, and a reproach placed on the 
 same line with gluttony and covetousness and the like, the 
 immediate context should alone have guarded us from 
 understanding by the expression "husband of one wife," 
 one that had only once been married. But so many in- 
 cidental considerations have been imported into the dis- 
 cussion of the subject, and so much can be said that is 
 plausible on the other side, that the full examination of it 
 must be reserved for separate treatment.^ 
 
 The qualification, however, if applied only, as I believe 
 it should be, to an existing relationship, must be taken 
 chiefly in a restrictive meaning, not as prescribing what 
 must invariably be found. From the prominence given to 
 it, indeed, and the stress presently afterwards laid upon the 
 pastor's proper management of his family, we may certainly 
 infer that the pastoral relation was viewed by the apostle as 
 one that would usually be filled by married persons — and 
 should be so. Still, the language employed cannot justly be 
 ^ See Appendix B. 
 
140 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 understood as implying more than that the pastor must not 
 have more than one wife, not that he must absolutely and in 
 every case have a wife. This last is the view taken of the pre- 
 scription by the Greek Church, which ordains to the oversight 
 of parishes only those who have been once married, and yet, 
 with a kind of stupid inconsistency, the result of ascetic in- 
 fluences early begun and still continued, excludes all married 
 persons from the higher offices of the church : monkish cceli- 
 bates, themselves without pastoral experience, ruling over 
 and controlling a married clergy ! Bengel's note on the pre- 
 scription is : " The apostle does not exclude coelibates from 
 the sacred office, while yet he presupposes that the head of 
 a family would be somewhat fitter for the office ; and of 
 two candidates, if other things were equal, that he who has 
 a wife and a well-ordered family should be preferred to a 
 bachelor, who has less of testimony in his behalf from the 
 circumstances of actual life." In some remarks contained 
 in his Life by Burk, he carries the matter rather further, — a 
 little, indeed, too far, — but presenting, at the same time, 
 some excellent remarks on the general subject: "The 
 married state is usually that in which we can best surmount 
 hardships, and attain the happy end of life, with many 
 refreshments by the way. He, therefore, who has no par- 
 ticular calling or occasion forbidding his entrance into this 
 condition, ought to marry. God often teaches us more by 
 our domestic experiences, family illnesses, deaths of chil- 
 dren, and the like, than we can learn by any independent 
 speculations, however spiritual these may seem. It is in 
 the married life that I have had my most serious afflictions, 
 but with them my strongest consolations. Therefore I 
 consider it more than a mere permission that a pastor 
 should be ' the husband of one wife,' — to me it seems all 
 but a matter of necessity. And yet so serious a concern is 
 marriage, that if we consider all its bearings on time and 
 eternity, we cannot wonder that some anxious persons are 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 3. 141 
 
 never able to resolve upon it; or that, having a special 
 delight in spiritual things, they should be the more dis- 
 inclined to become instruments of perpetuating our sinful 
 race : nevertheless, marriage is an ordinance of the good 
 and benevolent Creator" (p. s^6). 
 
 Ver. 3. The apostle proceeds with the enumeration of 
 qualities that ought to meet in the pastor : fxr] rrdpoLvov, 
 which the Authorized Version renders, " not given to much 
 wine," but it is rather nof a brawler^ or of vinous temper a7nent^ 
 not given to such impetuous and violent behaviour as is 
 wont to be exhibited by persons under their cups. Hence 
 it is followed by /><,•>) ttXt^kttjv, not a striker^ which is in the 
 same line, pointing to the natural outbursts of the kind 
 of temper indicated in the preceding epithet. (The /x^ 
 alcrxpoKepSrj, which foUows in the received text, has no sup- 
 port but from some of the later, the cursive mss.) Then 
 in two other epithets we have the converse of those negative 
 qualities : but mild (cTrtet/cT}, the equitable, beseeming, as 
 opposed to what is intemperate or boisterous), peaceable, 
 averse to fighting {aixayov). A quite different characteristic 
 follows, which has no immediate connection with those just 
 given, and is therefore not to be viewed as dependent on 
 the but (oAXa) a little before : not a lover of money, or 
 avaricious. This points to another very important quality 
 in a minister of the gospel. Few things, indeed, are more 
 certainly fatal to the position he ought to occupy in men's 
 regard, and the spiritual ends he should aim at accomplish- 
 ing, than a perceptible fondness for worldly treasure. He 
 must be known to love his work for its own sake, not for 
 the incidental earthly benefits that may or may not come 
 in its train. What has been said of genius and wisdom of 
 every kind, may yet more emphatically be said of the spirit 
 that should actuate the true minister of the gospel. "It 
 must learn that its kingdom is not of this world. It must 
 learn to know this, and to be content that this should be 
 
142 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 SO ; to be content with the thought of a kingdom in a 
 higher, less transitory region. Then, peradventure, may 
 the saying be fulfilled with regard to it, that he who is 
 ready to lose his life shall save it" (Hare). Striving to 
 awaken generous thoughts and lofty aspirations in the 
 minds of others, the pastor may come in a measure to reap 
 material benefits from the operation of these ; but if his 
 own soul is grovelling in the dust, and the love of worldly 
 pelf holds him captive, both himself and his mission are 
 sure to be despised. 
 
 Ver. 4. The proper pastor is further described as riding 
 well his 07V11 house — his own (ISlov) as contradistinguished 
 from God's, the relatively little, and more easily managed ; 
 having children in siibjeciio7i with all gravity^ or decency of 
 deportment ; having, in short, a well-ordered and properly 
 trained household. And the special reason follows, in- 
 troduced by the adversative particle 8e, which no more in 
 such a connection than any other can be strictly rendered 
 for (Winer, Gr. § 53, 2, b), since it introduces parentheti- 
 cally a statement which forms an antithesis to the one 
 immediately preceding, yet an antithesis which at the same 
 time constitutes a reason : But if one knows not how to rule 
 his own house, how shall he take charge of the church of 
 God? — if within the narrower sphere, and with all the 
 advantage which a parent's position and influence naturally 
 secure for him, he should prove deficient in the proper 
 governing authority, how certainly may he be expected to 
 fail in the efficient management and control of things per- 
 taining to the church of God ! The future here {iTrifxe- 
 Xrjo-eTaL), as frequently elsewhere, especially in interrogative 
 sentences, involves the idea of possibility (Winer, Gr. xl. 6) ; 
 and so Chrysostom expressly puts it : " He, then, who does 
 not rightly administer these [smaller] things, how shall he be 
 able (ttojs Swyja-erac) to administer the affairs of the church ? " 
 
 Ver. 6. A further qualification : not a novice, or reccjit 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 6. 143 
 
 convert (veocjivrov, literally, newly planted). Of course such 
 a qualification must be understood relatively — in some a 
 less, in others a longer period of probation being required, 
 according to circumstances. In quite recently planted 
 churches, such as those of Crete mentioned in Titus, it 
 would not be possible to obtain persons for the presby- 
 terate who had been long established in the Christian faith, 
 though even there also differences in this respect would be 
 found to exist But in Ephesus, and various other churches 
 in that locality, where for probably not less than twelve or 
 fifteen years there had been Christian communities, there 
 was ample room for the prescription in question ; hence it 
 has a place here, while quite naturally it is not found in 
 the instructions given to Titus. And as at Ephesus there 
 were not only numerous adversaries outside the church, but 
 adherents of error also beginning to ply their wiles within, 
 it was of the more importance that those invested with the 
 oversight of the community should be persons of some 
 experience in the divine life — men whose intelligence and 
 solidity of character had been already proved, lest, amid 
 the fermenting of false opinions and the craft of designing 
 hypocrites, they might be betrayed into evil. The specific 
 ground assigned by the apostle is : /est, being carried with 
 conceit, he should fall into the condemnation of the devil. The 
 Authorized Version for rvcfiwOeU has "lifted up with pride," 
 but this scarcely hits the exact shade of meaning. The 
 verb (from Tvcf>o<5, smoke, mist, cloud) denotes not simply 
 the self-elating spirit which would raise one as to the clouds, 
 but also the senseless, stupid character of such a spirit ; its 
 confusing, mystifying tendency acting like a lure to the 
 emotions, and a cloud to the reason. What the apostle 
 feaj-ed was, that the too sudden elevation to office might 
 carry the individual off his feet, as it were, and render him 
 an easy prey to the arts of plausible and designing men. 
 The very probable result he expresses by a reference to 
 
144 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the fail of the great adversary, as if this in such a case 
 would be repeated afresh; for there can be little doubt 
 that the condemnation spoken of — ^judgment in the sense 
 of condemnation — is the genitive of object: the judgment 
 passed upon the devil. The supposed neophyte, through 
 his inexperience and undue elation of spirit, first falls into 
 the sin of the old aspiring apostate, and then shares in his 
 condemnation, passing from the sphere of a minister of 
 light into the doomed condition of an instrument of dark- 
 ness. The lesson, with its attendant warning, is for all 
 times. It tells the church, that as there are temptations 
 and perils peculiar to the ministerial office, so men should 
 not be in haste to enter it, nor should others seek to push 
 them prematurely forward. At the same time, the matter 
 is wisely left in a certain indefiniteness ; no precise age or 
 specific term of probation is fixed in Scripture. 
 
 Ver. 7. But he must also have a good testif}i07iy ff'o?n those 
 that are without. Here, too, we have something that is not 
 only additional, and to be connected with the preceding by 
 a moreover, but this coupled with a sort of counter element, 
 and fitly introduced by the adversative 8e : the person 
 chosen to the pastorate must not be a neophyte, lest he 
 prove unequal to the difficulties and dangers connected 
 with the office ; but, more than that, he must be well re- 
 ported of by those who stand without the pale of the 
 religious community, as well as known to be of approved 
 Christian worth by those who are tuithin. The one cannot 
 be dispensed with, though he should have the other. The 
 expression those without (ol 'l^oiOev or e^w, often used, as 
 at I Cor. V. 12, 19 ; Col. iv. 5 ; i Thess. iv. 12) is a natural 
 mode of designating such as, in regard to the church of 
 God, are extra fores, not of the household of faith. Directly, 
 persons of this description have no right to interfere with 
 the appointment of a Christian pastor; but it is of im- 
 portance that they have nothing to object— that the person 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 7. 145 
 
 raised to such an office be in good repute even among 
 them, so that no occasion may be given them by his 
 appointment to think hghtly of the Christian church, or to 
 encourage them in the hope of marring the success of his 
 ministry. Where the minister of the gospel does not enjoy 
 the esteem of the world, it becomes comparatively easy for 
 the instruments of the wicked one to stir up prejudices 
 against him, and involve him in trouble. This seems to 
 be what is meant in the reason assigned by the apostle for 
 the requirement — lest he fall into reproach and the snare of 
 the devil. It is disputed whether only snare here should be 
 coupled with the devil, or reproach also should be included. 
 The question is scarcely worth raising. The devil, as the 
 general head and representative of all evil agencies, may 
 well enough be associated with any mischief or disaster be- 
 falling a servant of God — reproach as well as anything else. 
 But in the usual style of Scripture, it is with crafty wiles 
 and moral embroilments that his agency is more commonly 
 connected, rather than outward obloquy or shame ; and the 
 related passage in 2 Tim. ii. 26, where snare alone is men- 
 tioned, still further favours this view. The most natural 
 explanation, then, of the apostle's fear regarding the ap- 
 pointment of pastors who were not in good repute with 
 the world, is that they would in such a case be exposed to 
 the taunts of ungodly men, disparaged as unworthy of their 
 position, and, conscious of this, would probably be tempted 
 to do things which would entangle them in Satan's net of 
 unseemly wranglings or dangerous relationships. No one 
 who has much experience in life can be at a loss for ex- 
 amples of this nature. 
 
 Thus ends the apostle's list of qualifications, which he 
 desired to see meeting in every one who might be placed 
 in the responsible position of an overseer of Christ's flock. 
 They are, as already stated, predominantly moral, aiid con- 
 sist of attributes of character rather than of gifts and en- 
 
 K 
 
146 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 dowments of mind. The latter also to some extent are 
 included, in so far especially as they might be required to 
 form clear perceptions of truth and duty, to distinguish 
 between things that differ, and in difficult or perplexing 
 circumstances to discern the right, and know how to main- 
 tain and vindicate it. Yet, withal, it is the characteristics 
 which go to constitute the living, practical Christian, which 
 together make the man of God, that in this delineation of 
 pastoral equipments are alone brought prominently into 
 view. And whatever else the church may, in the changeful 
 circumstances of her position and history, find it necessary 
 to add to the number, in order to render her responsible 
 heads fit for the varied work and service to which they are 
 called, the grand moral characteristics here specified must 
 still be regarded as the primary and more essential elements 
 in the qualifications of a true spiritual overseer. 
 
 Vers. 8, 9. hi like mafiuer that the deacons be grave. — The 
 likeness indicated here has respect to the qualifications 
 being substantially of the same kind as those connected 
 with the higher office of the pastorate : it is necessary 
 that the deacons, too, have a measure of such character- 
 istics. Two things specially call for notice in this transition 
 to the deacons. One is, that the apostle plainly knew 
 nothing of an intermediate class of officers between those 
 he had designated episcopoi., and those he now calls deacons. 
 Chrysostom's reason for the omission — namely, of the pres- 
 byters as a distinct order — can satisfy no unbiassed inter- 
 preter. He thinks it was done because " there is no great 
 difference between them and bishops ; for presbyters also 
 have received the right of teaching and the presidency of 
 the church ; and the things which he had said of the bishops 
 are applicable also to the presbyters. For in ordination 
 alone are they superior, and in this only do they appear to 
 surpass the presbyters." Jerome, on the corresponding 
 passage in Titus, gives the only tenable explanation : 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 8, 9. 147 
 
 " Presbyter, therefore, is the same with him who is bishop ; 
 and before that through the prompting of the devil am- 
 bitious strivings entered into reHgion, and it was said 
 among the people, ' I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and 
 I of Christ,' churches were governed by the common coun- 
 cil of presbyters," etc. The other thing to be noticed is, 
 that while ' deacons are named here as a class of officers 
 familiarly known, requiring no description as to their dis- 
 tinctive place and duties, no mention is made of them in 
 the Epistle to Titus. Had the inverse order been adopted, 
 the matter would have been inexplicable ; but as it is, 
 the difference may justly be regarded as an evidence of 
 genuineness and of mutual independence. It naturally 
 arose out of the diverse position and circumstances of the 
 churches in the regions respectively of Crete and Ephesus. 
 Crete, where Titus had been left to complete the arrange- 
 ments originated by the apostle, appears to have been but 
 recently visited by the gospel, and in ecclesiastical matters 
 everything was as yet in comparative infancy. In Christian 
 communities so small, the simplest possible organization 
 would be sufficient ; in most cases, indeed, all that was 
 practicable. A beginning must be made, as elsewhere 
 (Acts xiv. 23), with a few respectable elders in each. At 
 Ephesus, however, and in the larger towns of Asia Minor, 
 the churches had already grown into large communities, 
 and inferior as well as superior officers were required (as 
 previously in the church at Jerusalem) for the proper dis- 
 tribution and management of its affairs. The distinct place, 
 therefore, assigned to deacons here is perfectly in keeping 
 with the historical circumstances of the time. It is the 
 only occasion on which they are formally discoursed of 
 in St. Paul's writings ; but in epistles of considerably 
 earlier date, they are incidentally noticed as an existing 
 order, more generally in Rom. xii. 7, i Cor. xii. 28 ; 
 and more specifically in Phil. i. i, also Rom. xvi. i, 
 
140 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 where Phoebe is designated a deaconess of the church at 
 Cenchre^. 
 
 It is not necessary to dwell at any length on the several 
 quahfications mentioned by the apostle ; they are for the 
 most part such as were needed to beget in the members 
 of the church a feeling of respect and confidence towards 
 them. They must be grave, 'of serious deportment, as op- 
 posed to unbecoming levity ; 7iof double-tongued (StXoyovs), 
 prevaricating in their speech, and so giving rise to mis- 
 understandings and differences ; 7iot addicted to much wine; 
 not lovers of base gain (alcrxpoKepSecs:), the base qualifying the 
 gain, as a thing which becomes base when it is taken as the 
 leading aim and object of persons filling a sacred office 
 (comp. Tit. i. 11; 1 Pet. v. 2), — '^greedy of filthy lucre," 
 A. v., '' greedy of base gain," EUicott, seem both rather 
 too strong ; holding (e^ovTa?, having or possessing) t/ie mys- 
 tery of the faith in a pure co7tscience. Faith might here be 
 taken either objectively — what the parties apprehended and 
 beheved ; or subjectively — the apprehensive and believing 
 principle itself, — but more naturally the former : and what 
 is meant by the mystery of it is the once secret or hidden 
 nature of the things about which the distinctively gospel 
 faith is conversant, now brought to light by the revelation 
 of Jesus Christ. Reuss (in his Histoire de la Theol. Chre- 
 tienne, vol. ii. p. 88) has given a good explanation of this 
 peculiar phraseology. After referring to the partial revela- 
 tions made through the prophets, he says : " The plan of 
 God could not be understood so long as the manifestation 
 of Him who was to accomplish it had yet to be made good. 
 It continued to be a mystery — a matter concealed, not com- 
 prehended, and only ceased to be such by the fact of the 
 definitive revelation {a.-K0K6Xv\\rii) of Christ (Rom. xvi. 26 ; 
 I Cor. ii. 7 ; Gal. iii. 23 ; Eph. iii. 3, etc.). We ought to 
 draw attention to the difference which subsists between the 
 notion of f^va-TijpLov with Paul, and that of a mystery in the 
 
T TIMOTHY III. TO, II. I49 
 
 scholastic sense ; that is, of an incomprehensible dogma. 
 In all the passages just referred to, as in some others, Paul 
 opposes to mystery the revelation which puts an end to it ; 
 whereas in the scholastic sense it is with the revelation that 
 the mystery commences. The apostle qualifies the plan of 
 God's salvation sometimes as the mystery of God (Col. ii. 2 ; 
 I Cor. iv. .1, ii. i), with reference to its Author, and more 
 completely as the mystery of the will of God (Eph. i. 9) ; 
 sometimes as the 7nystery of Christ (Eph. iii. 4 ; Col. iv. 3), 
 with respect to its Mediator or executor : besides, as the 
 mystery of faith (i Tim. iii. 9), or of godliness (iii. 16), with 
 respect to its practical condition ; in fine, as the mystery of 
 the gospel (Eph. vi. 19), inasmuch as it is the object of 
 apostolic preaching." 
 
 Ver. 10. But these also, or, And these too, let them first be 
 proved — koL ovtoi 8e : not enough that they seem to have all 
 the qualifications previously mentioned, but let this further 
 precaution be taken, let them be first proved ; then let thejn 
 serve as deacons, if (namely, after being proved) they are 
 without blame — ovr^^ aviyKX-qroi, being without charge of 
 blame, the period of probation having passed, and no ac- 
 cusation preferred against them. 
 
 Ver. II. There is a difference of opinion among com- 
 mentators how this verse should be understood : whether of 
 women in the sense of wives — the wives of the deacons men- 
 tioned immediately before ; or of women holding much the 
 same relative position in the church as deacons — women 
 called to do active service for the community. Our trans- 
 lators have adopted the former view, rendering, " Even so 
 must their wives be grave," — the wives, namely, of the 
 deacons ; and in this they have the support of such men as 
 Bengel, Beza (who, however, would extend the reference 
 to bishops as well as deacons, against the connection), the 
 modern Greek commentator Coray, Conybeare, also Huther, 
 who conceives the wives of deacons to be here mentioned, 
 
150 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 because in certain parts of their office, especially in mini- 
 stering to the poor and the sick, their wives would naturally 
 co-operate with them, and often do a considerable part of 
 the work. Whence, quite naturally, the wives of deacons 
 might be noticed with a view to their proper qualifications, 
 while nothing was said of the wives of the bishops or 
 pastors, because the latter could not participate in the 
 official service of their husbands. All this may fairly be 
 alleged in favour of that interpretation, and also the circum- 
 stance that, as the apostle returns in the next verse to the 
 deacons, it would seem upon the whole more natural, that 
 what he inserts about women in the middle of his instruc- 
 tions regarding deacons should refer to such women as 
 were in a manner part of themselves, than to others occu- 
 pying a quite separate position. On the other hand, the 
 mode of expression employed in introducing the women, 
 yvvoLKag wo-avro)?, apparently marking a transition to another 
 class (as at ver. 8, ii. 9 ; Tit. ii. 3, 6) ; also the absence of 
 either the article (ras) or the pronoun (avTwv) to connect 
 the women with the men spoken of before ; and further, 
 the mention only of such qualifications in respect to the 
 women as might fit them for confidential employment in 
 deacon-work, while nothing is said of those more directly 
 bearing on domestic duties ; — these considerations seem 
 very much to favour the view adopted already by Chrysos- 
 tom, — adopted as too obvious to require any explanation 
 (yvvacKas StaKovovs (jirjcri)^ — and followed by Theophylact, 
 Grotius, De Wette, EUicott, Alford, etc. : that not deacons' 
 wives, but female deacons, are meant. It still is somewhat 
 strange, however, that the general term women (yvi/at/cas) 
 is employed, and not the specific deaconesses (to.? StaKovov?), 
 which would have excluded all uncertainty as to the mean- 
 ing. Possibly the matter was so put as intentionally to 
 include women of both classes ; at once wives to the 
 deacons who occasionally shared with their husbands in 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 12, 13. 151 
 
 diaconal ministrations, and women who were themselves 
 charged by the church with such ministrations. Anyhow, 
 it ought to be understood of women who, in the one 
 character or the other, were actively engaged in the kind 
 of work which was proper to deacons. x\nd considering 
 the greater separation which then existed between the sexes, 
 and the extreme jealousy which guarded the approaches 
 to female society, it was in a manner indispensable that 
 women, with some sort of delegated authority, should often 
 be entrusted with various kinds of diaconal service. For 
 those so entrusted, the following simple requisites are men- 
 tioned : that they be grave, not sla7iderers, sohei^ faithful in 
 all tJwigs ; the same substantially as those required of the 
 deacons, only delivered with more brevity. 
 
 Ver. 12. The apostle, returning again to the deacons 
 for the purpose of supplementing what he had previously 
 said, adds concerning them : Let the deacons be husbands of 
 one wife, ruling well their children and their oivn houses ; the 
 same quahfications precisely which had been required of 
 the higher officers in respect to family and domestic rela- 
 tions. See at ver. 4, and Appendix B. 
 
 Ver. 13. Here follows a reason for exacting such quali- 
 fications of deacons, as requisite for the safe and efficient 
 discharge of the trust committed to them ; the yap, for, 
 coupling this to the whole of the preceding instructions on 
 the subject : for those who have done the work of a deacon 
 well obtain for themselves a good degree, and much boldness in 
 the faith which is iii Christ Jesus (ev Trto-ret tt) ey X. 'It^ctov, 
 lit. in faith, that which is in Christ Jesus : fide, eaque in 
 Ch. J. coUocata — Fritzsche on Rom. iii. 25). There is a 
 certain indefiniteness in the apostle's language here, which 
 has given occasion to a considerable variety in the interpreta- 
 tions that have been adopted. The step or degree {/3a0/x6v) 
 mentioned has by some been understood of ecclesiastical 
 advancement — the higher office of the pastorate ; by others, 
 
152 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 of the consideration and honour awarded by the members 
 of the church to such as have faithfully acquitted them- 
 selves of any sacred trust devolved on them ; by others, 
 again, of a subjective elevation — the rise made in faith 
 and the several graces of a Christian life, as the result of 
 continuous and active employment in the divine service; by 
 others, still again, of the place of honour and distinction 
 that will accrue in the great day of final reckoning to those 
 who have served the Lord diligently in His church on earth 
 — their own measure of fidelity and love here shall be meted 
 back to them by the great householder — " a measure full 
 and running over." It is this last reference which is now 
 most commonly adopted by the better class of commenta- 
 tors, and is undoubtedly the one that should mainly be 
 pressed, although I see no reason why at least the two 
 immediately preceding it should not also be included. 
 There can be no doubt that the faithful discharge of the 
 duties of the diaconal office would tend to secure for the 
 individuals giving it a growth in the attainments and virtues 
 of a Christian life, — grace properly used leading to larger en- 
 dowments of grace ; and, as a matter of course, they would 
 at the close of their service occupy a higher place in the 
 esteem and confidence of their brethren than they could 
 possibly do at the commencement. But such things, how- 
 ever true and good, are still inadequate ; they fall greatly 
 short of what we may justly conceive the apostle to have 
 had mainly in view, and can only be regarded as among 
 the incidental and temporary grounds of encouragement, 
 which may be looked for by the true servant of the Lord : 
 the degree by Avay of eminence, the grand stage of honour 
 and enlargement which lies before him, is the recompense 
 of glory which shall be conferred on him at that day by the 
 exalted Redeemer. It is surely but natural to suppose that 
 the apostle, when pointing to only one ground of encourage- 
 ment for fidelity in diaconal work, wishing to fix the eye 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 14, 15. • I S3 
 
 on a specific prospect of future advancement, would shoot 
 beyond the earthly sphere, and make special account of 
 that which in its worth immensely overshadows all. It 
 also accords best with what immediately follows, — namely, 
 great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus, as con- 
 scious, from what is granted to him by the Master Himself, 
 that he does really stand in the faith, and cannot need to 
 be ashamed. It may be added, as a still further confir- 
 mation of this view, that the word designating the diaconal 
 service (StaKoviJo-ai/rcs) is in the indefinite past, and appears 
 to contemplate the work as a finished totality. No doubt 
 this might be done in respect to an immediate past, as con- 
 trasted with a future still in this life, to which it formed the 
 introduction (so that the use of the aorist cannot of itself, 
 with Alford, be held to be conclusive evidence of a regard 
 simply to the day of judgment). Still, it may most fitly be 
 taken to contemplate the diaconate as a thing lying alto- 
 gether in the past, with the one great future of the day of 
 recompense before it. It is scarcely necessary to add that 
 the doctrine of rewards implied in this view of the passage 
 is in perfect accordance with what is stated on the subject 
 in other parts of Scripture ; in our Lord's parables, for 
 instance, of the pounds, the talents, and the judgment day. 
 Matt. XXV., Luke xix. 11-27; and in the apostle's own 
 writings, as at Rom. ii. 6-10, 2 Cor. iv. 10, 2 Tim. iv. 
 7, 8. But see at chap. vi. 19. 
 
 Ver. 14. These things I write to thee, hoping to come to 
 thee shortly : t6.^iov, literally, more quickly — sooner, that is, 
 than I at one time thought, or than would seem to call for 
 more detailed communications. 
 
 Ver. 15. But if I should tarry, [the things have been 
 written] in order thai thou mayest k?iow how thou oughtest 
 to conduct thyself in God's house, which indeed is the church 
 of the living God, the pillar and base^jient of the truth. The 
 expression rendered, how thou oughtest to condiut thyself (Set 
 
154 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 dvaa-Tpecfiea-Oai), has sometimes been taken in a more general 
 sense : how men ought to conduct themselves, such as have 
 to do generally with the management of God's house (so, for 
 example, Huther). It might, no doubt, be understood in 
 this manner ; but it seems better to retain the special refer- 
 ence to Timothy : for, while many of the things written in 
 the preceding portions of the epistle had respect to the 
 conduct which men generally, especially men holding office 
 in the Christian church, ought to maintain, their more 
 immediate object was to instruct Timothy how /le should 
 himself act in the delicate and responsible" position he was 
 for the time called to fulfil at Ephesus. But even on the 
 understanding that the special reference is to Timothy, such 
 a rendering as this might fitly enough be given : how one 
 ought to conduct oneself; but the other is simpler, and is 
 to be preferred. 
 
 God's house^ which indeed is the church of the living God — 
 otKO) ©eoO, y]Ti<i iarrlv eKKX-qcTia ©. ^wvtos ; the latter clause 
 epexegetical of the former, defining more exactly what is 
 meant by God's house. The indefinite relative tJtls is in 
 such a connection stronger than the simple relative, being 
 employed " to introduce an especial attribute belonging to 
 the nature of the object, its real and peculiar property, 
 or differentia'' (J elf, 6^r. § 8i6, 7 ; Ellicott on Gal. iv. 24) : 
 the house of God, namely that which is — or, which indeed 
 is — the church of the living God. There was a necessity 
 for this definition, as in former times the expression " house 
 of God " had been much associated with the material fabric 
 of the temple, which was, in a sense that nothing of like 
 sort could be in the gospel dispensation, the habitation 
 or dwelling-place of Deity (2 Chron. v. 14; Isa. Ivi. 7; 
 Matt. xxi. 13). But even in Old Testament times, the 
 more enlightened believers understood that the temple, 
 with its sacred furniture and services, was an emblem of 
 God's fellowship with His people, who therefore were then, 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 15. 155 
 
 as now, the only proper habitation of God on earth : hence 
 such passages as Num. xii. 7, Isa. Ixvi. 2 ; and those in 
 which habitual communion with God is identified with 
 dwelling in His house, Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4 ; or having God 
 Himself for a sanctuary and dwelling-place, Ps. xc. i, Ezek. 
 xi. 16. There was a mutual indwelling — they in God, and 
 God in them. But, in accordance with the spiritual cha- 
 racter of the new dispensation, this truth is brought out 
 more distinctly now, and that, too, in earlier parts of 
 Scripture than in the passage before us. Thus, in Eph. 
 ii. 20-22, the church, as composed of believing Jews and 
 Gentiles, is represented as a glorious building, raised on 
 Christ as the foundation : an holy temple in the Lord, or 
 habitation of God through the Spirit. A quite similar re- 
 presentation is given in i Pet. ii. 5, iv. 17, and again in 
 Heb. iii. 6, where, with reference to Christ as a Son in His 
 own house, it is added : " Whose house are we, if we hold 
 fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto 
 the end." In these passages, the house, temple, or habitation 
 of God is plainly associated with individuals, the individuals 
 addressed by the apostle, contemplated as in living union 
 with Christ ; and in the strict sense it can only be predi- 
 cated of such that they are God's house ; for in their case 
 alone is there the real link that connects the human with 
 the divine — the spiritual habitation with the glorious inha- 
 bitant. It is the church as the ecdesia of God, His elect, 
 whom He has called out of the world and gathered into His 
 fold, that He may sustain and keep them unto life eternal. 
 But here, as in many other passages, the apostle does not 
 use the word in this absolute sense ; he uses it of the out- 
 standing, organized communities of believers, viewed as the 
 concrete realization, in this or that particular locality, of the 
 spiritual or ideal body. This is what every one of such 
 communities is called to be, though in reality it might be 
 so but in part. He holds it, as it were, to its idea : if it 
 
156 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 was worthy of the name, it was God's house, a living com- 
 munity of saints pervaded by the presence of the Hving 
 God ; and hence, the pillar and basement of the truth {cTTvXo'i 
 Koi iSpaiwixa rrjs akr}6da<i) : for, as SO connected with God, 
 it necessarily holds and bears up in the world, that with 
 which His name and glory are peculiarly identified — the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 Some have sought to connect these last words, not with 
 what precedes, but with what follows — with the mystery of 
 godhness (so Episcopius, Mosheim, Bengel, Rosenmiiller, 
 and others, chiefly rationalistic expositors of more recent 
 times). This, however, is against all probability, and is 
 rejected by the great body of interpreters. It would form 
 a most abrupt and artificial commencement were the terms 
 pillar and basement made to begin a fresh sentence : " Pillar 
 and basement of the truth, and confessedly great is the 
 mystery of godhness ! " Not only so, but to couple such 
 specific terms first with a quite general epithet, great, and 
 then with an object, mystery of godliness, which does not 
 properly suit them (for with what propriety could a mystery 
 be called a pillar ?), would only' be justifiable if it were 
 impossible to find a more appropriate connection. But so 
 far is that from being the case, that to regard them as a 
 description of the church in her destination to maintain and 
 exhibit before the world the testimony of divine truth com- 
 mitted to her keeping, is in itself a perfectly natural repre- 
 sentation, and in accordance with what we elsewhere read 
 of the calling of the church. Was it not the special calling 
 of Christ Himself to bear witness to the truth, and by doing 
 so to become the Light of the world ? But in this Christ 
 was only in a pre-eminent degree what in a measure His 
 people, individually and collectively, should also be found. 
 They should be, and they are, while stedfast to their pro- 
 fession, a basement whereon the truth may securely rest 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 15. 157 
 
 amid all the fluctuations of the world, and a pillar to bear 
 it aloft, that all may know and consider it. 
 
 There has been a disinclination in certain quarters to 
 acquiesce in this mode of interpretation, because of its 
 supposed tendency to play into the hands of the Church 
 of Rome. It is, no doubt, one of the passages on which 
 Rome seeks to ground her claim to universal homage as 
 the one church of Christ ; but it is no more suitable to her 
 purpose than the promise to St. Peter in Matt. xvi. 18 ; only 
 by arbitrary distinctions and vain assumptions can either 
 the one passage or the other be made to favour her preten- 
 sions. Here, in particular, where the church is set forth as 
 the pillar and basement of the truth, it is a test we have to 
 deal with, as well as a claim to consider. For the truth is 
 not of the church's making, but of God's revealing : she has 
 it, not as of her own, but from above ; and has ic not to 
 alter or modify at her own will, but to keep as a sacred 
 treasure for the glory of God and the good of men. And 
 if she should anyhow corrupt or lose hold of this truth, she 
 so far ceases to be the house of God ; for she now does 
 that part to the devil's lie, which ought to have been done 
 exclusively for the sure word of God. Nor is it too much 
 to suppose such a thing possible with a considerable portion 
 of the professing church. It was so, we know, with by 
 much the most pretentious section of the Jewish community 
 before the time of Christ ; and the apostle has elsewhere 
 informed us, that in the Christian church also there was to 
 be a great apostasy, a mystery of iniquity working under the 
 cloak of a Christian profession, in consequence of which 
 many should be given up to believe a lie (2 Thess. ii. 3-1 1). 
 Rightly understood, therefore, this passage determines no- 
 thing for Rome, or for any church which rests its claim to apos- 
 tolicity on historical descent. The grand test is, does she 
 hold by the truth of God ? Is she in her belief and practice 
 a witness for this ? Or does she gainsay and pervert it ? 
 
158 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 It is rather strange that Chrysostom, while he applies the 
 description to the church, inverts the order of the relation 
 it indicates between the truth and the church : the church 
 of the New Testament, he says, " is that which possesses in 
 itself the faith and preaching, for the truth is both the pillar 
 and the basement of the church (17 yap aX-qOua Icttl ttjs 
 eKKXr](TLa<i Koi (ttvXos kol cSpaioj/xa)." Theodoret is better, 
 for he expressly calls the company of the faithful who com- 
 pose the church the pillar and basement of the truth : "for 
 they continue stayed and settled upon the rock, and by 
 active operations (8ta rSv Trpay/xaroov) preach the truth of 
 the doctrines." Not a few of the Fathers, however (see in 
 Suicer at o-rvAo?), referred the passage to Timothy, misled 
 by other passages in which the designation of pillars is 
 applied to persons occupying prominent positions in the 
 church : so also, in recent times, Conybeare, and Stanley 
 {Apostolic Age^ p. 121). According to this view, the whole 
 sentence would run thus : " That thou mightest know how 
 thou oughtest to conduct thyself in the house of God, [so 
 as to be therein] a pillar and basement of the truth." No 
 grammatical objection can be made to this construction; 
 only, for so specific a meaning the sentence is too indefi- 
 nitely expressed. We should certainly have expected, as 
 urged by Alford, the personal pronoun after 8et (Set o-e), 
 and also the article with (Trv\o%, so as to make : how thou 
 oughtest to conduct thyself, who art the pillar, etc. Besides, 
 while the term pillar might fitly enough be applied to 
 Timothy, as it is to other individuals (Gal. ii. 9 ; Rev. iii. 
 12), the other term, basemefit^ is not elsewhere so applied, 
 nor was it strictly applicable to such a person as Timothy, — 
 an evangelist appointed for a short period to execute a 
 definite commission for the churches in and around Ephesus. 
 It were to say more of him, indeed, than is said of Peter 
 and the other apostles, who are simply represented as 
 foundation-stones of the visible church. For in this case 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 15. 159 
 
 the church presents itself as an organized institution, rising 
 up to view in the world, and obtaining an outstanding 
 existence, through the faith and labours of the apostles, 
 who therefore stand to it in the relation of founders. But 
 the truth itself, to which that church owes its distinctive 
 character, and which it is called to preserve and manifest, 
 cannot justly be said to have any individual basement, save 
 in Him who is the very truth in everlasting and embodied 
 fulness. It is quite improbable that the apostle should 
 have designated his "child Timothy" by what is so pecu- 
 liarly characteristic only of Christ. As to Stanley's objec- 
 tion to the other and more common interpretation, that " it 
 is against the whole tenor of the passage to describe the 
 same object first as a building, and then as a part of that 
 building/' this arises from the complex nature of the object 
 represented, as requiring to be contemplated sometimes in 
 a collective, sometimes in an individual aspect; and the 
 same sort of interchange between the one and the other 
 occurs in other passages, as at i Pet. ii. 4, 5, where be- 
 lievers are at once regarded as living stones of the spiritual 
 house, then the house itself, and again as a holy priesthood 
 offering up sacrifices within it. 
 
 We hold, then, that the description here given with ^ 
 reference to the truth is to be understood of the church — 
 of the church primarily in the higher sense, the church of 
 the redeemed, and of particular communities only in so far 
 as they possess the more essential characteristics of the 
 other. The church in that respect is God's instrument of 
 working. He does not (to use the words of Calvin) "per- 
 sonally descend from heaven to us, nor does He daily send 
 angels for the purpose of promulgating the truth ; but He 
 uses the ministry of pastors, to whom for this very end He 
 has granted ordination. To express myself more strongly : 
 Is not the church the mother of all saints ? — regenerating 
 them by the word of God, rearing and training them 
 
l60 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 throughout their whole life, establishing and carrying them 
 onward, even to their proper maturity ? And for the same 
 reason also she is designated a pillar of the truth, since 
 the office of imparting spiritual instruction which God has 
 committed to her is the sole provision for preserving the 
 truth, so that it do not perish from the minds of men. 
 Therefore this eulogium is to be referred to the ministry 
 of the Word, which, being taken away, would leave the 
 word of God to fall, — not as if it were in itself infirm, and 
 needed to be borne up on the shoulders of men, as the 
 Papists impiously talk ; but on this account only, because 
 if the doctrine of the gospel were not continually sounded 
 forth, if there were no godly ministers who by their preach- 
 ing kept the truth from falling into oblivion, lies, errors, 
 impostures, superstitions, and all forms of corruption, would 
 forthwith usurp the kingdom." 
 
 It were wrong to quit the subject without noticing, how- 
 ever briefly, the elevated view which the passage under 
 consideration presents of every church that properly de- 
 serves the name : " The house of the living God ! The pillar 
 and basement of the truth ! " When one really takes in 
 this sublime conception of the church of God, how little 
 can anything of a merely adventitious or carnal nature add 
 to its greatness ! Let it be admitted that the friendly co- 
 operation or temporal support of worldly powers might, 
 within certain limits, enable her more promptly and suc- 
 cessfully to work out the ends of her appointment ; yet to 
 raise her to a nobler position and enhance her real glory, 
 this is not theirs to give. The palace differs from other 
 dwellings in the land, and ranks proudly above them all ; 
 not, it may be, on account of its finer structure and more 
 beautiful surroundings, but simply as being the seat and 
 habitation of royalty. And such precisely is the distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of the church of Christ, wherever situated, 
 and whatever its external accompaniments : it is the palace 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 1 6. l6l 
 
 of the Great King, where He is ever graciously present, and 
 dispenses Hfe and blessing to the members of His spiritual 
 household. How careful, therefore, should these members 
 be to maintain its proper character ! How careful, espe- 
 cially-j to stand in the truth, which alone makes the church 
 what it is as a region of light and blessing ! 
 
 Three things are essentially necessary to this. i. That 
 those who bear rule in the church possess only ministerial, 
 not absolute authority — serve while they rule. 2. That 
 God's word be taken as their one grand directory of faith 
 and practice in God's house. God's word must reign para- 
 mount : it is the statute book of the kingdom. 3. And then, 
 lastly, the pervading character of all pertaining to it must 
 be holiness ; for hoHness is the sum of God's moral perfec- 
 tions. " therefore holiness becometh His house for ever." 
 
 Ver. 16. The more immediate reason, obviously, which 
 led the apostle to bring so prominently out the spiritual 
 and elevated idea he had just presented of the church of 
 Christ, was to impress upon the mind of Timothy the 
 gravity and importance of the charge devolved on him, 
 and the imperative duty of all who are called to fill in it 
 offices of trust, acting in harmony with its sacred charac- 
 ter; especially handling with a profound seriousness the 
 testimony lodged with it concerning truth. For " how 
 dreadful must be their condemnation, if by any fault of 
 theirs that truth, which is the image of the divine glory, 
 the light of the world, and the salvation of men, should go 
 down ! This condemnation may well, indeed, strike terror 
 into ministers, not so as to dispirit them, but to quicken 
 them to greater vigilance " (Calvin). And with the view of 
 still further deepening this impression, the apostle goes on 
 now to exhibit the glorious reality, about which both the 
 church herself and the truth committed to her keeping, is 
 chiefly conversant : A?id confessedly great is the mystery of 
 godliness: who was manifested in the fleshy was justified in 
 
 L 
 
1 62 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the Spirit, appeared to angels, was preached among the Gen- 
 tiles, was believed on in the world, was received up in glory. 
 The controversy so long waged about the correct text in 
 this passage, whether after the mystery of godliness we 
 should read ©eo9, or os, or o, may now be regarded as vir- 
 tually settled in favour of os.^ It is, indeed, when closely 
 considered, the fittest, indicating Him who in His person and 
 work is the disclosing of that mystery, respecting the divine 
 life in man, which had hitherto been hid in God. " This 
 mystery of the life of God in man (as Alford well remarks) 
 is, in fact, the unfolding of Christ to and in him; the key-text 
 to our passage being Col. i. 27, where God is said to have 
 made known ' what is the wealth of the glory tov fxva-rrjptov 
 TOVTOV kv rot? eOvecTiv, 09 icmv Xpio-ros iv vfuv, rj eA.7rts r^s 
 S6^Y}s.^ This was the thought in St. Paul's mind, that the 
 great revelation of the religious life is Christ. And in 
 accordance with his practice in these epistles, — written, as 
 I believe, far on his course, and after the figures and results 
 of deep spiritual thoughts had been long familiar to him, — 
 he at once, without explanation or apology, as beforetime 
 
 T The greatest critical authorities are agreed in this, Lachmann, 
 Tischendorf, Tregelles ; also the more careful and exact commentators, 
 Huther, Alford, Ellicott, It has decidedly the strongest support from 
 ancient authorities — A (such, at least, seems the most probable view 
 of its primary reading, the strokes converting oc into 0c, being ap- 
 parently from a later hand ; see Ellicott's testimony in his note, also 
 Alford's to the same effect), C, F, G, S ; while for ©so? there are only 
 two uncials, I, K, at first hand, though most of the later MSS. have this 
 readincr, and it is that also of Chrysostom, Theod. , Euthalius, Damasc. , 
 Theophyl., and CEcum. One uncial MS., D, has at first hand ; and 
 both the Latin versions, and nearly all the Latin Fathers, have the cor- 
 responding quod. But this, as Ellicott notes, was only a Latinizing 
 variation of «f ; and as the Coptic, Sahidic, Gothic, as well as Syriac 
 versions all represent o?, and the ancient Latin versions and Fathers at 
 least a relative, h must undoubtedly be regarded as the more probable 
 reading. Internal considerations also favour it, as will be seen in the 
 exposition. 
 
I TIMOTHY III. l6. 163 
 
 in Col. i. 27, or expression of the Xpta-To? justifying the 
 change of gender in the relative, joins the deep and 
 latent thought with the superficial and obvious one, and 
 without saying that the mystery is m fact Christ, passes 
 from the mystery to the person of Christ, as being one 
 and the same. Then, thus passing, he is naturally led to 
 a summary of those particulars wherein Christ has been 
 revealed as a ground for the godliness of His church. And 
 the idea of fxva-TrjpLov being prominent before him, he selects 
 especially those events in and by which Christ was mani- 
 fested forth — came forth from that secrecy in which He had 
 beforetime been hidden in the counsels of God, and shone 
 out to men and angels as the Lord of life and glory." 
 
 I have no doubt this is the correct explanation ; it 
 quite naturally accounts for the substitution of os for the 
 X/3to-T09. There are not wanting even more abrupt and 
 striking substitutions of a like kind in Scripture. Thus, 
 Ps. Ixxxvii. begins with, " His foundation is in the holy 
 mountains." Whose foundation? The Psalmist's mind 
 being full of his subject, he does not expressly name this, 
 but proceeds at once to declare what he knew and thought 
 concerning it. So also 3 John 7, speaking of the be- 
 lieving strangers, represents them as (according to the 
 proper text) "having for t/ie name gone forth." What 
 name ? This it was needless further to particularize. The 
 I OS here should therefore be taken simply as the relative, 
 the proper antecedent being omitted, but easily supplied. 
 Ellicott does well in rejecting other modes of explanation ; 
 such as considering it at once as demonstrative and relative, 
 " He who," or making it equivalent to ecce est qui. But I 
 see no reason for supposing, with him, Huther, and others, 
 that the passage introduced by the relative is part of an 
 ancient hymn or confession adopted by the apostle. The 
 natural supposition, I agree with Alford in thinking, would 
 appear rather to He the other way. It was more likely that 
 
164 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 such a passage — a passage so singularly profound and 
 j^regnant in meaning — should have been first penned by the 
 apostle, and then possibly passed into some kind of hymnal 
 or liturgical use (though of this we have no certain infor- 
 mation), than that, from haying been so used, it should have 
 been caught up by the apostle, and woven into his dis- 
 course. Its parallelistic structure is no argument against 
 this ; for in other parts of the apostle's writings we find him, 
 in his fervent utterances, falling into the same kind of paral- 
 lelism— Rom. viii. s^, 39, xi. 33-36; I Cor. XV. 55-57. 
 
 The substitution of 09 for ©eds as the proper reading, 
 by no means destroys the bearing of the passage on the 
 divinity of Christ; for this is clearly implied in what 
 follows — is, indeed, the ground-element of the whole series 
 of declarations. There had been no proper mystery in 
 the matter, unless the divine here mingled with the human. 
 The first announcement alone may be held to be con- 
 clusive on the subject : was manifested in the flesh; for who 
 would have dreamt of speaking thus of a simple man ? It 
 plainly implies that the person spoken of was something 
 before, something so much greater and higher than man, 
 that it was like the disclosure of a great secret when He 
 manifested Himself in mortal flesh. It is the fact of the 
 incarnation merely which is here mentioned ; but this con- 
 templated as embracing not sim.ply the birth, but the whole 
 of our Lord's earthly existence and sojourn. The nearest 
 parallel passages are John i. 14, i John i. i. The next 
 expression is not quite so patent in meaning : was justified 
 in spirit (iBiKaLwOr} kv irvevfjiaTi). For the question naturally 
 presents itself — What spirit? Is it the Holy Spirit? Or, 
 the spirit in Christ's person, viewed as a kind of antithesis 
 to His flesh ? According as the one or the other view of 
 this is adopted, a corresponding difference will arise in the 
 sense we necessarily put on the justify i/ig. But as the whole 
 discourse here is of Christ Himself, in His personal pro- 
 
I TIMOTHY III. 1 6. 165 
 
 parties and marvellous history, the most natural light in 
 which to view spirit must be to understand it of Christ's 
 spiritual nature, the seat of His divine life ; and, as such, 
 the counterpart of the flesh mentioned in the immediately 
 preceding clause, which together made up His appearance 
 and hfe among men. It is of that, also, we can best under- 
 stand tliQ jtcstifying, which must be taken here, as elsewhere 
 in St. Paul's writings, in the sense of judged or approved 
 as righteous. Christ was thus justified in spirit, because in 
 His career on earth, from first to last. He fulfilled all right- 
 eousness, and once and again was proclaimed to be the 
 Father's beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. 
 There is, when so explained, both a contrast and a corre- 
 spondence in the two predicates : manifested in flesh, jus- 
 tified in spirit ; — flesh and spirit natural opposites, but the 
 manifesting in the one corresponding to the justifying in 
 the other ; that indicating His real humanity, this His true 
 holiness ; on the one side actual manhood, on the other 
 spiritual perfection. 
 
 There is the same sort of contrast and correspondence in 
 the two succeeding pairs. And it is this, too much over- 
 looked by commentators, which most readily helps us to 
 the right exhibition of the meaning. Appeared — {^<f>Or}, 
 rather appeared than was seen ; it is made Himself seen, for 
 the verb is commonly used in the sense of self-exhibition, 
 Acts vii. 26, xxvi. 16, etc.) — appeared to angels^ was preached 
 among the Gentiles : angels and Gentiles, again natural op- 
 posites — the one the blessed occupants of a higher sphere, 
 the other the more corrupt and debased inhabitants of this 
 lower world. To the former, therefore. He appears as He 
 is ; they observe His progress, bring occasional supply to 
 His wants, herald His resurrection, attend Him as guardian 
 hosts to heaven, thereafter minister and serve before Him : 
 to the latter, the Gentiles, He cannot thus render Himself 
 manifest and familiar ; but, what in a sense was better. He 
 
1 66 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, 
 
 is preached among tliem for their salvation, so that through 
 Him they may be raised out of their prostrate condition, 
 and become allied to nobler spirits, even to " the innumer- 
 able company of angels and the church of the first-born, 
 whose names are written in heaven." Finally, Believed on 
 in the world, received tip in glory : the world and glory, 
 how far asunder, and in a sense antagonistic ! — the one 
 above, the other beneath ; the one suggesting thoughts 
 only of celestial brightness and purity, the other replete 
 with numberless forms and appearances of evil — the region 
 of sin, disease, and death. In this, therefore, Christ, as the 
 perfected Redeemer, was incapable of residing, yet is spiri- 
 tually present and believed on to the temporal and eternal 
 good of His people ; while Himself, as the fit inhabitant of 
 a better region, received up in glory — the glory which He 
 had with the Father before the world was. Thus not merely 
 at the commencement, but throughout the series, there is 
 the evolution of a mystery ; an exhibition of contrasts, yet 
 at the same time a preservation of what is fit and becoming 
 in the several relations ; a carrying out of what, in its diver- 
 sified bearings, the scheme of God indispensably required. 
 But I can see no advantage to the meaning, or even suit- 
 ableness, in endeavouring, with Alford, to make the clauses 
 consecutive — each as it follows taking up the history where 
 the immediately preceding one had left it. It is impossible 
 to work out a natural exposition on this plan ; some of the 
 expressions must have a measure of constraint or violence 
 put upon them. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ver. I. But the Spii^it speaks expressly, etc. The descrip- 
 tion given toward the close of the preceding chapter of* the 
 church as the pillar and basement of divine truth, and of 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. I. 167 
 
 the grand mystery which finds its evokition in connection 
 with the interests and hopes of the church, might well have 
 seemed to bespeak for her future condition a secure and 
 continuous prosperity. There was, however, a shady side 
 to the picture; and it was right that Timothy, and those 
 who might follow after in the ministry of the word, should 
 have timely warning of it. Here, therefore, the apostle 
 proceeds to give some leading characteristics of this darker 
 future, indicating by the connecting particle (the adversa- 
 tive 8e) that the things he was going to utter should form 
 an unhappy contrast to what had been already said : To Sk 
 Ili/ev/xa pT^Tcos Aeyet. By the Spirit is undoubtedly to be 
 understood the Holy Spirit, the immediate source of all 
 prophetic insight into the coming dispensations of Provi- 
 dence, and the history of the church. And when this Spirit 
 is affirmed to have spoken expressly (p7]T(o<;, used in this 
 sense by Polybius, iii. 23. 5, and some later Greek \vriters ; 
 see in Wetstein) as to the sad declensions that were in 
 prospect, respect is obviously had to the explicit, unam- 
 biguous character of the announcements. If it is asked, 
 however, when or by whom the announcements were 
 made, no very definite reply can be given. There may 
 have been, and very probably were, intimations of the 
 coming evil given to the apostle himself, of which no record 
 exists beyond the brief outline contained in the passage 
 before us. But if there were such, we may naturally sup- 
 pose they would be in the same line with those which have 
 been recorded — further, and probably more specific, de- 
 velopments of the features indicated in them. Even in 
 Old Testament Scripture there are not wanting prophetic 
 glimpses which seem to point in this direction ; in particular 
 what is said in Daniel, chap. vii. 25, viii. 23-25, of a dark, 
 subtle, and corrupt power which was destined apparently to 
 arise and work with disastrous energy in Messiah's kingdom, 
 after this kingdom should have been formally set up. More 
 
1 68 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 certainly, however, may be taken into account some of our 
 Lord's announcements respecting the future of His church, 
 such as the parable of the tares and the wheat, and the 
 mention of false Christs and false prophets, who should 
 deceive many, in His discourse of the last days (Matt, 
 xxiv. 1 1 ss.). More especially still may be included Paul's 
 own statements in one of his earliest epistles concerning a 
 great apostasy which was to take place in the Christian 
 church (2 Thess. ii.) ; also what he said in his address to 
 the elders of Ephesus about persons going to arise within 
 the church who should do the part of wolves to the flock, 
 teaching perverse things (Acts xx. 29, 30) ; and still again, 
 the pointed reference he made in his Epistle to the Colos- 
 sians to the depravations of Christian doctrine and worship, 
 which he descried as already beginning to take shape, 
 through the combined influence of ascetic and ritualistic 
 tendencies (chap. ii.). These were all prior in point of 
 time to the passage now under consideration, and were of 
 a kindred nature to it, though none of them speak so ex- 
 pressly of the corruptions now more particularly in the eye 
 of the apostle as he does in this warning to Timothy. We 
 may therefore justly infer, that the explicitness of the Spirit's 
 utterances here given through the apostle really form an 
 advance on the revelations hitherto communicated to the 
 church in this particular line, one required by the circum- 
 stances of the time. 
 
 The express utterances of the Spirit were to the effect 
 that in after times some shall depart fro7?i the faith. As to 
 the period indicated, the expression of the apostle is some- 
 what indefinite ; for the kv varepoLs KaipoTs may be under- 
 stood of any age or time subsequent to the apostle's own : 
 it was merely the times which, in respect to the persons 
 who then lived, lay somewhere in the future. The expres- 
 sion in 2 Tim. iii. i, the last days, and St. John's^ the last 
 hour, or season {la-^^aT-q wpa, i John ii. 18), appear of them- 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. I. 169 
 
 selves to point to a yet more remote future — to what was 
 contemplated as a closing period. But, from the habit of 
 Jewish writers to view Messiah's times generally as the 
 later times of the world's history, we cannot, perhaps, draw 
 very sharply the distinction between these forms of expres- 
 sion and the one used in the passage before us. By this 
 the apostle' plainly means to denote, in a somewhat general 
 way, the later age of the world ; not absolutely its very 
 last or closing period, but stretching, perhaps, over exten- 
 sive tracks of time. The evil, indeed, was already germi- 
 nating ; and it was to grow into what the apostle calls a 
 departure or apostasy from the idA\}i\— faith taken objec- 
 tively, as often elsewhere (Acts vi. 7 ; Jude 3, etc.), for the 
 truths or doctrines embraced by faith. Men were going to 
 corrupt the simplicity of these by mixing with them errors 
 and traditions of their own. Then follow indications of the 
 erring course. 
 
 Giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons. 
 The seducing spirits here referred to evidently stand in 
 contrast to the Spirit mentioned immediately before — that 
 Spirit who is to the church of Christ the source of all truth 
 and holiness. Instead of following His guidance, the parties 
 in question were to give way to spirits of error, seducing 
 spirits (TTvevixacTLv TrAai/ois), and teachings of demons — that 
 is, teachings which drew their inspiration from demoniacal 
 agencies. For there can be no doubt that the genitive here 
 (SaLfxovLiov) is the genitive of the subject (Winer, § 30), and 
 not, as Mede laboured with great earnestness and industry 
 to show, that of the object — teachings or doctrines concern- 
 ing demons — demonolatry. Ample proof, indeed, exists, 
 and was produced by Mede (Works, p. 623), of the exten- 
 sive prevalence of demonolatry in apostolic times outside 
 the Christian church, and of the footing it ere long got 
 within the church, under the forms of saint and martyr 
 worship, exorcisms, incantations, and superstitious wrest- 
 
lyo THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 lings with particular representatives of the demon world. 
 But there is no evidence of that specific form of corruption 
 being here in the eye of the apostle. The particular kinds 
 of evil mentioned by him have no proper affinity with it ; 
 they belong to the sphere of ordinary life, and were such as 
 spring from a false but aspiring asceticism, aiming at higher 
 degrees of mortification and self-denial than consisted with 
 the principles of the gospel. To represent teaching of this 
 sort as the offspring of corrupt and misleading spirits — the 
 spirits that rule in the darkness of this world, and strive to 
 keep it in alienation from the life of God — was not to dis- 
 sociate it from the efforts of a human instrumentality (it is 
 presently, indeed, connected therewith), but to stamp the 
 instrumentality as essentially evil, working under the in- 
 fluence, and for the interest, of the adversary of souls. 
 Some have supposed the instrumental agents themselves to 
 be designated seductive spirits and demoniacal teachers ; 
 but this is contrary to the usage of Scripture, and also to 
 the connection here. It is the unseen prime movers of the 
 mischief in the spirit-world, not the instruments employed 
 by them, that are so characterized by the apostle. 
 
 Ver. 2. 'Ev vTTOKpicreL if/ev8oX6y(ov — not, as in the Autho- 
 rized Version, " speaking lies in hypocrisy," which would 
 take \f/evSoX6y(Dv as in apposition with the 8at/>tovtW of the 
 preceding clause, and so would identify the demons with 
 the instrumental agents — but in hypocrisy of speakers of lies : 
 a prepositional clause, defining the manner in which the 
 giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons 
 was to make way, consequently describing the spirit and 
 character of the human agents. The false teaching in 
 question being, as to its origin, from the father of lies, the 
 parties who were to be chiefly instrumental in insinuating 
 its poison into the church were to be the fit representatives 
 and agents of such a cause ; not sincere, straightforward, 
 truth-loving men, but persons living in hypocrisy as their 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 2. 171 
 
 natural element, speaking lies as their proper vocation, — 
 men, in short, of subtle and sophistical minds, who had no 
 relish for the pure gospel, and assumed the profession of a 
 regard to it only that they might the more advantageously 
 propagate their transcendental views and practices. Such 
 appears to be the natural import and bearing of the clause ; 
 it brings prominently out that dangerous characteristic in 
 the immediate instruments of the false teaching referred to, 
 by means of which the spirit of evil that wrought in them 
 was to acquire ascendency in the church. 
 
 The moral condition of these corrupt teachers is further 
 described as that of persons who have had their conscie7ice 
 scarred (KeKava-TrjpLaa-fxevwv,''^ cauterized), that is, branded as 
 with a Kavrrjp, a marking instrument of hot iron. The 
 application of such an instrument to any part of the human 
 body certainly has a hardening effect — renders the part so 
 branded comparatively insensible to the touch. And this 
 is the figurative meaning not unfrequently attached to the 
 expression here ; as in our common version, " seared as 
 with a hot iron ; " so, too, Theodoret, who founds his ex- 
 planation on the physical fact, that " the part cauterized is 
 deadened, and deprived of its former sensibility." But this 
 is probably laying too much stress on an incidental effect of 
 the action, while the action itself affords both a more direct 
 and a quite appropriate sense. Understanding it so, the 
 persons in the eye of the apostle are represented as corrupt 
 at the core ; their conscience so far from bearing the im- 
 press of moral purity — blurred and spotted, as it were, with 
 the foul prints of former iniquities, and consequently in- 
 capable of relishing, or responding aright to, the holy doc- 
 trines of the gospel. There is a point, as well as severe 
 emphasis, in the language : their own conscience (rrjv iScav 
 
 * This is the form of the word given in S*, A, C, and being the rarer 
 form, is preferred by Tisch. ; the greater number of MSS, and the re- 
 ceived text have xiKcciirnpixa-f/Ava/v. 
 
172 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 (rvv€L8y}(TLv) is affirmed to be in this corrupt state ; and if 
 themselves such in their inner being, how unfit to assume 
 the part of teachers to others ! how utterly incapable of 
 leading them on to the heights of real purity and bhss ! 
 They professed to be guides of this description, to go even 
 beyond the requirements of the gospel in their zeal for a 
 self-denying and mortified life. But their zeal in this direc- 
 tion could not possibly spring from an unfeigned love of 
 the pure and good ; carnal self was really the mainspring 
 of their aspirations, though clothing itself in the appearance 
 of an angel of light. 
 
 Ver. 3. Here the apostle descends to particulars, indi- 
 cating in one or two leading points the directions this false 
 pietism was going to assume : forbidding to marry\ [bidding^] 
 to abstain fro7?t meats (or kinds of food) which God made for 
 being received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and those who 
 have the full k7iow ledge of the truth. The prohibition of mar- 
 riage, and of the use of certain kinds of food, by which more 
 especially animal food must be understood, was among the 
 commoner forms of that ascetic tendency which had already 
 taken root in the East, and, the apostle foresaw, was pre- 
 sently going to win for itself a place within the pale of the 
 Christian church. The Therapeutse of Egypt, and the 
 Essenes in the south of Palestine, were examples of the 
 tendency in question ; since not only at the gospel era, 
 but for generations before it, they had in considerable num- 
 bers been systematically carrying out their ascetic principles 
 in the manner indicated by the apostle. They confined 
 themselves to the simplest diet, altogether abstaining from 
 flesh and wine ; and, without absolutely forbidding marriage, 
 they still practically condemned and eschewed it, as incon- 
 sistent with the higher degrees of excellence in the spiritual 
 life. If the prevalence of the Gnostic spirit had led to such 
 
 1 Construction by zeugma, requiring xiXivovruv to be supplied to 
 make out the sense (Winer, § 66, i, e). 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 
 
 173 
 
 ascetic developments even under Judaism (for that the 
 parties in question were mainly, if not quite exclusively 
 Jews, admits of no doubt), it was to be expected that the 
 immense impulse given to spiritual thought and contem- 
 plation by the great facts of Christianity, would yet more 
 become to many the occasion of aspiring after perfection by 
 the same mistaken course. How far this tendency made 
 way in the church before the rise of the more formally 
 developed Gnostic systems, we have not the means of 
 definitely ascertaining ; but shortly after the commence- 
 ment of the second century, and as the result of Gnostic 
 teaching (more especially under Saturninus, Marcion, 
 Tatian), parties assuming the Christian name, but known by 
 the distinctive appellation of Encratites or Purists, openly 
 preached against marriage, and insisted on abstinence from 
 animal' food ; thereby (as Irenaeus says,'i. 28) "indirectly 
 accusing God, who made male and female for the propa- 
 gation of mankind, and proving themselves ungrateful to 
 Him who made all things." ^ It is plain, therefore, that 
 these early heresiarchs erred on the very points specified 
 by the apostle; and as some of them — in particular, Mar- 
 cion and Tatian — had been reared in the bosom of the 
 church, and afterwards separated themselves from it by 
 thus departing from the faith, it was a perfectly legitimate 
 application of the passage to turn it, as many of the Fathers 
 did, against their extreme positions. Yet not a few of 
 those Fathers themselves fell in a measure under the same 
 misguiding influence. For they so extolled virginity, as 
 virtually to disparage the married state : the one was with 
 them the ideally perfect, the other the relatively defective 
 and impure form of the Christian life ; and it was only by 
 abstinence from marriage, and by frequent fastings, always 
 attended by the disuse of animal food, and by other ascetic 
 exercises, that it was thought possible to become pattern 
 ^ See Dissertation on chap. iii. 2, App. B. 
 
174 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 saints, or to be religious in the stricter sense. But if it be 
 wrong to forbid marriage as unholy, and proscribe the use 
 of food which God has ordained for man's use ; if this be 
 virtually to impeach the wisdom of the Creator, and to 
 impute a character of evil to the bounties of His provi- 
 dence, then assuredly to turn those kinds of abstinence 
 into a ground of pre-eminent virtue, and assign to the 
 persons who practised them a place of surpassing honour, 
 was in a most real sense to depart from the faith of the 
 gospel, since it assumed another rule and standard of worth 
 than what is propounded there. It had, as the apostle else- 
 where said, " a show of humility, and neglecting of the body, 
 not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh'' (Col. ii. 23); 
 but was not the less calculated to feed the pride and self- 
 sufficiency of nature, and mar the healthfulness and sim- 
 plicity of a genuine faith. 
 
 Scripture, indeed, does not deny that a person may 
 occasionally abstain from certain meats or from marriage, 
 with advantage to his own spiritual life or the good of the 
 kingdom of God (Matt. vi. 16, 17, xvii. 21, xix. 12; 
 I Cor. vii. 32-37). But in such cases the alternative is 
 not put as between a relatively pure and perfect state by 
 the one course, and an impure or defective one by the 
 other ; but the one is presented merely as affording oppor- 
 tunities or helps for prosecuting more freely and unreserv- 
 edly the work of faith than can well be done in the other. 
 If temporary fasting should dispose and enable one to fight 
 more successfully against the lusts of the flesh, or if by 
 abstaining from marriage one could, in particular spheres 
 of labour, or in certain conjunctures of the church's history, 
 more effectually serve the interests of the gospel than other- 
 wise, then the higher principles of that gospel, the nobler 
 ends of a Christian calling, will undoubtedly justify the 
 restraint or the sacrifice. But to do this is only to subor- 
 dinate a less to a greater good : it creates no factitious 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 3. 17^ 
 
 distinctions in respect to the allowable or forbidden, holy 
 or unholy, in the ordinary relationships and circumstances 
 of life ; and calls for a rejection of the natural good in these 
 only when it may be conducive as means to a definite 
 spiritual end. This is an entirely different thing from that 
 morbid and mawkish asceticism, which, in attempting to 
 soar above the divinely appointed order and constitution of 
 things, imputes a character of evil to what is in itself good, 
 and hence withdraws men from those social environments 
 which, as a rule, are necessary to the well-being of society, 
 and to the full-orbed completeness of the Christian cha- 
 racter. 
 
 When the apostle speaks, in the latter part of this verse, 
 of the common articles of food as having been made by 
 God,— for being received with thanksgiving by the faithful, 
 and those who have the full knowledge of the truth (toIs ttlo-to'l's 
 KOL iTTeyvwKocnv rrjv oXyjOetav), — the most natural meaning 
 seems to be : received thus by such persons as well as 
 others : their faith and knowledge in the things of God had 
 no way interfered with their relation to the common bounties 
 of God's providence, and ought to be coupled with a thank- 
 ful, not with a fearful or doubting, spirit. The expressions 
 might, with Ellicott and others, be taken in the sense of 
 the dative of interest — "for the faithful," etc.; but it is 
 more fitting to regard them as ablatives (the ablative of the 
 agent, considered as the instrument whereby anything is 
 done; Jelf, § 611). For it could not but appear somewhat 
 strange, to say that God made the several kinds of food 
 specifically for the possessors of true knowledge and faith 
 in Christ. The teaching of Scripture on the subject rather 
 is, that being natural gifts, they are made for the use of men 
 simply as possessing the properties of human nature ; and 
 all that needs to be said of those who rise to a higher 
 position in the divine kingdom is, that, as recipients of God's 
 grace, and heirs of His eternal glory, nothing is withdrawn 
 
176 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 from them as to the original appointments of God in things 
 pertaining to men^s physical and social well-being. On the 
 contrary, these now also rise into the religious sphere ; they 
 become associated with the work of grace in the experience 
 of believers, and have a place — though only an inferior 
 place — among the things which may be called theirs (i Cor. 
 iii. 21). This, indeed, is distinctly indicated in what follows. 
 
 Ver. 4. Because everythmg made by God (this is better 
 than every creature of God, as creature seems to point too 
 definitely to animated being, while by KTia-fxa creation in all 
 its parts is meant, whatever has received its being from the 
 Creator, though the apostle's usual term for this is ktio-i?, 
 Rom. i. 25, viii. 39, Col. i. 15) is good. It necessarily is 
 such as His workmanship, and was so pronounced by God 
 Himself at the moment of creation. The rejection of any- 
 thing so made and destined for man's use, as in itself evil, 
 involves a Manichsean element. Therefore the apostle 
 adds, and nothing to be rejected, being received with thanks- 
 giving — that is, on the supposition of its being so received, 
 but a supposition, as a matter of course, verified in the case 
 of all true believers. What was in itself pure, might (as 
 noted by De Wette) become impure by being received in 
 an ungodly frame of mind. And the apostle means to say, 
 that when the frame of mind is one of thankfulness, then in 
 the manner also of their reception the things are pure and 
 good. 
 
 The reason follows in ver. 5 : for it is sanctified through 
 God's word and prayer — God's word to man warranting him 
 to use the creation gift, and man's word to God acknow- 
 ledging the gift, and asking His blessing on it. So I under- 
 stand the import of the expression ; and I cannot see the 
 propriety of identifying (with De Wette, Wiesinger, Ellicott, 
 Alford) the word of God with the prayer or thanksgiving — 
 so that this should be no further contemplated than as it 
 embodies the word of God. There appears no reason why 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 5. 177 
 
 the word of God should be taken in so exckisive a sense. 
 It is more natural to regard it as the original utterance of 
 God's mind regarding the productions which are adapted to 
 man's use and comfort — recognised, indeed, but not neces- 
 sarily embraced in our address to God. The apostle had 
 plainly, in the preceding verse, referred to the divine testi- 
 mony recorded in the history of creation respecting the 
 goodness of all that God had created and made, coupled 
 also with the express and authoritative permission granted to 
 man there, and still more fully at Gen. ix. 3, 4, freely to use 
 whatever was fit for food in the vegetable and animal king- 
 doms. The word of God in those passages for ever sancti- 
 fied all for man's use ; and if man on his part, taking God's 
 word for his warrant, gratefully acknowledges God's hand 
 in the gifts bestowed, and entreats His blessing on them, 
 the sanctification is complete both ways — objectively by the 
 word of God, subjectively by prayer ; by the word for all 
 men (if they will but wisely appropriate it), by prayer for 
 the believer. On ei/rev^t?, see at chap. ii. i. 
 
 The manner in which the apostle couples the destination 
 of created things for man's use with the spirit of believing 
 prayer and thanksgiving — as if the two must go together to 
 constitute a proper title or warrant to the good — is certainly 
 very striking. It is " as if those that wanted faith and 
 saving knowledge " (to use the exposition of Bishop Sander- 
 son) " did but usurp the bread they eat. And indeed it is 
 certain that the wicked have no right to the creatures of 
 God in such ample sort as the godly have. A kind of right 
 they have — and we may not deny it to them — given by 
 God's unchangeable ordinance at the creation, which being 
 a branch of that part of God's image in man which was of 
 natural and not of supernatural grace, might be and was 
 foully defaced by sin ; but was not, neither could be, wholly 
 lost. A right, then, they have, but such a right as, reaching 
 barely to the use, cannot afford unto the user true comfort 
 
 M 
 
178 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 or sound peace of conscience in such use of the creatures ; 
 for though nothing be in and of itself unclean, yet to them 
 that are unclean every creature is unclean and polluted, 
 because it is not thus sanctified by the word [and by prayer]. 
 And the very true cause of all this is the impurity of their 
 hearts by reason of unbelief" {Sermon V. ad Populimi). 
 
 Ver. 6. By submitting these things to the brethren^ thou 
 shalt be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourishing thyself up 
 ill the wo7'ds of the faith, and of the good i?istruction which 
 thou hast diligently followed. Chrysostom draws attention 
 to the mildness expressed in the governing word here 
 (vTroOefxevos:) : " not ordaining, nor commanding, did he say 
 it, but as one giving counsel let him present these things," 
 with the collateral idea, perhaps, of imparting also suitable 
 advice respecting them. The rendering of the Authorized 
 Version, " putting them in mind," is not absolutely wrong, 
 but too readily suggests the notion of a rehearsing or bring- 
 ing back what had already been more or less under the 
 consideration of the brethren. This is not impHed in the 
 apostle's expression : it simply denotes a presentation of 
 the things in question to the minds of the disciples, with 
 the view of conveying suitable impressions respecting them. 
 And his doing so would be a proof of Timothy's acquitting 
 himself as a good servant of Christ — a proof that he was 
 not unmindful of his proper work, but nourishing himself 
 up (the present participle denoting continuous action) in 
 the words of faith ; that is, in the faith considered as em- 
 bodied in the words of Scripture ; and of the good instruc- 
 tion — that, namely, derived from the divinely commissioned 
 servants of Christ, which he had diligently followed. His 
 own faithful teaching after the manner enjoined by the 
 apostle was to be the evidence how far he had profited by 
 the peculiar advantages he had himself enjoyed. The 
 " whereunto thou hast attained " of the English version 
 points more than the original word (-n-apaKoXovO-qKa^;) to the 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 7. 179 
 
 result which should have grown out of the course of instruc- 
 tion pursued by Timothy ; it is the close and persevering 
 manner in which he had followed that course w^hich alone 
 is indicated. But such following could not, in his case, be 
 without its proper fruit. 
 
