The i NewCentury 3ible The Pastoral Epistles * MAR 20 1908 * '^OCI Division Section The foUowing thirteen volumes, comprising the whole New Testament, have already been arranged for. 1. MATTHEW, by Prof. W. F. Slater, M.A. 2. MARK, by Principal Salmond, D.D. 3. LUKE, by Prof. W. F. Adeney, M.A. 4. JOHN, by the Rev. J. A. M'^Clymont, D.D. 5. ACTS, by Prof. J. Vernon Bartlet, M.A. 6. ROMANS, by the Rev. A. E. Gar VIE, MA., B.D. 7. I AND n CORINTHIANS, by Prof. J. Massie, M.A. 8. PHILIPPIANS, EPHESIANS, COLOSSIANS, PHIL- EMON, by the Rev. G. CuRRiE Martin, M.A., B.D. 9. I and II THESSALONIANS, GALATIANS, by Prof. W. F. Adeney, M.A. 10. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, by the Rev. R. F. HoRTON, M.A., D.D. 11. HEBREWS, by Prof. A. S. PeAKE, M.A. 12. THE GENERAL EPISTLES, by Prof. W.H.Bennett, M.A. 13. REVELATION, by tlie Rev C. ANDERSON ScOTT, M.A. THE NEW-CENTURY BIBLE TIMOTHY AND TITUS Tiw £fei bu P j& Gec^ajOncal BLStitzrte T.C.& Copynghl JaWBai-tliolfiinowA Co. v^ General Editor : Prof. W. F. Adeney INTRODUCTION AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED VERSION WITH NOTES INDEX AND MAP ^-^^ EDITED BY R. F. HORTON, M.A., D.D. NEW YORK: HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMERICAN BRANXH EDINBURGH : T. C. & E. C. JACK 1901 The Revised Version is printed by permissum of the Universities of Oxford aJtd Cambridge. CONTENTS PAGE Editor's Introduction ....... i Text of the Authorized Version < • • • 59 Text of the Revised Version with Annotations . 8i Index .......... 195 MAP Roman Empire, shewing the journeys of St. Paul . Facing Title. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES I, II TIMOTHY AND TITUS LNTRODUCTION THE PASTORAL EPISTLES INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. Authenticity and Contents. Until the year 1804, when J. E. C. Schmid cast a suspicion on the genuineness of the First Epistle to Timothy, our three Epistles had been from the earliest times acknowledged as the work of Paul. In 1807 Schleiermacher maintained that the * so-called First Epistle of Paul to Timothy ' was an imitation of the genuine letters 2 Timothy and Titus. In 1812 Eichhorn assailed the genuineness of all the three, and he was followed by De Wette, Schrader, &c. In 1835 Baur advanced his theory that the letters were productions of the second century, written to stem, in the name of Paul, the tide of Marcion's Gnosticism, and to advance, in the same august name, the organization of the early church. And this view is, in all essentials, held by Holtzmann in his New Testcunetit Theology, ii. 259 (1897): 'We have before us Paulinism strengthened in a church direction, and tempered in a CathoUc direction, reshaped in view of the church needs of an advanced phrase of development.' Reuss maintains the genuineness of 2 Timothy, and Pfleiderer, Ewald, Krenkel, Hesse, C. Clemen, Ad. Harnack, followed by Prof. McGiffert in his History of Christianity in the A-postolic Age (1897), claim, as genuine, certain passages B 2 4 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES on which another hand built up the letters for doctrinal and ecclesiastical purposes. On the other hand Lange, Schulze, Godet, Huther, B. Weiss, &c., on the continent, and Sanday, Hort, and Bernard in this country, contend for the genuineness. And the Kurzgefasster Comjnenfar, (Riggenbach and Zockler, 1898), which is the latest and most impartial utterance on the subject, after reviewing the arguments /r^ and coft, arrives at the conclusion that though there are many things which make it difficult to believe that we have here letters of Paul as they left his hand, and it may be necessary to suppose that genuine letters have been put together by a disciple of Paul, Luke, or Timothy himself, ' the Apostolic authority of our letters, guaranteed by the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power, is not in the least affected. They are and remain an authentic part of the Canon.' This decision is so important and so sufficient that the discussion of the genuineness becomes one of only secondary interest. Our three letters not only contain certain passages which are among the priceless treasures of Scripture (e.g. i Tim. ii. 3-7, iii. 14-16, vi. 14-16; 2 Tim. ii. 1-13, 19-26, iii. 16, iv. 6-8; Titus ii. 11-14, iii. 4-7), but they lay stress on certain aspects of truth which are nowhere more happily enforced. The practical and ethical side of Christianity, never separated from faith in the saving truths, is emphasized in the importance of good works. Church officers must be good ; all the ground is cut away from the corrupting notion that the bad character of the clergy does not hinder the grace which they administer. Faith is closely bound up with a good conscience, and love, and other virtues ; and the gift of eternal life appears almost as a reward of good living, a point which, however liable to abuse, is essential in preserving the church from antinomianism (i Tim. vi. 18 f. ; 2 Tim. i. 16-18, ii. 4-6, 11, 12, iv. 7 f.) Then there are certain words and ideas which are key-notes of these Epistles, e.g. godliness, sobriety, gravity. And if wc INTRODUCTION 5 try to conceive Paul's doctrine as a whole, we shall find that the peculiar emphasis of these letters is needed to give to his thought balance and completeness. If it were established that the authorship and phraseology were not Paul's, we should still have to believe that the point of view which is adopted in these letters was familar to him, and was impressed on such disciples of his as Luke, Timothy, and Titus. But though it is only of secondary interest, and cannot affect the canonical value of the Epistles, it is well to understand the grounds on which the genuineness is questioned, especially as the present commentary does not take sides in the controversy, but endeavours to put into the student's hands the arguments by weighing which he may decide for himself, whether, or in what sense, these letters came from the hand which wrote Romans, I and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. The writer's own position need only be so far stated as to enable the reader to make allowance for the personal equation. I feel to the full the weight of the objections which, since the time of Eichhorn, have been brought against the genuineness ; and in the course of the com- mentary these objections sometimes recur with over- whelming force. But on the other hand the sign-manual of Paul is so unmistakable in the personal notices, in certain suggestions of doctrine, and also in the use of many of his favourite ideas, that, if the only alternatives were to ascribe the letters to Paul or to regard them as a fabrication having no connexion with his pen, I should feel that the difficulties of believing in the fabrication outweigh the difficulties of accepting the genuineness. The hypothesis, however, that certain fragments of Paul's letters were worked up into this form by some disciple who understood his master's mind, may meet the diffi- culties on both sides ; and without accepting any solution of the question which has yet been offered, I can well believe that a solution may be found in this direction. 6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES Now to state briefly the difficullies which present themselves in accepting the traditional view of the Pauline authorship : — I. Perhaps we need not attach much importance to Prof. McGiffert's remark on the three letters that ' the external testimony to their genuineness is far weaker than in the case of any of Paul's other letters' {Apostolic Age^ p, 399) : for if weaker, it is still quite sufficient. In the very earliest Christian literature that has come down to us, Clement of Rome (95 A.D.) shews traces of knowing I Timothy (Clement's first Epistle, vii. 3, xxix. i, liv. 1 ; second Epistle xii. i, ' the day of the appearing of God ' : cf. 1 Tim. vi. 14; 2Tim.i. io,iv. 1,8; Titus ii. 13, and also chap, xix, and xx. 6), and there are in his two letters echoes of 2 Timothy (e.g. i Clem. v. 6, xxvii. 3 ; 2 Clem. vii. 3), while the phrase, ' ready unto every good work,' i Clem, ii. 7, must be a quotation from Titus iii. i. In Polycarp there is a distinct quotation from i Tim. vi. 7, 10, *A beginning of all evils is love of money ; knowing there- fore that we brought nothing into the world, but not even have we anything to carry out of it, let us arm with the armour of righteousness' {ad Philip, iv. i) ; and again in the Latin version of xii. 3 we read, ' Pray for all saints, pray also for kings and powers and princes ' : cf. i Tim. ii. I, 2. Indeed, echoes of i Timothy can be detected all through chapters 5 and 6 of this Epistle of Polycarp. Similar echoes of 2 Timothymay be traced; e.g. in ch. v. 2, ' We shall reign with him if we are faithful ' (cf. 2 Tim. ii. II, 12), and in ch. ix. 2, ' For he did not love this present world,' using the very phrase of 2 Tim. iv. 10. In Ignatius there are echoes of i Timothy, e.g. in ad Ephes, x. I, or ad Sjnyr?i. xiii. I, ' Virgins that are called widows,' which can only refer to I Tim. v. 3, II ; there are also echoes of 2 Timothy in ad Sf/iyrn., e.g. ch. ix. and ch. x, and the unusual word ' refresh' of 2 Tim. i. 16 occurs both in the Smyrnean letter and in the Ephesian, ch. ii. i ; there are fainter echoes of Titus in ad Magnes. vi. 2, 'an ensample ' ; INTRODUCTION 7 ad Trail, iii. 2, 'demeanour.' In the Letter to DiognctuSy ch. xi. p. 3, itself a sermon rather than a letter, but one of the most beautiful of those first Christian writings, the unknown author shews signs of knowing i Tim. iii, 16, for he has a kind of 'quotation from memory ' of it: ' Who, dishonoured by the people, preached by the Apostles, was believed on by the nations.' Aristides, the earliest apologist, Justin Martyr, Athena- goras, and the Letter of the Church of Vienne and Lyons, all shew some acquaintance with our three Epistles. On the other hand Marcion, Basilides, and the other earliest heretics rejected the Epistles, though Tertullian {adv. Marc. v. 21) certainly implies that Marcion already knew the letters and rejected them from heretical motives. Tatian also rejected the two Timothy letters, while he accepted Titus. It is not until the second half of the second century that we find the three Epistles recognized in the Canon of Pauline letters by Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria, and the Muratorian Fragment. But considering the brevity and the personal character of the letters, it must be owned that the external testimony is quite sufficient, and Eusebius might well reckon them among the accepted canonical writings {Hist. EccL iii. 3. 5 ; 25. i). And as from Tatian to the beginning of the nineteenth century no doubt was ever cast upon them, we may confine ourselves to the internal difficulties, which from the time of Schleiermacher have been brought into constantly clearer relief. 2. A careful reader will be conscious of a decided change in the general doctrinal position as compared with Paul's earlier letters. Not only, as already observed, is stress laid on good works, but faith, which to Paul was the root of everything, here loses its unique significance and is almost reduced to a place side by side with other virtues. We say * almost,' because Paul's view of faith is constantly suggested (e.g. i Tim. i. 2, 4, iii. 9, v. 8, 12, vi. 12 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7 ; Titus iii. 5), but on the other hand it is frequently 8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES reduced in value (e.g. i Tim. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. ii. 18, iii. 8; Titus i. 13 ; also i Tim. iv. 6) by being coupled with other things, and is sometimes omitted, as in Titus ii. 11-14, in a way which is very puzzling, assuming Paul to be the writer. Yet, as Riggenbach (in Kurzgefasster Covuncn- tar^ p. 8) maintains against Holtzmann and von Soden and Dr. Bernard, faith in these letters always retains its subjective meaning, and it is never necessary to adopt that meaning which became common in the second century, oi fides quae creditur^ i.e. a creed rather than an act of the soul. The word which here takes the place of faith in the other Pauline letters is 'godliness' (piety), a word which occurs eleven times in these three, but not at all in the remaining, letters of Paul. This gives some colour to Prof. McGiffert's remark, that if Paul wrote these letters he had given up 'that form of the Gospel which he had held and taught throughout his life, and descended from the lofty religious plane on which he had always moved, since Christ had been revealed in him, to the level of mere piety and morality' {Apostolic Age, p. 404). The problem presented therefore is that while Pauline doctrine appears (e.g. 2 Tim. i. 9-1 1, ii. 11 ; Titus iii. 4-7), the general cast of the doctrine carries us away from Paul to a development which during the second century became so pronounced that the primitive Pauline position was practically lost in 'another gospel.' 3. The style and phraseology, though always betraying points of agreement with Paul, are not exactly Paul's. The dialectic of the other letters has disappeared, and the subjects are simply treated in succession, without any orderly connexion. There is also a certain chill in these letters which is unlike Paul. Though writing to Ephesus, and to Crete, where he had himself been, there are no warm personal salutations in Paul's manner, and the language to Timothy is hardly as affectionate as the references to him in the INTRODUCTION 9 earlier letters would lead us to expect, though, especially in 2 Timothy, the circumstances would seem to demand even an increase of affectionate expressions. Then it must be owned that the references to the false teachers are not quite in Paul's manner. They are denunciations rather than refutations : they do not discriminate, but they mingle antinomian and ascetic, spiritualistic and legalistic, tendencies in one common condemnation. The writer does not attempt to refute the heresies, as in Corinthians, Galatians or Colossians, by revealing the sacred mysteries of his gospel and shewing the spiritual principles of the cross, but he appeals to a deposit of truth which is handed down as a safeguard against all heresies of whatever sort. This is like 2 John, and like Polycarp, but not like Paul. Then as to phraseology. There are in these three letters 171 words or phrases which are not found else- where in Paul, that is an average of one to every verse and a half. It is true that each letter of Paul's betrays many new expressions ; but the comparison with the Pastorals may be thus exhibited — Pastorals, i in 1-55 verse; 2 Cor., I in 3-66 verses ; Rom., I in 3-67 verses; Gal., I in 5-14 verses ; I Cor., I in 5-53 verses. But in addition there are phrases borrowed from Latin {^.%. gratias Jiabeo, I Tim. i. 12 ; 2 Tim. i. 3) ; there is a curious tendency to leave out the article ; there is a marked omission of certain words which Paul much affected, and a love of words compounded with ' house,' 'witness,' and 'lover of.' Again, while the phrase 'God our Saviour' appears several times, Paul's favourite, 'the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' does not appear at all. In the notes an attempt is made to point out all these peculiarities of expression (the reference is of course lo THE PASTORAL EPISTLES always to the Greek and not the English words), so that the reader may form an independent judgement of their bearing on the question of the Pauline authorship. They are very interesting and very instructive ; for they raise the question how far it is possible for a man, in the course of five or six years, to change his general vocabulary ; to adopt new expressions, new conjunctions, new casts of sentences ; and to entirely drop others which have been customary and even favourite forms. Riggenbach, after carefully enumerating all the peculiar- ities, affirms that they do not suffice to settle the question of authorship. On such a subject it is absurd to be dogmatic ; quot homines^ tot sententiae. 4. The greatest difficulty has been found in the indi- cations of a developed church organization, an ordained episcopate, a tradition of apostolic doctrine, a conception of the Catholic Church as the pillar of the truth, an insistence on baptism, an indication of incipient liturgies. If these things are found in these Epistles it must be owned that the Epistles cannot belong to the Apostolic Age^ but must be brought down into the second cen- tury, when for the first time these developments appeared. That there is language which might seem to refer to these things every one must admit. The exegesis of this language therefore becomes a critical question, for on it turns the genuineness of the Epistles. The view taken in the following commentary is that indications of these later developments are not indisputable in our letters. (i) The church organization is stiir the congregational order, which appears in the other Pauline letters and in Ignatius : the church always means the local society of believing souls. (2) Bishop and presbyter are identical terms ; and only two orders of ministry are known, viz. elders (bishops) and deacons, though here for the first time appears side by side with deaconesses an order of Church Widows. The monarchical episcopate (i.e. the INTRODUCTION ii minister of the congregation as the centre of unity and the representative of Christ), so famihar to Ignatius in the beginning of the second century, is not yet known. The 'bishop' of i Tim. iii. i-6 is evidently the elder of ch. v. 17 and of Titus i. 5, 6. If in these passages 'the bishop' is mentioned in the singular, it is only as the particular example of the class. To regard Timothy and Titus as bishops is wholly unhistorical, and nothing in the letters gives colour to the fiction. The two appear as representatives of Paul, as evange- lists discharging a temporary mission, and not as bishops permanently attached to special churches. The late tradition which made Timothy bishop of Ephesus, and Titus bishop of Crete must not be allowed to dis- credit the authenticity of these letters any more than the equally uncertain tradition which made Peter bishop of Rome can be allowed to accredit the papal claims. (3) As for the tradition or deposit of apostolic doctrine, though the words are identical with those subsequently used, as indeed they were borrowed from these Epistles by the church in later days, they do not bear here the meaning which they afterwards acquired. The usage here, suggesting a certain body of truth and type of faith which could regulate the belief and practice of the future, stands intermediate between the Pauline notion of faith and the work of the Spirit on the one hand, and the church teaching of an external canon of truth, or a formu- lated creed, on the other. And this expression and its underlying idea point therefore not to the second century, but to the later part of the first century and the immediate disciples and successors of Paul. (4) Though the church betrays a tendency to be something more than the local community, the crucial passage, i Tim. iii. 15, does not shew any real departure from the conception in Paul's other letters, and is not so near to the catholic conception as the 'one body, one spirit' of Ephesians. (S) The place of baptism in Titus iii. 5 is 12 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES striking, but it does not, as we shall see, go beyond the teaching of Peter and John ; while the complete silence about the Lord's Supper shews how far the age of these letters is from the dawn of Sacramentalism. And finally (6), the slight traces of liturgical uses are fanciful, and, if established, there is yet nothing to shew that such hymns and canticles were not in use from the apostolic days (cf. Matt. xxvi. 30; Eph. v. 19), Under this head then we have to conclude that the difficulty is not of the kind that would bring the Epistles down into the second century, though it may make it difficult to believe that we have here the autograph of St. Paul. 5. Baur's contention that the heresy referred to in our letters is the second century Gnosticism is now no longer maintained. To see in the ' endless genealogies ' a refer- ence to the yEons and Emanations of the Valentinian Gnosticism would hardly be plausible at all, but for the phrase 'antitheses of the falsely-called Gnosis' in i Tim. vi. 20, which suggests the well-known antitheses of Marcion. But as there is no specific reference to the later Gnos- ticism, but everything implies that these heretics are Jewish, and occupied with questions of the law, and as there are sufficient reasons for believing that the Gnostics and their Gnosis go back to the early days of Christianity (cf. St. John and Cerinthus, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans), it cannot be maintained that anything in the substance of the false teaching here pushes us decisively beyond the age of Paul, though, as we have admitted, the manner in which the writer treats the heretics is not quite Pauline. 