 Ver. 7. But (expressive of a contrast to the things just 
 mentioned and proper to be done) the profane and old wives' 
 fables avoid — TrapaiTov, turn aside from, shun. He gives no 
 further description of them, nor indicates why he reckoned 
 them profane, and such as were hatched in the brains of 
 old wives, rather than of some other classes that might be 
 thought of. But the use of the article seems to imply that 
 he referred to things familiarly known, or perhaps to things 
 noticed near the beginning of the epistle (i. 4), under the 
 name of " fables and endless genealogies." We can scarcely 
 doubt, indeed, that the fables spoken of were the same in 
 both passages, especially as in the earlier passage they are 
 represented as being at the time so much in vogue, that 
 Timothy required to be on his guard against them. They 
 were, as formerly noted, chiefly Jewish fables, but not im- 
 probably mixed with certain things also of Gentile origin, 
 or such as were at least in spirit more allied to heathen 
 than to properly Jewish teaching. The epithets profane 
 and anile (old-wifish) designate them as in their character 
 or tendency frivolous, foolish, and even ungodly ; hence 
 quite undeserving of the time and labour which some appear 
 to have bestowed upon them. 
 
 A7id rather exercise thyself unto godliness. The 8e may 
 fitly enough be rendered by and rather^ marking at once a 
 connection and a contrast with the preceding ; so that the 
 rather should be printed as part of the proper text. The 
 verb {yv^vo-y) pointing to the athletic exercises so common 
 in ancient times, especially among the Greeks, implies that 
 the €v(re^€La, the work of practical piety or godHness, re- 
 quires, when properly cultivated, the full bent and strenuous 
 
l8o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 application of the mind. It was that Timothy might be 
 able to give this to what was really worthy of it, and could 
 not be adequately promoted without it, that the apostle 
 urged him to discard the senseless and disputatious fables 
 which were likely to solicit his attention. It is needless to 
 say that there are many things still, different indeed in form, 
 but essentially alike in nature and tendency, which are ever 
 apt to draw off the regard, especially of the youthful pastor, 
 from what ought to be his main business. The spirit of 
 Paul himself — the spirit of concentrated, earnest striving in 
 the work of the Lord — is the right one, and that which 
 alone can achieve great results : " This one thing I do." 
 
 Ver. 8. The reason follows : for bodily exercise is profitable 
 unto little, but godliness is profitable tinto all things. Com- 
 mentators have long been, and still are, divided as to what 
 should be understood by the bodily exercise (o-w/xariK^ 
 yvfxvao-ca) : whether of such exercise as pertains to the health 
 and vigour of the bodily frame, more particularly the gym- 
 nastics of the athlete; or of the ascetic disciphne spoken of 
 before in connection with the banning of marriage and 
 abstinence from certain kinds of food — bodily restraints, 
 but with a view to spiritual results. In this latter sense it 
 was taken by Ambrose, many Catholic interpreters, also by 
 Calvin, Grotius, latterly by Wiesinger and Ellicott. Two 
 considerations especially are urged in support of it (for 
 example by Ellicott) : first, that the connection seems to 
 demand that the contrast should lie between external ob- 
 servances and inward holiness; and second, that ascetic 
 practices formed a very distinctive feature of that current 
 Jewish theosophy which is specially alluded to in this part 
 of the epistle. The considerations, however, are by no 
 means decisive ; and, indeed, the latter seems rather to 
 point in the opposite direction : for, just because the ascetic 
 practices in question had obtained such a place in the 
 prevalent false religionism of the time, and were threatening 
 
T TIMOTHY IV. 8. l8l 
 
 to usurp a yet larger one in the future, we might expect 
 the apostle to be chary of meting to them even the smallest 
 commendation. He had already characterized things of 
 this description as doctrines of demons, propagated by 
 hypocrisy, and inimical to the true faith of the gospel ; and 
 could he now consistently turn round, and say that they 
 were not 'altogether worthless — that they did bring a little 
 profit ? The tendency of his preceding statements was to 
 separate between ascetic notions of excellence and those 
 of genuine Christianity — to show that the one is rather the 
 subtle counterfeit than the proper exhibition and develop- 
 ment of the other. Besides, bodily exercise is not the 
 natural or fitting expression for such things, at least in the 
 incipient stage at which the apostle appears to be contem- 
 plating them. It might suit well enough for the more 
 advanced stages — pilgrimages, flagellations, laborious vigils, 
 or the constrained positions of pillar saints ; but not for the 
 disuse of certain kinds of food, or abstinence from marriage 
 as a relatively impure condition of life. This is too nega- 
 tive and quiescent a species of asceticism to be appropriately 
 designated a corporeal gymnastics. The literal sense of 
 the expression, therefore, seems plainly entitled to the 
 preference, which also has the support of the three ancient 
 Greek expositors, Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theophy- 
 lact, and among the moderns, besides many others, of Ben- 
 gel, De Wette, Huther, and Alford. The athletic mode of 
 expression which had just been employed by the apostle to 
 characterize the earnest application that should be made to 
 a life of godliness (yvfjiva^G), called up to his mind the gym- 
 nastic training which consumed so much time and energy 
 among the ancient Greeks ; and he takes occasion from the 
 allusion to commend that higher kind of energetic striving 
 which became the spiritual athletes of the gospel. The one 
 had a measure of good attending it ; it was profitable within 
 a certain limited sphere, since it contributed to the health- 
 
1 82 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 fulness and agility of the bodily frame, and brought its 
 successful cultivator a present recompense of honour or 
 reward. But the sincere and strenuous cultivation of vital 
 godliness rises immensely above this ; it carries in its train 
 the highest good of which man is capable, and that not 
 merely for a few fleeting seasons of time, but throughout the 
 ages of eternity. For such is the exj^lanation the apostle 
 himself gives in the words that follow of the all things unto 
 which godliness is profitable. 
 
 Having promise of the life that now is, and of that luhich 
 is to come. By life is evidently meant one's proper being 
 and well-being, whatever goes to make up a well-conditioned 
 and happy state of existence. Life in this higher sense is 
 inseparably connected with godHness. The possession of 
 it was originally suspended on the actual and unfailing 
 exercise of godliness ; and now, since the original title to 
 the possession has been forfeited by sin, the promise of 
 regaining what has been lost, though it cannot indeed be 
 meritoriously secured by any amount of personal goodness, 
 yet neither can it be realized otherwise than in connection 
 with this ; for only as men become established in the love 
 and practice of goodness, do they become qualified for the 
 possession and enjoyment of life. Interest in Christ goes 
 first, then likeness to Christ ; and as this grows, their meet- 
 ness also increases for an inheritance in His blessedness 
 and glory. A stimulating thought surely for the people of 
 Christ generally, but especially for such as devote them- 
 selves to active work in His spiritual vineyard ! It is work 
 emphatically which is twice blessed : they reap even while 
 they are sowing ; lay up treasures for themselves while they 
 are spending for the good of others ; do best for themselves 
 when they do most for God. 
 
 Ver. 9. Faithful is the word, and worthy of all acceptation. 
 This form of expression, peculiar to the Pastoral epistles, 
 has already occurred in another connection, chap. i. 15. 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. lO. 183 
 
 Here it is applied to the promise of life now and hereafter, 
 as connected with the earnest pursuit of holiness, which the 
 apostle not only sets forth, but commends as entitled to 
 implicit confidence, and worthy of cordial acceptance. He 
 proceeds also to confirm what he thus says of it by a refer- 
 ence to his own aim in the work of the ministry, and that 
 of his fellow-labourers in the gospel. 
 
 Ver. 10. For to this (ets tovto^ with a view to it, in order 
 that we may in our own case realize the good contained in 
 the promise) we toil (KowLcofxev, which is somewhat stronger 
 than ipydt,oix€u, labour) a/id strive (dyooi/t^o/xe^a),^ because we 
 have hoped upon the living God, who is the Saviour of all 
 ine7i, especially of those who believe. This statement being 
 presented as a reason or ground of procedure in respect to 
 the promise of life mentioned immediately before, clearly 
 enough shows in what sense the apostle understood the 
 life; for, so far from aiming at mere animal existence or 
 corporeal satisfaction and repose, as if this were the siim- 
 7?iwn boniim of life, he and his fellow-labourers readily 
 parted with the things pertaining to that lower sphere, 
 cheerfully encountered hardships, and persevered in a 
 great life-conflict, that they might become partakers of life 
 in that higher and nobler sense which the grace of God in 
 Christ had rendered it possible for them to attain. They 
 felt, in short, that their grand interest, alike for time and 
 eternity, lay in the service and blessing of God ; and with- 
 out disparaging anything naturally pleasant or advantageous 
 which the course of divine providence might place within 
 
 1 This is undoubtedly the best supported reading, being that of 
 X, A, C, F, G, K, while the o\iiihiZ,'oy.i&(x, of the received text is found 
 in only three uncials at first hand, D, L, P, though it has the support 
 of the Vulg., Greek, Syr., Cop., Arm., and Ethiop. versions. The 
 unanimity of the versions is certainly entitled to weight, yet is scarcely 
 sufficient to counterbalance the evidence of so" many of the most im- 
 portant MSB. The omission of the first xa/ has the support of all the 
 versions, and that also of s, A, C, D, P, 
 
184 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 their reach, or shunning as unclean what God had given 
 to be used, they still showed that they were prepared to 
 undergo any sacrifice of fleshly ease or worldly honour 
 that might be required by their devotion to the cause of 
 Christ, assured that thereby they gained more than they 
 lost — that they advanced their interest in what alone is of 
 supreme and imperishable moment. The ground of this 
 assurance is made to rest in God : it was because they had 
 hoped upon the living God (the eVi, with the dative, in- 
 dicative of the solid basis they had obtained for their 
 expectations), that they could so confidently reckon on an 
 endless heritage of peaceful and blessed life, and so will- 
 ingly submit to all privations and toils that might meet 
 them in the pursuit of it ; for He who is Himself the living 
 One, having the very fountain of life in perpetual freshness 
 and inexhaustible sufficiency, is in this case the surety and 
 the promiser. Such a hope, therefore, must be one that 
 shall not make ashamed. 
 
 In this direction also points the further description given 
 of God : who is the Saviour of all men^ especially of those who 
 believe. The term Saviour (o-oorTyp) represents Him as the 
 deliverer and preserver of life ; but in what sense, or to 
 what effects, must be inferred from the connection. As 
 the living God, He may be said to be the Saviour of all 
 men, since by His watchful and beneficent providence they 
 are constantly delivered from destruction and preserved in 
 being. Actually He is not more to all men, although more 
 in manifestations of goodwill and acts tending toward sal- 
 vation, since He sets before men generally, and often even 
 presses on their acceptance, the benefits of a work of re- 
 conciliation, which, from its essential nature, is perfectly 
 sufficient to meet the necessities of all, and recover them to 
 life and blessing. As it is in the character of a Saviour- 
 God that He does this, there seems no valid reason why 
 it should not be comprised in the sense we put upon the 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. II. 185 
 
 apostle's language. Yet, as the language indicates rather 
 what God actually is to men, what they actually receive 
 from Him, than what He reveals Himself as ready and 
 willing to give them, we are led by the natural and uncon- 
 strained import of the words to think mainly of the relation in| 
 which God stands to men indiscriminately as the Author and| 
 Preserver of their present life. And from this as the less, 
 the apostle rises to the greater. From what God is and does 
 in behalf of such as are dependent on Him for the common 
 bounties of providence, he proceeds to indicate what God 
 is and does besides, in respect to those who are related to 
 Him as His redeemed in Christ — the Saviour^ especially of 
 those who believe: in them the character of God as Saviour 
 reaches its proper culmination. Put in the form of an argu- 
 ment, the idea might be thus expressed : If in that character) 
 God does so much for sinful and unbelieving men, howj 
 much may He not be justly expected to do for His own") 
 chosen people, who are partakers of His grace, and have ' 
 trusted in His word ! In their case there is nothing to 
 hinder the outgoings of His loving-kindness, or to restrain 
 the riches of His beneficence, but everything rather to 
 encourage them to expect all from His hand. Expressing 
 the Father's mind towards them in this respect, our Lordl 
 •said, "I have come that they might have life, and that they/ 
 might have it more abundantly" (John x. 10). 
 
 Ver. II. From the beginning of this new section to the 
 end of the chapter, we have a series of practical exhortations 
 to Timothy respecting his personal bearing and character : 
 Charge these things, and teach; the things, namely, which had 
 been mentioned in the immediately preceding verses, and 
 which concerned the whole church of Christ — involving 
 serious dangers to be guarded against, and lines of duty 
 to be resolutely pursued. On Timothy's part, therefore, 
 there were both charges to be given respecting them, and 
 principles as to truth and error to be taught. 
 
1 86 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Ver. 12. Lei 710 07ie despise thy youth. This is, doubtless, 
 the proper rendering, although the position of the pronoun 
 is somewhat peculiar, crov ttjs vcottjtos KaracjipoveLTo ; but it 
 again occurs in ver. 15, where also the governing substan- 
 tive follows. The sense plainly is, " Let no one despise 
 thee on account of thy youth," as Chrysostom expressly 
 puts it. The youth of Timothy, as mentioned in the In- 
 troduction, must be understood relatively : though a person 
 in the full vigour of manhood, he still was young for such 
 a charge as had been devolved on him — much younger, 
 in all probabiHty, than some on whom he had to exercise 
 disciplinary treatment ; and if the apostle himself, who was 
 not only considerably older than Timothy, but invested also 
 with higher official dignity, found it difficult at times to 
 maintain his authority in the face of the aspiring and dis- 
 putatious spirits that sought to have pre-eminence in the 
 church, we can easily understand how persons of that de- 
 scription would be ready to take advantage of Timothy's 
 comparative youth. The natural disposition of Timothy, also, 
 formed rather for helping and obeying than commanding, 
 could scarcely fail to aggravate the danger ; so that against 
 this, as a weak point in his position, he was fitly called 
 by the apostle to guard. Respect for the sacred interests 
 entrusted to him, required that he should be manly and firm. 
 
 Bi/t become thou a pattern of the believers in word, in be- 
 haviour, in love^ i?i faith, in purity. A sort of counter- 
 active to the danger indicated in the preceding clause ; as 
 much as to say, If thou wouldst properly retain thy place, 
 and overcome the disadvantage connected with thy youth, 
 take heed that thou be such an exemplar of Christian ex- 
 cellence and worth, that all true believers will be disposed 
 to esteem and love thee. The specific points, though not 
 mentioned in any logical order, comprise all the leading 
 
 1 The h '^nuf^a.ri after this in the received text is wanting in the best 
 authorities. 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 13. 187 
 
 characteristics that should distinguish a Christian minister : 
 in wordj-^csLieful of what he might say, whether in the 
 assembhes of the faithful or in his private intercourse with 
 individuals, — in behaviour equally careful as to what he 
 might do in the general course and tenor of his life ; in love^ 
 in faith^ — showing that, with the form, he also knew and 
 exercised the two grand motive powers of a Christian life ; 
 finally, in purity (ayveta), — such in his bearing toward the 
 female portion of society, as to prevent even the suspicion 
 from entering that he was otherwise than scrupulously 
 observant of the rules of chastity. It is of incalculable 
 importance for the youthful minister that he establish for 
 himself a character in these respects ; a palpable failure in 
 any one of them will be fatal to his success. 
 
 Ver. 13. Till I come (the present, ep^o/^at, probably to 
 express the purpose of an early return to Ephesus), give 
 attention to the reading, the exhortation, the teaching. The 
 definiteness indicated respecting these things by the use of 
 the article, seems to point to them as well known : stated 
 employments connected with ministerial agency. The 
 reading, therefore, will most naturally be taken for that 
 kind of reading which formed part of the public service 
 of the church, — namely, the reading of Scripture, chiefly as 
 yet, if not entirely, Old Testament Scripture. Chrysostom 
 appears to have thought of Scripture, and nothing else, as 
 indicated by the expression (TrpoVexe tt} ai/ayvwo-ei, t% tCjv 
 OcLOJv ypacfiiov) ; and so, undoubtedly, the expression is used 
 at Acts xiii. 15, also 2 Cor. iii. 14, with reference to the 
 regular reading of the Old Testament Scriptures in the 
 Jewish synagogues. The exhortation and the teaching are 
 understood by Chrysostom, the former of social or mutual 
 interchange of sentiments with a view to edification, the 
 other of public discourse. We should rather, perhaps, 
 suppose the apostle to be referring throughout to the 
 service of the sanctuary; so that he shall here be advis- 
 
1 88 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 ing Timothy in regard to the things which^ belonged to 
 his ministrations in pubHc, as he had previously counselled 
 him regarding his more strictly personal character and 
 deportment. But to try to distinguish exactly between 
 the exhortation and the teaching is superfluous, except 
 that, from the import of the terms, the one may be supposed 
 to have had respect more especially to practice, and the 
 other to instruction. 
 
 Ver. 14. N'egled not the gift (the charism) that*, is in thee, 
 which was given thee through (or by means, of) prophecy, 
 with layifig on of the ha?ids of the presbytery. There can be 
 no reasonable doubt that this is the correct rendering, and 
 that the attempts which have at various times been made 
 to give another sense to the preposition (8ta) than that of 
 expressing the medium or instrumental cause, have entirely 
 failed. Prophecy and imposition of hands by the presbytery 
 are represented as the concurrent means through which the 
 gift in question came to Timothy : prophecy the first and 
 highest — hence having the preposition of the instrument 
 coupled with it ; imposition of hands by the presbytery the 
 secondary or subordinate — hence presented as an accom- 
 paniment of the other. But what is to be understood by 
 the gift itself, which thus came to Timothy's possession ? 
 The word -^apiaixa, which occurs altogether fourteen times in 
 the writings of St. Paul, but nowhere else in the New Testa- 
 ment, except in i Pet. iv. 10, always means an endowment 
 or gift of grace, bestowed by the Holy Spirit for some 
 special ministration or official service. Timothy had in 
 tender youth been destined to peculiar evangelistic work 
 under the direction and oversight of St. Paul, and he had 
 received from above a measure of grace proportioned to 
 his calling and responsibilities. This qualifying grace had 
 somehow been indicated through the spirit of prophecy as 
 a gift destined for him, authoritatively certified to be await- 
 ing him — therefore in a sense conferred through that ; and 
 
I TIMOTHY IV. 14. 189 
 
 then, acting on this divine certification or assurance, the 
 presbytery gave him the imposition of hands, — an act which 
 always formed " an appropriation of the gift of the Spirit in 
 prayer through the instrumentahty of others for a definite 
 object" (Wiesinger). The prophecy, therefore, is to be 
 viewed as the distinct enunciation of God's will in respect 
 to Timothy's qualifications — his spiritual as well as natural 
 qualifications for the evangeHstic office ; and the formal 
 designation of him by the presbytery was the church's re- 
 sponse to the declared mind of God, and appropriate action 
 to carry it into effect. The presbytery is to be taken in the 
 natural and obvious sense, for the body of presbyters or 
 elders in the particular place where Timothy was set apart 
 to the work of the Lord. It means bishops here, says 
 Chrysostom, since only such could ordain by imposition of 
 hands : true in one sense, but not certainly in that meant 
 by Chrysostom ; that is, not as denoting the presence and 
 co-operation of officers of a higher grade than presbyters. 
 The language of the apostle, neither here nor elsewhere, 
 furnishes any warrant for such a supposition. Bengel's 
 explanation is still more arbitrary ; he would couple Trpo- 
 <fir]T€ia<; with Trpea/SvTepLov, and throw the intervening words 
 into a parenthesis — thus : " which was given thee through 
 the prophecy of the presbytery, with the laying on of 
 hands." And the hands laid on he would understand to 
 be those of the apostle's, on the supposed ground that 
 imposition of hands was the act of one person, and that 
 a person of higher dignity than he on whom the act was 
 performed. Such, however, was not the case at Antioch, 
 when Paul and Barnabas were by imposition of hands 
 designated to special ministerial work (Acts xiii. i) ; nor 
 have we any reason to think it was necessarily or even 
 ordinarily so, except when the gift conferred had respect 
 to the exhibition of miraculous agency. The conferring of 
 this gift by imposition of hands belonged exclusively to an 
 
190 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 apostle. But in appointments to ministerial employ it was 
 otherwise ; and when, in another place (2 Tim. i. 6), the 
 apostle speaks of this same gift having come to Timothy 
 through the laying on of his hands, this no way prejudices 
 the supposition of a more general concurrence in the act. 
 The part taken by the apostle in the matter could not but 
 be the most assuring circumstance to Timothy of an ex- 
 ternal kind, and a very special consideration prompting 
 him to the exercise of the gift ; but it did not preclude the 
 official action of the presbytery, nor render this unimportant 
 in its own place. 
 
 Ver. 15. Be mindful of these thijigs (fxeXera, found only 
 here and at Acts iv. 25, but signifying to care for, attend to, 
 or be mindful of) : let them have their proper place in the 
 regard and application of thy soul. Be in them ; have your 
 very life, as it were, in such things. On which Bengel 
 remarks : " He who is in them will be less in worldly com- 
 panies, in other kinds of pursuits, in collecting books, shells, 
 coins, in which many pastors unconsciously spend a great 
 part of their life." In order that thy progress may he manifest 
 to all: implying, first, that a perceptible advance in the 
 things which constitute a faithful and effective ministry is 
 what may justly be expected even in the most qualified 
 servant of God ; and then, that the way to efi"ect this is by 
 a sincere and devoted appUcation to the work itself. Here 
 also it is the hand of the dihgent which maketh rich — 
 though only, of course, when the hand is the instrument of 
 an earnest and willing mind. 
 
 Ver. 16. Give heed to thyself, and to the teaching : not pre- 
 cisely doctrine, though doubtless including what is under- 
 stood by that, but the whole matter of teaching in relation 
 to Christianity ; hence, in the first place, making due pre- 
 paration for the work of public discourse, and then, when 
 actually employed in it, seeing that it be of the right sort, 
 that it embrace the great principles of truth and duty as 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 
 
 191 
 
 unfolded in the gospel, and press these in the proper 
 manner and spirit. Contiftiie i?i tJwn ; that is, in the various 
 parts of evangelistic and pastoral duty enjoined in the pre- 
 ceding sentences : let there be, not a fitful, but a steady 
 and persevering appHcation to them. Then follows the 
 twofold blessed result : for by so doing thou shalt save both 
 thyself a?id the?n that hear thee. The direct object of the 
 ministry of the gospel is the salvation of those who come 
 within the circle of its operations j but along with this the 
 apostle happily combines another, the saving of one's own 
 soul. Nothing is so well fitted for bringing us safely to 
 heaven as engaging in good earnest to be instruments in 
 God's hand of bringing others thither. For, as an old and, 
 in the best sense, spiritual writer has excellently noted on 
 the words, " the work of Christianity is woven in with the 
 right discharge of the ofiice of the ministry. Many ministers 
 can say, that if they had not been ministers they had in all 
 appearance lost their souls. The subject of the minister's 
 work is the same with that of a Christian's ; and above all 
 men should he be careful of his heart and intentions, that 
 all be pure and spiritual. No man is under so strict a 
 necessity of dependence on the influence and assistance of 
 the Holy Ghost, both for gifts and grace. And are not all 
 these great helps to one's own salvation?" (Sermon by 
 Robert Traill.) 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 From matters relating to the strictly personal state and 
 behaviour of Timothy, the apostle now proceeds to give a 
 series of directions in respect to the proper method of deal- 
 ing with persons differently situated as to age and position 
 in life. Reprimand not an elderly person^ but exhort him as a 
 
192 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 brother. That the term 7rpccr(3vTepio here has respect simply 
 to the relative age, not to the official standing, of individuals, 
 seems plain from the connection ; younger men being pre- 
 sently mentioned as another class, and afterwards females, 
 first of a more advanced, and then of a younger period of 
 life. This view was taken by Chrysostom, and is now 
 generally followed, although the other was once the more 
 common, and is that also expressed in the Authorized Ver- 
 sion. A man full of years should not, the apostle says, be 
 sharply rebuked, or reprimanded ; for such undoubtedly is 
 the force of the verb (iTmrXyjarcro)) : it is originally to strike., 
 to beat^ and when used of words spoken to any one, indi- 
 cates reproof of the severer kind — chiding in a rough or 
 acrimonious manner. There was a special propriety in the 
 observance of such a direction by Timothy, being himself 
 still comparatively young, and having consequently to take 
 heed lest his bearing toward his seniors should in any way 
 prejudice his calling (iv. 12). But the exhortation is doubt- 
 less to be applied generally ; it virtually prescribes a rule 
 of procedure for all Christian pastors. They should, even 
 when called to administer reproof to aged offenders, bear 
 in mind that a measure of respect is due to them on account 
 of their age, and in a tender, subdued tone perform the duty 
 imposed on them. Nor should something of this spirit be 
 wanting in respect also to others ; for as the elderly were 
 to be exhorted as fathers, so, the apostle adds, should the 
 younger men as brothe?^s, that is, with kindness and affec- 
 tion, though not unmingled, perhaps, at times with severity ; 
 for while the exhorting, as the nearer verb, must be chiefly 
 thought of, we are not altogether to lose sight of the repri- 
 manding, which undoubtedly indicates that there might be 
 room at least for earnest and faithful admonition — exhorting 
 of such a nature as bespoke cause for censure or regret. 
 
 Ver. 2. Elderly wome?i as mothers, the younger as sisters 
 with all purity, — the same advice tendered in respect 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 
 
 193 
 
 to the female members of the Christian community as had 
 just been given regarding the male, with a marked quali- 
 fication as to the moral danger incident to work among this 
 portion of the flock : in all purity — so as even to avoid the 
 appearance of anything unbecoming or improper. A most 
 necessary caution for all times ! 
 
 Ver. 3. Honour widoivs that are widows indeed. It is 
 questioned whether the honouring here enjoined is to be 
 understood in the general sense of showing deference and 
 respect to one, or in the more specific sense of ministering 
 support, relieving and raising one's condition : a very need- 
 less question, as appears to me. The general, and what is 
 also the usual import of the expression, is perfectly sufficient. 
 The widows who are such in reality, — those, namely, who 
 are in a truly widowed and forlorn condition, and have a 
 state of mind and behaviour suited to their circumstances, 
 — are the proper subjects of respectful and considerate 
 treatment j but the particular direction this should take, 
 the substantial acts in which it should manifest itself, will 
 naturally be determined by the circumstances in which the 
 individuals are placed : if destitute in a pecuniary respect, 
 then of course chiefly in furnishing them with the means of 
 material comfort ; but if otherwise, with suitable manifesta- 
 tions of sympathy and regard. Ministrations of the former 
 kind are afterwards specifically noticed (ver. 8) ; but it by 
 no means follows from this (as is supposed by De Wette, 
 Wiesinger, Alford, Ellicott, etc.), that such alone were here 
 in the eye of the apostle : for neither might these be always 
 the chief, nor in any case, indeed, could they be the 
 only marks of honourable treatment which a Christian 
 community should give to persons in that state of be- 
 reavement. It seems best, therefore, to take the brief 
 exhortation at the outset as indicating generally the kind 
 of behaviour that should be exhibited toward them ; and 
 to see in the directions which follow detailed instruc- 
 
 N 
 
194 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tions as to the proper mode of applying it to particular 
 cases. 
 
 Ver. 4. If, however, any widow has children or grand- 
 children (eKyova, offspring; but remoter than children, rUva 
 T€KV(av, Hesych. — grandchildren, which was once also the 
 meaning of our nephews), let thefn first learn to show piety 
 at hofne (or toward their own house), a?id requite their 
 parents : -n-poyovoi^, forbears, a Scottish term, exactly corre- 
 sponds ; and so formally does progenitors in English, only 
 this is now commonly used of relatives in the direct line 
 further off than those meant by the apostle. Is is best, 
 therefore, to retain parents, but understanding by it grand- 
 parents as well. A widow in the circumstances here sup- 
 posed occupies a position considerably different from the 
 widow indeed of the preceding verse, having persons resid- 
 ing with her to whom, as her own children, or her children's 
 children, she is entitled to look for every becoming mark 
 of honour and affection. It primarily belonged to these 
 to do what in them lay to relieve the wants and cheer the 
 loneliness of her widowhood ; and for the most part, if that 
 were properly done, no special oversight of the matter 
 would need to be taken by the authorities of the church. 
 Such appears to be by much the most natural interpretation 
 of the passage ; so that the children and grandchildren are 
 regarded as the subjects of the learning: "let them learn," 
 not the any 7uidow (as most of the ancient, and some also 
 of the modern commentators take it, considering the rts 
 yj]p(x as equivalent to x^P^O- Were this latter construction 
 adopted, the showing piety and rendering requitals {a.iLoi^a.% 
 d-TToStSoVat) would necessarily lose their proper force. Filial 
 piety and filial requitals are perfectly natural ; for they 
 correspond to the honour due from children to parents, 
 are but different modes of expressing this ; but understood 
 of parents with reference to the conduct they should ex- 
 hibit toward their children, if they can be made at all to 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 5. 195 
 
 bear such a sense, they are certainly not the forms of ex- 
 pression one would have looked for. What chiefly, perhaps, 
 led to the interpretation in question, is a feeling that if 
 widows were not the subject of the verb, there would fail 
 to what goes before the proper apodosis ; since there it is 
 what pertains to the widows that is made prominent, while 
 here it is what pertains to the children. In reality, how- 
 ever, there is no ground for such a feeling ; for the instruc- 
 tion given is not directly addressed to the parties mentioned, 
 but to Timothy. It is he who is charged to see to it, that 
 matters were rightly ordered in the households of believing 
 widows, and especially that the young should be taught to 
 manifest respect and gratitude toward the mother that bore 
 them, and watched over their infant years. The expression, 
 to show piety (eva-e/Setv) to such, points back to the fifth 
 commandment, in which the honouring of parents is placed 
 in immediate connection with the reverence and homage 
 due to God, and the things which most nearly concern His 
 glory : that in youthful bosoms is the germ of fealty to God, 
 and so its becoming exercise is reckoned a department of 
 piety. To do this Jirst, therefore, toward their own house, 
 as having a prior claim even in comparison of what is due 
 to the church or house of God, and to do it in the way of 
 substantial ministrations of relief, which in such a case are 
 but returns for similar ministrations formerly received (Matt. 
 XV. 4-6), is acceptable before God; He regards it in a manner 
 as done to Himself, and sees in it the earnest of future 
 worth. The homes in which such reverential feelings are 
 cherished, and such acts of lovingkindness are reciprocated, 
 are the best nurseries of the church — churches themselves, 
 indeed, in embryo, because the homes of Christian tender- 
 ness, holy affection, self-denying love, and fruitfulness in 
 well-doing. 
 
 Ver. 5. Turning, then, from such widows and their 
 families to those whom he wished more particularly to press 
 
196 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 on the notice of Timothy and the officers of the church, the 
 apostle says : But she who is a widow indeed (a widow in 
 the full and proper sense), and desolate^ has set her hope on 
 God, and abides in supplications and prayers night and day : 
 she has lost, in a manner, all she had on earth, and now 
 she seeks all from above. The Anna who is mentioned at 
 the threshold of gospel history may be taken as one of the 
 better types of the class, since it is written of her that " she 
 departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings 
 and prayers night and day." It is not to be supposed, of 
 course, that in every case of this description the entire life 
 was to be devoted to prayer and other religious exercises ; 
 for this would commonly be impossible, and even where 
 possible would not be the most profitable course. To pre- 
 serve the healthfulness of its tone, and its capacity for efficient 
 service, the mind requires variety of employment ; and in 
 all ordinary cases, the discharge of relative duties amid the 
 affairs and occupations of life not only may, but should, be 
 ever interchanging with acts of piety. Hence, it will be 
 observed, the temporal expressions are in the genitive (yvKTo^ 
 KOL 7^/xepa?), indicative of the when rather than the ho7v long; 
 not throughout night and day, but by night as well as by day 
 — a steady and regular habit of devotion. The supplications 
 and prayers (Serjcrecrtv, ir^od^v^aii) are not to be sharply 
 distinguished from each other. 
 
 Ver. 6. But she that lives deliciously (or wantonly ; (rircxra.- 
 Xwcra occurs only again in Jas. v. 5), is dead while she lives : 
 the reverse of the true widow, who was represented as com- 
 paratively dead to the world, and alive to God, this person 
 appears to have a relish only for the world and its pleasures, 
 and to be dead to what is of God. The description sub- 
 stantially coincides with that given of the church of Sardis 
 in Rev. iii. i, " Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art 
 dead." Only here the living has respect not so much to a 
 profession of godliness as to the world's idea of life — an 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 7, 8. 197 
 
 unreserved surrender to present objects and entertainments. 
 Such life in the lower sphere involves death in the higher. 
 And though the apostle does not expressly state it, yet it is 
 plainly implied in what he says, that widows living after 
 such a fashion were to be regarded as cut off from the 
 sympathy and oversight extended to true Christian widows. 
 
 Ver. 7. Afid these things e?tjoin, in order that they may be 
 without reproach — namely, the parties referred to in the pre- 
 ceding statements — widows more particularly, but along 
 with them also the families which belonged to some of 
 them. They are consequently supposed to be connected 
 with the Christian community, and to be ready to listen to 
 sound instruction. In the next verse, however, a class of 
 characters is noticed that are expressly declared to be un- 
 worthy of the Christian name. 
 
 Ver, 8. But if any one provides not for his own (that is, 
 his near relatives), and especially for those of his own house, 
 he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. 
 Special respect is probably had in this strong declaration 
 to a class of relatives previously mentioned — the children 
 and grandchildren of widows ; but there is no reason for 
 confining it to such. The declaration itself is quite general, 
 and comprehends other cases as well. It asserts in the 
 most emphatic manner the obligations springing out of 
 family relationships, as grounded in the constitution of 
 nature, and, so far from being annulled or relaxed by the 
 gospel, only thereby rendered the more sacred and impera- 
 tively binding. The parent who refuses (if he is able) to 
 support his children while from youth or infirmity they are 
 dependent on his care and help, or the children who refuse 
 to minister to the sustenance and comfort of aged parents, 
 both alike act an unfeeling and unnatural part : they are 
 not true to the moral instincts of their own nature, and fall 
 beneath the standard which has been recognised and acted 
 on by the better class of heathens. For one, therefore, 
 
igiS THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 bearing the Christian name to disregard such claims, is 
 utterly inexcusable ; it is not simply dishonouring to Christ, 
 it is to bring reproach on our common humanity. 
 
 Vers. 9, lo. Very few parts of this epistle have given rise 
 to greater diversity of opinion than the instruction contained 
 in these verses ; and from the scantiness of our information 
 respecting the domestic economy of the churches in the 
 earliest times, it may be difficult to present a view of the 
 passage which shall appear free from all appearance of 
 strangeness or uncertainty. It is the more important, how- 
 ever, that we adhere strictly to the natural meaning of the 
 words, and refrain from attempting, as has too often been 
 done, to impose on them a sense derived from what be- 
 longed, or is supposed to have belonged, to a much later 
 period. Zet a widow be etiroUed — so the verb KaraAeyetv 
 properly signifies : put on the list or register. The question 
 is, what list? and for what specific purpose were names 
 inserted in it ? Was the list simply a catalogue of those who 
 were formally recognised as widows of the church, and, as 
 such, were held entitled to special oversight and support ? 
 Or was it as widows qualified and admitted to a kind of 
 official position and service in the church ? 
 
 These questions have been differently answered ; and not 
 a few, judging chiefly from the specifications afterwards 
 given by the apostle as to age and character, have supposed 
 that the list in question was composed of persons desig- 
 nated to a place of honour and responsibility — either that 
 of deaconesses, or of trusted female ministrants, who were 
 charged with much the same kind of oversight in respect to 
 children and the members of their own sex, that was exer- 
 cised by the elders over other portions of the community. 
 This view has been held in its stronger form by the oppo- 
 nents of the genuineness of the epistle (Schleiermacher, De 
 Wette, Baur, etc.), who would find here a class of female 
 ecclesiastics of whom some partial and obscure notices 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 9, lO. 199 
 
 occur in the third and fourth centuries/ but a class (the 
 writers conceive) of too artificial a nature and too much 
 associated with ascetic notions of excellence to have had a 
 place in the apostolic church. There are others who reject 
 the idea in this form, yet so far adopt it, that they regard 
 the widows spoken of by the apostle as even in his time 
 formed into a kind of distinct order, with the view of per- 
 forming certain ministrations for the good of the church ; 
 so, for example, Mosheim, Wieseler, Conybeare and How- 
 son, Huther, Alford, Ellicott We may take as a specimen 
 of this mode of representation the note of Conybeare and 
 Howson, one of the most temperate of its kind : " We 
 suppose that the list here mentioned was that of all the 
 widows who were officially recognised as supported by the 
 church ; but was not confined to such persons, but included 
 also richer widows, who were willing to devote themselves 
 to the offices assigned to the proper widows. It has been 
 argued that we cannot suppose that needy widows who did 
 not satisfy the conditions of ver. 9 would be excluded from 
 the benefit of the fund ; nor need we suppose this. But 
 since all could scarcely be supported, certain conditions 
 were prescribed which must be satisfied before any one 
 could be considered as officially entitled to a place on 
 the list. From the class of widows thus formed the 
 ^ TertuUian, de Vel. Virg. c. 9 : " Ad quam sedem [viduarum] praeter 
 annos LX. non tantum univiras, i.e. nuptae aliquando, eliguntur, sed 
 et matres et quidem educatores filiorum." Laodic. Concil. can. xi. : 
 ** Mulieres quae apud Grsecos presbyteras appellantur, apud nos autem 
 viduae seniores, univirae, et matriculariae nominantur, in ecclesia tanquam 
 ordinatos constitui non debere." Epiphanius, adv. Hcer. L. iii. c. 79, 
 
 § 4 : UccpeirfipijTiov ^s, on ei^pt "hux.xovio'ffuv to iKxXijo'ia.a-Tix.ov iTihirJn 
 TtkyfAOi, Xi^P"^^ '''* divofAxt^i, xai TO'JTMM T«f STt ypxoTipcts TpicfivTi^d;, 
 
 spoken, however, simply of deaconesses, some of whom were some- 
 times called widows^ whether they really were such or not. Chrysostom, 
 vol. iii. p. 273, Paris, ed. Gaume, speaks of there being anciently bands 
 of widows, x'^puv ;i(^opat, as latterly of virgins ; but he says nothing of 
 consecration to office, or official work in the church. 
 
200 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 subsequent order of widows {rdy/xa XVP^^) would naturally 
 result." 
 
 It is guardedly put, and yet in one leading point it 
 seems to go beyond what there is any distinct warrant for in 
 the passage itself; namely, in its speaking of "the offices 
 assigned to the proper widows." Of such offices the text 
 makes no mention ; and the existence of them can only be 
 regarded as matter of more or less probable presumption 
 and inference, from the conditions attached to the recep- 
 tion of individuals into the widow Hst. Yet a conclusion 
 drawn from such premises must obviously be very uncer- 
 tain, especially if the requisite characteristics be only such as 
 respectable elderly females in a Christian community might 
 be expected generally to possess. For, in that case, why 
 might they not have been prescribed as a necessary safe- 
 guard against the abuse of the church's benefactions? — a 
 security that those whom it sought to embrace and cherish 
 as its peculiar charge from the Lord, were really worthy of 
 the honour? And nothing more than this apparently is 
 either indicated in the aposUe's language, or needed to 
 exphcate its meaning. It is certain, first of all, that here, 
 and in all he says respecting widows, such as he calls 
 widows indeed, it is simply what the church is called to do 
 for them^ not anything it might exact of the7n, that he brings 
 formally into notice : they are contemplated throughout as 
 the fitting objects or recipients of a special kind of bene- 
 ficent treatment from the religious community. It is cer- 
 tain, also, that from the commencement of the church, and 
 pre-eminently in that mother church which in such things 
 gave the tone and impulse to the other churches, widows 
 merely as such were brought prominently into view ; and 
 that not only was adequate provision made for the relief of 
 their necessities, but a special class of officers also appointed 
 to see that the provision was properly administered : so far 
 from being required to do anything like deacon work, they 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 9, lO. 20I 
 
 were themselves the subjects in whose behalf such work 
 was called into operation. Further, it is undoubted that 
 all the earlier commentators understood the apostle's de- 
 scription of widows merely as the almswojTien of the church 
 (Chrysostom, Jerome, Theodoret, CEc, and Theophylact) : 
 the conditions specified for enrolment were viewed by them 
 merely as the traits of character which qualified those who 
 possessed them for being the accredited pensioners of the 
 church's bounty. And in a matter of this sort, which 
 touches upon the general sense and usage of the church, 
 the concurrent testimony of those ancient expositors is 
 entitled to the greatest weight, and is far more than suffi- 
 cient to counterbalance some obscure allusions or stray 
 usages appearing in particular localities. Finally, the age 
 at which the enrolment of widows was to be made — not 
 under sixty, a period of life in such a district as Asia 
 Minor relatively much higher than in our cooler and 
 healthier climate — confirms the supposition that, as a 
 rule, no active labour was expected of them. They were 
 already of the aged and infirm class; and if they were 
 expected to serve the interests of the church, it must have 
 been chiefly by the more contemplative and quiet exercises 
 of piety — "by supplications and prayers night and day." 
 These were, no doubt, important services, and are the only 
 ones in the least hinted at by the apostle ; but they were 
 such as belonged to the private sphere of the Christian hfe, 
 and required no ecclesiastical consecration or official stand- 
 ing to authorize and sanction them.^ In short, from the 
 whole tenor of the apostle's description, viewed in con- 
 
 ^ Such, also, was the view taken by Neander : " Since Paul only- 
 distinguished them {i.e. the widows in question) as persons supported 
 by the church, without mentioning any active service as devolving on 
 them ; since he represents them as persons who, as suited their age 
 and condition, were removed from all occupation with earthly concerns, 
 and dedicated their few remaining days to devotion and prayer ; and 
 since, on the contrary, the office of deaconess certainly involved much 
 
202 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 nection with what is known of the circumstances of the 
 time, there seems no reason for supposing any other class 
 of persons to have been meant under the designation of 
 enrolled widows, than those commonly known by the name 
 of widows ; yet only such of that class as from their ad- 
 vanced age and approved character were deemed worthy 
 of the church's affectionate care and support. After the 
 lapse of some centuries, notices occur of a particular dress, 
 and a separate place in the church, being assigned to such 
 widows ; but Scripture and the earlier church records know 
 nothing of this, nor of any specific work of a diaconal or 
 presbyteral kind, having been by the church generally 
 required of them. Younger widows, we have good grounds 
 for believing, were not unfrequently accepted to the office 
 of deaconess ; but there is no proper evidence whatever 
 to show that such widows as those here mentioned by the 
 apostle were invested with any sort of office, or were called 
 to do anything but such pious and free-will service as their 
 own hearts might prompt, and their limited opportunities 
 might enable them to perform.-^ 
 
 In regard now to the particular qualifications indicated 
 by the apostle for the widows who were to be put on the 
 list, it is to be borne in mind that, while the persons pos- 
 sessing them were alone to have the full recognition and 
 enjoyment of what was due to the church's almswomen, 
 there is nothing in his instructions to warrant the sup- 
 position that widows who in some respects fell short of 
 them might not be admitted to occasional relief, and receive 
 all proper ministrations of kindness. Such, for example, as 
 active employment, we have no ground whatever for finding in this 
 passage deaconesses, or females out of whose number deaconesses were 
 chosen." — Planting of Christian Church, B. iii. c. 5. 
 
 * In this I state merely the general result, and consider it unnecessary 
 to examine the few passages in detail which are relied on by those who 
 hold another view, but which are far too vague and general for their 
 purpose. 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 9, lO. 203 
 
 were comparatively young — far from having reached the 
 age of sixty — might for a time require very great sympathy 
 and liberal support ; but it would have been a misfortune, , 
 rather than a benefit for them, if an apostolic injunction 
 had been issued, giving them something like an abiding 
 claim on the church's beneficence, and entitling them 
 henceforth to rank among its objects of charity. That 
 would have only served to paralyze personal exertion, and 
 relax the ties of family relationships. The regular widow 
 list — the list of such as were really desolate, infirm, and 
 helpless — was wisely associated with a comparatively ad- 
 vanced age. — As to the construction, the yeyoi/ma should 
 undoubtedly be connected with what precedes : who is, or 
 has become, not less than sixty years old; comp. Luke ii. 42. 
 Our translators, after Jerome, Luther, Calvin, etc., joined 
 it with what follows. 
 
 Wife of one man. The proper determination of the term 
 widow, as here used by the apostle, may be said to carry 
 along with it a corresponding explanation also of this 
 expression — to establish for it a freer, in opposition to the 
 more stringent, sense sometimes put on it. For nearly 
 all the arguments and authorities which are adduced in 
 favour of its being understood of absolute monogamy, 
 proceed on the supposition that the class of persons referred . 
 to were not simply widows of advanced age, but of eccle- 
 siastical rank, invested with a measure of sacerdotal dignity, 
 and hence called to a somewhat peculiar sanctity. We have 
 already seen that this notion rests on no solid ground, that 
 the persons in question were merely the desolate and help- 
 less widows whom God's providence had thrown on the 
 bounty of the faithful — the aged almswomen of the church. 
 And of such persons, surely the whole that could justly be 
 required, either by the dictates of reason or by the great 
 principles of Scripture on the subject of marriage, was that 
 they should be chargeable with no indecency in their married 
 
204 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 life, and never stood related to but one living husband. 
 This much was necessary to their occupying the position 
 of exemplary widows ; but one cannot say more, whether 
 the matter is viewed with respect to the law of God or to 
 the known usages of society. The correct sense, therefore, 
 I believe to be that given by Theodoret : ^ "It is hence 
 manifest that he (the apostle) does not reject second 
 marriages, but ordains that they live chastely in matri- 
 mony; for, having before estabhshed the lawfulness of a 
 second marriage, he did not prohibit her that had entered 
 into a second marriage from enjoying her bodily nurture — 
 he^ namely, who clearly exhibits what is good for all." And 
 Chrysostom, though, from a misapprehension as to the 
 position and duties of those designated widows, he sup- 
 posed the expression before us intended to exclude second 
 marriages of any kind, yet did so only on the ground of 
 affording leisure for increased spiritual activity:^ "Why, I 
 ask, does he not permit second marriages to be contracted ? 
 Is it because he disapproved of the thing ? By no means. 
 For to do that was the part of heretics ; but that the widow 
 might be able to devote herself to spiritual things, and be 
 occupied with virtue : for it is not impurity, but want of 
 leisure, which marriage brings along with it." 
 
 It is needless to go into any detailed proof on the sub- 
 ject ; for what is said here in respect to widows is but 
 another aspect of the same question which has already been 
 discussed at some length in respect to ministers at chap, 
 iii. 2, and much of the proof which was advanced there is 
 
 ^ Kai ivnvhv ^>)Xav, a/s oh rriv oiyxfAioiv tx/SaXXs/, aXXa to tru(ppovus i» 
 yafzeo p>iouv vo[jt,o6iTi7. oh yxp avu tov ^ivrspov yu.fJi.ov vofAoSirTttra,; ffci)fJt.a,rix^i 
 a.To'ktt.Zaa.i hpa-Truag IxeoXvin rhv ^iVTipois o/xtXyi<ree,triiv yccf^oi;^ oj yi ro ccya- 
 6ov 'jfoitlv 'prpo; 'rocvroc? 'hia.yopivii fftx,(pciig. 
 
 ^ Aia, Ti yap, UTi fji,oiy oivripois oii^ ofiiXrjirat yd/noi; •^porp'iTH ; "Apx 
 Kxriyvu) tov Tpa,yf.t,a.Tos ; Ohdxfjt,us' tovto yap oclpiTixuv' uXX' oiTyia-^o\)itrfia.t 
 
 (iovXoiU,lVOS XoiTOV CCVThv tV To7i 'TyiVfjiOl.TlKoli, KOc] TpOS T>)V OCplTnt fJiiTCt- 
 
 Tu^cctrSxt' ol yap ccKxSocpalxi, xXXa uc^oXixs o yx/xoi. 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 9, lO. 205 
 
 d fortiori applicable here. A considerable show of proof 
 for the opposite view can no doubt be produced, and has 
 been produced, in particular by Vitringa {Synag. Vet. L. 
 iii. P. i. c. 4), and others who have followed in the same 
 line. But the passages chiefly rehed on are greatly more 
 numerous than cogent. One large class of them — the 
 one most directly bearing on the point — originated in the 
 heretical ascedcism of the second century, and owes its 
 ecclesiastical form and prevalence mainly to the vigorous 
 Montanism of Tertullian. All passages of that class should 
 be put entirely aside. Then the rest, being those which 
 celebrate the superior merit of women who were univirce, 
 and as such were alone deemed fit for performing certain 
 rites in the Cerealia, — passages chiefly relating to earlier 
 Roman feeling and usage, — have respect to an essentially 
 different sphere from that which concerns the constitution 
 and government of the church of Christ. They relate partly 
 to the conscious worth, sometimes proud self-assertion, of 
 Roman matrons, grounding itself on the strength and con- 
 stancy of attachment to a loved and honoured spouse, and 
 partly to the conviction of special honour and felicity be- 
 longing to such as had enjoyed an unbroken conjugal 
 relationship. As more peculiarly favoured by the gods, 
 ceremonies performed by these were naturally supposed to 
 be more acceptably and auspiciously done than by others. 
 But for the time and region in connection with which the 
 apostle here wrote, — for the class of persons in respect to 
 whom he wrote, and the interests he had more immediately 
 in view, — for all this there is no proof that can justly be 
 said to bear upon the point at issue ; none, that is, tending 
 to show that second marriages by women were per se, and 
 apart from anything illegal and indecent in the mode of 
 contracting them, deemed so questionable in their relation 
 to female honour and virtue, as to debar the persons who 
 contracted them from a title, in their old age, to the respect, 
 
2 06 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and sympathy, and beneficence of the better portion of 
 society. In the absence of all proof of this description, 
 and on the great principle set forth by the apostle himself 
 here and in other parts of his writings, we hold that the 
 specification, wife of one man, should be taken as expressive 
 simply of a chaste and faithful spouse — one true to her 
 marriage vow while the person to whom it was made lived, 
 whether that vow might be taken once merely, or again. 
 
 The other qualifications are : well reported of in respect to 
 good works^ if she brought up childrefi, if she entertained 
 strangers, if she washed the feet of saints, if she relieved the 
 distressed, if she follo7iued after every good work. The things 
 mentioned call for no particular explanation or defence ; 
 they are the prominent characteristics of an exemplary 
 Christian matron, partly under the distinctive forms suited 
 to those ancient times, but in spirit applicable to all times. 
 The verbs are all in the indefinite past — implying if at any 
 time a widow has so acted — if her past conduct has been 
 of such a kind ! The bringing up of children must refer to 
 the members of her own family, and, of course, could only 
 be intended as a qualification in the cases where such a 
 family existed — not excluding those who might in all other 
 respects have maintained the most blameless deportment, 
 but wanted the opportunity of proving themselves to be 
 good nurses and trainers of children. Viewed generally, 
 the things required of those who in old age and dependent 
 circumstances were to receive the esteem and support of 
 the church, were such as gave evidence of a faithful, kindly, 
 maternal disposition amid the ordinary duties of domestic life. 
 
 Ver. II. But youngtr widows decline — namely, to put on 
 the list of widows entitled to special guardianship and sus- 
 tenance on the part of the church. The reason follows : 
 for when they shall becofne wafiton ^ against Christ they desire 
 
 1 The future, Kuraffrprivniffovtnvy seems the better readmg, bemg that 
 of s, C, D, K, L. 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 12. 207 
 
 to ?narry. The compound verb Karaa-rprjvLaio is found only 
 here, but in Rev. xviii. 9 we have the simple verb a-rprjvtdo}, 
 which occurs also in the later Greek comedy, and in the 
 sense of wantoning, or living deliciously ; so that Karaa-rp. 
 is to wa7iton against, to surrender oneself to a carnal and 
 luxurious course of life, as antagonistic to the claims and 
 calling of Christ. Though the apostle represents this as a 
 general thing to be expected in the case of young widows, 
 if they should be admitted to a place on the regular widow 
 list, it is clear he can only be understood to mean that it is 
 what would not be unlikely to happen ; and even a few 
 cases happening of a palpable drawing back into a vain, 
 worldly, pleasure-seeking course of life, after being formally 
 received among the desolate, world-renouncing, heart-stricken 
 widows of the church, could not but bring great reproach 
 and scandal upon the religion of the gospel. If any should 
 actually fall into such a backsliding course, it would be at 
 least a mitigation of the evil that the church had not for- 
 mally numbered them among its orphaned household. As 
 to the marrying, however, or desiring to marry again, which 
 is given by the apostle as the evidence of a wanton disposi- 
 tion, it must plainly not be isolated, but viewed in connec- 
 tion with the circumstances. They might have re-married, 
 as he presently states, without incurring any blame, yea, 
 with his own approval and advice. But as contemplated 
 by him, the re-marrying was the fruit of a growing insensi- 
 bility to spiritual things, the result of a light, frivolous, 
 sensual tone of mind, fretting under the yoke of Christ, and 
 seeking to break loose from the restraints imposed by it 
 upon the heart and conduct. So that nothing less than an 
 utter shipwreck of the spiritual life was supposed to be in- 
 volved in the new and backward direction taken by the 
 parties in question. 
 
 Ver. 12. Hence the severe judgment pronounced on 
 their case : having condemnation^ because they niade void their 
 
2o8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 first faith — not broke their vow or promise to the church 
 to remain in perpetual widowhood, and which, if it had 
 been referred to, could at most have been designated their 
 former, not their first faith ; but their simple faith in Christ 
 and consecration to His service when they first assumed 
 the Christian name, and were admitted by baptism into the 
 church. Bengel : Prima fides, primi temporis fides, quam 
 initio habebant, priusquam viduis adscribebantur. So also 
 Calvin, who, with reference to the other view, justly remarks, 
 it affords too tame a sense, and asks, why the apostle should 
 in that case have ssidi first faith ? He therefore holds that 
 the charge is of a much heavier kind — namely, " that they 
 had fallen away from the faith of their baptism, and from 
 Christianity. For so is it wont to be the case, that they 
 who once overstep the bounds of modesty prostitute them- 
 selves to all manner of shamelessness." The greater part 
 of modern commentators follow TertuUian, Chrysostom, and 
 others of the ancients, whose ascetic tendencies naturally 
 led them to see here the breach of a promise of widowhood, 
 coupled with active service to the church. But of such a 
 promise and of such service nothing whatever (as we have 
 seen) is said by the apostle, and indeed it belongs to a 
 much later period. If the placing of the persons in question 
 on the church's list of widows proceeded on a sort of tacit 
 understanding or purpose that they would continue in 
 widowhood, it is the whole that can fairly be supposed. 
 And to represent a simple departure from such an under- 
 standing or purpose as of itself inferring a renunciation of 
 their Christian faith, and an incurring of divine condemna- 
 tion, had been a severity which it seems impossible to 
 reconcile with the genius of the gospel, or with the liberty 
 conceded and sanctioned by the apostle himself. It is not, 
 therefore, we conclude, the simple question of adherence 
 to a state of widowhood, or of departure from it, but such 
 a course of defection from the decorum and purity becom- 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 13. 209 
 
 ing the gospel of Christ as argued a virtual abandonment 
 of the faith. 
 
 Ver. 13. Other proofs are here given of their tendency 
 in that direction, and such as would naturally grow by the 
 comparative ease in which they might be enabled to live 
 in consequence of the pecuniary support ministered to 
 them by the church. Moreover^ they learn also to be idle, 
 going about from house to house. The connection seems 
 plainly to require that the expression in the first clause, 
 ctpyat fxavOdvovcTLv, should be taken in the sense here 
 ascribed to it ; for it immediately follows, and not only to 
 be idle, but tattlers also, etc., clearly implying that idleness 
 had been predicated of them in what went before. The 
 construction is certainly peculiar, but is merely, after all, as 
 well stated by Winer {Gr. § 45), " an abbreviated m.ode 
 of expression, such as we sometimes find elsewhere with an 
 adjective (Plato, Eiithyd. 276, /^, ot d/xa^ets a/oa o-o</)ot fiavOdv- 
 ovcTLv, and frequently SiSao-Ketv tifo, cto^of), which does not, 
 like the participle, include the notion of time and mood. 
 This exposition," he adds, " which is adopted by Beza, 
 Piscator, and others, and has recently been approved by 
 Huther, is supported by the fact that dpyat is taken up 
 again in the following clause as the principal word." He 
 therefore justly discards the interpretation which had been 
 given by some previous expositors, coupling the verb //.av- 
 Odvovacv with the participle following, Treptep-^ofjievoL, and 
 rendering, they learn to go about idle. But this is not really 
 the sense that would be gained by so construing the pas- 
 sage, as fxavOdveiv, when followed by a participle having 
 reference to the subject, signifies, not to learn, but to per- 
 ceive, understand, or rei7iark (see also Jelf, Gr. § 6^^. The 
 apostle justly regarded it as a great evil, and the proof of 
 a frivolous, un sanctified, worldly spirit, that young widows 
 should fall into idle, gossiping habits, and unwise in the 
 church to place them in circumstances which would tempt 
 
 o 
 
2IO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 them into such ways. The later expressions in the verse 
 merely point to the different forms which the evil in the 
 case supposed naturally assumes : <p^vapoi, loose talkers, 
 babbling out whatever might come into their minds ; Trcpt- 
 epyot, busybodies, intermeddling with affairs which did not 
 properly concern them; XaXova-ai ra jxri Seovra, speaking 
 things which they ought not, which were not befitting, or, 
 as it may be explained, carrying about reports and sayings 
 from one family to another, and so giving rise to serious 
 misunderstandings, jealousies, and strife. The plain remedy 
 for all this, the most effective check against it, would 
 manifestly be to throw those younger widows as much as 
 possible on their own resources, and encourage them to 
 take any fitting opportunity that might present itself of 
 obtaining a settlement in life, and having households of 
 their own to occupy them. And this is precisely what the 
 apostle advises in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 14. I wish, therefore, that the younger [widows] — this 
 is certainly what must be supplied, widows alone being the 
 subject of discourse, not generally women — viarry, bear 
 childre7i, manage the house, give no occasion for reproach to 
 the adversary. The therefore indicates the connection with 
 what precedes : Since the case is such, so great a tendency 
 among the younger widows to turn from the chastened, 
 spiritual course which becomes them, and betake to the 
 improprieties just mentioned, I give as my deliberate mind 
 (for such is the force of /3ovAo/xat) that they should marry, 
 etc. In their position as widows, especially if widows 
 alimented by the church, they were exposed to tempta- 
 tions which usually they were unable to resist; let them 
 therefore get, if they can, into circumstances which will with- 
 draw them from the temptations, and afford scope for the 
 exercise of the ordinary domestic virtues. And when it is 
 said, as a further reason for this, that occasion of reproach 
 would be cut off from the adversary, by the adversary must 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 15, 16. 211 
 
 plainly be understood, not any particular individual either 
 in this world or the world of spirits (Chrys., also Huther, 
 thedevil)^ but collectively such as stood arrayed against the 
 cause of the gospel, and were ready to catch hold of any- 
 thing in the life of Christians which might be turned into 
 a weapon of assault. The closely parallel passage of Tit. 
 ii. 8, though differing in the mode of expression, confirms 
 this view : " that he that is of the contrary part may be 
 ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." Here also 
 the hostile party are personified as one. 
 
 Ver. 15. For already some have turned away after Satan; 
 taking him, as it were, for their leader and guide, though in 
 what precise way, or to what extent, is not stated. But it 
 can easily be gathered from the preceding representation. 
 Some of those who were the subject of discourse — namely, 
 the younger class of widows whose names were on the fist 
 of the church's almswomen — had already given evidence of 
 the wanton, idle, and troublesome behaviour complained of, 
 so that they had become more like Satan's followers than 
 Christ's. Therefore the apostle would have them regarded 
 as beacons, warning the church not to continue the over- 
 indulgent treatment it had begun to exhibit toward such. 
 This argues nothing as to the time of the composition of the 
 epistle j for a very few cases of the kind referred to, and 
 such as might well enough have occurred within a com- 
 paratively limited period, would have been quite sufficient 
 to justify the reference, and the advice grounded on it. 
 
 Ver. 16. If any woman that believes hath widows, let sup- 
 port be given to theui^ and let 7iot the church be burdened^ that 
 
 ^ There are two variations here from the received text. The first and 
 most important is the simple -7ri<TTn (instead of -r/ff-rof 7\ -rtfTn), the read- 
 ing of S, A, C, F, G, P, also the Vulg. as represented by the Cod. 
 Amiat. (si qua fidelis), Cop., Arm., and some of the Fathers. The other 
 reading is found only in D, K, L of the older MSS., and was doubtless 
 introduced as a correction, because it seemed strange that a charge of 
 
212 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 it ?nay relieve those who are widows indeed. A return is here 
 made to the principle oi private beneficence with respect to 
 young or widowed relatives, and that for the purpose of 
 extending it somewhat beyond the line indicated in vers. 
 4 and 8. In these earlier verses the children and widows 
 spoken of were relatives of the nearer kind ; they belonged 
 to the believer's household, and had consequently the 
 strongest claim on the means and resources of the house. 
 But now a wider circle is embraced. There might be 
 widows, the apostle suggests, who were not constituent 
 members of a believer's family, such as a sister, or step- 
 daughter, or niece ; and in cases of that description, the 
 home resources (if adequate) should, according to the 
 apostle, be charged with the maintenance of the bereaved, 
 so as to allow the benefactions of the church to be applied 
 to the support of those who were widows in the stronger 
 sense, destitute in themselves, and without the sympathy 
 of any near Christian relative to fall back upon. The 
 direction is founded on the great principle everywhere 
 recognised in the gospel, that the grace of salvation comes, 
 not to supplant, but to sanctify and elevate, the relations 
 of nature, and the affections these are fitted to call forth ; 
 so that its influence should be manifested in honouring to 
 the full the claims of kindred, and rendering obedience to 
 them more prompt, and generous, and noble. That only 
 a believing woman is mentioned as possibly having widows 
 to whom such private kindness and support should be ex- 
 tended, is merely to be regarded as defining more closely 
 the class of cases referred to — cases in which a widow might 
 be conveniently taken charge of by a Christian female, and 
 
 the kind given here should be connected with believing females only, 
 and not also with men. But the whole section treats of female obliga- 
 tions ; and the oversight of widows in a household properly belonged 
 to the female head of each. The other change is WapKuirSai^ instead of 
 i'TTo.^x.uru^ the reading of x, A, F, G. 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 17. 213 
 
 made part of the household. A very Umited class, usually ; 
 and the charge is put somewhat generally : Let support be 
 given them, without saying how. She must interest herself 
 in obtaining it. 
 
 Ver. 17. Let the elders who govern (or preside) well, be 
 coimted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour 
 iji word aiid teaching. That elders alone are mentioned 
 in connection with the government or presidency of the 
 churches, is again a clear proof that they were the only 
 spiritual overseers known to the apostle. But whether the 
 passage is available to prove that there was in the apostle's 
 days a formal distinction among those who bore the com- 
 mon name of presbyter — as that some were set apart to the 
 work of both teaching and ruling, and others to that simply 
 of ruling — is certainly not expressly said, and has often been 
 disputed, as well by Presbyterian and Independent writers 
 as by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. Vitringa has 
 discussed the matter at considerable length in his work on 
 the Synagogue (L. ii. c. 3) ; and though on other grounds 
 favourable to the existence of a body of ruling elders in 
 congregations, and deeming them capable of doing much 
 good service, he yet holds this passage to be incapable of 
 rendering support to such a view, and especially on three 
 grounds: — i. That the term presbyters is everywhere used 
 by Paul and by the other sacred writers in reference to the 
 stated, ordinary, and perpetual pastors of the church. 2. 
 That the qualifying epithet also, Trpoeo-rwrc?, is always 
 applied to the same class of officers, and to these only. 
 3. That the ti/at} required to be given them has respect, 
 if not exclusively, yet mainly, to the support due to them 
 on account of their official ministrations, — a support proper 
 only to those who were known to be engaged in the dis- 
 charge of clerical functions. These are substantially the 
 grounds on which the same view is maintained still, with 
 the additional consideration of a historical kind frequently 
 
214 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 introduced, that ecclesiastical antiquity is silent respecting 
 a class of presbyters whose duty was to rule merely, as con- 
 tradistinguished from both ruling and teaching. Here we 
 have to look at it simply in an exegetical point of view ; 
 and in this respect, the closing portion of the note of 
 Ellicott gives, so far, what must be regarded as the fair and 
 natural import of the apostle's language : " The conclud- 
 ing words, iv ^oyio kol SiSaaKaXia, certainly seem to imply 
 fwo kinds of ruling presbyters — those who preached and 
 taught, and those who did not; and though it has been 
 plausibly urged that the differentia lies in KOTnwvTes, and 
 that the apostle does not so much distinguish between the 
 functions as the execution of them (see especially Thorn- 
 dike, Prim. Gov. ix. 7), it yet seems more natural to suppose 
 the existence, in the large community at Ephesus, of a 
 clerical college of governing elders, some of whom might 
 have the x^pf-^^f^^ of teaching more eminently than others." 
 But it must in fairness be added, that this teaching quali- 
 fication appears here rather as a separable adjunct than 
 an essential attribute of the presbyteral function, — a gift 
 which, in so far as possessed and faithfully exercised, would 
 materially contribute to the efficiency of the office, and 
 entitle him who so held it to special honour, yet not so 
 as to disqualify those who wanted it from discharging, and 
 even discharging with credit, its primary duties. Seeing 
 it was a spiritual community which was here under con- 
 sideration, a certain didactic power must be understood 
 to have belonged to every one who could rightly take part 
 in the government of its members ; for it belonged to his 
 office that he should at least be able to discern between 
 carnal and spiritual in the characters of men, be capable of 
 testing their knowledge in divine things, and by private 
 fellowship and friendly admonition, if not otherwise, sub- 
 serve the interests of truth and righteousness among them. 
 So much must be supposed inseparable from the office of 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 17. 215 
 
 presbyter, as held by every qualified person ; but the gift 
 of teaching in the more distinctive sense, or, in modern 
 phrase, of preaching the gospel with intelligence to the 
 edification of others, is not represented as indispensable. 
 A man might as a presbyter govern, and even govern well, 
 without it. . And, indeed, as Lightfoot remarks {Com. on 
 Philip, p. 192), having respect to the actual state of things 
 in most of the early churches, '•'' gover7iment ys2.^ probably the 
 first conception of the office," — hence also in this passage 
 governing is the distinctive epithet coupled with presby- 
 ters; yet he justly adds, "that the work of teaching must 
 have fallen to the presbyters from the very first, and have 
 assumed greater prominence as time went on." This was 
 a species of development which, in the natural course of 
 things, could not but take place, as the visits became 
 rarer of the first heralds of the gospel, as the more special 
 charismata of the Spirit also began to be withdrawn, and 
 the churches themselves grew in their membership, and 
 naturally called for greater fulness and variety in public 
 ministrations of word and ordinance. The teaching 
 function would naturally, in such circumstances, come 
 more and more into requisition; and the presbyters who 
 more peculiarly possessed it would also, as a matter of 
 course, rise into greater prominence, and in process of 
 time come to be regarded as alone properly entitled to 
 the name of presbyter. Yet the process was very slow 
 and gradual, as in the Ignatian epistles, with all the ex- 
 travagance that otherwise characterizes them, the president 
 of the presbyterate (bishop, as he is there termed) appears 
 to have taken upon himself nearly all the more distinctive 
 parts of public worship ; and so late even as Cyprian's time, 
 presbyters and presbyter-teachers were still spoken of as 
 sometimes distinct — indicating, apparently, that persons 
 might possess the one function without also possessing the 
 other (Ep. 23, Oxford Ed. 29). 
 
2l6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, we seem warranted to draw 
 from the passage the following conclusions : That while it 
 furnishes no ground for maintaining that any formal dis- 
 tinctions were made between one member and another of 
 the presbyteral body as to ruHng and teaching, the function 
 of government was originally the more prominent element 
 in their collective calling ; that the discharge of this function, 
 from its very nature, involved a certain capacity for con- 
 veying spiritual instruction, though it might often be only 
 in a private and conversational manner; that, however, 
 the gift of ministering publicly in the exhibition of gospel 
 truth became gradually more important for the interests 
 of religion, and necessarily distinguished, according to the 
 degree in which it was possessed and exercised, one pres- 
 byter from another ; so that the respect and honour due to 
 all for their office sake, more especially gathered around 
 those who, besides being faithful in governing, also proved 
 successful in instructing and edifying the members of the 
 flock. 
 
 As to the mode of expression to be given to this higher 
 estimate of that class of elders, indicated here by double 
 honour^ ^nr\r]<i TUfjLrjs, there can be no doubt, from what 
 follows in the next verse, that it includes pecuniary remu- 
 neration ; but " that n/xy here designates only such re- 
 muneration, or precisely a definite salary, is what cannot 
 be made out, either from the expression or from the con- 
 nection. Tt/xT/ is consideration, honour, here certainly 
 used with a particular respect to remuneration as the 
 special mode of expressing it'' (Huther). Consequently 
 the epithet doub/e is not to be taken in the strict sense, as 
 if the presbyters in question were to have awarded to them 
 exactly twice as much as the others, or, as some would 
 take it, twice as much as the widows mentioned in ver. 3 ; 
 for this would imply that the term honour must be limited 
 to the definite sense oi pay or salary, which it does not 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 1 8. 217 
 
 properly bear. Hence, also, the supposed allusion (by- 
 Hammond, for example) to the double portion of the first- 
 born, indicating that " the bishop who dischargeth his duty 
 or prefecture well, should be looked upon in all respects as 
 one that hath the primogeniture of maintenance as well 
 as dignity," falls of itself to the ground. Double is but 
 a specific mode, common in all languages, of expressing 
 much or greater in comparison with something else (hence 
 Theodoret explains by TvXdovoi) ; and this emphatic at- 
 tribution of honour, expressing itself in substantial gifts 
 and marks of respect, was to be given to those who de- 
 voted themselves most to the ministry of the word, — in 
 proof, as Milton puts it, that " laborious teaching is the 
 most honourable prelaty that one minister can have above 
 another in the gospel." 
 
 Ver. 18. For the Scripture saith, — the for implying that 
 the passage to be quoted supports the sentiment just ex- 
 pressed, — Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while treading out, 
 namely, the corn ; or, as it might be expressed. Thou shalt 
 not muzzle an ox when threshing. But the form of expres- 
 sion points to the peculiar mode of threshing in the East, 
 by driving oxen over heaps of corn lying on the barn-floor, 
 and either by their feet, or by means of a hurdle drawn 
 after them, bruising the mass so as to separate the grain 
 from the straw and chaff. It was a clumsy and imperfect 
 style of operation, but the prevalent one in Bible lands 
 and times. The passage respecting it is taken from Deut. 
 xxv. 4, and is one of a series of directions enjoining kind 
 and considerate behaviour. It is the only one that has 
 immediate respect to the lower animals ; all the rest bear 
 on the conduct that should be maintained toward one's 
 fellow-creatures, and especially toward those who might be 
 in the unhappy position of bondmen ; so that we can 
 scarcely suppose this somewhat exceptional instruction 
 could have been designed for the exclusive benefit of oxen. 
 
2l8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 We may rather suppose it was intended, by carrying the 
 injunction to cultivate a tender and beneficent disposition 
 so low, to make it all the more sure that such a disposition 
 should be exercised toward brethren of one's own flesh, 
 most especially toward those who were laying themselves 
 out in self-denying labours for the public good. It is 
 therefore a perfectly legitimate application which is made 
 of the passage here, and in i Cor. ix. g, to the labourers 
 in the Christian ministry. Such an application is in entire 
 accordance with its spirit and aim, and can hardly be 
 termed, in the ordinary sense of the word, typical. It is 
 merely to carry the kind and considerate treatment which 
 it sought to foster and call forth into a related but higher 
 sphere — to claim for the divinely-commissioned labourers 
 in God's spiritual harvest something akin to what a provi- 
 sion in the law had required of men toward the inferior 
 animals that helped them in the harvest-field of nature. 
 One claim, in a manner, and yet another ; for the higher 
 species of labourers here, and the unspeakably nobler 
 service rendered by them, obviously gave an immensely 
 greater strength to the obligation. If that was fitting, then 
 how much more this ! 
 
 The apostle, however, enforces his exhortation by another 
 saying — one relating to the service of rational creatures : 
 Afid the labourer is worthy of his hire. Is this also to be 
 reckoned a scriptural quotation ? or is it referred to simply 
 as a maxim of ordinary life ? The former opinion has the 
 sanction of several commentators, and latterly it has been 
 advocated by Baur and those of his school as one of their 
 arguments for transferring the authorship of the epistle to 
 a period subsequent to the apostolic age, — a period when 
 New Testament Scripture had come to be formally quoted, 
 as previously was done with the writings of the Old Testa- 
 ment. It is a kind of argument in which the wish is father 
 to the thought. There is no reason for supposing that the 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 1 8. 219 
 
 apostle meant his reference to Scripture to extend further 
 than the peculiar passage selected from Deuteronomy. 
 What follows is a common proverb, which did not require 
 to be backed by inspired authority, and which in a similar 
 way is employed by our Lord in an address to His disciples 
 (Matt. X. 10 ; Luke x. 7). It is perfectly possible, and 
 indeed altogether probable, that St. Paul was cognisant of 
 the use which had been made of it by our Lord : for both 
 in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (chap, vii.), and in 
 his address to the elders of Ephesus, he expressly alludes to 
 specific utterances of Christ — in the latter case, indeed, to 
 one that has found no record in any of the Gospels (Acts 
 XX. 35) ; and it is not to be imagined that the apostle 
 should have remained ignorant to the close of his life of so 
 important a part of our Lord's instructions as the great 
 missionary address in which this passage occurs. But that 
 affords no ground for supposing that he, or any other person 
 in his name, meant the maxim under consideration to be 
 regarded as a formal quotation from it : the object in view 
 was best served by adducing a proverbial saying, which the 
 common sense of mankind — their sense of what is just 
 and right — has made current in respect to those who have 
 laboured for their interest, that the labourer is worthy of 
 his hire. If so in the commonest relations and employ- 
 ments of life, how should it be otherwise in that special 
 field of labour which is occupied by the faithful minister, 
 and which involves much that is peculiarly trying to flesh 
 and blood ? But this prudential maxim, it should be added, 
 is introduced, like the legal prescription before it, merely 
 for the sake of the general principle embodied in it ; and 
 to argue from it, as some do, that only pecuniary remunera- 
 tion or salary was all that the apostle had in his eye in the 
 honour due to teaching presbyters, is to press the matter 
 too far, and to make a use of the one saying that cannot 
 properly be made of the other. 
 
2 20 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Ver. 19. Against an eldei- (that is, manifestly, one in the 
 presbyteral ofiEice) receive not an accusatio7i, except it be (eKTos 
 et fjir], a double negative to strengthen the proviso) tpon two 
 or three witnesses, — namely, upon their united testimony 
 as the ground of formal proceedings. According to the 
 ancient Jewish law (Deut. xvii. 6, xix. 5), the testimony of 
 two was required to substantiate a charge against any one, 
 whatever might be his position in society ; and various 
 reasons have been suggested why only in the case of a 
 presbyter adherence to the common rule should have been 
 pressed. It will certainly not do to say, with Bengel, that 
 the apostle is here speaking only of receiving an accusation, 
 not of accrediting the charge ; for he obviously means re- 
 ceiving it in the sense of making account of it. But the 
 special mission of Timothy must be borne in mind. He 
 had to make inquiries into matters which must often have 
 been of a delicate and somewhat indefinite kind. Occa- 
 sionally he might be tempted to go upon information which 
 was partial and defective ; and he should therefore be the 
 more careful to insist upon sufficient evidence, especially 
 when one in the position of an elder was concerned ; other- 
 wise he might entangle the church in worse evils than those 
 he sought to remedy. But this, of course, implied that in 
 all ordinary circumstances the same method should be 
 generally followed ; and attention was specially called to 
 the case of presbyters only because a certain deference was 
 due to their position, and the consequences would naturally 
 be of a graver kind should any false step be taken. The 
 sense of I-ki adopted by Winer (§ 48, 8, c), also preferred 
 by Huther, coram, in the presence of, — as if the meaning 
 were, that Timothy should only decide on an accusation 
 against an elder when he had two or three others beside 
 him, — is grammatically unnecessary (see Ellicott ; also Jelf, 
 Gr. § 584), and would give an unnatural turn to the in- 
 struction conveyed respecting the cases in question. 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 20. 22 1 
 
 Ver. 20. Those that sin rebuke before all, in order that the 
 rest also may have fear. The participle being employed to 
 designate the offending parties, rov^ dfjiapTdvovTa<5, implies 
 more than an occasional act of transgression ; it denotes 
 persons who are given to sinning, or are known as sinners. 
 Such Timothy is instructed to rebuke openly, before all (for 
 there can be no doubt that the ivM-n-iov Trdvroiv is intended 
 to qualify the rebuking). He was to adopt so severe a 
 method in order to vindicate the cause of righteousness in 
 the community, and to strike fear into others, that they 
 might be deterred from pursuing like devious courses. 
 Hence the case of such is to be distinguished from that 
 of those who may have been overtaken in a fault, and who 
 should, as elsewhere advised, be tenderly dealt with (Gal. 
 vi. i) ; and in the original instructions given by our Lord 
 respecting grounds of offence among the members of His 
 community, it was clearly impUed that a quiet settlement of 
 matters which involved a certain amount of moral blame 
 may and often should be effected, sometimes without the 
 intervention of any church action, and sometimes again by 
 means of it (Matt, xviii. 15). From the very nature of 
 things, it must always be matter for thoughtful consideration 
 how rebuke should be administered so as best to secure the 
 ends of discipline. Not merely the particular kinds of sin 
 to be dealt with, but the state of society also at the time, 
 must be carefully taken into account, though still there are 
 great landmarks to be stedfastly maintained; and a faithful 
 church must leave no room to doubt that " she cannot bear 
 them that are evil." Some would understand the class of 
 persons described as sinning, and in consequence deserving 
 of rebuke, only of the elders mentioned in the preceding 
 verse. But this is arbitrary, as in the words themselves 
 there is no proper ground for the limitation ; and the one 
 verse does not appear to be any way dependent on the 
 other. 
 
222 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Ver. 21. I solemnly cha?'ge thee before God and Christ 
 Jesus^^ and the elect angels^ that thou keep these things with- 
 out prejudging^ doi?ig nothing by partiality. The rendering 
 of SiaixapTvpojxaL by adjure, as is done by Alford, seems 
 rather too strong ; judging from the general use of it by 
 the apostle, a solemn charge or asseveration is what appears 
 to be meant by it (i Thess. iv. 6 ; 2 Tim. ii. 14, iv. i). For 
 the purpose of enforcing upon the attention of Timothy, 
 and impressing deeply upon his conscience, the directions 
 which had been given respecting the right ordering of 
 things in the house of God, the apostle now brings his 
 disciple face to face, as it were, with the Redeeming God 
 and Saviour, together with the holy angels in the sanctuary 
 above, and charges him before these glorious witnesses to 
 carry out his instructions, and do all in the sincere, earnest, 
 conscientious manner which became a true servant of 
 Christ. That the angels meant are holy angels, admits 
 of no doubt ; but why they should here — here and nowhere 
 else — be designated eleet, is not so easily determined. By 
 some (for example Mosheim, Conybeare) it has been under- 
 stood to denote angels of a more select class — the guardian 
 angels of Timothy and the church of Ephesus, or sucli 
 angels as were wont to be employed in fulfilling special 
 embassies to men — an altogether fanciful notion. By much 
 the greater number of interpreters take the epithet in the 
 sense of good or holy, so as to make it comprehensive of all 
 who are not fallen or apostate angels ; and so, apparently, 
 we must hold in substance, though still without losing the 
 more distinctive import of the term eleet, which implies, 
 indeed, their holiness, but presents them rather as the 
 select objects of God's love (Huther), and perhaps also as 
 His more peculiar instruments of working. As regards the 
 
 1 This is undoubtedly the correct reading, being that of S, A, D, F, 
 Ital., Vulg., Cop., ^th., etc., while the received text, Kvfiiou^lv. X., 
 has quite inferior support. 
 
T TIMOTHY V. 2 2. 223 
 
 nearer circle of His intelligent and willing agents, they are 
 His chosen ones ; and as such they are here brought into 
 consideration, along with God the Father and Jesus Christ, 
 with the view of stimulating the mind of Timothy to the 
 conscientious discharge of his duty, and carrying him above 
 all the sinister motives and inferior considerations which 
 might tend to create an improper bias in his mind, and 
 dispose him to act from respect of persons. A realizing 
 sense of the glorious beings who were looking down upon 
 him from the world of spirits, would be the most effectual 
 safeguard against such a weak compliance. 
 
 Ver. 22. Lay hands on no one hastily : with what design? 
 Was it for ordination to ecclesiastical offices? or absolution 
 from scandalous offences ? The latter view has found not 
 a few supporters both in former and present times; it is 
 advocated at great length by Hammond, who adduces 
 quotations from the Fathers to show how common the 
 practice was, on receiving offenders back into church com- 
 munion, to grant them absolution by the imposition of the 
 bishop's hands ; so, too, De Wette, Wiesinger, Ellicott. 
 But the evidence is of too late a kind : it altogether fails 
 for the apostolic age, or even the generations immediately 
 subsequent to it. Nor, when the practice had come in, 
 were the better patristic commentators influenced by it in 
 their interpretation of the passage : Chrysostom, Theodoret, 
 Theophylact, all understand the apostle to refer to im- 
 position of hands as connected with ordinations. Thus, 
 Theodoret briefly notes, as if there were no proper room 
 for difference of opinion : " For one ought first to inquire 
 into the life of him on whom hands are to be laid (or who 
 is ordained), and so to invoke on him the grace of the 
 Spirit." Besides, as a man's o^vn writings are our safest 
 guide to a correct understanding of his expressions, we 
 have two other passages in these Pastoral epistles which 
 make mention of the laying on of hands (chap. iv. 14; 
 
224 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 7), and they both refer to the matter of ordination. 
 In both, indeed, Timothy himself was the subject, having 
 been by imposition of hands set apart to special service in 
 the gospel, and entitled to look for corresponding endow- 
 ments of the Spirit to qualify him for it. With these 
 examples before us, it would obviously be quite arbitrary 
 here to suppose the apostle starting off to matters of an 
 entirely different kind, without the slightest intimation that 
 he was now using the expression in another sense than he 
 elsewhere employed it. It is true he had just been speak- 
 ing of offences, and of the importance of dealing with them 
 in an impartial and faithful manner. But it was in perfect 
 keeping with this, that an exhortation should be given 
 Timothy to beware of making rash appointments to the 
 ministerial office — to take pains beforehand to ascertain 
 the godly life of the persons who should receive the ap- 
 pointment, lest he should be found stamping with his 
 formal approval, and raising to the government of the 
 church, men who were themselves, perhaps, of doubtful 
 character, or amenable to discipline. Hence it is added : 
 7ieither participate ifi other meiis sins. He would virtually 
 have done so, if he was remiss in his appointments to the 
 higher offices in the church, and did not carefully dis- 
 tinguish between the worthy and the unworthy. And 
 further : keep thyself pure. The emphasis is on thyself., 
 which is hence placed first in the original. Not only 
 beware, by hasty ordinations or otherwise, of coming into 
 improper alliance with the sins of others, but see that thine 
 own conduct is free from any marked blemishes, and that 
 no one may have occasion to take up against thee the 
 taunt, " Physician, heal thyself." The epithet pure [ayv6<i), 
 therefore, should be taken in its general sense of blameless, 
 or holy (2 Cor. vii. 11; Phil. iv. 8; i John iii. 3), not in 
 the specific sense of chaste, to which there is nothing in 
 the context to limit it. At the same time, there can be 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 23. 225 
 
 no doubt that impurity of this description, or even any 
 approach to it, would of all things be the most fatal to 
 Timothy's character and usefulness. 
 
 Ver. 23. No longer drink water — that is, water ex- 
 clusively — but use a little wine for thy stoniacUs sake, and 
 thy frequent ailments. The direction here given is in itself 
 plain enough. For some reason not specified, but pro- 
 bably from a desire to testify against prevailing excess by 
 the strictest example of moderation, Timothy had become 
 what is now called a total abstainer : he drunk only water ; 
 and the apostle counsels him to relax to some extent in this 
 practice ; and instead of restricting himself to water as a 
 beverage, to use a little wine, on the special ground that 
 this might be (medicinally) beneficial to his stomach, and 
 a corrective to his frequent ailments. This has appeared 
 to many too low a ground, considered by itself, for a 
 direction carrying with it apostoHc authority, and occurring 
 in the midst of others bearing on pastoral duty. It has 
 consequently been regarded by some, and still is by Elli- 
 cott, as having a moral rather than a dietary aim — as a 
 kind of qualification or counterpoise to the charge imme- 
 diately preceding : Keep thyself pure, but do not therefore 
 deem it necessary to refrain from using a little wine, as thy 
 health may occasionally require, or think of going into 
 ascetic rigour regarding it. Undoubtedly the passage quite 
 naturally admits of being applied against abstinence from 
 wine on ascetic principles, since it shows that the materials 
 of food and drink are to be primarily considered with 
 reference to the sustenance and health of the body, and 
 that there is no merit in abstinence from their moderate 
 use per se: in so far as they may be temporarily or habitu- 
 ally disallowed by any one, it should be only on grounds 
 of fitness and expediency, whether derived from the physical 
 or the moral aspect of things. But that is all. To say that 
 the direction was occasioned by the actual appearance of 
 
 p 
 
226 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the ascetic tendency in the church, and with the design of 
 checking its progress, is a quite gratuitous assertion, and 
 has the natural cast and impress of the direction against it ; 
 although, when that tendency did discover itself, and even 
 led some to object to the use of wine in the Lord's Supper, 
 this passage was most justly appealed to as a proof to the 
 contrary. But when Ave find the apostle himself assigning 
 a reason for the particular advice he tendered to Timothy, 
 why should any other be sought for ? Was it unbefitting 
 one ambassador of Christ to charge another, amid the toils 
 and troubles of his work, to pay some regard to his bodily 
 health, and to take such food and nourishment as was 
 deem.ed best for the purpose? No one surely will be 
 disposed to allege that — especially since our Lord Him- 
 self did not think it beneath Him, in one of His last 
 discourses with His disciples, to give them instructions of 
 a quite cognate nature : He charged them, with a view to 
 their bodily protection and support, to take with them 
 scrip as well as purse, and a sword and garments (Luke 
 xxii. 36) ; in other words, to neglect no proper precautions 
 for their outward safety and well-being. This instruction 
 to Timothy bears the same general character. He had a 
 great, and in many respects irksome, work to do, with the 
 disadvantage of a delicate and often aiHng frame ; and if 
 care were not taken to place it under proper dietary treat- 
 ment, he would inevitably become more or less incapacitated 
 for duty : there might especially ensue that sort of nervous 
 debility and depression, which more almost than anything 
 besides, unhinges the firm resolve of the soul, and disposes 
 it to shrink from the less pleasing parts of pastoral duty. 
 The principle involved, then, in this prudential advice to 
 Timothy, is in its most natural and obvious sense capable 
 of the fullest vindication; it is, indeed, of practical moment 
 for all times ; the laborious pastor or evangeUst, if he is 
 wise, will never neglect it : for his work's sake, as well as 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 23. 227 
 
 for his personal comfort and advantage, he will endeavour 
 to keep his bodily frame in a sound and healthful con- 
 dition. And as regards the specific means recommended 
 for this end, the taking of a little wine, the apostle is to be 
 contemplated merely in the light of a friend, exhorting to 
 the use of what was then understood to belong to the 
 proper regimen for such infirmities as Timothy was labour- 
 ing under. Granting even that wine might not, in the 
 present advanced state of medical science, be found the 
 best specific for his pecuhar ailments, that would argue 
 nothing against the propriety of the prescription as coming 
 from the pen of an apostle. He necessarily wrote from the 
 point of view common to him and his contemporaries, 
 having regard to what was then believed to be best ; and 
 possibly, if we knew more fully the circumstances of the 
 case, it might even still be deemed such : no one, at least, 
 can certainly affirm it to have been otherwise. On every 
 account, therefore, we ought to take the advice tendered 
 by the apostle in its simplest and most obvious import. So 
 considered, it has its value (as already stated in the Intro- 
 duction) in an apologetic respect, incidentally witnessing 
 to the apostolic authorship of the epistle ; its value, also, as 
 an indication of the regard that should be had, even by the 
 most distinguished of God's servants, to the proper regimen 
 and health of the body ; and finally, its value as a testi- 
 mony to the lawfulness of such kinds of food as are adapted 
 to the weal of the body, subject only to considerations of 
 propriety, as contradistinguished from the restrictive pro- 
 hibitions of a false asceticism. 
 
 But if, in dealing with a matter of this kind, we may in 
 one respect take into consideration the change of times, so 
 should we also in another. " How few are there now-a- 
 days," Calvin justly asks, *' for whom it might be necessary 
 to interdict water ! how many who have to be urged to the 
 restricted use of wine ! Moreover, we see here how need- 
 
228 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 ful it is for us, even when we desire to act rightly, to seek 
 from the Lord a spirit of prudence, that we may keep the 
 moderation which He would have us to observe ! A 
 general rule is laid down, that we should maintain such 
 temperance in meat and drink as may be conducive to our 
 personal health, not for the purpose of prolonging life, but 
 that so long as we continue in life we may be serviceable 
 to God and our neighbours." He then refers to the Car- 
 thusians, who carry their asceticism so far, that they would 
 rather die than taste a bit of flesh ; and adds : " But if the 
 temperate and abstemious are enjoined not to injure their 
 health by too great reserve, no shght punishment awaits 
 the intemperate, who by surfeiting and drunkenness impair 
 their energy. Such persons are not to be admonished, but 
 rather, as brute animals, to be driven from their pabulum." 
 Ver. 24. The sins of some men are manifest — TrpoSrjXot, the 
 TTpo having respect to place rather than to time, manifest 
 before or in the sight of men — going before to judgment ; 
 with some, again, they follow after. The connection of this 
 passage with the preceding cannot be regarded as very 
 close. That it has respect to persons seeking ordination 
 seems to me improbable. It may most fitly be viewed as 
 a supplementary remark that on reflection presented itself 
 to the apostle in respect to the sins of men, which had 
 been the subject of discourse a little previously. Thoughts 
 more directly personal to Timothy, yet growing out of that 
 subject, had meanwhile been introduced by the apostle ; 
 and now he reverts to the subject itself, for the purpose of 
 drawing a distinction between one class of sins and another. 
 ^Some are so notorious, whether from their own nature or 
 from the manner of their committal, that no doubt or un- 
 certainty can prevail respecting them : they are unmistake- 
 able violations of the law of God, and, as it were, herald 
 the doers of them to judgment, crying (like the blood of 
 Abel) for vengeance. By judgmejit^ therefore, I would 
 
I TIMOTHY V. 25. 229 
 
 understand chiefly God's, though not excluding man's. It 
 is not said how Timothy should deal with persons guilty 
 of such offences ; but the conclusion was obvious. What 
 so manifestly defied the authority and provoked the con- 
 demnation of Heaven, must meet with an uncompromising 
 opposition on the part of Christian pastors, and call forth 
 merited rebuke. But besides these, there are sins of a less 
 heinous and more covert kind, w^hich seem rather to follow 
 after than to go before the person who commits them, yet 
 so follow as inevitably some time to let the miournful secret 
 out. But as this may not be immediately, all needful pre- 
 cautions should be taken that the real state of things should 
 be ascertained. 
 
 Ver. 25. In like man?ier also^ the works that are good are 
 manifest, and those that are otherwise camiot be hid. The ra. 
 before KoXk is evidently designed to give prominence to the 
 quality of the actions as good ; and this is best brought out 
 in the English idiom by rendering, not the good works, but 
 the works that are good. It is a general proposition, and is 
 not to be limited to the some ?nen immediately preceding, 
 whose bad deeds done in secret ultimately come to light. 
 Deeds fully deserving the name of good have a kind of 
 self-evidencing character ; they speak in a manner for them- 
 selves ; and those which are of a different description, even 
 though for a time, or under certain aspects, they may 
 appear otherwise, will by and by be discovered in their 
 true character. They can7iot be hid — that is, when the 
 searching Hght of God's judgment is let in upon them ; 
 but the saying is strictly applicable only to that, and so 
 confirms the view taken of the judgment in the preceding 
 verse. But Christian men, of course, and especially Christian 
 rulers, should, as far as they are called to act in such 
 matters, be at pains to have the truth brought to Hght. 
 
230 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ver. I. Whoez'er are under the yoke as bond-servants, let 
 them reckon their own masters worthy of all honour. The 
 rendering in the Authorized Version, " as many servants as 
 are under the yoke," gives not an incorrect impression of 
 the meaning to an English reader ; but it does so merely 
 from the ambiguity of the term servants, which may or may 
 not mean bondmen. But in the Greek SovAot there is no 
 such ambiguity ; its proper meaning was slave (having its 
 root in Sew, I bind — hence bondman), and, as ordinarily 
 used, the SoOXot were those under yoke.-^ The general 
 description properly goes first — as many as, or whosoever 
 
 1 It must be noted, however, that while the meaning here and in 
 many other passages is plain enough, the usage of the New Testament 
 in regard to loZxai is of some latitude. The usage, indeed, is derived 
 from the Sept., in which the Hebrew '^3y is sometimes rendered by 
 
 SoyXoj, even in the case of persons whose sei^vice Avas entirely free (as 
 David's towards Saul, I Sam. xix. 4, xxvi. 18, xxix. 3, etc.). It is, 
 moreover, applied there to the relation and sei-vice of God's more 
 peculiar instruments of working, very often by David to himself with 
 reference to God, to whom he felt bound to render the fullest obedience 
 (2 Sam. vii. 21 ; Ps. xix. 11, xxvii. 9, and often elsewhere). This natu- 
 rally led to a more extended and honourable use of the word by the 
 New Testament writers than is found with classical. It is applied there 
 to true Christians generally (Rom. vi. 16; i Pet. ii. 16; Rev. ii. 20, 
 vii. 3, etc. ) ; to apostles, prophets, and ministers of the New Testament 
 church (Matt. xx. 27, xxiv. 45 ; Luke ii. 29 ; Acts iv. 29 ; Gal, i. 10 ; 
 2 Tim. ii. 24, etc.) ; to Moses, the highest authority in the old dispen- 
 sation (Rev. XV. 3) ; and even to Christ, the highest in the new (Phil. 
 ii. 7). In all such cases, the rendering slave, or bo?idmaii, would convey 
 an entirely false impression ; for while there is implied in the relation a 
 binding or constraining element, it is that of willing, devoted love — not 
 of legal or outward compulsion. In some cases, also, when the relation 
 is simply human, the term lovXos denotes plainly the higher class of 
 dependants — stewards or overseers (as in Matt, xviii. 23 sq., xxi. 34, 
 XXV. 14 sq. ), not bondmen of any sort. 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 2. 23 1 
 
 are under the yoke ; and then SoGAot specifies the particular 
 kind of yoke — under the yoke as bondmen. The tendency 
 and purport of the exhortation manifestly is, to caution this 
 part of the Christian community to beware of abusing their 
 liberty in the gospel, of imagining that their spiritual calling 
 and privileges entitled them to spurn the outward restraints 
 under which they lay, and disregard the duties of their 
 station. They were rather, on this very account, to behave 
 toward their masters with becoming regard and submission, 
 lest otherwise, as Chrysostom puts it, " if the master should 
 see them carrying themselves loftily because of their faith, 
 he should blaspheme, as if the doctrine were the ground 
 of their insubordination ; whereas, if he should see them 
 obedient, he may the more readily believe, and attend to the 
 things that are spoken." Hence the special reason given 
 by the apostle for the dutiful behaviour of the Christian 
 bondmen is, that the name of God and His doctrine (or the 
 teaching, namely, of the gospel) may not be blasphemed. 
 
 Ver. 2. But supposing the masters themselves had em- 
 braced the gospel, and master and slave stood on the 
 common footing of brethren in Christ, were those under 
 the yoke still to be held bound to esteem and honour the 
 masters who so held them ? Should not the old relations 
 in such a case rather give way? Practically, no doubt, 
 they would in a great measure do so. But formally it was 
 not the slave's part to demand this, or to act as if, by reason 
 of his church-fellowship with his master, he could claim civil 
 freedom as his right ; for this had been to turn the gospel 
 into a political charter, and give rise to the greatest con- 
 fusion. The change in that direction must be wrought for 
 the slave, not asserted by him, and could only be brought 
 about by the gradual diffusion of right views respecting 
 men's relation to God, and, growing out of this, their 
 relation one to another. Meanwhile, the most effectual 
 way to secure a partial ameUoration, and ultimately a 
 
232 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 general abolition, of the evil, was by the Christian slaves 
 themselves bearing their burden and doing their part with 
 Christian meekness and generosity, as the apostle here 
 exhorts : But such as have believing masters, let them not 
 despise them, because they are brethren — as if the spiritual 
 equality had effaced the civil distinction; but the rather serve 
 them, because they who receive the benefit are faithfiU and 
 beloved. Some (for example, Wetstein) would understand 
 these latter epithets of the slaves, which grammatically 
 might be considered tenable ; but the connection is against 
 it, as the object of the apostle manifestly is to present 
 motives which should induce Christian slaves to continue 
 stedfastly in a course of well-doing ; and here, in particular, 
 from the position and character of the masters. They were 
 faithful and beloved; and whatever benefit might accrue 
 from the conscientious and diligent labour of the bondmen, 
 these had the satisfaction of knowing it was reaped by 
 persons who were worthy to receive it. The verb di/n- 
 Xafji/3dvw, elsewhere used in the sense of laying hold of, 
 with a view to helping or aiding (Luke i. 54 ; Acts xx. 35), 
 must here mean to lay hold of in the sense of sharing in, 
 or obtaining the participation of the accruing good, — a sense 
 of the word not unknown in other writers. These things 
 teach and exhort — those, namely, which had respect to the 
 behaviour of bondmen.^ 
 
 Ver. 3. If any 07ie teacheth other doctrine, and does not 
 assent to sound words, those [namely^ of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the instruction that is according to godliness. 
 This description of the false teacher incidentally arose out 
 of the charge in the immediately preceding clause, to teach 
 and exhort after the manner enjoined by the apostle. The 
 word erepoStSao-KaAetv has already occurred — chap. i. 3 ; and 
 both there and here means to teach otherwise, or dififer- 
 
 ^ For further remarks on the New Testament treatment of slavery, 
 see Appendix C. 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 4, 5. 233 
 
 ently, that is, as compared with a proper kind of teaching, 
 expressed or understood. This latter sort of teaching has 
 here again, as at chap. i. 10, the epithet soimd or wholesome 
 attached to it, and is expHcitly connected with the prophetic 
 agency of Christ — the soimd words of our Lord Jesus Christ; 
 not necessarily meaning those which were directly spoken 
 by Him, but such as bear upon them the stamp of His 
 authority ; along with His own, therefore, those also of His 
 divinely commissioned apostles and evangelists. The teach- 
 ing which emanated from this source was emphatically of a 
 healthful character, being at once clear in its enunciations 
 and practical in its aim, disposing the soul to grapple with 
 the great interests of its being, and creating in it a distaste 
 for idle speculations and questions that cannot profit. 
 Hence it is said of such Christian teaching, that it is 
 accordmg to godliness; that is, in accordance with the 
 nature and interests of godliness. Hence, also, it augured 
 ill for any persons wishing to be regarded as teachers in 
 the church, that they should refuse to come into proper 
 accord with it. Upoa-ipx^crOaL is the word employed ; ^ it 
 means primarily, to come near to, to approach, then to 
 coincide with, to assent to ; thus used also by Philo, de 
 GlgCint., fxrjSevl irpocrip-^cdOai yvw/xr] roiv elprj/jLevoiv ', Migr. 
 Abr., TrpocreXOovTe? dpeTrj. 
 
 Vers. 4, 5. Here follows the result, in a didactic point of 
 view, of the person who so turns aside from the right course 
 of instruction : he is carried with conceit (or besotted with 
 pride ; see at chap. iii. 6), knowing nothing (that is, having 
 no right sense or apprehension of anything), doting (voa-ihv, 
 as in a distempered and sickly condition, the opposite of a 
 
 ^ Tisch,, in his eighth edition, follows the single authority of the 
 Sinaitic in adopting here the easier reading ■rpotri^^irai, instead of 
 Tpoffipx^rai, which has the support of A, D, F, G, K, L, P, the Goth., 
 Syr., Sah., Cop., Ethiop. versions. The received text seems clearly 
 entitled to the preference. 
 
234 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 State adapted to receive the wholesome food of the gospel) 
 about questions and word-fightings : things of little or no mo- 
 ment in themselves, but hurtful from the pugnacious spirit 
 which they served to engender and exercise. For thence, 
 as the apostle states, come ejivy, strife, blasphemies, evil sur- 
 misingSj settled feuds : StaTraparpt^at, the correct reading,^ in 
 which the Sta, as usual, intensifies the meaning of the com- 
 pound term, giving it the sense of continued enmities, or 
 conflicts of a more lasting kind (Winer, Gr. § i6, b; EUi- 
 cott). And these settled feuds are further characterized as 
 pertaining to men corrupted in their mind (tov vovv used, as 
 often in New Testament Scripture, of the whole inner man, 
 with respect to moral as well as intellectual qualities), and 
 destitute of the truth, who suppose that godlijiess is gain; not 
 as our translators have put it, '^ that gain is godliness," 
 which the position of the article before eva-e^euav alone 
 renders grammatically untenable, and also against the 
 general feelings of mankind; for no one scarcely would 
 think of identifying gain absolutely with godliness. But there 
 have never been wanting those who suppose godliness to 
 be gain, consider it as a lucrative concern, and profess it 
 only in so far as they find it serviceable to their worldly 
 interests. We have the same sentiment expressed, and 
 with reference to the same class of corrupt teachers, in 
 Tit. i. II, where they are said to "teach things which they 
 ought not, for the sake of base gain." How the selfish 
 end aimed at by such was actually accompUshed, we are 
 not distinctly informed. We may certainly infer it to have 
 been carried on altogether apart from the constituted order 
 and worship of the church — by privately humouring the 
 capricious tastes and unregulated fancies of certain indi- 
 viduals of a semi-religious, speculative cast. Setting them- 
 selves forth as men of profound lore, teachers of curious 
 
 1 It is that of s, A, D, F, L ; the -rccpaharpil^ui of the received text 
 has no uncial support whatever. 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 6. 235 
 
 and far-fetched knowledge about sacred things, they drove 
 a trade which found dupes enough to make it by no means 
 unremunerating. It is well known that, both before and 
 subsequent to the gospel era, many of the more depraved 
 and covetous Je^vs resorted to even baser methods than 
 these, cunningly working upon the fears of the superstitious 
 by plying the arts of magic and soothsaying, in the face of 
 the most express prohibitions and threatenings of the law 
 of Moses. One need not, therefore, be surprised to learn 
 that others with somewhat less, at least, of open disregard 
 of the authorities they professed to reverence, yet with the 
 same low desire for worldly gain, should have sought to 
 gratify the religious idlers and speculatists of the time by 
 pretended disclosures of the unseen world, and dogmatical 
 assertions on matters that were at best learned frivolities. 
 They might not inaptly be designated the spiritualists and 
 rappists of early times, and in some cases perhaps stood 
 in a similar relation to the Christian church that persons of 
 that description do now. . They were real, though not 
 always the professed, antagonists of its sound doctrine and 
 holy aims.^ 
 
 Ver. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain : the 
 true, in contrast to the fancied or false. It is the mark of 
 a base disposition to cultivate godliness for the sake merely 
 of the temporal gain it may yield ; but there is, at the same 
 time, a real and most important temporal gain connected 
 with it (for it is plainly of gain in this sense alone that the 
 apostle here speaks), only it must be godliness of the right 
 stamp : hence godliness mth contentment j that is, godli- 
 ness cultivated for its own sake, not as a stepping-stone to 
 wealth or worldly consideration, and so bringing its own 
 dowry of good along with it, making the soul " satisfied from 
 
 ^ The addition in the received text, dipitrraTo uto ri^v roiovruv, from 
 such withdraw thyself, is wanting in the best authorities, N, A, D, F, 
 and most of the versions ; only two uncials have it, K, L. 
 
236 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 itself." A thought not materially different is expressed by 
 the apostle in Gal. vi. 4 : " Let every man prove his own 
 work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone." 
 For to prove one's own work is but a fuller mode of express- 
 ing what is meant by true godliness ; and the rejoicing 
 that follows — rejoicing in oneself alone — is nothing else 
 than the sweet content and peace of soul which comes 
 from the possession of a conscience purged from dead 
 works, and enabled to relish the communion and service 
 of God. 
 
 Ver. 7. A reason is here given for the preceding state- 
 ment, that the real good for man lies in what he is as a 
 rational and moral being, not in the outward means and 
 possessions he may gather into his lot : for we brought Clo- 
 thing into the world, because neither are we able to take a7iy- 
 thing out of it. Such seems to be the correct reading. The 
 received text has 8^Aov before ort with mss. K, L ; but the 
 best authorities, K, A, F, G, want it, and it was in all pro- 
 bability inserted to soften the apparent hardness or difficulty 
 of the connection between the two clauses, and render the 
 import more perspicuous. Taking the passage as it stands 
 in the best supported form, the apostle not merely says that 
 we both enter and leave the world in a state of desritution 
 as to worldly goods, but that the one is ordered with a 
 certain respect to the other : we brought nothing with us 
 of earthly treasure when we were ushered into life here, 
 because neither could we take aught with us when we leave 
 it; thus having a lesson embodied in our very birth, in 
 order that we might keep in view the solemn exempUfica- 
 tion it was to find at the hour of death. If we do so, we 
 shall live in the habitual recollection that all we can ac- 
 cumulate of the things of earth during our sojourn in it, 
 is adventitious merely — of the nature of a temporary ap- 
 pendage — and not, therefore, for a moment to be compared 
 with the state of the soul itself in reference to God and 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 8, 9. 237 
 
 righteousness. Here, and here alone, He the essential 
 elements of our well-being. 
 
 Ver. 8. But (Se, contrasting the avaricious desires of 
 some with what we actually need) if we have food and rai- 
 ment^ ivith these we shall be satisfied, or have sufficient ; 
 apKeaOrjcroiJieOa, fut. pass., we shall be sufficed, have all that 
 we really need. Many, after Luther, among others our 
 translators, have taken it in an imperative sense, which the 
 future sometimes undoubtedly bears (Winer Gr. § 43. 5). 
 But here it is best to retain the original form, as the apostle 
 is indicating what, on the condition supposed, should be 
 regarded as a fact. The two words employed in the con 
 ditional clause — 8iaTpo<^as and o-KeTrda-fxaTa — occur only here 
 in the New Testament ; and though the latter has some- 
 times been taken in the more general sense of covering, so 
 as to include our dwellings as well as our clothes, yet the 
 other is the more natural, as the apostle is speaking simply 
 of what is proper to the individual man — to his proper life 
 and being. In this sense it is taken by the ancient ex- 
 positors, and is found also in Josephus ( Wars, ii. 8. 5) and 
 other writers (see in Robinson's Lex). If one, therefore, 
 has these two essentials for the bodily life, more may be 
 dispensed with ; nature has the little it can do with ; what- 
 ever besides is given may be thankfully received and found 
 available to usefulness and comfort — only, not necessary. 
 
 Ver. 9. But they who aim at being rich (the opposite class 
 of characters to the preceding, having their hearts set upon 
 the superfluities of hfe, large possessions), such persons get 
 into a perilous, and what usually becomes a downward and 
 ruinous course : first, they fall into temptation — that is, are 
 in danger of betaking to means of compassing their end 
 which are not consistent with integrity of character ; not 
 only into temptation, but also a snare — their haste to be 
 rich involving them in entanglements through which they 
 find it impossible to work their way with a good conscience ; 
 
238 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 then, as riches increase, the carnal desires and appetites to 
 which these minister grow, they fall into many foolish and 
 hurtful lusts, indulge in pleasures and gratifications which 
 are in themselves unreasonable, and in their effects deterio- 
 rate the moral well-being of the soul. And these, again, 
 have their downward and deepening tendency — they are 
 such as (atrtves) sijik men into destructiojt and perdition. 
 Truly a tristis gradatio, as Bengel remarks ; and one that in 
 all ages, and within the pale also of the professing church, 
 has ever-recurring exemplifications. We see it constantly 
 proceeding before our eyes ; nor can anything effectually 
 arrest it but that grace of God which brings salvation, and 
 carries the affections of the soul upwards to the things 
 which are not seen and eternal. 
 
 Ver. 10. For a root of all evils is the love of mo?tey — or 
 simply, root of all evils. Putting it in the latter way, the 
 exact counterpart of the original, which also gives promi- 
 nence to the term root, as the apostle undoubtedly meant, 
 we might evade the question whether, if an article were 
 employed, it should be the definite or the indefinite. It is 
 certainly more in accordance with English idiom in such a 
 passage to use an article ; and if one is used, then I think, 
 with Middleton, Huther, Conybeare, and Ellicott, against 
 Alford, that the indefinite is the fittest — a root of all evils is, 
 etc., or the love of money is a root of all evils. No doubt 
 the definite article might also be employed, as Alford con- 
 tends, for the purpose simply of emphasizing root, desig- 
 nating avarice as such a vicious passion, that if it stood 
 alone, all manner of evils might spring out of it. But, on 
 the other hand, the expression so put is ambiguous ; for it 
 may also mean that it is the one thing which is so prolific 
 of evil — there is no other of which the same could be pre- 
 dicated : and that is not the case ; for it might be said of 
 ambition, and some other passions as well. The question 
 is not, therefore, as Alford seems to consider, whether one 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 
 
 239 
 
 might not here, as in other cases, use the definite article in 
 EngUsh, where there is none in the Greek, in order to bring 
 out the proper emphasis : one may well enough do so, as 
 in the passage referred to by him (i Cor. xi. 3), where, as 
 there is but properly one thing of the kind to be thought 
 of, it can occasion no ambiguity. But where the reverse is 
 the case, as in the present instance, it is better to avoid it 
 by employing the indefinite article, even though it should 
 be with a partial sacrifice of the emphasis. The sentiment 
 is, that there is no kind of evil to which the love of money 
 may not lead men, when it once fairly takes hold of them. 
 And the apostle further characterizes the affection by saying, 
 which some, reachi?ig after, have wandered away from the 
 faith, and pierced themselves through with 7?iany pa?igs. There 
 is a certain looseness in the structure of the passage, since 
 avarice, or the love of money (cfaXapyvpLa), being itself an 
 affection of the mind, a lust, one cannot strictly be said to 
 reach or long after it. The passion is obviously identified 
 by the apostle with its object — money as a thing loved and 
 sought after; and some, he says, reaching forth in their 
 desires after this, made a twofold shipwreck : first, of their 
 Christian principles, departing from the faith; and second, 
 of their happiness, piercing themselves through {TrepieTretpav, 
 transfixed) with many pangs. What precisely these were 
 we are left to infer ; but the expression seems to point to 
 inward rather than to outward troubles — to sorrows of heart, 
 the pungent rebukes of conscience, which came upon the 
 individuals referred to when they saw, and had time to 
 reflect on, the shameful course they had pursued. 
 
 Ver. II. But thou^ O man of God, fee these things; 
 different in character and aims, let your course be also 
 different. The designation man of God was in ancient 
 times in frequent use for prophet, because standing in a 
 peculiarly close relation to God, acting as His represen- 
 tative and spokesman to the people ; and it is but natural 
 
240 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 to suppose that, with some reference to that ancient usage, 
 the designation is here appUed to Timothy, — reminding him 
 by the very term, that in the special, semi-apostoUc agency 
 now entrusted to him, he in effect stood on the relatively 
 elevated position of a prophet, and should take heed to 
 conduct himself accordingly. It might, no doubt, with 
 many commentators, be understood in a more general 
 sense, with reference simply to Timothy's state and calling 
 as a believer. But the whole passage evidently has respect 
 to Timothy's destination as a public witness and servant of 
 the Lord ; and the distinctive epithet, both in itself and in 
 its usage, best accords with that idea. It is again similarly 
 used in 2 Tim. iii. 17 ; and these are the only two passages 
 where it occurs in New Testament Scripture. The things 
 Timothy is exhorted to flee are plainly those mentioned in 
 the immediately preceding context — the love of money, and 
 all the hurtful lusts, and corrupt as well as foolish and 
 unbecoming practices to which it gives rise. But with this 
 negative exhortation the apostle couples a positive : a7id 
 follow after righteous7tess, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- 
 ness of spirit (-rrpavTraOeLav, the reading of j<. A, F, somewhat 
 stronger than the received irpaoT-qTo). " As Christian virtues 
 to which Timothy must apply himself, Paul names six, of 
 which each pair stand in a close relation to one another : 
 the two most general ideas go first — righteousness and 
 godliness ; then follow faith and love as the fundamental 
 principles of the Christian life ; and finally, patience and 
 meekness of spirit, which denote the conduct proper to a 
 Christian amid the enmity and opposition of the world to 
 Christ's gospel " (Huther). 
 
 Ver. 12. Maintain the good contest of the faith — literally, 
 contend the good contest ; but this does not quite accord 
 with EngHsh usage ; and I deem it better to depart a little 
 from the precise form of the original, than to use an unsuit- 
 able combination of words, or convey a wrong impression. 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 12. 241 
 
 This last is what is done hy Jight the. fight of the Authorized 
 Version, and strive the strife of EUicott and Alford. Neither 
 strife nor fight suggests to an Enghsh ear the kind of struggle 
 here indicated under a form of expression that bears respect 
 to the ancient games. These games were simply strenuous 
 contests for the mastery in trials of strength and skill ; and 
 it is of importance to retain the term contest^ though we can 
 scarcely couple it with the cognate verb. The contest, 
 however, is characterized as good, to distinguish this spiritual 
 contest from the carnal and ambitious wrestlings on the 
 arena. And it is further characterized as that of the faith 
 — meaning thereby the specific exercise of faith in the 
 person and work of Christ. The adherents of this faith 
 were like men contending for the mastery against the powers 
 of evil working everywhere in the world around them ; they 
 must therefore quit themselves like men, in order to succeed 
 in the conflict. Then the connection is indicated between 
 the contest and the prize : lay hold of eternal life, which, as 
 Winer notes {Gr. § 43, 2), must mean, Do it in and through 
 the contest ; for the laying hold of eternal life is not repre- 
 sented as the result of the contest (though it might have 
 been so), but as itself the substance of the contest : one 
 must grasp the reality, in a measure noiv, in order to 
 maintain the struggle aright, and reach the life in its full 
 and final heritage of blessing.^ 
 
 Having mentioned eternal life, the apostle now drops the 
 figure, and brings the great reality into connection with the 
 Christian calling : unto which thou wert called, and didst 
 confess the good confession before many wittiesses. The period 
 referred to is undoubtedly that of his formally embracing 
 the faith of Christ's gospel. Timothy was then called to 
 
 ^ The change of tense, too, is significant, the first imperative in the 
 present, a.yuv'iZ,ov, tlie second in the aorist, \-7nXa.^ov — the former having 
 respect to an action already commenced and to be continued, the latter 
 to an action which is in a manner done at once (see Winer, § 43, 3). 
 
 Q 
 
242 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 receive the gift of eternal life (Rom. vi. 23 ; i Pet. v. 10) ; 
 and then also made confession of his belief in the truth in 
 Christ, though the precise moment of his doing so in public 
 before many witnesses, as it is here put, might be either at 
 his baptism or his ordination to the work of the ministry. 
 These are the occasions that naturally present themselves 
 to one's mind in connection with such a statement, and it 
 is needless to think of any other. 
 
 Ver. 13. The mention of that confession or wdtness- 
 bearing which had been made by Timothy seems to have 
 suggested to the apostle's mind another and still higher act 
 of the same kind, which he interweaves in a solemn appeal 
 and charge to Timothy : / charge thee before God, who pre- 
 serveth alive 1 all things, and Christ Jesus, who before Pontitis 
 Pilate witnessed the good confession. The object of this 
 appeal, and of the specific characters under which God and 
 Christ are here presented, is obviously to strengthen the 
 exhortation which follows, and brace the mind of Timothy 
 Ao its faithful discharge. God is represented as the pre- 
 / server of all, and consequently as able to minister protection 
 V and support to those who were ready to obey His will, and 
 ■ hazard all for His glory. Then, as the highest example of 
 One who did thus show that He made account of nothing in 
 comparison of the fealty he owed to the claims of truth and 
 righteousness, the apostle points to the fearless and uncom- 
 promising testimony given by Christ before Pontius Pilate. 
 {'EttI admits of being taken in the sense either of under, with 
 the Vulgate, Gothic, English versions, De Wette, Ellicott, 
 etc., or before, as the Syriac, Chrysostom, Huther, Alford, 
 etc. ; but the latter seems the more natural sense, as it is 
 only in connection with the closing scenes of our Lord's 
 
 1 The correct text appears to be ^aoyavovvros, the reading of A, D, F, G, 
 not ^MO'ToiouvTo;, which is the received text, and is the reading of n, K, L ; 
 and the meaning of ^Moy. in the sense of preserving aUve is confirmed 
 by the only other passages where it occurs, Luke xvii. 33, Acts vii. 19. 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 14. 243 
 
 life, and especially with the testimony He then bore to His 
 own person and kingdom, and so shortly after sealed with 
 His blood, that the evangelical record brings Him into con- 
 tact with Pontius Pilate.) And in regard to the testimony 
 itself, there is, I think, room for the distinction drawn 
 between it and Timothy's in the preceding verse, indicated 
 by Bengel : testari confessionem, erat Domini ; confiteri 
 confessionem, Timothei. The one was of a fundamental 
 or primary character, the other responsive and secondary. 
 Christ bore witness to the truth respecting Himself and 
 His kingdom, as in the closest manner identified with it, 
 and being it; and His confession, as Bengel justly says, 
 " animates all other confessions " — Timothy's among the 
 rest — gave birth to them, indeed. But we may still say, 
 with Huther, that the confession which the disciple of 
 Christ is called to make, and which is declared to have 
 been made by Timothy, is as to its nature nothing else than 
 that which was testified by Christ j and hence it is in each 
 case " the good confession " — a specific and formal utter- 
 ance in respect to the essentials of the Christian faith — 
 dift'"ering, it may be, and doubtless often does, in words, but 
 coinciding in the substance of the doctrines confessed. 
 Some commentators appear to broaden the difference be- 
 tween the confessions beyond what the language necessarily 
 implies, or even properly admits of. 
 
 Ver. 14. Here follows the thing charged upon Timothy : 
 that thou keep the commandment spotless and unrebukeable 
 tintil the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, Various 
 shades of meaning have been put upon the commandmejit 
 (Trjv ivToXi^v) which Timothy was enjoined to observe or 
 keep. As there is nothing of a special kind mentioned in 
 the preceding context to which it can fidy be referred, it is 
 most naturally understood of the moral obligation generally, 
 the injunction or rule implied in the very nature of the 
 gospel to adhere to the great principles of truth and 
 
244 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 righteousness, or to give the gospel as to what it teaches 
 and requires a practical and embodied form. This prac- 
 tical imperative of the gospel (if we may so speak) the 
 apostle calls Timothy to keep spotless and unrebukeable, 
 — a somewhat peculiar form of exhortation, certainly, as 
 these epithets are strictly applicable to persons only, though 
 there are not wanting instances of a more extended appli- 
 cation in other writers (as in Philo, de Opif., rj av€7riXr)7rTo<; 
 Te^vr] ; Plato, J^/n7. 43, aveTTLXr^Trrorepov to Acyo/xevov). Con- 
 sidered by itself, of course, a thing inherently good cannot 
 become subject to any real tarnish or defilement : it must 
 ever remain what its own essential nature makes it ; and of 
 nothing involving moral obligation may this more properly 
 be said than in respect to the ethical bearing of the gospel. 
 But contemplated from a popular point of view, a reproach 
 or charge is naturally conceived to be brought on a scheme 
 of doctrine or duty when its acknowledged representatives 
 give an exhibition of it which palpably offends against 
 men's notions of the pure and good ; or, in the case of the 
 gospel, is contrary to its real character. And this is plainly 
 what is meant here : it is that Timothy might be careful so 
 to bear himself in the ministry of the gospel, and the inter- 
 course of daily life, as to prevent God's word and service 
 from suffering reproach through his failures ; and though 
 the expressions used by the apostle have immediate respect 
 to the commandment itself, not to the observance of 
 Timothy, yet practically it is all one with saying, as Chry- 
 sostom puts it, that Timothy should beware of contracting 
 any stain in respect to his doctrine or manner of life. And 
 this //// tJie appearance {the epipJiany) of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ — the second advent, which was certainly contem- 
 plated by the eye of faith as near, yet not so as to be 
 confidently expected at any definite period, or within 
 the limits of that generation. This is rendered clear 
 by the statements of Paul in one of his earliest epistles 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 15, 16. 245 
 
 (2 Thess. ii. 1-12), and also in a measure by what follows 
 here. 
 
 Vers. 15, 16. These verses begin with a more particular 
 description of the expected appearance of Christ in its 
 relation to God, and then run out into a doxology, cele- 
 brating the incomparable greatness and glory of God. This 
 Baur and others would regard as a protest against the semi- 
 polytheism or dualism of the Gnostics — an entirely fanciful 
 and unnatural view. The object seems rather to have been 
 to fortify the mind of Timothy to a consistent and persever- 
 ing adherence to the Christian faith and life amid the scorn 
 or opposition of worldly powers of the stamp of Pontius 
 Pilate, by placing distinctly before him the sole supremacy, 
 the peerless eminence, and infinite sufficiency of Him who 
 has decreed the future manifestation in glory of Christ, as 
 He had done that of His past humiliation. This affords a 
 reason perfectly cognate to many others introduced by the 
 apostle in this epistle (chap. i. 18, 19, ii. 5-7, iii. 15, 16, 
 V. 21, etc.), and in proper keeping with the connection. 
 Which (namely, appearance) in His oivn seasons He shall 
 show, [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings 
 and Lord of lords, who only has immortality, dwelling in light 
 that is unapp7'oachable, whom no man hath seen nor can see : 
 to whom be honour and power roerlasting. Amen. In regard 
 to what is said at the outset about the appearing of Christ, 
 that it is to take place in God's ow7i seasons, there is plainly 
 indicated a certain indefiniteness, as in regard to a matter 
 which belongs to the secret things of God, not therefore to 
 be pronounced upon by the superficiality and littleness of 
 human foresight (Bengel : brevitatem temporis non valde 
 coarctuans). The words remind us — perhaps were pur- 
 posely designed to remind us — of the address given by our 
 Lord before His ascension to the disciples on this very 
 subject: "It is not for you to know the times or the 
 seasons, which the Father hath put in His own pow^er" 
 
246 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 (Acts i. 6), — the seasons, namely, which concern the greater 
 movements of Christ's kingdom, and especially, as here, His 
 advent in glory. Nay, our Lord Himself had previously 
 told them, that as regards the precise period when He 
 should come to manifest Himself in the glory of that king- 
 dom, even He did not know it in His humiliation (Mark 
 xiii. 32), doubtless because He did not ivish to know it ; 
 the knowledge would have been unsuited to that transient 
 and provisional state of things. God is here designated the 
 blessed, as at chap. i. 11 — the antithesis of everything that 
 can be called sorrow or vexation ; also the 07ily Potentate 
 (fjLovos SvvdcrT7]<;) — alone in the universe possessed of inde- 
 pendent right, absolute sovereignty. The epithet Kmg of 
 kings and Lord of lords is, with a slight variation in the 
 form, directly applied to Christ in Rev. xvii. 14, xix. 16 ; 
 for in this, as in all divine prerogatives, " all that the Father 
 hath is His," But it is plainly God the Father that is 
 here the subject of discourse, as some parts of the descrip- 
 tion are not properly applicable to Christ as the God-man. 
 When it is said of God that He only has immortality, the 
 meaning plainly is. He alone has it of Himself — it is in 
 Him as its fountainhead. John v. 26, which declares the 
 Father to have life in Himself — life in the full and absolute 
 sense — is substantially parallel. Further, He is represented 
 as dwelling in an atmosphere of light — light that from its 
 excessive splendour and intense brilliancy is incapable of 
 being approached or looked upon by the eye of man : com- 
 pare John i. 18; I John i. 5; Ps. civ. 2. The whole of 
 this sublime representation concludes, and is most appro- 
 priately wound up, with an ascription of honour and power 
 to God, as alone entitled to receive the homage and adora- 
 tion of His intelligent creatures. 
 
 Ver. 1 7. The apostle here again reverts to the subject of 
 riches, but now under a different aspect, with reference 
 not to those who made wealth their idol, and were ready 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 17. 247 
 
 to sacrifice principle and character for its attainment, but 
 to such as, having acquired riches, still retain their Chris- 
 tianity, and are willing to use what they possess in accord- 
 ance with the truth of God and their own best interests. 
 Charge them that are rich in this world not to be high-minded, 
 nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, 
 who miftisters to us all tJmigs richly for enJoyme?it. The in- 
 struction to give such a charge obviously implies, that there 
 already were persons in the church at Ephesus to whom 
 the epithet rich might not improperly be applied. But 
 that, as every one knows, is a relative term, and in one 
 country or one stage of social progress might include 
 persons whom none almost would think of associating 
 with it in another. It is absurd, therefore, to find an 
 argument against the early existence of the epistle — as is 
 done by Schleiermacher and others — in the mention of 
 rich persons in the church at Ephesus ; and, indeed, the 
 disturbance occasioned there many years before the real 
 date of the epistle by Demetrius and his craftsmen, was 
 alone a proof that even then the movement from the old 
 worship in favour of Christianity must have embraced 
 individuals in various grades of society ; not a few that 
 were well-to-do in the world, as well as those who were 
 comparatively poor. The persons who might be deemed 
 relatively rich were to be exhorted not to be high-minded, 
 nor to have their hopes set on the uncertainty of riches — 
 rlK-KiKivai iin -kXovtov aSrjXorrjTi, a very Striking expression. 
 The verb is in the perfect ; and being used in connection 
 with a charge to the persons in question, it must mean 
 that they ought not to have done so in the past, nor con- 
 tinue to do so now — not so to hope in such an object 
 as if it were a settled and abiding habit of mind. Then, 
 instead of putting riches as the object of the hope, the 
 apostle rather indicates the quality in riches which rendered 
 it peculiarly unsuitable for such a purpose. It is a rhetorical 
 
248 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 rather than a strictly grammatical construction ; for the 
 term for riches is undoubtedly the principal substantive, 
 and the natural construction would have been to put it 
 in the dative, and couple it with an adjective, expressive 
 of the uncertain element adhering to them — ttA-ovtw tw 
 dSTJAu). But the mode of expression in the text is not 
 arbitrary ; as Winer remarks {Gr. § 34, 3, a), " it is chosen 
 for the purpose of giving more prominence to the main 
 idea, which, if expressed by means of an adjective, would 
 be thrown more into the background : hence it belongs to 
 rhetoric, not to grammar." To trust in riches, the apostle 
 would have it understood, is virtually to make uncertainty 
 one's confidence, since both their continuance with us, 
 and our possession of them, may at any moment come to a 
 termination. The contrast to such an insecure foundation 
 is God, the eternal, the all-sufficient, who ministers richly 
 to His people's necessities and just desires, and v/ho, as 
 a source of enjoyment to those who trust in Him, can never 
 fail. 
 
 Ver. 18. Here we have in one or two particulars the 
 positive aspect of rich men's duties : t/iaf they do good 
 (ayaOoepyecv), that they be rich in excelkftt deeds (iv apyots 
 KaXot?, deeds inherently noble and praiseworthy), free in 
 distributing, ready to communicate (or, as Alford puts it, 
 free-givers, ready-contributors), not merely imparting of their 
 substance to the relief of the needy and the promotion 
 of good objects, but doing it with a frank generosity and 
 a liberal hand. To act thus is nobly to realize the steward- 
 ship of wealth, and, according to the word of our Lord, 
 to make to oneself friends of what, taken merely by itself, 
 is the mammon of unrighteoicsness (Luke xvi. 9). 
 
 Ver. 19. The description is here wound up by a word 
 which very strikingly exhibits the connection between such 
 a course of action on earth and its issues in eternity: 
 treasuring up {aTroO-qa-avptCovTcs, off from what would other- 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 19. 249 
 
 wise be lost, and so tip) for themselves a good fon7idation 
 for the future^ in order that they may lay hold of what is life 
 indeed.^ Two important practical points are here forcibly 
 presented. The first is, the doctrine of a future recom- 
 pense, the proper employment of one's means in charitable 
 and pious, uses, and consequently the doing of good deeds 
 generally, being said to constitute a treasure for the world 
 to come ; a treasure which is not an uncertainty, like 
 riches when contemplated by themselves and sought for 
 their own sake, but 2, foundation (^e/AeAtoi/), or well-grounded 
 basis of hope, for the great future. The doctrine could 
 scarcely be more unequivocally put, and is the more re- 
 markable as coming from him who was emphatically the 
 preacher of grace : he saw no incompatibility between a 
 free salvation, the gift of sovereign grace to the sinful, and 
 the placing of those who have become partakers of grace 
 under the law of recompense. And in the teaching of 
 our Lord Himself, the same two doctrines are equally 
 marked characteristics (comp., for example, in Matt. v. 3-10, 
 the first four beatitudes with the second four ; or the two 
 parables, Luke xvi. T-12, Matt, xviii. 23-35). The link 
 of connection between the two is, that the grace which 
 brings salvation as a divine gift, becomes from its very 
 nature to those who receive it their great talent, wherewith 
 they must do service to God, and hereafter be dealt with 
 according as they have themselves done. But is not such 
 a prominent exhibition of the doctrine of reward at variance 
 with the disinterested nature of true excellence ? It might 
 be so, if isolated from other parts of the Christian system, 
 but not when taken in its proper connection. " For the 
 
 "I Such seems to be the correct reading, t?j ovtu^ "^ain?, K, A, D, F, 
 Ital., Vulg,, Syr., Cop, versions, and most of the Fathers ; while the 
 received text, t>jj alavtou ^utis, is the reading of only two uncials, K, L, 
 with little collateral support. This is also the reading which might 
 naturally suggest itself as an explanation 
 
250 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 truth is, that the Christian's love of virtue does not arise 
 from a previous desire of the reward ; but his desire of the 
 reward arises from a previous love of virtue. The first and 
 immediate effect of his conversion is to inspire him with 
 the genuine love of virtue and religion ; and his desire 
 of the reward is a secondary and subordinate effect, a 
 consequence of the love of virtue previously formed in 
 him. For of the nature of the reward it promises, what 
 does the gospel discover to us more than this, that it shall 
 be great and endless, and adapted to the intellectual endow- 
 ments and moral qualities of the human soul in a state of 
 high improvement ? ' It doth not yet appear what we shall 
 be ; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be 
 like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' " 1 This resem- 
 blance is even represented in Scripture as the most essential 
 element both of the Christian state here and of the heavenly 
 state hereafter ; and therefore not the actions simply which 
 appear in the life, but the motives also and principles from 
 which those actions proceed, must go together in any just 
 expectation that is formed of future recompense. Bene- 
 ficent deeds and good deeds generally are valuable most 
 of all on this account, that they are the indications and 
 fruits of a regenerated nature ; and such a nature, so proved 
 and exercised, will at last "as by its own elasticity spring 
 to heaven," while that which is in an opposite condition 
 shall not less certainly " descend by its own dead weight 
 to kindred darkness " (A. Butler). 2 
 
 * Horsley's 2d Sermon on Phil. iii. 15. 
 
 2 A well-known passage in Newman's discourses puts the matter 
 happily, as regards the present relation of goodness to the beneficial 
 consequences that spring from it: — "All virtue and goodness tend to 
 make men powerful in this world ; but they who aim at the power have 
 not the virtue. Again : Virtue is its own reward, and brings with it 
 the truest and highest pleasures ; but they who cultivate it for the 
 pleasure-sake are selfish, not religious, and will never gain the plea- 
 sure, because they can never have the virtue." 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 19. 251 
 
 The other point here presented is the emphasis laid on 
 life in the higher sense — Hfe that really may be called 
 such : rich Christians are exhorted to deal with their 
 earthly means in the manner prescribed, in order that 
 they may lay hold of this. Simply as rich men, they were 
 in danger of suffering it to escape from them ; certain to 
 fail of it, if they set their hearts on worldly lucre, and the 
 enjoyments to which it ministers. What is meant by such 
 life ? It is nothing else than that participation of a divine 
 nature already referred to, which has its beginning here in 
 all spiritual excellence and fruitful working, but will reach 
 its consummation when that which is in part shall be done 
 away, and the perfect shall have come. In this passage, 
 it may be added, St. Paul approaches more nearly to St. 
 John's mode of representation concerning the Life (^wr/) 
 than anywhere else — Life, without anything further ; Life in 
 the reality being viewed as the one and all of a blessed 
 condition. To exhibit this life as having its fountainhead 
 in the Father, and coming to men as His gift in Christ, is 
 the common teaching of both, and indeed of all the New 
 Testament writers ; to St. John only it is peculiar to represent 
 Him, through whom the gift comes, as the Life (John i. 4, 
 xi. 25, xiv. 6, etc.). " In the Father, things are shut up and 
 hidden which manifest themselves in the Son ; therefore 
 all things which the Son has belong to the Father : but 
 in the Son the properties of the Father are revealed to 
 men, in order that His name may be celebrated with 
 praise. Life thus lying concealed with the Father in the 
 beginning was manifested to men in the Son ; so that 
 when the Father is manifested, the Son is to be seen" 
 (Olshausen, Opiiscula^ p. 193). In regard to men, life in 
 this higher sense is predicated only of such as have, 
 through the action of the Holy Spirit on their souls, been 
 brought to participate of that which is in Christ. The 
 merely natural man {\\rvyiKoi) is dead, even while as an in- 
 
252 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 habitant of the world he hves ; ''it is the Spirit that quick- 
 eneth." And this quickening energy entering into the soul, 
 and linking it through faith in Christ to the proper heritage 
 of life, the body also, by reason of its connection with the 
 soul, must share in the glorious possession ; and when both 
 soul and body reach thus their destined perfection, there 
 shall be the full enjoyment of what is here called the life 
 indeed — life in its completeness of purity and blessing. 
 
 Vers. 20-22. The conclusion, containing another very 
 earnest charge to fidelity : O Ti77iothy^ keep the deposit (tyjv 
 TrapaOrjK-qv, used again in 2 Tim. i. 12, 14, and each time with 
 the same verb). What deposit ? Neither here nor in the 
 other two passages in which the word is employed, first with 
 reference to Paul, and then with reference to Timothy, 
 is any further description given of it : the apostle himself 
 commits to Christ's keeping what he calls a deposit ; and 
 Timothy had committed to him a deposit to keep, which 
 is simply characterized as good. So far, however, the con- 
 nection here throws some light upon the subject; for the 
 deposit is plainly represented as what, if faithfully kept, 
 would preserve Timothy from the false teachings of the 
 Gnostic school, which were already beginning to make them- 
 selves heard : tiu^ning away frofii the pi'ofaiie babblings and 
 oppositions of knowledge (the gnosis) falsely so called, which 
 some p?'ofessi7ig, ei-red concerniiig the faith. So that remain- 
 ing stedfast in the one, he should avoid the dangers of the 
 other. And what could possibly avail for such a purpose, 
 but the sound faith or doctrine of the gospel ? This is 
 what the apostle himself, in various passages, sets against 
 the false tendency in question, as the only true antidote ; 
 for example, at chap. i. 3, 11, 18, iv. 6, vi. 3, etc. So 
 Chrysostom, who identifies the deposit with faith, on the 
 ground that " where faith is not, there is no knowledge ; 
 when anything is produced of one's own thoughts, it is not 
 knowledge : " in other words, the errors to be guarded 
 
I TIMOTHY VI. 20-22. 253 
 
 against are the teachings of man; the safeguard against 
 them is what is received by faith from the teaching of God. 
 TertuUian also not only explains it in the same way, but 
 argues against the abuse made of the passage by the 
 Gnostic teachers, to support their assertion that the apostles 
 taught certain things secretly and to a few, which they 
 withheld- from others. "What (says he) is this deposit, 
 so secret, that it may be reckoned another sort of doc- 
 trine?" And referring to the charge given in chap. i. i8, 
 vi. 13, of this epistle, as probably pointing to the same 
 thing, he proceeds : " -From what is written in the preced- 
 ing and subsequent context, it will be perceived that there 
 is no allusion in the form of expression to any secret 
 doctrine, but rather that he is warned against admitting 
 any other doctrine than that which he had heard from 
 himself (viz. Paul), and that openly — Before many witnesses^ 
 says he (2 Tim. ii. 2). If by those many witnesses they 
 are unwilling to understand the church, it is of no moment; 
 since nothing could be secret which was set forth in the 
 presence of many witnesses " {de Pr(Esc7^ip. Hcei-et. c. 25). 
 The modern advocates, therefore, of a secret traditional 
 doctrine handed down from Patristic testimony, follow 
 not the Fathers, but the Gnostics, in their use of this 
 passage ; and in the interpretation they put on it, they 
 always assume two things which are absolutely incapable 
 of proof, — first, that Timothy's deposit embraced some- 
 thing of importance not in Scripture ; and second, that 
 Patristic tradition is an infallible informant as to what 
 that deposit was (see Goode's Rule of Faith, ii. p. 78). 
 Even Vincentius Lirinensis, in a long passage regarding 
 the deposit in his Covwioniiorium, expressly desigTiates it, 
 like TertuUian, as no more of private teaching, than of 
 private invention : " Quid est depositum ? . . . rem, non 
 ingenii sed doctrinae, non usurpationis privatse sed publicae 
 traditionis ; " — nothing else, in short, than the great facts 
 
254 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and principles which constituted the burden of apostolic 
 teaching. 
 
 The profane babblings and oppositions of the falsely 
 named knowledge have already been referred to, both in 
 the Introduction to the epistles and at chap. i. 6, 19, 20. 
 What is meant is that peculiar kind of religious specula- 
 tion which originated in the East, but gradually spread 
 westward to Asia Minor, Greece, and Egypt, and which 
 bears the general name of Gnosticism, because of the 
 predominant account it made of gnosis, or knowledge. It 
 was this, however, still only in an incipient form, not as 
 ultimately developed into the regularly constructed systems, 
 which appeared one after another in the second and third 
 centuries, and which, though courting alliance with Chris- 
 tianity, were always denounced as essentially antichristian 
 by the Fathers. It was this in spirit and character, even 
 in its earlier and more sporadic existence, in which it 
 assumed a variety of phases and manifestations ; so that 
 it cannot be either very particularly characterized or identi- 
 fied with any single locality and individual, but was the 
 native fruit of the spirit of the age, animated and influenced 
 by the circumstances of the time (see Reuss, Theol. Chre- 
 tiejine, vol. ii. p. 641). But being in its very nature of a 
 presumptuous and pragmatical tendency, whenever yielded 
 to, it was sure to lead men away from the simple and 
 earnest faith of the gospel. 
 
 The grace (namely, of God) be with yoii!^ or simply, 
 Grace be with you : thee, and those with thee. 
 
 (For the subscription, see close of Introduction.) 
 
 1 The best authorities have Ifj^Zv, s, -A, F, G, P, winch at 2 Tim. 
 iv. 22 is the reading also of the received text. 
 
THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO TITUS. 
 
 The precise period of St. Paul's visit to Crete for the 
 purpose of preaching the gospel and organizing Christians, 
 as already stated in the Introduction, is not certainly- 
 known. But from the great similarity between certain parts 
 of this epistle and the First Epistle to Timothy, the proba- 
 bility is, that the visit took place some time during the later 
 operations of the apostle in Asia Minor and Greece, and that 
 consequently this epistle to Titus, who had been left behind 
 to complete the work begun by the apostle, must have 
 proceeded from his pen at no great interval from the time 
 when he indited the first to Timothy. The Second Epistle 
 to Timothy belongs to a period considerably later, and 
 presents us with the last record we have of the apostle's 
 thoughts and experiences. In a consecutive exposition, 
 therefore, the Epistle to Titus fitly takes precedence of the 
 Second to Timothy. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ver. I. Paul, a servant of God, also a7i apostle of Jesus 
 Christ, for the faith of God's elect, and full knowledge of the 
 truth that is according to godliness ; 2. in hope of eternal life, 
 which God, that cantiot lie^ promised before eternal times ; 3. but 
 
256 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 /;/ its own seasons maiiifested His woj'd in preachings which was 
 entrusted to me, according to the commandment of our Saviour 
 God ; 4. to Titus, \iny\ true son in respect to the common 
 faith: Grace and peace frojn God our Father, and Christ Jesus 
 our Saviour. 
 
 St. Paul's mode of designating himself here does not 
 exactly coincide with his form of expression in any other 
 epistle. Elsewhere he calls himself a servant, or bondman 
 of Christ (Rom. i. i ; Gal. i. 10 ; Phil. i. i ; Col. iv. 12), but 
 here only of God : a noteworthy variation, not on its own 
 account, but as a mark of genuineness; for it is impossible 
 to conceive what motive could have induced any imitator to 
 depart in such a manner from the apostle's usual phrase- 
 ology. The 8e coupling his calling as an apostle of Christ 
 with his relation to God as a servant, cannot be taken in 
 an adversative sense, for there is really no opposition ; but 
 it is used, as not unfrequently, "to subjoin something 
 new, different, and distinct from what precedes, though not 
 strictly opposed to it " (Winer, Gr. § 53, 7). The render- 
 ing of EUicott, a7id further, while giving the proper shade 
 of meaning, seems somewhat too formal, broadening more 
 than is natural in a brief introductory description, the 
 difference between God's servant and Christ's apostle. 
 But what is to be understood by this apostolical calling 
 being Kara iria-riv eKX^Kroiv ©eov ? If one were to render, 
 with the A.V., after the Ital., Vulg., and many modern com- 
 mentators, '^according to the faith of God's elect," it is 
 difficult to understand why this should have presented itself 
 to the apostle's mind as anyhow the measure or rule of his 
 apostleship. It appears, indeed, so understood, to invert 
 the proper order of things ; for there can be no doubt that 
 he received his apostleship with a view to promote or bring 
 into exercise the faith of God's elect, and in connection 
 therewith the knowledge of the truth, and not inversely. 
 The preposition, therefore, must here (with Winer, Gr. 
 
TITUS I. 2. 257 
 
 § 49, d. <:, and many of the best commentators, — Theodoret, 
 itiCfTe TTLCTTevaai rrjs eKAoyy}? a$LOV<s, — Huther, Ellicott, Alford, 
 
 etc.) be taken in the sense of destination for or fo — as, in 
 classical Greek, kut drt/AtW Aeyw means, I speak for dis- 
 honour — with a view thereto (Her. ii. 152; Thuc. v. 7, 
 vi. 31). The apostle indicates the faith of God's elect and 
 the special knowledge of divine truth, on which it is 
 grounded, as that with respect to which he had been made 
 an apostle, and toward which, therefore, all he did in this 
 character must be mainly directed. For the elect's sake, 
 he elsewhere tells us (2 Tim. ii. 10), he endured all things, 
 and for their sake too he held his commission as a divinely 
 authorized teacher of the gospel, that God's purpose con- 
 cerning them might reach its end. As the elect, or genuine 
 people of God, not only have a knowledge, but a special 
 or "peculiar knowledge of the truth, so the word used is 
 iTTtyvoicnv — knowledge intensified, or in the fuller sense (see 
 at I Tim. ii. 4). And it is said to be Kar ever epaav — know- 
 ledge that has respect to, or tends in the direction of, godli- 
 ness. So that the sense of the preposition here is much the 
 same as in the preceding clause. True Christian or saving 
 knowledge is thus sharply distinguished from all that is of a 
 merely speculative kind, or is without any moral aim ; 
 this throughout bears on the cultivation and exercise of 
 holy principle. And the fact is of importance for the 
 preachers of the gospel now, as well as for the apostle 
 then ; their preaching is not what it should be, except and 
 in so far as it aims at the same practical result. 
 
 Ver. 2. In hope of eternal life — Itr iXTrtSt, on this as 
 the basis. But to what did it form the basis ? Was it St. 
 Paul's office as an apostle, or that which it ministered to — 
 namely, the faith and knowledge of God's elect ? Mani- 
 festly, this latter is the more natural reference. That faith 
 and knowledge were doubtless great things in themselves, 
 but they stood connected with something that might be 
 
 R 
 
258 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 called greater still ; they rested on a background of promise 
 and hope, which, in a manner, stretched from eternity to 
 eternity, having God's primeval promise for its origin, and 
 a participation in His everlasting life for its end. What an 
 elevated thought ! And how peculiarly fitted, both to en- 
 hance the spiritual attainments which carried with them 
 the realization of such a hope, and to exalt the ministry 
 which was appointed to bring them, instrumentally, within 
 the reach of men ! The expression irpo ■^(povoiv atcuvtW can 
 scarcely be rendered otherwise than befo?^e eternal times, 
 though being connected with a promise, not with a purpose 
 simply or decree, of God, it must be understood of eternity 
 in the looser sense ; that is, of a period indefinitely remote 
 before the ordinary historical epochs of the world. So 
 Calvin, substantially, and in this expressly differing from 
 Augustine and Jerome, who would carry the matter up 
 beyond all temporal epochs, and lose themselves in the 
 thought of ages strictly eternal. " Here, however (says 
 Calvin), because the discourse is of a promise, it does not 
 comprise all ages, so as to lead us beyond the creation of 
 the world ; but it teaches that many ages had elapsed from 
 the time that the promise of salvation was given." Or, as 
 he again puts it, that the promise " in the long order of 
 ages is very ancient, because it began presently after the 
 foundation of the world." In short, it might be said to date 
 from beyond the ages, which to man's view seem to stretch 
 into a kind of interminable past. The characteristic of 
 God as in His nature the antithesis of all that is false or 
 deceptive — di/^€vS>js — incapable of lying, is designed to in- 
 spire confidence in the word of promise : though given so 
 long beforehand, it is fresh and living still, having its root 
 in the unchangeable, ever-faithful Jehovah. 
 