6. The difficulty of finding a place in the life of Paul, as it is recorded in the Acts and other Epistles, for these three letters is certainly a prima facie argument against their genuineness. Mosheim in vain tried to locate them in the three years of ministry at Ephesus (Acts xix. l-io). The effort failed for this reason ; the style and character INTRODUCTION 13 of the three letters are so homogeneous and so distinctive that none of them can be sandwiched in between other letters of Paul, and Mosheim's argument required us to make them contemporaneous with Romans and Corinthians. Mr. Vernon Bartlet in his Apostolic Age (1900) has revived the attempt to find a place for the Epistles in the known life of St. Paul. He suggests that ' when Paul left Ephesus for the last time, about Pentecost, i.e. early summer in the year 55 (56) ... he not only sent for the disciples and exhorted them (Acts xx. i), but also begged Timothy to stay on for a time and repress unwholesome tendencies, which had their roots in Jewish prejudices. Mr. Bartlet suggests that i Timothy was written ' on board ship after leaving Miletus (Acts xx. 2>^)^ to supplement such hurried instructions as Paul had been able to give his lieutenant before sending him to Ephesus,' and he brings 2 Tim. iv. 20 into the First Epistle, and applies it to the same occasion {Apostolic Age, 180-182). His explanation of Titus is that in the last voyage to Rome, ' when we read of Paul's considerable stay at Fair Havens, "nigh to which was a city Lasea," waiting for a change in the wind,' we have that stay in Crete referred to in Titus i. 5 ; ' And Paul the prisoner left Titus to carry out the work thus hastily begun.' The letter to Titus is thus dated early summer of 59 (60). The contrast between the tone of 2 Timothy and Philip- pians Mr. Bartlet seeks to explain by tracing a gradual lessening of hope during the two years' imprisonment in Rome, from Colossians and Ephesians to Philippians, and from Philippians to 2 Timothy. Mr. Bartlet's reason for making this fresh attempt is, that he feels the two great difficulties which have to be encountered by the theory of a second imprisonment, viz. (i) the absence of all resentment against the Govern- ment such as the massacre of 64 would leave behind (of. I Tim. ii. 2), and of any reference to the stirring events in Palestine from 66 onward ; (2) the comparative 14 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES youthfulness attributed to Timothy (2 Tim. i. 2, ii. i, 22), seeing in 67 he had been known to Paul for eighteen years and was thirty-eight or forty years of age. But Mr. Bartlet's attempt seems to be wrecked on the fact that his theory would require the interposition of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon between the writing of i Timothy and 2 Timothy ; that is to say, it makes the impossible demand that the style and ter- minology of the Pastorals should be a habit which is taken up and laid down at will. The only justification of a Pauline authorship seems to me to lie in the conten- tion that in the last four years of his life, when all three letters were written, the Apostle's letter-style had under- gone a decisive and consistent change. Another effort has also been made by the Rev. W. E. Bowen in two essays, entitled The Dates of the Pastoral Letters (1900), to reverse the judgement of Lightfoot, and avoid the supposition of a second imprisonment. But if Mr. Bartlet has failed to establish his contention, Mr. Bowen by his advocacy has rendered the contention more suspicious than ever. His argument demands two suppo- sitions, (i) that Paul's moods were so variable that he said precisely opposite things within the narrowest limits of time, and (2) that in the personal letters Paul allowed himself a freedom of utterance which he repressed in his letters to churches. The difference, Mr. Bowen suggests, is that between a bishop writing a pastoral to his clergy and sending a private letter to his archdeacon. But it will be observed that this method of vindicating the Pauline authorship of the Pastorals is suicidal. VVe may gain the Pastorals, but we lose Paul. The changeable temper and the diplomatic guile, which are attributed to the Apostle, reduce his authority and importance as a teacher to such a level that there would be no longer any motive for ascribing any letters to him. The only historical justification of the letters therefore must be sought in the theory of Paul's release from the first imprisonment after INTRODUCTION 15 two years (cf. Spitta, ' The Two Roman imprisonments of Paul ' in his History and Literature of Early Christianity y i. 3-108). By this supposition three, or even five, years may be added to the life of the Apostle, and in that period the events referred to, and the occasion for writing the letters, may be found. This theory was adopted by Lightfoot and Hort, and is defended by Dr. Bernard and by Th. Zahn in his Neiv Testament Introduction, i. 435, 1897, And yet this last, and necessary, hypothesis does not remove, but rather, as Mr. Bartlet sees, increases another set of difficulties, viz. : 7. The Timothy of these letters appears on the whole rather as a young worker and even a recent convert than as a tried companion, which the date would require him to be. It is strange to find such references to his conver- sion and appointment to office, which happened fourteen years before, as occur in i Tim. i. 18, iv. 14. Equally odd is the reference to his youth, which, appropriate enough in I Cor. xvi. 11, seems suspicious when fourteen years of service have passed away. Then the injunction to drink wine, I Tim. v. 23, which we may be sure was a real recommendation of Paul to his disciple (for what forger would have dreamed of such an invention ?), yet comes in very abruptly where it stands. Again, how abrupt and even cold the conclusion of the letter is, addressed to one so loved and trusted as Timothy, in comparison with Paul's hngering and affectionate manner in closing his letters ! It requires too a certain ingenuity, as the com- mentary will shew, to justify the references to Timothy's early youth and to the early persecutions, 2 Tim. i. 6, iii. II, 14, coming as they do so late on in the mutual relations between Paul and Timothy. There is also in the tone of self-defence, l Tim. i. 12, ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 3, II, though eminently characteristic of Paul in writing to communities, something inappropriate, when he is writing to his own son in the faith whom he had known and loved for years. i6 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES On the other hand, as we shall sec in analysing Zahn's introduction, there are many passages in these letters which carry their genuineness on their face, and are of such a kind that it is psychologically impossible to imagine a forger conceiving them. In view then of these difficulties, some slight, others serious, but in their totality occasioning great hesitation in accepting the genuineness of the Epistles, we may be tempted to fall back on the view advanced by Lemme and Hesse, favoured by Harnack, and adopted heartily by Prof. McGiffert, that ' we have in the Pastoral Epistles authentic letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus worked over and enlarged by another hand.' The ingenuity of the analysis may be suspicious ; but as it is a way of meeting the difficulties, and of retaining Paul while we also, in a sense, retain the letters, it is worth mentioning. In 2 Timothy, thinks McGiffert, we have two letters com- bined by a later hand ; and the combination is plain on the surface, because up to ch. iv. 9 the whole point is to direct Timothy in his work at Ephesus, and yet from iv. 9 onwards the purpose is to bring him as quickly as possible to Rome. The two letters may be thus picked out : (i) a letter written from Rome some weeks after the letters to Colossians and Philemon, which gives a few interesting details of the imprisonment between that time and the end, i. 1-12, ii. 1-13, iv. 1-2, 5-8, 16-19, 21^ 10, i. 15-18. This interesting letter would be Paul's latest utterance, his last will and testament. (2) Another letter written perhaps from Macedonia after Paul had left Ephesus for the last time (Acts xx. i ; 2 Cor. ii. 12, vii. 5). Timothy obeyed the injunction, so that he was with Paul when 2 Corinthians was written. This letter was iv. 9, 11-15, 21*. The Epistle to Titus was originally iii. 1-7, 12, 13, written from Achaia, Acts xx. I, 9, about A. D. 52. The First Epistle to Timothy shews hardly any of Paul's own writing, perhaps i. 3 the beginning of the anacoluthon INTRODUCTION 17 there, and v. 23. With these fragments the author wrote a letter in the Pauline manner, as with the other fragments he composed the other two letters, weaving in ideas which he felt that his master Paul would have advanced under the changed circumstances of the church and of the times. The author, whoever he was, must have written before Polycarp and Ignatius, and, as we saw, even before Clement of Rome, and therefore at the end of the first century. In the passages therefore which are not Paul's we have a glimpse into the developing church just after the apostolic times. That the author was thoroughly Pauline, without fully understanding Paul's inner thought, would be evident throughout. Schott conjectured that the author who thus, using Paul's fragments as a basis, produced the Pastorals, was Luke. And it is very interesting to note the points of contact between our letters and Luke's writing: — The phrase ' I give thanks,' a Latinism, i Tim. i. 12 ; 2 Tim. i. 3, is in Luke xvii. 9. The construction for ' give heed to/ I Tim. i. 4, iii. 8, iv. I, 13, is in Acts viii. 6, 10, xx. 28. The verb * to quicken,' in i Tim. vi. 13, is only found in Luke xvii. ^;^ ; Acts vii. 19. Compare the description of the widow, i Tim. v. 5, with that of Anna, Luke ii. ;^7. 2 Tim. i. 3, 5, Paul's description of his upbringing, seems taken from Acts xxiv. 14. So the persecution, 2 Tim. iii. 11, is from Acts xiii. 50, xiv. 2, 19. The phrase 'trusting in God,' Titus iii. 8, is in Acts xvi. 34. The word for 'offtce' {episcop^)^ in i Tim. iii. i, is in Acts i. 20. Also the characteristic word ' godliness' of the Pastorals is, with the exception of 2 Pet. i. 3, 6, 7, iii. 1 1, only used by Luke. Perhaps also the mention of Luke in 2 Tim. iv. II suggests that he might have been the author. Grau, on the other hand, thinks that Timothy himself c i8 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES worked up these letters and tried to give expression to some of the things which he had learnt from his beloved master. If Schott's conjecture could be established we should be able to add these compositions to Luke and Acts as the work of one of the greatest of Paul's com- panions. If Grau's conjecture were correct we should have something from the pen of Paul's dearest disciple. These conjectures, however, are ingenious rather than convincing ; and it is only important to insist that who- ever worked up the fragments and inserted the rest of these Epistles did the work in good faith, endeavouring to the best of his ability, and with much success, to pre- serve, if not the teaching, yet the general trend of the Apostle's thought. Of forger}^, as we understand the word, there can here be no question. The advantage of Prof. TvIcGiffert's hypothesis is that we escape the necessity of imagining a release from the first imprisonment, and we get a glimpse of Paul's mind after writing Colossians and Philemon, and just before his execution. This certainly is an advantage, because after all Spitta's argumentation there is no reference to Paul's journey to Spain in set terms until we come to the Mura- torian Fragment, and to Origen at the end of the second century, while the phrase in Clement of Rome that Paul went ' to the term of the West ' was understood by all the Fathers to refer to Rome. It is also a great objection to the supposed extension of his life that in Spain there is no faint tradition of Paul having been there, and yet, con- sidering the eagerness of legend to attach the conversion of a country to a visit of an apostle, we may be sure no slightest hint would have been neglected. And further, if Paul had been acquitted on the appeal to Caesar it is difficult to imagine why the early apologists did not make use of the fact in their appeals to Roman emperors. And yet the temptation to accept McGiffert's hypothesis should, I believe, be resisted. It is too ingenious ; and the hopeless attempt to disentangle what is Pauline from INTRODUCTION 19 what was added by the supposed author, reduces the value of the whole work for the ordinary reader. As therefore the Pauline elements are unquestionable, and as it is not possible to say with confidence what, or if any, of these Epistles is not Pauline, I have thought it best to lay before the reader a brief analysis of the latest Introduction to the Epistles^ that of Prof. Th. Zahn. Without attempting to refute Holtzmann in detail, he develops the whole argument in such a way as to establish a rationale for accepting the genuineness. In view of my own inability to decide between contending hypotheses, or to suggest a new one, and profoundly convinced as I am of the spiritual value of these Epistles, I feel that the greatest service that I can render the reader is, after stating the difficulties in the way of accepting the Pauline authorship, to put before him the arguments of the latest, and a thoroughly competent, scholar, in favour of believ- ing, with whatever hesitation, and in spite of all objections, that we have here three letters actually written by Paul. This will form the subject of the next chapter. CHAPTER II. Introduction to the Pastorals. The two Epistles to Timothy and the one to Titus are described as the Pastorals (the term seems to have originated with Wegscheider in 1810), because, unlike the other letters of Paul, they are for the most part composed of private directions to two of his followers whom he had appointed to certain pastoral work, and more than all the other letters they describe the way in which a pastor should behave in the Church of God. These three Epistles stand closely related together in diction, theology, and general circumstances ; and they are, in all these respects, separated from the other letters of Paul. It is this segregation which has raised the C 7 20 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES question of their authenticity. But to determine whether they are authentic, or even to understand why their authenticity should be questioned, it is necessary first of all to examine the letters and their contents. First let us look at 2 Timothy, because that letter presents us with the richest material for determining the date and the conditions under which it was written. A careful reading reveals the following facts : — 1. The writer was in prison on account of his work as a Christian missionary (i. 8, 16, ii. 9) at Rome (i. 17). 2. The situation is totally different from that in the Epistles of the imprisonment — Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians. In Phil. i. 12-18 Paul is surrounded by friends who are interested in his testimony, and engaged, after their own fashion, in echoing it. But in our letter Paul is a lonely and wellnigh deserted prisoner. At one time in this imprisonment he was so secluded that Onesiphorus, coming from Asia Minor, had some ado to find him out (i. 17). And later, when he was in some touch with the brethren in Rome (iv. 21), he was still far from enjoying that full intercourse which is re- flected in the other letters of imprisonment. Again, in Philippians he was looking forward to release and a further ministry : here he speaks of his course as finished. His one prospect is the promised crown, and he is writing to his younger friend with the intention of com- mitting to him the task which he himself was laying down. 3. This complete change can hardly have taken place in the course of the two years' imprisonment, and we are therefore led to suppose that this is another and a later imprisonment. And the reference to the former trial which ended in an acquittal is tolerably clear (iv. 16, 17). Further marks are not wanting which suggest that the interval between the first and second imprisonment, of which we should know nothing but for tradition, and the Pastoral Epistles, was the most fruitful period of the Apostle's life. After that deliverance, of which Scripture INTRODUCTION 21 elsewhere says nothing, Paul apparently fulfilled his intention of visiting Spain ; otherwise he could scarcely have spoken of having finished his course (iv. 7). He reached the Gentiles in a more abundant way than ever before (iv. 17) ; and from his prison he had managed to dispatch missionaries to Gaul and Dalmatia, tw^o countries, the evangelization of which we should not otherwise know from Scripture (iv. 10). But his journeys in this interval had been not only to new regions but also over the old ground. He had been at Miletus, where he had left Trophimus sick, and at Troas, where he had left a cloak which he wanted before winter, and some books and papers (iv. 20, 13). Apparently he had only recently left Timothy in tears (i. 4) before com- ing to Rome on the journey which ended in this final imprisonment. 4. The letter therefore seems to be sent to the dear younger companion, whom he had unwillingly left behind, to urge him to come quickly to Rome. If legend is right in regarding Iconium as the home of Onesiphorus (i. 16), Timothy was probably at Iconium. He was not at Ephesus, the scene of his old ministerial labours, or Tychicus would have been commended to him there (iv. 12). He would have to pass through Troas (iv. 13) in order to come to Rome. At Troas in all probability Paul had encoun- tered Alexander the coppersmith, and he felt it necessary to warn his subordinate of Alexander's ways (verse 14). 5. The letter is a last testament. The writer feels that he may not be living, though he hopes he may, when Timothy arrives. He writes down his most important directions to his successor, in case they should not meet again, how Timothy must take up the fight in defence of the truth, and resist the threatening invasion of errors. The charge is solemn and pathetic (iv. I-18). 'Come quickly to me, my son,* says the dying man ; ' but if you cannot come in time, I leave you these final injunctions that you may carry on my work.' 22 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 6. And quite in harmony with its character of a dying testament, the letter harks back to the early days and the first experiences. Paul had been thinking it all over — Timothy as a young man at Lystra, with his pious Jewish mother and grandmother, and heathen father; the perilous experiences in those far-gone missionary tours, at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. The childhood of his beloved son occurs to him ; he thinks of all the grounding in Scripture which the mother and the grandmother gave the boy before the news of Jesus the Messiah reached them. It is an old man speaking to a young man, a dying man to one who spiritually is to be his heir. It is a pathetic fallacy that when a father or a pastor has known a young man for years, as the relative ages remain fixed, the elder always thinks of the younger as still young. We are told of an old woman of 90 who heard of the death of her firstborn at the age of 70, and exclaimed: 'Ah me! I always said we should never rear her.' This is the situa- tion which the reader finds implied in the Second Epistle to Timothy. Turning to i Timothy we find that the notes of time and circumstance are more scanty. But at the outset the similarity of style to that of 2 Timothy, and the decided gap which separates the Pastorals from the style of the other PauUne Epistles, gives a strong prima facie reason for placing this letter too in the period which we are obliged by the Pastorals to posit between a first and final imprisonment of Paul. In this letter the writer is not a prisoner, nor apprehen- sive of arrest, for he hopes soon to join his correspondent (iii. 14, iv. 13). But he is on a journey, or contemplating a journey, into Macedonia (i. 3), and his object in writ- ing is to induce Timothy to remain, apparently against his will, in Ephesus. Paul gives him directions for carrying out the task with which he had entrusted him in that city and the district round it. This journey cannot be, as Hug maintains, and as Mr. Bartlet's view requires, that of Acts INTRODUCTION 23 XX. I, for we infer from 2 Cor. i. i that Timothy ac- companied Paul on that occasion (cf. Acts xx. 4 ; 2 Cor. i. 8, vii. 5). It is difficult to see how Hug can evade this fact. Nor is it possible, with Reuss and Wieseler, to suppose that this letter could have been written during a temporary absence in the course of Paul's three years* ministry at Ephesus. For, not to mention that Acts gives no hint of such an absence, Timothy would not need directions of this kind when he was engaged in work side by side with his master. Here, then, as much as in 2 Timothy, the authenticity of the Epistle can only be successfully maintained by referring it to that period of liberation, travel, and labour, between the first imprisonment at Rome and the last, for which the Pastoral letters are our sole authority. The task which Timothy is enjoined to discharge dififers essentially from that referred to in the Second Epistle ; there he was, like his master, an evangelist (2 Tim. i. 6), and his function was to carry on the missionary labours of the dying Apostle ; here his function is a special office of administration which was committed to him for a time in the absence of Paul, and from which, it would seem, he was only too anxious to be released. The function was that of organizing and administering churches in Ephesus and the neighbourhood. He had to settle the character and qualifications for the offices of elders and deacons ; he had to arrange the very delicate question of the relation of widows to the church ; he had to order the public services ; he had to see that the elders were duly sup- ported and honoured ; he had to control the teaching, to avoid the useless and secure the salutary doctrine. Even in the time of Eusebius {Eccl. Hist. iii. 4, 6.) this office was regarded as an episcopate, and Timothy was thus supposed to be the earliest example of a diocesan bishop. But that is a mistake. *To call the position of Timothy at Ephesus episcopal,' says Zahn {Iiit7-odiiction to New TestiiDient^ vol. ii. § 34, p. 421), would only be possible 24 rHE PASTORAL EPISTLES by a gross historical blunder, for the episcopal office, in which the one bishop at the head of the presbytery formed the summit of the church organization, was a lifelong office attached and confined to a particular community.' But Timothy was only a temporary representative of Paul, carrying out those duties of organization which Paul him- self had discharged elsewhere. Timothy had repeatedly discharged such an office before (i Cor. iv. 17; i Thess. iii. 2 ; Phil. ii. 19-23). The best illustrations of his office are found in the similar work of Titus in Crete (Titus i. 5), and in the interesting description which Clement of Alexandria gives of John's work in Ephesus at a later period : 'When,' he says, 'on the death of the tyrant, John came from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, he used to go out into the surrounding districts preaching, in some places to appoint bishops, in others to organize churches, in others to choose by lot some one of those who were indicated by the Spirit ' ( IV/io is the Rich Man, 42). This important but temporary office, which exactly corresponds to that of a missionary in the foreign field at the present day, presented pecuhar difficulties. Timothy was a man under forty, and the older people at Ephesus were disposed to despise his youth. Against the dis- qualification of youth the Apostle set the Christian life which he urged his disciple to lead (iv. 12), and reminded him of the spiritual gift which he had received for the discharge of his difficult duty ^. And the most distinctive ^ It is worth noting that in speaking to Timothy as an evangelist, and as his own fellow worker, Paul refers to 'the gift of God which is In thee by the laying on of my hands ' (2 Tim. i. 6). On the other hand, in speaking to Timothy here (i Tim. iv. 14) as the administrator of churches, he refers to 'the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.' Assuming that both passages refer to the same occasion, on which Paul and the presbyters ordained Timothy together, we must suppose that the Apostle emphasizes his own or the presbytery's part in the work according to the context. But it is not impossible that for the work of an evangelist, Paul the great evangelist laid his hands on the young INTRODUCTION 25 personal touch occurs in the medical prescription which the Apostle gives to the ailing minister (v. 23). Other personal touches are conspicuously rare. But the mention of Hymenasus and Alexander (i. 20) connects this Epistle with 2 Timothy, where the personal touches are more frequent (2 Tim. ii. 17, iv. 14). The question whether the church organization implied in this letter can be historically connected with Paul was referred to in chap, i, and must be touched on again. Mean- while we gather from the letter itself that in those last vigorous years, with the shadow of death upon him, he was training his lieutenants to found and settle churches as he had done from the commencement of his missionary labours. And though with some anxiety about Timothy's steadfastness (e.g. vi. 1 1, 20) he clung to the belief that he would have in him 'a true child in faith.' And, assuming the genuineness of the letter for the moment, we may surmise that he wrote down these directions with the feel- ing that if his hope of soon meeting again should be frus- trated, the letter would serve as a manual of church order, and possibly as a mandate of authority which Timothy might present to all and sundry churches according to need. This last requirement might explain in part the absence of salutations and other personal references \ as well as the closing benediction, 'Grace be with you,' where ' you ' is plural, and would include the societies to which this testimonial from the Apostle's hand might be read. In the Epistle to Titus a situation is revealed for which we search in vain among the records of Acts (unless Mr. Bartlet's doubtful suggestion were possible) or the other Epistles of Paul. And as, by phraseology and general conception, this Epistle hangs very closely with i Timothy man's head at the beg-inning-, while for the special work in the district of Ephesus the presbytery of the church there laid hands on their appointed director. This latter supposition gives by far the clearer account of the contrast between i Tim. iv. I4 and 2 Tim. i. 6, ' See p. 8. 