 Ver. 3. The structure of the sentence here has a some- 
 what irregular appearance ; but it is better to leave it so, 
 and give a natural interpretation of the words as they stand, 
 
TITUS I. 3, 4. 259 
 
 than for the sake of a formal correctness to put a strain 
 upon the meaning. It would have seemed to us, perhaps, 
 the most orderly and consecutive way of speaking to say, 
 " the eternal life which God promised before eternal times, 
 but in its own seasons manifested through the word;" 
 and it is much in this way that Beza (quam promiserat 
 Deus ante tempora seculorum, manifestam autem fecit 
 prsestitutis temporibus suis, [videlicet] sermonem ilium 
 suum) and others have explained the passage ; while some 
 again, including Calvin, by the word understand Christ 
 Himself: from primeval time God had promised eternal 
 life, but since the gospel era He manifested His Word. 
 Such explanations are manifestly of too artificial a cast. 
 But taking the expression His word in its ordinary sense, 
 and as the object of the manifesting which distinguishes the 
 gospel from all preceding times, we are to regard the apostle 
 as here introducing an independent sentence — contrasting 
 the manifestation now, in its own seasons (see at i Tim. 
 ii. 6), with the period of promise preceding, but not pre- 
 cisely of the eternal life, which was the subject of the 
 promise — for it still is in great part future — and, therefore, 
 instead of saying which^ or which life He inanifested^ he says, 
 manifested His word, in which everything pertaining to the 
 nature of the life, and the means of attaining it, is brought 
 clearly to light. (See, for other instances, Winer, § 63, i.) 
 By the addition in preaching coupled with the word, the 
 preaching wdth which Paul was entrusted, it is plainly inti- 
 mated that the word meant is the gospel, — the word em- 
 phatically, as declaring God's mind, not by dark intimations 
 merely, or distant promises, but in great facts and blessed 
 assurances as to the present and eternal good of His people. 
 In regard to the expression, according to the commandment of 
 02ir Saviour God, see at i Tim. i. i, where it also occurs 
 with only a slight variation in the order of the last words. 
 Ver. 4. In the address itself to Titus there is nothing 
 
26o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 calling for much remark. He is called, like Timothy, a 
 ti'ue child, and that according, or rather i7i respect, to the 
 common faith. He may have been, and very probably was, 
 a convert of the apostle's ; but that is nowhere distinctly 
 stated, nor does the language here necessarily imply it (see 
 at Tim. i. 2). The designation child is indicative partly of 
 endearment, and partly of comparative youth, in relation to 
 the apostle. The received text has grace, mercy, peace, as at 
 I Tim. i. 2, 2 Tim. ii. 2, with A, K, L, Philox., Theodoret ; 
 but the reading grace and peace, the same that is found in 
 all the other epistles of St. Paul, except the two to Timothy, 
 has the support of t<, C, D, F, Ital, Vulg., Syr., Pesh., Copt, 
 Chrysos., etc. The latter must therefore be regarded as the 
 preferable reading, and is now generally followed. The 
 other was probably adopted to assimilate the text to the 
 other two Pastoral epistles. 
 
 Ver. 5. For this cause I left thee behind i7i Crete, that tho7i 
 shoiddst further set in order the thiiigs which are wanting — 
 general indication of the work which had been assigned to 
 Titus in Crete, which the apostle, for want of time to do it 
 himself, left him behind (aTreAtTrov) ^ to carry forward. In 
 the verb iTrtSiopOwcrr]^, the i-n-t " does not serve the purpose 
 of strengthening = omni cura corrigere, but expresses the 
 idea of addition : still further bring into order " (Huther). 
 Matters had been so far put in a right condition by Paul 
 himself; what further remained to be done was left to the 
 charge of Titus. The kind of rectification meant can only 
 be learned from what follows ; but the first, and apparently 
 the most prominent point, concerned the ofilicial organization 
 of the churches : and mightest appoint elders in every city, as 
 I directed -thee. This was virtually to say that each church 
 or Christian community was to have its governing body of 
 elders ; for in the very infancy of the Christian cause in 
 
 ^ The best supported reading being that at first hand of S, A, C, D, F, I, 
 — the received has xarsX/srov. 
 
TITUS I. 6-8. 261 
 
 Crete, it is not to be imagined that each town could have 
 more than one such community. Even that, in most cases, 
 must have been comparatively small. Not only was the 
 appointment of elders to each several congregation to be 
 made, but it was to be done in accordance with the instruc- 
 tions which had been given by the apostle — the main part 
 of which are doubtless embodied in the description, which 
 immediately follows, of the qualifications to be sought in 
 the persons who were to receive the appointment. 
 
 Ver. 6. If a7iy one is blameless — that is, such an one only 
 as is blameless — husband of one wife, having faithful children, 
 not accused of profligacy (lit. not in accusation of it, in a 
 position that such accusation could be brought), or tmruly. 
 The qualifications have already been considered at i Tim. 
 iii. 2 sq. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8. For a pastor must be blameless — Set eti/at, ought 
 to be so, should not be a pastor unless he is blameless — 
 as Gods steward: showing at once the original identity of 
 elder and episcopps, by the substitution here of the one name 
 for the other, and the weighty reason why he should be of 
 irreproachable character, since by the very nature of his 
 office he has to manage the things of God (Luke xii. 42 ; 
 I Tim. iii. 15). The statement of Pearson, quoted here 
 with approbation by Ellicott, that " Episcopal government 
 was 2inder the apostles, //w;^ the apostles, in the apostles," 
 is peculiarly out of place in connection with this passage, 
 which speaks only of a constitution by presbyters settled 
 over each church, and these presbyters, each and all, bear- 
 ing the name of bishop — pastor, or overseer of the flock. 
 But see at i Tim. iii. i, 10 j also the Essay of Lightfoot, 
 appended to his commentary on Philippians, on The Chris- 
 tia?i Ministry, 
 
 Not self-willed^ not soon angry (irascible, opytAoi^), 7iot a 
 brawler, not a striker, ?iot greedy of gain ; ver. 8, but hospit- 
 able, a lover of good, discreet, righteous, holy, temperate. Again, 
 
262 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 very much the same quaHfications as were associated with 
 the pastoral office in the First Epistle to Timothy. They 
 indicate one possessed of that prudence and self-control, 
 that uprightness of character, that kind, generous, disin- 
 terested, gracious disposition, which were fitted to command 
 the respect, and secure the confidence and affection of a 
 Christian community, — one altogether such as might serve 
 for a pattern to the flock over whom he was appointed to 
 preside, and guide their affairs with discretion. 
 
 Ver. 9. Then follows at the close what more especially 
 pertained to the teaching function of his office : holding fast 
 the faithful word accordi?ig to the teaching, iji order that he 
 may be able with the sound doctrine both to exhort and to 
 convince (or reprove) the gaittsayers. There can be ' no 
 reasonable doubt as to the faithful word which the true 
 Christian pastor is to hold fast : the expression is often 
 used in these epistles (i Tim. i. 15, iii. i, iv. 9; 2 Tim. 
 ii. II, iii. 8), and always means the word which is entitled 
 to our confidence, the word which is in itself the proper 
 ground of trust and hope — God's word. The only question 
 is, in what sense or respect is it said to be according to the 
 teaching .? Does this mean, what the person has been taught, 
 or what he himself teaches ? Of itself the expression might 
 be taken either way, and has been so taken by commenta- 
 tors, though both the more natural, and the more generally 
 received view, is that which understands it of the teaching 
 imparted by the apostles, and which constituted by way of 
 eminence the teaching — the church's normal instruction 
 and rule in spiritual things. The Authorized Version gives 
 unambiguous expression to this, by rendering "the faithful 
 word as he hath been taught," putting, however, the other 
 view on the margin ("in his teaching"). It was natural 
 that the apostle, when he was going to refer to a sort of 
 teaching that was unsound and perilous, should not only 
 point attention to that which was of another character, and 
 
TITUS I. 9. 263 
 
 might fitly serve as a corrective, but should also give some 
 hint of its nature — should indicate the source whence it 
 came, and the authority on which it rested. This is what 
 he does, briefly yet not uncertainly, in the expression : 
 "the faithful word according to the teaching;" that, 
 namely, which is recognised as true and authoritative in 
 the apostolic church. Hence, as standing on this solid 
 foundation, and having such choice materials to handle, 
 he should be able by his own sound doctrine both to ex- 
 hort and to convince the gainsayers. But as the pastor is 
 supposed here to accomplish the end in question by his 
 own sound doctrine or teaching, this confirms the view 
 taken of the preceding statement — that the teaching there 
 spoken of was what he had previously received, and by 
 which he was qualified for giving forth a teaching that 
 should be at once sound and effective. This teaching is 
 presented under a twofold aspect — one having respect to 
 those within, and the other to those without the Christian 
 community. It was the first part of the duty of the over- 
 seers of such a community to exhort^ that is, to instruct and 
 edify its own members ; and only secondarily, and as occa- 
 sion required, to resist and expose the false teaching of 
 those who assailed the Christian faith, if so be they might 
 be able to convince them of their errors. So that the 
 qualification here associated with the true Christian pastor 
 corresponds to the aptness to teach mentioned in i Tim. 
 iii. 2 ; only here it is more specifically described, and 
 its importance indicated with reference as well to the 
 hostile as to the friendly elements, amid which the church 
 in Crete was placed. Having there very pragmatical and 
 troublesome disputants to deal with, much necessarily 
 depended on the men who stood at the helm of affairs 
 being possessed both of enlightened views and strong con- 
 victions ; as they might otherwise, even with the best 
 motives and intentions, misrepresent and embarrass the 
 
264 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 cause of the gospel. But both duties had to be dis- 
 charged ; therefore, "he is the true bishop who holds the 
 right faith, and who properly uses his knowledge to edify 
 the people, and check the wantonness of the adversaries " 
 (Calvin). 
 
 Vers. 10, II. The apostle now, taking occasion from the 
 last clause in the preceding verse, proceeds to discourse of 
 the pecuHar character of the adversaries whom the infant 
 church in Crete had to contend against : For there are 
 many unruly vain talkers and deceivers^ especially they of the 
 circumcision. It would appear, from various incidental 
 notices, that many Jews had settled in Crete ; but it is sad 
 to learn that the most noted for troublesome wranglings 
 and practices of deceit were of that class. Perhaps it is 
 not meant that they were absolutely the worst in Crete, but 
 the worst only of those with whom the Christian church 
 came into contact ; for, the most depraved portions of the 
 people would as yet be but little touched by the apostolic 
 movements around them. I should, however, hesitate to 
 say that "those of the circumcision" were (as many ex- 
 positors hold) not simply Jews, but rather Jewish Christians. 
 They must have been, one would suppose, more or less 
 favourably disposed toward the Christian cause ; but as yet 
 scarcely won over to its side. It is by no means probable, 
 considering what Jewish converts had everywhere to en- 
 counter, that at so early a period after the introduction of 
 Christianity into the island of Crete there should have been 
 great numbers of the more reprobate class of Jews, who 
 were ready to brave the risk, and, for any considerations 
 likely to be appreciated by them, should have actually 
 pressed into the Christian fold. Some better evidence 
 would be required for this than the present passage affords. 
 For the characters here described are introduced simply as 
 a specific portion of the opponents or gainsayers mentioned 
 in ver. 9, and the most insidious and pestilent section of 
 
TITUS I. 12. 265 
 
 them. The more probable supposition regarding them is, 
 that they did, indeed, somehow place themselves alongside 
 the Christian communities, — feigned, perhaps, a measure of 
 sympathy and goodwill toward them, but mainly for the 
 purpose of insinuating their objections to the truth of the 
 gospel, ventilating their o^vn frivolous and fanciful conceits, 
 and prosecuting with advantage their selfish aims. Their 
 whole spirit and conduct, as depicted by the apostle, ran 
 counter to a genuine, or even credible, profession of Chris- 
 tianity : instead of children of peace, they were sowers of 
 strife and discord ; sedulous pliers of the arts of seduction, 
 not lovers of truth and righteousness; and so intent on 
 worldly pelf, that/^r the sake of base gain they subverted whole 
 houses, teaching things which they ought not. As it was by 
 word of mouth that they sought to compass their ungodly 
 ends — by teaching things which they ought not — the sub- 
 verting ascribed to them must be taken in a spiritual sense : 
 they perverted the views, overthrew the faith — and that of 
 whole houses or families (comp. 2 Tim. ii. 18). The precise 
 form of representation differs from what we find in i Tim. i. 
 4 sq.; but the relation in which the respective parties stood 
 to the law on the one side, and to the gospel on the other, 
 appears to have been much the same ; and so, in both 
 places alike, the apostle charges his evangelists to see that 
 an uncompromising opposition be given to them : there, they 
 were to be testified against and shunned ; here, where the 
 evil apparently was more rampant, their mouths must be 
 stopt — they must be reduced to silence. 
 
 Ver. 12. The apostle now passes on to the Cretans gene- 
 rally. They had in a measure been referred to already; 
 for while persons of the Jewish race had been more par- 
 ticularly noticed, it was only as forming the most trouble- 
 some and dangerous class of adversaries to the cause of 
 Christ in Crete. But the Cretans at large were noted for 
 characteristics akin to those charged upon the Jews ; and 
 
2 66 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 he brings in proof an unimpeachable witness : One of them 
 has said — their own prophet — The Cretans are always liars, 
 evil beasts, idle bellies (Kpi^TC? del ij/eva-Tai, KaKa Orjpta, yacTTepes 
 apyai). This passage, which is a regular hexameter line, 
 has been ascribed by some to Callimachus, a Cyrenaean, 
 but improperly ; the better informed of the Fathers (Jerome, 
 Chrysostom, Epiphanius) associate the words with Epimen- 
 ides, who was a native of Phaestus or Cnossus, in Crete, and 
 who had the name and repute of a prophet (Diog. Laertius ; 
 Cicero, de Div. i. i8 ; Plato also calls him ^etos avrjp, 
 Legg. i. 642). He lived about 600 years before Christ. 
 It was a dreadful testimony for him to bear against his 
 countrymen, when he charged them with being addicted to 
 falsehood, ferocity (/caKa dr]pia^ wild, fierce like beasts), and 
 gluttony {yaa-T€pe<s dpyat, lit. idle bellies, but used of persons 
 given to luxurious living, and through that growing into a 
 corpulent habit of body). The first characteristic was so 
 notorious, that it was the subject of frequent remark ; the 
 very expression here used of it is also found in a hymn to 
 Zeus by Callimachus ; and Hesychius in his Lex. explains 
 Kpr]TL^eLv by the synonymous words, ij/evSearOaL and airarav : 
 to play the Creta?t, was just to lie and deceive. (See in Wet- 
 stein an immense array of quotations on all the expressions, 
 and on the first with special reference to the Cretans.) 
 The description, of course, is to be understood as applying 
 only in the general to the Cretan population, while admit- 
 ting, doubtless, of many individual exceptions. But being 
 so general, as to have become a kind of byword and re- 
 proach to the island, it was to be expected that the noxious 
 qualities would not be long in making their appearance in 
 the Christian church ; on the side especially of these quali- 
 ties danger was to be looked for to the cause of a pure 
 and healthful Christianity. 
 
 Ver. 13. Hence in this verse the apostle calls for sharp 
 reproofs against the prevailing evils : This testimony is true ; 
 
TITUS I. 14, 267 
 
 7v7ierefore reprove them sharply^ that they may be sound in 
 the faith. It were wrong to infer from such words, though 
 it is sometimes done, that the members of the church 
 generally in Crete had already given way to the common 
 vices, or had not abandoned them when they assumed the 
 Christian profession ; just as in regard to the early church 
 at Corinth, the outbreak of Hcentious tendencies in one or 
 two individuals by no means argued a general corruption. 
 But happening where licentious practices so fearfully 
 abounded, even a very partial appearance of the evil was 
 sufficient to awaken apprehensions, and called for instant 
 repression. It would naturally be the same in Crete in 
 regard to the corrupt tendencies which had obtained such 
 wide and continued prevalence there ; and the purport of 
 the exhortation given to Titus on the subject, was simply 
 that he should maintain a firm protest against practices of 
 such a nature, and in so far as they appeared among the 
 members of the Christian church, subject the doers of them 
 to admonition and rebuke. And when the apostle presents 
 it as the object of such dealing, that the offending parties 
 become sound or healthy in the faith, he as much as says, 
 that faith, when in a state of health, fulness, and vigour, 
 cannot ally itself to such corrupt practices as were prevalent 
 in Crete : such practices betoken either the total absence of 
 faith, or faith in a very feeble and sickly condition. 
 
 Ver. 14. Further, and with the view especially of secur- 
 ing real soundness of faith, the apostle would have them 
 exhorted not to give heed to Jewish fables and com7?iand- 
 menis of men, who turn away from the truth. The same 
 exhortation substantially was given at i Tim. i. 4 and 
 iv. 3. The lying and deceptive tendency which had ob- 
 tained such prevalence in Crete seems to have begotten 
 a fondness for those fables, and have led also to the intro- 
 duction or pressing of merely human commandments, as if 
 they were ^divine. These probably related very much to 
 
2 68 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 distinctions in food and punctilios of outward observance, 
 and from their nature necessarily indisposed both teachers 
 and taught toward the truth of God. In such a case de- 
 ceivers and deceived could only present different shades of 
 what was essentially the same radical error. 
 
 Ver. 15. To the pure all things are piwe: a great coun- 
 ter principle set over against that on which those Jewish 
 semi-Gnostic sciolists were trading to the perversion of 
 their own and other people's consciences. Judaism in 
 part, and Gnostic asceticism still more, associated moral 
 good and evil with certain outward distinctions : " Touch 
 not or take not this, and you are holy; touch or take it, and 
 you are defiled." No, the apostle virtually replies, these 
 are but superficial distinctions ; and even when they were 
 to some extent of God, it was only as temporary and pro- 
 visional arrangements — supplying for a season the lack of 
 clearer light. All things which lie outside a man, — the 
 things of whatever kind which he can use as articles of 
 food, or turn into instruments of service, — these are in 
 themselves indifferent ; there is no power of intelligent and 
 voluntary choice in them, and therefore no element of 
 sanctity or corruption : this can only be where moral 
 qualities reside, in the region of thought, desire, will ; let 
 there be but purity there, and then those external things 
 assume a corresponding character, because they receive an 
 impress and a direction from the spirit of him who uses 
 them. It is but a fresh enunciation of the truth long before 
 uttered by our Lord, and laid by Him as an axe to the 
 root of the mistaken ceremonialism of the Pharisees. He 
 told them that washed or unwashed hands, clean or un- 
 clean in food, had of themselves nothing to do with 
 religious or moral purity : that for this everything depended 
 on the state of the heart, from which proceed, as to good or 
 evil, the issues of life (Matt. xv. 11-20; Mark vii. 14-16). 
 It is obvious, from the mere statement of this principle. 
 
TITUS I. 1 6. 269 
 
 that in the all things spoken of as pure to the pure, errors 
 of doctrine and corrupt practices cannot be included, for 
 these come from an impure source : they are what they are 
 in spirit and character, as the soul is which gave them 
 birth ; they are not of God, but of the evil one. It is also 
 obvious that the converse of the statement must hold 
 equally good with the statement itself; as, indeed, the 
 apostle expressly affirms : but to them that are defiled and 
 wibelianng is nothing pure. Surely a solemn thought for 
 persons of this class, who are not wholly steeled against 
 conviction ! They have within a fountain of pollution, 
 which spreads itself over and ii^fects everything about them. 
 Their food and drink, their possessions, their employments, 
 their comforts, their actions — all are in the reckoning of 
 God tainted with impurity, because they are putting away 
 from them that which alone has for the soul regenerating 
 and cleansing efficacy. The apostle, however, carries it 
 even further; he brings out the evil more distinctly on 
 its positive side : but both their mind and cotiscience are 
 defiled. In saying this, he no doubt indicates the reason 
 why nothing external is pure to them : but he does not 
 give it formally as a reason ; he rather advances it as an 
 additional disclosure of their defilement, showing how it 
 embraces both the intellectual and moral parts of their 
 nature, and lays alike the powers of thought and the work- 
 ings of conscience under bias to evil. 
 
 Ver, 16. The description is wound up by a fearful an- 
 nouncement of their morally shipwrecked and hopeless 
 condition : they confess that they know God, but iji works 
 deny \Hin{\, beijig abominable and disobediefit, and u?tto 
 eve7y good work reprobate. The description, it must be 
 borne in mind, relates to those who have come within 
 the sphere of religious truth, who have had their minds 
 instructed in its principles and obligations, and have withal 
 not formally renounced the profession of godliness which 
 
270 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 they naturally involve ; but who have all along, from sinis- 
 ter motives, withstood the truth in their hearts, have talked 
 big and done little ; nay, have become adepts in evading 
 the plainest calls of duty, and following courses at variance 
 with the great principles of morality and religion. Of per- 
 sons who have pursued such a career it may justly be said, 
 that the very foundations of their moral being are out of 
 course ; and according to God's ordinary methods of deal- 
 ing, there is no hope of recovering them to truth and 
 righteousness. By calling them reprobate in regard to every 
 good work — dSoKt/Aot — the apostle means that they are 
 of no worth or account in that respect : when the question 
 is about a good work, such persons may be rejected as 
 having no proper affinity to it. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Ver. I. In contrast to the false teachers mentioned in 
 the preceding verses, and the pernicious results of their 
 teaching, the apostle now urges, and with reference to all 
 ranks and classes in the church, the sound practical teach- 
 ing of the gospel. But speak thou the things which become 
 the sound instructio7i of the gospel: sound, or wholesome, 
 because it does not run out upon fables and frivolous pre- 
 scriptions of human invention, but bears throughout with 
 practical energy upon the duties of everyday life. Chris- 
 tianity is primarily, indeed, a doctrine, but only that it may 
 be in the true sense a life j and the two can never be kept 
 apart from each other in the public teaching of the church 
 without imminent peril to both. 
 
 Ver. 2. In accordance with the rule, that after verbs of 
 sayings thinkings and such like, the infinitive sometimes ex- 
 presses, not what, according to the speaker's assertion, is^ 
 but what ought to be (since those verbs involve the notion 
 
TITUS II. 3. 271 
 
 of advising, requiring, or commanding, Winer, Gr. § 44, 
 3, b)y we have now in a series of accusations with the in- 
 finitive the substance of the general order to speak the things 
 becoming sound doctrine. The more advanced beUevers are 
 taken first : that the aged men (Trpeor/Jvras, not Trpecr^vrepovs, 
 which might have been understood only of persons in office : 
 the word is found again at Philem. 9, and Luke i. 18) de 
 sober {vr]cfia\Lov<;, i Tim. iii. 2), grave, discreet (i Tim. iii. 2, 
 8), sound {healthy) in their faith^ their love, their patience. It 
 seems quite necessary to take these three latter terms in the 
 subjective sense : love and patience must certainly be so 
 taken, and this seems to fix down the meaning in like manner 
 of the first. The article, therefore, prefixed to each of the 
 terms, points to the individuals supposed to be addressed : 
 the faith, etc., — namely, of'those individuals = their faith, etc. 
 The exhortation is, that they should not only possess those 
 Christian graces, but have them in a healthy condition, so 
 that the exercise of them might be free, natural, regular, 
 and consistent — such every way as might be expected from 
 persons living under a felt apprehension of the great realities 
 of salvation. The various things mentioned in the exhor- 
 tation are peculiarly appropriate for persons in advanced 
 life ; they are the qualities in which it behoves them in an 
 eminent degree to adorn the Christian faith. 
 
 Ver. 3. Ifi like 7nanner the aged women, that they demean 
 themselves as becomes holiness (lit. that in demeanour they 
 be holy, beseeming, kv KaTao-T-qixan tepoTrpcTret?). The ex- 
 pression Karaa-T. is of comprehensive import, and has 
 respect to everything in appearance and bearing which 
 is indicative of the state of feeling within ; and the design 
 of the exhortation is, as Jerome explains, that " their 
 very walk and motion, their countenance, speech, silence, 
 may present a certain dignity of holy propriety." We get 
 the exact idea when, assuming them to be possessed of a 
 devout and reverent frame of mind, their entire manner 
 
272 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and deportment are in suitable keeping therewith, the ap- 
 propriate aspect and clothing of a mind rightly attempered 
 toward things sacred and divine. The passage i Tim. 
 ii. 10 is nearly parallel, only that the exhortation there 
 has a more specific reference to becoming fitness and 
 modesty of dress. Not slanderers — ju.?) Sta^SoXovg — given to 
 do the work of him who is emphatically the accuser of 
 the brethren. Old women, who usually have little to do, 
 and with the garrulity, are not unfrequently visited with 
 the querulousness, of advanced age, have special need 
 to be warned against this tendency ; it is a fine exhibi- 
 tion of Christian love and contentment when they can 
 rise above it, even though there may be many things in their 
 circumstances which are fitted to nourish it. Not enslaved 
 to much wine — /xt) otVo) ttoAXo) SeSovXw/xeVot? — a very moderate 
 demand in this respect certainly, but probably indicating 
 by that very moderation, that a slavish addictedness to 
 the evil was not uncommon among the female popula- 
 tion of Crete, and that even a rational freedom from 
 such slavery would be no small or unimportant testimony 
 to the power of the gospel. Both of these exhortations 
 are in substance pressed, though in different terms, at 
 I Tim. iii. 8, 11, the first on females, the second on 
 deacons. Teachers of what is good, not, of course, in 
 public, but by private converse, and personal example 
 in their proper sphere. 
 
 Vers. 4, 5. The apostle goes on to specify what more 
 especially should be taught by the elderly female members 
 of the church to the younger sisterhood, not intending 
 thereby to supersede instructions of the same sort by the 
 pastors of the church (comp. i Tim. v. 2), but coming 
 in aid of them, and giving them a point and application 
 which could scarcely be done in pubhc. That they school ^ 
 
 ^ The reading ffa(ppoviZ,oviri, present indicative (after 7va), instead of the 
 regular and grammatical (rwi^povtZ^uffi, is plainly the best supported, being 
 
TITUS 11. 4, 5. 273 
 
 the yotoig women to he lovers of their husbands, lovers of their 
 children ; ver. 5, disci-eet, chaste, workers at home, good, sub- 
 mitting themselves to their own husbands, that the word of 
 God 7?iay not be blasphemed. The verb aoicfipovL^eiv, which 
 rules all that follows, does not precisely correspond to 
 the Authorized Version's teach to be sober, or the Vulgate's 
 priidejitiam doceant, otherwise there would plainly have 
 been no propriety in the term aoj(f)pova<; being afterwards 
 included among the special characteristics. The word, 
 though originally signifying to 77iahe disc?'eet or prudent, 
 came often to be used in the more general sense of school- 
 ing, or admonishing, with a view to the possession of certain 
 things ; and the reason, probably, why the apostle here 
 used it, instead of some word expressive simply of teaching 
 or instructing, was, that on account of the youth of the 
 parties in question, he contemplated the necessity of a 
 kind of authoritative disciplinary treatment from the older 
 to the younger Christian females. The teaching recom- 
 mended was to be of the more severe and urgent kind. 
 (Hence the distinction made by means of this and another 
 verb in Dio Cassius, p. Iv. 560 : Set rov'i pXv Xoyot? vovB^rdv, 
 Tov<5 Sk oLTreiXoLs cr(ji(jipovit,uv.) In the epithets themselves, 
 which mark the different characteristics that were to be the 
 objects of the schooling, there is no proper difficulty ; they 
 are all such as especially became young women who w^re 
 disposed to bring their Christianity to bear on the regu- 
 lation of their conduct in daily life, and through this reflect 
 honour on their Saviour. In regard to one of them, there 
 
 found in s, A, F, G, H, P ; while for the other there are C, D, E, 
 K, L, Two other almost undoubted instances of the same usage with 
 'Iva, in St. Paul's writings occur in Gal. iv. 7, I Cor. iv. 6 ; also in 
 John xvii. 3. Various modes of explanation have been offered ; but 
 perhaps the most probable is, that it is the adoption in a few cases of a 
 faulty construction, which is known to have become somewhat common 
 in later Greek (Winer, Gr. xli. b. i). 
 
 S 
 
2 74 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 is a difference of reading : instead of olKovpov<;, keepers at 
 home; a number of the best mss. {^, A, C, D, E, F, G) 
 have olKovpyov<s, which means, workers at home, active 
 housewives — undoubtedly a good sense ; and the reading 
 is preferred by Lachmann, Tisch., and Alford. Having 
 such support, I hesitate to reject it, though the ancient 
 versions, Ital., Vulg., Syriac, also Chrys., follow the other 
 reading ; while Theophyl. and Qicum. join the term otKovpov? 
 to the dya^as, SO as to make good housekeepers, economical 
 housewives. This conjunction of epithets, apparently inde- 
 pendent, is not to be justified ; and the latter expression 
 (dya^a?) must be regarded as indicative of goodness gene- 
 rally, not with reference simply to household manage- 
 ment = kindly, benignant. The last characteristic, submit- 
 ting themselves to their own husbands, naturally winds up 
 the description as by a sort of climax ; for a heady and 
 high-minded behaviour here would inevitably spoil the 
 effect of all other qualities ; it were utterly inconsistent 
 with a proper conjugal bearing ; and so with it as the 
 immediate antecedent, is coupled the great end (negatively 
 expressed) to be aimed at : that the word of God may not 
 be blasphemed. In a measure, however, this must be carried 
 back over the whole description ; for in any one respect 
 a behaviour contrary to that recommended Avould more 
 or less have the effect of bringing reproach on God's 
 word. 
 
 Ver. 6. The yoimger men, in like manner, exhort to be 
 sober-minded — croicfipoveLv, to accustom themselves to that 
 becoming, prudent self-restraint, which is not inaptly ex- 
 pressed by being sober-minded — see at i Tim, ii. 9 — a 
 habit of mind which, when really formed, saves the young 
 from many a vicious indulgence and foolish extravagance. 
 
 Ver. 7. Not only teach and exhort so, but — having 
 respect to Titus, as himself comparatively a young man — 
 showing thyself (the creaiirw used with the middle voice, 
 
TITUS II. 8. 275 
 
 though it might have been dispensed with, for the sake of 
 greater distinctness and emphasis ; see Winer, Gr. § t^Z^ 6, 
 who points to a similar instance, with the same verb, in 
 Xen. Cyr. viii. i, 39, TrapdSetyixa roLovSe iavTov -rrapu^^ro) 
 in all tJmigs a pattern of good works — {jvirov used here only 
 with the genitive of the thing) — i7i your teaching [showing] 
 incorriiption, gravity ^ The latter of these two expressions 
 must plainly be referred to the manner, not to the matter, 
 of the teaching ; and this renders it natural that we should 
 also regard the other in the same light — should understand 
 it subjectively of the teacher, not of what was taught by 
 him. This is confirmed also by the circumstance, that the 
 verse which follows has respect to the substance or matter 
 of the teaching. By requiring Titus to show a spirit of 
 incorruption, as well as gravity, in his teaching, the apostle 
 appears to have meant, that in his very mode of communi- 
 cating divine truth, he should give unmistakeable evidence 
 of a mind freed from all corrupt tendencies and prurient 
 imaginations — a mind in full accord with the sublime 
 reahties and holy aims of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 Ver. 8. And now comes the character of the instruction 
 itself : sound discourse that cannot be co7idenined^ in oi'der that 
 he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil 
 thing to say of usP- The same peculiar aspect is here given 
 to true evangelical teaching, which is of such frequent oc- 
 currence in these Pastoral epistles; it was to be sound 
 (vyiTJ), or healthy, as opposed to everything fitted to nourish 
 a sickly and distempered pietism. Being such, it could not, 
 of course, be condemned by any competent judge ; and, 
 what was more, those who had the will would find they 
 
 ^ The correct text here evidently is a.(p6opia.v, (rifAvoTnrix.. L and certain 
 cursives insert //.(peocfxriav after the two ; and instead of d(pdopixv, dha.(p^o- 
 piav is the reading of L and some others. 
 
 2 fifiuv is the reading of s, C, D, E, F, G, K, L, Ital., Vulg., Syr., 
 by much the best supported. 
 
276 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 lacked any proper ground to speak reproachfully against 
 the doctrine taught, and for shame sake might be reduced 
 to silence. Although the party contemplated as ready to 
 assume a hostile position is spoken of in the singular, " he 
 who is of the contrary part," yet this is plainly but an indi- 
 vidualizing mode of representing a class, and both the 
 connection and the form of expression employed forbid us 
 to suppose any other than human adversaries, heathen or 
 Jewish, to have been in view. May have nothing bad or 
 foul to say — /^T^SeV, having reference to the subjective con- 
 dition of the adversary : however desirous, he could get hold 
 of no ground of blame. 
 
 Ver. 9. The slave portion of the Christian community 
 naturally presents itself for separate counsel : Bondmen 
 [exhort, supplied from ver. 7] to be in subjection to their 
 own masters, ift all thifigs to be well-pleasing (viz. to their 
 masters ; so that, written in full, it would be evapecrrovs etvat 
 Seo-TTorats ; — the rendering of the Authorized Version, " to 
 please them well in all things," gives the correct sense) ; 
 not gainsaying (or contradicting ; Vulg. contradicentes ; the 
 " answering again " of the Authorized Version is too weak) ; 
 not purloining (yoa-cfiit,ofji€vovs, setting apart for oneself, self- 
 appropriating ; comp. Acts v. 2, 3), but showing all good 
 fidelity {irao-av ttlo-tiv ayaOrjv, good faith of every sort, a 
 thoroughly trustworthy spirit) ; in order that in all things 
 they may adorn the doctrine of our Saviour God. Here, 
 again, as at ver. 5, also at ver. 8, the high spiritual aim of 
 the gospel, in what it teaches of doctrine and exacts of 
 obedience, comes prominently out. The glory of God's 
 name and character among men is involved in it. And it 
 is noticeable that the strongest expression given to this, in 
 connection with the different classes of believers, is precisely 
 here where the lowest in social position are concerned : 
 previously it was that God's word might not be blasphemed, 
 or that nothing morally bad might be found in those who 
 
TITUS II. II-I4. 277 
 
 appeared as His peculiar representatives ; but now it is that 
 the conduct of the poor bondmen who avowed themselves 
 believers might adoj'ii the doctrine which is of God. " God 
 thinks it meet " (to use the words of Calvin) " to receive an 
 ornament from bondmen, whose condition was so mean and 
 wretched that they were scarcely reckoned among men. 
 For servants are not meant as such are now in use, but 
 slaves, who were bought with money, and were possessed 
 as oxen or horses. But if their life (he justly adds) is an 
 ornament of the Christian name, all the more should they 
 who are in honour see to it that they do not mar it by 
 their base behaviour." 
 
 Vers. 11-14. Taking occasion from what he had just said 
 of the connection between the conduct of Christians and 
 the doctrine they professed to have received, and the con- 
 nection of both with the glory of God, the apostle proceeds 
 in these verses to ground the whole of his exhortations re- 
 specdng the behaviour of Christians in the essentially moral 
 nature and design of the grace of God as now manifested 
 in the gospel : For the grace of God, having salvation for all 
 men, was maiiifested, disciplifiing ns, etc. Two grammatical 
 points call for remark here. One is whether the all nwi 
 {itaxjiv avO,) should be connected with the verb (cTre^ayry) or 
 with the adjective (croorT^ptos). Our translators expressed 
 the former construction in the text (" hath appeared unto 
 all men "), but placed the other on the margin (" bringeth 
 salvation to all men"). The earHer English versions fol- 
 lowed the other mode (Tyndale, Gov., Gran., Genev.); and 
 that is the construction which is now generally approved 
 by scholars, and which certainly, from the position of the 
 words, is the most natural. The import of the verb, also, 
 is complete without the " all men," since manifestation, or 
 shining forth, involves of itself the idea of an unrestricted 
 exhibition. The other point has respect to the exact re- 
 lation and bearing of the adjectival clause, a-coT-jpcos Traa-tv 
 
278 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 av$p., which might be taken as a distinct predicate : " the 
 grace of God was manifested as bringing salvation." But 
 this, as ElHcott remarks, "would subjoin a secondary refer- 
 ence that would mar the simplicity of the context, TratSevovo-a 
 clearly involving the principal thought." The clause, there- 
 fore, must be held to be merely explanatory, defining more 
 exactly the nature of the subject before speaking of its 
 practical operation and results among men ; it is the grace 
 iof God in its saving design and properties toward men — 
 " that grace of God (as Bishop Beveridge puts it) whereby 
 alone it is possible for mankind to be saved," which also, it 
 tnay be added, presents and offers salvation to all, and in 
 that sense brings it. The article is not used in connection 
 jvith Trao-iv, so that " the notion of a// is merely general, 
 ^either signifying expressly the whole class, nor all the parts 
 of a class" (J elf, Gr. § 454, i). In a word, the salvation- 
 bringing grace of God is without respect of persons ; it is 
 unfolded to men indiscriminately, or to sinners of every 
 name, simply as such. The apostle says of this grace, it 
 was ma7ii/esfed (iTrecfidvrj) — not simply "appeared," but shone 
 forth, came openly to view ; referring doubtless to what had 
 taken place in Christ, yet not merely, as some would under- 
 stand it, to the Epiphany, or the incarnation of Deity in 
 His person, but to everything connected with His appear- 
 ance and work among men. It was this in its totality 
 which brought, as it were, to the light of noon-day that 
 grace which had previously remained comparatively hid in 
 the bosom of God : now, emphatically, the darkness was 
 past, the clear light shone (John ii. 8 ; comp. also John 
 i. 18, Matt. xi. 27). 
 
 Ver. 12. In this verse we have the main point presented 
 to us of the apostle's testimony respecting God's grace — 
 the particular aspect under which he here presses it on 
 our regard ; and this, it must be remembered, takes quite 
 naturally its hue from the preceding context, in which the 
 
TITUS II. 12-14. 279 
 
 Christian life, in its habitual resistance to sin and diligent 
 practising of all moral excellencies, was the great theme. 
 Hence, the saving grace of God comes into consideration 
 as the psedagogic or moulding power, by means of which 
 our naturally wayward and corrupt souls are formed to that 
 higher scheme of life : disciplining us to the end that, de?iying 
 ungodliness a?id worldly lusts, we might live soberly, justly, 
 and godlily in this prese?it world. We have no word that 
 exactly corresponds to the irai^^vovcra of the apostle. With 
 classical writers it bore the sense simply of instructing or 
 educating ; in which sense, as elsewhere noted (i Tim. i. 20), 
 the word occurs, once at least, in the New Testament (Acts 
 vii. 22). But a deeper meaning came to be infused into the 
 verb and the cognate noun (TratSeta) by the more profound 
 and earnest spirit of the gospel ; for, as Trench well remarks, 
 the sacred writers " felt and understood that all effectual 
 instruction for the sinful children of men includes and im- 
 plies chastening, or, as we are accustomed to say, out of a 
 sense of the same truth, correction." The expression here, 
 therefore, bears respect to the native tendency of the human 
 heart, as requiring to be chastened and subdued, that it 
 may be delivered from its inherent superfluity of naughti- 
 ness, and formed to the pure, upright, and benignant 
 character which becomes the gospel of Christ. And this 
 corrective influence, or internal discipline, is what the grace 
 of God in Christ Jesus comes to effect ; but does so, of 
 course, according to its proper nature, less by imposing any 
 conscious restraint, than by infusing and nourishing the 
 desires which breathe after conformity to the will of God. 
 Herein lies the difference between the law and the gospel ; 
 yet their common end, the moral aim of the disciplining in 
 question, is expressed first in the negative, then in the posi- 
 tive form : in the former respect it shows itself in a denial 
 of ungodliness and worldly (Koo-/xtKa?, only occurring once 
 again in New Testament Scripture, Heb. ix. i) lusts ; that 
 
28o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 is, in a disrelishing and avoiding of those things which tend 
 to dishonour God, and pamper desires and appetites which 
 are of a merely terrene nature. It is impossible, of course, 
 in such things to draw on every side a sharp boundary line 
 between what is allowable and forbidden, for the one will 
 often seem, in actual life, to approach very near to the 
 other ; while still, in every real child of grace, and the more 
 always that grace is living and active in his experience, 
 there will never fail to be such a shrinking from the corrup- 
 tions, and such a reserve even in regard to the common 
 pleasures of the world, as to render his course easily dis- 
 tinguishable from that of those whose '' portion is in this 
 life." We have the same thought as to the renunciation of 
 worldly lusts expressed, and somewhat more strongly, in 
 I John ii. 15-17. 
 
 A positive, however, must go along with this negative ; 
 for an active following after the good is the necessary coun- 
 terpart and complement to a renunciation of the evil ; and 
 this the apostle describes as a life marked by three pro- 
 minent characteristics : that we might live soberly, justly, 
 and godlily, in this present world. We may not say, perhaps, 
 that in these words the apostle intended to mark a three- 
 fold distinction of moral duty ; but commentators have not 
 unnaturally observed, that they do in fact admit of special 
 application to oneself, one's neighbour, and God. Soberly 
 expresses the self-command and restraint which the Chris- 
 tian should always exercise over his thoughts and actions ; 
 Justly, the integrity that should regulate all his dealings 
 towards his fellow-men ; while godlily or piously indicates 
 the state of mind and conduct he should maintain in his 
 relation toward God. And all these are given as distinctive 
 features of the life he should lead, he should be ever living 
 (for the aorist ^yjarwfieu sums it up into one ideal whole), in 
 this present world, notwithstanding that there is so much 
 in it to tempt to a contrary course. Through grace the 
 
TITUS II. J 2-14. 281 
 
 believer must triumph over all ; as the apostle says of him- 
 self elsewhere, " I can do all things through Christ strength- 
 ening me" (Phil. iv. 13). 
 
 Ver. 13. Lookiftg for the blessed hope and manifestation of 
 the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 This statement, expressing the attitude of believers with 
 reference to the future, can scarcely be regarded as included 
 in the disciplinary action of the grace of God as now re- 
 vealed in Christ ; it comes in rather as an appendage or 
 fitting sequel to the other, and for the purpose of showing 
 how the past manifestation of the grace of God in Clirist, 
 when it works its proper effect upon the heart of the be- 
 liever, naturally leads on to the expectation of another 
 manifestation — a manifestation in glory. Such an expecta- 
 tion will doubtless help the disciplinary process, by bringing 
 to bear on the higher principles and desires of the soul the 
 potent influence of an elevating hope ; but it does not itself 
 possess a disciplinary character. When believers are said 
 to look for the hope, it is clear that hope is, if not alto- 
 gether, yet mainly, viewed in an objective light — identified 
 with the object hoped for; yet, being said to be looked for, 
 there is here also an exercise of hope in the same direction. 
 There is the same apparent anomaly in what St. Paul says 
 of the Jews respecting the resurrection at Acts xxiv. 5 : 
 " Having hope toward God, which [hope] they also them- 
 selves look for " (Trpoa-Sex^ovTai, the same word as here), " that 
 there shall be a resurrection : " a hope possessed, and at the 
 same time looked forward to as still in the future (see also 
 Gal. V. 5, Col. i. 5). The apostle seems to have been in 
 the habit of contemplating the hope of coming glory so 
 much in connection with its actual realization, that it some- 
 times presented itself to his mind as a kind of substantive 
 thing, standing outside the believer, although stih the be- 
 liever's existing position was conceived of by him as one 
 of hope; and at other times he represents him as being 
 
252 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 peculiarly influenced by the power of hope (see Rom. 
 viii. 24, Col. i. 27, Tit. i. 2). The hope, considered with 
 respect to its realization, is here called blessed^ because of 
 the happy results with which it shall be associated in the 
 experience of all to whom it properly belongs. But the 
 hope itself is more closely defined by what follows — the 
 ma7iifestatio}i of the glory : so, certainly, should cTrt^aveiav 
 tt}? S6^r]<; be rendered, not by hendyadis, as in the Autho- 
 rized Version, " glorious appearing," for the manifestation 
 of the glory as a thing to come stands here in a kind of 
 antithesis to the manifestation of the grace which has 
 already taken place. But the chief difficulty in connection 
 with this latter portion of ver. 13 lies in determining 
 whether the manifestation of glory spoken of is to be con- 
 nected both with God and with Christ, or simply with 
 Christ as at once God and Saviour. If the latter view were 
 adopted, then the proper way to avoid all ambiguity would 
 be to render, with Ellicott and many others, " the manifes- 
 tation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ;" while, if with the Vulgate, Syr., and all the 
 English translations, except the Genevan, we render, "of 
 the glory of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ," 
 we naturally think of God and Christ as distinguished from 
 each other. A decision has been sought in favour of the 
 former view, by Middleton and many others, on the gram- 
 matical principle, that the article rov, standing simply 
 before fxey. ®eov, and omitted before o-cor^pos, covers the two 
 expressions as attributives of one and the same person. 
 On the ground of this principle, Middleton says : " It is 
 impossible to understand ©eov and (ro)Trjpo<; otherwise than 
 of one person." Had two been meant, the article must 
 have been repeated before crwT>}po9. Ellicott, however, 
 frankly admits that "it is very doubtful whether the 
 interpretation of the passage can be fully settled on this 
 principle." And Winer, while he allows that '^ a-oy-njpo^ 
 
TITUS II. 12-14. 283 
 
 T7/>twi/ may be regarded as a second predicate, jointly- 
 depending on the article tov," still holds to the other 
 interpretation, and considers " the article to have been 
 omitted before 0-001-77^05, because this word is defined by 
 the genitive rjfjLioVf and because the apposition precedes 
 the proper name: of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ''' {Gr. § xix. 5). Alford is of the same opinion, and 
 thinks that o-wrrjp was one of those words which gradually 
 dropt the article and became a ^//^j-/ proper name — referring 
 in proof to i Tim. ii. i, iv. 10 — the article here also being 
 the less needed on account of the pronoun tjixwv. Both 
 writers, however, as also Huther, De Wette, and several 
 others, confess themselves to be chiefly influenced by a 
 regard to St. Paul's usual style of representation, especially 
 in the Pastoral epistles, in which the relation of God to 
 salvation is not identified with, but distinguished from 
 Christ's: i Tim. i. i, ii. 3-5; Tit. iii. 4-6; also Jude 24. 
 There is, undoubtedly, something in this consideration ; 
 and it can scarcely be maintained that there is any quite 
 parallel passage in St. Paul's writings, if he should here be 
 held to have designated Jesus Christ at once " the great 
 God and our Saviour." 
 
 On the other hand,^ there are especially two considera- 
 tions which must be allowed to have considerable weight 
 in the opposite direction. One is, that the notion expressed 
 by kirifjiaveia is in New Testament Scripture specially ap- 
 plied to the Son, not to the Father (2 Tim. i. 10; 2 Thess. 
 ii. 8 ; I Tim. vi. 14; 2 Tim. iv. i, 8) ; the nearest approach 
 to it in connection with the Father is at Matt. xvi. 27, 
 where it is said that Christ shall appear in the glory of His 
 Father, though still the appearing or manifestation itself is 
 Christ's. The other consideration is, that nearly all the 
 Fathers — Greek, as well as Latin — who refer to this passage, 
 understood it simply of Christ. Thus Chrysostom, after 
 quoting the words, says : " Where are they who speak of 
 
284 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the Son as less than the Father? Of the great God; he 
 says, and Saviour. When he couples great with God, he 
 does not say great in respect to what, but great absolutely, 
 since there is nothing great after Him." So Jerome : 
 "Where is the serpent Arius ? "Where the snake Euno- 
 mius? Jesus Christ, the Saviour, is called the great God. 
 Not as the first-begotten of every creature, not as the Word 
 or Wisdom of God, is He so called, but as Jesus Christ — 
 names which belong to Him as having assumed humanity." 
 Quotations to the same effect have been produced from 
 Clemens Alex., Hippolytus, Basil, Gregory Nys., Epipha- 
 nius, Aug. (see Waterland, Works, ii. p. 135). This striking 
 unanimity as to such being indisputably the meaning of the 
 passage, must be held conclusive to this extent, that the 
 application of the epithets "great God" and "our Saviour" 
 to Jesus Christ, appeared to persons conversant with the 
 Greek as a living tongue, not only a competent, but by 
 much the most natural interpretation. So that no one who 
 takes this view can be charged with doing violence to the 
 passage, considered by itself. The only question that seems 
 open is, whether the other view, which distinguishes be- 
 tween God and Christ, is not in somewhat better accord 
 with the usuar language of the apostle. In a doctrinal 
 point of view, it is of little moment which interpretation 
 is adopted; for, while I see no reason for saying, with 
 Alford, that this latter interpretation " even more strikingly 
 asserts Christ's equality in glory with the Father," than 
 that which directly ascribes to Him the designation of the 
 great God, it is inconceivable that the name of Christ as 
 Saviour should be associated equally with the Father in 
 that manifestation of glory which is. the culminating hope 
 of the church, unless He had been essentially divine — 
 unless, indeed, the peculiar glory of the Father had been 
 that also of the Son. I am disposed, with Calvin, rather to 
 press this aspect of the matter, as being, on the whole, the 
 
TITUS II. 12-14. 285 
 
 more sure and satisfactory. Feeling some doubt whether 
 the epithets should be applied solely to Christ, or dis- 
 junctively to the Father and the Son, and having referred 
 to the mode in which the orthodox Fathers sought to con- 
 fute the Arians from the passage, Calvin characteristically 
 adds : " More briefly and certainly may the Arians be re- 
 futed thus, since Paul, when speaking of the revelation of 
 the glory of the great God, presently conjoined Christ, so 
 that we might know that that revelation of glory was to be 
 made in His person ; as if he said, when Christ shall have 
 appeared, then shall be disclosed to us the magnitude of 
 the divine glory." 
 
 Ver. 14. In this verse we have an expansion of the term 
 Saviour applied to Christ, so presented as to bring out 
 a fresh exhibition of the grand moral aim contemplated 
 in the grace of the gospel : Who gave Himself for ns — 
 Himself, iavrov, as contradistinguished from any inferior 
 gift, and that for 2/s, virlp rjixtov, not exactly in our room 
 or stead (which dvrt rjfxwv would have expressed), but in 
 our behalf. It was altogether in our interest that the 
 great self-sacrificing deed was done ; and in what respect 
 is immediately stated : in order that He might redeem — 
 XvTpcjo-rjTat, by the paying of a ransom free — us from all 
 iniquity^ ajid purify to Hii7iself a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good iwrks. It is what may be called the redemptive, 
 not the atoning or propitiatory aspect of Christ's work, 
 which is here brought into view, though the two are 
 very closely interconnected, and the one now under con- 
 sideration presupposes and is founded upon the other ; 
 for it is only by virtue of the reconciliation with God, 
 effected through the propitiatory death of Christ, that 
 there is attained by the sinner such a participation in the 
 life of Christ, and such renewing and strengthening aid 
 from the Spirit of grace, as may enable him to break the 
 bonds of his spiritual captivity, and rise into the pure 
 
286 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, 
 
 and glorious liberty of God's children. Having through 
 His obedience unto death paid the costly ransom through 
 which this happy change is accomplished, Christ is there- 
 fore said to have redeemed from iniquity those who share 
 in His salvation, and purified them to Himself as a peculiar 
 people — Xabv TrepiovoTLov, a people over and above, occupy- 
 ing a position separate and peculiar, like one's pecidiuni or 
 special treasure. The expression, as used here, is taken 
 from Ex. xix. 5, Deut. vii. 6, xiv. 2, where the Sept. gives 
 it as the equivalent of the Heb. segullah ('""J^^)' ^^^'^^^^^^^ or 
 peculiar possession. In meaning, it substantially coincides 
 with the Xaov ets TreptTroLrjcrLv of I Pet. ii. 9, a people for 
 doing about, preparing, and fashioning for one's special 
 use, hence peculiar {oIkclov, Theodoret). Jerome, with sub- 
 stantial correctness, and on the ground of those Old Testa- 
 ment passages having explained the phrase, adds: "Rightly, 
 therefore, Christ Jesus, our Great God and Saviour, re- 
 deemed us by His blood, in order that He might make 
 a Christian people peculiar to Himself, who should then 
 indeed be peculiar, if they proved to be zealous of good 
 works." So that while the direct subject of the passage 
 is sanctification, this is here, as in New Testament Scrip- 
 ture generally, made to spring out of that which is primarily 
 the ground of our justification and peace with God. 
 
 Ver. 15. These things speak, and exhort, and repj'ove with 
 all authority. A short retrospective utterance, for the 
 purpose of impressing upon the mind of Titus the im- 
 portance of the things which had just been declared 
 respecting the salvation of God in Christ, and of his 
 bringing them to bear in every possible way upon the 
 understandings and hearts of the people. They were, 
 therefore, first to be spoken, or taught in plain and in- 
 telligible language ; then they were to be made the sub- 
 ject of exhortation, that is, pressed as matters of obligation 
 upon the conscience; and finally, when these failed to 
 
TITUS III. I. 287 
 
 secure the requisite attention and compliance, reproof 
 was to be added — and this with all authority, /xera 7rdar]<; 
 cTTtray^s — with every sort of imperative earnestness, as of 
 one speaking under authority, having a right to enjoin 
 as well as to teach and exhort. The word eTrtray^ is 
 used only by Paul, and always in much the same sense — 
 an authoritative order or command (Rom. xvi. 26 ; i Cor. 
 vii. 6; I Tim. i. i ; Tit. i. 3). Ze^ no man despise thee; 
 that is, maintain your place as a delegated ambassador 
 and servant of Christ, and act in such a manner that 
 others shall see your determination to secure what in this 
 respect is due to your office. Admonitions of this kind, 
 given more than once to Timothy (comp. i Tim. iv. 11, 12, 
 V. 21, vi. 13, 14, 2 Tim. iv. i, 2), seem to imply that 
 his weak point lay here, and that he required to be stimu- 
 lated to the display of firmness and resolution in standing 
 to the rights and duties of his office. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ver. I. Passing from the more direct and spiritual 
 obligations of the gospel, the apostle proceeds now to 
 indicate the proper bearing of Christians toward the con- 
 stituted authorities. It is not improbable, though it can- 
 not be held certain, that he may have been led to give 
 such prominence to this, from a known tendency on the 
 part of the Cretans to insubordination and turmoil. Be- 
 fore their subjugation to Rome, which was accomplished 
 by Metellus, b.c. 67, they had the reputation of being 
 somewhat quarrelsome and seditious (Polybius, vi. 46 : 
 o"Tao"€0't K(xi (jiovoL^ Kttt TToXefjiOL's ifJi(fivXiOL<s avacFTpecfiOfJLei/ovs;) ', 
 the different tribes and free cities displaying a good deal 
 of jealousy in regard to their respective rights, and a readi- 
 ness to take up arms in vindication of them. The Jews 
 
2 85 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 also, who are known to have existed in considerable 
 numbers throughout Crete, were everywhere beginning to 
 show signs of insubordination towards the Roman yoke 
 about the closing period of St. Paul's labours, and the 
 storm was already gathering among them, which, in a few 
 years more, was to burst forth with terrible fury. In such 
 circumstances, it can readily be supposed that there might 
 have been special, as well as general, reasons for the 
 apostle here pressing the duties of civil obedience : Put them 
 in mind to stibmit themselves to magistrates^ to authorities,^ 
 to obey rulers, to be ready to every good work. There is a 
 striking redundancy in the terms indicative of the kind 
 of obedience required, as if to exclude all possibility of 
 evasion : the civic rulers are designated dp;)(at and i^ova-tai, 
 as in Luke xii. ii, intended, doubtless, to include all classes 
 of governing powers, but without meaning, apparently, to 
 denote by the one a lower, and by the other a higher grade. 
 And, besides being required to submit themselves to these, 
 the people were also to be enjoined TrecOapx^eLv, sl term 
 which of itself comprehends the entire circle of obedience : 
 it may be taken either generally, to be obedient, or more 
 specifically, to obey rulers ; in the former it occurs at Acts 
 V. 29, 32 ; but here, considering the connection, the kind 
 of obedience as to persons in authority may perhaps be 
 indicated. That the being ready to every good work should 
 follow on such precepts respecting civil subjection, was 
 probably suggested by the thought of the magistrate's 
 office having for its professed object the repression of 
 evil, and the encouragement of well-doing (Rom. xiii. 3) ; 
 so that the possession of a mind ready for every good work 
 would in ordinary circumstances render civic obedience 
 comparatively easy, would make the yoke in a manner 
 unfelt. Of course, the requirement had then, as it has still, 
 
 ^ The Kcu of the received text between upx,ct.7? and i^ova-letis is wanting 
 in s, A, C, D, F, G, and should therefore be omitted. 
 
TITUS III. 2, 3. 289 
 
 its limitations : the duties of rulers and ruled are reciprocal ; 
 and absolute unrestricted authority on the one side is no 
 more to be contemplated than unqualified submission on 
 the other, for neither is in accordance with the essential 
 principles of truth and rectitude. Obedience to external 
 authority can be due only in so far as that authority has 
 a right to command ; when it oversteps this, and issues 
 injunctions which reach beyond its proper line of things, 
 the higher principles of obligation come in : " We must 
 obey God rather than men ; " " Be not partaker in other 
 men's sins." 
 
 Ver. 2. A quiet, inoffensive demeanour in the more 
 private relations of life is now inculcated : to revile no man, 
 to be not contentions, forbearing, showing all meekness unto all 
 men. The first verb, ^Aao-^-^/xeti/, imports more than to 
 speak evil in the ordinary sense ; it is to act the part of a 
 reviler or slanderer ; and when used of conduct from one 
 man toward another, always betokens the exercise of a very 
 bitter and malignant spirit. Titus was to charge the Chris- 
 tians of Crete to give no exhibition toward any one of such 
 a spirit, nor to show a quarrelsome disposition, but, on the 
 contrary, to cultivate a mild, placable, and gentle temper. 
 
 Ver. 3. As a reason for the manifestation of this mild 
 and benignant spirit toward others, even degraded and 
 ignorant heathen, the apostle refers to their own similar 
 state in the past, and the marvellously kind and compas- 
 sionate treatment they had, notwithstanding, experienced 
 from their heavenly Father : For zve also (we, namely, who 
 are now Christians) were oiice foolish (or void of understand- 
 ing ; see Gal. ill. i, Eph. iv. 18), disobedient, going astray, 
 serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, 
 hateful, and hating one atiother. It is a dark picture of the 
 natural state of men, and must be understood in the general, 
 as more or less applicable to all who are left to the workings 
 of corrupt nature, especially when that nature has developed 
 
 T 
 
290 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 itself amid the manifold temptations and pernicious ex- 
 amples of heathenism, but not without a measure of exem- 
 plification also even in such as, like St. Paul himself, have 
 been brought up amid the decencies of a religious profes- 
 sion, so long as the heart has remained a stranger to the 
 renewing grace of God. If, therefore, we may justly enough 
 say that Paul was not thinking of himself primarily here, — 
 was thinking rather of those in whom, up to the period of 
 their conversion to the faith of Christ, the propensities and 
 dispositions of nature had taken their free course, — there is 
 no reason, on the other hand, for supposing that the apostle 
 could have dreamt of excepting himself, as if he had not 
 been conscious of possessing the same elements of character 
 in his natural state. Elsewhere he has expressly affirmed 
 as much of men universally, including himself (Rom. i. 18 
 sq., ii., iii. 9-20, vii., etc.) ; and it can scarcely be charac- 
 terized otherwise than as absurd in Schrader to speak of the 
 writer here forgetting the representation given of the apostle 
 at 2 Tim. i. 3 as a man who from his forefathers had served 
 God with a pure conscience. For in our passage, in so far 
 as he contemplates himself, it is as lying in the corruption 
 an'd following the tendencies of nature ; while in the other 
 he thinks only of what he was from the time that the sense 
 of religion had been awakened in him, and he entered in- 
 telligently into the faith and spirit of his believing ancestry. 
 The particular expressions are all simple enough. It may 
 be doubted whether -n-XaviofjievoL should be taken in the 
 neuter or the passive sense — goi/ig astray, or led astray, de- 
 ceived. It occurs in both senses in New Testament Scripture : 
 comp. Matt. xxii. 29, Mark xii. 27, Gal. vi. 7, with John 
 vii. 47, I Cor. vi. 9, 2 Tim. iii. 13 ; but here, where the 
 whole tenor of the passage has respect to evil in its more 
 active manifestations, the neuter sense seems to be the more 
 suitable. So the Yulg. errantes ; also the Syriac, Ellicott, 
 Huther, and others. The term here used for pleasures — 
 
TITUS III. 4. 291 
 
 pleasures, namely, of a grovelling or sinful kind — -^Sovats, is 
 not elsewhere found in St. Paul's writings, but occurs in 
 other books, Luke viii. 14 ; Jas. iv. i, 3 ; 2 Pet. ii. 13 ; and 
 the idea of doing service or being in bondage to such things 
 is employed more than once by our apostle, Rom. vi. 6, 16, 
 xvi. 18. It cannot therefore with any justice be called an 
 un-Pauline form of expression. Living, spending life (Sta- 
 yovres, sc. /^lov), in malice and envy, expresses only what is 
 implied of men in their natural state at Eph. iv. 31, Col. 
 iii. 8. The term a-rvy-qToC is found only here, but is of the 
 same import as fXLo-rjTOi (Hesych.) : it indicates the posses- 
 sion of qualities which are fitted to awaken the dislike of 
 others — selfishness in some one or other of its aspects ; and 
 in proportion as this existed there could not fail to be 
 exhibitions of the remaining quality, hating one a?iother. 
 Comp. Gal. v. 15. In regard to all the qualities, the degrees 
 of strength and forms of manifestation might be infinitely 
 diversified ; but of this the apostle says nothing. 
 
 Ver. 4. But wheii the kindness and the love toward man of 
 our Saviour God was manifested : it might almost be put 
 kindness and philanthropy, for qmx phila7ithropy is but the y,'>^ 
 English form of the original, and bears much the same "^ 
 sense. The Vulg. has humanitas. In New Testament 
 Scripture it occurs again only in Acts xxviii. 2, where it is 
 employed to characterize the humane and kindly behaviour 
 of the people of Malta. In reply to De Wette's remark on 
 the word, that *' it is an unusual mode of expressing the 
 idea of xapts," Huther properly states that " the reason why . 
 Paul here uses this word is given in ver. 2, where he exhorts 
 beHevers to show meekness (Trpai^r?;?) toward all men ; 
 ^r)crT6T7]<s corresponds [nearly at least] to meekness, and 
 with reference to the * all men ' cfuXavOpoiTrca is added by 
 the apostle. The goodness and man-ward love of God, in 
 which our salvation is grounded, should impel us to the 
 exercise of meekness and gentleness toward all men." In 
 
292 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 John iii. 16, the pregnant expression, " God so loved the 
 world," corresponds to the (^aXavOpw-rrla here ; and in this 
 passage as well as in the other, the love to man which is 
 celebrated as appearing in the procedure of God is strictly 
 associated with redemption ; it is the love of our Saviour 
 God (see at chap. ii. 11, i Tim. i. 1). That it must here 
 also be understood of God the Father, seems plain from the 
 mention afterwards of Christ as the instrumental agent — 
 " through Jesus Christ." 
 
 Ver. 5. Here the apostle carefully guards the divine 
 benignity and loving-kindness with respect to the freeness 
 of its actings : not of wo7'ks — works m righieotisness — which 
 we did^ but according to His mercy He saved us. The act of 
 God, though expressed only at the close, covers the whole 
 of the passage : He saved us, not on one ground, but on 
 another. Not of works — that is, out of them (e^) as the 
 formal or meritorious cause. And then the works are more 
 exactly defined as r^v iv SiKaiocrvvY) — those, namely, done 
 in righteousness as the state or sphere in which we moved, 
 or, with Winer (Gr. § 48. 3, f), in the spirit of a righteous 
 person ; and to make the meaning plain in English, we 
 require either to repeat works ^ or to insert some such word 
 as done or wrought. Bengel rightly states that " the nega- 
 tive belongs to the whole announcement : We had not been 
 in righteousness ; we had not done works in righteousness ; 
 we did not possess works through which we could be saved." 
 The works of righteousness, in respect to which salvation is 
 denied, are contemplated as past with reference to God's 
 
 1 There is a diversity of reading here : the received text has Zv Ifoi-h- 
 aa.[jt,i)) — the UM by attraction for «, as very commonly in the New Testa- 
 ment — with E,K,L, and many later MSS, ; but the reading of s, A^,CSD^ 
 F,is a I'TToiriff., which is adopted by Tisch., Lachm., Huther, Alford, who 
 regard the other as a correction of the scribes in accordance with the 
 law of attraction. It may have been so ; but apart from that, this is the 
 reading of our best MSS., and on that ground should be adhered to. 
 
TITUS III. 5. 293 
 
 saving act : they were non-existent when that act came into 
 effect, consequently had no influence in calling it forth ; it 
 proceeded entirely irrespective of them. And then, in con- 
 trast to this negation as to things on our part — works that 
 we had not done — there is introduced the real ground of 
 action — God's own mercy. The connection is expressed 
 by Kara, which in such a case denotes the occasion or 
 reason, and is much the same as " in consequence of," " by 
 reason of" (see Winer, Gr. § 49. d. b, and similar examples 
 in Acts iii. 17, i Pet. i. 3, Phil. it. 3). So that the well- 
 spring of salvation is here represented as lying in the kind 
 and loving propensions of God toward men, and these 
 coming forth in the character of provisions and overtures of 
 mercy in behalf of the undeserving, the sinful (comp. Luke 
 i. 72, 78; Rom. ix. 23 ; Eph. ii. 4). As the apostle, how- 
 ever, is speaking of the actual experience of salvation, the 
 mercy of God is contemplated mainly in connection with 
 the application of the provisions of grace to individual 
 souls. For, as well noted by Wiesinger, "it is only the 
 part which God performs in our salvation that is held up to 
 view ; and so it did not admit of that being mentioned 
 which is required on the part of man, as the subjective 
 instrument or condition of his entrance on salvation. 
 Hence it is not said, Sio, rr}? Trto-rcws (as in other passages) ; 
 for the apostle's aim here is not to describe the new state of 
 the man, but to point to the act and saving agency of God 
 in regard to the individual, by which the new state is brought 
 about, and which shows, more than anything else, that this 
 new state does not rest on man's merit or his own doing." 
 
 Then follows an indication of the means through which 
 the divine mercy realizes itself in experience : through the 
 laver of regeneratiofi, and [through^ renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost, Such appears to be the proper rendering of the 
 text. The word Xovr^iov^ which in New Testament Scrip- 
 ture occurs only here and in Eph, v. 26, has been very 
 
294 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 variously understood. Washing is the sense adopted by 
 Wycliffe and the Authorized Version ; but Tyndale, Cran- 
 mer, and the Geneva have fountain ; the Rheims, after the 
 Vulgate {lavacriivi)^ has laver. This last is the only ascer- 
 tained sense of the word : taken literally, it signifies not 
 the act of washing, but the vessel or bath in which the 
 act was performed. And the only question is, how the 
 expression, when coupled here with regeneration, is to be 
 explained. Some have taken it in an altogether figurative 
 sense, as emblematically representing the spiritual change ; 
 some, again, of the Holy Spirit, or of the word — the one as 
 the efiicient, the other as the instrumental, cause of regene- 
 ration. But these cannot be termed quite natural expla- 
 nations ; and neither here nor at Eph. v. 26 do they seem 
 to have once occurred to the ancient interpreters. They 
 all apply the expression to the baptismal ordinance : thus 
 Theodoret, by the complex phrase Xovrpbv TraXtyyevccria?, 
 understands to croiTrjpiov /3a7rTto-/x.a, saving baptism; Greg. 
 Naz., "We call baptism Xovrpov, as being an ablution" — 
 0)9 eKirXvcriv (see further in Suicer, T/ies., under the words 
 XovTpov and TToAty.). ''I do not doubt (says Calvin) but 
 that he at least alludes to baptism; nay, I readily admit 
 that the passage is to be explained of baptism, not because 
 salvation is included in the outward symbol of water, but 
 because baptism seals to us the salvation procured by Christ. 
 . . . But the apostles are wont to deduce an argument 
 from the sacraments to prove the reality sealed therein ; 
 since that beginning ought to convince pious minds that 
 God does not mock us with empty figures, but by His own 
 power inwardly accomplishes what He exhibits by an ex- 
 ternal sign. That man will rightly hold the proper use and 
 virtue of the sacraments, who shall thus connect the sign 
 and the thing signified, so as neither to make the sign 
 empty or inefficacious, nor yet, with the view of extolling 
 it, detract from the Holy Spirit what is His own." When 
 
TITUS III. 5. 295 
 
 interpreted thus, the passage yields no countenance to a 
 ritualistic and superstitious use of the ordinance, such as 
 became common with the Fathers, when they regarded the 
 very waters of baptism as being, when rightly administered, 
 impregnated with the power of the Spirit — trans-elemented^ 
 as it was called — so as by a kind of sacred magic to pro- 
 duce the spiritual result.-^ It is simply as an ordinance of 
 God — an ordinance that has specially connected with it 
 the promise of God's Holy Spirit — that the apostle here 
 speaks of it ; implying that, if entered into with the same 
 sincerity on man's part that it is appointed on God's, 
 the promise will assuredly be made good; while to the 
 hypocritical and unbelieving it may not less certainly 
 prove, in common with other divine ordinances, alto- 
 gether fruitless. If, therefore, we say that the natural 
 import of St. Paul's words here obliges us to hold that he 
 speaks of baptism, it is of baptism, we must remember (to 
 use the words of Ellicott), " on the supposition that it was 
 no mere observance, but that it was a sacrament, in which 
 all that was inward properly and completely accompanied 
 all that was outward. He thus could say, in the fullest 
 
 ^ It was a source of inextricable confusion in the Patristic theology, 
 and the occasion of much practical error and superstition, that the 
 Fathers identified, in the unqualified manner they did, the ordinance 
 of baptism with regeneration. Mr. Mozley's endeavour to justify them 
 in so doing (in his Primitive Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration)^ 
 though containing much valuable matter, cannot be regarded as satis- 
 factory ; for their usual style of representation was clearly fitted to 
 mislead, and in Augustine particularly was inconsistent with his doc- 
 trine of grace. But occasionally they could distinguish well enough. 
 Augustine, for example, speaks of the possibility of the laver of regene- 
 ration being unaccompanied with the grace of regeneration {Enar. in 
 Ps, Ixxvii.), and of conversion of heart being sometimes where there is 
 not baptism, and of baptism being where conversion of heart is not {De 
 Bap. iv. 25). So Jerome speaks of persons who do not receive baptism 
 with a full faith, and says of them that ' ' they have received the water, 
 but have not received the Spirit" {C0771. in Ezek. xvi. 4, 5)- 
 
296 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 sense of the words, that it was a laver of regenei'ation, as he 
 had also said (Gal. iii. 27) that as many as were baptized 
 into Christ had put on Christ — entered into vital union with 
 Him." The most exact parallel, however, is i Pet. iii. 21, 
 where, with reference to the salvation wrought for Noah 
 through the deluge and the ark, the apostle says that 
 " baptism now also saves us ; " but then baptism of what 
 sort? Not that (he presently adds) which is simply out- 
 ward, and which could avail only to the purifying of the 
 flesh, but that which carries with it "the answer (or in- 
 terrogation) of a good conscience toward God through the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ." It was baptism of such a 
 kind as involved an earnest and conscientious dealing 
 with God in respect to salvation, and an appropriation of 
 the new life brought in for believers by the death and 
 resurrection of Christ. 
 
 In our passage, what is said of baptism is further guarded 
 and defined by what follows respecting the work of the 
 Spirit : through the laver of regeneration, and renewmg of the 
 Holy Ghost (/cat dvaKaivoocrecos IIv. aycov). So far as gram- 
 matical construction is concerned, dya/catvojo-ews might be 
 made dependent either on Xovrpov or on Sia : it might be 
 rendered either " through the laver of regeneration and 
 of the Holy Ghost's renewing," or "through the laver of 
 regeneration, and through renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
 With the view of securing the latter rendering, several 
 Mss. insert a second Sea (D, E, F, G) ; Jerome also 
 expresses it, per renovationem, though the Vulgate has 
 refiovationis : hence connecting renovation as well as re- 
 generation with laver. By renovation, however, as used in 
 New Testament Scripture, is meant a progressive change 
 to the better — a growing advancement in the divine life, 
 of which the Holy Spirit, indeed, is the efficient agent, but 
 in which also there is a concurrent action of the regenerated 
 soul. The grace that works in it is not converting, but 
 
TITUS III. 6. 297 
 
 co-operating and strengthening grace. And while baptism 
 is the seal of the new birth, and gives assurance of the 
 Spirit for all redemption blessings, it is never formally re- 
 presented as the seal of spiritual progress, nor could it with 
 propriety be so. For it has respect to our introduction 
 into a new state, but not to any future and successive 
 advances thereafter to be made in it. The ordinance of 
 the Supper, in a sacramental point of view, stands related 
 to this, not baptism. There are therefore two things 
 marked here — first baptism (as the laver of regeneration), 
 and then the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which is but 
 another name for progressive sanctification. And as the 
 apostle, in predicating salvation, or an experimental ac- 
 quaintance with the saving mercy of God in Christ, speaks 
 only of such as have partaken alike of baptism and of the 
 Spirit's renewal — partaken not of one of these merely, but 
 of both — it is a departure from the precedent of apostolic 
 teaching to use language indicative of a saved condition, 
 where one only of the two can be said to have come into 
 play. If people will speak of baptismal regeneration, let 
 them take care, as Alford has justly cautioned, to bear in 
 mind what baptism in such a case should be understood to 
 mean : " not the mere ecclesiastical act — not the mere fact 
 of reception by that act among God's professing people ; 
 but that, completed by the divine act, manifested by the 
 operation of the Holy Ghost in the heart and through the 
 life." Precisely similar language, it may be added, is often 
 used regarding the word which is here applied to baptism : 
 it, too, is coupled with regeneration, or a saving change 
 (John i. 12, 13; I Cor. i. 18, 21; Rom. x. 9; Jas. i. 18; 
 I Pet. i. 23 ; I John v. i) ; but then it is always on the 
 understanding, expressed or implied, that the - word has 
 been received into the heart, and produced through divine 
 grace its proper effect. 
 . Ver. 6. Having named the Holy Spirit as the efficient 
 
298 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 author of the renovation accomplished in believers, the 
 apostle goes on to indicate, in further proof of the loving- 
 kindness and mercy of God in the matter of our salvation, 
 the copiousness of the gift; it is bestowed, not with a 
 grudging, but with a free and benignant hand : which He 
 poured out (ov iiexeev, the ov by attraction with the preced- 
 ing HvevfjiaTos aytov, not in any way dependent on Xovrpov) 
 on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. The form of 
 expression is derived from the language of Old Testament 
 prophecy (Joel ii. 28 ; Zech. xii. 10), adopted by the apostles 
 at the commencement of the New Testament church (Acts 
 ii. 17, 2>3, X. 45) — language proceeding on the similitude of 
 the Spirit's grace to quickening and refreshing streams of 
 water. As such He is represented, not simply as given, 
 but as poured out, — nay, poured out richly, in order to 
 convey some idea of the plenteous beneficence of the gift. 
 This rich bestowal is peculiar to New Testament times; 
 and here, as elsewhere, it is expressly connected with the 
 mediation of Christ, who as Saviour has opened the way 
 for it, and Himself sends forth the Spirit as the fruit of His 
 work on earth, and the token of its acceptance with the 
 Father (John xiv. 16, 26, xvi. 7 ; Luke xxiv. 49 ; Gal. iv. 
 6 j Eph. iv. 7-1 1 ). So that the whole Trinity appears here 
 as concurring in the blessed work of our salvation : we 
 are saved by God the Father, through the ministration of 
 His hfe-giving ordinances, rendered such by the presence 
 and agency of the Holy Spirit ; and this, again, proceeds 
 on the ground of what was done for us by Christ as our 
 Saviour, and what He still does in mediating between us 
 and the Father respecting the bestowal of the Spirit. Such 
 a style of representation could never have been used unless 
 Father, Son, and Spirit had been co-ordinate agents in the 
 work of salvation. And as regards the more specific topic 
 in this verse — the rich outpouring of the Spirit — there can be 
 no doubt that, as the apostle is speaking more immediately of 
 
TITUS III. 7. 299 
 
 the salvation of individuals, it must be primarily understood 
 with reference to this, though still of this only as a part of 
 that general effusion of the Spirit's grace which commenced 
 on the day of Pentecost. The individual, in such a case, 
 cannot be viewed apart from the general; and it is needless 
 here to distinguish minutely between the two. 
 
 Ver. 7. In this verse we have the important practical 
 design of the salvation-work described in the three pre- 
 ceding verses : in order that, beiiig justified by His grace, we 
 might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The 
 expression by His grace {rr^^apm iKetvov) must be connected 
 with God the Father, since it is He always who is repre- 
 sented as conferring the grace which justifies the ungodly. 
 Concurrently, however, with the Father's procedure in re- 
 spect to justification, there is an indispensable action of the 
 Holy Spirit, uniting the sinner to Christ, and so establishing 
 a vital bond between the guilty and the righteous. For, 
 however gratuitous the act of justification is as bestowed 
 on its objects, not only without any good deeds on their 
 part, but in spite of many bad deeds, there is nothing 
 arbitrary in it. It proceeds upon such a connection between 
 the soul and Christ as secures for it a participation in His 
 infinite worth and sufficiency, so that God is just even when 
 He justifies the ungodly (Rom. iii. 26). When it is said, 
 further, that this justification is effected that we might be- 
 come kXtjpovoixol KttT iXiriSa t,(iir]<s annvcov, the explanation 
 may run, either heirs in respect to hope of eternal life — 
 heirs of that life, yet meanwhile having it only in hope ; or 
 heirs in conformity with the hope of eternal life — of dl that 
 such a hope entitles to. Grammatically, the one explana- 
 tion is as admissible as the other. But I think, with Alford, 
 against Huther and ElHcott, that considering the expression 
 used by the apostle at the commencement of this epistle, lir 
 iXTTiSi ^w^s ai(j)VLov, it is more natural here to couple hope 
 directly with eternal life, and regard the heirship spoken of as 
 
300 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 comprehending all that is conformable to, or is embraced in, 
 the hope of eternal life. But the difference between the 
 two modes of exposition is of a philological rather than a 
 doctrinal kind : in substance the meaning is much the same 
 either way ; and to the popular apprehension, it will matter 
 extremely little whether we say of the justified that he is 
 heir of eternal life, as to hope, or that he is heir of whatever 
 the hope of eternal life warrants him to look for. Niceties 
 of this description in the interpretation of Scripture, if they 
 may be noticed, should certainly not be dwelt upon. 
 
 A few practical advices to Titus now close the hortatory 
 part of the epistle, followed up by some personal notices 
 and salutations. 
 
 Ver. 8. Faithful is this saying (that, namely, contained in 
 the immediately preceding verses respecting God's method 
 of procedure in respect to salvation ; for the form of expres- 
 sion, see at i Tim. i. 5) ; ajid concerning these things I would 
 have thee strenuously affirm (Sta^e^aLovcrOaL, make assevera- 
 tion ; see at i Tim. i. 7), to the end that they who have 
 believed God be careful to practise good ztwrks — Trpoto-rao-^at, 
 set forward, practise such works. The governing verb <^pov- 
 TL^eLv, which is sometimes, though rarely, as here, followed 
 by an infinitive, nowhere again occurs in Scripture ; but it 
 denotes the application of earnest and continued thought, a 
 careful striving of soul in this direction, that the belief in 
 the doctrines of the gospel should be substantiated by a 
 steady performance of its commanded duties. These things 
 — namely, the things involved in this practical teaching 
 and concern — are good and profitable to men : in themselves 
 good {Koka), and in their tendency and results profitable 
 (a)<^eA.tju,a) to Others. 
 
 Ver. 9. In contrast to such sound teaching, he again 
 warns against that frivolous and disputative sort of teaching 
 which he had previously characterized (i. 10-14) : but 
 foolish questionings, and genealogies, and strifes, and conten- 
 
TITUS III. lO. 301 
 
 iio7is about the law, avoid — Trepua-Taa-o, keep out of the way 
 of, turn from them. And on this account, /{7r t/iey are un- 
 profitable atid vain — utterly wanting in the practical element 
 which so remarkably characterizes the true doctrine of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Ver. \o. A heretical 7nan^ after 07ie a7id a seco7id ad77io7tition, 
 shun. The word alpeTiKos only in part corresponds to our 
 term he7'etieal ; perhaps schis7natieal or faetiot^s would more 
 nearly approach to it. It denoted one who set himself to 
 make a alpeo-t? or party, separate from the community of 
 the faithful. In the history of the Acts the designation is 
 applied to the sectional divisions among the Jews — the seets 
 (as the word is rendered) of the Pharisees and the Saddu- 
 cees (chap. v. 17, xv. 5). On one occasion Paul applies it 
 to himself, and his former co-religionists, in a good sense ; 
 he spoke of it as a thing creditable to them that they 
 formed "the strictest sect of their religion" (chap. xxvi. 5). 
 This, however, might be called an exceptional use ; for, 
 shortly before, Paul himself confesses that, in a way which 
 his countrymen called he7rsy (alpeaiv), he worshipped God, 
 and was stigmatized by his accusers as a ringleader of the 
 Nazarene heresy or sect (chap. xxiv. 5, 14). Also in St. 
 Paul's own writings the expression is similarly used — Gal. v. 
 20, I Cor. xi. 19; the latter of which passages especially 
 throws light on the import of the word in the apostolic 
 church. In the preceding verse he had mentioned with 
 grief that he heard there were schisms or divisions among 
 them ; and then he adds, " for there must be also alpecras 
 among you, that they who are approved may be made mani- 
 fest among you." It is clear that the persons who taught 
 the aipecret? were just those who caused the schismatical 
 divisions — formed some kind of separate interest by unduly 
 elevating a human mode of teaching, or teaching what was 
 in itself at variance with the principles of the gospel. I 
 conclude, therefore, with Campbell {Preli7ninary Disserta- 
 
302 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tions on the Gospels^ ix. 4), that the heretical man of our text 
 " must mean one who is the founder of a sect, or at least 
 has the disposition to create sects in the community, and 
 may properly be called a factions man. The admonition 
 here given to Titus is the same, though differently ex- 
 pressed, with what Paul had given to the Romans when he 
 said, * Mark them which cause divisions, and avoid them ' " 
 (chap. xvi. 7).^ A person of this conceited, opinionative 
 stamp Titus is counselled not summarily to cast off, but 
 to deal with him as an offender against the peace and 
 good order of the church — to give him one and even a 
 second admonition ; and then, if these failed to reclaim him 
 from his waywardness, to shun him as an evil-doer. The 
 apostle does not carry the matter further ; he does not ad- 
 vise formal excommunication, the course he had himself 
 adopted in the case of others (i Tim. i. 20) ; but the kind 
 of shunning or avoiding enjoined was a virtual excommuni- 
 cation, as it plainly involved a resolution not to recognise 
 him as a Christian brother so long as he pursued his divisive 
 and factious course. And the reason given in the next verse 
 for the action recommended confirms this view. 
 
 Ver. II. Knowing that such an one is perverted^ and sin- 
 neth, being self -condemned. The language throughout is very 
 strong : first he is perverted — the rendering of Tyndale, 
 Cranmer, and Gen., and upon the whole better than the 
 Authorized Version, subverted: the compound verb iKTpiiroi 
 signifying to turn out of, — namely, the proper way or 
 course ; and when used, as here, in the passive of one who, 
 notwithstanding even a second admonition, persists in fol- 
 lowing his self-willed line of action, " denotes a complete 
 inward corruption and perverseness of character" (EHicott). 
 
 1 The dissertation on this point is in general good, but carries to an 
 extreme the idea of false doctrine having nothing to do with heresy in 
 the gospel age. False or erroneous teaching must certainly have been 
 an element. 
 
TITUS III. 12. 303 
 
 Then, he sinneth — a/xaprai/et, lives in sin, or errs knowingly 
 and deliberately, because he cleaves to his own way, after 
 having been expostulated with about its erroneousness by 
 an authorized messenger of God. And so, finally, he is 
 said to be self -condemned : not as if he formally pronounced 
 judgment against himself, or was conscious of acting a part 
 which he consciously knew to be wrong, but because his 
 conduct was such as of itself to betray a desert of condem- 
 nation. The meaning is much the same as that expressed 
 of similar characters at i Tim. iv. 2 — both alike spoken of 
 persons whose inward sense or conscience has got into 
 a state which is palpably at variance with the mind of 
 God, as made known through His authorized represen- 
 tatives. 
 
 Ver. 12. When I shall send Artej?ias to thee, or Tychicus, 
 make haste to come to me at Nicopolis. Artemas is nowhere 
 else mentioned ; but Tychicus is described at Col. iv. 7 as 
 " a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow-ser- 
 vant in the Lord ; " and very nearly the same expressions 
 are employed respecting him at Eph. vi. 21. He was an 
 Asiatic (Acts xx. 4), but we want materials for a closer de- 
 termination. The Nicopolis at which St. Paul intended to 
 pass the winter is uncertain. Three towns of that name 
 are well known to have existed at the time, within the 
 sphere of the apostle's labours : one in Cilicia, another in 
 Thrace, and a third in Epirus. Each of tliese has been 
 fixed on by different commentators as the one probably 
 meant in the passage before us; but it is impossible to 
 adduce anything of a decisive nature in favour of either. 
 If the epistle was written from Macedonia or some part of 
 Greece, then it would likely be Nicopolis in Epirus, which 
 was by much the more important of the two in that quarter ; 
 but if from some place in Asia Minor, then Nicopolis in 
 CiHcia should rather be understood. But whichever it 
 might be, when the apostle states his intention to spend 
 
304 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the winter there {iKet), it is clear he was not at Nicopolls 
 when he wrote the epistle. 
 
 Ver. 13. Zealously forward on their journey Zenas the 
 lawyer, and Apollos, that nothing may he wanting to them. 
 The o-TTovSato)? TrpoTrefjuj/ov evidently means that Titus should 
 hasten the departure of the brethren mentioned, and do it, 
 as the context shows, by furnishing them with things need- 
 ful for their journey. This is the only passage in which 
 the name of Zenas occurs; nor is it certain whether the 
 designation lawyer is to be taken in the Jewish sense (one 
 who had been skilled in Hebrew law, and from former 
 times still retained the name), or with reference to the study 
 and practice of law in a civil sense. The majority of com- 
 mentators prefer the former view. But the mention of 
 Apollos here along with Zenas, as one whom Paul wished 
 to have beside him, so near the close of his earthly labours, 
 is a clear proof of the good understanding which subsisted 
 between these two eminent servants of God, and how little 
 ground there is for the serious differences in respect to their 
 doctrinal teaching which have sometimes been alleged by 
 modern rationalists. As Apollos commenced preaching 
 when still but imperfectly taught in the gospel, and then 
 received fuller instruction from some of Paul's most inti- 
 mate friends (Acts xviii. 26), the probability is, that what- 
 ever divergence might appear was confined to the earlier 
 part of his labours : and even of that we know next to 
 nothing. 
 
 Ver. 14. The task of supplying Zenas and Apollos with 
 things requisite for their journey, seems to have suggested 
 to the apostle the thought that the brethren generally in 
 Crete should be admonished to lend their help and co- 
 operation in matters of that description. But (though I 
 ask you to take this in hand, it is not you alone I mean, 
 but) let ours also (the brethren generally) learn to practise 
 good deeds for necessary uses, — namely, for such strictly 
 
TITUS III. 15. 305 
 
 proper and important ends as supplying the wants of 
 Christ's servants when going on their Master's work ; and 
 this, in order that they may not be unfruitful — may not spend 
 life unsuitably to their profession. 
 
 Ver. 15. The conclusion is brief and simple: All that 
 are with vie (that is, probably, such as were labouring with 
 him in the ministry of the gospel) salute thee; salute those 
 that love lis in the faith ; the grace (na.mQ\y, of God) be with 
 you all. No other epistle of the apostle's ends quite simi- 
 larly. The mode of salutation may be said to be Pauline in 
 spirit ; but in form it differs too much from those found in 
 the other epistles, to have been at all likely to occur to any 
 one but the apostle himself. But including, as it did, all 
 who loved the apostle in the faith, it implies that the epistle 
 was to be made known to the churches in Crete. 
 
THE 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 This is admitted, by all who hold the authenticity of the 
 Pastoral epistles, to be the last writing we have from the 
 pen of the apostle. He had himself evidently despaired, at 
 the time he wrote, of getting dehverance from the hand of 
 his persecutors, or even of having his martyrdom long de- 
 layed. An early termination of his course by an unjust and 
 violent death appeared now to be inevitable ; and the brief 
 epistle in which he gave expression to his last utterances of 
 faith and hope, is altogether worthy of the occasion. The 
 probable date has been already discussed in the Intro- 
 duction. A measure of uncertainty must always hang 
 around it ; but a variety of convergent circumstances seems 
 to point to the year a.d. 68 as the most likely period. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ver. I. Paul^ an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of 
 God, according to the pro?nise of life which is in Christ Jesus. 
 The descriptive designation which Paul here employs re- 
 specting himself is so far peculiar, that it does not precisely 
 accord with any other found at the commencement of his 
 epistles, while still there is nothing in it which is not also 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 2. 307 
 
 found in some of them. That he was an apostle by, or 
 through, God's will, is very frequently expressed — i Cor. 
 i. I ; 2 Cor. i. i ; Eph. i. i ; Col. i. i : in the First to Timothy 
 it was by God's appointment, which occurs only there. In 
 connecting his apostleship here, and so frequently, with 
 God's will, he sought to place it above, not merely any 
 choice or desert of his own, but also every kind of elective 
 agency that was simply human, and to bring it into im- 
 mediate connection with the mind and purposes of the 
 Supreme. To show this more distinctly, he adds : accord- 
 ing to the promise of life luhich is in Christ Jestis. This 
 promise of life, or, as it is expressed in Tit. i. 2, "hope of 
 eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before eter- 
 nal times," is presented as the primary ground out of which 
 the specific acts and arrangements of God proceeded in 
 reference to the work of salvation in the world, and among 
 others, Paul's own calling to the apostleship, which formed 
 an important link of connection between the promise and 
 its actual realization among men. The life meant, of course, 
 is life in the higher sense, comprehensive of all the blessing 
 and glory, both in this world and the next, which flow from 
 an interest in the redemption of Christ. It is therefore 
 not Hfe simply, but that life which is in Christ Jesus (see 
 at I Tim. vi. 19). Timothy is thus again reminded, at the 
 outset, that the character in which Paul now wrote to him, 
 and consequently the counsels and admonitions which in 
 that character he might express, bore on them a divine 
 impress : they stood in near proximity to the eternal purpose 
 and will of the Father. 
 
 Ver. 2. To Tijnothy, [wj'] beloved child. I cannot but 
 regard it as a very frivolous question, to ask here, with 
 some commentators, why the apostle should have addressed 
 Timothy as his beloved (ayaTrrjTw) , and not, as in the first 
 epistle, his true (yvyjatw) child ? and whether his doing so 
 did not bespeak a somewhat diminished confidence now 
 
3o8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 in respect to Timothy ? (Mack, Alford.) Why should an 
 apostle, any more than another person, be expected, if he 
 has once employed a particular epithet on an endeared 
 friend, to confine himself ever afterwards to the same ? 
 For anything we know, it might be the very reason why 
 Paul did not use true here, that he was conscious of 
 having used it in the former epistle ; for love itself, when 
 fervent, instinctively shrinks from formal repetitions. And 
 did not Timothy now need to be greeted with an e?idearmg 
 rather than a confidential epithet, separated as he was un- 
 willingly, and at such a crisis, from his spiritual father? 
 The tears shed by the youthful disciple at that separation, 
 which were still fresh in the remembrance of the apostle's 
 heart (ver. 4), would alone prompt the latter to select a 
 term that would be expressive of tenderness and affection. 
 If there are certain things in the epistle (as Alford alleges) 
 which seem to indicate a " somewhat saddened reminding, 
 rather than one of rising hope and confidence," toward 
 Timothy, the designation of beloved child, so appropriate 
 in the circumstances, is assuredly not one of them ; and 
 the attempt to turn it to such account belongs to fancy, 
 not to exposition. Grace, mercy, peace from God the Father, 
 and C /wist Jesus our Lord. The same form of salutation as 
 at I Tim. i. 2, which see, with reference especially to tlie 
 inclusion of mercy, a peculiarity of these two epistles. 
 
 Vers. 3-5. I give tha?iks to God, whom I serve from my 
 forefathers in a pure consciejice. The form of expression at 
 the commencement, xo.^iv e'xw, occurs only once again 
 in St. Paul's acknowledged epistles — i Tim. i. 12 ; else- 
 where it is c^x^pco-Tw (see there). In mentioning God 
 as entitled, on a certain account, to receive and actually 
 receiving thanks from him, the apostle couples a statement 
 as to his own present and past relation to Him : the God 
 he now served was also the God of his forefathers, and 
 the service was done in a pure conscience toward Him, 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 3-5. 309 
 
 as theirs also had been. By forefathers (Trpoyovoiv) may- 
 be understood either the nearer or more remote ancestry, 
 but most naturally the former ; as also at i Tim. v. 4, 
 where the same word is used of grand-parents, the parent- 
 age just a step further off than the immediately preceding 
 — Scottice, forbears. The apostle's service or worship 
 (Aarpero)) formally, indeed, differed from that of his fore- 
 fathers, inasmuch as it was all offered in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; but then, holding this Jesus to be the 
 Messiah promised to the fathers, and ever looked for by 
 them, there was both the same God, and essentially the 
 same worship, with him and with them. The one faith 
 which he and they alike professed was only more de- 
 veloped now, and the worship adapted to the fresh stage 
 that had been reached ; and he would have Timothy to 
 bear this perpetually in mind, not only because he also 
 stood in the same relation to a pious Jewish ancestry 
 (presently to be noticed, vers. 5, 6), but also because the 
 apostle's approaching condemnation and death as the 
 abettor of a new religion was sure to expose Timothy 
 to opposition and danger on the same ground. It was 
 meet, therefore, that he should know well here the founda- 
 tions of his faith, and hold firmly by them. Substantially, 
 the same assertions respecting his worship, and the manner 
 in which he discharged it, were made by St. Paul in Acts 
 xxiii. I, xxiv. 14-16. And that what he says here is no 
 way inconsistent with the admissions he makes respecting 
 his native depravity, see at Tit. iii. 4. 
 
 But for what precisely does the apostle give thanks 
 to God ? That it is mainly for what he believed to be in 
 Timothy, — the unfeigned faith which he had, in some 
 sense, as a heritage from his ancestors, but which he per- 
 sonally and stedfastly continued to hold, — there can be 
 no reasonable doubt. But this is not formally introduced 
 till ver. 5, and there is an involved construction of two 
 
310 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 or three clauses going before, commencing with the particle 
 a)s, which presents some difficulty, and has been variously 
 explicated by commentators. Some, as Chrysostom, Luther, 
 Authorized Version, take ws in the sense of that (which 
 it never properly means), and so make the apostle's 
 remembrance of Timothy in his prayers the direct object 
 of his thanksgivings, — this being only supplemented after- 
 wards by a reference to Timothy's sincere faith. That, 
 however, appears unnatural ; and so also are the renderings 
 of (I)? by when, as often as (Calvin, Conybeare, " when- 
 ever I remember thee "), because, quod, quaniaiti (Common 
 Vulg., Chrys., Leo), or even by as, which is adopted by 
 Winer, De Wette, Huther, EUicott. For though, by this 
 latter method, as indeed also by the others, we get the 
 substantial import of the passage, yet not in the precise 
 form in which it seems to have been presented by the 
 apostle : he would be made to tell Timothy, that since 
 he did constantly in fact remember him in his prayers, 
 he could, while he did so, bring into consideration his un- 
 feigned faith. It seems best, most in accordance with 
 the order and connection of the several clauses, to take 
 a)s in the ordinary sense of hoiv, quajn (which is the 
 rendering also of the Vulg. in the Codex Amiat. : quam 
 sine interniissione habeam tui inetno7'iam), and thereby bring 
 the prayerful remembrance of Timothy into a somewhat 
 closer relation to the thanksgivings than if it were merely 
 parenthetical. Thus : / give thanks to God . . . how unceas- 
 ing remembrance I have of thee in my prayers night and day, 
 longing to see thee, mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled 
 with joy, recollecting the unfeigned faith [that is'] i7i thee, which 
 dwelt first, etc. Reading the passage thus, in what seems 
 the most natural and simple manner, the apostle must be 
 regarded as including the perpetual mention of Timothy 
 in prayer as a ground of thanksgiving ; but then it is not 
 so properly the mention or remembrance itself, as the way 
 
2 TIMOTHY 1. 3-5. 311 
 
 in which he found himself able to do it, that he is thank- 
 ful for : it was that he had, and still continued to have, 
 such an image upon his mind of Timothy's affection to 
 himself and his faith in God, that he could unceasingly 
 bring him into remembrance before God for an interest 
 in the divine favour and blessing, being assured that in so 
 doing he might look for acceptance with Heaven. There 
 is nothing strange in such a line of thought ; but it obvi- 
 ously proceeds upon the conviction of Timothy's spiritual 
 state and character being such as to awaken only grateful 
 feelings and recollections ; and it does seem strange that 
 any one should think of discovering, in so friendly and 
 glowing a representation, indications of spiritual declen- 
 sion on the part of the much-loved evangelist. This is 
 what Alford does, but on the slenderest possible grounds. 
 
 The epithet of unceasing^ which the apostle couples with 
 his mention of Timothy in his prayers, must, as its pro- 
 minent position indicates (w? dStoAetTrrov l^ rrjv fxvuav), 
 be emphasized : it was an unceasing reminiscence in ever 
 recurring acts of devotion, because the tender and agree- 
 able impressions on his mind respecting Timothy pressed 
 him continually into the foreground of his thoughts and 
 desires, when drawing near to God. Something of this 
 the apostle ascribes to the working of natural affection — 
 longing to see thee, i7rL7ro6C)v, "participle dependent on 
 exw jw-vetai/, expressing the feeling that existed previously to, 
 or contemporaneous with, that action, and connected with 
 the final cause, iva TrX.yjpuyQu) " (Ellicott) — the full experi- 
 ence of joy. The apostle's longing, he goes on to state, 
 was much increased by the remembrance of Timothy's 
 tears — the tears, doubtless, which he shed at parting with 
 his beloved father in Christ, and shed afresh, we can 
 well suppose, as the perils deepened around the apostle's 
 condition. He could not, therefore, but wish to have this 
 dear companion again at his side, in order that their 
 
312 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 common sadness might be turned into joy ; nor can we 
 doubt that the ordering of events, so as to accompUsh 
 this natural desire, was one of the things which he sought 
 from God, when making such frequent mention of the 
 object of his affectionate regard. But such considerations 
 and desires, however proper in themselves, and suitable 
 for expression in prayer to God, would have failed in 
 their end, nor would they have found any record here, 
 unless they had been associated with another — from the 
 first the more essential element in the apostle's estimate 
 of Timothy's condition as a subject of thanksgiving and 
 prayer — namely, the recognition he could make of his 
 unfeigned faith. The expression is a little peculiar, viro- 
 fjivrja-Lv Aa^cbv, literally, taking reminiscence, or simply 7'e- 
 collectmg ; as \y]Br]v Xa/Swv, in 2 Pet. i. 9, is unquestionably 
 forgetting, and o-py^v Xa(3. XaX'ucrOat, took begiiuiing =^ began 
 to be spoken. This recollecting of Timothy's faith is not 
 to be connected with the apostle's longing to see him, 
 but is to be referred back to his thanksgivings and con- 
 stant remembrance of Timothy in prayer ; such recollec- 
 tion gave him confidence in naming Timothy to God, and 
 filled him with gratitude. And in designating the faith 
 n7ifeig7ied, he clearly ascribes to it the most essential attri- 
 bute of goodness ; it was a genuine principle, the opposite 
 of a hypocritical or wavering profession. That the pos- 
 session of this faith was also an abiding characteristic of 
 Timothy — a thing of the present as well as of the past — 
 is plainly implied in the unceasing mention made of him 
 by the apostle to God as a man of faith. 
 
 The faith in question is further characterized as that 
 which also (^rt?, quce et, Vulg., that sort of faith which) dwelt 
 first in thy grandmother Lois ; meaning, not first absolutely 
 in this ancestral line, but first in that portion of it with 
 which the apostle and Timothy had personal acquaintance 
 — the first so far as they could take cognizance of it; — 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 6. 313 
 
 and thy mother Eimice; and not only so, but I am persuaded 
 (7re7reL(TixaL, have been and still am persuaded) that m thee 
 also (viz. €voLK€L, divells). That there is a want of entire 
 confidence expressed here, as Alford, after some earher 
 commentators, thinks, has no proper foundation. Paul 
 simply expresses his persuasion that Timothy had the 
 same unfeigned faith which belonged to his godly parent- 
 age on the female side; and we have no more reason to 
 imagine that this connection with the past implies suspi- 
 cion in regard to Timothy's stedfastness, than the apostle's 
 declaration a little before respecting himself, that he served 
 God from, or after the example and spirit of, his forefathers, 
 bespoke some failing in his own piety. 
 
 Ver. 6. For which cause — namely, because I have full 
 confidence that such is your spiritual condition (Theophy- 
 lact, Stort otSa (xe avvKOKpnov ej^ovra TrtcTTtv ; Theod., ravra. 
 Trepi (Tov 7re7r€tcr/xei/o? TrapaKaXw). Cocceius justly compares 
 I John ii. 21, "I have not written unto you because ye 
 know not the truth, but because ye know it," and adds : 
 " Each apostle guards against the supposition that his writ- 
 ing or excitation should seem to insinuate either ignorance 
 or unbelief of the truth ; and, on the contrary, shows that 
 the knowledge and faith of the truth dwelling in them was 
 the cause of writing them and stirring them up. Such 
 incitement would certainly have been in vain with persons 
 ignorant of the truth, or not exercising faith in it." In 
 accordance with this is the mild form of the exhortation 
 that follows : / remind thee (dvaiJLLfjLV'qcrKO), admonish is too 
 strong) to stir up {avat,o)7rvpeiv, lit. to kindle up, the subject 
 being viewed under the image of a fire) the gift of God 
 which is in thee through the laying on of my ha?ids. That 
 the verb here used (dva^wTr.) does not necessarily imply any 
 previous decay or slumbering — that it means to kindle ?//, 
 as well as r^-kindle, the force of ava being up, or up7vards 
 (Ellicott) — is put beyond doubt by the examples given in 
 
314 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Wetstein. (The synonyms given by Hesych. are dvcyetpat, 
 avat,rjv ttouIv ; by Suidas, avavewaaL, dveyetpai.) Very similar 
 is the language of St. Peter when he speaks of stirring up 
 the disciples by way of remembrance, or putting them in 
 mind (SuyetpeLv vjxas iv vTrofivqa-ei, 2 Pet. i. 13). The Cir- 
 cumstances of the time, especially as connected with the 
 apostle's fresh imprisonment, and now all too probable 
 destination to capital punishment, rendered such an exhor- 
 tation every way fitting. On such a mind as Timothy's, 
 disposed to lean rather than to lead — accustomed to take 
 a subordinate, not a principal part — those circumstances 
 could not but have a depressing effect. The danger for 
 him, the apostle would readily foresee, was that he would 
 lose heart in the conflict, and perhaps withdraw into some 
 more retired and humble position than his calling and 
 acquirements qualified him to occupy. He is therefore 
 urged to brace himself for the occasion, and stir into 
 vigorous action the gift he had received for the service of 
 God. The gift itself (xapio-/>ta) is undoubtedly the special 
 endowment or gift of grace qualifying him for the evan- 
 gelistic work to which he was appointed. It was referred 
 to in the former epistle (i Tim. iv. 14), and is there con- 
 nected instrumentally with the laying on of the hands of 
 the presbytery, as here with the laying on of St. Paul's own 
 hands. There is no contrariety between the two state- 
 ments, as both parties no doubt took part in the ordination 
 service (see at the former passage) ; but here it was natural 
 and proper that the apostle should have reminded Timothy 
 of his own act of imposition, as now more than ever Timothy 
 was likely to be called to stand, to a certain extent, in the 
 apostle's room, and enter into his labours. It was of great 
 importance, therefore, that he should now feel his increased 
 responsibility, and apply himself to the cultivation of the 
 grace which had been conferred upon him, undeterred by any 
 discouragements or dangers which might stand in the way. 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 7. 315 
 
 Ver. 7. For God gave us not the spirit of cowardice, but 
 of poiver, and love, and correction. By spirit here may be 
 understood either God's Spirit working in a certain manner 
 in us, or our own spirit as wrought upon and formed by 
 God ; practically, it comes much to the same thing, since 
 either way the gift is of God, obtained by direct fellowship 
 with His Spirit. But spoken of as a thing that, hypotheti- 
 cally at least, might take a wrong as well as a right direction, 
 it most naturally presents itself to our view in the subjec- 
 tive, concrete aspect — as the inwrought spiritual disposition 
 or temperament which, by the Spirit of God conferred on 
 us as ministers of the word, we were at once called and 
 empowered to exercise. Now, as such it was not, the 
 apostle says, the spirit of cowardice (8etAta?, more than (f^o/Sov, 
 fear, which is capable of a good as well as a bad sense) 
 — such as would dispose us to shrink from the discharge of 
 duty when it becomes irksome, or to compromise our prin- 
 ciples when it is perilous to hold them. Not this is the 
 spirit with which we were endowed by God (as at Rom. 
 viii. 15 it was denied to be the spirit SovXeta?, of bondage), 
 but of p07ver, manfully to bear up against trials and diffi- 
 culties, to hold our. ground when others are ready to yield 
 and give way ; and love, which seeks not its own, but the 
 good of others and the glory of God, even at the expense 
 of what is personally dear and amiable to it ; and correction. 
 In regard to this last expression, o-ax^povtcr/^o?, it is impos- 
 sible, perhaps, to get an English word that exactly corre- 
 sponds with the original. Our translators have rendered it 
 sound mind, substantially following Beza, sanitatis animi ; 
 the Vulg. and Erasmus have sobrietatis, not much different, 
 but giving the import of aojcfipoavvr] rather than a-is^^povicrixos : 
 for the latter, as Suicer remarks, Thes. ii. p. 1224, '' expresses 
 the authority which admonishes and restrains those who 
 walk in a disorderly manner, and is opposed to cowardice ;" 
 so that this spirit shows itself in a capacity to check what. 
 
3l6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 either by corrupt motions from within, or by threats and 
 allurements from without, would lead us into foolish and 
 perverse ways : it is the power of authoritative control and 
 wise restraint, which if we but have in sufficient m.easure, 
 we shall not weakly bend to adverse circumstances, but 
 make these bend to us. This coincides, in part at least, 
 with one of Chrysostom's explanations ; and Theodoret 
 gives the sense of the whole thus : " God has given us the 
 grace of His most Holy Spirit, not that we should dread 
 the perils that beset godliness, but that, being replenished 
 with divine power, we might both ardently love Him and 
 repress the disorder of the affections that agitate us ; " as 
 also, it should have been added, might reprove the false 
 compliances and disorderly behaviour prevalent around us. 
 Hence the word, in later times, came to be applied to 
 ecclesiastical censures ; see in Suicer. 
 
 Ver. 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testbnojiy of 
 our Lord, nor of me His prisoner. Having received from 
 God such a spirit, show it now by repressing all emotions 
 of shame, and boldly avowing your adherence to the faith 
 of Christ, and your connection with me as His apostle. 
 The exhortation does not imply that any indication had yet 
 been given by Timothy of an improper sense of shame ; 
 rather the reverse, indeed, — it is a fatherly admonition, lest 
 he should give way to the feeling (/x-^ iTraLcrxwOfj?, coupled 
 here, as elsewhere, with the accusative, ver. i6, Rom. i. i6). 
 But amid the painful experiences of the apostle at the time 
 of his writing, — seeing how one after another of his old 
 friends had been dropping away from him, and now only 
 one faithful companion remained to stand by him (chap, 
 iv. lo, ii), — we cannot wonder that he should have mani- 
 fested solicitude about his beloved Timothy, and called him 
 to exhibit another spirit. The testimony of Christ, or, as 
 it is put somewhat unusually, of our Lord (see, however, 
 I Tim. i. 14, Heb. vii. 14), is certainly not Christ's personal 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 8. 3r7 
 
 martyrion, His martyr death, or the witnessing that had to 
 be borne respecting it, but all that the faithful servant and 
 minister of Christ was bound to testify concerning His 
 person and work, His life and death. The genitive, there- 
 fore, is the genitive of the object (ixap. tov Kvptov) : the 
 primary aim of apostolic and evangelistic work was to bear 
 witness about Him (Acts i. 8, ii. 32). And with this 
 primary testimony St. Paul couples himself as the Lord's 
 prisoner, — a prisoner, that is, for the Lord's sake, and in a 
 sense also (though this only by implication) by the Lord's 
 appointment. It was the duty of Timothy to be no more 
 ashamed of the apostle in such a crisis than of the gospel 
 itself: for Christ was, in a manner, suffering in His servant; 
 and to turn the back on the one (considering the closeness 
 of Timothy's relation to him), would have been virtually to 
 turn it on the other. 
 
 From what Timothy should not do, the apostle proceeds 
 to say what he should : ^uf suffer hardship with me for the 
 gospel^ according to the power of God. The preposition {(jvv) 
 in the verb — o-vyKaKOTrdOrja-ov — seems to be most naturally 
 referred to the apostle; as the question which now presented 
 itself for solution was, whether Timothy would join himself 
 with the apostle in suffering for the gospel, or to avoid the 
 suffering would stand aloof Not, therefore, as in the A.V,, 
 " be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel" (which also 
 somewhat harshly represents the gospel as susceptible of 
 suffering), but be partaker of affliction, or suffer hardship 
 with me, for the gospel — evayyeXio) — the Dat. of interest, 
 for its sake, or on its behalf. We have a similar mode 
 of expression in Phil. i. 27, " Striving together for the faith 
 of the gospel" (awaOXovvres rfj Trto-ret tov evay.). When the 
 apostle exhorts Timothy to share with him in this readiness 
 to suffer for the gospel according to the power of God, he 
 points to the great things done by God in the matter of sal- 
 vation as a ground and motive for something corresponding 
 
3l8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 being done by us : Consider what power He has displayed 
 in meeting with and overcoming the evils of our condition, 
 and in that power show that you have become a partaker. 
 Chrys. : " Because it was a hard saying, Suffer hardship, 
 he again comforts him, saying, not according to our works ; 
 that is, Do not think to bear these things by thine own 
 power, but by the power of God ; for it is thine to choose 
 and be ready to undertake, but it is God's to relieve and to 
 give rest. Then also he brings forth proofs of His [God's] 
 power : Consider how thou wert saved ; how thou wert 
 called. As he says elsewhere, According to His mighty p07ver 
 that works in us. Thus there is greater power required to 
 persuade the world than to make the heavens. How wert 
 thou called?" he asks: ^^ By a holy calling. That is. He 
 made those holy who were sinners and enemies ; and these 
 things are not of us — they are the gift of God." 
 
 Ver. 9. The apostle now proceeds to give a brief but 
 graphic description of this manifested power of God in the 
 matter of salvation : Who saved us, and called us with an 
 holy calling, not according to our works, but accordi?2g to His 
 own purpose, and the grace which was give?i us [grace that 
 which was given = the grace which was given] i?i Christ 
 Jesus before eternal times. The passage as a whole, includ- 
 ing what follows in ver. 10, has a close resemblance to Tit. 
 iii. 4-6, only with the introduction here of certain phases of 
 the work of God, which bear directly on the mighty power 
 and energy displayed in its execution. The purpose of the 
 apostle in so distinctly referring to God's more peculiar 
 work naturally led to this ; since it was designed to brace 
 and fortify the mind of Timothy to that life of vigorous 
 action and hardy endurance which was in accordance with 
 the gospel scheme, and would be a fitting reflection of it. 
 In saying that God saved us and called us, it is plainly God 
 the Father that he more specifically refers to, as with Him, 
 in Scripture, salvation as a whole, and in particular the calling 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. lO. 319 
 
 of believers, is commonly associated. The calling, in this 
 aspect of it, is all one with being brought into a state of sal- 
 vation. And the work itself, with this individual application 
 of it, is ascribed, as to its origin, simply and exclusively to 
 the sovereign goodness and electing love of God, projecting 
 themselves into the future before it could properly be said 
 there was either a past or a future : the fountainhead of all 
 was His 0W71 (iStav) purpose and grace ^ and that not waiting 
 to be evoked by the events and circumstances of human 
 life, but giveji in Christ Jesus befoj'e eternal times. How 
 carefully is the doctrine of God's saving grace here guarded 
 from dependence on anything external or creaturely ! It is 
 traced up to the infinite depths of the Father's loving-kind- 
 ness, not merely as regards the general idea and principal 
 lineaments of the plan, but also in respect to the glorious 
 gift it secures for the individual believer. The grace was 
 given us by Him — given before eternal times; for, as even 
 De Wette puts it, " what God determines in eternity, is as 
 good as done in time." And given in Christ, who, as 
 sponsor for His own in the everlasting covenant, could then 
 also receive for them what the Father in His good pleasure 
 gave : so that, as regards those who shall ultimately share 
 in the blessings of the covenant, all from the first is well 
 ordered and sure. Much the same thought as to the primal 
 and thoroughly independent character of God's purpose of 
 grace is presented in Tit. i. 2, only connected with a promise 
 instead of a purpose. 
 
 Ver. TO. But — passing from the secret purpose of grace 
 in eternity to its unfolding in time — ma?iifested ?ioiv by the 
 appeari7ig of our Saviour Jesus Christy who abolished death, 
 indeed, but brought life a?id i?n?7io?'tality (or incorruption) to 
 light. Christ's appearing must certainly be understood in 
 the larger sense — not of the incarnation simply, but of the 
 incarnate Son in His entire mission and work on earth. By 
 means of that He gave full manifestation of the Father's 
 
3-0 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 eternal purpose of grace ; and did so, the apostle tells us, 
 by a twofold act — a sort of double agency, on the one side 
 destructive, on the other salutary and glorifying. Tlie two 
 necessarily stand in contrast, yet not without a close and 
 inward connection ; for the one is but the reverse side of 
 the other. Hence the particles ixev — Se, indicative at once of 
 connection and contrast (which should not be overlooked 
 in the rendering) : 7C'Ao abo/is/u^d death, indeed, but brought 
 life and immortality to light. In the one respect He acted 
 as a destroyer, but only that He might place as in the light 
 of day the destiny of His people to an everlasting heritage 
 of life and blessing: salvation in its highest issues necessarily 
 carrying along with it a work of destruction. ^ In so speak- 
 ing of the manifestation of God's grace, and identifying the 
 whole with the appearing of Christ among men, there is a 
 close resemblance, in point of form, to the representation 
 previously given of the eternal purpose of grace. This was 
 contemplated by the apostle, not only as taking shape in 
 the divine counsels before the world began, but as "finding 
 there an ideal realization in the (predestined) gift of salva- 
 tion-blessings in Christ. So now, here, with respect to the 
 manifestation of the grace, he sees its accomplishment in 
 the personal triumph and glorification of the Redeemer, as 
 potentially carrying along with it and imaging the common 
 experience and destiny of His people. For in His triumph 
 over death tluirs also was involved ; and in that immortal 
 life to which He rose, they have their hfe hid (i Cor. xv. 
 20-22 \ Col. iii. 3). Or, as St. Peter puts it, "they are 
 begotten again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, 
 undefiled, and that fadeth not away" (i Pet. i. 3, 4). 
 
 Viewing the passage thus as an exhibition in the personal 
 Saviour of what is distributively, in due time, to be realized 
 in the experience of all genuine believers, we are saved 
 
 * See, on this principle, TvJ'clo^' of Scripture, B. ii, c. 16, s. 2. 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. lO. 32 1 
 
 from the necessity of inquiring in what precise sense death 
 is here to be understood — whether as a personal adversary, 
 or as a state in respect alike to body and soul, or as a 
 power per\ading and overshadowing the w^orld (EUicott). 
 There seems no need for going into such an inquir\% and 
 breaking up what is here presented as a unit\^ into a variety 
 of parts. Death as triumphed over and aboHshed in Christ 
 comprehends all that can justly be included in the name ; 
 primarily, no doubt, the extinction of animal life, but that 
 only as the natural issue and result of the mortal elements 
 or powers of evil, which are at work in the temporal con- 
 dition of mankind. In Christ s resurrection from the dead, 
 and entrance on the power of an endless life, a complete 
 and final end is made of them all ; as shall be done also 
 in the case of the redeemed, when the purpose of God 
 respecting them is finished. But what appeared like one 
 great act in Him, who knew no sin, and had the Eternal 
 Spirit dwelHng in Him above measure, can in them be only 
 gradually developed. And while the work is proceeding in 
 their experience — proceeding amid many trials, and \s-ith 
 the sure prospect of a temporary sojourn in the grave, they 
 should strive to keep the eye of faith fixed on the glorious 
 pattern of the risen Redeemer, as that to which they are 
 destined to be conformed. For thus they will feel, that it 
 is not for them to quail before the difficulties and trials of 
 time, but in the face of all such to remain stedfast to their 
 calling in Christ, and endure hopefully to the end. 
 
 The verb c^oirt^ctv, though sometimes used intransitively, 
 is here and elsewhere (i Cor. iv. 5: John i 9; Rev. xxi. 23) 
 taken actively. It means, not for the first time to disclose, 
 but to bring into the clearest light what had hitherto lain in 
 comparative obscurit}'. The thing so shone upon, objec- 
 tively illuminated, is Life — life, as elsewhere spoken of in 
 these Pastoral epistles (here, ver. i; i Tim. iv. 8; Tit i. 2), 
 in the higher sense — such as it exists, pure and blessed, in 
 
 X 
 
32 2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 the presence and kingdom of God. It is here conjoined with, 
 and explained by, a<^6apa-Lav, immortality or incorruption — 
 indicating, not anything properly distinct from the life, but 
 the imperishable and incorruptible nature of this life (as is 
 done also in i Pet. i. 4). Finally, while the manifestation of 
 God's grace, as destroying death and exhibiting life and 
 immortality, took place in Christ, it is also associated with 
 the gospel — is spoken of as in a manner done through this, 
 because by the gospel the certain knowledge of it is com- 
 municated to men ; and instrumentally, everything depends 
 on the sincere beHef and faithful proclamation of this gospel 
 by the ministers of Christ. 
 
 Ver. II. The reference to the gospel, introduced so 
 casually at the close of the preceding verse, is taken by 
 the apostle as a link to introduce what follows respecting 
 his office, and what it called him to suffer, as well as to do, 
 for the sake of Christ : for which I 7vas appointed a herald 
 and apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles. The same descrip- 
 tion exactly that was given of his office in the first epistle, 
 chap. ii. 7. What follows, however, is different, having 
 respect to the sufferings associated with the calling, as for- 
 merly it stood connected with his authority to prescribe 
 and rule in church affairs. 
 
 Ver. 12. For 7vhich cause also I suffer these things : the 
 things, namely, alluded to in ver. 8 — his persecutions, im- 
 prisonment, and sufferings. But I am not ashamed; for I 
 know whom I have trusted^ and am persuaded that He is 
 able to keep my deposit against that day. The chief ques- 
 tion here is. What is to be understood by my deposit — r^v 
 TrapaOrjKTjv [xov ? Is it what the apostle had committed to 
 God, or what God had committed to him? Having just 
 expressed his trust, and his assurance that this, whatever 
 it might be, God was able to guard or keep {(fivXdiaL), one 
 most naturally thinks of it as something which he had com- 
 mitted to God. And this is the view expressed in the 
 
\ 
 
 2 TIMOTHY I. 12. 323 
 
 Authorized Version — "that which I have committed to 
 Him;" that also which many able expositors, in former , 
 and present times, have adopted, with only minor shades 
 of difference as to the thing committed (his soul — Grotius, \ 
 Bengel ; soul, body, a?td spirit — Conybeare, Alford ; his sal- 
 vation — Calvin, Huther ; his final reward^ crown of right- 
 eousness — Theophylact, Beza, Calov, Wolf). But the view 
 undoubtedly Hes open to two somewhat serious objections. 
 First, the personal pronoun connected with the word — my 
 deposit — seems rather to connect its possession with Paul 
 than with God ; it was his as contradistinguished from 
 another's, and his in connection with the cause for which 
 he was suffering. Then, the word as used presently after, 
 ver. 14, and in i Tim. vi. 20 (the only other passages 
 where it occurs), expresses what is committed by God to a 
 person, and for which he is answerable to God. And there 
 is force, it must be allowed, in the question of De Wette : 
 " How could a writer use the same word so shortly after- 
 wards [or before], in a different sense, without giving some 
 indication of the difference?" Considering, also, that the 
 matter has respect to a peculiar Greek mode of expression, 
 there is some weight to be attached to the circumstance 
 that this is the sense which all the Greek expositors seemed 
 to regard as the natural and patent one, though they dif- 
 fered as to what precisely should be understood by it. 
 According to Theodoret, the deposit was "the spirit of 
 grace which God had given to the apostle." What was the 
 deposit ? asks Chrysostom ; and answers it by saying, 
 " Faith, preaching." But he hesitates, and gives, as another 
 possible answer, the faithful : and these, either as com- 
 mitted by God to the apostle, or by the apostle to God. 
 Theophylact, as usual, adopts all Chrysostom's, and adds 
 another also from himself, — namely, the future recompense : 
 for "whosoever has done anything that is good lays it up 
 with God, that he may in due season be crowned for it." 
 
324 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 There is obviously a good deal of guess work in several 
 of these explanations ; in themselves fanciful, they are also 
 little suited to the connection. On the whole, however, 
 the weight of probability, in a linguistic point of view, 
 seems plainly to favour the opinion which regards the 
 deposit as something entrusted to the apostle. Then, 
 looking at the connection, the same impression forces itself 
 upon us. For it will be observed that the apostle is here 
 accounting for the fact, that though now in the extremity 
 of peril and suffering for his apostolic calling and his mis- 
 sionary labours, he was not ashamed. Had he yielded to 
 the sense of shame, what would have happened ? He 
 would have renounced his connection with the gospel of 
 Christ as a thing unworthy of him — too weak to stand in 
 the hour of trial. But when he thought of Him who had 
 sent him on such a warfare, and had put him in trust with 
 so precious a treasure, he felt there was no room for 
 shame, and scorned the temporizing policy which shame 
 would dictate. The all-powerful Guardian and Protector 
 in whom he confided, and who had borne him through so 
 many troubles in the past, would assuredly uphold him 
 still, and enable him to preserve his calling, with all its 
 sacred prerogatives and gifts, unimpaired to the end. So 
 that in the. great day of account, nothing properly belong- 
 ing to ,it should be found wanting — nothing forfeited or 
 losti^ 
 
 This I take to be the most natural explanation of the 
 passage, and the train of thought which it embodies. The 
 attempt of Alford to vindicate the other view has too arti- 
 ficial an appearance, and overlooks, as it seems to me, the 
 more important points, on which the determination of the 
 
 ^ It might be added, in proof of the naturalness of the interpretation 
 which identifies the deposit with the apostoHc calling of Paul, that he 
 often elsewhere speaks of being pict in trust with the gospel : I Tim. 
 i. II ; Tit. i. 3; Gal. ii. 7, etc. 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 13. 325 
 
 question must turn. The day referred to in so emphatic 
 a manner, is undoubtedly the day of the Lord's appearing 
 for judgment. But ets eKeivrjv ttjv rjixepav is not //;////, uj> to 
 that day, but for, or, as in the Authorized Version, against 
 it, in view of its proceedings. 
 
 Ver. 13. Have (or possess) the patter7i of sound words, 
 7vhich thou heardest of me in faith and love which are in 
 Christ Jesus. The term v-Korv-Kixio-i^ occurs only here and 
 in I Tim. i. 16; nor does it mean more than pattern or 
 exemplar, only this in the more active or vital sense : "a 
 living expression of things (as Calvin puts it), as if they 
 were visibly presented to the eye.'^ The verb with which 
 it is connected, 9(e, has been taken by many commentators, 
 also in the Authorized Version, as substantially equivalent 
 to /caTe;)(e, hold fast. But this is untenable. The examples 
 appealed to do not bear out the interpretation : in several 
 of them the meaning may fairly enough be expressed by 
 hold, but this only in the sense of having as a possession ; 
 so, for instance, at i Tim. i. 19, we can indifferently render 
 ''''having''^ or '''' holdiiig i2i\\\\ and a good conscience," and at 
 chap. iii. 9, " having " or " holding the mystery of the faith 
 in a pure conscience." The verb in each case denotes 
 nothing more than an actual personal possessing. Abiding, 
 then, by this only allowable sense, what is to be understood 
 by the exhortation to Timothy, that he should possess the 
 fresh pattern of sound words, which he had heard from the 
 apostle? Many would take it, with Calvin and Beza, of 
 " that form and method of teaching " which he had learned 
 from Paul ; and others, somewhat more definitely, of an 
 outline or written sketch, which the apostle had furnished 
 him withal (Herder, Schrader, De Wette). Alford objects to 
 this as in one respect too specific (reading vTroTVTrwa-tv as if 
 it were ttjv vttotvtt.), and in another too general — away from 
 any immediate connection with the present discourse. He 
 would therefore render, " Have (take) an example of (the) 
 
326 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 healthy words which thou heardest of me ; " and he would 
 regard it as pointing to the declaration just uttered by the 
 apostle in the immediately preceding verse : q.d,^ Take 
 these as a specimen or example of the sound words which 
 thou hast so often heard from me. But this also is an ex- 
 planation which has an artificial aspect, and requires too 
 much to be supplied. Had the apostle meant precisely 
 what it ascribes to him, we should have expected him to 
 employ language that pointed more explicitly to the pre- 
 ceding declaration ; nor is Ixe, with such a rendering, 
 exactly in its place, as is clear from the virtual displacing 
 of have in the translation by the bracketed take. There 
 is certainly no need for excluding the declaration in ques- 
 tion from the sound or healthy words spoken of by the 
 apostle ; and it is quite probable that the exhortation of 
 this verse was suggested by the healthful utterance of faith 
 and practice therein contained. But the gefieral form of the 
 exhortation, and the reference at the close of it to things 
 formerly heard by Timothy from the lips of the apostle, 
 forbid our giving it so limited an application. 
 
 Perhaps the main scope and spirit of the exhortation 
 could not be more happily expressed than has been done in 
 the following comment of Chrysostom's : " What is it that 
 he says ? I have, as it were, after the manner of painters, 
 impressed an image of virtue on thee, and of all the things 
 which are pleasing to God, as a certain rule and archetype 
 and declaration which I have let down into thy soul. These 
 things, therefore, possess ; and if thou shouldst have to give 
 counsel respecting faith, or love, or self-control, take thence 
 your exemplars : you shall have no need to seek a pattern 
 from others, having all these provided to your hand." The 
 apostle thus expresses the wish that Timothy should retain, 
 for his own safety against error and backsliding, the many 
 things he had heard from the apostle as the kind of living 
 type and embodiment of whatever was healthful in the life 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 14, 15. 327 
 
 of faith — should remember it, and keep it beside him, Hke 
 a faithful monitor and guide. Not, however, that he should 
 do this in a mechanical and formal manner — out of regard 
 merely to the authority from which he had derived it — but 
 in the spirit of a true disciple, as one dwelling in faith and 
 love that are in Christ Jesus: in these, that is, as the 
 spiritual element, or frame of mind, in which the pattern 
 of things exhibited to him should be remembered and 
 applied. He must with a kindred spirit appropriate them, 
 and endeavour to carry out the high moral ends for which 
 they were given. 
 
 Ver. 14. Very naturally and fitly coming after this exhor- 
 tation, rightly understood, is the charge in this verse : the 
 goodly deposit keep through the Holy Spirit that dwelleth in 
 lis. The goodly deposit, or good thing entrusted to him, 
 is just the scheme of divine doctrine and obligation, which 
 he had received in trust as a believer and an evangeUst, 
 and the living type of which had formed itself in his heart 
 from the apostolic words he had so often listened to. He 
 is called to keep or guard this {<^v\a.^Qv) ; yet not as in his 
 own strength and wisdom, but through the indwelling of the 
 Holy Spirit. So that there is no inconsistence between 
 what is thus charged on Timothy respecting his deposit, 
 and y/hat the apostle represented himself as doing in regard 
 to his own — trusting in the faithfulness and power of God 
 to keep it. In both cases alike the effective guardianship 
 was of God — the assurance of a safe and triumphant issue 
 stood in their personal relation to Him ; but God's keeping, 
 in their case as in all others, had man's for its necessary 
 counterpart — through this alone could it be justly expected 
 to realize itself. 
 
 Ver, 15. A few sad notices are now introduced of persons 
 who had failed to do toward the suffering cause of Christ 
 in the apostle what he had been earnestly pressing upon 
 Timothy. Thou k?iowest that all who are in Asia turned 
 
328 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 away fr 0711 me. Who these might be we cannot tell, except 
 as regards the two mdividuals specially mentioned, of whom 
 is Phygellns and Hermogenes ; nor of these do we know 
 anything more than the names, for no other notice exists 
 regarding them. But the " all in Asia" can only refer to 
 some definite number in that region — the Roman province 
 which bore the name of Asia — with whom the apostle had, 
 in his hour of trial, some sort of recognised connection. 
 As Timothy knew, at least, the general circumstances 
 referred to, the apostle naturally left a good deal to be 
 supplied. He does not even say where the conduct he felt 
 so painfully was exhibited ; but the natural supposition is, 
 it was at Rome, and in connection with the accusation 
 brought against him, or the trial and imprisonment to 
 which it led. In this emergency those Asiatics (with one 
 noble exception presently mentioned) turned away from 
 him., oLTrea-Tpac^ijcrav — not " are turned away," as if they had 
 gone into settled alienation and apostasy — for it refers to 
 a specific act of unkindness toward the apostle ; yet not, 
 perhaps, so marked as that implied in the translation of 
 Alford — they repudiated him ; for the verb does not strictly 
 import more than to stand aloof: when they should have 
 showed friendship, they ignored him. Even this was bad 
 enough, and betrayed a culpable lack of sympathy with 
 one who had done so much for them, and a kind of half- 
 heartedness to the cause of which he was the peculiar 
 representative. 
 
 Vers. 16, 17. There was, however, a noble exception to this 
 faint-hearted procedure : The Lord give mercy to the house 
 of Onesiphorus, because he ofttimes refreshed me, and was 
 not ashamed of my chain — that, namely, which bound him 
 as a felon to the soldier who guarded him. It implies 
 that others were ashamed, and, shrinking from the igno- 
 minious treatment which his unflinching zeal had brought 
 on him, turned away. The more gratifying must have been 
 
2 TIMOTHY I. 1 8. 329 
 
 the conduct of Onesiphorus, whose Christian principle and 
 fellow-feeUng carried him above the discouragements and 
 perils of the time, and, regardless of consequences, enPcbled 
 him to do the part of a genuine comforter. He ofttbnes 
 did it, says the apostle — even after the chain had turned to 
 imprisonnient in the capital ; for it is added, whe7i he had 
 arrived m Rome (yei/o/xei/os kv 'FM/Jir}, not merely was there, 
 but had come to the city, or arrived in it), he sought me 
 out with greater diligence^ and found me. The expression is 
 striking, as showing that what led others to turn away from 
 the apostle was the very thing which prompted the friendly 
 search and beneficent ministrations of Onesiphorus. " The 
 comparative [in o-TronSatorepov] does not imply any contrast 
 between Onesiphorus and others, nor with the diligence 
 that might have been expected, but refers to the increased 
 dihgence with which Onesiphorus sought out the apostle 
 when he knew that he was in captivity. He would have 
 sought him out o-7roi;8atoj? in any case ; now he sought for 
 him o-TTOvSatorepov " (Ellicott). 
 
 Ver. 18. May the Lord grant to him that he may find 
 mercy from the Lord in that day. The repetition of Lord 
 is peculiar — the Lord grant that he may find from the Lord ! 
 — but is certainly not to be explained, with some, both in 
 earlier and later times, as having respect in the first case 
 to the Father, and in the second to the Son as the Judge. 
 If such a distinction had been intended to be made, we 
 may be sure it would have been more broadly marked. 
 We may explain it (with Huther, Alford), by regarding the 
 first expression, " May the Lord grant " (8^77 6 Ki^pto?), as so 
 common a formula in such brief requests to Heaven, that 
 the repetition in the second part was not noticed. But 
 Calvin's seems preferable: " It might be that the vehemence 
 of affection moved Paul to an unnecessary repetition, as is 
 wont to happen." And he properly adds : " This prayer 
 teaches us how much greater a reward shall await those 
 
330 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 who, without the hope of any earthly recompense, have done 
 offices of kindness to the saints, than if they had received a 
 present reward from the hand of men." It is noticeable, 
 also, as he still further remarks, that mercy is the thing 
 prayed for, doubtless because the apostle had respect to 
 the Lord's own exposition of the law of recompense : 
 " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy ;" 
 and again, " Blessed . . . because I was sick and in prison, 
 and ye visited me." The circumstance that St. Paul asks 
 simply a future blessing for Onesiphorus — mercy of the 
 Lord in that day, the day when all things shall come into 
 judgment — coupled with the other circumstance, that when 
 speaking of the present he twice over names merely the 
 household of Onesiphorus (ver. i6, iv. 19), has given rise to 
 the inference that Onesiphorus must have already ceased 
 to live. The inference may certainly be regarded as pro- 
 bable, though we can scarcely deem it altogether conclusive. 
 For, possibly, such special mention was made of the house- 
 hold, because Timothy was at the time in their neighbour- 
 hood, and the father of the household may have been known 
 to be still absent from them. But the matter is of Httle 
 moment. More important is the circumstance which the 
 apostle adds respecting this good man, to show that what 
 he did at Rome was no isolated thing, but a following out 
 of the course he was wont to pursue at home : And how 
 many things he miiiistered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well 
 — pikTiov — literally, better — namely, than I can tell you, or 
 than needs to be told. In these Ephesian ministrations 
 the apostle doubtless shared ; but as they are mentioned 
 quite generally, they may justly be regarded as embracing 
 the Christian community there, and its common interests. 
 The A.V. has " ministered unto me,'^ and in the later copies 
 of the Vulgate 7nihi is inserted, but the earlier and better 
 copies want it ; and there is nothing corresponding to it in 
 the Greek. 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. I. 331 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Ver. I. Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace 
 that is in Christ Jesus. This is the practical result which 
 the preceding statements were intended to produce in the 
 mind of Timothy. The therefore, which indicates the con- 
 nection, points back mainly to the apostle himself, and 
 subordinately to his sympathizing friend Onesiphorus, who 
 had shown themselves to be possessed of a moral power 
 that was adequate to the greatest trials and emergencies of 
 life. And this power the apostle had also been careful to 
 represent as derived solely from the grace of a redeeming 
 God. Therefore, when calling upon his child Timothy to 
 follow in the same path of suffering and obedience, his 
 primary exhortation is as to the source of strength : Be 
 strejigthened — evSwa/xov — not simply "be strong," for the 
 verb in the passive signifies to become strong, to get 
 strength (comp. Rom. iv. 20, Eph. vi. 10) ; and this in the 
 grace that is in Christ Jesus — that is, in the supply of the 
 Spirit of life, which is ever ready to be given to those who 
 are savingly united to Him. The being in Christ by a child- 
 like faith is the sphere in which the gift of grace is to be 
 found. But the injunction to be strengthened therein, im- 
 plies that, in order to be realized, it must be actively laid 
 hold of by the believer. The grace that is provided to sus- 
 tain him and carry him forward in the life of faith, is co- 
 operating grace; and at every step it requires his willing 
 respondency and implicit obedience. This is what was 
 seen so nobly exemplified in the case of Abraham (Rom. 
 iv. 18-22), and is expHcitly enjoined upon all believers 
 (Phil. ii. 12, 13). So that the "more grace" which is said 
 to be given to believers (J as. iv. 6), is always given in pro- 
 portion as they feel their need of more, and are prepared to 
 receive and use it. 
 
33^ THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Ver. 2. A direction is now given how best to secure the 
 transmission of the testimony he was called to bear for 
 Christ, and its faithful maintenance in the church : and the 
 things which thou hast heard from me with many imtnesses, 
 these conwiit to faithful men, such as shall be able to teach 
 others also. The things that had been heard are undoubtedly 
 the same as those referred to in chap. i. 13, and are no more 
 in the one case than in the other to be confined to what was 
 uttered on some particular occasion. It is the whole scheme 
 of doctrine and duty as taught by the apostle, and which 
 Timothy had enjoyed numberless opportunities of listening 
 to, that is here meant ; not simply, as many commentators 
 suppose, what was delivered of it at Timothy's ordination. 
 This were an unwarranted abridgment, and is no way 
 countenanced, but the reverse, by the mention of many 
 witnesses in connection with the things delivered — hih. 
 -TToXXC^v fxapTvpo)v, literally, through these ; but as at 2 Cor. 
 ii. 4, where the apostle speaks of writing through many 
 tears, meaning with tears accompanying and giving a specific 
 impress to his work, so here the " through many witnesses " 
 must signify with them, their presence forming a clear indi- 
 cation of the character of the things spoken and heard. 
 These were no private communications, no secret doctrine 
 delivered in a corner, as if adapted only to the wants of a 
 select few, or intended to minister merely to personal grati- 
 fication. They were the great things which concern the 
 salvation of men and the glory of Godj therefore things 
 which all ears should hear, and which it was important to 
 have committed in every particular church to faithful men 
 (TTio-Tots avOpo)7rois, men worthy of such a trust), in order 
 that these might testify aright concerning them, and in 
 turn find others who should receive and deliver the testi- 
 mony to the generation following. This is the true apostoHc 
 succession ; the kernel lies here, in the maintenance from 
 age to age of the same grand fundamental principles of 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 3, 4. S33 
 
 faith and practice. External organizations are but the shell 
 which may more or less fitly serve to guard and perpetuate 
 the treasure ', and it is by the possession of this, the kernel, 
 or gospel treasure, that the worth of the other is to be tried, 
 not that other which is to determine or modify it. Both 
 the doctriiia arcani (the secret traditionary doctrine) of the 
 Catholic's, and the so-called impressed character and in- 
 herent virtue of a ministerial sacerdotalism in the Christian 
 church, are here virtually struck at the root. 
 
 Ver. 3. Suffer hardship with me (crvyKaKOTrdOrjcrov, the 
 reading of 5;, A, C, D, F at first hand, is undoubtedly the 
 correct text, not av ovv KaKOTrdOrjo-ov of the received text), 
 or "take thy share in suffering" (Conybeare), intimating 
 that the disciple in this must not expect to be above his 
 master : if he would do his work faithfully, he must lay his 
 account to experiences of trouble. As a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ. This is the first of a series of illustrative 
 examples showing the necessity, for those who in any de- 
 partment would do effective service, of being in habitual 
 readiness to endure hardship. Every believer, and pre- 
 eminently the believer who is also a minister of the gospel, 
 is a soldier of Jesus Christ, enhsted under Him as the 
 Captain of salvation, to contend against the powers of evil ; 
 therefore hardship of some sort is inevitable (2 Cor. x. 3 ; 
 Eph. vi. II sq.). 
 
 Ver. 4. No o?ie serving as a soldier (Scholfield, Hints) en- 
 tangles himself (taking the verb e/xTrXeKerat as in the middle) 
 /;/ the businesses of life — that is, in the ordinary affairs and 
 occupations of a worldly calling, such as of the forum 
 or the market-place — in oi'der that he may please him who 
 has called him to be a soldier — literally, who enrolled him 
 as a soldier, for such is the exact import of the verb o-rpa- 
 ToAoyctv, milites cons crib er e ; but, with a very natural exten- 
 sion of the meaning, also to call or choose one so to serve. 
 The fact stated is notorious : no officer engaged in earnest 
 
334 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 warfare would hire soldiers who did not engage to separate 
 themselves for the special service, so as to be ready at any 
 moment to do his commands. A similar disentanglement 
 is needful to the Christian warrior from everything that 
 might keep him at a distance from his Divine Master, or 
 impede him in the service he is called to render. But only 
 thus far ; not that he must absolutely withdraw from all em- 
 ployments of a secular kind. The great mass of believers 
 must serve Christ in these ; and even for the Christian 
 pastor, his specific relation to them must depend, to some 
 extent, on circumstances. Ordinarily he should be free 
 from any business of a worldly kind ; but like Paul himself, 
 with his tent-making, some work of that description may 
 even form a part of his soldier-service to Christ. 
 
 Ver. 5. But (Se, introducing a fresh illustration — Winer, 
 ^^' § 53? 7) <^; not only so, but there is this further case) if 
 any one also strive in the games — another good rendering of 
 Scholfield's, and decidedly preferable to that of the Autho- 
 rized Version, "if a man strive for the masteries," which is 
 too general, and scarcely suggests to the mere English 
 reader the specific kind of striving referred to. It is im- 
 possible, except by such a circumlocution, to give the force 
 of the Greek oBXr^. The Vulgate also had to take the same 
 course — cei^at in agone. He is not crowned unless he have 
 striven lawfully — adhering with whatever self-sacrifice to 
 the prescribed rules. This alone entitles him, even if his 
 striving have been such as to place him in the foremost 
 rank, to obtain the crown of victory. The inference is 
 plain : if so in the lower sphere, and with respect to a 
 perishable distinction, how much more in regard to the great 
 struggle between righteousness and sin, light and darkness 
 in ourselves and in the world, which carries with it issues 
 of eternal moment ! 
 
 Ver. 6. The toiling (KOTrtcovra, hard-working) husbandman 
 must first partake of the fruits^ or, must be first in partaking 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 6. 335 
 
 of them ; his very character as a man of hard labour gives 
 him in this respect a precedence and superiority over 
 others : he first partakes, partakes even while he works, 
 somewhat like the ox who might eat while in the act of 
 treading the corn (i Tim. v. i8). So, the apostle means to 
 say, it is in the Lord's husbandry. There is here also a 
 compensation ; for they who grudge not the hardship, the 
 present sacrifice involved in doing God's work, have a 
 blessing which others know not — they reap, in a measure, 
 while they labour, having an immediate satisfaction in the 
 fruits which they have been enabled to gather. Such ap- 
 pears to be the precise import of the apostle's statement ; 
 and it is one quite suited to the connection, though we 
 would rather, perhaps, have expected him to put it some- 
 what differently, so as to express the idea that the husband- 
 man must first labour if he is to partake of the fruits, or 
 labour before he can do so. This is, indeed, what many 
 commentators have actually extracted from his words, with 
 so exact a scholar as Winer to countenance the exposition 
 as grammatically tenable {Gr. § 6i, 5,/). But it is without 
 support from any properly parallel passages, and manifestly 
 does violence to the natural order and meaning of the words. 
 The object of the apostle in using the illustration was 
 not, seemingly, to mark the distinction between the active 
 and the idle husbandman : he assumes that Timothy would 
 not be exactly idle, that he would be a worker in the Lord's 
 vineyard ; but he would have him to be a worker in the 
 stricter sense, like the husbandman who labours hard, who 
 toils at his employment, and so reaps the first and fullest 
 recompense. This is so clearly the preferable sense of the 
 passage, that it is needless to recount other interpretations, 
 and equally needless to go into the various applications 
 which have been made of it by the Fathers and others in 
 later times. Some of these are fanciful enough. We must 
 keep hold of the great principle which the statement is 
 
^;^6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 brought to establish — f/iaf the most willmg a7id hard labourer 
 is the most speedily a?id richly blessed. This holds good in 
 the spiritual as in the natural sphere ; and only those things 
 which can be called real exemplifications of such a principle 
 are fair applications of the apostle's similitude. 
 
 Ver. 7. U?idersta7id what 1 say — so the verb (i/oci) pro- 
 perly means, Lat. ijitellige — not simply consider, or observe ; 
 and it was said with reference to the figurative language 
 employed in the immediately preceding verses. " For since 
 it was a parabolical mode of speech, it was necessary that 
 he (Timothy) should be stirred up to search into the mean- 
 ing of the hidden sense" (Theodoret). And he couples 
 with the exhortation an expression of confidence that the 
 requisite assistance would be given from above : for the 
 Lord will give thee discernment in all things. The correct 
 reading seems to be Sojo-ct, not 8^77, having the support of 
 K, A, C, D, F, with the Latin and Cop. versions ; and the 
 thing which the apostle expresses his confidence would be 
 given to Timothy is o-wco-tv Iv 7ra<Tiv, a complete tmderstand- 
 hig in all things — such an exact and comprehensive knowing 
 as " grasps the connection, with its grounds and conse- 
 quences" (Beck) — or a clear and intelligent discernment. 
 Combining thus personal application with the assurance of 
 divine grace, the apostle virtually said to Timothy, " Seek, 
 and ye shall find." 
 
 Ver. 8. Remember Jesus Christ as havi7ig been raised from 
 the dead, of the seed of David^ according to my gospel. This 
 I take to be the exact rendering of the original — not 
 "remember that Jesus Christ has been raised" — with the 
 Vulg. {Jeswn Christum resurrexisse), Authorized Version, 
 and, among others, Alford, who tries to distinguish between 
 the use of an accusative after fjLvrjfxoveve, and a genitive, as 
 if in the former case it was a fact that was to be borne in 
 mind, rather than an object or a person. Any one who 
 will compare the following examples, in the two first of 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 8. 337 
 
 which the object of the verb is in the genitive, and the 
 other two in the accusative (Luke xvii. 32 ; John xvi. 21 ; 
 Matt. xvi. 9 ; i Thess. ii. 9), may see that the alleged dis- 
 tinction is entirely fanciful. When in the first of those 
 passages our Lord called His disciples to remember Lot's 
 wife, He surely meant Lot's wife as embodying a memor- 
 able fact, not less than when in the third of them He called 
 His disciples to remember the five loaves of the five 
 thousand ; and so with the others. The verb seems to 
 have been indifferently coupled with a genitive or an accu- 
 sative of the object — in classical writers more frequently 
 with the accusative, in the New Testament more frequently 
 with the genitive ; but with whichever case, the import is 
 much the same — namely, to remember or bear in mind the 
 person or object expressed in the noun that follows. So 
 here it is. Remember Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ in a 
 specific aspect, as " having been raised from the dead," 
 while still " of the seed of David." Why should an injunc- 
 tion have been laid on Timothy to keep so specially in 
 remembrance the fact of a risen Saviour, and a Saviour 
 sprung from the seed of David? We are left to conjec- 
 ture ; but it was partly, no doubt — perhaps we should say 
 primarily — by way of encouragement : for, having his eye 
 ever fixed on one so sprung and so glorified, he had in a 
 manner before him the fulfilment of all promise, and the 
 pledge of all just hope and expectation. Why should he 
 therefore faint under his duty of service, or quail before the 
 assaults of the persecutor ? He knew that his Redeemer, 
 the destined Head of God's chosen heritage, lived after 
 having triumphed over sin and death, and was set down at 
 the right hand of the Majesty on High. But in the same 
 great facts, grasped by a childhke and reliant faith, he 
 should have a secure position against, the more subtle 
 dangers which had begun to arise from that Gnostic spirit 
 which, in its disparagement of flesh, at once ignored the 
 
 Y 
 
;^^S THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 natural descent of Christ, and made void the truth of His 
 literal resurrection. And this also may have been in the 
 view of the apostle, though there seems no reason for sup- 
 posing, with some, that it was the only consideration to 
 which he had respect in introducing the subject; nor, 
 looking to the connection, even the more prominent one. 
 The more immediate point is, how to endure hardship, to 
 brave persecution, for the truth of Christ ; and, surely, 
 holding fast by Christ's royal lineage, which was essential 
 to His being the Messiah promised to the fathers, and by 
 His resurrection from the dead, which was equally essential 
 to His right to reign over the house of God, could not but 
 form the best preparation, as it was indeed the indispensable 
 condition, of stedfastness. 
 