26 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES — they are as intimately connected as Ephesians and Colossians — we may assume that, if this is a genuine Epistle of Paul's, it gives us another glimpse into his career between the first and the supposed final imprison- ment in Rome. Crete, Nicopolis, and, we may add, Artemas and Zenas, introduce us to a new cycle in the Apostle's busy life. This is the situation. Paul, accompanied by Titus, one of his own converts (i. 4), had visited Crete, and in that ' hundred-citied ' isle they had succeeded in gathering together believers, largely, as usual, from the Jewish com- munities. But Paul had left before the rather troublesome population could be organized into churches— he speaks of the Christians only as 'they who have beheved'and 'our people,' not yet as churches — and he commissioned Titus to remain and carry out the work which in other cases Paul himself had been able to achieve more rapidly (e.g. at Thessalonica elders were appointed after three weeks of ministry, i Thess. v. 12 : cf. Acts xiv. 23). \/ The work entrusted to Titus was more arduous than that entruste:! to Timothy at Ephesus in two respects. In the first place, the communities were newer and more inchoate. In the second place, the human material in Crete was recalcitrant. The work was hindered by many unruly men, vain talkers, and deceivers, who subverted whole families, apparently by antinomian doctrines. The worst of these adversaries were Jews (i. 10, 14-16, iii. 9). How bitterly they opposed Paul and his lieutenant appears from the guarded salutation with which the letter closes, ' Salute them that love us in faith ' ; evidently there were some who had no love or respect for the Apostle or his representative. It is because the task is difficult that the letter opens with a much fuller and more emphatic statement of the Apostle's call and authority than was needed in writing to Timothy at Ephesus. And evidently it was an open letter which might be shewn freely to gainsayers. INTRODUCTION 27 Titus's commission, like that of Timothy in Ephesus, was only provisional, for another commissioner was on the way, and when either Artemas or Tychicus (frequently mentioned in Acts and Epistles : Acts. xx. 4 ; Eph. vi. 21 ; Col. iv. 7; 2 Tim. iv. 12) should reach Crete, Titus was to be released. This seems to refute the early tradition mentioned by Eusebius {Eccl. Hist. iii. 4, 6) and repeated in many legendary sources, that Titus was bishop of Crete. Released from Crete, Titus was to join the Apostle at Nicopolis, which means City of Victory, where he intended to winter. There were many cities, marking a victory, which bore this propitious name. But early writers took it for granted that the Nicopolis mentioned here was the one which marked the scene of the battle of Actium, on the Ambracian Gulf. One would like to think that the Apostle spent a winter in the city which was afterwards rendered illustrious by the teaching of Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher who, among the heathen, stands nearest to the great Apostle. If we may suppose that Titus carried out this direction, and met his father in the faith at Nicopolis, we can under- stand how he passed to the neighbouring Dalmatia on a mission, when Paul, returning to Rome, fell again into the hands of the authorities (2 Tim. iv. 10). The mention of Zenas, otherwise unknown, and of Apollos, one of the best known of the Pauline circle, in iii. J 3, seems to imply that they were the bearers of the present letter to Titus. 'The three letters,' says Zahn {Inirodtiction, ii. 435), * which we are accustomed to group together under the inappropriate name of the Pastoral Epistles, would have to be judged as unhistorical fabrications if we knew that the Roman imprisonment of Paul, in which he wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians, had ended with his death.' Apart from these letters, historical evidences for his liberation from that first imprisonment are wanting; and 28 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES while this fact has been urged as an argument against the authenticity of the letters, it has induced the defendcis of the authenticity to make all, and even the most violent, attempts to bring the situation and circumstances of the letters within the period which is covered by the history of Acts and the other Epistles of Paul. But while our authorities are, with the exception of a few uncertain hints, silent about a release and a subsequent period of work before the final imprisonment and death of Paul, we may fairly urge that everything in the Acts and the other Epistles led to the expectation of such a release. (See especially Phil. i. 19, 25, ii. 24, and Philemon 22, which shew Paul's own strong hope ' ; and Acts xxv. 18, 25, xxvi. 31, xxviii. 15, 18, which prove that even the outside world saw no probability of a fatal termination to his first trial.) The way in which Acts ends implies that there was a further period of the Apostle's life to describe, if the writer should have opportunity. One may further urge that even if the three letters were fabrications, the author of them would hardly have sketched an historical background with references to new mission work in Crete, Dalmatia, and Gaul, unless his probable readers had some ground for beheving that the Apostle, after his first imprisonment, had engaged in these fresh enterprises. So that even if the author of these letters is a pseudo-Paul, writing be- tween 70 and 140 A.D., he is yet a witness to the extended life of which we are speaking. To such an extension of Paul's life and ministry the Epistle of Clement may be said to furnish a dubious sup- port. Writing about the year 96, this Roman writer, who, according to Ireuceus, may have been in personal contact ^ Baur in his Pastoral Letters, p. 92) cited Actsxx. 25, 38, as an argument; to shew that Paul cannot have visited Asia Minor again. But 'no more' does not mean 'again'; it refers only to the close and intimate fellowship of the three years which could be continued ' no longer.' INTRODUCTION 29 with Peter and Paul, says : ' Let us set before our eyes the good apostles ; Peter, who on account of misguided zeal endured not one nor two but many sufferings, and so having borne witness went to his merited place of giory. On account of zeal and strife Paul shewed a victor-prize of patience : seven times he bore bonds ; was exiled, was stoned. A herald in the East and in the West, he received the noble fame of his faith. Having taught the whole world righteousness, and having gone to the term of the West\ and having borne witness before rulers, he was thus released from the world and went to the holy place, made the greatest ensample of patience ' (1 Clem. v. 3-7). This passage, by mentioning seven imprisonments, obliges us to add to the list mentioned in the Acts, and makes a second imprisonment in Rome probable. And ' the term of the West ' can only be understood in a Roman writer as the shores of the Atlantic ; and thus Clement implies that Paul visited Spain. Mr. Bartlet {Apostolic Age, p. 202) not only maintains that the ' bound of the W^est ' might, even in the lips of a writer in Rome, mean Rome, but he argues that Clement could not have imagined Paul alive after 64, since he says that the martyrs of the Neronian persecution in that year were 'gathered to Peter and Paul.' ' And so,' says Mr. Bartlet, ' Clement goes over bodily to the other side.' And we must freely admit that if Paul's visit to Spain rested on this indeter- minate phrase of Clement, or if it were necessary to attach a high authority to the words and judgements of Clement, it would be hopeless to maintain that prolongation of Paul's life for which we are contending. But that the journey to Spain was carried out is main- ^ Funk, Apostolic Fathers, p. 68. 'The term of the West was by the ancients thought to be Spain, Iberia, or Britain, (Strabo, ii. c. 1,4, iii. c. 2.) Clement therefore, if you omit these islands, says that Paul went as far as Spain. Some scholars wrongly understand by the term of the West, Rome, " the place of the West where he had contended or finished his life's course." But the place . . . was Spain.' 30 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES tallied by a constant tradition. For instance, the Mura- torian Canon (circ. 200 A. D.) speaks of ' Paul setting out from the city to Spain.' And this seems to rest on the Gnostic Ads of Peter and John^ which must be dated about 160 A. D. In the Acts of Peter there is even a detail given of the liberation from the first imprisonment ; ' the prison-guard Quartus,' we read, * permitted Paul to leave the city when he would,' because he himself had become a convert. The ecclesiastical tradition gathering round the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29, dates from 258 A.D. ; and in its manifold inconsistencies it cannot be cited as an historical testimony. It does not even decide whether Peter and Paul were martyred at the same time. But it points to a constant belief that Paul was executed in the persecution of Nero, and requires us to suppose that there was a liberation and a subsequent imprison- ment. And by the time of Eusebius this was an accepted fact. From the fragmentary Acts of Paul, a book which enjoyed a high reputation in the church, we learn that Paul, after his first imprisonment, was for some time at work outside of Rome, and then preached again in Rome itself before he was brought before Nero and beheaded. On the other hand, it must be admitted that the Apocry- phal Acts of Paul and Peter assume Paul's martyrdom on his first trial, and, as Mr. Bartlet points out, the patristic evidence for the journey to Spain depends usually on Rom. XV. 28 only. After reviewing all the evidence Zahn {Introd. ii. 443) con- cludes that ' it must stand as an historical fact, that Paul, as he confidently expected when he wrote Philippians,not long after the composition of that letter, was liberated by the im- perial judgement, and afterwards both visited the Eastern lands and preached the gospel in Spain before he was for the second time arrested in Rome, and brought to execution.' In accordance with this conclusion we may frame a chronology into which our three letters would fit : — INTRODUCTION 31 First imprisonment, 61-63 ^-D. In the autumn of 63 came the journey to Spain. The winter 65-66, the one spent in Nicopolis. The winter 66-67, the one in which Paul expected Timothy in Rome (2 Tim. iv. 21). The tradition of the Acts of Peter, that a year was spent in Spain, cannot be trusted. But probably on leaving Spain, say in 64, Paul avoided Rome, where the Neronic persecution had broken out, and made for Apollonia direct, and thence for Philippi. The summer of 65 might be the time that Timothy was engaged in his mission at Ephesus ; and we may suppose that Titus joined Paul at Nicopolis for the winter. In the spring of 66 Titus would set out for Dalmatia, and Paul for Rome. During the summer Paul would be arrested ; and then would come the visit of Onesiphorus and the writing of 2 Timothy. Then some time between the end of 66 and the death of Nero, June 9, 68, Paul suffered martyrdom on the Ostian Way. According to one tradition Peter had suffered death on the Vatican Hill, in the year 65. We must now attempt to present the positive arguments for the genuineness of our Epistles. The external authority, as we saw in the last chapter, is sufficiently clear, clearer, for instance, than it is for the two unquestioned Epistles, Romans and 2 Corinthians. Looking at the internal evidence, the most decisive argument for genuineness is in the number of proper names occurring in the letters, not merely as names, but as living persons in definite positions. A writer attempt- ing in later years to compose a spurious letter of Paul would either avoid proper names, or simply borrow them from the older Epistles and Acts. The facts in these letters are significant. Look at the persons introduced : Hymemeus (i Tim. i. 20; 2 Tim. ii. 17), Philetus (2 Tim. ii. 17), Phygelus and 32 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES Hermogenes (2 Tim. i. 15), Lois and Eunice (2 Tim. i. 5), Onesipliorus and his house (2 Tim. i. 16, iv. 19), Crescens, Carpus, Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia (2 Tim. iv. 10, 13, 21), Artemas and Zenas (Titus iii. 12), Alexander (1 Tim. i. 20; 2 Tim. iv. 14). It is quite likely that this Alexander is not identical with the Alexander of Acts xix. 33 ; the latter was a silversmith, the former a copper- smith ; and the whole situation forbids the idea that a writer impersonating Paul should have conceived the name and character of this coppersmith, with his definite antagonism to the Apostle, from the ambiguous notice of the silversmith in Acts. These sixteen persons are so referred to in these letters, and so unknown from the other sources, that they would be th?. most glaring instances of deliberate creation, a dangerous and hopeless expedient for the composer of a spurious letter. Other names mentioned here occur also in the other sources, but, strange to say, the facts point not to fiction, but to a genuine situation. An imitator would not present Demas, the honoured co-worker with Luke (Col. iv. 14 ; Phil. 24), as a deserter (2 Tim. iv .10). The reference to Tychicus (2 Tim. iv. 12), while quite consistent with Eph. vi. 21, could not have been derived from that source ; if the writer had depended on the older letters, Tychicus would rather have been sent to Colosse (Col. iv. 7). In Titus iii. 12 Tychicus is travelling with Artemas, who is unknown in the older sources, to Crete. The brief notice of Apollos (Titus iii. 13) is too businesslike to be an imitatoi^'s reference to that famous name. Trophimus, in Acts XX. 4, 15, xxi. 29, was with Paul at Miletus ; but there was no suggestion in those notices for leaving him at Miletus sick (2 Tim. iv. 20). In Romans Erastus was at home at Corinth (Rom. xvi. i, 23) ; in this later cycle of events he had left Corinth, and his remaining there for a time was a matter of comment (2 Tim. iv. 20). These are minute touches of truth by which a spurious writer INTRODUCTION 33 might easily be caught tripping, and must be regarded as strong arguments for authenticity. And looking at Timothy and Titus themselves, we can easily imagine the pseudo-Paul giving them commissions in the founding and ordering of churches (cf. i. Thess. iv. 2 ; I Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10; Phil. ii. 19-23; and 2 Cor. vii. 6-15, viii. 6, xii. iS), but we cannot imagine him represent- ing the two first lieutenants of Paul in so matter-of-fact a light. Legendary fiction always glorifies its subjects; but here both Timothy and Titus appear as young men, un- certain of their position, despised for their youth, inclined to desert their posts, and needing the earnest exhortation of their superior to make them in any sense worthy of their trust. It must be owned that these unconscious strokes of reality greatly bias a candid reader in favour of the genuineness of the letters. The assailants of the authenticity argue, as we saw in the last chapter, that the writer had two objects in view : (i) To carry forward the organization of the church be- yond the point where Paul had left it, (2) to refute certain errors of his time by putting the correction of them in the mouth of the great Apostle. But against (i) an unbiassed examination of the facts rather tends to shew that the organization of the church, with elders, deacons, deaconesses, and widows, is hardly in any respect different from that implied in Acts and the admitted Pauhne letters. When an attempt is made to prop the diocesan episcopate, or even the monarchic episcopate (i. e. the supremacy of one minister over the elders of the in- dividual community) by the authority of the Pastoral Epistles, then indeed suspicion is thrown upon the genuine- ness of the Epistles. All through the second century there is no trace of a diocesan episcopate ; and no writer between 70 and 170 A. D. could refer to it without an anachronism. But, as we have seen, the office of Timothy 34 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES in Ephesus and of Titus in Crete has nothing in common with an episcopate at all. It was the exceptional and temporary commission to found and organize churches — a work entrusted to them as the deputies of the Apostle. The indications shew that there was no intention of establishing either of them as the ruler of a diocese : on the contrary, in each case the term of their task is from the first contemplated. If, therefore, we cease, in the interests of the episcopal order, to press these Epistles into the service of a foregone conclusion, this argument against their genuineness falls to the ground. The attempt to find the monarchical episcopate in the letters would, if successful, certainly shew that Paul had advanced considerably beyond his position in the other Epistles. But this attempt is as futile as the others. By the end of the first century, as is suggested by the * angel ' of the church in the Apocalypse, and as is proved by the strong language of Ignatius about the bishop, the mon- archical bishop was ?^ fait accompli \ that is to say, the unity and orthodoxy of each individual church were secured by the position of a minister, called a bishop, who was regarded as standing to the individual com- munity in the relation that Christ himself stands to the whole church. But of this monarchical episcopate there is no trace in our Epistles, and the absence of it pushes the date back to the earlier rather than the later stratum of New Testament literature. In these letters, as a careful examination shews, * bishop ' is only another name for ' elder.' Called elders in reference to the familiar organization of the Jewish synagogue, they are also described as 'over- seers = bishops ' in reference to the organization of Greek communities, a term which would be more intelligible to Gentiles. If i Tim. iii. 1-7 is compared with Titus i. 5-9, it becomes apparent that the writer is speaking of the same officers, though in the one case he does not use the word ' elders.' The second passage proves that the terms INTRODUCTION 35 are interchangeable. From the way in which the word ' bishop ' is introduced in i Tim. iii. i it is evident that it is not used as yet in any technical sense, but simply as a well-known Greek term for the manager or governor of a society. Thus the description of character is intro- duced by a general proverbial saying^ to the effect that to seek the office of oversight over others was to desire a good work. That the * bishop * is the same as the 'elder' in this first Epistle is made clear by a comparison of iii. 1-7 with v. 17-22. In the first passage the personal life of the officer is described ; in the second, the method of treating, supporting, ordaining him is suggested. But this use of the two terms to describe the one office, and the appointment of several ' bishops ' or ' elders ' over each community, are precisely what we find in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. xx. 28 with verse 17). And thus the ' elders and deacons ' of these Pastoral Epistles are identical with 'the bishops and deacons' of Phil. i. i. If in I Tim. iii. 11 we are to infer that the woman is a deaconess, that is no further step in organization than is already implied by the mention of the deaconess Phoebe in Rom. xvi. i. And though the regulations for church widows in i Tim. v. 3-16 imply a new status for women of this sort, these regulations do not carry us down to a later date than the life of Paul ; so far as it can be traced in the organization of the early church, we may ascribe the institution to the author of i Cor. vii. 25-40 and xi. 1-16 with as much probability as to any one else. It should be added that of our three Epistles, one, 2 Timothy, takes no notice of church organization at all. If, therefore, we are entitled to refer the three to one period, one motive, and one writer, it is scarcely correct ^ The Western reading" up to the end of the fourth century was not a * faithful ' but a ' human ' saying- ; i.e. a proverb on the lips of men. D 2 36 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES to say that the few passages in i Timothy and Titus, relating not so much to the institution of elders and deacons as to the character which such officers should bear, justify the view that a desire to defend a certain mode of church organization was the predominant motive in writing the Pastoral Epistles and attributing them to the pen of Paul. It might raise our suspicions and suggest a later date if we were to suppose that the requirement for a bishop to be * the husband of one wife ' (i Tim. iii. 2 and Titus i. 6) must be interpreted as forbidding a second marriage to the clergy. By the time of Tertullian this reference was generally allowed. And a mere hint at a higher morality for ' clergy ' than for ' laity ' would carry us far away from apostolic notions and times. To Paul, at any rate, this division would be inconceivable, as the idea of a double moral standard would be intolerable. But in view of the command that younger widows should marry again (i Tim. V. 14), it is highly improbable that the phrase 'husband of one wife ' is intended as a stigma on second marriages. It is well to remember that the Greek words are ' a man of one woman ' ; and remembering, along with this, the universal moral corruption in such Greek cities as those of Crete or Asia Minor, and the unquestioning approval of concubinage and other sexual liaisons which prevailed in antiquity, the natural and historical interpretation of the words would treat them as a prohibition against any relations with women outside of a monogamistic fidelity ; a prohibition which applied to all Christians, just as the other definitions of i Tim. iii. 1-7 did and do, but was mentioned, like the rest, in this connexion doubtless because there was a temptation to relax these moral requirements in the appointment of church officers in cases where wealth, influence, or personal authority seemed to outbalance some venial lapses in private life. We may mention two other points in the picture of church organization presented in our Epistles that speak INTRODUCTION 37 strongly for the early and apostolic date. It is evident, from I Tim. ii. 8, that there was still perfect freedom of utterance in the Christian congregations, just as we find it in the Epistles to the Corinthians. The official minister had not usurped the office of prayer or teaching. All men might pray in the assemblies ; and the very vagaries of teaching which Timothy and Titus were to oppose are evidence that all men were at liberty to speak. The other point is equally important : several times there is mention of laying on of hands in the ordination of ministers. But we are still in the atmosphere of the Acts of the Apostles and not in that of later times, when the laying on of hands came to be regarded as a magical transmission of authority and power. The hand-laying on Timothy and Titus was accompanied and made significant by prophecy and prayer. It was still the time when the Spirit working constituted the power and authority of office ; it was not yet the time when office, mechanically transmitted, deter- mined and constituted the work of the Spirit. The arguments therefore against the genuineness, based on the church organization in these Epistles, however ably they may have been maintained, do not in themselves, when fairly examined, subvert the ancient conviction that these letters were written by Paul. (2) The second motive for composing these letters on the part of a pseudo-Paul has been found in the refutation of certain false doctrines. ' We have before us in one word/ said Baur in his Co7njnenfary, * in the Pastoral Epistles the Gnostics of the second century, especially the Marcionites.' It is necessary to examine the false doctrines which are either rebuked or foretold by the writer, in order to see if they can be reasonably explained without travelling down into the second century. The references should be brought together : i Tim. i. 3, 4, 6-1 1, iv. 7, vi. ^-5, 20; 2 Tim. ii. 14, 16, 23 ; Titus i. 10-16, iii. 9-n. 38 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES First of all, * the certain men ' of i Tim. i. 3, who are ' not to teach a different doctrine ',' obviously are members of the Christian community, and (cf. Titus i. 9) having the right to speak in the assembly, must be opposed by the teacher of the truth (cf. Titus i. 11, 13). They professed (or rather 'admitted') that they knew God (Titus i. 16), and might by sharp rebuke be restored ; their mouths could be stopped. They were not elders or appointed teachers. At the same time it seems, from i Tim. vi. 3-10, that they sought to make money by teaching their variations from the Apostolic doctrine (probably the word ' professing ' in vi. 21, as well as 'for filthy lucre's sake' in Titus i. II, points to a professional teaching and the attempt, by ingenious speculations, to stir the curiosity and win the support of the members of the church). Their error was not in the substance of their teaching (i Tim. vi. 4), but in their setting themselves up to be teachers at all, with insufficient qualifications, and from a mercenary motive. It is evident that they did not assail the Christian verities ; but slipping away from the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the ethical claims which he makes upon the conscience, they drew their hearers into barren speculations, which led only to strife (i Tim. vi. 3, 4). They had a propensity to disputation, profitless dis- putation (Titus iii. 9). They turned to the Mosaic law, and managed to elicit from it those endless and useless questions which have occupied the Rabbinical schools. The right uses of the law, love and sound morality (cf. I Tim. i. 5-8 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15), did not interest them. But their delight was in the inscrutable, in genealogies, in Jewish fables, which are described as ' profane and fit for old wives' (i Tim. iv. 7). Secondly, are we bound to identify these genealogies * This is one Greek word kTepoSidaaKaXeiu, which may be illustrated by our word, from the Greek, heterodox. 'To give heterodox teaching ' is almost an equivalent for the phrase. INTRODUCTION 39 with the Gnostic teaching of the aeons i Is it not more probable that the second-century writ'.TS, Irenasus and TertulHan, in their resistance to the Valentinians, with the Pastoral letters before them, used the expressions of Paul in speaking of their opponents very much as we do now, fitting all heresies and false doctrines into the phrases which are before us in Scripture ? Now it may be observed that Ignatius {Afagn. 8^) directly quotes I Tim. i. 4, iv. 7, and Titus i. 14, iii. 9, against the Judaistic teachers of his own time, without mention- ing the genealogies. And all the old commentators, Ambrosiaster, Jerome, Pelagius, Ephraim, Theodorus, identify the heretical teachers of our Epistles with the Judaizers who are refuted in Galatians '^, though Chrysos- tom not unnaturally sees a reference to certain Greek myths as well, and Theodoret fancies that i Tim. vi. 20 may refer to Gnostic notions derived from Simon Magus. The stress laid on the fables being Jewish (Titus i. 14), and on the contests being about the law (Titus iii. 9), and on the teachers being teachers of the law^ (i Tim. i. 7), would seem to be decisive for seeking the errors in certain Judaizing tendencies. Nor are we left without examples of the barren way in which the Jewish Haggddoth (exactly rendered by the word ' fables ') could be treated for didactic purposes. The Book of Jubilees shews us to what use the genealogies of the Old Testament were put. Philo calls the part of the Pentateuch between the Creation and the giving of the law the Genealogicum, The handling of these endless genealogies afforded boundless scope for fanciful and arbitrary spiritual appli- cations. And Jerome, to cite one example, tells us of ^ ' Do not be seduced by heterodoxies nor by fables (mythic teachings) ancient and useless. For if we still live according to Jewish law, we confess that we have not received grace.' ^ The reference in Ignatius is equally distinct to Gal. ii. 14. ^ The word i/o/ioStSdtr/faAos is the regular word for a Rabbinical teacher (Luke v. 17 j Acts v. 34). 4o THE PASTORAL EPISTLES a Jewish Christian in Rome who misled the simple by exercising his ingenuity on the difference between the two genealogies in Matt. i. and Luke iii. Further, it should be noticed that the condemnation passed upon these errors is not so trenchant as the Gnostic heresies evoked. Irenaeus (i. 15, 16) treats the Gnostic teaching as the obscuring of the one true God, and the teachers as makers of idols. The tone adopted towards these Jewish doctrines is that rather of contempt than of strong condemnation. The opposition is not one between faith and infidelity (cf. I Tim. v. 8), but rather one between holy and edifying truth (i Tim. i. 5), and trivialities fit only for old women (i Tim. iv. 7). The discussions are not knowledge (i Tim. vi. 20) ; they are foolish and ignorant (2 Tim. ii. 3). They are ' profane,' not in the sense of being blasphemous, but only in the sense of being not sacred (i Tim. iv. 7). They are vanity (i Tim. i. 6; Titus i. 10, iii. 9), emptiness (i Tim. vi. 20; 2 Tim. ii. 16), and vexation of spirit (2 Tim. ii. 23), useless rather than positively pernicious (Titus iii. 9 ; i Tim. iv. 8 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16). They kept the hearers occupied with words, and prevented them from seeking solid godliness. The objection to them was, that they formed a kind of entanglement which reduced the efficiency of the Christian soldier (2 Tim. ii. 4: cf. i Tim. vi. 5-1 1). The good warfare had respect to conduct and life ; these empty dissertations produced only an idle spirit of contention. This tone would not be adopted towards the serious heresies of Valentinus ; a pseudo-Paul in the second century, assailing the errors of his time, would not adopt these almost contemptuous weapons of depreciation. It does not seem that these teachers are even as dangerous as those rebuked in Galatians. Nothing is said about their demanding circumcision as a Christian rite. But from Titus i. 14-16 we conclude that they had much to say about things being clean or unclean. And perhaps from i Tim. v. 23 we may guess that they made INTRODUCTION 41 abstinence from wine a condition of church membership ; so that while Paul would go without wine to help others (Rom. xiv. 21), it might be necessary to vindicate Christian liberty against a dogmatic asceticism. The false teachers are not so much feared as warned. They are more a danger to themselves than to the community. Those whom Timothy had to oppose might be won and restored (2 Tim. ii. 25). The similar people in Crete were more incorrigible (Titus i. 10, 16). If they would not listen after a second or third admonition they must be ejected from the community. But evidently the call is not so much to fear them as to fear for them. They are people who spiritually are out of health ; what they need is wholesome teaching (i Tim. i. 10, vi. 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 13, iv. 3; Titus i. 9, 13, ii. I, 2, 8). They are not, like Gnostics, the inventors of a new God, but, like ordinary vain and conceited persons in the church to-day, ' professing to know Him ; by their works they deny Him' (Titus i. 16). In these Epistles there seem to be some whose breach with the church and the faith is more serious (i Tim. vi. 21). Some, among them Hymeneeus and Alexander (i. 19), having thrust aside faith and conscience had made shipwreck. Alexander, perhaps the same Alexander in 2 Tim. iv. 14, had resisted the Apostolic teaching and incurred the Divine judgement. Hymena^us is also coupled with Philetus as teaching that the resurrection was past (2 Tim. ii. 18). With reference to this last heresy, there were two doctrines of which we hear in extra-biblical sources : one, that a man rises again in his children ; the other, that the resurrection is the new life after conversion and baptism. In the Ac/s of Thecla Demas and Hermogenes say of Paul : 'And we will teach thee that the resurrection of which he speaks has already taken place in the children we have.' And Hippolytus refers to Nicolaus the idea that the resurrection is a spiritual birth in baptism. Nicolaus (Acts vi. 5 ; Rev. ii. 6, 15) obtained a certain following in Asia Minor. 42 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES From these errors the writer anticipates sad results (2 Tim. ii. 16-18). By a spirit of prophecy he foretells still further declensions (i Tim. iv. i). Fresh heretics will arise, 'giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.' They will demand a spirituality beyond the reach of earthly life in abstinence from marriage and from certain foods. A similar forecast is given in 2 Tim. iv. 3. And while these prophecies are not directly connected with the Jewish doctrines above referred to, there is an implied connexion ; for Timothy is urged to bring all the powers of the wholesome doctrine to resist the tendencies which are evidently already present. Another forecast of the future is found in 2 Tim. iii. l-io. But this passage refers to people generally, and not specially to teachers. And while these seeming Christians are foretold in the last times, it is evident that they are already in the church ; for Timothy is warned to turn away from them. It is strange that Paul, in re- probating the Jewish fables, should borrow his illustration from the Jewish fable of Jannes and Jambres ; but perhaps this emphasizes the fact that it is of Jewish tendencies that he is speaking. Observe that while for the heresy of Hymenaeus and Philetus he prophesies a continuance, for these seeming Christians he anticipates a speedy arrest and discovery. 'To this,' says Zahn, 'history corre- sponds, but only on the supposition that these letters were written in apostolic times.* The errors of the heterodox in I Tim. i. 4-10, and the abominations referred to in 2 Tim. iii. 6-9, will be checked ; on the other hand, the evils described in the prophecy of i Tim. iv. 1-3, and the heresy of Hymenasus and Philetus (2 Tim. ii. 17), are to be expected in the future. Now it is to be observed that the evils in the first two passages are not to be traced in post-apostolic times *, and a forger in the next century ' The Cerinthians and Naassenes, and the Judaizers opposed by Ignatius, are quite different in their general doctrinal position. INTRODUCTION 43 would not have seen any point in refuting them ; so far as they are specific at all, they refer to the early struggles of the Judaizing party in the church, which quickly dis- appeared. On the other hand, the evils in the second pair of passages had a future, but only in the first century. The twofold form which the resurrection doctrine took, viz. resurrection in one's children and spiritual resurrection in baptism, is to be traced in the Jewish or half-Jewish Christianity of Palestine, and not in the heathen-Christian Gnosticism of the next age. And so with the prophecy in I Tim. iv. 1-3 (and the parallels, 2 Tim. iii. 1-5, iv. 3). It is true that the Marcionites forbade marriage and de- graded the Creator ; and Encratism and Manichceism betray similar ideas ; it is true that in ' the Antitheses of the falsely called Gnosis ' of i Tim. vi. 20 it is tempting to find, as Baur did, a direct reference to Marcion's famous Antitheses. But a pseudo-Paulus, with Marcion's work before him, would neither have been content to refute it with so slight a reference as i Tim. iv. 1-3, nor have wished to betray himself by distinctly naming Mar- cion's Antitheses. Everything therefore points to these passages dating from before the time of Marcion. After examining, then, the marks of church organization, and the allusions to heretical teaching, which are supposed to bring our three letters down beyond the Apostolic Age, we are led to the conclusion that all these indications drive us back to the first century. On the other hand, the personal allusions, and the difficulty of finding a motive for the forgery, forbid the idea that the letters could have been fabricated soon after the Apostle's death. Other disproofs of the genuineness are almost too slight to mention; e.g. it is argued that i Tim. v. 18, * the labourer is worthy of his hire,* is a quotation from Luke The heterodox teachers of the Pastorals are like the followers of Peter at Corinth or the Jewish-Christian teachers at Colosse, only they have added to their arbitrary dogmas further myths and genealogical speculations from Rabbinism. 44 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES X. 7 (Matt. X. lo), and shews that the gospel was already committed to writing. But the proverb could be easily quoted by both our Lord and Paul ; and the reference to the law rather than to the words of Jesus in this connexion proves that Paul had not the written gospel before him as Holy Scripture. It has been maintained that in I Tim. vi. 12-16; 2 Tim. ii. 2-8, iv. i, we have signs of a creed recited at baptism ; and such a creed could not have arisen in the time of Paul. It is true that the object of the letters is to cast into form the wholesome doctrine which should counteract the poisonous heresies ; but it is not possible to shew that these pronouncements are more formal or credal than similar passages in other epistles (Rom. vi. 17, xvi. 17; I Cor. iv. 17, xv. 1-3; Col. ii. 6, Sec; Eph. iv. 20, &c.). It was natural enough that a dying apostle should try to give definiteness to the great articles of faith, and so to make the Christiiin community a pillar of the truth (i Tim. iii. 15 ; 2 Tim, ii. 19). It is in protest against an unethical teaching that he seeks to crystallize the sound doctrine as the commandment (i Tim. vi. 14) and the charge (i. Tim. 1. 5, 18; cf. iv. il). Paul had always thought of the gospel as a new law (Rom. iii. 27, 31), just as James did, but a law of liberty, a spiritual law; and he had regarded the Christian life as obedience to that law (Rom. i. 5, vi. 17, xvi. 26). On the other hand, the Pauline doctrines of justification and grace are recognizable here (Titus ii. 11-14,111.4-7; i Tim. i. 12-16, ii. 4-7; 2 Tim. ii. 1-9). When Baur argued that the reference to kings in i Tim. ii. 2 shewed that the date must be brought to the time of the Antonines, because then two colleagues wore the purple, we feel that we are dealing merely with trifles which suffice to support a foregone conclusion. The argument against genuineness based on the ter- minology must be considered weighty but not decisive. It is true that there are a large number of arrn^ Xtyo'/xewi, INTRODUCTION 45 1*. e. words that occur only in these Epistles. But in all Paul's Epistles the ana^ Xeyofieva are very numerous ; every active and original mind passes from one cycle of words to another with change of study or circumstance (see p. 9). And the argument is capable of being turned ; for one trying to write letters in Paul's name would be careful to use the words of the other Pauline Epistles. The originality of the greetings in the letters is better ex- plained by Paul's freedom and naturalness of expression than by supposing the work of an imitator, who would follow more closely his examples. If, therefore, in face of the high authority of modern critics, we assume the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles, we cannot be charged with standing in an obstinate orthodoxy which refuses to face the facts ; but rather, with the facts on both sides before us, we may feel that the balance inclines to the traditional view. Beyschlag, speaking of i Timothy, says : ' The man who is now able to ascribe it to the author of the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians has never comprehended the literary peculiarity and greatness of the Apostle.' To this it is sufficient to say that Professor Sanday and the late Professor Hort believe that the writer of Romans and Galatians was the writer of i Timothy. It does not follow, because a man has ' literary peculiarity and greatness,' that he will display these qualities in all his private letters. There are letters of Mr. Ruskin which shew none of the style which makes Modern Painters immortal ; sometimes he puts off the cothurnus and speaks like an ordinary man. Tennyson, though he wrote a few letters which might live side by side with his poems, was on the whole quite undistin- guished in his epistolary style. And if it be said that in this little group of letters, at the very end of his life, the Apostle, if it be he, has not only acquired a new vocabulary of words, but adopted a new method of connecting his sentences, and lost the older harmonies of his style, we may reasonably answer : 46 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES ' This may be so ; but it is far easier to admit it than to explain how or when these letters could have come from any other hand.' If the argument against the genuineness should ever be made more conclusive, and if we had to surrender the period of shadowy history into which these letters, if genuine, give us a glimpse, we may console ourselves with the reflection that we have not lost anything essen- tial. The pseudo-Paul— if it was not Paul himself— has got quite enough of the Apostle's manner, presents us with quite enough of the Apostle's truths, and brings us sufficiently into contact with the Apostle's God, through the Apostle's Christ, to make these compositions invalu- able to us as theology and ecclesiology, even if they should lose their validity as genuine letters of Paul. CHAPTER in. Timothy and Titus. Having noted the intrinsic value of our Epistles, which can be maintained whatever view we may be forced to take of the authorship, and having faced as fully as seemed necessary the objections which lie against the traditional view, the alternatives which are offered to that view, and the line of argument by which, if at all, the view may be defended, we must, before entering on the study of the letters themselves, put together what we know of the two men to whom they were written. There is only one other letter of Paul's addressed to an in- dividual, that model of tact and courtesy, the Epistle to Philemon. In that case all we know of the correspondent is derived from the letter addressed to him : in this case Scripture gives us, especially in regard to Timothy, a little further information. It cannot be said that the value of INTRODUCTION 47 the letters is in the least degree affected by the character of Timothy and Titus, for notwithstanding a few personal touches, the two men remain curiously impersonal. But, as we have seen, the question of Paul's authorship is to some extent connected with this personal factor, and if we are to regard that question as of any importance, we should conceive, as clearly as we can, the persons to whom Paul is supposed to be writing. Timothy — the name (in Greek, Timotheus) means ' honour of God'— was that companion of Paul who held the dearest place in his affections. The great Apostle had no one ' likeminded ' with Timothy who would naturally care for the state of the church, no one so unselfish, no one, as a child to a father, so dutiful to him (PhiJ. ii. 19, 22). The con- stant companion of his travels when he was not engaged in his commissions, this son of his was never absent but he wished him present ; and when the grim stroke of death was impending, it was the dying man's great concern to have this child of his spirit to close his eyes (2 Tim. iv. 9). It is this tender love of the noblest of men which illustrates the character of Timothy ; to be so loved by Paul is a patent of nobility. But apart from this there is very little that is distinct in the character. He was a Lycaonian, of Derbe and Lystra (Acts xvi. I, XX. 4), the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother, Eunice. He was the child of many prayers, brought up in an atmosphere of piety. His conversion to Christianity was not exciting, but probably followed that of his mother and grandmother. He was perfectly loyal in his support of Paul, and even suffered imprisonment for his faith (Heb. xiii. 23), but he gives us no impression of strength or originality. He was retiring, perhaps delicate in health (i Tim. v. 23), and certainly so youthful in appearance that men were apt to overlook or even to despise him (i Cor. xvi. 10, 11). In his letters to him Paul felt bound to admonish in order to encourage him, betraying his weakness by the very earnestness with which he sought 48 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES to counteract it (l Tim. iv. 12; 2 Tim. ii. i, 15, 16, 22-26, iv. i). A true Christian, he was yet a dependent one. Shining in the light of his master, he waned and dis- appeared when the great luminary was withdrawn. History tells us nothing further when the Epistles of Paul cease, and we do not even know whether the Apostle had his desire of seeing his beloved companion with him at the end. The frequent references to Timothy in the Acts and Epistles are evidences of his constancy in work rather than of any striking achievement. It was in the second missionary journey to the churches of Southern Galatia, in 52 A.D., that Paul, accompanied by Silas, first came into contact with Timothy. He had, like most boys, been more influenced by his mother than by his father, and probably shared with her the Jewish faith before the arrival of the Christian missionaries. His grandmother, Lois, lived with the family (Acts xx. 4 ; 2 Tim. i. 5). The grand- mother, mother, and son seem to have ' believed.' And Paul was so pleased with the boy that he took him at once as a companion. He was, by Paul's desire, circum- cised, a rite which, as the son of a Greek, he had hitherto evaded (Acts xvi. i ff.) ; for the missionaries were to go to many places where Jewish prejudices must be soothed^. Perhaps the conversion had taken place on the first ^ Mr. Vernon Bartlet, in The Apostolic Age, thus explains this circumcision : ' He had an excellent record among the brethren, not only in Lystra, but also in Iconium, its nearest neighbour; and Paul saw in him the promise of j'et greater things. Accord- ingly he determined to add him to his staff, possibly to replace John Mark (Acts xv. 37 foil.). But to take a half-Jew, who had never been circumcised (probably through his father's opposition to begin with), through the regions that lay on his route would be to stir afresh the embers of a conflict which had only just subsided. There was nothing for it but to get his consent to conform to the law of his birth on his mother's side, as could be done without surrender of essential principle, while the motive was a high and generous one' (pp. 93, 94). This explains the contrast with the action in the case of Titus, Gal. ii. 3. INTRODUCTION 49 missionary journey (Acts xiv. 6), and certainly the in- struction in the Scriptures had been given by mother and grandmother before they had received the Christian Gospel (2 Tim. iii. 15). But he was designated for the companionship of Paul by a prophetic utterance in the church at Derbe or Lystra (i Tim. iv. 14), just as Barnabas and Saul were designated for their missionary journey in the church at Antioch (Acts xiii. i). After the circumcision Timothy went with Paul to Troas, from which point they received the eventful call to evangelize Europe (Acts xvi. 11). It is perhaps evidence of his modest and retiring disposition that