 Ver. 9. The truths respecting Christ, which Timothy in 
 the preceding verse was exhorted to bear in mind, were 
 spoken of in connection with St. Paul's gospel — the gospel 
 which had been committed to him (i Tim. i. 11) ; he now 
 adds, in which (that is, the gospel, as his appointed sphere 
 of action) / suffer hardship up to bonds as a malefactor. 
 Corresponding phrases are, Phil. ii. 8, /u-ex/at Oavarov, up to 
 death ; Heb. xii. 4, /xcxpts at/xaro?, up to blood ; so in the 
 Vulg., us^ue ad vincula. But (though as to my personal 
 condition I am in chains) the word of God is not bound : 
 this still ran, and was glorified. It did so partly, indeed, 
 through the apostle himself testifying of it, even in his 
 bonds, before rulers and kings, so that his gospel as well 
 as his bonds came to be known in Caesar's household 
 (Phil. i. 13, iv. 22), and in his letters sounding it forth far 
 and wide ; but partly also through the instrumentality of 
 others who gave themselves to the same blessed work, and 
 some of whom, he intimates, waxed bold through his bonds to 
 speak more abundantly the word of God (Phil. i. 14). Thus, 
 when an arrest is laid on one, freedom and boldness are given 
 to others to spread abroad the good seed of the kingdom. 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. lO. 
 
 339 
 
 Ver. lo. For this reaso?i I e?idure all thi?igs for the sake of 
 the elect, i7i order that they also may obtain the salvation that is 
 in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The connection between 
 this and the preceding cannot be taken so close, as with 
 Bengel, " Because through my chains the gospel runs, 
 therefore I endure." He, no doubt, has in view the dif- 
 fusion of the word, because it was in connection with that 
 his sufferings had come upon him ; but in the present pas- 
 sage that circumstance rather lies in the background, recog- 
 nised and felt, yet not distinctly exhibited; for he has a 
 more special point which he wishes to bring into notice in 
 relation to the preaching or diffusion of the word, viz. the 
 salvation of God's elect. This was the aim of his preaching, 
 yet not of his preaching merely, but also of his sufferings ; 
 for these, too, had an important bearing on the contem- 
 plated issue. We must therefore connect the 8ta tovto at 
 the commencement with what follows, as is usual in similar 
 constructions, where these words stand related to a suc- 
 ceeding ii/a, as at I Tim. i. 1 6, " For this reason I obtained 
 mercy, that in me first," etc. (Sta tovto rjXcqOyjv, tva h/ i/xol 
 TrpwTO)), and so again at Philem. 15. The explanation of 
 Chrysostom is quite to the point : " For what cause do I 
 suffer these things ? For the benefit of others, that they 
 may obtain eternal life. What, then, do you promise? He 
 did not say simply, for the sake of some persons, but for 
 the sake of the elect. If God chose them, we ought to 
 suffer all things for them, in order that they also may obtain 
 salvation. When he says, that they also, he means to say, 
 as also we; for God chose us also ; and as for us God 
 suffered, so also we for them." Under the name of the 
 elect the apostle may certainly be regarded as having pri- 
 marily in view those who belonged to that number in his 
 own day ; for them he was called more immediately to 
 think and act, yet by no means exclusively. His apostolic 
 work, as well in suffering as in preaching and writing, he 
 
340 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 knew well was for all countries and for all time ; and the 
 elect of this present age are in many ways reaping the 
 benefit of his self-denying and devoted labours. Nor is it 
 unimportant to mark how he heightens the good he sought 
 for them — not their salvation merely, but the salvation that 
 is in Christ Jesus, and that with eternal glory : so that if 
 their salvation has to be made good through trial and 
 suffering, its connection with Christ, and with the mass of 
 glory laid up with Him in eternity, justifies, and unspeak- 
 ably more than justifies, the sacrifice. So in i Pet. v. lo 
 the present suffering condition of believers generally is, in 
 Hke manner, connected with their call to God's eternal glory. 
 Vers. 11-13. Faithful is the saying, For if we died with 
 Him, we shall also live with Him. Does the saying point 
 to what precedes, or to what follows ? Commentators are 
 divided on the question ; and as nothing very decisive can 
 be urged for the determination either way, they are still 
 likely to be so. Certainly, as Ellicott contends, and 
 Huther also admits (though he adopts the forward refer- 
 ence), the for (yap) w^hich follows the proverbial saying 
 seems to point backwards, and to introduce a confirmatory 
 statement of what had been uttered immediately before ; 
 and this is the view taken by all the ancient Greek com- 
 mentators. But there is no need for pressing the matter 
 closely either way, as it is substantially the same line of 
 thought that is indicated in both the preceding and the fol- 
 lowing context — only in the former more individually, in 
 the latter more generally. Whether viewed with respect to 
 Paul himself and his fellow-labourers in the gospel, or with 
 respect to those who in any place or time would lead the 
 Christian life, one must be prepared to look for the same 
 kind of mixed experience — temporal evil followed by a 
 glorious compensation ; hardship and suffering as the con- 
 dition of ultimate victory ; death even as the pathway to 
 life, he^•er-ending and full of glory. The truth of the 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. II-I3. 341 
 
 gospel in this respect is a faithful saying : it holds good 
 every way ; the apostle himself was in the course of reaHz- 
 ing it in his own experience, with the full consent and 
 approval of his own mind. So he had said just before ; 
 and now he makes a quite general and comprehensive 
 application of it : For if we died with Him (namely, when 
 by a living faith we embraced Christ as our Saviour, enter- 
 ing into the fellowship of His sufferings and death), we 
 shall also live with Him, sharing at last in His resurrection- 
 power and blessedness of life, as spiritually we do in a 
 measure now. If we e?idure (viroixevofjLev, patiently undergo 
 trial and hardship, — namely, 7i>ith Him, or in His cause 
 and service), we shall also reign with Him: as our Lord 
 Himself repeatedly testified (Matt. xvi. 24-27, xix. 28, 29; 
 Luke xxii. 28-30), and as is stated also in other passages 
 (Rom. v. 17, vi. 8, viii. 10, 11, 17; Col. iii. 3, 4; Rev. 
 iii. 21). If we shall deny (Him), — put contingently, as a 
 thing that might possibly happen in the future, — He also will 
 deny us; a virtual repetition of our Lord's solemn words : 
 " Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also 
 deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. x. 2,2>)' 
 Finally, if we are unbelieving, — aTTLcrrovixev, not merely prove 
 unfaithful in times of trial, shrink from confessing what we 
 inwardly feel to be the truth concerning Him, but, rejecting 
 or quitting our hold of the truth, pass over entirely into the 
 region of unbelief, — if we should thus estrange ourselves 
 from the common ground of faith, still He abides faithful — 
 remaining perpetually true to His declarations and promises, 
 whether we accredit them or not. And the reason follows : 
 For^ He cannot dejiy Hi?nself This implies that the word 
 given as the ground of our faith in Scripture is the ex- 
 pression of His own essential nature; it reveals what, as 
 possessed of that nature, He is in His relation to us, what 
 
 1 The received text omits yap, but it is found in the best copies, 
 s, A, C, D, F, L, and is admitted by all the best critics. 
 
342 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 He purposes toward us, or has done in the execution of 
 His purposes. To disown this, therefore, were to deny 
 Himself; and that it is impossible He should ever do, 
 seeing He is the unchangeable Jehovah (Mai. iii. 6) ; and 
 so, His word, like Himself, "liveth and abideth for ever.''^ 
 
 \/ Ver. 14. There follow now a series of exhortations to 
 Timothy, founded upon the important statements contained 
 in the preceding verses, and bearing directly on the manner 
 in which he should ply the work of the ministry, and with- 
 stand the errors which were already beginning to prevail 
 in the church. Put them in mind of these things (yTroixLfxvrja-Kc, 
 sup. avTov?, which in a similar exhortation at Tit. iii. i is 
 expressed). The things meant were, no doubt, those men- 
 tioned immediately before. Timothy was first rightly to 
 apprehend and grasp them for himself, and then act as a 
 faithful monitor in enforcing them upon others. Solenmly 
 charging them (8tajaa/oTvpo/>tevo9, the 81a, intensifying the mean- 
 ing of the verb, and the verb, though primarily signifying to 
 bear witness or testify, evidently meaning, in such a connec- 
 tion as this, to deliver a protest or charge, i Tim. v. 21) 
 , before God not to wrangle about words ^ — a practice already 
 
 V mentioned in i Tim. vi. 4, and warned against as character- 
 istic of a class of persons who were unsound at the very core, 
 and of itself fitted to produce much mischief. So here it is 
 declared to be profitable for nothifig (xp-^o-ifjiov having for its 
 object Aoyo/x,axetv, the art or practice of mere word-fighting) ; 
 no one is in a moral respect the better for it. And worse 
 than that, it is zipon the subversion of them that hear : an 
 elliptical clause, but plainly meaning that the practice tends 
 to this melancholy result. And the reason is obvious ; it 
 serves to beget and nourish a captious, sophistical state of 
 
 * As regards the question whether the passage vers. 11-13, from its 
 somewhat measured and rhythmical structure, was not part of some 
 Christian hymn, I would be inclined to give the same judgment as in 
 regard to i Tim. iii. 16 — which see. 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 15. 343 
 
 mind, the reverse of that babe-Hke spirit which receives the 
 sincere milk of the word, and rests with a firm trust in the 
 testimony it brings. If the parties in question were deficient 
 in this before, they were sure to depart further from it by 
 Hstening to such teaching : it would lead them entirely off 
 from the foundations.^ 
 
 Ver. 15. Give diligeme to present thyself to God approved : 
 SoKL/xov, one who can stand, or has actually stood, the test 
 appointed by God, and come forth stamped with His ap- 
 proval. The object of the exhortation was to lead Timothy, 
 in contrast to the frivolous disputes mentioned before, to 
 realize himself as a servant of God, and to guide his course 
 through the trying and perilous circumstances around him, 
 so as to be able to appear before the Divine Majesty as 
 one that had proved faithful to the trust reposed in him. 
 A workmaM not askajned : ai/ejrala-^QJvrov, in New Testament 
 Scripture found only here, and in classical Greek signifying 
 shameless^ impudent^ but used by Josephus in the sense of 
 not being askained of, or having no occasion to blush for {Ant. 
 xviii 7. I-, /aTySe Sevrepeveiv oiveTraLcrxvvTov rjyov : " nor think 
 that one should not be ashamed to be inferior to " . . . ; so 
 also in Agapetus, quoted by Wetstein), The sentiment is 
 the same as that expressed by Paul respecting himself in 
 Phil. i. 20, kv ovhevl ala-xvvOrjorofjuai, In nothing shall I be 
 ashamed — meaning that his behaviour would be such as to 
 
 1 There is some variation both in the reading and the pointing of 
 this text Instead of f/.h koyti^.ap^uv, MSS. A, C have f^ri Xoyof^a.x,^t — 
 the imperative : Do not wrangle about words ; and this forming a clause 
 by itself^ necessitates another distribution of the preceding words : Put 
 them in mind of these things, solemnly charging them before God. 
 But this is an unnatural sort of arrangement, and differs from the 
 apostle's usual practice ; for elsewhere ^ixf^i-apTvpofMt,! precedes the exhor- 
 tation to which it belongs : I Tim. v. 21 ; 2 Tim. iv. I. And though 
 the reading above noticed must have early crept in, appearing as it does 
 in the Latin versions, yet Xi>yofjba.x,uv is the text of K, D, F, K, L, and 
 is exhibited in the Syr., Coptic, and Gothic versions. 
 
344 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 afford no occasion for such a feeling. And as the more 
 special ground of this confidence, we have the still further 
 characteristic — rightly hmidling the word of t7'2ith. Here 
 again there is a word of singular occurrence in the New 
 Testament — opOorofxetv, primarily signifying to cut straight, 
 with reference, as is supposed by some, to the cutting and 
 distributing of bread (Calvin, Vitringa) ; by others, to the 
 right division of the victims in sacrifice (Beza, Mel.) ; by 
 others, to the drawing of straight furrows in ploughing 
 (Theodoret) ; but by the majority to the cutting of a line 
 of road, in which sense it occurs figuratively in Prov. 
 xi. 5, Sept. The question is, how the word may most 
 naturally be understood when applied, as it is here, to the 
 treatment of God's word ? To divide right/y, in one point 
 of view, might give an appropriate meaning, but scarcely 
 one quite suited to the connection ; for as the subject under 
 discussion is the true as opposed to the false, the serious 
 and earnest as opposed to the frivolous and unprofitable, 
 dealing with spiritual things by a minister of the gospel, 
 one does not so naturally think of the piode of distributing 
 or administering the word of truth among the hearers (a 
 matter of tact and wisdom rather than of fidelity), as of a 
 fair and conscientious or straightforward handling of the 
 word itself This, as opposed to all kinds of tortuous 
 interpretations, or by-plays of ingenuity for sinister pur- 
 poses, is pre-eminently what becomes the teacher who 
 would stand approved in the judgment of God : like a 
 sincere and honest workman, he must go right on in his 
 use of the word, maintaining it in its integrity, and apply- 
 ing it to the great spiritual ends for which it has been 
 given. This appears at once the simplest and the most 
 suitable explanation of the phrase ; it is that which sub- 
 stantially was expressed by the Vulgate, rede tractantem, 
 and is acquiesced in by Huther, Alford, and others.^ 
 
 1 Deyling has the merit of establishing the correct view in a very full 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 1 6, 17. 345 
 
 Ver. 16. Here, again, the apostle returns to the things to 
 be avoided — the corrupt practices of false teachers : But 
 profane babblings shun — irepda-Taao, sta7id aloof froin, as one 
 naturally does in respect to any object of dislike or terror. 
 It was used at Tit. iii. 9, much in the same way, with 
 reference to unprofitable questions about the law, genea- 
 logies, and such like contentions. See also at i Tim vi. 
 20, where profane babblings are mentioned as things which 
 Timothy should turn away from. Here it is added, by way 
 of strengthening the exhortation, for they will advance to 
 more of ufigodliness ; which the succeeding context shows 
 must be understood of the persons who teach the profane 
 babblings, not of the babblings themselves. The sense also 
 requires this ; for it is only the teachers of such things, of 
 whom a forward movement in the wrong direction could 
 justly be predicated. But readily enough of them : for 
 exhibiting, as they did, a relish for modes of thought and 
 discourse which could be characterized as at once empty 
 and profane, their downward progress might be reckoned on 
 as certain; the rather so, as now the great moral earnestness 
 which appeared in the true teachers of the gospel would 
 reflect unfavourably upon them, and almost inevitably drive 
 them into extravagances of a more startling and pernicious 
 kind. 
 
 Ver. 17. A7id their word will eat as a gangrene. A 
 gangrene is described by Galen as " an eating sore," or a 
 tumour in the state between inflammation and entire mor- 
 
 dissertation on the verse ; Obs. Sac. vol. iv. p. 2, c. 3. After examining 
 the other views, and stating that here, as in many other compound 
 words, we cannot adhere to the etymological sense of cutting, he adds : 
 Nam quemadmodum x.oe,ivoroi^i7v non est res novas secare, sed res novas 
 moliri, ita similiter of@oroiJt.uv est recte tractare, et ofSoTOfZiot,, tractatio 
 recte, prout decet, instituta, traducta significatione a specie ad genus. 
 Idem confirmat versio Syriaca pervetus, quae opSor. tov Xoyov transtulit 
 recte prcedicare sermofiem veritatis, hoc est, recte tractare et exponere 
 Scripturam sacram, etc. 
 
346 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tification, and tending to the latter. Though not strictly 
 synonymous with our word cancer, it might not improperly 
 be represented in popular language as a sort of cancerous 
 affection, and, like this, spreading or finding pasture {vofxrjv 
 e^et) on the contiguous parts of the body. It was therefore 
 a fitting image of the evil tendency in such false teaching to 
 diffuse itself among the people, because ministering in one 
 respect or another to the weaknesses and follies of human 
 nature. As the moral disease in the teachers themselves 
 would get worse, so their word would eat outwards, catch- 
 ing hold of others, and bringing them under its noxious 
 influence. It is a general statement, but to what extent 
 applicable then, or to any particular error arising in later 
 times, must always depend, partly on the kind of error 
 which seeks propagation, and partly in the more or less 
 congenial elements amid which it has to work. 
 ^ Ver. 18. The apostle now points to specific examples of 
 what he meant : 0/ whom is Hyme7io^us and Philetus^ men 
 who (oLTives) concerning the truth swerved (or went astray, 
 see at i Tim. i. 6), saying that the resurrection has already 
 taken place, and overthrow the faith of some. One of the 
 names mentioned here, Hymenseus, occurred in the First 
 Epistle to Timothy, chap. i. 20 ; and, as was stated there, 
 the name in both cases had respect, in all probability, to 
 the same person. In the former passage he was represented 
 as a man who had sunk into a bad moral condition — had 
 thrust from him faith and a good conscience, and so con- 
 cerning faith had made shipwreck. It is not materially 
 different to say here of him, that he had gone astray 
 respecting the truth, and did so to such an extent as to 
 overthrow the faith of some. This, of course, implies that 
 his own faith had previously suffered shipwreck — that he 
 had virtually abandoned the ground of faith, and discarded 
 the truth of God as taught by His authorized ambassadors. 
 In this apostasy Philetas is coupled with him, of whom 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. l8. 347 
 
 nothing is known except what is stated in this brief 
 notice. 
 
 The specific error charged upon the persons in question, 
 that they held the resurrection to have already taken place, 
 is no proof of Marcionite teaching, as Baur and his school 
 assert. There was no need of Marcion to account for the 
 broaching of such opinions. The First Epistle to the 
 Corinthians (chap, xv.) shows plainly enough how ready 
 the Grecian mind was to stumble at the doctrine of a literal 
 resurrection; and no wonder, since the doctrine was so 
 entirely alien to the whole spirit and tendency of the Greek 
 philosophy. TertuUian expressly affirms, that however much 
 the philosophic sects might differ on other points, they were 
 at one in denying that doctrine of the gospel {De Prcescr. 
 Hcer. § 7) ; and hence, when St. Paul, in his discourse before 
 the Athenian Areopagus, came to refer to the resurrection 
 of the dead as a fact in history, already exemplified in 
 Christ, the patience of his audience could stand it no 
 longer; the assembly broke up amid jeers and laughter, 
 as if some incredible absurdity had been uttered in their 
 hearing. This, therefore, was precisely the point in respect 
 to which it might be expected that heathen converts to the 
 gospel would be apt to stagger; and such as were of a more 
 speculative tendency, while admitting it in words, would 
 deny it in reality. Within a few years of the first planting 
 of the church at Corinth certain parties did so there, as 
 several years later others appear to have done at Ephesus. 
 In both places, very probably, the explanations fallen upon 
 were of the kind mentioned by TertuUian : some identifying 
 the resurrection with the soul's spiritual renewal by the 
 doctrine of the gospel, causing it "to burst forth from the 
 sepulchre of the old man;" while others understood it of 
 the soul's departure from the body, " the world in their 
 view being only the habitation of the dead" {De Resurr. § 
 19). The Hymengsus and Philetus here noticed must have 
 
348 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 taken somewhat of the former view, holding, as they did, 
 the resurrection to be already past. It was altogether a 
 spiritual thing in their account, a quickening merely of the 
 soul's activities to newness of life; and thus, by their excess 
 in spirituahzing, they loosened the very foundations of the 
 Christian system ; for the position they assumed involved 
 by necessary inference the denial of Christ's resurrection, 
 and the saving efficacy of His death (i Cor. xv. 12-19). 
 
 Ver. 19. Nevertheless (fxivroi, here only in Paul's writings, 
 but frequently in John's, cerfe quidem^ expressive of opposi- 
 tion to the preceding, and preparing for an announcement 
 of a contrary nature) the fiinn foundation of God stands, 
 having this seal, " The Lo7'd knoweth them that are His." 
 There can be no doubt that this is the proper mode of 
 rendering — not, as in the Authorized Version, " The foun- 
 dation of God standeth sure," which is grammatically unten- 
 able. The apostle's assertion is, that, notwithstanding the 
 existence of such cases as he had just mentioned of defection 
 from the truth and the consequent loss of salvation, there is 
 a firm or strong foundation of God which remains stedfast. 
 What, then, is the foundation ? To this a great variety of 
 answers have been given : with some it is the doctrine of 
 the resurrection, denied by the heretics of the preceding 
 verse ; with others, the word of promise, or the plighted 
 faith of God ; with others, Christ or the Christian religion ; 
 with others, including Calvin, Calov, Wolf, and various 
 besides, the election of God. It is quite possible to explain 
 the apostle's assertion in connection with each of these 
 views, and to say only what is in perfect accordance with 
 the truth of things, and has also a certain bearing on the 
 matter immediately in hand. Yet, unless it be the last, 
 they fail in presenting such a contrast to the evil, which the 
 thought here suggested was intended to meet with an 
 adequate corrective, as exactly suits the requirements of 
 the case. The evil was an actual falling away in some from 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 349 
 
 the belief of the truth, and their consequent loss, with all 
 who came under their influence, to the church of Christ. 
 Now, to meet this, and reassure the hearts of believers 
 under it, something more was plainly needed than to point 
 attention to the certainty of the fact itself of a coming 
 resurrection, or of the word generally and promises of God, 
 or of Christ as the manifested Saviour, and the religion 
 introduced by Him. For all these might have been con- 
 ceded to be as they are represented in Scripture, and yet 
 the defection in question gone on unchecked, nay, possibly 
 spreading and growing till everything was involved in ruin. 
 There was needed to set over against it an objective good, 
 which should practically circumscribe the evil, set bounds 
 to its operation, by securing that there should be a succes- 
 sion of living witnesses to the truth, whom no temptation 
 could mislead, nor false teaching beguile, into a betrayal of 
 its interests. Such a security might be said to be furnished 
 by the election of God, yet in this only as actually realized 
 in a company of faithful men, who abide in the truth, and 
 resist the errors that tend to undermine it. It is also only 
 such a living embodiment of the election of God, not the 
 abstract idea or doctrine itself, which could fitly be desig- 
 nated a foundation ; for this necessarily has respect to an 
 objective reality, a structure of some sort (material or 
 spiritual), whereof it forms a part. So that, not precisely 
 the divine act of election, but " the faithful elect,'' as put 
 even by the Catholic Estius, or, " which is the same thing, 
 the church in the elect" — those chosen in Christ before 
 the foundation of the world, and who are prepared and kept 
 by omnipotent grace for the glory to which from the first 
 they were destined — in a word, the members of the true or 
 invisible as contrasted with the simply outward or profess- 
 ing church : these are what we may here most naturally 
 understand by the foundation of God. They constitute 
 His fir7n foundation, which stands amid both the assaults 
 
SS^ THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 of adversaries and the defection of unstable souls, because 
 held fast by His own eternal purpose and efficacious grace. 
 
 This, accordingly, is the view now generally adopted by 
 commentators — for example, by De Wette, Huther, Wie- 
 singer, Ellicott, Alford ; and it is the only one that fitly 
 accords with what follows about the sealing, which has 
 immediate respect to Christ's true people, not to Christ 
 Himself. Of course they are what they are only from their 
 relation to Him ; so that by this view He is not excluded 
 from the foundation, but, as it were, subsumed ; and they 
 who would find Christ more directly in the passage are still 
 obliged, when they come to the sealing, to couple His 
 people with Him, and even to have special regard to them. 
 
 The notion of sealing with reference to a foundation is 
 peculiar to this passage. For a literal foundation it were 
 somewhat out of place, but not so when understood spiri- 
 tually of those appointed to a particular calling or desti- 
 nation. It is in this way that the action of sealing is 
 commonly employed in New Testament Scripture ; it re- 
 presents persons as somehow certified of God, or having a 
 special pledge of security granted them (John vi. 27 ; 2 Cor. 
 i. 22 ; Eph. i. 13, iv. 30). Such, at least, is the prominent, 
 if not in every case the exclusive, idea conveyed by the 
 expression. It is plainly in that sense used here ; the 
 persons spoken of as sealed are those who derive from 
 their peculiar relation to the divine foreknowledge what 
 ensures their permanent stability and progress in the divine 
 life. Genuine believers are God's firm foundation, because 
 they have their place and calling under this certification : 
 " T/ie Lord kjioiveth them that are His ;''"' that is, knoweth 
 them as such ; and knowledge being necessarily for Him 
 the ground of correspondent action. He regulates His pro- 
 cedure toward them accordingly. The passage itself, thus 
 identified with the seal of God, is taken, with the substitu- 
 tion merely of K^^ptos for 0co5, from the Sept. of Num. xvi. 5, 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 19. 351 
 
 eyvo) 6 ©€09 Tov<i oVras avrov — literally, God knew them that 
 are His (all the verbs in the passage being in the past) : 
 He knew from the first who stood in that peculiar relation, 
 and (it is implied) would take steps for making this manifest 
 to all, as the Hebrew, indeed, quite distinctly states : He 
 will show, or give to be known. It was spoken of those 
 whom He had chosen to the priesthood, as contradistin- 
 guished from Korah and his company, who were seeking to 
 thrust themselves into the office. AVhen quoted, however, 
 as a general statement, nothing depends upon the particular 
 tense ; and we may as well render knoweth as knew who 
 are His. For the knowledge of God is not affected by the 
 evolutions of time : what He knows now. He knew with 
 equal certainty in the past ; and it is not the time when 
 the knowledge was possessed by Him, but the manner how 
 it bears on the state and destiny of those who are the 
 objects of it, that is the point of special moment. 
 
 The apostle adds another sentence, which cannot, like 
 the former one, be regarded as a quotation, though in sub- 
 stance it occurs in other parts of Scripture : And let every 
 one that names the name of the Lord'^ depart from iniquity. 
 To name the name of the Lord is to do more than call 
 upon Him, or profess some knowledge of His mind and 
 will ; it is to assume that name as the one by which we 
 would be called, or to identify ourselves with the cause and 
 interests it represents. The expression points back to Old 
 Testament usage, where we find not only "naming the 
 name of," but having " the name named upon," sometimes 
 '' called," or " put upon " one — that is, the name of Jehovah 
 upon the people of His covenant. To have it so named or 
 put upon them, implied the existence or expressed the ac- 
 knowledgment of such a relationship (Gen. xlviii. 16 ; Num. 
 vi. 27 ; Isa. xxvi. 13, xliii. 7 ; Amos ix. 12, etc.). And for 
 
 ^ There can be no doubt that Y^vfUu is here the correct reading, being 
 that of s, A, C, D, F, K, L. 
 
352 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 any one to name the name of the Lord, in the sense meant 
 by the apostle, is, in other words, to give himself out for a 
 true believer in Christ, and formally to take up his position 
 among those who look to Him for salvation. Let every 
 one who does this, says the apostle, depart from iniquity, or 
 unrighteousness, because everything of this description is at 
 variance with the position assumed ; it would be a practical 
 lie upon it. This call, therefore, to depart from iniquity, 
 expressed in the second apophthegm, we can readily see, 
 forms a fitting sequel and counterpart to that contained in 
 the first : the naming of the Lord's name, and, in conse- 
 quence, departing from iniquity, is, on man's part, the 
 reflex and practical outcome, as well as evidence, of the 
 blessed distinction of being known by God as emphatically 
 His. But it seems rather fanciful to consider the second 
 word, couched in the form of an exhortation, as equally 
 with the first included in the designation of seal^ and form- 
 ing, so to speak, the inscription on its reverse side. For 
 seals had not, like coins, a reverse side, from which another 
 impression different from the primary one could be made. 
 Nor could an exhortation to a particular course of life, like 
 a divine, perpetually influential act, have properly attributed 
 to it anything of sealing virtue. The relation of the two 
 sayings to each other may rather be regarded as correspond- 
 ing to a similar pair in Eph. iv. 30, " Grieve not the Holy 
 Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of re- 
 demption " — where the sealing is made to stand simply in 
 the indwelling grace and action of God's Spirit ; and the 
 call not to grieve Him is an exhortation to the line of duty 
 which such a near and blessed relation to the Spirit involves 
 as a natural sequence or imperative obligation. There is 
 no need, or even propriety, in pressing the connection 
 further here. It is God who seals the firm foundation, or 
 secures a living and abiding membership in His church, by 
 choosing and recognising those who belong to it as His ; 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 20. 
 
 353 
 
 and the proof that this seal really exists in any particular 
 case, because the sure, unvarying result in which it ex- 
 presses itself, is the departure of him who has it from 
 iniquity — his treading in the paths of righteousness. This 
 bespeaks his living connection with the Holy One, while 
 the want of it would as clearly indicate his alienation from 
 Him. 
 
 Ver, 20. Here the apostle passes to another and appa- 
 rently somewhat contradictory aspect of the church — from 
 the church viewed as God's firm foundation, all solid and 
 compact, to the church as a house composed of various 
 and, to a certain extent, heterogeneous materials. The 
 distinction is simply that of the real and the professing, or 
 the invisible and the visible church. Bu^ (8e, the adversa- 
 tive, indicating something diverse from the preceding) m a 
 great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but 
 also of wood and of earth, and some to honour, others to dis- 
 honour. That by the great house is to be understood the 
 church as an outstanding, visible institution, is the nearly 
 unanimous opinion of commentators, although Chrysostom 
 insists on its being taken to mean the world, as the apostle 
 (he says) wished everything in the church to be considered 
 of gold and silver. But the question is as to the facts of 
 the case, not what the apostle might wish to be such ; and 
 the whole tenor of his discourse here has respect to what 
 in some way or another stands related to God as His house- 
 hold, in a religious point of view, in which respect there 
 can be no doubt that there is a mixed condition of things — 
 a false as well as a true. Considered in this light, there 
 are certain obvious resemblances between it and the utensils 
 of a large dwelling-house, accompanied, no doubt, as usual 
 in such comparisons, with underlying differences, which 
 require to be kept in the background. But, so far as here 
 put, the similitude is apt and natural : the vessels of gold 
 and silver in such a house, being in themselves of costly 
 
 z 
 
354 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 material, and reserved for honourable uses, differ widely, 
 though pertaining to the same establishment, from those of 
 wood and earthenware, which are of little intrinsic worth, 
 and fit only for meaner services. And such relatively to 
 each other are the two great parties in God's professing 
 church : the one God's true elect, His jewels, as He else- 
 where calls them, or peculiar treasure, preserved by His 
 faithful guardianship, and destined to His eternal glory ; 
 the other, those who have but an outward standing in the 
 household, and if capable, perhaps, of performing some 
 inferior offices, yet never attaining either here or hereafter 
 to the honour of God's saints, because destitute of the 
 spiritual life which constitutes the essential property of such. 
 This is the highest that can be said of the latter class ; for 
 if in certain things they may do a little service to the in- 
 terests of the church, in others of a more vital nature they 
 cannot ; but, as a rule, do much dis-serYice. In the great 
 conflict which is proceeding between good and evil, God 
 does not receive from them the honour to which He is 
 entitled, and they in turn must be treated by Him with 
 dishonour, awaking at last to " shame and everlasting con- 
 tempt." They are of Israel, yet not Israel ; called, but not 
 chosen. 
 
 Ver. 21. There follows, therefore, a virtual exhortation to 
 separate oneself from this class, and make sure of reaching 
 the state and destination of the other. Without explaining 
 what corresponded to the two kinds of vessels, taking for 
 granted that this was understood, the apostle says, 1/ any 
 OJte, then, shall have purged hifns elf from these — that is, as 
 Bengel well explains, shall by purifying himself have gone 
 out of their number, those, namely, represented by the 
 vessels associated with dishonour — he shall be a vessel for 
 honour, saiictified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every 
 good work. Looking at the matter simply from a human 
 point of view, and as connected with each man's personal 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 22. 355 
 
 responsibilities, the apostle merely points to the result to 
 be aimed at and attained, leaving it to be ascertained from 
 the great principles of the gospel how the end in question 
 was to be accomplished. He contents himself with putting 
 before men a plain practical issue : moving no question 
 about election, or about adoption into the family of God ; 
 but simply teaching, as Calvin well puts it, " that all who 
 would consecrate themselves to the Lord must purge them- 
 selves from the filthiness of the ungodly — the same, indeed, 
 that God everywhere teaches. For we hear nothing else in 
 this passage than what we find in many other parts of Paul's 
 epistles, and particularly in his second to the Corinthians : 
 Be ye clean who bear the vessels of the Lord. It is hence 
 clear beyond contradiction that we are called to holiness. 
 But the calling and duty of Christians is one thing, and it 
 is another whence the faculty or power of effecting it. That 
 the faithful are required to purify themselves, we deny not ; 
 but that this is a matter which belongs to the Lord, He 
 declares Himself, when through the prophet Ezekiel He 
 promises to send forth the Holy Spirit, that we may be 
 cleansed (chap, xxxvi. 25). Wherefore we should rather 
 beseech the Lord to purge us, than vainly make trial in 
 such a matter of our own strength without His aid." In a 
 word, the thing itself must be done by us : every individual 
 should lay it upon his conscience as a condition he is 
 morally bound to have made good ; but when he comes in 
 earnest to attempt it, he finds he can only succeed by 
 throwing himself on the redeeming mercy and sanctifying 
 grace of God. 
 
 Ver. 22. But flee youthful lusts — Vulg. juve?tilia desideria 
 — primarily, no doubt, sensual indulgence, yet not this 
 alone, levity of spirit also, love of pleasure, vainglory, and 
 things of a similar kind (Theodoret). Such an advice was 
 still suitable to Timothy, who, though now in ripe manhood, 
 was yet not beyond the period when the mind is liable to 
 
356 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 aberration or excess, from the undue impulse of the lower 
 affections (see Introd. sec. iii.). And the advice is intro- 
 duced by the adversative particle (8e), in order more dis- 
 tinctly to mark the importance of the thing here required, 
 if the well-qualified condition for doing good service, noticed 
 immediately before, was to be attained : but remember this 
 at least is indispensable — you must keep clear from the 
 gratification of youthful lusts. But (instead of yielding to 
 those lusts) folloiv after righteousness, faith, looe, peace ivith 
 them that call upon the Lord out of a pure heai't ; in short, 
 maintain a character such as becomes the gospel of Christ, 
 adorned with the graces and virtues which it especially 
 inculcates. The lesson here comes out again, so often 
 already and in so many ways presented in these Pastoral 
 epistles, that a sound moral condition is above all things 
 essential to fitness for effective ministerial service in the 
 divine kingdom. Other things may more or less be helpful, 
 but this is indispensable. The peace spoken of is un- 
 doubtedly to be understood of peace in the closer sense — 
 a state of inner harmony and agreeable fellowship ; because 
 it is such as is to be maintained with them that call upon 
 the Lord out of a pure heart. This connection obviously 
 reflects upon the nature of the peace intended. 
 // Ver. 23. But foolish and ig?io?'a?it questions avoid, hiowing 
 that they do gender strifes. The same advice substantially 
 was given to Titus (chap. iii. 9) ; and the tendency of discus- 
 sions about questions of the kind here indicated to give rise 
 to fruitless contention, is distinctly stated at i Tim. vi. 4. 
 The only point which calls for explanation is the precise 
 meaning of the second epithet applied to the questions — 
 aTratSeijrovs. Our translators have rendered it unlearned, 
 which may be said to express the etymological sense, like 
 the Vulgate's sine disciplina, or Alford's u?idisciplified. But 
 to proscribe unlearned or undisciplined questions, with an 
 implied sanction of such as could fitly be called learned or 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 24-26. 357 
 
 disciplined, is certainly not what the apostle meant, in the 
 ordinary sense of such expressions. The Greek word 
 nowhere else occurs in the New Testament ; but in the 
 Septuagint it is employed in a considerable variety of sig- 
 nifications (if we may judge from the Hebrew terms it is 
 taken to represent) — not only untaught or undisciplined 
 (Prov. V. 23), but worthless (i Sam. i. 16), senseless or 
 foolish (Prov. viii. 5, xv. 13, 15), etc. (See Schleusner, 
 Lex.^ on the word.) Igno7'ant is probably as good a second- 
 ary meaning, and as suitable to the connection here, as 
 any that can be employed, — understanding thereby some- 
 thing closely allied to the other epithet, foolish, with which 
 it is conjoined — senseless, stupid; such questions as might 
 be raised by persons who had undergone no proper instruc- 
 tion or training in the things of God. Questions of that 
 description the thoughtful and earnest minister of God's 
 word will do well to eschew : he should feel like one that 
 has no heart or time for them ; and a little observation will 
 soon convince him that they are, when entertained, as the 
 apostle intimates, a fruitful source of strife. 
 
 Vers. 24-26. But the servant of the Lord, it is added, must 
 not strive, but be gentle towaf^d all : not a person of conten- 
 tious and combative disposition, but of mild and conciliatory 
 bearing. Every one who is a true believer in Christ, and 
 in any sphere of life is called to do service to Him, ought 
 to be such ; for it is what Christ Himself, the great pattern 
 of beUevers, pre-eminently was ; but the connection makes 
 it plain that servant of the Lord is here taken in the more 
 emphatic sense — of those who, like Timothy, were set 
 apart to special service — evangehsts and ministers of the 
 word. In such a case it is more in accordance with our 
 idiom to say the than a servant of the Lord, though the 
 hovkov of the original is without the article ; but the pro- 
 minent position of the word, at the very commencement of 
 the sentence, and its being coupled also with a defining 
 
35 8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 genitive (Kvptov), serve substantially the same purpose as 
 our definite article. Besides being gentle in his bearing, 
 the Lord's servant must be apt to teach (i Tim. iii. 2, which 
 see), patient of wrojtg {ayeiiKaKov, enduring evil), i?i meekness 
 correcting those who oppose themselves — meaning thereby per- 
 sons within the professing church, but who, taking up some 
 false notions, or misled by perverted counsels, set them- 
 selves to withstand the pure teaching and goodly order of 
 Christ's kingdom. Such persons need to be firmly met, 
 and brought under a corrective, wholesome administration 
 (TratScvovra, see at I Tim. i. 20, Tit. ii. 12), yet conducted 
 with a meek and forbearing spirit. And the reason follows : 
 if peradventure, or so7netime perchance, God may give them 
 repentance unto the full knowledge of the truth. The form of 
 expression is peculiar, indicative of hope, yet mingled with 
 much doubt and hesitancy : \xrfTOT^ S'^rj avrois 6 ©eo?, literally, 
 lest at any ti?ne God may give them. But what is meant is, 
 plainly, not something to be dreaded, but something to be 
 desired and hoped for, only of so uncertain or improbable 
 a kind, that there was only a faint prospect of seeing it 
 realized. " M-^ is here used somewhat irregularly, in its 
 dubitative sense ; Trore, with which it is united, is not otiose, 
 but brings its own signification of indefinite time; and while 
 marking clearly the complete contingency of the change, 
 still leaves the faint hope that at some time or other such a 
 change may, by God's grace, be wrought within" (Ellicott). 
 See also Winer, Gr. § 56, 2, b, note by Mr. Moulton, who 
 suggests as a translation, whether haply ; and Scherlitz, 
 Grundziige der Neutest. Gf^dcitdt, p. 365, perhaps fully better, 
 whether God may not still give. It is an elliptical sentence, 
 and cannot, as it actually stands, be very definitely con- 
 strued ; while yet there is plainly enough expressed a 
 hesitating, yet not altogether groundless hope, that the 
 desired good might be ultimately reached. The if per- 
 adventure, therefore, of the Authorized Version gives the 
 
2 TIMOTHY II. 24-26. 359 
 
 sense nearly as well as any rendering that could be 
 adopted. 
 
 In regard to the good itself to be sought in behalf of the 
 opposers in question, a twofold description is given : first, 
 that through a fxerdvoLav, a benignant change of heart wrought 
 by the grace of God, they might come to the fiiU know/edge 
 (iTTtyvoia-Lv) of the truth — might not know it in part merely, 
 or in so superficial a manner as to leave the spirit and 
 temper of the inner man still unsubdued by its hallowed 
 influence. Only the full knowledge, apprehended and em- 
 braced by a properly receptive heart, would be sufficient to 
 win them over to the obedience of Christ. The other aspect 
 presented of the good in question is contained in the next 
 verse, 26 : andihat they may reiiir?i to soberness out of the snare 
 of the devil. Such is the only ascertained sense of the verb 
 avav^ij/oia-iv, found only here in the New Testament writings. 
 The parties in question are contemplated as having sunk 
 into a kind of drunken or benumbed state, through the 
 artful devices of the great adversary, and capable only of 
 being recovered to sobriety of thought and soundness of 
 moral perceptions by being dealt with in a kindly and tem- 
 perate, yet faithful exercise of authority. In that case, with 
 God's blessing on the means employed, the delusive spell 
 might possibly break, and a position of freedom and safety 
 be gained by them. The sentence is here, again, elliptical; 
 and the full import plainly is, that they may return to sober- 
 ness, [and so escape] out of the snare of the devil. The 
 bewildered or stupefied state into which they had fallen was 
 as if they had been caught in a snare of the wicked one ; 
 and so the dispelling of the one brought an escape from the 
 other. 
 
 The remaining clause is attended with some difficulty, 
 and has been variously interpreted : e^wyp>y/xeVot vir avrov 
 eU TO eKCLvov OeXrjfjia, being, or Jiaving been, taken captive by 
 him, for, Qi according to the will of hi7?i. Such is the plain 
 
360 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 rendering of the words, which in themselves are simple 
 enough. But in the original there are two pronouns, which 
 are at least most naturally referred to different subjects, as 
 indeed they do refer, in a passage quite near (chap. iii. 9), 
 where the one (auros) has respect to a nearer, the other 
 (cKetvo?) to a more remote party. Cases have been pro- 
 duced in which both pronouns, when occurring in a single 
 sentence, have respect to the same subject (Kiihner, § 629, 
 3). But they are somewhat exceptional, and, as stated by 
 Alford, it took place only when it was sought by such a use 
 of cKetvos to emphasize the subject. The meaning, there- 
 fore, can hardly be that given by the Vulgate, a quo captivi 
 tenentur ad ipsitts voluntate7?i ; reproduced in our English 
 version, " who are taken captive by him at his will," 
 adopted still by De Wette and Huther ; for, so rendered, 
 the devil would be the subject of both pronouns, with no 
 more emphasis in connection with the one than the other : 
 (xvTov would have served equally well in both places. The 
 objection applies also to the view of the Greek expositors, 
 who ascribe the taking captive not to the devil, but to God, 
 and as the product of His will, which is liable to the further 
 objection that it represents men, who had just returned to 
 the free use of their intellectual and moral powers, as now 
 taken captive, though in a better sense than before — borne 
 away by another power than their own. Nor is the matter 
 much mended by Bengel, Wetstein, and others, who would 
 refer the avrov, who takes captive, not to God Himself, but 
 to the servant of God, through whose instrumentality the 
 blessed captivity is effected, and God's will in this respect 
 made good. This gets rid, indeed, of the objection as to 
 the two pronouns being made to refer to one subject ; but 
 there still remains the apparent unnaturalness and impro- 
 priety of representing persons, just restored to sense and 
 liberty, going into captivity — carried captive, on this sup- 
 position, by a human agent, who, immediately before, was 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. I. 361 
 
 taught to regard his working upon them to any good pur- 
 pose as only a bare possibiUty. A transition of this sort 
 wants verisimilitude. It seems necessary, therefore, to a 
 satisfactory explanation, that we understand by the power 
 who takes captive the devil, and, as a matter of course, that 
 the captivity so effected be associated with the preceding 
 period of spiritual intoxication, when the parties lay locked, 
 as it were, m a stupefying delusion. The tense also con- 
 firms this view — the perfect, not the aorist — pointing, there- 
 fore, not to a single act, but to a continued state : having 
 been taken captive by hi7?i. Then the concluding clause, eis 
 TO iK€Lvov OeXrjfxa, unto (in pursuance of, or for the carrying 
 out of) the will of Him — namely, of God : this may gram- 
 matically be connected, either with their captivity to the 
 power of evil, which in that case comes to be regarded as 
 under His appointment and control ; or, as appears more 
 natural, with their recovery from that state — the restoration 
 to sobriety of mind, which is all one with escaping from the 
 snare and captivity of the devil, being the fulfilment, in their 
 experience, of His gracious will. The whole passage, then, 
 might be read, pointed, and slightly paraphrased thus : In 
 meekness connecting those who oppose themselves^ if peradventure 
 God may give them repentance [to come] ^into the full know- 
 ledge of the truth ; and that they may return to sober?iess, [and 
 so escape] oict of the snare of the devil {by whom they had 
 been taken captive)^ according to the will of Him (God), who 
 for this end seconds the efforts of His servant, by giving 
 the spirit of repentance and true enlightenment. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ver. I . This kiiow^ however^ that in the last days gj'ievoics 
 
 times shall set in. The introduction of the mournful topic 
 
 ^ It is scarcely worth while to advert to the plural reading of A, F, 
 
362 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 discussed in this section of the epistle is made with a but^ 
 or a however, because forming a sort of contrast to the 
 hopeful issue indicated at the close of the preceding chapter 
 respecting the opponents there referred to. Timothy, and 
 those following him in the administration of the affairs of 
 the church, are warned against entertaining too sanguine 
 expectations — admonished to bear in mind that, however 
 they may succeed with particular persons in repressing in- 
 cipient disorders, and winning men back to sobriety of 
 mind, there was to be a great development of evil in the 
 approaching future, not only of the outlying world, but also 
 of the Christian church. This gloomy prospect is associated 
 with the last days (iv eo-xarats rjfxepai^ — without the article, 
 because the expression itself is sufficiently individualizing 
 as to the time meant ; Winer, Gr. § 1 9). But while in one 
 sense this term is specific enough, in another it is attended 
 with a considerable amount of vagueness. In prophecy it 
 was often used for the far distant future, especially as con- 
 nected with Messianic times (see the Sept, for example, at 
 Num. xxiv. 14 ; Isa. ii. 2, ix. i ; Jer. xxiii. 20; Dan. ii. 28, 
 X. 14, etc.). And about the gospel age, it would appear 
 that the expression, with some slight variations — such as 
 John's ia-xa-TT} wpa (i John ii. 18) — had become appropri- 
 ated generally to the period or dispensation of Messiah. 
 So, in Heb. i. i and i Pet. i. 23, this whole period is distin- 
 guished from the times of the fathers and the prophets which 
 preceded, by being designated " the last days," or " the 
 last of the days ; " and we learn from other sources that the 
 Jews of later times familiarly used the same mode of speech 
 (Schottgen, Hor. Heb., on this passage). It does not appear 
 that in this respect they were wont to distinguish between 
 the "latter" days and the '^last" days (see at i Tim. iv. i). 
 And it is somewhat doubtful how far the apostles attempted 
 
 yivuffx.tr I, strangely preferred by Lachmann and Huther ; for y/v^io-xs 
 has the support of s, C, D, K, L, Vulg., Syr., and Coptic versions. 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. I. 363 
 
 to go beyond their countrymen in any more discriminating 
 use of such expressions. They were discouraged by our 
 Lord from expecting to get definite revelations of the times 
 and the seasons pertaining to the future of His kingdom 
 (Acts i. 6) ; and while they throw out, from time to time, 
 prophetic intimations of events, both of an adverse and a 
 prosperous kind, which should mark its progress, they leave 
 us much in the dark as to either the absolute or the relative 
 times of their occurrence. In particular, the deplorable 
 manifestation of corruption and godlessness which here, for 
 example, — and at 2 Pet. iii. 3, also in i John ii. 18, and 2 
 Thess. ii. 1-12, — is coupled with the last days, appears from 
 the descriptions to deepen as those days proceed, and to 
 reach, one is apt to think, a culmination not far from their 
 close in the second advent ; while yet the evil is represented 
 as either actually begun in the apostolic age, or just on the 
 eve of beginning to develope itself. The grievous times 
 or seasons {^aXciroi, grievous in a moral respect ; difficult, 
 hence perilous) which the apostle in this passage associates 
 with the last days, are at the same time said to be pressing 
 on — ev(nrj(Tovr at, aderimt (Bengel), they will immediately be 
 present, are even now close at hand — so that all should be 
 on the outlook for them. Indeed, consisting as they do 
 in spiritual defections from the life of the gospel, and con- 
 sequent moral depravations, they are never wholly wanting 
 in any age of the church, though at certain periods and in 
 particular localities they become m.ore rife and rampant 
 than in others. " I think," says Theodoret, " that it was 
 our time which is here predicted. For our life is full of 
 these evils ; and while we bear about us an aspect of piety, 
 it is the image of wickedness which we produce by our 
 works." So, many have in substance said, of their particular 
 time, both before and since ; so, doubtless, they will say in 
 the future ; and what is written of the evil in the epistolary 
 or apocalyptic portions of New Testament Scripture, is 
 
364 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 but an expansion of the prophetic gHmpses given by our 
 Lord in some of His parables (such as the Wheat and 
 Tares, the Wise and FooHsh Virgins), and in His discourse 
 on the last times, which speaks of false teachers and pro- 
 phets, delusions, iniquity abounding, and the love of many 
 waxing cold (Matt. xxiv.). It was not that Christianity was 
 in any measure to produce the corruptions and disorders 
 that were in prospect, but simply that they should exist in 
 spite of the divine grace and reformatory agencies it was 
 bringing into play, and to some extent also should take ad- 
 vantage of its hallowed name under which to cloak, or more 
 effectually prosecute, the work of evil. 
 
 Ver. 2. For meii (ot dvOpoi-TroL, men, not universally in- 
 deed, yet, as the article seems to indicate, in large num- 
 bers) s/m// be selfish ((^iXavTot, self-lovers, each seeking his 
 own, comparatively regardless of another's good), covetous^ 
 boastful, haughty (vTrepyjcfiavoi, carrying themselves with a 
 lofty and supercilious air), slauderers (fSXaa-cfyrjiJiOL, offen- 
 sively speaking evil of others, vilifying them), disobedient to 
 parents, unthankful, unholy. Ver. 3. Without natw^al affec- 
 tion (ao-ropyot, wanting the instinctive sense of endearment 
 which links together parents and children, a-ropyy]), implac- 
 able (da-TTovSoL, not truce-breakers, as in the Authorized 
 Version, but such as would not enter into a truce; sine 
 pace, as the Vulgate, or as Luther, unversohnlich, not to be 
 appeased — see Lexicons), false accusers, incontinent (aKpa- 
 ret?, without moral power or self-control, unbridled), ^^r,f<?, 
 haters of good (dcfaXdyaOoL, the opposite of the cfaXdyaOov 
 commended and required in Tit. i. 8). Ver. 4. Betrayers, 
 headlong (TrpoTreTets, ready to precipitate matters by hasty 
 speech or action), carried with conceit (see at i Tim. iii. 6), 
 lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ((J>l\-^Sovol — 
 cfiLXoOeoL, both avra^ Xeyo/x., but quite natural compounds, 
 and found in Philo; see Wetstein). Ver. 5. Having a form 
 {fx6pcf>o)(TLv, an outward show or appearance) of godliness, 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 2-5. 365 
 
 but de7iying the power thereof— ihsii is, by their immoral lives 
 and wicked deeds belying their profession — practically 
 disowning that godliness was an actual power in their 
 experience. 
 
 It is a dreadful picture, and from the very darkness of 
 the characteristics it dehneates, plainly requires to be 
 understood with some limitations. If such characteristics 
 were to become general in any particular age or country, 
 society could not long continue to exist ; it would fall to 
 pieces by the weight of its own corruptions. We must 
 therefore suppose the apostle to mean, that in the coming 
 future there would be ever and anon persons appearing 
 with those vicious qualities more or less characterizing 
 their behaviour — not that all of them should meet in the 
 same individuals, and still less that any entire community 
 should be pervaded by them. But in proportion as the 
 spirit of selfishness should at any time prevail, the others 
 might be expected in a corresponding ratio to follow. That 
 spirit fitly stands at the head of this black catalogue of 
 moral evils, being in a manner the root -quality out of 
 which the rest will, as circumstances admit, inevitably 
 spring, and being that also, which more almost than any 
 other bespeaks the disregard of Christian verities, and the 
 absence of their influence on the heart. And if, from 
 being simply a negation, there should come to any extent 
 to prevail an antagonism to the fundamental truths and 
 love -in spiring influences of the gospel, one can easily 
 understand how the barriers which restrain the selfish 
 spirit, and oblige it to maintain a certain moderation and 
 formal decency, would one after another give way, and a 
 fierce, unscrupulous, reckless opposition to whatever is 
 pure, lovely, and of good report, rise to the ascendant. 
 In such a case the reigning spirit of the time would neces- 
 sarily be, if not avowed, at least virtual atheism ; and the 
 atheist, as has been justly said, "holds all mankind in 
 
366 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 contempt, and would be ready with a jest to blot out life 
 from the world. Let but the day come, when it shall be 
 fearlessly and commonly professed that death is annihila- 
 tion, and that therefore the pleasures of appetite, graced 
 by intelligence, are the best portion of man, and this hor- 
 rible opinion shall quickly become parent to a giant cruelty, 
 loftier in stature, and more malign, than any the earth has 
 hitherto beheld. Even the most sanguinary superstitions 
 have had some profession of sanctity and of mercy to 
 maintain; a reserve, a saving hypocrisy, a balance of 
 sentiments, which has set bounds to their demands of 
 blood. But atheism is a simple element : it has no re- 
 straining motive, and must act, like itself, with a dreadful 
 ingenuousness." 1 The nearest approach to this on a large 
 scale which the world has seen since the diffusion of 
 Christianity, was the state of France at the close of the 
 last and the beginning of the present century. But the 
 disturbing elements which brought on that terrible state of 
 things, there can be no doubt, are again actively at work 
 in many parts of Christendom ; and it can scarcely be said 
 to be beyond the bounds of probability that "the last 
 days" of the present dispensation are destined to witness, 
 in certain quarters, a realization of the prophetic picture 
 before us more appalling than has yet been exhibited in 
 the history of the past. 
 
 And from these tiirfi away. Such an exhortation clearly 
 implies that the state of moral pravity described was not 
 regarded by the apostle as belonging entirely to the future ; 
 that persons were even then to be found in whom its 
 features partially at least appeared ; and consequently, that 
 what was said at the outset of " the last days " as inclusive 
 generally of Christian times, holds also here. 
 
 Vers. 6, 7. The apostle now not only presupposes the 
 existence of parties to whom his description in a measure 
 ^ Isaac Taylor's Saturday Evening, chap. xiii. 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 6, 7. 367 
 
 applied, but also points to a specific line of operations 
 carried on by them. For of these are they who creep into 
 houses, and take captive silly women, laden with sins, led away 
 by diverse lusts. A sly and cunning mode of procedure is 
 indicated, as of persons in a low moral condition, watching 
 their opportunities, and ready to take advantage of the in- 
 firmities and troubles of others to compass their own selfish 
 ends. They creep into houses: evSwovres, not necessarily 
 more than entering into, but here, as also sometimes in clas- 
 sical writers, with the collateral idea of doing so by secret, 
 stealthy movements ; so that, as Chrysostom states, " some- 
 thing dishonourable is implied — deceit, cozening." Their 
 object in this is said to get thoroughly under their power 
 (atx/>taA.(OTtXwvT€g, a word said to be of Macedonian origin, 
 meaning literally, to take captive — Luke xxi, 24 ; figura- 
 tively, to get dominion over, or bring under one's control — 
 Rom. vii. 23 ; 2 Cor. x. 5) ^waiKapia (a diminutive, a7ra| 
 X€.y6ix.., expressive of contempt), little, or silly wome7i. And 
 these are further described as laden (o-eo-wpev/AeVa, heaped 
 up, hence laden) with sins, led away, or borne along (dyo- 
 fieva), by various kinds of lusts : in ver. 7 further charac- 
 terized as ever learniitg, and never able to come to the full 
 knowledge {iirLyvioa-Lv, knowledge in the true and proper 
 sense) of the truth. 
 
 It is not quite easy to get a perfectly satisfactory view of 
 the sort of women here referred to, or why the designing 
 and corrupt characters spoken of should have especially 
 sought to win their confidence. It may naturally be sup- 
 posed that they were possessed of wealth, though of small 
 worth as to personal qualities, and that it was this the in- 
 triguers were mainly intent on acquiring. Such, probably, 
 was the case, but it can only be matter of inference : the 
 fact is not directly stated. Reference has been made to 
 the well-known circumstance that the Gnostic leaders 
 sought to lay hold of females, used them as instruments 
 
2,68 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 for the propagation of their false doctrines, and not un- 
 frequently carried on with them, under high-sounding pre- 
 tensions, the most licentious practices. Irenaeus (Hizr. 
 i. 13), Epiphanius {Hcer. xxvi. 12), and others, have given 
 special notices of these ; and Baur finds, in the supposed 
 allusion here to those wily and corrupt proceedings of the 
 second century heresiarchs, a proof of the sub-apostolic 
 origin of this epistle {Pastoralbr. p. ^i^)- But the cha- 
 racter of the women as described here is not such as we 
 are given to understand were chiefly sought after by the 
 Gnostic leaders : these were, as might be expected from 
 the Gnostic pretensions, and as Irenaeus expressly tells 
 us, "the well-bred, elegantly attired, and very wealthy;" 
 and it was rather (if we except the fables of a later age 
 about Simon and Nicolaus) the fascinating and corrupting 
 influence which the Gnostic teachers contrived to exert 
 over women hitherto reputed honourable and good, that 
 the accounts in question complain of, than their intercourse 
 with women of loose character, carried away by sinful lusts. 
 But it is of such the apostle speaks — women, not sinners 
 merely, but ladefi with sins (which we have no right to 
 interpret, with De Wette, whom Alford follows, burdened 
 in their consciences with a sense of sins, labouring under 
 convictions of guilt ; for such were not the indications of 
 silliness in the early church, nor was it customary then any 
 more than now to represent people as laden with sins in 
 any other than an objective sense). iVnd, finally, it is not 
 said by the apostle that the persons who acted this treache- 
 rous and ensnaring part to the women in question were 
 teachers : they were adversaries and opponents of the 
 gospel, because agents of deceit and corruption, while it 
 was all intent on the interests of truth and purity ; but 
 nothing more is known of them, and the allusion that fol- 
 lows to the Egyptian magicians, and a little after to others 
 of a like description now (ver. 12), rather leads us to sup- 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 8. 369 
 
 pose that they were of the class generally called sorcerers 
 or magicians — the class to which Simon the Samaritan, 
 Elymas, and the sons of Sceva belonged (Acts viii., xiii., 
 xix.) — men of bloated consciences and reprobate minds, 
 who, for merely selfish ends, played upon the weakness 
 and creduUty of mankind, and pre-eminently upon certain 
 portions of the female section of them. We have undoubted 
 evidence of persons of that description abounding in apos- 
 tolic times about Ephesus and its neighbourhood; and 
 from what is known of them, nothing seems more likely 
 than that they should have presented themselves to the 
 apostle as the prototypes of the most worthless and de- 
 praved characters of the latter days. 
 
 Taking this view of the deceivers, we can scarcely hesi- 
 tate where to find the deceived. They were, as the words 
 of the apostle naturally import, the loose, the frivolous, 
 worldly-minded ladies, who hved for the most part in ful- 
 ness and pleasure, but, as frequently happens with such 
 persons, were visited at times with recoils of feeling, guilty 
 compunctions, fears of a judgment to come ; and yet, when 
 casting about for relief, and desirous of learning what might 
 be for their good, continued still too light-hearted and un- 
 stable to embrace a life that aims at conformity to the 
 example of Christ; hence they were pecuHarly in danger 
 of being caught by the arts of those who pretended, by 
 some heaven-taught secret, to charm away from their dis- 
 ciples the powers of evil. It is precisely among such that 
 impostors of that stamp have ever found their readiest 
 dupes and their richest harvest. 
 
 Ver. 8. Now in the same manner (ov Tpoirov 8e) that Jannes 
 and Jainbres withstood Moses ^ so do these also withstand the 
 truth. The reference to these ancient magicians shows, as 
 already stated, the class of corrupt opponents more imme- 
 diately in the eye of the apostle. It appears that a very 
 old tradition among the Jews had handed down the two 
 
 2 A 
 
370 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 names here mentioned as those of the leading magicians 
 who endeavoured to rival the miracles of Moses, and foil 
 him in his mission. The names appear in the Chaldee 
 paraphrast, at Ex. i. 15, very nearly the same as here 
 — Janis and Jimbres ; and again as Janis and Jambres at 
 Ex. vii. II. Other modes of spelling the names in the 
 Rabbinical writings (such as Jonos and Jombros, Janos and 
 Jambrinos), with various, evidently fabulous, accounts re- 
 specting them, are given by Schottgen on this passage ; also 
 by Wetstein. It is needless to go into these tales, which 
 apparently belong to different periods, and are not always 
 consistent with each other. But there is no reason to doubt 
 the correctness of the tradition as to the names and the 
 persons they represented, there being no conceivable temp- 
 tation in such a case to depart from the truth, and a very 
 great probability that the truth so far should have found 
 some place in Jewish memorials of the past. As regards 
 the substance of the historical allusion, nothing depends on 
 the specific names ; for the action ascribed here to Jannes 
 and Jambres is the same that in the narrative of Exodus is 
 associated with the magicians generally; nor can it be 
 doubted that a body so peculiar in the powers they pro- 
 ifessed to exercise, and so influential in their position, would 
 have their recognised heads and leaders, by whatever names 
 they might be called. In proud reliance on their thauma- 
 turgical skill, and doubtless supposing that Moses and 
 Aaron were only members of a similar craft with their own, 
 they withstood the claim to a divine commission and a 
 strictly supernatural power which was put forth by those 
 men of God, entered with them into a competitive trial, 
 and so completely failed in the attempt that they were 
 obliged to own themselves vanquished. Such, too, the 
 apostle affirms, would be the issue of the trial which was 
 then proceeding between the ministers of the gospel and 
 the adversaries — not false teachers, properly so cal]£d, but 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 9, lO. 37 I 
 
 deceitful workers, the professors of secret lore and magical 
 art. The conflict now, as of old, was essentially one be- 
 tween God's truth on the one side, and the devil's He on ' 
 the other ; between the one grand remedy of Heaven for 
 the ills of humanity, and the wretched devices of self- 
 seeking, fraudulent men, — men, it is added by the apostle, 
 corrupted in their mifid, reprobate (or worthless) concerning 
 the faith. Such was generally the condition of the class of 
 persons who assumed the delusive pretensions referred to, 
 and plied the infamous traffic connected with them. From 
 the very nature of things, their consciences must have been 
 entirely sophisticated, and a moral state induced strongly 
 repellent to the faith of the gospel. 
 
 Ver. 9. But (such is the conclusion of the matter) they 
 shall not make progress (ov TrpoKoif/ovKrtv eVt TrAetov, lit. shall 
 not advance to more, or rise to a stronger position) ; for their 
 folly shall become manifest to all, as theirs also came to be. 
 The triumph of truth over error, of reality over presump- 
 tion, should now, as of old, become apparent. An opposi- 
 tion has been thought to exist between this passage and 
 chap. ii. 16, where it is said of the teachers of profane and 
 vain babblings, that they would advance to more of un- 
 godliness. But the cases are really very different, for the 
 persons spoken of here were not of the same class as the 
 others ; and having become already thoroughly corrupt and 
 reprobate, an advance in this direction was impossible. 
 The advance, however, which is denied respecting them 
 has reference not to their personal state, but to the godless 
 cause they were seeking to promote : in this they should 
 not make progress ; the course of events would expose 
 their folly, and leave them, like the old wonder-workers of 
 Egypt, exposed to obloquy and shame. 
 
 Ver. 10. Thou, however, hast closely followed^ my i?tstruc- 
 
 ^ The received text has TxpnKoXov^nzas, the perfect, with D, E, K, L, 
 the great majority of cursives, Chrys., Theod., Damas. ; but K, A, C- 
 
372 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tion, my manner of life ^ my purpose, my faith, my long-suffer- 
 ing, my love, my patience, etc. In contrast to the selfish and 
 crafty proceedings of the parties just referred to, the apostle 
 now reminds Timothy of the very different line of conduct 
 he had been made familiar with in the apostle's own case — 
 what proofs it had afforded of sincere devotion to the truth, 
 self-denial, and all the higher graces of a pure and earnest 
 life. Thou hast closely followed my course, says Paul, in all 
 this, hast gone along with me therein as a sympathizing and 
 approving disciple (see at i Tim. iv, 6). The aorist, or 
 indefinite past, is thought by some preferable to the perfect 
 here : not that the reading, as stated in the note, is the 
 better supported, but that it affords a fitter sense, convey- 
 ing, as it would do, a kind of latent admonition to Timothy 
 to take heed that it was as well with him now in this respect 
 as it was in the past ; or, as Alford more strongly puts it, 
 the aorist bears something of reproach with it, virtually 
 implying that Timothy was not the m^an now he had for- 
 merly been. In an earlier part of this epistle the same 
 meaning was extracted from certain things said by the 
 apostle, but without any just grounds, as we endeavoured 
 to show.; see at chap. i. 3-7. If the aorist were ascertained 
 to be the correct reading, it would still convey no such 
 reproach ; it would only indicate that for some reason the 
 apostle thought fit to refer specially to the earlier trials he 
 had undergone, and the spirit he had manifested under 
 them, rather than to those of a later period. Some expla- 
 nation has been given of it by Paley and others, when 
 tracing the coincidences between this epistle and the narra- 
 tive in the related chapters of the Acts (chaps, xiii., xiv., 
 xvi.) ; the old scenes of persecution and trial which took 
 place at and around Timothy's earthly home naturally pre- 
 read Ta.prjK6Xav6n<ra.i ; also F, G, the simple verb riKo'kovSnffa.i. Tischen- 
 dorf now adopts the second, as do also Alford, Ellicott, Huther, chiefly 
 on internal grounds, which are referred to in the text. 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. II. 373 
 
 senting themselves afresh here^ and this in the very order 
 in which they occurred: ver. ii. My persecutions, my suffer- 
 ings, such as befell me in Antioch, itt Iconium, in Lystra; such 
 persecutions as I endured : and out of them all the Lord 
 delivered me. " We have thus the strongest reasons for 
 believing that Timothy was a witness of St. Paul's injurious 
 treatment ; and this, too, at a time of life when the mind 
 receives its deepest impressions from the spectacle of inno- 
 cent suffering and undaunted courage. And it is far from 
 impossible that the generous and warm-hearted youth was 
 standing in the group of disciples who surrounded the ap- 
 parently Hfeless body of the apostle at the outside of the 
 walls of Lystra" (Howson). We can thus sufficiently 
 account for the peculiar stress laid by the apostle here on 
 matters connected with his first and second mission tour in 
 Asia Minor, and for the reference being couched in the 
 indefinite past, if so be that the aorist is the correct reading. 
 But the other, the perfect, appears to me fully as natural 
 (though the aorist has been retained in the text), because 
 the reference of the apostle is not by any means exclusively 
 to his remote experiences at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, 
 but rather to the spirit, temper, and behaviour exhibited by 
 him during the whole of Timothy's acquaintance with him, 
 but especially so in connection with what may be called 
 the formative period of Timothy's Christian life and mini- 
 sterial agency. Commonly as an eye-witness, always in inti- 
 mate fellowship and sympathy of spirit, Timothy had made 
 common cause with him in all ; and could thus judge at 
 how high a moral elevation he stood above the low and 
 worthless impostors against whom he was warning — yea, 
 had himself shared in it. 
 
 The article prefixed to the several items in the apostle's 
 delineation of his course — r^ BiSacrKoXLa, ry dyojyfj, etc. — 
 individuahzes them much in the same manner as our pos- 
 sessive pronoun, and may be said to carry forward the /aov, 
 
374 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 which stands at the beginning : the teaching of me, the 
 conduct, namely, of me = my conduct, and so on. 
 
 Ver. 12. Yea, and all {koL ttolvtcs Se, or, and all too) wka 
 are minded to live piously in Christ Jesus, shall be persecuted. 
 The apostle had spoken of his own persecutions, how he 
 himself bore them^ and how God delivered him out of 
 them ; but he now generalizes, in a manner, his own ex- 
 perience : others may look for a measure of the same. 
 None, indeed, are excepted; all who are minded {pi Oi\ovr^% 
 having their will set) to live piously in Christ Jesus — in 
 Him, or in union with Him, as the one true source of 
 living godliness — shall be persecuted. He does not say how 
 or to what extent ; but merely states the fact, that persecu- 
 tion in some form or another shall be their portion. And 
 even this general announcement obviously presupposes as 
 its ground, the existence in the world around of a spirit of 
 alienation and hostility with respect to vital godliness. But 
 that might not be always and everywhere the same ; it 
 could not but vary as Christianity itself rose to power, or 
 the reverse; and so, as regards quantity and force, a certain 
 conditional element necessarily enters into the statement, 
 which may be put thus : In so far as the world retains its 
 native character, those who are bent on leading in it lives 
 of piety shall have to meet persecution. If through the 
 diffusion of the gospel the old has to a considerable extent 
 passed away, and a better order of things taken its place, 
 then the persecution may narrow itself to taunts, reproaches, 
 spiteful or contemptuous treatment, when at the behest of 
 holy principle a stand is made against worldly compliances 
 or fashionable vices. In these, however, the persecuting 
 spirit breathes, only less coarsely and vehemently than 
 when fire and sword are its weapons (Gal. iv. 29). So that 
 the apostolic utterance still has its application to the Chris- 
 tian life ; and they who would prosecute this life must be 
 ready to brave such persecution. But they should never 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 13. 375 
 
 court it ; they are as much bound to avoid provoking it by in- 
 discretions, as to bear it meekly when excited by their virtues. 
 Ver. 13. But evil men and deceivers shall grow worse and 
 worse, deceiving, and being deceived. We have here, by way 
 of contrast to the Hfe and experience of such as Uve piously 
 in Christ, a return to the wretched characters formerly dis- 
 coursed of — the modern representatives of the Egyptian 
 magicians. For the language employed is strictly appli- 
 cable only to such : evil men and y6r)T^<i — we have no 
 precise synonym for it ; deceivers is too general, though we 
 must take it for want of a better; but the word is expressive 
 of a specific class of deceivers — the class of magicians, 
 sorcerers, thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers, as they were 
 variously called, who by dexterous sleight of hand, mysteri- 
 ous incantations, and consummate hypocrisy, wrought upon 
 the hopes and fears of the credulous. In naming these, the 
 apostle is plainly not to be understood as introducing a new 
 class, for they bear the very lineaments of those already 
 described and denounced ; but their course of life and its 
 fruits are now placed over against those of the true followers 
 of Christ. How different ! Living in an element of deceit, 
 they come to be themselves deceived ; their sin becomes 
 their snare and their punishment : so that, in so far as they 
 are capable of progress, the progress is from bad to worse ; 
 and if their manner of life is such as to save them from 
 persecution at the hand of others, it brings recompenses of 
 evil far more to be dreaded, and these prepared by their 
 own hands. The assertion of Huther, that the term yoT/res 
 in this passage is only in a kind of secondary or figurative 
 sense applied to the parties in question, that it merely 
 represents them as exercising a sort of magical power over 
 their weak, especially female, followers, is without founda- 
 tion. The unqualified use of such a term cannot justly be 
 understood otherwise than as identifying them with the wily 
 and unscrupulous professors of the magical art. 
 
376 . THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Ver. 14. But do thou (av 8e emphatic, in contrast to the 
 deceivers in the preceding verse) continue in the things which 
 thou didst learn (Ht., in what things thou didst learn), and 
 wert assured of — €7riGrTu)0r)<; — not, were committed to thee, 
 as the Latin and Gothic versions, which would have re- 
 quired i7rLaT€vOr]<;. Hesychius, lincrToiOr} : kTzeiaOrj, lirXiqpo- 
 <f>op-^9r], persuasus est, certum et exploratum habuit. (See 
 much more to the same efifect in Suicer, in voce) The 
 things had not only been learned by Timothy, but learned 
 in such a way as to give them a firm place in his belief. 
 Knowing of whom thou didst learn them — namely, of per- 
 sons who were entitled to the fullest confidence, utterly 
 incapable of practising the deceit, by which others are 
 misled to their ruin. The reference must primarily be to 
 his mother Lois, and his grandmother Eunice. 
 