his name is not mentioned in connexion with Philippi and Thessalonica. He was, however, taking notes of Paul's methods in the organization of churches which would be wanted in later life. At Bercea, Timothy and Silas, when Paul went on to Athens, were left behind for a time, probably to make a first assay in the settlement of a young church (Acts xvii. 14). And it was Timothy who was sent, ' our brother and God's minister in the Gospel of Christ,' to establish the Thessalonians and to bring back tidings to Paul (l Thess. iii. i, 6). On his return he joined Paul at Corinth, where in 53 A.D. we find him conjoined with Paul and Silvanus in the salutation of the Epistles to the Thessalonians. It is beautiful to see how Paul honours his young friend by mentioning him on terms of absolute equality as carrying out the memorable work at Corinth (2 Cor. i. 19). If he bade others not to despise his youth, he himself set a notable example. Then Timothy falls into the background, and we only conjecture that he was in the journey described in Acts xviii. because we find that in the work at Ephesus he was still with Paul as minister and emissary (Acts xix. 22). From there he was sent to Corinth in company with Erastus, as Paul's representative, anticipating the more important mission which he was one day to undertake in Ephesus itself, and Paul shews his yearning affection for him by desig- so THE PASTORAL EPISTLES nating him 'my beloved and faithful child in the Lord' (i Cor. iv. 17), and his anxiety for the timid and retiring nature by special commendation to the Corinthians (i Cor. xvi. 10, 11). Towards the end of 57 A.D. he had rejoined his master in Macedonia,for he was with him when 2 Corin- thians was written (ch. i. i). And he must have gone at the beginning of 58 a.d. to Corinth again, because he is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans, written during the three months' stay in Corinth (Acts xx. 2 ; Rom. xvi. 21). He was among the group of apostolic ministers who went to Troas before Paul, and waited there for him after his detour through Macedonia (Acts xx. 4). And then again we lose sight of him. He may have been dispatched on a mission of comfort or organization to some of the new European churches ; clearly he was not with Paul at Jerusalem, in the imprisonment at Caesarea, or on the perilous voyage to Italy. But during the two years of detention in Rome, Timothy was Paul's right hand. As ' our brother ' he is at hand when Colossians and Philemon were written (i. i), and as a 'fellow servant' he joins in the letter to the Philippians (i. i), to whom he is shortly to be sent on one of the accustomed missions of inquiry and comfort (ii. 19). Here we should lose sight of Timothy the satellite, as we should of Paul himself, but for the Pastoral Epistles, which, if they are genuine, must introduce us into a new period of Paul's life, when, released from imprisonment at Rome, acquitted in all probability of complicity in the great fire which Nero attributed to the Christians, he entered on a few more years of strenuous evangelism before he met the martyr's death and received the crown. In this shadowy and uncertain period, by the gleams of light from the Pastorals, we find Timothy left, evidently against his will, to carry out a mission of church settle- ment and resistance to heresy in Ephesus and the neigh- bourhood. Though it was but a temporary office, quite unlike that of a second-century bishop, resting entirely INTRODUCTION 51 on the fact that he was a representative of Paul, and was endued with a charisma for the purpose (i Tim. iv. 14), when he was left alone he was not very adequate to so magisterial a task, and the Apostle did what he could to sustain his authority and encourage his faintheartedness. But whatever might have been his inadequacy for posts of danger, he was evidently fitted for the work of comfort ; and 2 Timothy, which is like Paul's last will and dying testament, is an urgent appeal to his beloved son and brother to come to him before the stroke of death fell. We do not know whether the Apostle had his desire ; nor is it more than idle tradition which says that Timothy perished long after in the persecution under Domitian. The only other reference to Timothy is his ' release ' in Heb. xiii. 23. Thus Timothy appears, in no distinct outlines, as the attendant of Paul. We have no words from his lips, no letters from his pen, unless the supposition of Prof. McGifFert could ever be substantiated that these letters were compiled by him out of fragments of letters which he had received from Paul. Paul loved him ; that is all. He was a faithful and affectionate helper to the world's greatest man. He is illustrated by that connexion. His name is imperishable because it occurs in the fierce light which beats upon the foundation of the church, and is mentioned with affection in the records and epistles of Paul ; but that light does not produce a photograph, nor do the lineaments which come out shew as those of a hero or a saint. ' My child,' * my true child in the faith,' thus, on the lips of Paul, Timothy comes before us for fourteen or at most eighteen years, and vanishes, never to be forgotten, never to be known, loved not for his own sake, but because Paul loved him, an example of the power which lies in a great man to make others noble and even illustrious by his presence. Titus is, if possible, less substantial than Timothy, £ 2 52 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES because for some unexplained reason he is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Marker, Graf, and Zimmer attempted to shew that Titus is another name of Silas. This cannot be maintained. From Gal. ii. i it is appa- rent that he was with Paul in the journey of Acts xv. 2, while Silas was sent from Jerusalem (xv. 22). His historical reality is established by the references to him in the two unquestionable Epistles, Galatians and 2 Corinthians. The Pastoral Epistle addressed to Titus ekes out this scanty knowledge. From Galatians it appears that he was brought into connexion with Paul at a date considerably earlier than Timothy (ii. 1-4). It was in the journey which Paul and Barnabas undertook from Antioch to Jerusalem in order to establish the liberty of the new gospel to the Gentiles that Titus, a Greek convert of Paul (Titus i. 4), accompanied them, probably as an ocular demonstration to the church at Jerusalem of what the grace of God was doing among the Gentiles. We need not decide here whether this journey to Jerusalem was that of Acts xv. (the view taken by almost all com- mentators) or the earlier journey noticed briefly in Acts xi. 30 (as Prof. Ramsay maintains, St. Paul the Traveller^ pp. 56, 1 54) . Titus is only mentioned to shew that Paul declined to gratify Jewish prejudice by requiring him, a Greek, to be circumcised. This very early notice shews that if Titus did not gain the place which Timothy held in Paul's affections, it was not because he was less known to Paul, but only because he was less congenial. The notice in 2 Corinthians, however, proves that if he was not a son of consolation like Timothy he was at least a thoroughly efficient lieutenant. Towards the end of the stay in Ephesus (Acts xix) he was sent to Corinth to get together the collection (2 Cor. viii. 6). This mission he carried out with zeal — ' being himself very earnest, he went forth unto you of his own accord (verse 17) — and with discretion: ^ 'false swearers': the word not found again in the N.T. (the corresponding verb is in Matt. v. 33). 90 I TIMOTHY 1. n the gospel of the glory of the blessed ^ God, which was committed to my trust. its correlatives are peculiarly significant of the Pastorals (cf. 2 Tim. iv. 3 ; Titus i. 9, ii. i ; ' sound words,' i Tim. vi. 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 13 ; the verb with faith, 2 Tim. i. 13 ; Titus ii. 2 ; ' sound speech,' Titus ii. 8). And the metaphor is explained by the comparison of false doctrine to a gangrene (2 Tim. ii. 17). To understand the word one must avoid the associations which gather round our usage of the phrase * sound doctrine.' Health is the key-note. The Chris- tian society is a body ; the truth of God, coming from God who is life, is the spring of health in the body. Perverted truth, false- hood, or the withholding of truth, by vain talking, produces disease in the body spiritual. Two illustrations may bring home the idea : Plato, in the Republic (iv. 18), says: 'Virtue, it would seem, is as it were health and beauty and well-being of soul, and vice disease and shame and debility.' And Philo (dc Abrali. 38), using the very expression employed in vi. 3, speaks of ' the passions and diseases prevailing over the ' sound words.' Doctrine is really ' teaching,' the act and method rather than the substance of teaching; cf. iv. 13, v. 17. 11. according' to tlie grospel of the gflory : the connexion of these words may be either (i) with the truth of the paragraph, that the law is for the correction of evil-doers ; but this is not very satisfactory, because Paul's gospel did not specially teach that the law was only intended for evil-doers, as against its use for idle disputation ; and the peculiar content of Paul's gospel, that the law could not save, hardly comes into question here ; or, preferably, (2) with the phrase 'healthy teaching,' defining that teaching as what he taught, because it was committed to him by God, viz. the gospel which consists of the glory of the blessed God; (3) with Riggenbach, it may be joined to ' knowing this ' of verse 9. which was coitimitted to my trust : or, ' with which I was entrusted': Pauline. Rom. iii. 2; i Cor. ix. 17; Gal. ii. 7; I Thess. ii. 4 ; Titus i. 3. Schmidt and Holzcndorff say * This verse imitates a formula which repeatedly occurs in the Pauline Epistles without the same reason for it in the context here.' It is difficult to see how it could be more appropriate than in a passage where Paul is opposing his own teaching to that of hetero-teachers, and wishes to vouch for its wholesomeness by the reminder that it was not devised by himself, but entrusted to him personally by God, the fountain of health. The self-vindica- tion expands itself in a beautiful doxology, verses 12-17. * 'blessed' : applied to God only here and at vi. 15 (cf. fianapes $(oi, in Homer). I TIMOTHY 1. 12-15 91 I thank him^ that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our 12 Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to his service; though I was before a blasphemer, and a 13 persecutor '-, and injurious : howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of 14 our Lord^ abounded exceedingly* with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Faithful is the saying ^ and 15 12. that enabled me. This favourite phrase of Paul's (Eph. vi. 10; 2 Tim. ii. i, iv. 17; Phil. iv. 13) is the Greek word which occurs in our 'dj'namics' and 'dynamite.' It means that Christ gave him the motive force for the ministry. faithful occurs eleven times in this short Epistle. The word rendered service is the Greek for diaconate (cf Rom. xi. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 18, vi. 3 ; Col, i. 23 ; i Cor. iii. 5 ; 2 Cor. iii. 6 ; Eph. iii. 7). After the Apostolic Age, when the word was specialized to an office in the church, it could hardly have been used in this general way for service of ^.wy kind ; an argument for the apostolic origin of this Epistle. 13. hlp-sphenier . . . persecutor . . . injurious. The words in the Greek form an ascending scale of sin : ' blasphemer,' i. e. using bad language ; ' persecutor,' doing bad deeds ; ' injurious' is an in- adequate rendering of a strong word, which in Rom. i. 30 is rendered ' insolent/ but conveys an idea of violence and outrage. I obtained mercy. Cf. the ' mercy ' in the salutation, verse 2. Cf. i Cor. vii. 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. i. because I did it ig-norantly, Cf Luke xxiii. 34. in unbelief. Acts xxiii. i. He did not believe Jesus was Christ. This explains where the power of the Divine grace began to work on him AViesinger). 14. with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 'Which is in Christ Jesus' is a qualifying clause which probably applies to the faith as well as to the love. The grace abounded along with the responsive faith in Christ (in contrast with the unbelief ' * I thank him ' : a phrase in the Greek, only used here and in 2 Tim. i. 3 by Paul. Intrcd. p. 17. ^ * persecutor' : only here in the N.T. ^ 'our Lord ' : without the addition of Jesus Christ, used by Paul only here and in 2 Tim. i. S. * ' abounded exceedingly ' : a word occurring nowhere else in the Bible. ^ ' faithful is the saying ' : a formula peculiar to the Pastorals (i Tim. iv. 9, iii. i ; 2 Tim. ii. 11; Titus iii. 8). 92 I TIMOTHY 1. i6 worthy of all acceptation \ that Christ Jesus came into i6 the world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief : howbeit of verse i3\ and with the love which centres in him as the grace manifests itself. 15. all acceptation. An inscription found at Epliesus runs: — ' Titus Aelius Priscus a man most approved and worthy of all honour and acceptation.' Christ Jesus came into the world: a Johannine expression (cf. John i. g, xii. 46, xvi. 28). The expression faithful is the saying" seems in each case to refer to things which were commonly said among Christians. of whom I am. chief: It'i. 'first.' Schmidt and Holzendorff see in this * an exaggerated imitation of i Cor. xv. 9, " the least of the apostles," which in the hands of the Pauline author of the Epistle to the Ephesians had already passed into the unsuitable form, '• the least of the saints," Eph. iii. 8.' But may we not mark in the three passages that growth in humility which is the surest mark of inward sanctity ? In the early missionary days he thought himself ' the least of the apostles ' ; in the first imprisonment ' the least of the saints, i.e. ordinary believers'; now at the end he feels that he is * the chief of sinners.' Nor can he be referring to the past condition recorded in verse 13. It is definitely' of whom I am chief.' Francis of Assisi grew in this amazing humility until his less spiritual followers were irritated by what to them seemed an affectation. Dr. Carey, the great missionary, on his deathbed, was quite distressed to hear his friends talking of him : 'Do not talk,' he cried, 'of Dr. Carey, but of Dr. Carey's Saviour.' 'As he writes in his old age to his son Timothy, and exalts the gospel ministry, he is suddenly carried out of his course by an undercurrent of feeling, and magnifies the office of Christ, which is to save sinners, " of whom I am chief." This is one of the most impressive utterances in the history of religion, whether you consider the writer or its date. He was not one who had played the fool in his youth before God and man, for he could declare that he had lived in good conscience all his days, by which Paul intended that so far as he saw the light he had followed it, and so far as he knew righteousness he had always done it. His perse- cution of Christ in his disciples was only a pledge of his honesty, and of his devotion to the will of God. It was this man of natural nobility and selfless character who, not in affected humility, but in absolute sincerity, wrote himself down as worse than the Philip- pian jailor and the evil lives of Corinth. Nor was Paul a recent convert, still ignorant of the mind of Christ and young in grace, * 'acceptation ' : only here and at iv.^ 9. I TIMOTHY 1. 17, i8 93 for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ shew forth all his longsuffering, for an ensample ^ of them which should hereafter believe on him unto eternal life. Now unto the King eternal, 17 incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. This charge I commit unto thee, my child Timothy, 18 but one who for many years had been working out his salvation with fear and trembling, and in whom the readers of his life can trace the clear and convincing likeness of his Lord. With this career behind him, so stainless both as a Jew and as a Christian, the most honourable of Pharisees, the most gracious of apostles, Paul forgets his achievements and his attainments, and, when he instructs his son Timothy, remembers only his sin. As we catch this glimpse into the Apostle's heart, we begin to understand how Paul was able to enter into the mystery of Christ's sacrifice, and to realize the magnificence of the Divine grace. According to his conception of sin was his conception of salvation.' — The Doctrines of Grace, John Watson, D.D,, pp. 29, 30. One cannot help raising the psychological question : What imitator of Paul, writing necessarily to honour Paul, would have put into his mouth that he was the chief of sinners ? Certainly this intense humility is not like an imitation of Paul, but it is like Paul himself. And as a picture of Paul's feeling it is the subtlest touch of reality in the development of the spiritual life. 16. shew forth, &c. Cf. Eph. ii. 7. 17. With the doxology in verse 17 cf. i Tim. i. 17, vi. 16; a Tim. iv. i8. the Kin^ eternal : or, * the King of the ages ' : only here and in Rev. xv. 3; =the ruler of all times, Tobit xiii. 6, 10. The word is 'aeons.' 'What is meant by seons here,' say Schmidt and Holzendorff, ' is not the Gnostic aeons.' No ; but is it likely that if the writer had the Gnostic doctrine of aeons before him he would describe God as ' the King of the aeons'? the only God : a locus classicus for Monotheism ; the reading rightly adopted by the Revisers is, as Bengel said, * a magnificent reading.' honour and glory: only in Rev. v. 13. 18. This charge refers to verse 5. I commit unto thee. Cf. vi. 20; 2 Tim. i. 12, 14, for what is committed. ' ' ensample ' : the unusual word employed here is found elsewhere only at 2 Tim. i. 13, 94 I TIMOTHY 1. 19,20 according to the prophecies which went before on thee, 19 that by them thou mayest war the good warfare ; holding faith and a good conscience ; which some having thrust 20 from them made shipwreck ' concerning the faith : of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered the prophecies which went before on thee (* foregoing ' is the translation in Heb. vii. i8j : or, 'which led the way to thee' ; cf. Acts xiii. 2, xvi. 2. We are carried into the inspired assembly of a primitive church, where the spirit, speaking through his prophets, singled out individuals for a speci.il duty. (Introd. p. 49.) Even Clement of Alexandria still speaks of ministers being * indicated by the spirit.' It is not possible to decide whether the prophets singled out Timothy to be Paul's companion, as Dr. Hort conjectured {Christian Ecciesia, p. 181. The comparison is made with the vision that led Ananias to Paul in the street called Straight, or with the vision that led the way to Peter in the house of Simon the tanner , or only marked him for ordination to the ministry of an evangelist (cf iv. 14). by them thou mayest war the good warfare : i. e. in the strength of those utterances of the spirit which called him to the service he may carry out his warfare to the end (2 Tim. ii. 3). 19. concerning' the faith. Dr. Bernard says that the faith here signifies not the subjective attitude of the soul to God, but the objective contents of the Christian's belief — the Christian Creed (cf. Acts vi. 7, xiii. 8, xvi. 5 ; Gal. i. 23, iii. 23 ; Phil. i. 27% 'Out of thirty-three occurrences of faith in these epistles,' says Dr. Bernard, ' the objective sense seems to be required in i Tim. i. 19, iv. I, 6, V. 8, vi. 10, 21 ; 2 Tim. iii. 8, iv. 7 ; Titus i. 13.' This large proportion of the use of the word in the later sense is of course an argument against the Pauline authorship. But it may be questioned whether this objective sense is inevitable in any of these passages. Holding strictly to the motion oi faith as the psychological condition of receiving the, gospel we can establish a good sense in every instance. The later objective meaning is read into rather than out q/"the N. T. 20. Hymensens. See 2 Tim. ii. 17. Alexander. It is impossible to determine whether this is the Alexander who was put forward by the Jews in the uproar at Ephesus (Acts xix. 33). Nor can we be sure that he is identical with the coppersmith, apparently at Troas, who 'did much evil' to Paul (2 Tim. iv. 14). If he is, it is strange that in the earlier ^ ' made shipwreck ' : only here in a metaphorical sense \2 Cor. xi. 25, literal). I TIMOTHY 1. 20 95 unto Satan, that they might be taught not to blas- pheme. letter Paul should speak of excommunicating him, while in the later he seems to be still unexcommunicated, and Paul hands him over to the punishment of God. Von Soden, in the Hand-Coni- mcntar, decisively affirms the identity, and supposes that Paul's handing over to Satan was equivalent to leaving the vengeance to God according to Rom. xii. 19. delivered unto Satan. The obvious commentary on this is I Cor. V. 5. But if the Hand-Commentar is right, we must not see in the personal action of Paul a formal excommunication, which at Corinth was the solemn act of the church, but rather a spiritual surrender of the two blasphemers to the pains and sorrows typified by Satan, that b^' suffering they might learn wisdom (cf. Jcb. ii. 6 . In this way of treating the question, the later judgement (2 Tim. iv. 14) would mean that the milder method of ' handing over to Satan ' had in Alexander's case failed, and Paul was obliged to leave him to the mighty hand of God. We may suppose that Alexander, like Hymenaeus and Philetus, had fallen into the heresy that the Resurrection was past (2 Tim. ii. 17). This first chapter has placed very vividly the divinely com- missioned Apostle over against the empty and v^'rangling teachers who were disturbing the church at Ephesus. They professed to teach the law of Moses. But the ethical failure of the result was a proof that their method was wrong. Paul fully admits the value of the law for convicting of sin ; and in verses 9, 10, he evidently has the Decalogue in view. But his own personal experience shews, and it is here introduced for the purpose, that the gospel of the glory of the blessed God had something far beyond the law to reveal, viz. the salvation of sinners whom the law has convicted. Paul, who had, comparatively speaking, kept the law (Phil. iii. 5\ found himself, in the light of Christ, the first of sinners. Yet he had been forgiven, to encourage all sinners to believe. It is this commission, ' the gospel of the glory,' that he hands over to Timothy for use in conflict with the erroneous teachers. Timoth}', his true son, is encouraged to maintain the good warfare by a reference to the inspired utterances which originally, so long ago, led him into it, when Paul found him at Lystra. And he is warned by the example of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had so far surrendered the truth that Paul had felt bound to deliver them unto Satan, i. e. to repudiate them and leave them to the working of conscience, and the recovery of its saving testimony. 96 I TIMOTHY 2. i, 2 2 I exhort therefore, first of all \ that supplications, prayers, intercessions ^, thanksgivings, be made for all 2 men ; for kings and all that are in high place ; that we may lead a tranquil ' and quiet life in all godliness^ and He now passes on to the church regulations which will aid Timothy in his warfare. II. Beg'tilatious of a Cliristian Church, ii, iii. Public Worship, ii. 1-7. Prayers for all men. 1. I exhort. Some authorities (D. G. Hil. Ambrosiaster) read the imperative 'exhort,' but the 'I wish' of verse 8 makes the indicative intrinsically more probable (against Zahn). supplications, prayers, intercessions. The three words indicate (i) the wants on the part of man — imploratio; (2) the in- tercourse with God— oratio (these two first words are combined in V. 5, and in Eph. vi. 18 ; Phil. iv. 6) ; (3) petition to a superior— a regular word in Greek for the approach to a king. The corresponding verb, ' maketh intercession,' is in Rom. viii. 27. Intercession, as we understand the word, is not a correct translation, for it does not contain any idea in itself of prayer /or others. thanksgiving's : eucharists. Augustine by an anachronism supposes that the supper is meant (Ep. cxlix. 16). But the Eucharist was so early identified with the Supper that the fact of it being used here simply as thanksgiving in general is an argu- ment for the apostolic origin of the letter. for all men: an improvement even on Eph. vi. 18, 'for all saints.' The narrowing tendency of church institutions and services is provided against. The Christian Church is the priest pleading for the world to which it belongs (cf. i Pet. ii. 5). 2. for kings. Baur found in this a reason for bringing the date of the Epistle to the age of the Antonines, when two emperors shared the throne. He might as well have placed Mark in the same period on the ground of Mark xiii. 9. The idea is quite Pauline, Rom. xiii. i : cf. i Pet. ii. 13. That Nero was on the throne makes the exhortation the more impressive. We are to pray for rulers that are past praying for ; but it does not follow ^ 'first of all' : an expression only here in the N. T.; first, i. e. in order of importance rather than of time. * The word for * intercessions ' only in Pastorals (iv. 5). ^ The word for 'tranquil,' and the phrase for 'lead a life,* occur only here in the N. T. * 'godliness.' This and its correlatives do not occur in Paul's other Epistles. I TIMOTHY 2. 3, 4 97 gravity \ This is good and acceptable ^ in the sight of 3 God our Saviour ; who willeth that all men should be 4 that we are to speak of a Charles II or George IV as ' our most rehgious king.' a tranquil and quiet life is not so much the object of prayer as the object of the exhortation to pray and give thanks for all men, and especially for the Government. We do not pray for tranquillity, which might be selfish ; but in praying for men, which is unselfish, we become tranquil and promote their tranquillity, while in praying for rulers we gain the external conditions of law and order. g'odliness and gravity. Gravity without godliness is simply stiffness. godliness. In the Pastorals the noun occurs eleven times, the verb once, and the adverb twice. It is a common Greek word, and not infrequent in the N. T. (four times in 2 Peter, twice in Acts ; cf. the adjective, Acts x. 2, 7, xxii. 12 (T. R.) > 2 Pet. ii. 9). Strange to say, Paul uses the opposite 'ungodly' and 'ungodliness' in Romans. But why he never uses the familiar word for piety until the Pastorals baffles us. In the fourth book of the Sibylline Oracles (80 a.d.) this group of words is often used for the elect. The only explanation is that a writer sometimes gets a few catch words, and employs them for a year or two ; and then replaces them, from weariness or other causes, by others. Still the pheno- menon must be allowed its due weight as an argument against the Pastorals being from the pen of Paul. 3. TMs is gfood: viz. the praying for all men, and especially for rulers. The reason for such prayers is that the object is acceptable to God the Saviour of men. God our Saviour : i. i ; Titus i. 3. 4. wlio willetli that all men should he saved. Cf Rom. xi. 32, ' that he might have mercy upon all,' and i Tim. iv. 10. Calvin, in order to escape the force of this truth, would interpret all as men of all kinds. This is the way in which a theory discolours truth ; an equally striking example, however, of the same fact is found in the dogmatic use which universalism makes of this text. The will of God does not override the will of man. In making free wills He sets over against Himself personalities that act as a limit on His own freedom, because it is a greater enrichment of the Divine nature to win one voluntary and whole-hearted human soul than it is an infringement of it to have some souls that resist His grace. All that is said in this passage is that God's constant ^ The word for 'gravity' is only in the Pastorals (i Tim. iii. 4; Titus ii, 7). * * acceptable ' : a word peculiar to the Pastorals (v. 4). H 98 I TIMOTHY 2. 5, 6 5 saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth ^ For there is one God, one mediator also between God and 6 men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a will is to have the heart and the loyalty of all men ; and His salvation applies equally to all by the very nature of the Incarna- tion (Titus ii. II : cf. Matt. v. 45). the truth. Cf. iii. 15 ; 2 Tim. ii. 15. 5. For one is God, one is mediator also between Ood and men, a man, Christ Jesus: this is the most literal rendering of these concentrated words. The unity of God is asserted to shew that there is only one God of all men (cf. Rom. iii. 30, x, 12 ; i Cor. viii. 6 ; Eph. iv. 6). The unity of the mediator is asserted to shew that there can be no other way to God fjohn xiv. 6), but also that this is a way for all. He is described as Man (the second Adam) generically ; but just as he can only be a mediator for men because he is a man (cf. Rom. v. 15 ; i Cor. xv. 21), so he can only be a mediator for God because he is God. When this Epistle was written, and docetic heresies were in sight, it was more important to emphasize that Christ was man than that he was God (cf. iii. 16). * By being man he mediated ' (Theodoret). one mediator. By Paul the word is only elsewhere used of Moses (Gal. iii. 19, as in the Asstimptio Moysis, i. 14, iii. 12, and in Philo). But in Hebrews ' the mediator of the new covenant * occurs, viii. 6, ix. 15, xii. 24. It is quite likely that Paul had his eye on his own words used long before in Galatians, and con- trasted with Moses the mediator between Jews and God — Christ who had become man to be the mediator between man, as such, and God. G. who gfave himself a ransom for all. For 'gave himself cf. Gal. i. 4, ii. 20 ; Eph. v. 2, 25 ; Rom. viii. 32 ; and the striking illustration of the phrase in i Mace. vi. 44 (4 Mace. vi. 29): Eleazar, who threw himself on the enemy and perished under the elephant that he slew, ' gave himself to deliver his people and to get him an everlasting name.' The stress in this passage is of course laid on the universality of the Atonement, that it was for all he gave himself. We may hardly therefore digress to discuss what is meant by the ransom in Matt. xx. 28 ; Mark x. 45. But one word may be said. Christ says that he gave his life as a ransom in place of many ; Paul interprets it as giving himself as a substitutionary ransom (that is the force of the peculiar word used here) on hehalf of all. The ransom cannot be conceived as paid to any person, least of all to God. The language moves in ^ 'come to the knowledge of the truth ' : a phrase peculiar to the Pastorals (2 Tim. ii. 25, iii. 7 : cf. Titus i. i and i Tim. iv. 3). I TIMOTHY 2. 7 99 ransom ' for all ; the testimony to be home in its own times "^ ; whereunto I was appointed a preacher ' and an 7 apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. a region of metaphor. Death and sin are the personification to which the ransom is paid ; death and sin therefore are the tyrants from which 'many' are deHvered. The price paid by our Lord was the submission of his life to death and of himself to the tyranny of sin — not of course in yielding to sin, but in bearing the outrageous injuries of sin in his own person. This was ' on behalf of all,' the force of the preposition uniformly employed in the N. T. in this connexion. But in the nature of the case it can only be ' in the place of those who by faith in him occupy the position which he has bought for them. By the death of Christ, therefore, the salvability of the w^orld, and the salvation of all who believe, are secured. the testimony to be borne in its own times. That testimony is the whole content of verses 4-6. It could be borne only when the fullness of time had come, and the Incarnation had presented a mediator for all men. For 'testimony' see 2 Tim. i. 8. 7. whereunto I was appointed a preacher. The ' I ' is emphatic (repeated in 2 Tim. i. 11). I lie not. The solemn certainty of being commissioned for this testimony (cf. Rom, ix. i), and especially of being in a peculiar sense the teacher of the Gentiles (Rom. xi. 13 and Gal. ii. 7-9), is the occasion of this earnest assurance that he is telling the truth. in faith and truth : a combination only found here. Dr. Ber- nard's determination to make faith objective here leads him to make truth also objective, comparing verse 4. But this strikes all the pathos and beauty out of the passage. The whole argument of verses 1-7 is that prayer is to be universal. He supports that contention by (i) the unity of God, (2) the unity of the Mediator, (3) the universality of the Atonement. And then in an exquisite and human way, very characteristic of Paul, he brings in his own human equation that he was himself, Hebrew of the Hebrews as he was, called to be the teacher of the nations, the apostle of universalism, and he adds * in faith and truth ' as we say ' verily ^ The word for ' ransom ' occurs only here : cf. Titus ii. 14 ; Matt. XX. 28 ; I Pet. i. i8, 19. ' The phrase 'its own times' only in the Pastorals (vi. 15 ; Titus i. 3). But in the singular Paul uses it in Gal. vi. 9. ' The word rendered ' preacher ' is * herald,' and is only used by Paul here and in 2 Tim. i. 11. 2 Pet. ii. 5 applies it to Noah. Paul uses the verb in Rom. x. 15. H 2 loo I TIMOTHY 2. 8, 9 8 I desire therefore that the men pray in ever}' place, 9 lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing. In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest and truly' when we wish to dwell with emphasis on a fact which may easily be overlooked ; the faith is the spirit, and the truth is the material, in which he carries out his apostolic mission. 8-15. The part of women in public worship. 8. I desire therefore that the men pray in every place : i. e. the men as opposed to the women, implying that all the men in the congregation were desired to pray aloud. The time of litur- gies and priests and formal reading of prayers was not yet. And this rule applies to every place where prayer was made. No assembly, however stately, is exempted. lifting" up holy hands : the primitive Christian, as the Jewish (cf. I Kings viii. 22 ; Neh. viii. 6 ; Ps. cxli. 2, clxiii. 6 ; Lam. iii. 41, &c.), form of prayer. See J as. iv. 8 for the purity, and Luke xxiv. 50 for the use, of the hands. In the pictures of the catacombs men praying are represented on their feet with outstretched hands. Unless the hands are holy the prayer cannot avail. Holiness is not here the mere equivalent of purity, but implies that the praying hands must be consecrated by the Holy Spirit. without wrath and disputing. It is Christ's teaching that our prayers are useless if we are not in charity with our brothers. And to introduce disputes into prayer is to pray at one another instead of to God. 9. In like manner, that women, &c. It is possible to see in these words a permission to women to pray, certain conditions of decency being secured (cf i Cor. xi. 5, 13;. So Riggenbach, K. G. Commeiitar, who supplies ' I desire that women pray.' And it is an argument for this view that, formally, the contrast between the wish for the men to pray and the women to dress modestly gives to the passage a touch of satire. We are tempted to disregard the formal wording to find the substance of the passage in a thought of this kind : 'I wish men to pray in public, all of them everywhere ; but I wish women, if they pray in public, to be very careful to dress simply' (cf. i Pet. iii. 3-6). But the more ordinary view is more like!}', that as Paul forbids the woman to teach in public, and to usurp authority over a man, so he im- plicitly forbids her to pray in public, and hints that the woman's piety is better shewn in deeds than in words. We could have wished that Paul's view had been different ; but we must not wrest his language to gratify our wish. In like manner : a very favourite idiom in the Pastorals (iii. 8, ir, v, 25 ; Titus ii. 6), but also Rom. viii. 26 and i Cor. xi. 25. I TIMOTHY 2. 10-12 loi apparel \ with shamefastness ^ and sobriety ; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment ; but lo (which becometh women professing godliness ^) through good works. Let a woman learn in quietness with all n subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to 12 with shamefastness a.nd sobriety. The first of these words means that modesty which disHkes what is unseemly, and bases respect for others on self-respect, Wycliffe has the credit of finding the English word for the original. The word rendered * sobriety' is another of the idiosyncracies of the Pastorals. It and its corre- latives occur here and in ii. 15, iii. 2; 2 Tim. i. 7; and Titus i. 8, ii. 2, 4, 5, 6, 12. It was in Greek ethics one of the four cardinal virtues (temperance (sobriety), wisdom, justice, courage). It signifies mastery over appetite. In the present passage it would mean control over a ieminine tendency to self-display, coquettish- ness, and amativeness. 10. The adornment is to be through good works : not the good works themselves, which could not be brought into the assembly, but the habits, virtues, and perhaps expression and demeanour, which are the result of being occupied in good works ; that beauty, chastened, spiritual, and often pathetic, which maj'be seen in good women whose lives are given up to the service of others. The stress laid on good works in the Pastorals might seem un- Pauline, but may be Paul's own corrective of his former disparage- ment of them. See Titus i. 16 ; i Tim. v. 10 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21, iii. 17; Titus iii. i. They are not here, any more than in Romans, the foundation of salvation (ii. Tim. i. 9 ; Titus iii. 5). But Paul fully recognizes the complementary truth which is urged by James. With another adjective, which means 'beautiful,' works are mentioned eleven other times in these letters (i Tim. iii. i, v. 25, vi. 18 ; Titus ii. 7, 8, 14, &c.). The beauty of goodness sounds Greek ; but in Christianity it becomes the beauty of holiness. 11. Let a woman learn in quietness. This is quite Pauline : cf. I Cor. xiv. 34, 35. For the ' quietness,' not silence, see i Pet. iii. 4 (also ii. 2, and ii. Thess. iii. 12). with all subjection: i. e. not only to their husbands (Titus ii. 5 ; Eph. v. 22-24) but also to the community, in contradistinction to the unruly (Tit. i. 6-10). 12. to teach: ('speak' in i Cor. xiv. 34). In Corinthians the woman must keep silence because the law required it. Here ^ 'apparel.' The word only found here in the N. T. ' ' shamefastness ' : a word only used here in the N. T. ' ' godliness,' a variation on the word used in verbC 2, is found only here in the N. T. 102 I TIMOTHY 2. 13-15 13 have dominion over a man \ but to be in quietness. For 14 Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into 15 transgression : but she shall be saved through the Paul is represented as forbidding it himself. Von Soden, in the Hatid-Commentar , sees in this the mark of a post-apostolic writer, glorifying the authority of an apostle ! The teaching forbidden to women is only that in the pubUc assembly ; other teaching is permitted (cf 2 Tim. iii. 14 ; Titus ii. 3; Acts xviii. 26, xxi. 9). This subordination of woman is based on two facts : (i Adam was formed before Eve, see i Cor. xi, 9, (2) Eve tempted Adam : ' More easily deceived, she more easily deceives/ says Bengel (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 3). Adam was not deceived, but, Milton would have us believe, deliberately sinned that he might share his wife's punishment. Thus Eve was a dupe ; Adam was chivalrous in his fall. This is how men interpret the facts of life. It was this place assigned to woman in the stories of Creation and the Fall which led the Jews to despise women, and the Rabbis to regard it as a disgrace to be seen talking with them. And the same degrada- tion survives in the monkish ideals : * Femina corpus opes animam vim lumina vocem Polluit annihilat necat eripit orbat acerbat' — two bitter verses which may be translated, * Woman pollutes our body, annihilates our wealth, kills our soul, takes our strength, blinds our eyes, and makes our voice harsh.' Happily Scripture as a whole, and even Paul in other passages, puts woman in a very different place ; and our Lord has raised her to a dignity no asceticism can tarnish, and no prejudice can ultimately obscure. Some allowance must be made for the personal element in Paul. If he had ever been married, he had no wife as a companion and friend ; and in hardly any great man does woman seem to have had so small a part. To use him as an argument for the depreciation or suppression of women is to seize on his infirmities and limitations as a man, and to make them points in his authority as an apostle. As it could be no genuine reason for keeping woman in subjection, even if Eve was created after Adam, and if she was the cause of his fall, so it can be no decisive prohibition of her speaking and teaching, that Paul, from special circumstances, or from a certain interpretation of the law, which he did not in other respects allow to be binding, was led to prohibit her speaking and teaching in the churches of his time. The question after all must be, not, Does Paul prohibit ^ * to have dominion over a man ' : a word is used here which is not found elsewhere in the Greek Bible. I TIMOTHY 3. I 103 childbearing \ if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety. Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh ^ the office of 3 women from teaching? but Does the Spirit of God use them as teachers ? 15. Yet Paul adds, thinking of the curse in Gen. iii. 16, that the woman 'shall be saved through her time of peculiar trial and labour, if they, viz. women generally, remain in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.' Riggenbach regards the child-bearing as the means of woman's salvation, since it is her God-appointed function ; yet it is not through child-bearing absolutely that her salvation is secured, but through child-bearing under a certain condition, viz. that of abiding in faith and love and sanctification. But in that case the child-bearing is not the means of salvation at all ; and that it is not, is clear from the fact that childless women can also be saved. The Hand-Cotnmentar adopts the curious view that the subject of shall be saved is Eve, and refers to the promise in Gen. iii. 15, 'she shall be saved through her child-bearing,* viz. by bearing Christ the Saviour. Then the plural is used because women are included in their mother Eve, as men are included in Adam (Rom. v. 15). 'This interpretation,' says Dr. Bernard, 'must be counted among those pious and ingenious flights of fancy which so often mislead the commentator.' The ' through,' therefore, cannot be understood as the means, but only as the circumstances, in the midst of which salvation shall be wrought out for women, if they abide in 'faith and love and sanctification*: cf. iv. 12, vi. 11; 2 Tim. ii. 23, iii. 10; Titus ii. 2. Schmidt and Holzendorff see in 'this recommendation of marriage* (which does not agree with i Cor. vii.) an opposition to the ascetic rejection of it by the false teachers (cf. iv. 3). But it is as difficult to find in this verse a ' recommendation of marriage ' as it is to follow these commentators in their unquestion- ing identification of the hetero-teachers with the second-century Gnostics. The qualifications of (i) Bishops 1-7, (2) Deacons 8-13, and (3) Deaconesses, verse 11, iviih ihe purpose 0/ all the foregoing instructions, vis. that Timothy might know how to behave in the house of God ; concluding with a verse of an early Christian hymn, 14-16. 1. Faithful is the sayingr (see on i. 15, iv. 9 ; 2 Tim. ii. 11 ; ^ The word for ' childbearing ' only here j the corresponding verb, V. 14. ^ ' seeketh.* The word used is only found in i Timothy among the writings of Paul. I04 I TIMOTHY 3. 2 2 a bishop, he desireth a good work. The bishop therefore Titus iii. 8). The Western reading until the time of Jerome was, * It is a saying of men.' The Hattd-Contnteyitnr, following Chry- sostom, treats the words as a conclusion to what had been said of the promise to woman in child-bearing. But in spite of the want of ' that,' as a conjunction with what follows, most interpreters consider that the connexion is this : ' Faithful is the saj'ing' (which is frequently heard in the church), or 'the saying is current among men,' that 'if a man seeks an office of oversight he desires a good work.' If our letter is Pauline the word episcope cannot yet have the specific meaning of bishopric, but still has the general sense of oversight, as in Acts i. 20. Com- mentators like Dr. Bernard do not seem to notice that in assuming episcopiis to be equivalent to the ' bishop ' of the second century, they move the composition of this letter into that century. In the lifetime of Paul episcopus and presbyter were interchangeable terms (Acts xx. 17, 28): and so it is in the Pastorals, for it is quite arbitrary to see in Titus i. 7 the beginning of a distinc- tion between the episcopus there mentioned and the elders of verse 5. In the letters of Ignatius, at the beginning of the second century, the bishop is the centre of the unity of the congrega- tion, the president of the court of elders. But it is among the arguments for placing the Pastorals in the first century, and regarding them as Pauline, that there is no trace of this development in them. By translating the words episcope and episcopus as the margin does, instead of reading into them the later meaning of episcopate and bishop, we get at the right historical situation. As Prof. Ramsay says (Paw/ /A^ Traveller, p. 122), the expression * seeketh ' implies that members of the church already stood for the office of elder : and the object of the verse is to encourage them to stand. In a true church of Christ there is no earthly inducement to seek office : it is not the way of gain (verse 3), nor yet of worldly distinction. The church has gone far from Christ when men seek office in it as a distinction and a means of living. This gentle encouragement therefore to undertake the thankless and difficult task of directing a church (i. Pet. v. 2, ii. 25), and the cheerful assurance that it is, in spite of its humiliations and sorrows, *a beautiful work,' is a proof that Paul is speaking — Paul, who felt that to be a minister of Christ was to be a gazing-stock to the world, and the offscouring of all things. (For the idea of 'work' see i. Thess. v. 13 ; i Cor. xv. 58, xvi. 10 ; Phil. ii. 30.) 'A good work,' says Bengel, * must be entrusted to good men.' 2. A beautiful work (as it is here) must be carried out by beautiful characters ; by one who is without reproach ; not only one unblamed, but one who does not deserve to be blamed (the I TIMOTHY 3. 