 Ver. 15. Afid that from a very child {a.-nro /3pi(f>ov<s, from 
 an infant, the youngest period of childhood) thou hnowest 
 the holy Scriptures, which are able to 7nake thee wise unto 
 salvation. This is only a further specification and enhance- 
 ment of the preceding statement, bringing out more dis- 
 tinctly the kind of learning Timothy had received, and 
 from what period it dated. The expression ra Upa. ypapr 
 fiara for the divine word is peculiar, so far as the New 
 Testament is concerned; but it occurs in Philo and Josephus 
 (see in Wetstein), and always in the definite sense, the sacred 
 writings, or the Holy Scriptures, namely, of the Old Testa- 
 ment. Here also, of course, it is Old Testament Scripture 
 that is meant. And the things contained in them are 
 represented as still possessed of saving virtue — possessing 
 it even for such a believer as Timothy : which are able i^wa- 
 fieva, the present, not the past, as the olBas, knowest, virtu- 
 ally is) to make thee wise unto salvation — a-o^ia-at ets a-oiTrjpLav 
 (the verb used in this sense also, Septuagint, Ps. xix. 7, cv. 
 22) ; yet not now as apart from the revelation of Christ in 
 the gospel, but through the faith which is in Christ Jesus (or, 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 1 6. 377 
 
 through faith — that, namely, which is in Christ Jesus). When 
 abiUty to such an extent is ascribed to the Old Testament 
 Scriptures, instrumental agency is all that can be meant — 
 available means in regard to salvation when intelligently 
 and faithfully used ; which they can be now only as hand- 
 maids to the faith in Christ — the end to which they all 
 more or less pointed ; not when employed as a barrier to 
 keep men at a distance from Christ, as if they were in 
 themselves God*s perfected revelation. It was necessary 
 that the apostle should thus guard himself in respect to Old 
 Testament Scripture, considering the abuse to which the 
 unbeUeving Jews were ever applying it. But having so 
 guarded himself, he proceeds in the next two verses to give 
 a fuller deliverance of his sentiments respecting the value 
 and importance of sacred Scripture. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. Every scripture \is\ given by inspiration of God, 
 and [z'j-] profitable for teachings etc. ; or. Every scripture^ given 
 by inspiratio7i of God, \is'\ also profitable for teaching, etc. It 
 is now admitted by all competent scholars that either of these 
 translations is grammatically admissible ; no valid objection 
 can be urged against either from the construction. Take 
 the one or the other, and it will be found quite easy to 
 support it by parallel examples ; so that it is from the sub- 
 ject, and the connection in which it stands, that our grounds 
 of preference must be drawn. Indeed, it matters little for 
 the interpretation which we adopt, if the subject itself be 
 rightly determined. What precisely is meant by Trao-a 
 ypa<^77 ? Every scripture, as it must be rendered, since there 
 is no article after Trao-a. Can this, as some would have it, 
 be taken in the sense of scripture, or written production of 
 any sort? If it could, then the nearest adjective (OeoTrvev- 
 o-Tos) should have to be regarded as an attributive of the 
 subject, distinguishing between one kind of writing and 
 another : — Every writing God-inspired — not writings of all 
 sorts, but whatever writing has this origin and character — 
 
378 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 is also profitable, etc. The expression, however, cannot be 
 so taken. The usage is against it. There are as many as 
 fifty passages in the New Testament in which ypa<j)r} occurs ; 
 and in every one of them, whether it has the article or not, 
 — whether, also, it is in the singular or the plural (the 
 singular, besides here, in John xix. 37, 2 Pet. i. 20), — the 
 word has but one meaning : it signifies uniformly sacred 
 Scripture, which virtually determines the meaning here. 
 But the context conclusively fixes it; for there the subject 
 of discourse is not writings generally, but specially the 
 sacred writings — those which Timothy had as a child been 
 instructed in. These alone were in the eye of the apostle 
 ' at the time ; and so the Trao-a ypacfiT], which follows, cannot 
 fairly have any other sense attached to it than that of every 
 part of the previously mentioned whole. He spoke Jirs^ 
 collectively of the Holy Scriptures ; now he speaks individu- 
 ally of the component writings. So Chrysostom : " A//, of 
 what sort ? That of which, says he, I said all holy ; of 
 which he was just declaring that from a mere child thou 
 hast known the Holy Scriptures." 
 
 Holding this, then, to be the subject in hand — Holy 
 Scripture in one and all of its parts — it is plainly of no 
 moment, as regards the substantive import of the passage, 
 whether we say, Every scripture given by inspiration of 
 God is also profitable; or, Every scripture is given by 
 inspiration of God, and is profitable. For in the former 
 the theopneustic or divinely-inspired character is made to 
 extend to every part of the sacred volume as well as in the 
 other. In both, indeed, there is a virtual predication of 
 the divine element ; only, according to the first, the quality 
 is assumed under a specific attribute or title, stamped, as it 
 were, on the formal character of the writings ; while, ac- 
 cording to the second, it is directly affirmed of them. 
 That is really the whole amount of the difference when you 
 limit the reference in ypacf>rj to sacred Scripture alone, and 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. l6. 379 
 
 make the attribute of divine inspiration associated with it 
 , co-extensive with each and all of the component parts of 
 [Scripture. For in that case the expression, Every scripture 
 given by inspiration of God, is equivalent to, Every scrip- 
 ture being given by inspiration of God ; which, as already 
 said, is a predicate in the form of an assumption. Such, 
 precisely, is the way Origen explains, who is commonly re- 
 presented as denying the predicative force of the Oeoirvev- 
 (TTo? here. He says : " Let it be to us according to our 
 faith, whereby we have trusted, that every scripture, being 
 God-inspired {OeoTTveva-TO's ovaa), is profitable. For one alter- 
 native you must admit regarding those scriptures — either 
 that they were not God-inspired, since they are not profit- 
 able ; or that, since they are profitable, they are God-in- 
 spired" {Op. vol. ii. p. 443, ed. De Larue). Clearly, there- 
 fore, Origen attached a predicative force to the ^eoTn/evcrro? ; 
 not less (only with a slight difference in the mode of exhibi- 
 tion) than Chrysostom, when, after explaining the " every 
 scripture " here to be inclusive of ail the sacred writings, he 
 adds : " The whole of this, therefore, is divinely inspired ; 
 doubt not, then," says he — namely, as to the truly divine 
 character of Scripture — " in every part it is of God." 
 
 Since nothing, then, as to the import of the passage de- 
 pends on the mode of construing it, the only question 
 touching the construction is, which of the two modes seems 
 the more natural. Was it more likely that St. Paul would 
 seek to confirm the soul of Timothy in his early-imbibed 
 regard to Scripture, and appreciation of its value, by directly 
 asserting the divinely-inspired character of each of its parts, 
 and then indicating what, as possessing such a character, 
 were the important uses which it was calculated to serve ? 
 or that, on the assumption of its divinely-inspired character, 
 he should simply point attention to those various uses ? I 
 cannot but think (after all that Huther, Ellicott, Alford, and 
 others have advanced on the other side) that the former 
 
380 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 was the more natural. The inspired character of particular 
 portions of Old Testament Scripture, it is alleged, was 
 not then called in question by those who acknowledged an 
 inspired element in any. But are we sufficiently acquainted 
 with all the phases of opinion then afloat, to be sure that 
 such was the case ? No one can be sure ; and besides, 
 Timothy was coming into contact with modes of thought 
 which set light by the very heart and substance of the Old 
 Testament revelations. Even apart from such things, might 
 not Timothy himself — not the less, one might almost say 
 all the more, that he had been familiar with the Scriptures 
 from his very childhood — be the better for having his mind 
 thus arrested on the higher element in their composition ? 
 Would it not serve to bind him the more closely to them, 
 and render him disposed to apply them to the uses for 
 which they were designed ? Surely, if it was not unneces- 
 sary or out of place to press on him such simple exhorta- 
 tions as to remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, 
 was raised from the dead, and that St. Paul was a minister 
 of His truth and an apostle to the Gentiles, it could not 
 be superfluous to impress upon him a sense of the divine 
 character of Old Testament Scripture. And then, as to 
 the objection that on this view "the K;at, being copulative, 
 would seem to associate two predications, — one relating to 
 the essential character of Scripture, the other to its practical 
 applicabilities, which appear scarcely homogeneous " (Elli- 
 cott), — the simple reply is, that according to the structure of 
 the passage, the koX is to be taken as /cat consecutivum, pre- 
 senting what follows as a consequence growing out of what 
 precedes (Winer, Gr. liii. 3) : — Every scripture is given by 
 inspiration of God, and hence is profitable \ because it is 
 that, then, as a matter of course, it is also this. The ancient 
 versions, it may be added, omitted the koL. Thus the Vul- 
 gate : Omnis scriptura divinitus inspirata utilis est ; so also 
 the Syriac ; and both Origen and his Latin translator, in 
 
2 TIMOTHY III. 17. 383 
 
 the passage formerly referred to. But this probably i-when 
 from a desire merely to evade what was felt to have id 
 measure of difficulty in it — they thought it enough to give 
 the substance. 
 
 In regard to the subject itself of the inspiration of Scrip- 
 ture, the field is too wide and varied for discussion here. 
 I simply refer to my article on the subject in the /w/. 
 ^id/e Dictionary, and the works noticed there. The quality 
 expressed by ^eoTrvcvcrros is primarily and strictly applicable 
 only to men, employed as the instruments of the Spirit in 
 making known His will to the world, writing as they were 
 guided, or speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 
 (2 Pet. i. 21). But it is in accordance with common usage 
 to apply the same epithet to the words or writings that 
 came from them under such an influence : the product of 
 divine inspiration, they might justly enough be said to be 
 themselves inspired. 
 
 The things mentioned in connection with the profitable- 
 ness of Old Testament Scripture call for no special illustra- 
 tion : it is profitable for instruction (SiSao-KaAtav, or teaching 
 in the things of God)^ for conviction (or reproof, iX€.y}i6v),for 
 correction, for discipline (TratSetW, see at chap. ii. 25, Tit. 
 ii. 12) in righteousness ; that is, for such a moral training as 
 will lead those who submit to it to live in righteousness. 
 /All this, be it observed, is affirmed of the Old Testament . 
 ('Scriptures, even after the fuller light of the gospel had i' 
 come. They have such uses still to fulfil to the church of j 
 \christ. 
 
 Ver. 17. Then follows the practical aim and result of 
 this profitableness, when turned to proper account : in order 
 that the man of God may be perfect (aprto?, aptus in officio^ \. 
 Bengel ; every way complete), thoroughly furnished for every 
 good work. This explains more fully what is meant by 
 a/3Tto9 — denoting one who, by the study of the Scripture, 
 and the intimate acquaintance thereby obtained with the 
 
38o 
 
 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 "^^s ij and Spirit of God, is well equipped for every good 
 ^^ork to which he may be called. The minister of God's 
 word should be this in a pre-eminent sense ; what should 
 be found generally in such as can be called men of God, 
 should be found more especially in him. And we can 
 scarcely doubt the apostle had persons of that class pecu- 
 liarly in view : in an emphatic sense, they are men of God ; 
 but the expression is not to be limited to such — it must be 
 extended in a measure to all true believers in Christ (see at 
 I Tim. vi. ii). 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ver. I. / solemnly charge thee before God, and Christ 
 Jesus, who is going to judge living and dead, a?id by His 
 appearing and His kingdom. (On the SiajxapTvpofjiaL, see 
 at I Tim. v. 21. Here, as there, the correct reading is 
 undoubtedly, " before God and Christ Jesus " — the received 
 text inserting on very slender authority (only K, L, Syr.), 
 Tov KvpLov before Xpia-Tov. It also inserts, on equally poor 
 authority, ovv eyco after hafxapT.; but the best mss. omit them, 
 J<, A, C, D, F, L, also the Latin and Syriac versions.) This 
 is, so to speak, the apostle's last charge to Timothy — the 
 last in this epistle, and not improbably the last absolutely ; 
 and he therefore puts it in the most solemn form, not only 
 delivering it as in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, 
 but also the appearing of Christ (r-^v iincfidveiav, the usual 
 accusative after verbs of religiously charging or adjuring, — 
 Deut. iv. 26; Mark v. 7 ; Acts xix. 13; i Thess. v. 27, — 
 and requiring by to be prefixed in our idiom ; as also the 
 Lat. Vulg., per adventum ejus) and His kingdom. These 
 are obviously added for the purpose of bringing before 
 Timothy the great realities of the future world, which should 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 2. 383 
 
 infinitely outweigh all the present : Christ's appearing, when 
 everything in the past shall be brought into judgment, and 
 His kingdom, when His faithful servants shall reign with 
 Him in glory. Our translators have been quite misled here 
 by the Kara, which in the received text stands before rrjv 
 iTn<f)dv€Lav, but which is omitted by 5^, A, C, D, F, also by 
 the Vulg. (according to the better copies) and Copt, ver- 
 sions, and is rejected by all the leading critical authorities. 
 
 Ver. 2. Here follow, in a series of imperative sentences, 
 the several things which Timothy was taken bound to do ; 
 the imperatives all in the aorist, as noted by Ellicott, indi- 
 cating rapidity of action, or the vivid nature of the address 
 (Winer, Gr. § 43, 3, a). Preach the word — the word of God 
 generally, no doubt, but that word more especially as con- 
 nected with the realities, obligations, and hopes of the 
 gospel. Be instant (eTricrrry^t, lit. stand by, or near ; and 
 when used here in a moral sense, with reference, no doubt, 
 mainly to what goes before, — the preaching of the word, 
 implying an ever wakeful, ready attitude : be at it) in 
 season^ out of season — that is, at all times ; for what may 
 seem to the careless or lukewarm unseasonable occasions 
 for making mention of the truth, will often by the zealous 
 and faithful pastor be found opportunities of usefulness. 
 It means, says Chyrsostom, " Have no definite time ; let it 
 be always time for thee : not in peace alone, or in quietness, 
 or when sitting in the church. And if you should be in 
 perils, if in prison, if compassed about with chains, if even 
 going forth to death, at that very time convince, withhold 
 not the word of rebuke. For then even rebuking is in 
 season, when the work meets with success," Truly and 
 beautifully said, only somewhat too exclusively with reference 
 to the circumstances of the pastor ; for, as Calvin remarks, 
 the reference should also be made to the people. " To the 
 pastor, indeed, lest he should give himself to the function 
 of teaching only at his own times, and when it suits his 
 
384 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 own convenience; but let him apply himself, sparing no 
 labour and trouble. As regards the people, there is this 
 importunate diligence, when they are entreated though in 
 a state of slumber, when the hand is laid upon them while 
 they are hurrying elsewhere, when they are chid as to the 
 vain occupations of the world." Then, as required by the 
 various conditions of those addressed, a corresponding 
 variety in the mode of address is enjoined : reprove, exhort, 
 rebuke, in all long-sufferiiig a?id teaching — hha^^Q, which 
 occurs only here and in Tit. i. 9, of the Pastoral epistles, 
 while StSacrKoXta is of pretty frequent occurrence : the for- 
 mer having respect mainly to the work or mode of teaching ; 
 the latter to the thing taught — the instruction. This con- 
 cluding part of the charge clearly implies that in his mini- 
 sterial vocation Timothy should have to lay his account 
 with much in the condition of those he had to deal with 
 that would try his patience, and call for earnest pleading 
 and remonstrance. Instead of listening with attentive ears 
 and willing hearts to the gospel message, ready to hail what 
 it taught, and comply with its requirements of duty, the 
 corrupt tendencies of nature, the sluggishness of the flesh, 
 the love of ease and the world, would present to his efforts 
 too often a resisting medium, which would call for some- 
 thing else than soft and honeyed words — what might rather 
 be likened to a sharp and two-edged sword. All faithful 
 ministers must lay their account to a measure of the same, 
 and must consequently know how to reprove and admonish 
 as well as to win, to exhort as well as encourage. But 
 it is of unspeakable importance for the success of their 
 mission, that, when those severer methods have to be 
 resorted to, all should be done in a gentle and patient 
 spirit, or, as it is here, in every kind of long-suffering and 
 teaching, continuing at the work in a forbearing, steady, 
 peaceful manner, if haply the truth may thus find its way 
 into the heart, and bring the stubborn will into captivity to 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 3. 385 
 
 the obedience of Christ. The more any one can carry on 
 his ministerial work in such a spirit, the more is the con- 
 viction hkely to take hold of his hearers that he really seeks 
 their good, and that it will be well for them to listen to his 
 counsels ; whereas, if he should but mock their follies, 
 fiercely denounce their sins, or flare up in passion at their 
 opposition to the calls addressed to them, it is next to 
 certain that no progress will be made — a prejudice rather 
 will be created against the work of the ministry. He must 
 act, as Chrysostom says again well, " not as one provoked, 
 not as inflamed with hatred, not as insulting or as having 
 found an enemy : let all such things be absent. But what ? 
 As one who loves and condoles, as sorrowing even more 
 than the other, and grieved at the things which concern 
 him." 
 
 Ver. 3. The earnestness and fidelity thus recommended, 
 with all possible gentleness and patient industry in the 
 application, is now enforced by a reference to the foreseen 
 tendencies of the future : J^or there shall be a time when they 
 will not ejidure the healthy instruction (or doctrine — namely, 
 of the gospel), but after their own lusts will heap up to the7?i- 
 selves teachers, having itching ears — ears, that is, which were 
 always pricking with an uneasy desire for what would gratify 
 the taste of a carnal, self-willed heart. The evil is drawn 
 in very striking colours, especially considering that it is of 
 persons still professedly within the pale of the Christian 
 church that the apostle speaks. But the delineation is 
 otherwise indefinite ; he merely says there will be a time 
 or season when such things shall happen, and urges the 
 prosecution of ministerial work after the style and character 
 he has described, as the only means of postponing its 
 arrival. In the spirit of prophecy he knew it would come ; 
 it was but one of the phases of corruption and backsliding 
 which were to characterize the last days. And we who now 
 live in this advanced period of them, have no difficulty in 
 
 2 B 
 
386 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 pointing to facts which amply corroborate the apostle's 
 forebodings; not only in these later times of discord and 
 disunion in Protestant Christendom, but even greatly 
 more in those ancient and so-called halcyon times, when 
 the visible church was still in a manner one. For no one 
 who has read with any degree of impartiality the history of 
 those times, and with discernment to understand the lessons 
 it teaches, can be ignorant that the falling away from sound 
 apostolic doctrine, and sliding into the asceticism, the legal- 
 ism, the endless mummeries and superstitions, which became 
 consohdated into mediaeval and Romish Christianity, grew 
 up precisely in the manner here indicated. Men came over 
 into the church from the ranks of heathen superstition and 
 Gentile philosophy, bringing along with them many false 
 notions and degrading practices which should have been 
 left behind; and the teachers of the church, unwisely ac- 
 commodating themselves to these, preached so as to gratify 
 the itching ears they should have reproved, and kept back 
 the pure word which would have checked the influx of 
 evil. Accordingly, the more the church grew as an out- 
 ward institution, — growing in that respect, indeed, far too 
 rapidly, — the fewer always became the number who would 
 endure sound doctrine, till they were found only in holes 
 and corners, or, when occasionally occupying more con- 
 spicuous places, it was at the hazard of their lives. There 
 is enough of this itching after false doctrine in the scattered 
 communities of Protestantism to humble and sadden any 
 Christian heart; the signs of the times give no doubtful 
 indication of even more yet to come ; but it is in the bosom 
 of the great apostasy that the most marked and mournful 
 exemplification of the apostle's prediction is to be met 
 with. 
 
 Ver. 4. And so is it also in regard to the further state- 
 ment concerning the errorists in question made in this verse : 
 and they will turn away their ears (lit. their hearing) frofu 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 5. 387 
 
 the truth, but be turned aside to fables. We can scarcely 
 believe, with Ellicott, that this indicates as the result " a 
 complete turning away from every doctrine of Christian 
 truth ; " for if such were the result, there would necessarily 
 be an abandonment of the Christian profession — a going 
 over to the ranks of unbelief But it is rather a deprava- 
 tion within the professing church that the apostle appears 
 to be speaking of, than a formal forsaking of its communion 
 — such a depravation as would disincline the minds of men 
 to sound doctrine ; consequently such a turning away from 
 the truth as would cause this to lose its proper character, 
 and by mixing it up with error and fable, would prevent it 
 from effecting its proper aim upon the heart and conduct. 
 Even the Gnostic sects, who shortly became so prominent 
 in this line of things, did not go further than has just been 
 stated — they still retained many Christian elements in their 
 systems ; but these did not save their doctrine from being 
 justly denounced as a corruption of the truth, and held as 
 a whole to be essentially antichristian. In a modified 
 sense, the same may be said of the false worship and dis- 
 cipline which now bears the name of Popery : it undoubt- 
 edly has many Christian elements in it ; but these are so 
 intermingled with error, that the system as a whole is a 
 grievous departure from the truth of Christ. And how 
 large a part fable played in accomplishing that departure, — 
 tales of lying wonders concerning reputed saints and their 
 adversaries in this world and the next, — no one acquainted 
 with the history of the subject, and even with the present 
 state of Catholic belief, can need to be told. The modern 
 tendency in Protestant countries, even when turning away 
 the ear from the truth, can scarcely be said to take this 
 particular direction ; the substitute is not fables, but rather 
 science falsely so called — science, not in its ascertained 
 results, but in its speculative processes and rash deductions. 
 Ver. 5. But watch thou in all things ; endure hardship; 
 
:^8S THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 do the work of an evangelist; fully perfoi'm thy ministry. It 
 is as much as to say : Whatever others may do, and whether 
 men will hear, or whether they will forbear, this is what 
 thou must do. First, watch^ vr](f>€, or be sober, in all thifigs. 
 The being sober is the primary meaning of the word — sober 
 in the literal sense ; but when used metaphorically, as it is 
 here, it. denotes more than we commonly understand by 
 being sober — a vigilant, wakeful, considerate frame of mind, 
 which takes good heed to what is proceeding around, and 
 with calm and steady aim pursues its course. It is an ex- 
 hortation to maintain the clear perception and even balance 
 of the mind, so as not to be entrapped by false appearances, 
 or by undue excitement turned aside from the onward path 
 of truth and duty. Suffer hardship, or tribulation, in respect 
 to which the apostle had already referred to himself as an 
 example (chap. ii. 9). In such times Timothy would plainly 
 be required to show that he had somewhat of the same 
 resolute and hardy spirit. Do the work of an eva^igelist — 
 much the same as a preacher or missionary of the gospel, 
 a carrier of its good tidings, without, as in the case of a 
 pastor, being fixed to any definite locaUty. In the apostolic 
 age, persons recognised as evangelists seem to have occupied 
 a position between apostles and pastors (Eph. iv. 11), and 
 to have stood in a certain relation to the former with regard 
 to the diffusion of the gospel and the planting of churches. 
 In some respects, therefore, " they were nearest to the 
 apostles, and had an office cognate to these ; in respect to 
 dignity alone they were inferior. For at the command of 
 the apostles [sometmies, indeed, without this ; Acts viii. 
 '5, 40] they went forth to various churches in order to 
 preach the gospel, and to perfect the work which had been 
 begun by the apostles " (Suicer). Or it might be in the 
 inverse order, the apostles came to perfect what the evan- 
 gehsts had begun ; for the relations so far do not seem to 
 have been exactly determined. Fully perforin thy ministry, 
 
2 TIxMOTHY IV. 6. 389 
 
 "^Xrjpocfioprja-av — not, as in the Authorized Version, after 
 Beza, "make full proof of;" but as the Vulg. minister iiun 
 tiium imple — fill it up, perform it fully, or make it, as far as 
 you can, a complete and effective service. 
 
 Ver. 6. The course of active, faithful, devoted labour in 
 the work .of the ministry thus enjoined upon Timothy is 
 now enforced by a reference to the apostle's own case, his 
 approaching departure from the field, coupled with a brief 
 retrospect of the manner in which he had fulfilled his calling, 
 and the prospect that lay before him of the coming recom- 
 pense. Commentators have traced the connection variously 
 — some laying stress on one point, some on another. I 
 agree with Alford, that there appears no propriety in con- 
 fining it to any one ; and it may well be put, as he does it, 
 so as to include several weighty considerations : " I am no 
 longer here to withstand those things : be thou a worthy 
 successor of me, no longer depending on, but carrying out 
 for thyself, my directions ; follow my steps, inherit their 
 result, and the honour of their end." 
 
 For I (iyo) yap — emphatic with respect to the thou, av, 
 in the preceding verse) am already bei?ig offered — •^Sr/ o-TreV- 
 Sofxai, already poured out as a drink-offering. He contem- 
 plates himself in the light of a sacrifice, yielding up his Hfe 
 for the cause of the gospel — a sacrifice which might be said 
 to have already begun in the sufferings of a preliminary 
 kind he was called to endure ; and the drink-offering, or 
 libation, was thought of as the special kind of sacrifice 
 under which he presented the surrender, because of the 
 resemblance it would be seen to carry to the shedding of 
 his blood. This is so much the most natural explanation 
 of the reference, that it is not worth while noticing any 
 other. The same thought, and expressed in the same 
 language, was employed at an earlier period by the apostle, 
 in Phil. ii. 17. But in the following clause he gives it 
 without a figure : and the time of my departure is at hand — 
 
390 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 departure, namely, from life ; without reference, as some 
 would have it, to leaving the sacrificial feast with a libation, 
 or, as others, to withdrawal from the battle-field. Such 
 allusions are too far-fetched, and instead of adding to the 
 beautiful simplicity and force of the language, tend rather 
 to spoil it. From what he had already seen in the treat- 
 ment of his case, and the obvious temper of those he had 
 to deal with, he was convinced that the final stage was 
 approaching. 
 
 Ver. 7. / have fought the good fight — or more exactly, as 
 at I Tim. vi. 12, though one is unwilHng to alter such 
 familiar words, I have maintained the good contest — rov koXov 
 dycuva T^ywi/tc/iat — referring to the contest for the mastery in 
 the public games ; and the perfect tense having here its full 
 significance, for the contest was now in a manner over : 
 he could look back on it as a thing of the past. And why 
 does he speak of having maintained the good contest ? 
 " It is (says Chrysostom beautifully) as if a father should 
 console his little son seated beside him, and unable to bear 
 the bereavement, saying : My son, weep not ; we lived 
 honourably, and having come to old age we left you ; our 
 life has been blameless, we depart with glory ; you can also 
 acquire honour from the things that have been done by us." 
 And why emphatically the good contest ? Let Chrysos- 
 tom again answer : " Nothiiig better than this contest ; this 
 crown takes no end. It is not a thing of wild olives ; it 
 has not a man for presiding arbiter, nor has it men for 
 spectators [of the contest] ; the theatre is replenished with 
 angels. There they labour for many days, and are fatigued, 
 and in a single hour they receive the crown, and the pleasure 
 presently is gone. But hei'e it is not so ; for they are always 
 in brightness, in glory and honour." / have finished the 
 course — the race being the contest which here, as elsewhere 
 (Phil. iii. 12 ; I Cor. ix. 24; Heb. xii. i), presented itself 
 to the apostle's mind as the fittest of the Grecian games to 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 8. 39 1 
 
 symbolize the Christian struggle ; so that to finish the 
 course, only expresses in a more specific form the thought 
 contained in the preceding clause. / have kept the faith — 
 that, namely, which had been entrusted to him as a sacred 
 deposit — faith objectively, as the great treasure of gospel 
 verities. As to meaning, it. is much the same thing over 
 again : the apostle, as Bengel notes, having expressed the 
 matter twice by metaphor, now gives utterance to it in 
 direct speech. Through all trial, and mockery, and perse- 
 cution, and suffering, he had held fast by the saving truths 
 which he received by special revelation from above, and 
 which as a chosen vessel he was sent forth to declare to a 
 perishing world (Gal. i. 12 ; Acts ix. 15). In doing this he 
 maintained the good contest, and finished the course. 
 
 Ver. 8. Henceforth (Xolttov, quod reliqimm est, Beza) there 
 is laid up (or aside, dTroKecrat, reserved) for me the crown of 
 righteousness ; not a crown merely, but the crown — that 
 which is associated with righteousness, either as its proper 
 object or its destined possession. A return is made to the 
 figure of the contest ; and as the victor in each particular 
 species of game — wrestling, running, etc. — got the crown 
 appropriated to it, so the apostle designates his reward as 
 the crown of righteousness : therefore the righteous crown, 
 or the crown which by divine appointment belongs to it, 
 which is (prospectively) its own. In plain words, it is that 
 kind and measure of bliss which the wrestler in righteous- 
 ness alone is either entitled or prepared to enjoy — the 
 destiny, as it is put in Rev. iii. 21, to share in Christ's 
 throne, as having previously shared in His triumph over sin. 
 It is reserved, therefore, till this triumph is completed ; and 
 then, in that day, the terminating point of the believer's 
 struggles and exertions, it shall be aivarded by the Lord as 
 the judge — the righteous judge or arbiter of the contest. 
 Considered in the light of a recompense, the future inherit- 
 ance of bliss and glory is fitly connected with the Lord's 
 
392 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 righteousness or justice — as it is also elsewhere (2 Cor. v. 
 10; Rom. iii. 6; Eph. vi. 8, etc.) — because the bestowal of 
 it shall be in accordance with the just and holy principles 
 on which the divine government is conducted toward men. 
 Yet grace is not hereby superseded or made of no account. 
 On the contrary, it is regarded as the basis on which the 
 whole administration of reward proceeds in the kingdom of 
 Christ. It is an economical arrangement, made by God in 
 Christ for carrying out the purposes of His salvation ; but 
 as the salvation itself, so the bestowal of reward connected 
 with it, is all of grace — to be thankfully received, but never 
 to be claimed as a debt. For without the Spirit of grace 
 working both to will and to do in them that believe, there 
 could be neither righteousness nor reward ; and so, while 
 those who, as partakers of grace, have faithfully done their 
 part here, shall all, like the apostle, in the great day receive 
 their crowns from the Lord, they shall again lay them at 
 His feet, in lowly and grateful acknowledgment of the 
 source whence they have been derived, ascribing to Him, 
 as alone worthy, the honour and the glory (Rev. iv. 10, 
 V. 9, io).i 
 
 The apostle gracefully concludes by noticing this par- 
 ticipation of others with him in the anticipated good : the 
 crown which the Lord the righteous judge shall award, he 
 says, not only to me^ indeed^ but to all those that love His 
 appearing — rjyaTrrjKocrLV rrjv irncfxiveiav avrov, the second 
 appearing, doubtless, as the connection requires ; and the 
 action of the loving being put in the perfect, betokens it as 
 a thing commenced in the past, but continuing on till the 
 proper completion is reached : who have fixed their love on 
 His appearing, and so still love (Winer, Gr. § xl. 4, b). A 
 remarkable characteristic ! How rarely is it possessed by 
 behevers as it ought to be ! If they might justly be repre- 
 sented as loving Christ, yet how seldom should we think of 
 ^ Comp. Delitzsch on Heb. vi. 10. 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 9, lO. 393 
 
 describing them as loving precisely His appear'mg — when 
 He shall come to wind up the affairs of His administration, 
 and distribute to every one as his case may be ! To love 
 Him in this particular aspect bespeaks not only faith, but 
 such a full assurance of faith and hope in Him as casts 
 out fear, and carries with it the confidence that, when He 
 appears, w^e shall also appear with Him in glory. Why 
 should the followers of Christ fail of this peaceful and 
 loving anticipation, when even Old Testament believers 
 hailed the prospect of the Lord's appearing to judgment 
 with songs of joy and hope ? (Ps. xcvi. ii, 13, xcviii. 9.) 
 
 Ver. 9. From here to the end of the chapter a few notices 
 are given by the apostle of his own condition and prospects, 
 also of some of his companions in the gospel, with the free 
 expression of his feelings and desires in respect to them. 
 Do thy endeavour to come to me quickly. An earnest desire 
 had already been expressed for Timothy's coming (chap. i. 
 4), and now there is the command to hasten it forward : 
 oTTTOTjSao-ov, do it promptly and diligently, lose no time 
 about it. The apostle seemed to have no doubt whatever 
 in his mind as to Timothy's willingness to come : he could 
 thoroughly count on his affectionate fidelity, even while 
 others were falling away from him ; which surely implies 
 that nothing had yet occurred to shake the apostle's confi- 
 dence in the hearty and stedfast devotedness of his disciple. 
 V Ver. 10. The reason follows why he would have Timothy 
 to make such haste to come to him : he now peculiarly 
 needed his sympathy and support. For Demas forsook me, 
 having loved this present world — dyaTrrJo-as, the participle as 
 expressive of the cause = because he loved, or, through his 
 love of, the present world. There can be no doubt, there- 
 fore, that this withdrawal of Demas was the result of carnal 
 influences, and was regarded by the apostle in the circum- 
 stances as a dereliction of duty — a kind of desertion of his 
 post. It must have been all the more painful to Paul, as 
 
394 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Demas had formerly stood near to him, and had once and 
 again been mentioned with honour among his fellow-workers 
 (Col. iv. 14 ; Philem. 24). Yet we should perhaps press 
 what is said here too far, if we inferred from it that Demas 
 had made total shipwreck of the faith in Christ. His 
 unworthy conduct at this time may have been the temporary 
 result of the violent measures which in the last mad days of 
 Nero had begun to be taken against Christians at Rome. 
 Demas was meanwhile alarmed at these, and under servile 
 fear withdrew to a safer region : he is gone (says the apostle) 
 to Thessalonica. But with what view we are not informed. 
 It may have been, as Chrysostom states, his home ; or it 
 may have been to do some ministerial work, where it could 
 be done with less risk; or, finally, to look after some 
 worldly interest. The stress laid by the apostle on his love 
 to the present world, renders the last supposition fully the 
 most probable. And in that painful uncertainty as to his 
 real state and future career, the notices we have respecting 
 him leave us ; and to make positive affirmations, either on 
 the favourable or on the unfavourable side, is unwarrantable. 
 Cresceiis \is gone\ to Gaiil^ Titus to Dalmatia — the 
 latter a part of the province of Illyricum, on the eastern 
 side of the Adriatic coast. Why these brethren left is not 
 stated. They are not included in the blame associated 
 with the name of Demas, yet we cannot say with Theodoret 
 
 ^ This is the reading of X, C, lU TccXXixv, also 23, 31, 72, 73, 80, 
 several Latin codices, and has the distinct testimony of Euseb, Jlist. iii, 
 4, Epiph. H. S^' Tisch. adopts it in his eighth edition. Even if Galatia 
 were retained in the text, as it undoubtedly is in the larger number of 
 authorities, vi^e should probably have to understand by it Gaul, as 
 Theodoretexpressly states : us TaXxriav' rug FaXX/aj ovras ixdXitn — 
 adding that the ancients were wont so to call it. So, for example, 
 Plutarch, Ca:s. c. 20 ; Polybius, iii. 77, 87. Coupled with Thessalonica 
 on the one side, and Dalmatia on the other, it is more likely that Gaul 
 was meant by the word (whichever form was used) than the province in 
 Asia Minor, 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. II. 395 
 
 that they were absohitely free from blame, and that they 
 were sent into those regions to preach the gospel. The 
 probabihty is, that they did go with this design ; but the 
 language of the apostle implies that they went of their own 
 accord, not that they were sent by him. Of Crescens no 
 mention is made elsewhere, nor have we any reliable tradi- 
 tions of him. 
 
 Ver. II. Luke alone is with me — the beloved physician, 
 as he is called in Col. iv. 14; there also, and in Philem. 24, 
 coupled with Demas in salutations — but now different in the 
 relations they now occupy ! All the names mentioned in 
 the passage of Philemon referred to again recur here, except 
 that of Aristarchus. De Wette asks what has become of it? 
 and Alford justly repHes, that while we have no means of 
 answering the question, "a forger, such as De Wette sup- 
 poses the writer of this epistle to be, would have taken good 
 care to account for him." 
 
 Mark take up (dvaXa/3wj/, here, the literal sense the best, 
 implying that he was to be picked up on the way), and bring 
 with thee ; for he is serviceable to me for the ministry. There 
 can be no reasonable doubt that the Mark here is John 
 Mark, the evangelist, who caused the unfortunate split 
 between Paul and Barnabas (Acts xv. 36-41), but who at 
 a later period became reconciled to the apostle, and was 
 in close fellowship with him (Col. iv. 10). By being service- 
 able for the nmiistry — ets StaKovcav — cannot be understood 
 otherwise, when spoken in this absolute manner, than of 
 the ministry of the gospel. There is a similar omission of 
 the article at i Tim. i. 12, where, beyond doubt, it is 
 that kind of ministration which is meant. Mark, probably, 
 had been more at Rome than most of the other evangelists 
 known to Paul, and was hence better acquainted both with 
 the language (whence not a few Latin words have crept 
 into his Gospel) and the manners of the place. If so, the 
 apostle might see his peculiar adaptation for evangelistic 
 
39^ THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 work there, and naturally wish to have him again employed 
 in it. 
 
 Ver. 12. But Ty chic us I sent to Ephesiis — not and I did 
 so, for in the 8e there is plainly a certain adversative mean- 
 ing, though it may be regarded as of the slighter kind. If 
 connected with what immediately precedes, it may have 
 respect to a thought not unlikely to arise in the mind of 
 Timothy when asked to bring Mark with him : Haven't you 
 Tychicus ? But I had occasion to despatch him to Ephesus 
 — for what specific purpose is not said. There must have 
 been some urgent business to attend to when he was sent 
 at such a time ; and it seems to imply that Timothy himself 
 was not now there. He appears to have been also sent, 
 during Paul's first imprisonment, with special greetings and 
 friendly communications to Ephesus and Colosse (Eph. vi. 
 21 ; Col. iv. 7). 
 
 Ver. 13. The cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus^ 
 bring when thou coinest^ and the books ^ especially the parch- 
 ments. It would seem from this that Timothy was still 
 somewhere in Asia Minor ; if he had indeed left Ephesus, 
 he could not have been very far from it, as Troas lay on his 
 way. The kind of cloak mentioned — ^cAovt/v, IjdXvci, penu- 
 lam — was a long thick cloak, understood to be without 
 sleeves, enwrapping the whole body. The derivation is not 
 quite certain (see in Ellicott). As to the reason for wishing 
 such a cloak, there is no need for looking further than the 
 mention of approaching winter in ver. 21. If his destina- 
 tion to suffer martyrdom should anyhow be postponed till 
 that season, he would need the garment to protect him 
 from the cold. The books^ as contradistinguished from the 
 parchments^ were probably written on papyrus, and less 
 valuable than those written on the more costly and endur- 
 ing material. Hence a request that the latter especially be 
 brought. But what respectively might be their nature and 
 contents cannot be known, further than that, being urgently 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 1 4. 397 
 
 sought at such a moment, they must have related to things 
 of highest interest — if not Scripture itself, writings more or 
 less bearing on its revelations of truth and duty. When the 
 articles had been left by Paul at Troas we know not ; but, 
 as noticed in the Introduction, it could scarcely be on the 
 occasion noticed in Acts xx. 6, which belonged to a period 
 about six years earlier. From the passing nature of the 
 reference, and the things themselves which were left, the 
 probability is, that the leaving of them behind was compa- 
 ratively recent. 
 
 \J Ver. 14. Alexander the coppersmith (or, simply smith; for 
 latterly ^aXK€v% came to signify a worker in metals of any 
 sort, and particularly in iron, as being the most frequently 
 used) did me much evil — eveSet^aro, exhibited it, but which is 
 all one with doing it. Where he did it, however, is not 
 said ; nor how^ though the language seems to betoken out- 
 ward, active malignity. He may have been the same Alex- 
 ander who is mentioned along with Hymenaeus in i Tim. i. 
 20 ; but it is just as probable that he was not ; and possibly 
 the more precise designation here of the person by his trade 
 may have been meant to distinguish him from the other. 
 The Lord will requite hijii according to his works — d-TroSwo-et 
 seems clearly the correct reading (being that of t^. A, C, D, 
 F, also the Vulg., Cop., Syriac versions, Chrysostom, Theo- 
 doret ; while the airo^i^y] of the received text has the sup- 
 port only of K, L, at first hand, and of many cursives). The 
 future, as compared with the optative, may be called popu- 
 larly the milder sense ; and Theodoret seems to lay some 
 stress on so explaining: "It is a prediction, not an impreca- 
 tion ; and it was given forth for the purpose of consoling 
 the blessed Timothy, and teaching him not to be discon- 
 certed by the assaults of the adversaries." In a theological 
 respect, however, there is no material difference ; and if the 
 optative were the correct reading, no one need stumble at 
 it. For, surely, what it is perceived God is going to do, a 
 
398 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 believer, an apostle, nay, even the purest of angelic natures, 
 may fitly desire to see accomplished. "Thy will be done" is 
 the prayer of all saints, alike in heaven and on earth ; only, 
 when the thing to be done is the execution of deserved 
 judgment upon the wicked, the difficulty is to breathe the 
 prayer without any intermixture of wrathful feeling — with 
 nothing but a pure and simple regard to the glory of God 
 and the interests of righteousness. This may, however, be 
 done even on earth by the ripened Christian, such as the 
 apostle, who might now be said almost to stand midway 
 between earth and heaven. From what he had seen in the 
 behaviour and suffered at the hands of Alexander, he had 
 come to understand that it was meet this man should, in 
 some marked way, receive the due recompense of his mis- 
 deeds : the cause of the gospel required it — why should not 
 God do it, and righteous men desire it to be done? It 
 might be the best thing even for the man himself — possibly 
 the one chance for him of being brought to a better mind ; 
 as many adversaries and persecutors of the truth have been 
 led to see, only when humbled to the dust by chastisement 
 and rebuke, how vain it is to contend with the Almighty. 
 
 Ver. 15. Of whom be thou also on thy guards for he ex- 
 ceedingly withstood our words. That is, he made himself 
 extremely obnoxious as an opponent of the gospel testified 
 and pleaded for by St. Paul ; had shown a bitter and deter- 
 mined spirit of resistance, so that Timothy could have no 
 hope of winning him over, and should only beware of falling 
 into his hands. 
 
 Ver. 16. The apostle now comes to speak of his own 
 case in its judicial aspects : In my first defence^ no one stood 
 forward with me, but all forsook me. What is meant here 
 by his first defence can only be understood of his first 
 appearance before a tribunal at Rome to answer to the 
 charge recently brought against him ; not, as some, of what 
 happened under his first imprisonment. We have spoken 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. I 7. 399 
 
 of the probable nature of this charge in the Introduction. 
 It was, in all likelihood, an indictment against him as the 
 setter forth of a new religion, which was forbidden by the 
 laws of the Empire, though there may possibly have been 
 some other accusations mixed up with it ; so that, even as 
 regards the matter of the indictment, it might have ad- 
 mitted of falling into two separate parts. Or, if the proper 
 charge was only one, the trial may have been distributed 
 into two distinct stages — the one called, according to the 
 Republican practice, the actio^ the other the ampliatio. It is 
 disputed whether this practice still continued in judicial 
 proceedings under the Empire (see Conybeare and Howson, 
 vol. ii. p. 488) ; and our knowledge of the circumstances is 
 too scanty to enable us to speak definitely on such minor 
 points. Evidently, from what the apostle himself says, 
 there was somehow a twofold cause to be adjudicated upon, 
 calling for a double pleading or vindication on his part. 
 He had already passed the first, yet with a saddening im- 
 pression of the forlornness, humanly speaking, of his posi- 
 tion. He had to stand all alone, without a. patron, without 
 an advocate, without even the sympathy and support of 
 trusty and confidential friends, so disreputable and perilous, 
 on grounds of law, seemed to be the cause with which he 
 was identified. The conduct of friends, deserting him in 
 the hour of need, he naturally felt most. Yet he pities 
 rather than condemns them, and he prays for their forgive- 
 ness : May it not be laid to their charge ! He would have 
 it to be reckoned as a proof of weakness, not of false- 
 heartedness. 
 
 Ver. 17. Though alone in one sense, however, the 
 apostle was far from being alone in another : he had 
 better and nobler defences than human advocates or in- 
 tercessors could provide : But the Lord stood by me^ aftd 
 strengthened me — evSwdixoicriv /xe, replenished me with 
 might; that is, inspired him with a holy boldness and 
 
400 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 energy for the occasion. And this, in order that throjigh 
 me the preaching \of the gospel^ might be fully accomplished : 
 TrXrjpocfioprjOfj, not " fully made known," as in the Autho- 
 rized Version, which the word never signifies, but, as at 
 ver. 5, fully accomplished or performed — not left, so to 
 speak, as an imperfect, half-executed work : a?id thai all the 
 Gentiles might hear. This seems strong language to use 
 of a single address of St. Paul, delivered before a judicial 
 tribunal in Rome. It could only have been used by him 
 on the supposition that there was a very great, in some 
 sense a representative, Roman audience present to listen. 
 And the cause, we can easily conceive, did excite a con- 
 siderable interest there, and bring into court a vast assem- 
 blage, partly no doubt composed of Christians and Jews, 
 but still more of the Gentile population of Rome, who 
 usually crowded the Forum. In that case, it was most 
 probably in one of the large Basilicas connected with the 
 Forum, which were capable of accommodating a vast con- 
 course of spectators, that the cause w^as heard. And Paul, 
 seizing the noble opportunity it presented, and specially 
 assisted by divine grace for the occasion, made his defence 
 ■by unfolding the great theme of that gospel which had 
 been committed to him ; proclaimed the wonderful facts 
 of Christ's life, and death, and resurrection, and of the 
 solemn and momentous bearing which these were destined 
 to have on the present well-being and eternal destiny of 
 mankind. Such a vindication of the blessed gospel, and of 
 his own connection with it, in such a place, and to such 
 an audience, he might not unnaturally regard as the cul- 
 mination of his work as an ambassador of Christ to the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 As regards the immediate design of this great effort, it 
 had the desired result, as is here added : And he — that is, 
 the Lord — delivered me out of the mouth of the lion. There 
 can be no doubt it means that he was rescued from the 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 1 8. 40I 
 
 immediate danger that threatened him — got his acquittal 
 on the first count, or in respect to the first stage of the 
 charge brought against him. But when one goes to in- 
 quire what precisely is to be understood by being delivered 
 out of the lion's mouth, a great variety of answers present 
 themselves: Nero, say some (most of the Fathers); the 
 lions in the amphitheatre, others ; others, again, his Jewish 
 accuser (so Wieseler), or the jaws of death {ex proRsenti in- 
 cendio, vel ex faucibus mortis — Calvin, Ellicott); perhaps the 
 farthest-fetched of any of them, and in sense the feeblest, 
 is Alford's, from or "in spite of desertion and discourage- 
 ment." It seems to me that the most natural way is to 
 take the words as an appropriation of figurative language 
 frequently occurring in the Psalms — in those Psalms which 
 describe the experience of the writers in their darkest sea- 
 sons of danger and distress. Lion or lions was the sort of 
 personification under which at such times they often ex- 
 pressed the fierce and remorseless adversaries or crushing 
 calamities that were ready to devour them ; and to be de- 
 livered from the lion's mouth was, in plain terms, to be set 
 in a position of safety (Ps. xxii. 21, xxxv. 17, Ivii. 4, etc.). 
 So here : deliverance from the lion's mouth was simply 
 escape from the complication of adversaries and intriguers 
 that were gnashing, as it were, their teeth at him : for the 
 moment he was free. Nothing, I believe, will ever be 
 gained by pressing the language closer; on the contrary, 
 by doing so we rather impair its force, and get, besides, 
 into a region of uncertainties. 
 
 Ver. 18. From the past the apostle turns to the future, 
 giving expression in this respect also to his filial confidence : 
 The Lord will deliver me fi'om every evil work, and preset've 
 me safe to His heavenly kingdom. The and (kol) with which 
 in the received text this utterance of faith and hope is 
 introduced, is more than doubtful. It is wanting in 
 5^, A, C, D, Vulg., Copt., Arm. versions. The kol appears 
 
 2 c 
 
402 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 only in F, K, L, and is represented in the Syriac versions. 
 While in this reference to the future the apostle uses the 
 same verb as in regard to his late deliverance, he changes 
 the preposition : it was there ipva-aro e/c ; here it is pva-eraL 
 airo, pointing, as Ellicott notes, "more generally to the 
 removal from all the evil efforts that were directed against 
 the apostle, and the evil influences around him — not merely 
 all that threatened him personally, but all that in his per- 
 son thwarted the gospel." Clearly, what he means by 
 deliverance in this connection is a safe issue, as regards all 
 that is really great and important, out of the endless 
 machinations and troubles with which he had to contend 
 here as the servant of Christ in the gospel. He should be 
 so delivered, that none of them would be allowed to bear 
 down his intrepidity, or make him flinch from the path of 
 obedience, so that he should reach in safety the kingdom 
 of everlasting bliss and glory. The expression /Sao-tAeiW 
 rriv iirovpdviov, with respect to Christ's kingdom, is found 
 only here in St. Paul's epistles, and has consequently been 
 deemed un-Vsiuline by the opponents of the genuineness 
 of this epistle. But it is a frivolous objection, as in other 
 places he associates Christ's existence in glory with a 
 present reigning or kingdom (i Cor. xv. 25 ; Eph. i. 20 ; 
 Col. iii. i). 
 
 The passage fitly ends with a doxology : to whojn be glory 
 for the ages of ages — that is, for ever and ever (i Tim. i. 17) 
 — A7?ie7t. The context obliges us to connect this ascrip- 
 tion of divine glory with Christ ; for it was He, doubtless, 
 of whom the apostle spake as standing by him, strengthen- 
 ing and delivering him. 
 
 Ver. 19. Salute Prisca and Aquila — with whom the 
 apostle maintained a long, very endearing, and intimate 
 feUowship (Acts xviii. i ; Rom. xvi. 3, 4, etc.) — and the 
 household of Onesiphor us. See at chap. i. 16. 
 
 Ver. 20. Erastus abode at Corinth^ but Trophimus I left 
 
2 TIMOTHY IV. 21. ' 403 
 
 behind at Miletus sick. It was shown in the Introduction 
 that these notices could not refer to anything recorded in 
 the history of the Acts, and that they must be understood 
 of later, and indeed quite recent events. On his last visit 
 to Asia Minor and Jerusalem, as related in the Acts, Tro- 
 phimus, so far from having been left at Miletus sick, went 
 with Paul to Jerusalem, and his appearance there with the 
 apostle gave occasion to the disturbance and accusation 
 that were raised by the Jews (Acts xx. 4, xxi. 29). 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . Do thy endeavour to come before winter — that is, 
 while still the sea was open for navigation, according to the 
 usages of the time j at the approach of winter, vessels were 
 for the most part laid up till the return of spring (Acts 
 xxvii. 9, 10). Ex die tertio Iduu7n Novembris, usque in 
 diem sextwn Iduwn Martiarum, Maria clauduntur, is a pas- 
 sage quoted by ^Nlr. Smith, from Vegetius, in his Voyage 
 and Shipwreck of St. Paul., p. 45. He has others to the 
 same effect. So that, if Timothy did not reach Rome 
 before winter, his visit would in all probability have to be 
 postponed till the following year; and by that time the 
 apostle should very possibly have finished his course. 
 Eubulus saluteth thee., and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, 
 and all the brethren. The names mentioned here occur 
 nowhere else in New Testament Scripture. Tradition in 
 one form connects with this Linus the first presidency of the 
 church of Rome after the apostles, while another tradition 
 assigns that honour to Clemens. The Pudens and Claudia 
 here associated have been supposed to be the same men- 
 tioned as man and wife in an Epigram of Martial, iv. 13, 
 comp. with xi. 34; and much learned labour has been 
 employed of late to make out the identity. An outline of 
 the discussion may be found in Alford's Prolog, to this 
 epistle — Appendix ; also in Conybeare and Howson, vol. 
 ii. pp. 500-2. But the story is woven together by so many 
 slender threads, and has to be eked out by such a variety 
 
404 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 of hypothetical, sometimes not very probable conjectures, 
 that I confess, with Ellicott, the identification appears to 
 me "very doubtful." 
 
 Ver. 2 2. The Lord be with thy spirit. (This is the short- 
 est and probably the correct reading, that of 5<, F, G ; some 
 authorities add Jesus after Lord, and others Jesus Christ.) 
 Gr(Ke be with you. 
 
 tion 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 APPENDIX A.— Page 119. 
 
 THE PECULIAR TESTIMONY FOR GOSPEL TIMES 1 TIM. 11. 6. 
 
 TO designate the truth that Christ gave Himself a 
 ransom for all, the testimony for its own {i.e. gospel) 
 seasons or times, is so peculiar, and at the same time so 
 important a statement, that some further illustration of it 
 than could fitly be introduced into the text may not be out 
 of place. Indeed, as matters now stand, it calls for vindi- 
 cation as well as for more lengthened exposition. The 
 peculiarity and importance of the statement consist in the 
 singular prominence given, not to the simple fact of the 
 death of Christ, but to that death in the character of a 
 ransom or redemption-price for sinful men — elevating this 
 to the central place in God's scheme as disclosed for gospel 
 times. The death of Christ on the cross as a historical 
 fact is recorded with great fulness by all the evangelists, 
 and is unquestionably the most prominent subject in their 
 respective narratives. But has it there the same doctritial 
 significance as is assigned to it by the apostle ? This is now 
 frequently called in question, and by some the teaching of 
 St. Paul on the subject is expressly affirmed to be out of 
 accord with that of Christ Himself, as reported by His more 
 immediate witnesses. Of the class referred to. Professor 
 Jov/ett may be taken as one of the most eminent represen- 
 tatives. He says : ^ — " It is hard to imagine that there can 
 be any truer expression of the gospel than the words of 
 Christ Himself, or that any truth omitted by Him is essen- 
 ^ Cot?imentary oji St. PauFs Epistles, ii. p. 555. 
 
406 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tial to the gospel. 'The disciple is not above his master, 
 nor the servant greater than his lord.' The philosophy of 
 Plato was not better understood by his followers than by 
 himself; nor can we allow that the gospel is to be inter- 
 preted by the Epistles, or that the Sermon on the Mount 
 is only half Christian, and needs the fuller inspiration or 
 revelation of St. Paul, or the author of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. . . . How strange would it have seemed to the 
 apostle St. Paul, who thought himself unworthy to be called 
 an apostle, because he persecuted the church of God, to 
 find that his own words were preferred in after ages to 
 those of Christ Himself ! " To regard the teaching of the 
 Epistles as an essential part of Christian doctrine, it is again 
 said, " is to rank the authority of the words of Christ below 
 that of apostles and evangelists." 
 
 Now, representations of this sort proceed on the idea 
 that Christ and His apostles stood related to each other 
 just as Plato did to his followers ; that they were alike 
 simply teachers of certain moral or religious truths; and 
 that, of course, the master-mind must have taught in a 
 clearer and nol3ler strain than any who might sit at His 
 feet. But this is not the view of the relation given by the 
 Master Himself — not, at least, in its bearing upon the 
 question at issue. Jesus Christ had not simply a doctrine 
 to teach, but a work to do ; and a work of which His doc- 
 trine in the fuller sense was to be but the proper exposition 
 and the varied application. Hence the promise of the 
 Holy Spirit so largely dwelt upon by Christ before His 
 departure, as requisite to bring His disciples to a full know- 
 ledge and appreciation of the truth concerning Him. The 
 revelation He had given of Himself, therefore, in the 
 Gospels could not by possibility be the whole. The germ 
 of all, indeed, was there, but not its development into a 
 comprehensive scheme of truth and duty. There are say- 
 ings and discourses of Christ which are profound and large 
 enough to embrace everything : as when He said, " God so 
 loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life" (John iii. i6) ; or, " Come unto me, all ye 
 that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest " 
 (Matt. xi. 28) ; or, " The kingdom of heaven is like a 
 
APPENDIX. 407 
 
 certain man that made a great supper, and bade many" 
 (Luke xiv. 16); and so on. But how much was still re- 
 quired to explicate the meaning of such statements, and 
 show precisely what they involved respecting the work of 
 Christ, and its adaptation to the wants and circumstances 
 of mankind ? Then, there were utterances of Christ which 
 were thrown out as occasion offered — like seed-corn scat- 
 tered here- and there — but in which so little regard was had 
 to systeuiatic form or rounded completeness of representa- 
 tion, that, if taken apart, and without regard to acts and 
 operations yet in prospect, which would shed a reconciling 
 light upon them, might have seemed scarcely compatible 
 with each other. For example, we find forgiveness of sin 
 at one time coupled simply with the exercise of a penitent 
 disposition, as in the case of the woman who was a sinner, 
 or in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke vii. 15) ; on 
 other occasions with the manifestation of a forgiving spirit 
 toward one's fellow-sinners (Matt. vi. 12, 14; Luke vi. 37) ; 
 while, again, in a different class of statements everything in 
 that respect is made to depend upon the atoning death of 
 Christ — as when He said that He came to give His life a 
 ransom for many (Matt. ix. 28), or that He must die, that 
 repentance and remission of sins might be preached in His 
 name (Matt. xvi. 21 ; Luke xxiv. 44-47), plainly pointing to 
 His suffering obedience as the ground on which all hope of 
 blessing was to rest. 
 
 Indeed, this one great fact of the death of Christ — its 
 necessity, its priceless worth, and the essential relation it 
 was to hold to the entire mission of Christ — obviously ren- 
 dered His own teaching, during the period of His personal 
 ministry, in a great degree fragmentary and incomplete. It 
 was with His death (coupled, of course, with the resurrec- 
 tion that was to follow) that He connected the finishing of 
 His work ; it was in that He was to perfect Himself as the 
 Messiah ; and till the destined consummation actually took 
 place, the doctrinal significance of it could not possibly be 
 more than very partially revealed. It was then only that 
 the mystery which had hung around God's scheme of grace 
 began to clear away, and that it became possible to present 
 anything like a full and harmonious exhibition of the truths 
 and principles embodied in it. All instructions delivered 
 
4o8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 beforehand, though uttered by One who spake as man had 
 never spoken, were in a doctrinal respect necessarily imper- 
 fect ; they could not possess the perfect clearness of gospel 
 light, because the consummating act still lay in the future, 
 which was to constitute for all time the main ground of 
 God's gracious procedure toward men, and of their confi- 
 dence and love toward Him. It hence is the mediatorial 
 death of Christy not the moment of His incarnation, or of 
 His entrance on His public ministry, which forms the 
 proper boundary line between the Old and the New. It 
 is with the shedding of His blood for the remission of sins 
 — as He distinctly announced at the institution of the supper 
 — that the new covenant was ratified, and its provisions of 
 grace and blessing were made for ever sure to a believing 
 people. And so the doctrine taught up to that time could 
 not be final ; in other words, the utterances and facts of 
 gospel history could not be seen in their proper force and 
 meaning till the events had taken place to which they all 
 more or less pointed. The Gospels, indeed, reveal much ; 
 but they themselves close with the expressed need and 
 promise of further revelations, in order to set in its true 
 light, and carry out to its moral results, the perfected work 
 of the Redeemer.! 
 
 What, then, do we find as to those further revelations, 
 or that more explicit and developed knowledge, when we 
 turn to the other books of the New Testament ? Do we 
 find our Lord still acting with a view to impart it ? We do. 
 His agency in this respect did not cease with His death, 
 nor even with His ascension to the heavenly places. A 
 
 ^ Arclibishop Whately long ago urged very cogently the considerations 
 just stated : " How could our Lord, during His abode on earth, preach 
 fully that scheme of salvation, of which the keystone had not been laid 
 — even His meritorious sacrifice as an atonement for sin — His resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, and ascension into glory, when these events had not 
 taken place ? He did, indeed, darkly hint at these events in His dis- 
 courses to His disciples by way of prophecy ; but we are told that * the 
 saying was hid from them, and they comprehended it not, till after that 
 Christ was risen from the dead.' Of course, therefore, there was no 
 reason and no room for Him to enter into a full discussion of the doc- 
 trines dependent on those events. He left them to be enlightened in 
 due time as to the true nature of His kingdom by the gift whix;h He 
 kept in store for them [the Holy Spirit]. . . . Our Lord's discourses, 
 therefore, while on earth, though they teach the truth, did not teach, 
 
APPENDIX. 409 
 
 period of instruction, we are expressly informed, intervened 
 between His resurrection from the dead and His ascension 
 to glory, during which He often met with the disciples, and 
 expounded to them the things concerning the kingdom. Of 
 these explanations we are merely told that they turned 
 much upon the necessity of His sufferings and death, in 
 order to the fulfilment of what had been written of Him in 
 the law and the prophets ; and the results of the teaching 
 we naturally look for in the discourses and epistles which, 
 under the power and guidance of the Spirit, were addressed 
 by the apostles to those who received their testimony. It 
 had now become, in a sense, the dispensation of the Spirit, 
 but it was not the less the dispensation of Christ, the glori- 
 fied Redeemer. And it is instructive to mark how beauti- 
 fully the one is linked with the other in the narrative of the 
 Acts, where the Spirit is represented as working all, yet 
 working as the representative of Christ — carrying forward 
 His agency, giving effect to His will. Hence, in the march 
 of events we never lose sight of Christ, any more than of 
 the Spirit : everything is done as under the direction of His 
 hand, and the wdtness of His risen power and glory. It is 
 the same when St. Paul comes upon the scene ; it is Christ 
 who, by the Spirit, arrests him in his career of persecuting 
 violence, and calls him to the work of an apostle, furnishing 
 him with the authority and gifts requisite for its discharge. 
 Hence the aposde disclaimed his doing anything as of him- 
 self : the commission he bore was not of man, or by the 
 will of men, but by Jesus Christ, or by the commandment 
 of God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ : the gospel he 
 preached was received, not of man, but by revelation from 
 
 nor could they have been meant to teach, the whole truth, as afterwards 
 revealed to His disciples. What chance, then, can they have of attain- 
 ing true Christian knowledge who shut their eyes to such obvious con- 
 clusions as these ? who, under that idle plea, the misapplication of the 
 maxim that 'the disciple is not above his master,' confine their atten- 
 tion entirely to the discourses of Christ recorded in the four Gospels, as 
 containing all necessary truth ; and if anything in the other parts of the 
 sacred writings is forced upon their attention, studiously explain it away, 
 so that it do not go a step beyond what is clearly revealed in the evan- 
 gelists ? As if a man should, in the culture of a fruit-tree, carefully 
 destroy as a spurious excrescence every part of the fruit which was not 
 fully developed in the blossom that preceded it. " — Essays on St. Paul, 
 sec. 2 of Essay ii. 
 
4IO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 Jesus Christ, so that the things he spake and wrote were to 
 be acknowledged as the commandments of the Lord (i Cor. 
 xiv. 37) j and he and his fellow-labourers were but instru- 
 ments to bear the treasure of the gospel, that others might 
 believe as the Lord gave to every man. In short, the later 
 history of the New Testament was but the varied manifes- 
 tation of the continued life and agency of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Through the instrumentality of His delegated 
 servants, He was, though personally unseen, giving articu- 
 late form to His gospel, and applying it to the salvation of 
 souls and the planting of His church in the world. The 
 voice of Paul or the voice of Peter speaking to the churches, 
 was in effect the voice of Jesus. Hence He had Himself 
 said from the outset, " He that heareth you, heareth me ; 
 and he that despiseth you, despiseth me" (Luke x. 16). 
 
 Was the voice the same now, then, as when it came 
 directly from Christ ? The same, we reply, in substance, 
 but with a difference of a circumstantial kind suited to the 
 more advanced stage of things which had now been reached. 
 It was no longer the objective Saviour merely, but this 
 through the Spirit made manifest in the hearts of men : in 
 other words, the facts concerning Christ's person and work 
 known and apprehended as doctrine; divine truth entering 
 into human thought and human experience. On this ac- 
 count, also, it might be expected the word would be more 
 effective, since everything would appear now at once in its 
 proper harmony and proportions, and in its thorough adap- 
 tation to human wants and circumstances, enlightening the 
 understanding, satisfying the heart and conscience, taking 
 possession of the thoughts and feelings of the inner man. 
 
 Now this is precisely what we find in the representations 
 given in the Acts and Epistles. Christ is throughout the 
 great subject, or matter of the testimony delivered, and the 
 instruction imparted. The apostles, we read in the Acts, 
 " ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ ; " of 
 one it is said "that he preached Christ unto them;" of 
 another, " that he preached Christ in the synagogues," or, 
 " he preached Jesus unto them, and the resurrection." The 
 Apostle Paul sums up his preaching, in one place, as 
 " Christ and Him crucified, the power of God unto salva- 
 tion ; " in another, as *' repentance toward God, and faith 
 
APPENDIX. 411 
 
 toward our Lord Jesus Christ ; " or, in the one immediately 
 before us, as " the Mediator between God and man, who gave 
 Himself a ransom for all, the testimony for its own seasons " 
 — Heaven's special testimony for the times of the gospel. 
 In other passages we find the kingdom of God put along 
 with the person of Christ as the subject of apostoHc testi- 
 mony. So St. Peter, for instance, on the day of Pentecost, 
 when he gave the people to know assuredly that the " Jesus 
 whom they had crucified was made both Lord and Christ " 
 — that is, both King and Messiah, or King Messiah ; and 
 St. Paul, in the last notice we have of him in the history of 
 the Acts, is said to have received those who came to him, 
 " preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things 
 which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 This mode of representation, it will be observed, carries 
 us back to the kind of preaching or proclamation of which 
 we read in the Gospels : it connects the one with the other, 
 but with an obvious advance as to the mode of doing it. 
 "The kingdom of God is at hand." Z%<^/ was the common 
 style of preaching as reported in the Gospels, first of John 
 Baptist, then of Jesus, finally of the twelve ; and many a 
 parable was taught by our Lord, having for their common 
 object the kingdom of God, in its nature, its principles of 
 administration, and final issues. But now, since Christ had 
 finished the work which was required for laying the founda- 
 tion of the kingdom in its New Testament form, the doctrine 
 of the kingdom came to be all associated with Himself; 
 the truth had come to its proper realization in Him ; and to 
 preach the things which concerned His person. His work, 
 and the glory that followed, was at the same time to testify 
 of the kingdom. All who really received Christ as the 
 ground of their peace and hope, entered into the kingdom ; 
 they were " translated out of darkness into the kingdom of 
 God's dear Son ; " and what they thenceforth looked for was 
 His appearance in the kingdom, when they also expected 
 to appear with Him in glory. It was thus that the Spirit-, 
 through the preaching of the apostles, glorified Christ, in a 
 way they could not possibly do during His sojourn upon 
 earth. And, as a matter of course, the things testified re- 
 specting Him now were no longer simply facts, but facts as 
 the basis of doctrine — facts with an interpretation put upon 
 
4^2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 them which gave them a spiritual significance and power in 
 relation to men's spiritual life and well-being. "The Christ 
 preached by the apostles was one who [had not only lived 
 and wrought righteousness on earth, but also] had died and 
 risen again, and whom the heavens had received till the time 
 of the restitution of all things. In these three facts the mani- 
 festation of the Son of God had culminated, and in them 
 the true character of His mission had appeared. The old 
 carnal thoughts of it had been left in the grave, and could 
 never rise from it again. It was ' the Prince of Life ' who 
 had risen from the dead ; it was ' the King of Glory ' who 
 had passed into the heavens. And no less did these facts 
 declare the spiritual consequences of His manifestation, since 
 they carried with them the implication of those three cor- 
 responding gifts — the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection 
 of the body, and the life everlasting." ^ 
 
 It thus appears how naturally, and by reason of the in- 
 evitable progress of events, the things concerning Christ 
 assumed a more doctrinal form ; or rather, how the facts which 
 made up the earthly career of Christ necessarily became, on 
 being completed, doctrines^ and as such were preached in the 
 name of Christ by apostles, and by the Holy Spirit were 
 sealed upon the understandings and hearts of men. The 
 question now was, not whether men simply believed in 
 Jesus as the Messiah, but with what meaning or to what 
 results did they accept of His Messiahship ? Could they 
 say, with St. Peter, *' Neither is there salvation in any other ; 
 for there is none other name given under heaven among 
 men whereby we must be saved " ? Or, with St. Paul, " By 
 Him all that believe are justified from all things, from 
 which they could not be justified by the law of Moses " ? 
 To say this was to affirm the doctrine that Christ by His 
 death had done, in respect to the desert of sin, what the 
 old sacrificial system of the law could do only in a sym- 
 bolical manner — that His death is the one great sacrifice 
 that atones, because in it He bore our sins in His own 
 body on the tree ; and, consequently, that legal rites of 
 propitiation must be done away, and no dependence rested 
 on anything for salvation but the perfect work of Christ 
 the crucified. This was the gospel of Peter and Paul ; and 
 * Bernard, Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament, p. 130. 
 
APPENDIX. 413 
 
 when Paul accused the Galatians of accepting, through false 
 teachers, another gospel, he did not mean to say that they 
 denied the facts of Christ's holy life and humiliating death, 
 but that they understood these differently, failed to give 
 them their proper moral significance — in other words, did 
 not accredit and appreciate them in their true doctrinal im- 
 port. So, also, when parties in the church of Corinth and 
 elsewhere sought to couple with the faith of Christ a dis- 
 behef of the doctrine of the resurrection, or a Hcence to 
 sin, they were denounced as really subverters of the faith, 
 enemies of the cross of Christ, because practically robbing 
 it of that moral worth and significance which in the scheme 
 of God are inseparably connected with it. 
 
 Such is the gospel of Christ in its completed form — com- 
 pleted under the direction of Christ Himself, by the Spirit 
 He gave and the instrumentality He appointed. It is 
 simply the facts of His mediatory work in their spiritual 
 bearing and personal application. Contemplated merely as 
 facts or historical events, they stand outside of us, and may 
 leave us morally much as we were. But when apprehended 
 as doctrine, or appropriated by faith as the elements of 
 saving knowledge, they enter into our consciousness ; they 
 touch the springs of thought and feeling in our bosom ; they 
 form the ground of new aspirations, the motives of a new 
 and higher life. Without the facts, indeed, the doctrine 
 might swim in the air ; but without being seen in their 
 doctrinal import, the facts would not be spirit and life to 
 the soul. 
 
 We thus perceive the absurdity of attempting to separate 
 Christianity from doctrine. Only as containing elements 
 of doctrine does it become to us matter of truth and duty. 
 Have I faith in Christ as the Son of God and Saviour of 
 the world? Then I hold the doctrine of the incarnation, 
 and realize its importance. Have I faith in the death of 
 Christ, as the ground of my reconciliation with God ? Then 
 I hold the doctrine of the cross, or of a crucified Redeemer, 
 as the one thing needful to my peace and hope. Have I 
 faith in Christ as the conqueror of death, the resurrection 
 and the life ? Then I embrace Him as the source of a new 
 and undying life, beginning here and perfected in eternity. 
 Have I faith in Christ as ready to come again and appear 
 
414 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 on the throne of judgment ? Then I hold the doctrine of 
 the second advent, and recognise its bearing on my personal 
 condition and destiny. Thus Christianity as a doctrine, is 
 the root of Christianity as a life ; reject it in the one respect, 
 and you cut the sinews of its vitality and strength in the 
 other. 
 
 But there is no difficulty in understanding how many 
 should be disposed to make such a separation — disposed, 
 that is, to accredit more or less of the recorded facts in 
 Christ's life, but make little or no account of them in their 
 doctrinal aspects. So long as they are considered apart 
 from these aspects, everything about them presents a kind 
 of loose, sporadic appearance ; and men may fix, some upon 
 this, others upon that point in the life-history of Jesus as 
 what, in their view, chiefly serves to make it valuable and 
 important. There is, too, so much in that history, brief 
 and chequered as it was, which appears attractive and 
 winning even to the natural man — so nmch of grace and 
 condescension, of disinterestedness in doing good, of com- 
 passion toward the miserable and unworthy, of readiness 
 to brave the fiercest opposition, and to sacrifice life itself 
 in the cause of truth and righteousness, that all the better 
 feelings and sympathies of the heart can without difficulty 
 be awakened, and turned toward the Son of man as exhi- 
 bited in the Gospels with profound affection and regard; nay, 
 can find there, as they can find nowhere else, what is fitted 
 to interest and instruct them, in the varied circumstances and 
 relations of life. But it is another thing when all that there 
 was in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, is brought 
 out in the subsequent parts of the New Testament, and, 
 under the form of doctrinal belief, presented to every Chris- 
 tian bosom as the ground and nourishment of a life devoted 
 to God, and fraught with the fruits of righteousness. Under 
 this aspect of matters the natural heart rebels, and seeks in 
 a thousand ways to escape the unwelcome conclusion. It 
 does so, often, by putting another than the natural interpre- 
 tation on the facts of gospel history ; or, if not, by allowing 
 other things to intercept their due influence on the afl'ec- 
 tions of the soul and the actions of the life. To enter 
 aright into this part of gospel teaching — to accept and relish 
 Christianity as exhibited by the apostles, and by them formed 
 
APPENDIX. 415 
 
 into a system of truth and duty — has for its essential pre- 
 requisite a mind that has become profoundly conscious of 
 the guilt and danger of sin, and longs for an interest in the 
 restored favour and blessing of God as the one great good. 
 Whenever men reach this state of spiritual conviction and 
 desire, they will be ready to hail the entire manifestation of 
 the truth in Scripture, and will find but the fitting sequel of 
 Christ's own. teaching, and the true explanation of His work 
 in the world, in the discourses and writings of His apostles. 
 It is incumbent on all who would do the part of faithful 
 representatives of Christ, and true exponents of His mind 
 and will to men, to draw their materials from what He has 
 thus made known to us as the whole of His counsel in 
 regard to salvation. It is of special moment that they 
 should do so in an age like the present, when many persons 
 of note, biassed by the aims and spirit of literary or scientific 
 culture, are disposed to take the gospel only in part, and 
 refuse to go the full length of a cordial appreciation and 
 belief of the truth. They will speak, perhaps, in the most 
 approving terms of the simply human aspects of our Lord's 
 character, and of the moral qualities exhibited by Him in 
 His career on earth ; they will also frankly concede the 
 impulse derived from the power of Christianity in raising 
 the tone of thought and feeling among the nations that have 
 received it, and ameliorating in many respects the condi- 
 tion of society. But in all this they restrict themselves to 
 humanitarian ground, and appear to make account of nothing 
 as actually true, or at least appreciable by them, except the 
 incomparable excellence of Christ's character, and the pure 
 morality of the gospel. But had that been all, great and 
 valuable as it is, should the results which even such writers 
 acknowledge to have followed in the train of Christianity 
 have been produced by it ? What wonders have been 
 achieved, what moral reformations accomplished, by such a 
 Christianity in the hands of its formal abettors, the modern 
 Unitarians ? Has not the history of the past taught us to 
 associate with them the stagnant marshes of Christianity, 
 rather than its vivifying streams and fruitful fields ? " The 
 force which Christianity has applied to the world, and by 
 which it has produced that change in the world which it 
 has, is the doctrine of grace. There has been a new power 
 
41 6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 actually working in the system, and that power has worked 
 by other means besides doctrine ; but still it is the law of 
 God's dealings with us to apply His power to us by means 
 of our faith and beHef in that power — that is, by doctrine. 
 Faith in his own position, the belief at the bottom of every 
 Christian's heart that he stands in a different relation to God 
 from a heathen, and has a supernatural source of strength, 
 — this it is which has made him act^ has been the rousing 
 and elevating motive to the Christian body, and raised its 
 moral practice, "i 
 
 Yes, for a Christianity of regenerating power and divine 
 blessing, we must have the saving doctrines, as well as the 
 historical facts and moral teaching, of the gospel wrought 
 into men's convictions and experience. The light shall 
 otherwise want power to reach the conscience, and call 
 forth the nobler acts of self-denying love and patient con- 
 tinuance in well-doing, which are the marks of a living 
 Christianity. Only when there is a faith which embraces 
 all the essential elements of truth and hope in Christ, and 
 is itself sustained in the heart by the Spirit of God, is there 
 a principle of life powerful enough to resist the desires of 
 the flesh, and overcome the evil that is in the world. With 
 such faith, however, the followers of Christ have no need to 
 be afraid. They will prevail in the future as they have done 
 in the past. " Their antagonists themselves will be their 
 helpers ; " for these will but serve to drive them the more 
 closely to Christ, and cause them to drink more deeply from 
 the well-spring of His salvation. 
 