2 105 must be without reproach \ the husband of one wife, same as ' blameless ' in Titus i. 7). ' This is the dominant idea of all the following qualifications ' (Riggenbach). (Compare all through the description here with that in Titus i. 5-9, ill. 2.) the husband of one wife: cf. verse 12, v. 9 ; Titus i. 6. It is generally assumed now that this forbids to ministers a second marriage. Paul was not averse to second marriages for Christians, as such (Rom. viii. 3 ; i Cor. vii. 9, 39 ; i Tim. v. 14% but he is supposed to set a higher standard for the clergy, whether overseers, deacons (verse 12), or church widows (verse 9). Dr. Bernard points out that the Pentateuch had a straiter law of marriage for priests than for other people (Lev, xxi. 14). But he proceeds to shew that the Roman, Greek, and Anglican churches have all set Paul's teaching at defiance, the first by forbidding the clergy, the second by forbidding the bishops, to marry ; the last, by allowing any clergyman to marry as often as he likes. He concludes that * the sense of the church is that this regulation may be modified.' The sense, or at least the practice, of the church has, it is to be feared, modified every one of the requirements which are mentioned here. When has the Roman Church demanded that her bishops should have their own children in subjection with all gravity? Seldom has the Greek Church required her bishops to be • apt to teach ' or even free from the love of wine. And the Anglican Church, during these last three centuries, has presented the spectacle of bishops who do not realize any of the Pauline requirements. Unhappily ' the sense of the church seems to be that all the regulations of the gospel may be modified by circumstances.' But if Paul, by the direction of the Holy Ghost, wrote this letter ; and if he meant by the 'husband of one wife' one who is only married once, we must firmly insist that Christian ministers should not marry again. Nothing is more despicable or demoralizing than to recognize the commandments of God in Scripture, and to explain them away by 'the sense of the church,' or by the laxity of moral standards. It is, however, quite arbitrary, and curiously re- gardless of the historical situation in Ephesus or Crete to give to the words the meaning now before us. If these letters arc written by Paul, and to Christian workers in those corrupt Greek cities, it must be remembered that he represents Christianity creating a totally new moral standard. In Greece irregular connexions with women, before and after marriage, were not even censurable. The hetaera was a recognized feature of the highest Greek civilization. Every one will remember Augustine's account in the Confessions of his early amours. Until he became * * without reproach ' : a word found only in this Epistle, v. 7, vi. 14. io6 I TIMOTHY 3. 3 temperate \ soberminded, orderly, given to hospitality, 3 apt to teach ; no brawler ^, no striker ^ ; but gentle, not a Christian, no doubt of their legitimacy crossed his mind. The Mohammedan standard in this respect is not below, but rather above, that of the ancient world. And it must be remembered that even to-day, in Christian Europe, the vast bulk of men practise, and moralists like Mr. Lecky excuse, a vice which it was a main object of Christianity to rebuke. It is therefore wholly unhistorical to force back on the age of Paul an idea which is only the result of his nobler teaching, and to forget that at the beginning it was as necessary to warn good men against sexual indulgence as against excess in wine or love of money. Difficult therefore as it is for the modern reader, confused by cross currents of opinion, to get the right point of view, Paul is not here laying down a higher moral demand for the overseer than he would for other Christians : he is simply expressing the novel thought that for the ministry of religion there was a moral demand. Catholic churches to this day maintain that the efficacy of religious ministrations is not hindered by the moral delinquencies of ministers. If this is so now, how much more need was there then to assert the opposite, and to shew that the Christian ministry is a ministry of character — a ministry of teaching which follows on a holy example ? This phrase therefore, and that in v. 9, should be taken quite simply, ' a man of one woman * or * a woman of one man * ; that is, the Christian, as Paul taught in Ephesians, was to be a monogamist, and to see in his relation with his wife a symbol of the union between Christ and the church. Concubinage was henceforth forbidden. What was legitimate in a saint like Abraham, or in a king like David, was not legitimate for even the least in the kingdom of heaven. The mysticism of marriage between Christ and his bride the church demanded that man and wife, during this life (for in the next there is no marriage or giving in marriage) should be content with an exclusive and inclusive devotion, as one flesh. So, in the main, Riggenbach and Zahn. temperate : in mind and spirit. soberminded (ii. 9), orderly. The one refers to inward life, the other to outward conduct. given to hospitality: a thoroughly Christian virtue (v. 10, Rom. xii. 13 ; Heb. xiii. 2 ; i Pet. iv. 9; and esp. 3 John 5). apt to teaclx. Cf. v. 17, 2 Tim. ii. 24 ; Titus i. 9 ; and Eph. iv. ir, which shews that the overseers or elders were also to be pastors and teachers. ' temperate.' The word only in the Pastorals. ' ' brawler' (Titus i. 7}/ striker,' ' not contentious': all three words found only in the Pastorals. I TIMOTHY 3. 4, 5 107 contentious ^ no lover of money ^ ; one that ruleth well 4 his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity ; (but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own 5 3. no striker. This confirms what was said about ' husband of one wife.' It was Christ's new law that made men not ' strikers/ wilHng to be struck but not to strike. The most elementary virtues had to be insisted on in those first days. g'entle. It is the Aristotelian word, found also in Phil. iv. 5, which Matthew Arnold happily rendered, in the noun, as ' sweet reasonableness.' It represents the spirit of equity as opposed to a stiff justice. having his children. The celibacy of the clergy is condemned beforehand (see iv. 3). Every Roman priest has to throw aside the Pastoral Epistles, not on critical, but dogmatic grounds. His church forbids him to marry. Paul assumes that he is married as a matter of course. with all gravity : viz. in himself : seeversesS, 11. TheGerman Wiirde is better than the English * gravity.' It is not the solemnity of an official that is meant, but the sweet dignity of a child of God, which * equally excludes complaisance and passion' (Riggenbach). 5. The idea of the churcli as a family or household of God, derived, perhaps, from the O. T. (Num. xii. 7 ; Hos. viii. i), is dear to Paul (v. 15, i Cor. iv. i ; Gal. vi. 10 ; Eph. iii. 9). The idea is much clearer when it is rightly translated : ' How shall he take care of a church of God ? ' The church referred to is the local community. The term ' church of God ' is only found in Paul's Epistles (Hort, Chnstian Ecdesia, p. 108). Bengel says ' it is a greater thing to rule a church than a family.' The sig- nificance of the phrase 'church of God' is seen in the adaptation of Ps. Ixxiv. 2, made by Paul in addressing the Ephesian elders, as claiming for the community of Christians the prerogatives of God's ancient Ecclesia. With the exception, however, of two places in I Timothy (iii. 5, 15), where the old name is used with a special force derived from the context, this name is confined to Paul's earlier Epistles — Thessalonians, Corinthians, and Galatians. It is very striking that at this time, when his antagonism to the Judaizers was at its hottest, he never for a moment set a new Ecclesia against the old, an Ecclesia of Jesus, or even an Ecclesia of the Christ, against the Ecclesia of God, but implicitly taught his heathen converts to believe that the body into which they had been baptized was itself the Ecclesia of God. ' * no lover of money,' the word used occurs nowhere else in Paul^ though its correlative abstract noun is found in vi. 10. io8 I TIMOTHY 3. 6-8 house, how shall he take care ^ of the church of God ?) 6 not a novice ^ lest being puffed up " he fall into the 7 condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have good testimony from them that are without ; lest he fall 8 into reproach and the snare of the devil. Deacons in 6. puffed up means rather ' clouded,' and suggests our notion of getting into a cloudland of conceit, as a young Christian is apt to do. If he is in a position of responsibihty, this attitude of the head in the clouds is not only hurtful to the church, but liable to drive him into wilfulness, dogmatism, violence, and, in a word, ' the judgement of the devil.' In verse 7 it is shewn that in order to escape this judgement, or, in this case, reproach and snare of the devil (cf. 2 Tim. ii. 26), he must have good testimony from those outside the church, who are quick to connect what the man was and what he has become, presumably because one who is not respected outside the church is apt to be the more arrogant and self-assertive within. The devil watches every Christian, and especially a minister, eager to bring him into judgement, reproach, and a snare. The idea, countenanced by Riggenbach, that ' the devil,* with the article (cf. 2 Tim. ii. 26 ; Eph. iv. 27, vi, 11), could simply mean 'the slanderer,' because the word without the article means slanderer in iii. 11 ; 2 Tim. iii. 3; Titus ii. 3, is tempting, but should be resisted as a temptation. It is the definite article before diabolns which determines that not an ordinary slanderer but the great slanderer of the brethren is meant Dr. Bernard makes an interesting comparison between the * overseer's * qualifications and those of the Stoic wise man in Diogenes Laertius, thus : — The Overseer. The Wise Man. Married and a good father. the same. Not beclouded (puff'ed up). free from cloud (self-esteem). Not given to wine (no brawler). shall drink wine but not to excess. Soberminded and orderly. orderliness following on so- briety. Bodily exercise prescribed (r shall accept exercise to make Tim. iv. 8). his body enduring. 8. Deacons: Phil. i. i; Rom. xii. 7; i Pet. iv. 11; and ^ * take care ' : a word not otherwise used by Paul ^but see Luke X. 34, 35)-. * *a novice.' The word only here in N. T. ^ * puffed up ' : a word only in the Pastorals (vi. 4; 2 Tim. iii. 4). I TIMOTHY 3. 9-1 r 109 like manner must he grave, not doubletongued \ not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre '^ ; holding the 9 mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let 10 these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons', if they be blameless. Women in like manner n perhaps the 'helps' of i Cor. xii. 28. These are the 3'ounger men of i Pet. v. 5. Paul often calls himself a deacon, or minister, and his work a ministry. And it is doubtful whether in his lifetime the word had acquired any official significance. As the elders of the church were the overseers (Acts xx. 17, 28), so the younger men were appointed to subordinate tasks. The seven elected in Acts vii. to serve tables are not called 'deacons,' but the administration of relief to the poor was no doubt entrusted to these subordinates, while the overseers, as Hatch maintained, would keep in their hands the general control of the church finances. Probably verse 13 indicates that deacons who did their duty well would be raised to the position of overseers. doubletougaied. Bengel renders it ad alios alia loquentes^ saying one thing to one and another thing to another ; or perhaps ' talebearers' (Lightfoot). ^ven to : i. 4. O. the mystery of the faith. Cf. verse 16 ; a phrase found only here. But the m3'stery is referred to in Matt. xiii. 11 ; Eph. i. 9 ; Rom. xvi. 25. Bearing in mind the parallels, viz. mystery of godliness (verse 16), and mystery of lawlessness (2 Thess. ii. 7% we may interpret it as the Divine truth of the gospel revealed to and grasped by faith, which is called a mystery because (i) it was once hid though now revealed (Rom. xvi. 25), and (2) it remains hid still to the natural, and is known only by the spiritual man (i Cor. ii. 7, 14). 11. Women in like manner. From its place in the midst of a paragraph on the qualifications of deacons, or the younger servants of the church, the only conclusion that the words seem to admit is that the ' women ' are the corresponding servants of the church on the female side. Such women were called deaconesses (e.g. by Paul in Rom. xvi. i ; marg.) The Greek word is identical for masculine and feminine. The Apostolic Constitutions contain regulations for deacons of both sexes not * ' doubletongued ' : a word found only here. ' 'greedy of filthy lucre': also at Titus i. 7 (cf. verse 11), but only in the Pastorals. ^ * let them serve as deacons ' : a verb only used here in this specific sense. I TO I TIMOTHY 3. 12,13 7nust be grave, not slanderers \ temperate, faithful in all 12 things. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling 1 3 their children and their own houses well. For they that have served well as deacons gain "^ to themselves a good standing^, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. unlike those in the Pastorals. The ancient interpreters took the view that this verse refers to deaconesses. Strange to say, von Soden in the Hand-Commentar maintains that it refers to wives of deacons, as did Luther, Bengel, and Weiss. In that interesting attempt to restore the practice and polity of the N.T., which we know as Congregationalism, the deaconess was instituted as a matter of course. The exiled church at Amsterdam at the end of the sixteenth century, as Governor Bradford tells us, ' besides pastor, teacher, elders, and deacons, had one ancient widow for a deaconess, who did them service many years, though she was sixty years of age when she was chosen. She honoured her place, and was an ornament to the congregation. She usually sat in a convenient place in the congregation with a little birchen rod in her hand, and kept little children in great awe from disturbing the congregation. She did frequently visit the sick and weak, especially women, and as there was need called out maids and young women to watch and do them other helps as their necessity did require ; and if they were very poor, she would gather relief for them of those that were able, or acquaint the deacons ; and she was obeyed as a mother in Israel and an officer of Christ.' And in Barrow's Description of a Church the office of deaconess is identified, as in our Epistles, with that of the widow: their widows or relievers must be women of sixty years of age at the least, for avoiding of inconveniences ; they must be well reported of for good works, such as have nourished their children, such as have been harbourers to strangers, &c.' See Dr. Powicke's//^«;.7 Barroiv, pp. 237, 344. slanderers : see note on verse 6. 13. a good standing*. It cannot refer to the future hfe, like vi. 19, and does not come, therefore, under Schmidt and Holzendorffs comment : ' the idea is as far from being Pauline as that of vi. 19.' The present tense of the verb precludes this reference. Nor can * ' slanderers.' Only in the Pastorals in this sense in the N. T. ^ ' gain ' : a word not elsewhere used by Paul. ' * standing.' The word, which signifies a step, occurs only here In the N. T. I TIMOTHY 3. 14, 15 III These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto 14 thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know 15 how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar it, of itself, signify a promotion in the grades of the ministry ; that is forbidden by the idea which is coupled with it ; to unite ecclesiastical advancement and boldness in the faith is too incon- gruous a mode of speech to be attributed to any but the most ignorant writers. But the good standing and boldness in the faith, secured by diligent and faithful discharge of a deacon's office, say visiting the sick and the poor, reading the Scriptures, arranging the services, &c., may well be the reason for raising the deacon to the office of overseer. ' Deacons by excellent discharge of their duties may win for themselves an excellent vantage ground, a 'standing' a little, as it were, above the common level, enabling them to exercise an influence and moral authority to which their work as such could not entitle them ' (Hort, Ecclesia, p. 202). The boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus (cf. Acts iv. 29; 2 Cor. vii. 4) is that freedom of utterance and fullness of matter which come from a close and parsonal ministiy to others. A diligent deacon would probably know every one in the church intimately, and would be accustomed to apply the teachings of the gospel to individuals more by way of conversation than in set discourses : a sure aid to spiritual growth. 14. We now have the object of all these directions stated. Paul hopes presently to rejoin Timothy. But in case of delay he wishes to instruct him * how he ought to behave in a house of God, which is a church of the living God, a pillar and ground of the truth.' The use of the indefinite for the definite article, as in the original, gives a slightly different colour to the passage ; it makes it evident that what Paul means by God's house (i Pet. ii. 5; I Cor. iii. 9, 16; Eph. ii. 22: cf. Heb. iii. 5, x. 21) and the church of God is not the church as a whole, but a local community, such as that at Ephesus (Hort's Ecclesia, p. 172), which is indeed the prevalent sense of 'church' in the N.T. It is then a local church which is described as a pillar and stay of the truth. As a community united in Christ, and secure of his presence, it takes its part in the great work of supporting truth, and as such it has importance, and demands all the care in organizing and managing which the writer expends on it in this letter. It is worth while dwelling for a moment on this verse. The house of God is not the building but the household (cf. 2 Tim. i. 16 ; Titus i. 11). It is the society of believing souls, and a certain 112 I TIMOTHY 3. i6 i6 and ground' of the truth. And without controversy^ great is the mystery of godliness ; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of kind of order is to be maintained in it because (this causal meaning is implied in the relative pronoun used for ' which ') it is a church, that is, an assembly of a God that lives (2 Cor. vi. 16), The attitude of pra3'er (ch. ii) and the moral character of ministers (ch iii) must be maintained because this Christian community belongs to a living God. We are defining the behaviour of members of a household, of w^hich God is the householder or master. When such a living witness as a Christian church is described as a pillar and stay of the truth, it does not mean that truth, as such, stands in need of such a stay ; but that for presentation to the world, truth demands such an organization. 16. And now the gist of this truth which a church has to maintain is given in some related clauses which have the ring of a hymn. great is the mystery of gollinsss : i e. the mysteiy (i Cor. iv. I ; Eph. iii. 3, 9, vi. 19 ; Col. i. 27, ii. 2, iv. 3) which godliness contains and feeds on, viz. the person of Christ himself, is so ^ vast that no pains bestowed ct the management of the church can be too great. The mystery is expressed in verse. Certain words of the hymn must be supplied, e. g. ' Let us praise Christ our Lord — 1. 'who was manifested in flesh' : i John iv^. 2 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; John i, 14. 2. 'Was shewn to be such as he was in spirit' : Rom. iii. 4; Matt. xi. 19; Luke vii. 35. 3. * Was seen of angels ' (sc. when he returned to heaven) : Eph. i. 10, 20 ; Col. i. 20. 4. 'Was preached among the nations': Phil. i. 15; Matt, xxviii. 19. 5. ' Was believed on in the world ' : Rom. xi. 12, 15. 6. ' Was taken up into glory' : Mark xvi. 19 ; Acts i. 2, 11, 22, Verses i, 2, 4, and 5 refer to earth ; 3 and 6 to heaven. No change in the R. V. was thought to be more important than the substitution of ' he who ' for ' God,' One might have supposed that the Divinity of our Lord depended on a faded line in a Greek uncial. 0C in an uncial is the contraction for 'God,' and OC is the relative pronoun ' who.' The words might be ea'^ily confused. But the preponderance of evidence shews that the original reading was 'who' and not ' God.' By that w^e must abide. ' 'ground,' or 'stay' : a word not used elsewhere in the N.T. ^ ' without controversy ' : a word only here in the N. T. I TIMOTHY 3. 16 113 angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. This, we suppose, is a fragment of a Christian h3'mn, such as Phny says {Ep. x. 97) the Christians were wont to sing * to Christ as God' (cf. Eph. v. 19; Col. iii. 16). Perhaps Eph. v. 14 is another such fragment. The first two hnes state that Jesus, pre-existent, was manifested in the flesh, and yet was 'justified,' i. e, shewn to be the Lord from heaven in his spirit (cf. i Pet. iii, 18 for this balance of flesh and spirit). The line * was seen of angels ' might refer to the deeper views which angels gained of God in the Incarnation (cf i Pet. i. la ; Eph. iii. 10), or it might simply call attention to the wide range of intelligences that watched the earthly life of Christ (cf. I Cor. iv. 9). But if the third and sixth lines of the hymn are parallel, as we suppose, 'seen of angels' must refer to the glad return to heaven, when angels saw and welcomed him. The next two verses return to earth, and record the preaching of Christ in all nations and the faith which his person attracted, followed by a repetition, like a refrain, of his return to heaven. As we look back over the regulations for a Christian Church, contained in chaps, ii, iii, there are some general notes which deserve attention. 1, The universality of prayer based on the tintversality of the gospel, and especially that concern which the church, even in this primitive stage of tts development, has with the state and its administration (ii. 2). This will meet us again in Titus iii. i. The church is in the world, and is not to be identified with the state, but it is always there to bring the state into harmony with the will of the Blessed and only Potentate. Even when the state persecutes the church, and the claims of truth require her to resist the claims of the state, she will continue to pray for kings and those in authority, that the outward order may be consistent with her own peace and tranquil growth. 2. The relation of men and women in the church. On the one hand, woman's Divine function is to be sought rather in the home and in the family than in the public services of the church (ii. 15) ; but, on the other hand, she has her church functions. We have seen that in all probability it is assumed that on certain conditions she would pray in the church ; and she holds an office cor- responding to that of the deacons, while as wives of bishops and deacons women have an essential influence on the church, since the right ordering of the bishop's or deacon's home is a necessary condition for the right ordering of the church. In chap. v. we shall see further that an order of church widows was recognized. 114 I TIMOTHY 4. 1 4 But the Spirit saith expressly \ that in later times ^ some And in Titus ii. 2 the elder women have the definite function of teaching and training the younger. Thus the position of woman in the Christian Church is from the first decidedly vindicated. 3. The church officers in each community are bishops (^overseers) and deacons {sovants). That they are the elder and younger members of the church will appear in chap. v. Whether the bishop is distinguished from the elders, as the one minister of the church, by the use of the singular in iii. i and in Titus i. 7, is more than doubtful. That neither bishop nor deacon has any priestly function or status is more than evident. Their status rests on character and on the reputation they have gained in the world outside the church : they are married men who learn in their own households how to manage the household of God. The bishops have to teach ; perhaps in the caution against covetousness (iii. 8) there is a hint that the deacons had the management of money, but from Titus i. 7 it is clear that the bishops were financial officers as well. It is evident that here, as in Phil. i. i, Paul only contemplated two orders of ministry : the elders, or overseers, and the younger, or servants, of the church. 