 APPENDIX B.— Page 139. 
 
 ON THE MEANING OF THE EXPRESSION " HUSBAND Q^ ONE 
 WIFE," IN T TIM. III. 2, 12, TIT. I, 6. 
 
 The explanation given of this expression, under the first of 
 
 the passages referred to, restricts the qualification indicated 
 
 by it to an existing relationship, irrespective of the question 
 
 ^ Mozley on Miracles^ p. 182. 
 
APPENDIX. 417 
 
 whether a previous relationship may or may not have existed, 
 which had been dissolved by death. It simply required 
 that when one was called to office in the Christian church, 
 there should be but one living woman to whom he stood 
 related as husband. And as the expression of itself does 
 not import more, there are various considerations which 
 appear to shut us up to this meaning as the only one that is • 
 properly tenable. 
 
 I. First of all, let the place be noted which the qualifica- 
 tion holds in the apostle's delineation of fitness for office in 
 the Christian church. In both the epistles (i Timothy and 
 Titus) it stands second in the list of qualifications for the 
 pastorate, — in each also occurring immediately after the 
 epithet blameless or irreproachable, — as if, among the 
 characteristics of a life free from any palpable stain, the 
 first thing that might be expected to start into notice was, 
 whether the individual stood related in marriage to one 
 person only, or to more than one. Now, supposing this 
 latter alternative had respect merely to the contracting of a 
 second marriage after the death of a first wife, is the quali- 
 fication one that, in the circumstances, we could imagine 
 to have been so prominently exhibited, and so stringently 
 imposed ? Or is it what we have reason to think would 
 have been borne up by the moral sense of the community ? 
 Quite the reverse in both respects. The legislation and 
 the practice of Old Testament times were notoriously of a 
 different kind. They went to an extreme, indeed, in the 
 opposite direction ; and even our Lord, when correcting 
 that extreme, gave no indication of His purpose to intro- 
 duce a restriction of the nature in question, or to make 
 monogamy, in this sense, a condition either of office or of 
 sanctity. St. Paul himself had explicitly declared, in his 
 earlier writings, that death dissolved the marriage tie, so as 
 to leave the survivor free to enter into another union, if such 
 might be deemed advisable or expedient (Rom. vii. 1-3 ; 
 I Cor. vii. 8, 9). And in the laws and usages of the Greeks 
 and Romans no hindrance was ever known to be put upon 
 men in respect to their use of this freedom ; no stigma 
 attached to their doing so, unless it might be in connection 
 with the time and mode of their going about it. Such being 
 the case, is it in the least degree probable, or does it seem 
 2 D 
 
41 8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 to accord with the wisdom we are wont to associate with 
 the apostle (apart altogether from his inspiration), that he 
 should now, for the first time, and in so brief and peremp- 
 tory a manner, without even a note of explanation, have 
 pronounced more than a single marriage-union absolutely 
 incompatible with the ministerial function ? — nay, should 
 have set it in the very front of admitted disqualifications ? — 
 and should even have extended the rule to deacons, whose 
 employment was rather about, than in, spiritual things, 
 serving tables, not ministering in word and doctrine ? Un- 
 questionably, if such were the import of the apostle's in- 
 struction, a new thing was now introduced into the discipline 
 of God's house, and introduced in a very extraordinary way. 
 A principle of sanctity was enunciated which was without 
 warrant in any prior legislation or recognised usage ; a 
 principle, moreover, which, in contrariety to the whole spirit 
 of the apostle's writings, must have given to caste distinc- 
 tions and ascetic notions of excellence a legitimate footing 
 in the church of Christ. In point of fact, when the sense 
 we contend against began to be put upon his words, it did 
 work powerfully both in the ritualistic and the ascetic 
 direction. And if that sense could be established as the 
 natural and proper one, a difficulty of a very formidable 
 kind would be raised against the Pauline authorship of the 
 Pastoral epistles. 
 
 2. A second ground of confirmation to the view we 
 advocate is the general concurrence in its favour on the 
 part of the earher interpreters ; and this in spite of a pre- 
 valent feeling and usage tending to produce a bias in the 
 contrary direction. Thus Chrysostom : " He (St. Paul) 
 speaks thus, not imposing a law, as if it were not allowed 
 one to become [an episcopos\ without this condition [viz. 
 unless he had one wife], but to restrain undue licence (r-^v 
 a/xeTpLav KOiXvoiv) ; since among the Jews it was lawful to 
 enter into double marriages, and have two wives at the same 
 time."^ So, too, Theodoret : "Concerning that saying, 
 
 ^ His comment on Tit. i. 6, though less explicit, is to the same effect 
 when rightly interpreted. It speaks merely of a double marriage 
 relationship as incompatible with the pastoral office: "chastising tlie 
 wanton, and not permitting them with a second (or twofold) marriage 
 to assume the governing power, " — ovx, a<pu; f^ara. ^iurspov ydf^ov rhvccpx^y 
 
APPENDIX. 419 
 
 the /msba?id of one wife, I think certain men have said well. 
 For of old both Greeks and Jews were wont to be married 
 to two, three, and more wives at once. And even now, 
 although the Imperial laws forbid men to marry two wives 
 at one time, they have commerce with concubines and 
 harlots. They have said, therefore, that the holy apostle 
 declared that he who dwells in a becoming manner with a 
 single wife is worthy of being ordained to the episcopate. 
 For, they say, he (that is, Paul) does not reject a second 
 marriage, who has often commanded it to be used." Then, 
 on the other side : " If he have put away his former wife, 
 and married another, he is worthy of blame and deserving 
 of reprehension ; but if force of death has deprived him of 
 his former wife, and nature has prompted him to become 
 united to another, the second marriage is to be attributed, 
 not to choice, but to casualty. Having respect to these 
 and such hke things, I accept the interpretation of those 
 who so view the passage." Theophylact is briefer, but to 
 the same effect : " If he be a husband of one wife; this he 
 said because of the Jews, for to them polygamy was per- 
 mitted." Even Jerome, with all his ascetic rigour, speaks 
 favourably of this interpretation (in his notes on the passage 
 in Titus) ; states that, according to the \iew of many and 
 worthy divines, it was intended merely to condemn poly- 
 gamy, and not to exclude from the ministry men who have 
 been twice married. Now, considering the general preva- 
 lence of ascetic feeHng at the time, and the virtue commonly 
 attached to celibacy as a qualification for the proper dis- 
 charge of priestly functions, the interpretation thus either 
 expressly put upon the expression under consideration by 
 those fathers, or held at least to be allowable, cannot but 
 seem entitled to the greatest weight. It presents a series of 
 testimonies to what may be fairly called the natural sense of 
 the expression, and to what appeared the just and reasonable 
 nature of the qualification demanded by the apostle, in spite 
 of a strong current of feeling, and a very prevalent usage, 
 tending to incline them in the opposite direction. 
 
 \yXitpK^<'^<^^-> — not after the marriage in question, but with it — standing 
 in the twofold relationship at the same time — guilty of a moral wrong, 
 though practised under the forms of law. See Suicer, under Atyaf^ia., 
 vol. i. p. 897. 
 
420 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 3. The commencement and growth of the other view — 
 the view which understands the expression to exclude from 
 the offices of pastor and deacon in the church any one who 
 might have re-married after having lost a wife by death — 
 furnishes an additional argument in favour of our interpre- 
 tation. For the history of church opinion and practice on 
 the subject puts it beyond a doubt, that the more natural 
 view was abandoned only when a false asceticism began to 
 flow in upon the church, and an ideal of piety unwarranted 
 in Scripture, and at variance with the flesh and blood rela- 
 tions which God has established for men in this life. It is 
 not till near the end of the second century that the ascetic 
 spirit makes its appearance as a disturbing element in this 
 particular line ; and when it does so, the perverting influence 
 discovers itself in respect to the members generally of the 
 Christian church, not specifically to those who were called 
 to discharge any spiritual function. It may be questioned 
 whether the Plea of Athenagoras or The Shepherd of Hermas 
 had, in point of time, precedence of the other. Probably 
 they were nearly contemporaneous ; and they are the earUest 
 extant of the Patristic writings which can be referred to on 
 the present subject. Athenagoras is often erroneously 
 adduced as a witness for the other view ; for when the pas- 
 sage in his Plea is correctly explained, it has respect to 
 bigamy in the proper sense. " A person (he says) should 
 either remain as he was born, or be content with one mar- 
 riage ; for the second marriage (6 l^vT(.po<i ydfxo<s) is only a 
 specious adultery. ' For whosoever puts away his wife (says 
 He), and marries another, commits adultery,' — neither 
 permitting a man to put her away whose virginity he has 
 made to cease, nor to marry another (ovSe eTnyafxelv). For 
 he who deprives himself of his first wife, even though she be 
 dead, is a veiled adulterer, resisting the hand of God" (c. ^^). 
 The thought is somewhat loosely expressed, but the reason 
 assigned for the judgment given clearly shows that the 
 second marriage contemplated by the writer is one con- 
 tracted under the forms of law, after an improper divorce 
 had been effected against a first wife. In such a case a 
 second marriage was justly held to be from the first vitiated 
 — essentially adulterous ; and this for all Christians alike, 
 ■without respect to official distinctions. The passage in The 
 
APPENDIX. 421 
 
 Shepherd is more to the point : " If a wife or husband die, 
 and the widower or widow marry, does he or she commit 
 sin ? There is no sin in marrying again, said he ; but if 
 they remain unmarried, they gain greater honour and glory 
 from the Lord; yet if they marry, they do not commit sin" 
 (Com. iv. c. 3). This also has respect to the Christian life 
 generally, and makes but a slight advance upon the teaching 
 of Scripture ; for there both our Lord and St. Paul speak of 
 the resolution to abstain from marriage as, in certain circum- 
 stances, and with a view to more entire devotedness to the 
 service of God, an indication of spiritual excellence beyond 
 what would be exhibited by a different course. Only here 
 the married state is apparently contemplated more apart, 
 as in itself, especially when entered into a second time, 
 incompatible with the higher degrees of honour in the 
 divine kingdom. It was still but an incipient mdication 
 of the leaven which had begun to work. A stage further 
 on, and we meet with greatly more marked symptoms of 
 its operation. 
 
 This stage had its commencement with the rise of that 
 pretentious Gnosticism which, especially from about the 
 middle of the second century, in the hands of the Encratites 
 (Tatian and Marcion), sought to elevate the tone of Chris- 
 tianity, and raise the ideal of Christian perfection higher 
 than was done by the acknowledged teachers of Christianity. 
 According to this school, true perfection consisted in working 
 one's self free from the ordinary relations and enjoyments 
 of life : marriage, which formed the common basis of these, 
 was esteemed a kind of service of the devil, utterly at vari- 
 ance with the higher aims of the spiritual life ; the " elect " 
 spirits must have nothing to do with it, and must also abstain 
 from the use of flesh and wine, and give themselves to fast- 
 ings and other kinds of bodily mortification. The real ten- 
 dency of this Gnostic spirituaHsm did not quite immediately 
 discover itself ; it pressed at various points as a reforming 
 influence into the church ; and in some of its more charac- 
 teristic features it ere long burst forth with great power 
 among the excitable and enthusiastic Christians of Phrygia 
 in the guise of Montanism. Montanus and his followers 
 did not profess, indeed, to stand in any proper affinity to 
 Christians of the Gnostic type ; but they so far coincided 
 
42 2 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 with them as to aim at introducing a new and higher style 
 of Christianity, and one that partook largely of Gnostic 
 elements. Having received (as they imagined) the fuller 
 afflatus of the Spirit promised by Christ, they had attained 
 to the position of right truly spiritual Christians ; were the 
 pneumatics (Tryev/xartKot), w^hile others, if Christians at all, 
 were but psychical or carnal (i/o^xtKot) ; and, in proof of 
 their nobler elevation, they renounced not only the pleasures 
 and luxuries, but also most of the comforts of life — fasted 
 oft, and rigidly ; courted indignities, self-denials, persecu- 
 tions ; disparaged marriage, and stigmatized second mar- 
 riages as fornication. Though the movement was opposed 
 by all the leading authorities in the church, and the claim 
 to supernatural guidance was on every hand rejected, yet 
 many were impressed by the apparent elevation and moral 
 strength of the party ; and the opinion grew, that the more 
 select class of Christians should cultivate the ascetic virtues, 
 and should either remain in coelibacy, or at most be but 
 once married. The tendency of Christian thought and 
 practice in this direction received a great impulse from Ter- 
 tuUian, who not only imbibed the distinctive principles of 
 Montanism, but threw himself into the advocacy of them 
 with zeal and energy. On the subject of marriage he occu- 
 pied what he called middle ground — between those (the 
 Encratites) who repudiated marriage altogether, as a thing 
 inherently evil, and the Psychical party, who maintained 
 the lawfulness of the married state, even when entered into 
 anew after the death of a previous wife. He contended for 
 the absolute singleness of the marriage union, pressing all 
 sorts of considerations into his argument ; such as that the 
 first Adam had but one spouse (Eve), the second also but 
 one (the church) ; that death does not entirely destroy the 
 union of married parties, since the soul still lives, in which 
 the more vital seat of the union resides ; that at the resur- 
 rection, though there shall be no more marrying, but an 
 angelic state of being, yet those who have been married on 
 earth shall recognise each other as such, etc. {De Monog., 
 and Ad Uxorem^ L. i.). By considerations like these, Ter- 
 tullian reaches the conclusion that in no case is more than 
 a single marriage allowable for a Christian, while the state 
 of coehbacy is to be preferred as one of higher sanctity. 
 
APPENDIX. 423 
 
 He admits that in i Cor. vii. 39 the apostle grants liberty 
 of re-marr)ing to those who had been deprived of a spouse 
 by death, if only they married in the Lord ; but he thinks 
 this had respect to such merely as had been first married 
 in heathenism, so that their union was no marriage in the 
 Christian sense. He also admits that the principle laid 
 down at the beginning of Rom vii. as to death severing the 
 marriage tie, and leaving the survivor free to marry again 
 without being guilty of adultery, is at variance with the view 
 maintained and advocated by him ; but finds his escape in 
 the new revelation of Montanism, that as Christ had taken 
 away the liberty which Moses allowed to the IsraeHtes be- 
 cause of the hardness of their hearts, so the Paraclete now 
 takes away what Christ and Paul allowed on account of the 
 infirmity of the flesh, in order that the original ideal of 
 marriage might be restored. So that he concludes second 
 marriages are contrary to the will of Christ — not lawful — 
 next thing to adultery (Juxta adidterium; De Monog. c. 
 xi.-xv.). 
 
 In the course of this strange piece of argumentation, the 
 passages i Tim. iii. 2, Tit. i. 6, are naturally brought into 
 consideration, and the expression husband of one wife is 
 held, without question, to denote a person only once 
 married : those who married a second time are termed 
 diga??ii, bigamists — the first time that such an explanation, 
 followed by such an application of the term, occurs in any 
 Christian writing.^ Tertullian's argument from the passages 
 is this: The apostle requires of those who hold clerical 
 functions in the church, that they be no more than once 
 married; but this, cannot be confined to them, no more 
 than any of the other moral qualifications mentioned in the 
 same connection : if the rest are common to them with 
 beHevers generally, why should not this also? Or if the 
 clergy alone have to do with this, then they, too, alone 
 must be subject to the discipline of the rest. And is it not 
 the doctrine of Scripture, that all genuine believers are of 
 priestly rank, having one and the same spiritual standing, 
 the same high and holy calling, with official distinctions 
 only for orderly administrations? Here, undoubtedly, Ter- 
 
 ^ The word is found in Justin's Apology, c. i. 15, but in the usual 
 sense of separating from one wife and marrying another. 
 
424 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tulHan got hold of a right principle, though he utterly mis- 
 applied it ; for it is against the fundamental principles of 
 the gospel (as already indicated) to have class distinctions 
 as to moral attainments — to set up one type of purity or 
 holiness for the pastor, and another for the flock. And it 
 betrayed a departure from the simple faith and true spirit 
 of Christianity when the authorities in the church began, as 
 they did about or shortly after Tertullian's time, to hold 
 that it was allowable for common believers, but not for 
 Christian ministers, to enter a second time into a marriage 
 relationship. This was really to change the constitution of 
 Christ's spiritual kingdom. 
 
 The influence of Tertullian's writings on this subject, as 
 on many others, operated far and wide throughout the 
 church, though he failed to carry the formal sanction of his 
 views. In various quarters, second marriages, even among 
 the laity, came to be viewed with disfavour, and were occa- 
 sionally subjected to a measure of disciplinary treatment. 
 Thus, in one of the canons of the provincial synod of Neo- 
 Caesarea (a.d. 314), priests are forbidden to countenance 
 the festivities of second marriages by their presence, "since 
 the bigamus needed penitence." (Thus early did the eccle- 
 siastical use of the word bigamus become distinguished from 
 the civil, in which it always denotes one married to two 
 spouses still living.) The Council of Nic^a sought to in- 
 terpose a check on this foolish restriction, and required (in 
 its 8th canon) that the cathari, or purists, on being received 
 into the church, should formally consent to communicate 
 with such as had been married a second time. Yet a pro- 
 vincial council at Laodicea, held about a quarter of a cen- 
 tury later (a.d. 352), ordained, in its very first canon, that 
 persons legally marrying a second time should be received 
 into communion only after fasting and prayer, and juxta 
 indulgmtiam. The general sense of the church, however, 
 successfully withstood the ascetic tendency in this form of 
 its manifestation ; but only that it might be made to con- 
 centrate itself upon the select class of the priesthood, in 
 respect to whom the feeling continued to grow that the 
 normal condition was one of entire separation from married 
 life, and that disqualification for clerical ministrations was 
 consequent on a second marriage, especially if the second 
 
APPENDIX. 425 
 
 had been entered into after baptism. A rule to this effect 
 is laid down in the so-called Apostolical Canons, which, 
 though bearing a false title, undoubtedly expressed the 
 general mind of the church about the close of the fourth cen- 
 tury. They ordained, among other grounds of exception, 
 that no one who had become involved in second marriages 
 after baptism, or who had married a widow (this being also 
 on one side a second marriage), could be admitted to any 
 grade of priestly standing (Can. 17, 18). In like manner 
 Ambrose, while distinctly asserting that the apostolic pre- 
 cepts do not condemn second marriages {De Vid. c. 2, § 
 10), yet maintains that they were rightly held to be incon- 
 sistent with priestly functions (according to the prescrip- 
 tion in I Tim. iii. 2), and for this among other reasons, 
 that there should not be one rule for the clergy and the 
 people ; that the former, as they stood on a higher spiritual 
 eminence, should be held bound to a more perfect mode of life 
 {Ep, ad Vercell. Ecclesiam, § 62-64. To the same effect also 
 Innocent of Rome, De Cr. 13 ; and Epiphanius, H^sr. 48). 
 Yet, with all this countenance from some of the more 
 prominent authorities of the church, and the steady growth 
 of public sentiment in the same direction, the practice in 
 many places but slowly conformed to what the ascetic spirit, 
 in this alliance with caste distinctions and ritualistic services, 
 demanded as right and proper. Theodoret (whose com- 
 ment on St. Paul's expression was formerly given) mentions, 
 in a letter to Domnus of Antioch (Ep. no), that he had or- 
 dained one Irenaeus, though he had entered into marriage 
 a second time ; and that in doing so he had but "followed 
 the footsteps of those who had gone before him." He 
 refers also to various examples of the same kind. And the 
 frequency of the practice, coupled with the impropriety, or 
 rather the palpable indecency, of the church's commonly 
 recognised procedure in excluding from sacred ministrations 
 those who had lawfully entered into wedlock a second time, 
 while persons guilty of concubinage and the grossest im- 
 morahties were freely admitted, is denounced by Jerome, in 
 his own peculiar style, when commenting on a case of the 
 former description in his letter to Oceanus. " I wonder," 
 says Jerome to his correspondent, " that you should think 
 of dragging forth one bishop as having transgressed the 
 
42 6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 apostolic rule, since the whole world is full of these ordina- 
 tions : I don't mean of presbyters, or those of inferior grade, 
 but I come to bishops, of whom I could unroll such a list 
 as would exceed in number the members of the synod of 
 Ariminum." He then refers to a disputation he had with 
 an eloquent man at Rome on the subject, whose syllogistic 
 reasoning he met by a counter reasoning of the same 
 kind j and then he adds : " It is a new thing I hear, that 
 what was not sin shall be reckoned for sin. All sorts of 
 prostitutions, and the filth of public abominations, impiety 
 towards God, acts of parricide, of incest, etc., are purged 
 away in the font of Christ. Shall the stains of a wife still 
 inhere, and brothels be preferred to the marriage-bed ? I 
 do not cast up to you troops of harlots, lots of catamites, 
 shedding of blood, and swinish indulgences at every feast ; 
 and you bring up to me from the sepulchre a wife long since 
 dead, whom I received lest I should do what you have 
 done ! Let the Gentiles hear it ; let the catechumens, who 
 are candidates for the faith, lest they marry wives before 
 baptism, lest they enter into honourable matrimony, but 
 may have wives and children in common — nay, may shun 
 the term wife in every form, lest, after they have believed 
 in Christ, it shall prove to their detriment that they had 
 wives, and not concubines or harlots." 
 
 Such were the factitious distinctions and the mischievous 
 results which grew out of this unscriptural mode of teaching 
 which the church received mainly at the hands of Tertullian, 
 after he had assumed the heretical position of a Montanist. 
 The view ultimately became associated nearly as much with 
 false notions of the ministry and of the sacraments, as with 
 unwarranted restrictions regarding marriage. And as the 
 development in that direction could not be deemed other- 
 wise than natural, if the principle had been sound on which 
 it proceeded, — that a species of sanctity incompatible with 
 second marriages was required of pastors and deacons 
 which is not required of believers generally, — the develop- 
 ment itself may fairly be regarded as a proof of the un- 
 soundness of the principle. Doctrinally, it was wrong ; but 
 in a practical respect also, the view could not fail to be 
 accompanied with serious embarrassment or trouble of a 
 domestic kind. Pastors bereaved by death of their wives, 
 
APPENDIX. 427 
 
 and without any female relative to supply the blank, would 
 often find it impossible to have their children properly 
 cared for, and their households ruled well (according to 
 apostolic precept), except by entering anew into married 
 life. And to interdict this would necessarily have forced 
 on them the painful alternative of either perilling the moral 
 well-being of their family, or, to avoid that, renouncing their 
 position as ministers of God's word. 
 
 4. There remains still another line of reflection to strengthen 
 the interpretation given — this, namely, that in addition to 
 the objections which have been urged against understanding 
 the expression of absolute monogamy, the other view affords 
 a perfectly good and appropriate meaning. Recent inter- 
 preters have sometimes denied this, and laid considerable 
 stress on the opposite allegation. Thus Alford : " The 
 apostle would hardly have specified that as a requisite for 
 the episcopate or presbyterate which we know to have been 
 fulfilled by all Christians whatever ; no instance being ad- 
 duced of polygamy being practised in the Christian church, 
 and no exhortation to abstain from it." If this were any- 
 thing like a fair and full representation of the matter, it 
 would be hard to account for so many of the early interpre- 
 ters (conversant, as they were, ^^^th the circumstances of the 
 time) taking the other view of the passage, and thinking 
 that, as matters then stood alike among the Jews and 
 Gentiles, ample grounds existed for insisting on monogamy 
 in the ordinary sense — monogamy in contradistinction 
 simply to polygamy and divorce — as a qualification for 
 office in the church. A certain proportion of its membership 
 consisted of converts from Judaism; and though divorce, 
 perhaps, on insufficient grounds, and subsequent marriage, 
 or the undisguised practice of polygamy, might not be very 
 common in the gospel age among the Jews, yet there is not 
 wanting evidence to show that usages of that description 
 did exist, and continued for ages after the Christian era. 
 Justin Martyr charges it as matter of just reproach against 
 the teachers of the Jewish people, that even till now they 
 permitted each man to have four or five wives (Trypho, c. 
 134). And in the year a.d. 393 a law was passed by Theo- 
 dosius, enjoining that '^none of the Jews should retain their 
 own custom in marriage, nor enter into diverse marriage 
 
428 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 relationships at one time" {nee in diversa sub imo tempore 
 eo7ijugia eo?tveniat), — a law which is not likely to have been 
 enacted without adequate reasons for it, and still less to 
 have been re-enacted, as it was by Justinian a century and 
 a half later. It will readily be understood, that if persons, 
 who in their unchristian state had become entangled in 
 such double or treble marriage relationships, might be ad- 
 mitted, on their conversion, to the communion of the church, 
 they should still not be entrusted with the spiritual admini- 
 stration of its affairs : there was a flaw in their condition 
 which unfitted them for being unexceptionable guides and 
 overseers of the flock. It is notorious, also, that among 
 the Greeks and Romans, although polygamy was not for- 
 mally sanctioned, yet it virtually prevailed — prevailed under 
 the connivance or sanction of law ; and that the most de- 
 plorable and wide-spread laxity in this respect existed, both 
 previous to the apostolic age and for long after it. In the 
 later stages of the Republic, with the influx of wealth and 
 luxury, a fearful degeneracy of manners made way among 
 the higher classes of society ; many shunned the restraints 
 of marriage, and with those who entered into the bond it 
 was often little more than a temporary contract. Divorce 
 was so common, that " public opinion ceased to frown on 
 it ; it could be initiated by husband or wife with almost 
 equal freedom : there was a ready consent of both parties 
 to the separation, in the prospect of marrying again ; and 
 this facility was open to all classes who could contract 
 marriage."^ It was even open to them to do it without 
 any legal process ; for, as another authority on the subject 
 tells us, " among the Romans divorce did not require the 
 sentence of a judge ; no judicial proceedings were neces- 
 sary. It was considered a private act, though some distinct 
 notice or declaration of intention was usual." ^ 
 
 This great social evil, instead of abating, grew with the 
 introduction of the Empire, and received a powerful stimulus 
 from the scandalous excesses of persons in high places. 
 The two first Caesars set here an example which was only 
 too closely followed by many of their successors and under- 
 lings. Female manners became so loose, that no woman 
 
 * Dr. Thos. D. Woolsey On Divorce a7id Divorce Legislation, p. 41. 
 ^ Lord Mackenzie On Roman Law, part i. c. 6. 
 
APPENDIX. 429 
 
 (Seneca could say) " was now ashamed of divorce ; and 
 illustrious and noble ladies counted their years, not by the 
 number of consuls, but by the number of their husbands." 
 Hence also the bitter sarcasm of Juvenal : 
 
 Sic fiunt octo mariti 
 Quinque per autumnos, — vi, 229. 
 
 The influence of such a state of things at headquarters 
 must have told disastrously throughout the empire. The 
 States of Greece are known to have been lax enough even 
 before such an influence began to work upon them ; there 
 was little of a high moral tone in the relations of domestic 
 life. Along with marriage, the practice of concubinage was 
 everywhere tolerated, and actions of divorce were effected 
 by cormnon consent, and on the weakest grounds. Even in 
 Sparta, which was probably the least licentious State of 
 Greece, what a light is thrown on the prevailing sentiments 
 and habits of the people by such a fact as this : " To bring 
 together the finest couples was regarded by the citizens as 
 desirable, and by the lawgiver as a duty. There were even 
 some married women who were recognised mistresses of two 
 houses, and mothers of two distinct famiHes, — a sort of 
 bigamy strictly forbidden to the men, and never permitted 
 except in the remarkable case of King Anaxandrides, when 
 the royal Herakleidan line of Eurystheus was in danger of 
 becoming extinct." ^ But without going further into detail, 
 there can be no doubt that corruption in this particular line 
 held its course generally throughout the Roman Empire for 
 centuries after the Christian era, only partially checked by 
 the introduction of the Christian element; so partially, 
 indeed, that " divorce ex communi consensu kept its ground 
 all the way down to Justinian" (Woolsey, p. loi). The 
 legislative attempt of Constantine to grant liberty of divorce 
 only on the proof of such heinous crimes as poisoning and 
 adultery, failed from the impossibility of carrying it into 
 effect. It had to be first relaxed, and by Honorius was 
 almost abrogated. " A Christian writer, at the beginning 
 of the fifth century, complains that men changed their wives 
 as quickly as their clothes, and that marriage chambers 
 were set up as easily as booths in a market. At a later 
 period still, when Justinian attempted to prohibit all divorces 
 1 Grote's History, vol. ii. p. 520. 
 
430 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 except those on account of chastity, he was obliged to relax 
 the law on account of the fearful crimes, the plots and 
 poisonings, and other evils, which it introduced into domestic 
 life." 1 
 
 Taking, then, all the known circumstances of the time 
 into account, we see only too ample reason for such a quali- 
 fication as that specified by the apostle for pastors and dea- 
 cons — if by that qualification is understood simply fidelity 
 to the marriage vow, or relationship to no more than one 
 living woman as a spouse. The question was not (as put 
 by Alford) whether, after being received into the Christian 
 church, a looser practice might be held compatible with 
 Christian obligations, — a wife and a concubine, or two wives 
 at a time, — but whether those who had in these respects 
 followed the too common practice of the world, should, on 
 becoming Christians, be admitted to office in the church. 
 Had they been so, the church might have seemed to take 
 too light a view of the prevailing immorality ; embarrassing 
 complications also might have arisen for the parties them- 
 selves in the discharge of duty ; so that the part of Christian 
 wisdom with the church evidently was to stand entirely 
 clear, in her administrative capacity, from having any par- 
 ticipation in the abounding corruption. It is the very course 
 which missionaries of the gospel are obliged in heathen 
 lands to pursue still. They can often receive parties into 
 church fellowship, because apparently sincere in the pro- 
 fession of the faith, whom yet, on account of essentially 
 adulterous connections contracted in their heathenish state, 
 they have felt it necessary to exclude from positions of 
 honour, especially from functions of government in the 
 church.^ 
 
 It has been thought by some Protestant writers (by 
 Vitringa, for example, Synag. Vet. P. i. c. 4 ; also by Elli- 
 cott, Alford, and some others), that the corrupt state of 
 
 ^ Milman's History of Christianity, vol. iii. p. 290. 
 
 2 The comment of Conybeare and Howson on the passage under con- 
 sideration, though brief, is in perfect accordance with the view w-e have 
 given. ' ' The true interpretation seems to be as follows : In the cor- 
 nipt facility of divorce allowed both by Greek and Roman law, it was 
 very common for man and wife to separate, and marry other parties 
 during the life of one another. Thus, a man might have three or four 
 living wives. An example of the operation of a similar code is un- 
 
APPENDIX. 43 1 
 
 matters prevailing at the time may have induced the apostle 
 to lay down the rule of absolute monogamy for rulers in the 
 church — to provide a more efficient check against the evil 
 — but that, as the same motive no longer operates now, the 
 rule is fitly regarded as having had only a temporary sig- 
 nificance, and as no longer in force. This, however, is a 
 quite arbitrary supposition. The qualification, as given by 
 the apostle, is coupled with no temporal limitation. It 
 stands, in that respect, on the sam.e footing as the other 
 prescriptions — alike valid, apparently, for all times. Besides, 
 the extremely lax state of morals then prevalent, while it 
 undoubtedly called the church, especially in its official re- 
 presentatives, to be examples of a truly chaste and becoming 
 behaviour, could never have justified the application of 
 tests which went beyond the requirements of God's law 
 and the dictates of sound reason ; for this would have been 
 to make one evil the occasion of opening the door to 
 another. It would have been an attempt, as the ascetic 
 discipline in every form is, to improve upon God's institu- 
 tions by setting up a higher ideal of purity than is proper 
 to them, and which always ends in bringing on worse evils 
 than those it seeks to correct. In the form now under 
 consideration, it would have given apostolic sanction to 
 false views of marriage, and, against the whole spirit of the 
 gospel, would have formally authorized gradations of sanc- 
 tity in the membership of the church — a lower that might 
 have sufficed for common believers ; and another and higher, 
 as not only proper, but indispensable, for those who should 
 be called to bear rule in the congregation. A distinction 
 certainly not of apostolic origin, and the fruitful parent, 
 when originated, of grievous errors and perversions ! 
 
 Special stress is laid, in this connection, by the AM^iters in 
 question on the corresponding qualification prescribed for 
 widows, who were to be admitted to the kindly oversight 
 
 happily to be found in our own colony of Mauritius. There the French 
 revolutionary law of divorce has been suffered by the English Govern- 
 ment to remain unrepealed ; and it is not uncommon to meet in society 
 three or four women who have all been the wives of the same man, and 
 three or four men who have all been the husbands of the same woman. 
 We believe it is this kind of successive polygamy, rather than simul- 
 taneous polygamy, which is here spoken of as disqualifying for the 
 presbyterate." 
 
432 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and benefactions of the church : these were, among other 
 moral characteristics, to be known as having each been the 
 wife of 07ie man, chap. v. 9. How, it is asked, could this 
 be understood otherwise than as descriptive of a woman 
 who had been only once married ? And if such is the kind 
 of oneness indicated in this case, how can it justly be re- 
 garded as different in the other ? The facts already stated, 
 however, show that the necessity supposed for so under- 
 standing the expression in the woman's case by no means 
 existed ; and the very circumstance of a qualification of this 
 sort being necessary to entitle a poor widow to become 
 merely the recipient of the church's charity, may surely be 
 regarded as no mean evidence that the qualification in both 
 cases could have involved nothing of an ascetic nature — 
 could have required only what is due to the claims of 
 decency, and is in accordance with the essential nature and 
 design of marriage. But this is shown more fully in the 
 annotations on chap. v. 9, 
 
 APPENDIX C— Page 232. 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF SLAVERY IN NEW TESTAMENT 
 SCRIPTURE (l TIM. VL 2 j TIT. II. lo). 
 
 This subject, in its relation to the spirit and teaching of 
 Christianity, naturally falls into three closely-related parts : 
 first, the direct instructions it gave to those standing to each 
 other in the relation of slave and slave-owner ; second, the 
 principles it unfolded tending indirectly, yet most materi- 
 ally, to bear on the relation ; and third, the practical 
 measures which, under the influence of one or the other of 
 these, came to be adopted with a view to the improvement 
 of the existing order of things. 
 
 I. As regards the first of these points, it is to be borne in 
 mind that the original heralds of Christianity had to do with 
 slavery as not only an existing, but a time-honoured and 
 widely-ramified institution, with a recognised place in the 
 laws and usages of the empire, and of such gigantic propor- 
 
APPENDIX. 433 
 
 tions that in the gospel age a slave for every freeman has 
 been thought a moderate computation for the provinces of 
 the empire at large. ^ In particular districts the proportion 
 was much greater, though in others probably somewhat 
 less. It was such, indeed, that in the more populous parts 
 of the empire nearly all menial employments must have 
 been discharged by servile hands, as well as much besides 
 that belonged to the category of skilled labour. Now, with 
 this vast system of legalized property in human flesh, the 
 evangelists and apostles of our Lord came into contact 
 chiefly as it bore on the class, not of owners, but of owned 
 — of bondmen, not of those who held them in bondage ; for 
 the gospel drew at first the great body of its adherents from 
 the lower grades of society, and those who ranked imme- 
 diately above them. Of the first generation of believers in 
 Christ, an extremely small proportion, it may be confidently 
 assumed, would be owners of slaves ; but not a few, in all 
 probability, of the slaves themselves, whose depressed and 
 sufl"ering condition would naturally dispose them to hail a 
 religion which looked so benignly on the afflicted, and held 
 out such elevating prospects to all who sincerely embraced 
 it. We thus quite readily account for the circumstance that 
 the prescriptions in New Testament Scripture bearing on 
 the relation in question are most numerous and pointed 
 with respect to the slaves; and that sometimes, when 
 charges are given as to the behaviour becoming them, none 
 are delivered on the correlative duties of masters. It was 
 not that the one class required the word of counsel or ad- 
 monition more than the other ; but because there were as 
 yet scarcely any of the higher class who professed subjec- 
 tion to Christ, while there were many of the lower. 
 
 Having, therefore, mainly to do with those who occupied 
 the lower place in this relationship, the authorized ambassa- 
 dors of Christ naturally regarded them as peculiar objects 
 both of pity and concern. They found them in an abject 
 and humiliating condition, which they had no power, how- 
 ever they might have wished it, to alter or amend, — a con- 
 dition which, in all its essential features, was fixed and 
 regulated by the legislation of the empire. While the 
 gospel of Christ could not break the chains which out- 
 ^ This is Gibbon's estimate. 
 2 E 
 
434 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 wardly lay upon them, it could, and did also, in a moral 
 and spiritual respect, mightily relieve and benefit their 
 state ; and, in return, it justly called them to prize the 
 better things which it brought within their reach, and to 
 show their prafiting therein by discharging in another 
 manner than before the duty of service exacted of them — 
 to eye, in all they did, the divine rather than the huuian 
 authority under which they stood : that so they might honour 
 and commend to others the Master whom now it was their 
 delight and glory to serve. They were thus, by their very 
 calling as Christians, elevated within their own sphere to 
 the high rank of witnesses of Christ, and instruments in His 
 hand for diffusing abroad that saving light and truth by 
 which alone the greater disorders of society could be 
 rectified, and the troubles of the more afflicted portions of 
 mankind efiectually removed. By taking the line of con- 
 duct prescribed, also, they would pursue the course which 
 was almost sure to react beneficially on their social position. 
 They necessarily became patterns of active virtue ; and 
 such were the encouragements given under the system of 
 Roman slavery for obtaining freedom as the reward of good 
 conduct, that Christian slaves, who in their daily procedure 
 exhibited the spirit of the gospel, might be said to be on 
 the high road toward manumission. 
 
 So much did the apostles set by conformity in this respect 
 to the mind of Christ, and so confidently did they reckon 
 upon other desirable ends being thus in due time attained, 
 that they scarcely ever touched on the civil aspect of the 
 question — on the acquirement of liberty. Incidentally the 
 subject comes up in the Epistle to Philemon, mth respect 
 to Onesimus, his runaway slave ; and yet it is so consider- 
 ately and delicately handled by the apostle, that, while he 
 shows distinctly enough his appreciation of a brotherly as 
 contrasted with a servile relation, he would not have the 
 former in any case acquired by fraud — would not even have 
 it wrung from the legal owner by a reluctant concession ; 
 yet, if frankly conferred, would esteem it a most worthy ex- 
 pression of enlightened and sanctified feeling. In another 
 place — a passage in the First Epistle to the Corinthians — • 
 the subject is also briefly treated in connection with a more 
 general question, namely, how the reception of the gospel 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 435 
 
 should be regarded as affecting people's family and social 
 relationships? Were they still to continue in these after 
 they had become Christians ? Or were they to find in their 
 Christianity a reason for abandoning them ? The apostle's 
 direction is : Abide as you are, and where you are, if you 
 can do so consistently with Christian principle ; and in so 
 far as anything in your existing relations may be trying and 
 irksome, instead of hastily ridding yourselves of it by a self- 
 chosen method of escape, seek rather by your meek, patient, 
 noble Christian bearing, to rise above the disadvantages 
 of your outward position, and in the interests of godliness 
 triumph over them. This is the general principle of action 
 enunciated ; and when applied to those who, on becoming 
 Christians, found themselves oppressed by the yoke of 
 slavery, it meant that they were not to use any power or 
 opportunity they might have to break the yoke violently 
 asunder ; that they were rather to regard this as a part of 
 the burden which, meanwhile, they had to bear for the sake 
 of Christ ; and that, while it was not good to be in slavery 
 to man, it was possible even in this to be Christ's freeman : 
 and to be such was so noble and blessed a thing, that their 
 civil disabilities might be borne, while they lasted, with 
 comparative indifference. This seems plainly the gist and 
 bearing of the apostle's treatment of the subject, however 
 we interpret the particular expressions. i It did not, when 
 fairly considered, betoken any insensibility in the apostle's 
 mind to the evils of slavery, taken by themselves. It is im- 
 possible, indeed, that he and the other heralds of the cross 
 should have thought lightly of them, seeing they were in 
 themselves so numerous and flagrant, and so contrary to 
 the spirit of philanthropy which breathed in the gospel of 
 Christ, and which was also exemplified so finely in the con- 
 duct of its divinely-commissioned teachers. But these men 
 of God knew that the promptings of nature were likely to 
 furnish a sufficient stimulus in that direction, and were not 
 forgetful also of the effect which the new wine of the king- 
 dom might have in the same direction — ferm.enting, as it 
 would naturally do, in the minds of Christian slaves, with 
 thoughts and aspirations in ill accord with their depressed 
 
 ^ It is only in respect to chap. vii. 21 that any diversity of interpre- 
 tation prevails. See at the close of this Dissertation, p. 448. 
 
436 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 and abject condition. It was therefore the part of Christian 
 wisdom to throw the fence mainly on the more exposed 
 side, and urge them, as their main concern, to the cultiva- 
 tion of those graces and habits which tended to elevate 
 them as rational and immortal beings. 
 
 On this side of the question, then, wisdom was manifestly 
 justified of her children; but was it equally so in the 
 reserve practised, on the other side, toward the masters? 
 If the apostles were right in plying the oppressed class with 
 exhortations to virtue and obedience, why should they not 
 have pressed those who had the power to let the oppressed 
 go free ? They certainly did not do this. The considera- 
 tions chiefly urged upon the masters are, that they, should 
 remember they had to do with One who is no respecter of 
 persons ; who stood to them in the relation of a Master, as 
 they to their fellow-creatures ; and that they should conse- 
 quently forbear, not the use of the lash merely, but even 
 threatening, and should give to all under their control what 
 is just and equal. Such injunctions, if properly carried out, 
 would at least secure practical freedom to the slave — such 
 freedom as would enable him to serve God faithfully in the 
 humble duties of his station. But we can scarcely say 
 apostolical precept, in its direct and explicit requirements of 
 the slave-owner, goes further ; especially as, when the sup- 
 position is made of believing servants under the yoke 
 having also beHeving masters (i Tim. vi. 2), the latter are 
 spoken of as still retaining their proprietary rights, and the 
 former are enjoined to do their work of service all the more 
 cheerfully that they were under believing masters. If, how- 
 ever, we take into account not the letter merely, but the 
 spirit also of the exhortations given, we shall doubtless see 
 that something further is required of the parties in question, 
 and that they could not have intelligeijtly and cordially done 
 so much without feeling impelled in ordinary circumstances 
 to do more. For if the master consented, as he was ex- 
 pressly required, to treat his bondmen as rational beings, 
 capable of the same exalted privileges and hopes as himself, 
 how could he desire to have them kept in a position which 
 exposed them to treatment of another kind, treatment from 
 which his own spiritual nature must have recoiled ? Plainly 
 he could not with hearty good-will take the one part of a 
 
APPENDIX. 437 
 
 Christian behaviour, without feeling drawn to do something 
 also in respect to the other. And that the Apostle Paul 
 thought persons in that situation should have so felt and 
 acted, is evident from the style of address in his letter to 
 Philemon respecting Onesimus, in which, as already indi- 
 cated, he did not indeed claim strictly as a right, or demand 
 as by divine authority, yet besought with powerful suasion, 
 the reception of Onesimus, not merely as a forgiven bond- 
 man who had wronged his master, but in a higher character 
 — "above a slave (as he expressed himself), a brother 
 beloved." To yield to this affectionate entreaty, and yet 
 re-assert over Onesimus his proprietary rights as a slave- 
 holder, had been impossible ; the very attempt to do so 
 would have been justly branded as a pitiful evasion. 
 
 But if such were the mind of the apostles, and the certain 
 tendency of their instructions,* might it not have been better 
 to go straight to the point, and lay upon every Christian 
 slave-owner the authoritative injunction to enfranchise his 
 slaves ? So some have, even in our time, been bold enough 
 to assert. But had the course in question been taken, how 
 many enfranchisements might have been expected through 
 its operation ? Or what progress was Christianity likely to 
 have made in ameliorating the social evils of the Empire ? 
 With this startling demand among its requirements, — in the 
 very front, we may say, of these requirements (for it was 
 sure to be the first that should ever meet the eye of the 
 slave-owner), — persons of this class would with one consent 
 have denounced Christianity j-s the opponent of their legal 
 interests and hereditary rights ; they would have every- 
 where met it with their determined opposition — would have 
 put it, in fact, under the ban of the Empire, as a system that, 
 under the guise of religion, aimed at unsettling the founda- 
 tions of society, and kindling the flames of a servile war. 
 It was at once the wiser and the more humane course to 
 make the direct prescriptions of the gospel bear only oii the 
 just and equitable treatment of the slave, so that the moment 
 he was placed under the dominion of a believing master he 
 should become practically free to move within the ordinary 
 sphere of Christian duty ; and in addition to this, to place 
 the master as well as the slave under motives and conside- 
 rations of a higher kind, which, in proportion as they were 
 
438 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 realized and acted on, necessarily led to the readjustment 
 or removal of whatever in their mutual relationship was at 
 variance with the essential principles of rectitude and 
 goodness. 
 
 2. This touches, however, upon the second point — the 
 higher influences brought by the gospel to bear on the 
 hearts of slave-owners, and tending indirectly to loose the 
 bonds of slavery. The whole spirit and tendency of the 
 religion of the gospel must have wrought in this direction. 
 
 The view given in Scripture of the common origin and 
 natural relationships of mankind — even this, which is im- 
 plied in the revelations of the gospel, rather than directly 
 announced — could not, if thoughtfully pondered, be without 
 effect in this particular line. That all should be the offspring 
 of one parent, — inheritors of one blood, and partakers of 
 the same rational and immortal nature, — and yet that they 
 should make merchandise of one another, as if some be- 
 longed to a different world, or a different order of creation 
 from the rest ; — who that justly considers the one can find it 
 in his heart to do the other ? How especially could he do 
 so, if he coupled with men's brotherly relation to himself 
 their filial relation to God, though he should only think of 
 that relation as it exists in nature, implying the formation 
 of all alike in God's image, and their calling as such to 
 occupy the earth, and use its means and opportunities of 
 good for Him ? To treat a human being so formed, so 
 constituted and destined by the hand of his Maker, as from 
 the mere accidents of position bereft of freedom of will and 
 independent action, were virtually to disown and shamefully 
 dishonour the claims and interests of such a natural re- 
 lationship. 
 
 Yet this is but the preliminary ground or implied basis 
 of Christianity, not its proper substance ; and its influence 
 in this direction becomes much greater when its grand cen- 
 tral doctrine of the incarnation and death of the Son of God 
 for the salvation of mankind is brought distinctly into view. 
 This, when rightly known and considered by men, could 
 not but be felt to be like the letting in of a new light upon 
 the world, tending by a moral necessity to raise the common 
 platform of humanity to a higher than its former level. It 
 is from hence, most of all, that has sprung the idea of the 
 
APPENDIX. 439 
 
 brotherhood of mankind — of their original equality in God's 
 sight, and of the honour and blessedness of ministering to 
 their wellbeing, apart from all the outward and artificial 
 distinctions which in the heathen world entered so largely 
 into men's estimation of their fellow-men, and threw some- 
 thing like an impassable gulf between race and race, and 
 one condition of life and another. The infinite condescen- 
 sion and glorious example of Christ virtually established for 
 all a claim to the highest offices of kindness, and, wherever 
 practically known, gave such an impulse to the more gene- 
 rous feelings of the heart, and the more active charities of 
 life, that everything like cruel neglect or lordly oppression 
 toward even the humblest grades of society could not fail 
 to be regarded otherwise than as an outrage on humanity. 
 
 Then, regard to the interests of salvation must have 
 wrought in the same direction. From the moment that 
 any one became a genuine believer, it was part of his obli- 
 gations to see that everything of a proper and fitting kind 
 was done to bring all under his influence or control to par- 
 take with him in the blessings of salvation. But how could 
 the slave-owner commend to others about him the offers of 
 a love, of which it was but too clear he had not yet received 
 the full impression in his own bosom? How could he 
 desire in earnest to see them rising to the possession and 
 enjoyment of the liberties of God's dear children? The 
 attainment of such a standing in spiritual things, with its 
 high privileges and endowments, he could not but see, 
 would only render them the more deeply conscious of the 
 ignoble chains which rested on their bodily condition ; for 
 how could they possess the rank of sons in God's house, 
 and realize their title to the glorious inheritance of the 
 saints in light, without feeling the incongruity and the dis- 
 honour of being denied the place of citizens of earth, or of 
 being allowed to take an independent part in the ordinary 
 concerns of a present hfe ? It was obviously impossible 
 that the intelligent Christian slave should have felt other- 
 wise than is now represented ; and if not absolutely impos- 
 sible, at least not very natural or easy, for his master to 
 become a sincere convert to the gospel, and still keep the 
 yoke of bondage riveted on the neck of a Christian brother. 
 Of the force of these considerations the history of the 
 
440 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 subject has yielded two very instructive and convincing 
 illustrations. The first is the reluctance commonly exhibited 
 by slave-owners to let those under their sway enjoy the full 
 benefit of Christian instruction and privilege. How far 
 this was the case in ancient times we can only infer from 
 what has happened among the modern representatives of 
 the class ; but in the particular point under consideration, it 
 is likely to have been worse rather than better in the earlier 
 as compared with the later ages. Yet, as regards these later 
 ages, no one in the least acquainted with the history of 
 slavery can be ignorant how commonly slave-owners have 
 been jealous of the diffusion of Christian knowledge and 
 instruction among their slaves — what restraints they have 
 generally laid upon it — how often even they have expressly 
 and by severe penalties interdicted it. Viewed as a whole, 
 it is not too much to say of their conduct, that it has 
 betrayed an unmistakeable conviction that the light and 
 liberties of the gospel carry along with them a certain 
 danger to their proprietary interests, and involve views of 
 truth and duty materially different from their own. The 
 other confirmatory fact consists in the grounds and reasons 
 which have most commonly induced beHeving slave-owners 
 to grant hberation to their bondmen. It appears that in 
 the actual progress of events the spirit of the gospel, im- 
 perfectly as it was too often understood and imbibed, 
 jjlayed an important part. While the work of emancipation 
 made slow advances compared with the progressive advance- 
 ment of an external Christianity, it still was always proceed- 
 ing, and generally did so within the professing church as a 
 response to the undeserved mercy of Heaven — an act of 
 becoming tenderness and compassion in the recipients of 
 divine grace and blessing. This may be seen by referring 
 to the ancient charters of that description given by Du 
 Cange, or even from the specimens selected out of them 
 by Dr. Robertson {Charles F., note 20). We find there 
 grants of freedom made by sundry persons in favour of 
 their slaves — made " for the love of God," " for the benefit 
 of the soul" of the grantor, or something to that eftect. 
 When Pope Gregory the Great bestowed liberty on some 
 slaves that had become his property, he prefaced the deed 
 thus : *' The Redeemer made Himself a propitiation to free 
 
APPENDIX. 441 
 
 men from the yoke of bondage, and restore them to their 
 pristine condition ; whence it well became men to restore 
 those whom the law of nations, not natm"e, had brought 
 into servitude, to the freedom which originally and properly 
 belonged to them." Hence also a large number of manu- 
 missions- appear to have been granted by persons on their 
 death-beds, when their near approach to the judgment-seat 
 rendered their consciences more alive to the great realities 
 of the gospel, and the corresponding obligations : they 
 granted the boon, it is commonly stated, " for the redemp- 
 tion of their soul." And hence also occasions of special 
 favour and blessing were not unfrequently seized for con- 
 ferring the grant ; the benefit received on the one side being 
 naturally felt to call for the bestowal of a like benefit on the 
 other. 
 
 Indeed, it is difficult to understand how any one, if he 
 could only divest himself of the perverting bias of habit, or 
 the still more perverting bias of worldly interest, and would 
 calmly look at the matter in the light of gospel truth, could 
 come to another conclusion than that of either abandoning 
 his right of property in his fellow-men, or of disclaiming 
 allegiance to the authority of Christ. I do not see how, 
 even with the kindest and most considerate treatment of 
 his slaves, he could feel that he had discharged his obliga- 
 tions according to the requirements of the gospel without 
 releasing them from their bondage. By one of these re- 
 quirements he is called to be an imitator of Christ in that 
 very walk of love wherein Christ has at once set so illustri- 
 ous an example and given so costly a sacrifice. By another, 
 he is enjoined to do to others whatsoever he would that 
 they should do to him. By a third, he is urged to do good 
 to all around him, as he has opportunity — to do it beyond 
 the measure of the heathen, and for the promotion espe- 
 cially of the higher interests of mankind. But, on the sup- 
 position of his continuing to be a slave-owner, what honour 
 do such precepts receive at his hands? He deliberately 
 prefers holding men subject to bondage, while it was the 
 special glory of his Master to deliver them from it; he 
 practises upon them a wrong ; and if he does not personally 
 inflict, he leaves them in a position in which they may have 
 inflicted upon them, insults and injuries, pains and cruelties, 
 
442 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 which no man of sane mind would wish another to have the 
 power of inflicting upon himself. And instead of using his 
 opportunities to do the part of a wise benefactor and moral 
 regenerator of the world, he lazily and selfishly contributes 
 to the maintenance of one of the foulest stains on the 
 brotherhood of mankind ; he lends his countenance and 
 support to a system of which, as a whole, and as regards its 
 inherent tendency, it has been not more eloquently than 
 justly said : " It darkens and depraves the intellect ; it 
 paralyzes the hand of industry ; it is the nourisher of 
 agonizing fears and of sullen revenge ; it crushes the spirit 
 of the bold ; it is the tempter, the murderer, and the tomb 
 of virtue ; and either blasts the felicity of those over whom 
 it domineers, or forces them to seek for relief from their 
 sorrows in the gratifications, and the mirth, and the mad- 
 ness of the passing hour." ^ 
 
 It is proper to add, however, that there may have been 
 persons in ancient times, as there are known to have been 
 some in later, who were not insensible to the considerations 
 now noticed, and yet refrained from granting liberation to 
 their slaves, out of regard chiefly to the present temporal 
 comfort of the slaves themselves. In those States where 
 slavery has become a widely-extended and compact system, 
 the manners and usages of society so adapt themselves to it, 
 that emancipation in individual cases, or on isolated proper- 
 ties, might have the efl"ect of throwing the emancipated out 
 of one class without being able to secure their introduction 
 into another, better, or even so well, situated for employ- 
 ment and comfort as the one they had. They might, in 
 consequence, if enfranchised, become exposed to neglect 
 and want. There can be no doubt that such was the case, 
 about the gospel era and before it, with many freedmen in 
 certain districts of Italy, where, from the general employ- 
 ment of slaves in the cultivation of the soil, the free part of 
 the population often fell into a very depressed and pitiable 
 condition. The same may have happened, and doubdess 
 did happen, in other provinces of the empire, of which we 
 have less specific information ; and it is also known to have 
 happened in particular portions of what but lately were the 
 slave states of the West Indies and of America. So that it 
 ' Speech of Dr. Andrew Thomson, Edinburgh. 
 
APPENDIX. 443 
 
 would not always be simply from the power of the gospel 
 not being felt, or from a deliberate disregard of its claims 
 in this particular direction, that the bondmen of Christian 
 masters did not regain their freedom. A benevolent regard 
 to their present wellbeing, even though possibly a some- 
 what mistaken or undue regard, may have often contributed 
 to the result. 
 
 3. We turn now, lastly, to the practical measures in 
 which, so far as we know, the early teachers and represen- 
 tatives of the gospel gave effect to the direct instructions, 
 and the indirect, the higher considerations under which, in 
 this respect, they were placed by their belief of the truth. 
 
 On this point our means of information are very limited 
 and fragmentary, and there is much we should like to know 
 of the earlier periods of church action of which we must be 
 content to be ignorant. Undoubtedly the process of rehef 
 within the church would have been quick and satisfactory, 
 compared with what we have reason to believe it was, if all 
 in the position of slave-owners, who professed obedience to 
 the gospel, had risen at once to the proper height of know- 
 ledge and attainment in this branch of their calling. But 
 we are not at liberty to suppose that ; the pleading alone 
 in the Epistle to Philemon, shows plainly enough how 
 slowly the very best of the early converts grasped here the 
 full results and consequences of their faith. There would 
 doubtless be many who at once felt it their duty to give 
 hearty obedience to the precepts of the gospel, in so far as 
 these required a kind and considerate treatment of their 
 dependants, who yet, from the force of habit or other in- 
 fluences, would never think of bringing the system itself of 
 slavery to the test of the great principles of the gospel. 
 The case of John Newton, in modern times, may be cited 
 in proof, since, after undergoing one of the most remarkable 
 conversions on record, he continued for a time not only in- 
 sensible to the common evils of slavery, but even actively 
 engaged in the inhuman transactions of the slave-trade, 
 conceiving all his obligations in the matter to be discharged 
 if only he looked after the bodily comfort of the unhappy 
 victims who fell into his hands. The utterly antichristian 
 character of the traffic disclosed itself but gradually to his 
 mind. A bequest may also be noticed in the same connec- 
 
444 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 tion, which was left by an American gentleman of last cen- 
 tury to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel — "a 
 plantation stocked with slaves." "An odd legacy," says 
 Warburton, in the sermon preached by him for the Society of 
 the same year ; " an odd legacy to the promulgators of the 
 law of liberty, but intended, perhaps, as a kind of compen- 
 sation for these violations of it." Custom had in all proba- 
 bility rendered the individual entirely unconscious of the 
 inconsistence. 
 
 It should not therefore surprise us to learn that, in the 
 church of the apostolic and immediately subsequent age, 
 there were Christian slave-owners as well as Christian slaves 
 in her communion, with a relaxation no doubt of the bond, 
 and a tendency begun toward its dissolution, yet still no 
 general movement made for its formal extinction. Slaves 
 and masters alike, on their professing Christianity, came under 
 the discipline of the church, and were amenable to it for their 
 actual behaviour. This was of itself a great security against 
 all harsh treatment, considering what discipline was in those 
 early times — how impartial and how stringent; and it is 
 probably the main reason why so little is said on the subject 
 of slavery in the more ancient Patristic writings, although 
 doubtless the ascetic tendency which so early began to tell 
 on leading men in the church exercised, to some extent, an 
 unfavourable influence also here. The so-called Apostolic 
 Fathers — Justin Martyr, also Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian 
 — very rarely refer to the subject of slavery in any way, and 
 give no special instructions concerning it. Even in the 
 voluminous writings of Augustine, we shall scarcely find a 
 more explicit or j^ointed testimony than the following : "A 
 Christian should not possess a slave after the same manner 
 that he does a horse or a piece of silver " iJDe Ser??i. Dom. 
 ill Monte, L. i. § 590). And when giving a summary of 
 what the church, as the true mother of all Christians, en- 
 joins upon her children, the whole he says in her behalf as 
 to the relation of master and servant is : " Thou teachest 
 servants to cleave to their masters, not so much from the 
 necessity of their condition, as from delight in the duties of 
 their calling. Thou makest masters placable toward their 
 servants, from regard to the great God, their common Lord, 
 and more ready to give counsel than to practise coercion " 
 
APPENDIX. 445 
 
 {De Mor. Eccl. Cath. % (i^). Chrysostom failed even more 
 than Augustine to bring out on this point the true sj^irit 
 of the gospel ; and his continuous commentaries on the 
 epistles of the New Testament furnished him also with 
 better opportunities. In his exposition of Philemon, while 
 he speaks strongly enough of the scandal brought on 
 Christianity by slaves running away from their masters, and 
 of Christians abetting and aiding them in their attempts 
 to do so, he does not say a single word on the duty of 
 Christian masters to grant liberty to their slaves ; he speaks 
 also quite familiarly of our custom of purchasing slaves with 
 money, and of its being esteemed the glory of a master to 
 have many of them. He is somewhat better at Eph. vi. 9, 
 where masters are enjoined to do the same things toward 
 their slaves that the slaves themselves were exhorted to do, 
 and to forbear threatening, as knowing that they had a 
 Master in heaven, with whom there is no respect of persons. 
 Here Chrysostom presses the consideration that masters 
 shall assuredly have their measure meted back to them ; 
 that they must do as they hope to be done to ; and that 
 they should teach their slaves to be pious and godly, and 
 then all would go well. But emancipation is not once 
 hinted at. 
 
 Notwithstanding such comparative failures, however, on 
 the part of the standard-bearers of the church, the mild, 
 beneficent, love-embracing spirit of the gospel made way, 
 first lightening the yoke, and then subverting the existence 
 of slavery. This appears especially in the eftbrts put forth 
 from time to tirne to obtain the freedom of Christians who 
 by misfortune had been reduced to slavery, and the fresh 
 facilities that were given to slave emancipation by legal 
 enactment. The barbarous treatment of the servile class 
 was openly condemned by the ministers and councils of 
 the church. Clement of Alexandria absolutely prohibited 
 the acceptance of any oblations from cruel and sanguinary 
 masters ; and several councils appointed temporary excom- 
 munications to be pronounced against those who, without 
 any judicial sentence, put their slaves to death. Acacius, 
 bishop of Amida, had the gold and silver vessels of his 
 church melted to redeem 7000 captives, whom the Romans 
 had brought from Persia, and sent them back free. Am- 
 
446 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 brose did something of the same sort at Milan. Cases are 
 even mentioned of persons who sold their whole property 
 to purchase the freedom of their fellow-Christians. One 
 Melania is said to have liberated so many as 8000 slaves ; 
 Obidius, a Gaulish Christian, 5000, etc. And so congenial 
 did the work of manumission seem to the spirit of the 
 gospel, that Constantine, while suspending ordinary work 
 on the Lord's day, expressly allowed the manumission of 
 slaves, as having in itself the essential characteristics of a 
 pious and charitable action.^ 
 
 In another respect, also, the ancient church did good 
 service : she guarded the chastity of female slaves, and 
 servile birth formed no disqualification for the sacred offices 
 of the priesthood. The legal statutes, for a considerable 
 time, embarrassed her operations, and made the progress of 
 the work miore difficult. The Code of Justinian recognised, 
 indeed, the original equality of mankind, but it admitted the 
 forfeiture of this equality by the casualties which use and 
 wont had allowed to entail the loss of freedom. Still, what 
 was not removed was in several respects alleviated. Masters 
 were forbidden to abandon their slaves when sick or en- 
 feebled with age — they were obliged to have them privately 
 cared for, or sent to the hospitals. In heathen times, slaves 
 could not properly marry; their union was merely con- 
 cubinage ; and for a free person to marry a slave was even 
 held a capital offence. The Christian church struggled 
 long and stedfastly against such things, and at last suc- 
 ceeded in getting legal sanction to the marriage of slaves, 
 and gave to marriages of this kind, as well as others, her 
 benediction. The tendency of the imperial legislation be- 
 came increasingly favourable to the interests of the slave ; 
 and Gibbon says of Justinian's Code, that '' the spirit of his 
 laws promoted the extinction of domestic servitude." But 
 the extinction was much retarded, especially by two causes. 
 
 The first of these was the growing worldliness and cor- 
 ruption of the church. The salt, to a very large extent, 
 had lost its savour. In process of time, churches them- 
 selves came to hold property in slaves, and even had their 
 property in this respect guarded by special enactments. 
 
 1 Guizot, Hist, of Civil, in France^ ii. p. 128 ; Bingham, Ant. B. xx. 
 c. 2, 5. 
 
APPENDIX. 447 
 
 While churches were constituted asylums for runaway slaves, 
 slaves that belonged to ecclesiastics or sacred foundations, 
 if they became runaways, were denied all right of protection; 
 any one who harboured them became liable to pay a triple 
 fine (Milman's Lat. Chi'istia7iity ^ i. 365). The other circum- 
 stance was the enormous multiplication of slaves consequent 
 upon the irruption of the northern nations. This increased 
 the evil to' such an extent that, by its very excess, it helped 
 to work out the remedy. Slaves ceased in a manner to 
 be saleable \ they became serfs — labourers attached to the 
 soil ; and by this appropriation they had conceded to them 
 a measure of security against the caprice and despotism of 
 the masters. In this state one could not be sold, save as 
 part and parcel of the ground on which he resided ; and 
 while thus bound to a kind of hereditary serfdom, his posi- 
 tion was regulated by law — guarded, though still but imper- 
 fectly, from the freaks of arbitrary violence and oppression. 
 Other changes, mainly effected by trade and commerce, 
 came in to ameliorate their condition ; and after centuries 
 of delay, and a step-to-step progress, serfdom itself passed, 
 throughout the different countries of Europe, into personal 
 and social freedom. 
 
 Broken, therefore, and chequered as the history is, in- 
 terrupted by many baitings and even temporary reverses, it 
 has still been an advancement — Christianity has vindicated 
 her title to the character of a friend of the captive and the 
 bond. She would have done so, it is true, far more speedily 
 and extensively if she had herself remained free from the 
 corruptions of the world, and if her grand aims for the good 
 of mankind had been properly carried out. But, as matters 
 actually stood, a gradual rectification took place ; a milder 
 and better tone was diffused throughout society ; a standard 
 of generosity and loving-kindness was everywhere raised, 
 which might be said to frown on the intolerance and cruelty 
 of slavery, and prepared the world for giving practical effect 
 to the feehng of a common brotherhood. Nothing, indeed, 
 can be more certain, from the struggles and triumphs of the 
 past, than that this horrid institution, which is alike dis- 
 honouring to God and injurious to the best interests of 
 society, cannot stand with a healthful and robust Chris- 
 tianity : as the one lives and thrives, the other of necessity 
 
44^ THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 gives way ; and were there a gospel everywhere triumphant, 
 there would infallibly be a free as well as a righteous and a 
 blessed world. 
 
 NOTE TO p. 435, on i Cor. vil 21. 
 
 In illustration of the general principle that people, on be- 
 coming Christians, should abide in the calling wherein they 
 were called, the apostle refers, along with some other cases, to 
 that of bondmen : " Wast thou called, being a slave ? Care 
 not for it. But if also (or indeed) thou art able to become 
 free, use it rather." " That is," says Chrysostom, " rather 
 be a slave. And why, then, does he bid him^ who had it in 
 his power to become free, to continue a slave ? He did it 
 to show that slavery no way injures, but rather profits (on 
 ov^Xv (^XairreL rj SovXua, oAXa koI ox^eAet)." Rather Strange 
 doctrine, surely, to ascribe to one who in his own case 
 valued so highly, not merely his common liberty, but his 
 special freedom as a Roman citizen, that he would not 
 allow its rights to be trampled on ; and who, in respect to 
 his convert Onesimus, showed how well he could distinguish 
 between the disadvantages of a slave's place and the honour- 
 able position of a brother ! Chrysostom adds that he was 
 aware there were some who understood the tise recom- 
 mended of liberty : if you are able to become free, embrace 
 freedom rather. But he rejects this view as against the 
 connection, which (he thinks) requires that even if a be- 
 lieving slave had the option of becoming free, he should 
 prefer his slavery. And the same view is taken by Theo- 
 doret, Theophylact, also by various modern commentators 
 of note, in particular by Estius, Wolf, Bengel, Meyer, Alford. 
 Several of them hold it to be the only view grammatically 
 tenable; for when Kat succeeds el, it does not belong to 
 €t, but to the following clause, which it is spread over and 
 qualifies ; so that the meaning (it is alleged) can only be : 
 But if even thou canst be free, use it — namely, slavery — 
 rather. Dean Stanley hesitates between the two modes of 
 explanation. Whether /;r<?<^(?;;^ or slavery is to be supplied 
 to the verb use,\\t conceives to be "one of the most evenly 
 balanced questions in the interpretation of the New Testa- 
 
APPENDIX. 449 
 
 ment." And he goes on to state, with his wonted dexterity, 
 the considerations that appear to make for the two views 
 respectively, but commences Avith the strange assertion that 
 the verb XPW"-'- " ^^Y either be c/ioose, or 7nake use of^ 
 although it leans rather to the former, and thus favours the 
 first interpretation" — that, namely, which would couple it 
 with slavery. He does not, however, produce any passage 
 in the New Testament in support of the sense of choosing ; 
 nor can a single one be produced. In the two Epistles to 
 the Corinthians it occurs, besides the present passage, six 
 times (i Cor. \ii. 31, ix. 12, 15 ; 2 Cor. i. 17, iii. 12, xiii. 10), 
 but never in the sense of choosing — always in that of usi?ig^ 
 making use of. And retaining this as the only allowable 
 meaning, how could the apostle exhort any Christian slave, 
 who had the opportunity of becoming free, to use slavery 
 rather ? Slavery is not a gift or talent to be used, but a 
 restraint, a hardship to be borne or submitted to — if neces- 
 sary — but no more. And with all its tendency to asceticism, 
 and to a foohsh self-imposition of outward restraints, the 
 ancient church still had common sense enough, and native 
 instincts remaining, to dispose her members generally so to 
 regard it. The well-known practice of Christians in freely 
 spending of their means to liberate their brethren from 
 servitude, when by some calamity reduced to it, was a 
 virtual protest against the inflated oratory of Chrysostom, 
 and his false exegesis. 
 
 As to the grammatical canon, very formally propounded 
 by Alford, that /cat after et qualifies the succeeding clause, 
 so as to mark a gradation upward — if even, — one has only 
 to look at the passages in which the particles occur to see 
 how far it will carry us. Sometimes, no doubt, the ascen- 
 sive force is plain enough, as at Phil. ii. 17, " But if I even 
 be offered {aXXh. d koI cnrevSofxai) ; " to which may be added 
 I Pet. iii. 14. But take other examples — such as 2 Cor. 
 xi. 15, where, speaking of Satan and his instruments of 
 working, the apostle says, " No great wonder, therefore, if 
 also (el Kttt) his ministers are transformed as ministers of 
 righteousness." Here the particles indicate merely an addi- 
 tional and subordinate fact — if progress at all, a progress 
 downward, not upward. So also at i Cor. iv. 7, *' What 
 hast thou, that thou didst not receive ? But if also (or 
 
 2 F 
 
45 O THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 
 
 indeed) thou didst receive it — el Se koL eXafSeg " (also 2 Cor. 
 V. 16, vii. 8) ; on which Alford is himself obliged to let go 
 the ascensive force. It does not appear that for the New 
 Testament usage one can go further with a grammatical 
 principle in the matter than as stated by Winer : " In 
 general, et KaC signifies although, si etiam, quanquam, indi- 
 cating something as an actual fact ; " or, as Mr. Moulton 
 puts it in a note, indicating either that what the sentence 
 expresses is, in the writer's belief, an actual fact, or a con- 
 cession on his part that the supposition is correct {Gr. 
 § 53, 7, Clark's ed.). Mr. Moulton, however, himself 
 adopts the ascensive force in the passage before us. 
 
 The difficulty, as appears to me, in giving a natural and 
 proper explanation of the passage has been aggravated by 
 supposing that either IXevOepia, freedo?n, or SovAeta, bondage, 
 must be supplied for the verb XPW^'- The more natural 
 construction is to supply the noun involved in the preceding 
 verb ; the stress lies on it — on Swacrat. '' Wast thou called, 
 being a slave ? Care not for it. But if also thou art able 
 (Swao-at) to become free, use it (the 8wa/>tts, ability) rather ;" 
 having the power, turn it rather to account. It is not pro- 
 perly the use of the freedom which the apostle advises (in 
 which case we should certainly, as Alford remarks, have 
 judged iXevOepta to be the proper word to be suppUed to 
 XP^o-at), but the use of the }ower to obtain freedom ; and 
 either this, or the whole clause, power to become free, is the 
 thing to be supplied. Thus viewed, two suppositions are 
 made in the verse : first, slavery without the power of 
 escaping from it — in which case the principle of abiding in 
 one's station holds without any qualification, and under the 
 elevating influence of the gospel a noble indifference is re- 
 commended ; second, the power of acquiring freedom, with 
 an advice to take advantage of the opportunity. ^ Then, in 
 the following verse, a twofold consideration is introduced 
 by yap, suited to the two suppositions going before : the 
 bondman, even though remaining such, is the Lord's free- 
 man, and the freeman is the Lord's bondman. Either way 
 a qualifying circumstance — in the one case tending to abate 
 the natural evil, in the other to circumscribe and regulate 
 the natural good. But to leave no doubt that the apostle 
 was not insensible to the superiority of a free over an en- 
 
APPENDIX. 451 
 
 slaved condition, and regarded the former as alone properly- 
 suited to the place of a believer, he adds, ver. 24, " Ye were 
 bought with a price ; do not become slaves of men." Seeing 
 how great a price has been given to raise you into the 
 glorious liberty of the gospel, do not act an unseemly part 
 by becoming bondmen to your fellow-creatures. And of 
 course, if they should not voluntarily become such, neither 
 should they voluntarily continue such, when it was in their 
 power to escape from the anomalous position. 
 
 Interpreted in this manner, the exhortation of the apostle 
 is throughout reasonable and consistent. His general direc- 
 tion is that people, on becoming Christians, should continue 
 in the relations which they at the time occupied — the 
 married (though to a heathen spouse) in wedlock, the 
 uncircumcised in uncircumcision, the slave in bondage. 
 But where a change to the better might be found practi- 
 cable, let it be adopted — the Christian wife drawing over to 
 the faith her unbelieving husband, or, failing in that, and 
 finding domestic peace impracticable, retiring into privacy ; 
 the slave having the power to become free, using that 
 power j but the free on no account bartering their freedom 
 for a state of bondage, since that would be unsuitable to 
 their high calling as the redeemed children of God in 
 Christ. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, 
 PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 
 
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