4. The church community is God's way of guarding and com- municating the truth — that sacred deposit of the gospel, that mystery of the faith, which an apostle like Paul received directly from above, but which was to be transmitted to the coming ages by the Christian communities or churches. And it is to be observed that the very pith and centre of the church community is that Divine Being whose course earthward and heavenward is celebrated in the closing hymn. To keep the church pure and simple is to make the witness of the Divine Redeemer clear to men. And the warning against heresies and corruptions is necessary, lest the simplicity which is in Christ should be obscured. III. In contrast with a true chtircli. iv. Chap. iv. The vision of a Christian society as a pillar and stay of the truth passes into a forecast of the error against which the truth will have to be maintained (1-5), and that leads to a close personal exhortation to Timothy^ as a protagonist of the truth in the church society at Ephesus, and as a ' deacon [minister) of Christ Jesus ' (6-16). 1. the Spirit saith expressly: viz. 'the spirit of prophecy* (i Cor. xii. 10 f.), uttering himself through some prophet like * 'expressly' : viz. in words. The term used occurs only here in theN.T. ^ *in later times' : a term found only here; cf. 2 Tim. iii. i. I TIMOTHY 4. 2 115 shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, through the hypocrisy of 2 men that speak lies \ branded ^ in their own conscience as Agabus (Acts xx. 23, xxi. 11). Paul does not say whether this prophetic forecast had come through him or some other of the prophets in the church ; but he paid great attention to such prophecies ; i Thess. v. 19 ; 2 Thess. ii. 2). The word * expressly* shews that the prophecies of our Lord are not directly meant (Matt. vii. 15-23, xi. 24, xxiv. 4). The opponents of the authenticity of the Pastorals say : — * The writer throws the description of the false teachers of his own time into the form of a prophecy revealed to Paul by the spirit' (Holtzmann, von Soden\ They say that the heresy of verses 1-5 is a heresy of the second century which is to be rebuked by this fictitious authority of Paul. It is as if a churchman of to-day were to compose a sermon and publish it as Bishop Butler's, foretelling and rebuking the Oxford movement. But evidently there is a curious psychological and moral question here involved. The writer is denouncing ' the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their conscience as with a hot iron.' Suppose for a moment that this writer is a second-century imitator of Paul ; he is carefully endeavouring to write in the character of the Apostle, and he wishes the composition to pass as the Apostle's. Is it conceivable that he would in such circumstances speak with so severe a tone of ' acting ' (that is the meaning of hypocrisy) and of speaking lies? Would it not occur to him that he was himself acting a part? If he did it without flinching, would he not himself be 'branded in his own con- science ' ? It is a psychological and moral difficulty of this kind which seems at times to overbalance all the literary and philological difficulties on the other side, and to justify conservative com- mentators in their contention that the Pauline authorship is easier to accept than any of its alternatives. seducing spirits, 2 John 7, or i John iv. i, 6; 'demons,' Jas. iii. 15 ; Eph. vi. 12 : demonic powers dwelling and working in men. In Rev. xvi. 13 the three unclean spirits out of the mouth of the false prophet shew that the conception of this verse belongs to the first age of the church. For ' the doctrine of demons ' cf 2 Cor. iv. 4, xi. 14. 2. throuerh hsrpocrisy : i. e. teaching error under a cloak of excessive asceticism and devotion. * * men that speak lies ' : a word not elsewhere in the Greek Bible ; and so ' branded '. I 2 ii6 I TIMOTHY 4. 3 3 with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and commanding branded in their own conscience. The meaning of the phrase may easily be missed. It is not that the conscience is insensitive and cauterized ; but as slaves were marked by a brand on the brow, so these heretical teachers would be marked in their own conscience, i. e. they would know that they were guilty. Their sin would be not the error of ignorance or mental weakness, but deliberate lying and hypocrisy. This meaning, which is only missed by the A. V. ' seared,' is demonstrated by the parallel (Titus i. 15, iii. 11) ' self-condemned.' 3. forbidding" to marry, ... to abstain from meats. It is not a little remarkable that these apparently innocent injunctions should be treated so severely, as the proof not merely of error, but of deceit and hypocrisy. The Roman Church ' forbids ' all her priests ' to marry,' and an immense part of her discipline consists in forbiddmg certain meats on certain days and at certain seasons. What is the result? (i) The celibate priesthood not only leads to painful moral lapses (e. g. in South America;, so painful that it is said Pope Leo XIII contemplates per- mitting the priests in South America to marry in order to escape the results foreseen by Paul, but it prevents, in Catholic countries, the great bulk of the more devout and spiritual persons of both sexes from becoming the legitimate parents of the rising generation, so that Catholic countries betray a steady tendency to moral deterioration. (2) Forbidding meats produces a legal scrupulosity, a kind of casuistry which fritters away the moral sense on things indifferent ; and it leads to that reaction which made mediaeval monasteries a synonym for Sybaritism, and peopled Dante's Inferno with gluttons. It is true that the dual- istic doctrines of the second-century Gnosticism, denying the flesh and matter to be the creation of God, led to this kind of false asceticism. But it is not true that such tendencies were first introduced in the second century. We are no more com- pelled to bring this warning into the second century than we are to bring it into the later Roman Church which has, since the eleventh century, 'forbidden to marry.* It is quite intelligible that Paul, viewing the contempt of marriage among the Essenes (Josephus, B. J. ii. 8. 2), and the abstinence of the Therapeutae (Philo, De Vit. Cont., 4), sets his face against these things as dangers of the future. Col. ii. 16-19 argues the point more at length. But it seems that even in those first days, the Spirit said expressly that the church would fall into this false asceticism, and that it would be the product, as well as the occasion, of hypocrisy and lies. Against this vast apostasy from faith ('verse i) the protest — theological as well as rational — is raised in the beginning under I TIMOTHY 4. 4, 5 117 to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that beheve and know the truth. For every creature ^ of God is good, and nothing 4 is to be rejected \ if it be received with thanksgiving : for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer. 5 these four heads : (i) God, no other, made these meats (and also instituted marriage) ; (2) He made them with a design (and marriage too) ; (3) viz. to be received by men, not stigmatized as evil in a Manichean sense ; (4) and believing men, who know the truth, should take them with thanksgiving. This last point establishes the conclusion that they who forbid marriage and require abstinence from meats are not believing men, nor do they know the truth. And this is established by one of the greatest utterances of Scripture, which, if the writer were not Paul, would reveal to us a primitive Christian who was Paul's equal. 4. every creature of God is g'ood (beautiful): cf. Gen. i. 31. This covers not only foods but bodily organs (i Pet. iii. 7). •This he said,' we read of Jesus, * making all meats clean' (Mark vii. 19). And our Saviour himself put honour on marriage. When a man takes his food, or when a man receives a wife as a good gift from the Lord, he should give thanks, and not, in churlish scrupulosity, pronounce that evil which God made good, and reject that which God would have him receive. For there is a way by which these things are, for even us sinners, made holy. It is God's way. 5. the word of God and prayer: cf, Titus i. 15; Rom. xiv. 14-20, The 'word of God,' in the first instance, is (Gen. i, 31, ii. 18, and Heb. x. 3) that creative word which made man and woman for each other and planted Paradise for them (perhaps also Mark vii, 19). But more fully it is the word of God that became flesh, born of a woman, who, it must be remembered, * came eating and drinking,' in contrast with the ascetic followers of John. Thus Luther, when the word of God came to him, married on principle, and broke the spell of that unchristian asceticism. And we best glorify God when, with the first Christians, we ' continue in the Apostle's doctrine and eat our meat with gladness and singleness of heart.' prayer : the word used in ii. i and translated ' intercession.' It is the petition which an inferior addresses to a superior ; here, a creature to the Creator. When the body and its appetites, ' ' creature ' and ' to be rejected ' : both words not elsewhere used by Paul, nor the latter in the Greek Bible, ii8 I TIMOTHY 4. 6,7 6 If thou put the brethren in mind of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished ^ in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which 7 thou hast followed until 7iow : but refuse profane and old wives'^ fables. And exercise thyself unto godliness : and the provision made for their satisfaction, are all brought into this creaturely relation, and accepted thankfully as from the Creator — when the revelation which God has given us in Scripture is met by the lowly and prayerful attitude in our hearts — then a sanctification falls upon appetite and passion; they are kept in their proper place, and purged by the Divine Spirit. Incontinence becomes as hateful on the one hand as asceticism is ungrateful on the other. It is in this * word of God and prayer' that Greek and Essene meet in a nobler unit}'^; temperance and self-restraint increase and preserve the pleasures, while pleasure breathes in all the dainty and ordered acceptance of the provisions of God. Mr. Corbett {Letters from a Mystic) has a delightful argument to shew that the word rendered ' prayer' might mean * the due use,' as opposed to the misuse or the refusal to use. This idea can hardly be found in the word, but it is the inspiration of the thought. 6. minister. That the word 'deacon' is used here, so soon after its use in a more specific sense in iii. 8, does not shew that Timothy was a deacon, but it does shew that the word was not yet employed as the name of an office ; but the elders of the church were described as ' overseers,' the younger were described as ' ser\'ants' (i. e. ministers). And it is in the more general sense of serving, which includes the ministry of Timothy, that we all have to gain to ourselves a good standing and boldness in the faith (iii. 13). the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine : 2 Tim. i. 13. Also I Tim. vi. 3 shews that these words included the words of the Lord Jesus. hast followed: 2 Tim. iii. 10. *J. refuse. See i Tim. v. it. For the ' myths ' here called profane and anile see on i. 4. profane : also in i. 9. Not necessarily in the sense that we now use the word "' profanity ' ; ' base ' or * silly' would cover the meaning of the Greek word (cf. 2 Tim. ii. 23). But exercise thyself. The adversative conjunction * but,' * 'nourished.' The word not elsewhere in the Greek Bible. " ' old wives' ' : a word only found here in the Greek Bible. I TIMOTHY 4. 8-1 r 119 for bodily exercise is profitable ^ for a little ; but godliness 8 is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. Faithful is 9 the saying, and worthy of all acceptation. For to this 10 end we labour and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe. These things command u rather than 'and' of R. V., shews that the true exercise unto godliness is not to be sought either in the empty and unprofitable speculations of Judaizers, or in the abstinence from marriage and meats which has just been condemned, and to which, perhaps, Timothy had a leaning ; cf. v. 23. Indeed, he goes on to say, such bodily exercise (not referring to gymnastics, as Chrysostom thought, but to physical asceticisms) is profitable for a little, i. e. not so much ' for a little time,' as * up to a certain point' — its use goes only a little way — at the most it is subservient to another end, viz. godliness. (For this Pastoral word cf. ii. 2, iii. 16, vi. 3, 5, 6, II ; 2 Tim. iii. 5 ; Titus i. i.) It is not godliness in itself — it has no virtue in itself; but as ministrative to a godly life it has its limited sphere. 8. but g-odliness is profitable for all thing's : in contrast with * for a little.' Godliness has * promise of life present and to come.' This cannot be said of ascetic practices, except so far as they promote their object, godliness ; rather, they seem to have promise of death, if not of the death to come, at least of death in the present. Timothy is exhorted thus to train himself that he may train the rest (chap, v), and resist the false teachers. 9. Another faithful saying" (i. 15), referring, in this case, not to what follows but to what has just been said. What follows establishes the faithfulness of the saying about godliness and its promise. 10. strive. It is the familiar word for striving in the games, from which we derive our word ' agonize.' the living- God: iii. 15. The living God is the pledge of the life present and to come, which is the object of godliness, and the justification of its toil and striving. Saviour of all men : applied to God ; see i. i. For ' all men ' see ii. 4. specially : Gal. vi. 10 ; Phil. iv. 22. God is Saviour of all men, by His intention, offer, and propitiatory work (i John ii. 2). ^ 'profitable.' This word only in the Pastorals (2 Tim. iii, 16; Titus iii. 8). I20 I. TIMOTHY 4. 12 i 3 and teach. Let no man despise thy youth ^ ; but be thou But as on man's side that salvation can only be realized by faith, His saving relation to those who believe is something over and above His relation to all. He saves all potentially— those who believe, actually, 12. Iiet no man despise thy youth. Assuming that this is a letter written in imitation of Paul, modern commentators point to I Cor. xvi. ir, and urge that while it is suitable to tell the Corinthians not to despise Timothy, it is inept to tell Timothy not to be despised. Again, the word for 'youth* is not used else- where in Paul's Epistles, but might be taken from Paul's speech in Actsxxvi. 4. And further, when this letter would, exhypothcsi, be written — sa^^ in 64— Timothy, who became Paul's missionary colleague in 52, would be at least thirty years of age. It cannot be denied that here is a difficulty which the defenders of the genuineness must jneet. But if, as we have contended, the arguments for genuineness preponderate, this difficulty must be overcome in the following way : — (i) To Titus also (Titus ii. 15) the writer says 'Let no one despise thee,' but does not mention the youthful ness ; in i Cor. xvi. ir, from which it is alleged this passage is copied, Timothy is guarded against contempt, but his youthfulness is not mentioned as the ground of it. Surely an imitator of Paul's style, with that fact before him, would have copied the remark about Timothy as it stood, without mentioning a ground of possible contempt out of his own head. That he bids both Timothy and Titus not to be despised, suggests that the reason why they might be despised lay rather in their peculiar circumstances than in their personal character. (2) Such a reason is naturally found in the position of authority which they both occupy as organizers of churches. And the ground of contempt is to be found in the impetuosity and unrestraint of men in the prime of hfe. And thus in 2 Tim. ii. 22 it is youthful lasts which have to be shunned. This interpretation is confirmed by the balancing clause, but be thou an ensample. If in that peculiar position of difficulty Timothy, young man like, by word or con- duct, should fail in love, or faith, or purity, he would bring upon him the ready scorn of those who are inclined to resent being guided by a younger man. (3) The word 'youth' in Greek, and in Latin too, has a much wider extension than in English. The hSiiin jtivoiis is applied up to forly. And in Greek Polybius calls a man ' very 3'oung ' because he was not thirty. Galen speaks of one as ' slill youthful' though he was in his thirty-fourth year (Lightfoot, Igna/iiis, i. 448 \ And further, in Acts vii. 58, * * youth ' : not elsewhere in Paul's Epistles. I TIMOTHY 4. 13,14 121 an ensample to them that beHeve, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity \ Till I come, give heed 13 to reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Neglect '^ not the 14 gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, Paul is called a 'youth' (the concrete noun corresponding to the abstract here) when he was thirty. If, therefore, on other grounds, we may maintain that Paul wrote these words to Timothy at the age of thirty or thirty-two, in the year 64, it is possible to offer some mitigations of the hesitation which a candid reader may feel. purity. The word signifies purity of life and motive, and covers a wider field than the more restricted meaning suggested by the English usage. 13. Till I come (iii. 14) clearly places Timothy as the repre- sentative of Paul at Ephesus. reading": viz. the public reading of the Scriptures (Luke iv. 16; Acts xiii. 15. xv, 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 14 ; Gal. iv. 21) ; perhaps also of his master's letters (cf. Col. iv. 16 ; i Thess. v. 27). ezhortation: the sermon following the reading; cf. Acts xiii. 15. teaching* (vi. 2) accompanies the exhortation, though it might come from another voice (see Rom. xii. 7). 14. the g'ift is the charisma, or gift of the Spirit, to which Paul frequently refers in his other Epistles ; in this case the gift of exhorting and teaching. Comparing this account of the laying on of hands with that in ii. Tim. i. 6, one is at once struck by the differ- ence. There the gift was given through the laying on of Paul's hands ; here the gift was given through prophecy, accompanied by the laying on of the hands of the presbyterj'. The prophecy, here in the singular, must be the general, of which the prophecies in i. 18 were the particulars. As von Soden in the Hand-Conimeritat says, the different phraseology in the two Epistles certainly suggests that the writer referred to two different occasions. And if we maj' assume this everything becomes clearer. In the per- sonal letter, 2 Timothy, where Paul is commissioning his follower to carry on his own evangelistic work after his death, he refers to the occasion (Acts. xvi. i -^ when he first took the young man as his companion, and imparted the gift of the Spirit by laying on him his own hands. Hort, referring to Acts xiv. 23, supposes that on that occasion the hands of the presbytery might have been laid on the young man's head at the same time as Paul's ' 'purity.' The word used here occurs in the N. T. only once more, viz. v. 2. ^ * Neglect ' : a word not elsewhere used by Paul. 122 I TIMOTHY 4. 15, 16 15 with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Be diligent * in these things ; give thyself wholly to them ; 16 that thy progress may be manifest unto all. Take heed (Ecclesia, p. 184). And so he explains the passage in this first Epistle. But it meets the facts better to suppose that when Paul left Timothy at Ephesus, he summoned the Ephesian Church, and with some such service as is described in Acts xiii. 2, the prophets, speaking in the Spirit, caused the elders of Ephesus to lay their hands on Timothy's head, to ordain him for work in that church (cf. Acts xiii. 3). Riggenbach thinks that the laying on of hands could not have been that of the Presbytery of Ephesus, because that would have put Timothy under them instead of placing him over them. To this it is enough to reply by a question : Did the laying on of the hands of the elders at Antioch (Acts xiii. 3) put Paul and Barnabas wider those obscure local officers ? The objection springs from not realizing the autonomy of the individual congregation, and its Divine rights under the guidance of the Spirit, as they were exercised in the apostolic churches. It is quite likely, considering the charged and inspired atmo- sphere of those apostolic churches, that prophecies came on both occasions, both at Lystra, when Paul first took Timothy as his companion, and at Ephesus, when he left him as his representative. But what is harder to believe is, that if there had been only one solemn occasion, corresponding to what is now called ordination, when Paul and the elders of Lystra laid their hands on Timothy's head, Paul would years after refer to it now as ' the laying on of my hands ' and now ' as the laying-on of the hands of the presbytery.' Dr. Bernard finds difficulty in such a supposition because he assumes that ordination in the time of Paul must have been what it is in the Church of England to-day. But, as Hort reminds us, the charisma was not an inalienable office, like ordination (once a priest always a priest), but an actual Divine gift of the Spirit, given for definite Christian work, and liable to die out if it was neglected and not fanned into flame. (See Acts vi. 6, viii. 17, 18, ix. 17, xiii. 3, xix. 5 ; i Tim. v. 22.) 15. The word translated be diligent might mean also to ' read,' 'meditate,' 'practise.' progress. In 2 Tim. ii. 16, iii. 9-13, the verb occurs as in the phrase ' The Rake's progress,' to signify the opposite direction of the Pilgrim's progress. This whole verse certainly implies that in Timothy there was much room for improvement : cf. 2 Tim. i. 6. ^ * Be diligent ' : a word used by Paul only here. I TIMOTHY 5. I 123 to thyself\ and to thy teaching. Continue in these things : for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee ^ Rebuke ^ not an elder, but exhort him as a father ; the 5 16. these thing's should be simply 'them'; viz. to be an example in word and life ; to be occupied in reading, preaching, and teaching ; to develop the charisma ; to meditate ; to be whole- hearted ; to be careful of his own character and of his teaching. Then, regarding all these things as one concentrated aim, Paul adds, 'by doing this thou wilt save thyself and thy hearers.' Some points in the fourth chapter deserve a special consideration : (i) The decisive judgement against asceticistn, which, in spite of this express warning, still holds its own in the church, and poisons the natural joy and thankfulness of the redeemed. (2) The gymnastic of godUness is entirely a spiritual exercise, depending on faith and the use of the truths of the gospel. Physical mortifications have no religious effect on the soul. But the soul is best fitted for its right spiritual relations when the body is as far as possible in a normally healthy condition. The fasting of the Christian life is the abstinence which secures, not that which injures, health. (3) The most important functions of the Christian ministry. If Timothy is not a diocesan bishop, there is no such office in the N, T. If Timothy is not a priest, there is no priest in the N.T. What are his functions ? Are they sacramental? Do they lie in the offering of the sacrifice of the Mass, or in the discipline of the confessional? Is the power of 'creating his Creator,' or that of absolving penitents, the gift that was imparted to him by the lajMng on of hands ? Of these things there is no trace. His gift is exercised in (i) reading, (2) exhortation, (3) teaching, i.e. in such a ministry as is universally recognized in all Evangelical churches. IV. Certain directions for the pastor in relation with his flock, v, vi. Chap. v. Timothy's relations with certain classes in the church: (i) persons of different age and sex {i, 2). (2) Widows; their main- tenance ; their formation into an order (3-16). (3^ Elders (17-25). 1. The word employed for rebuke implies the kind of reproof ^ '' take heed to thyself ' : an expression in the Greek only found here, ^ ' them that hear thee ' : a phrase not found elsewhere in Paul, but often in Luke. ^ ' Rebuke ' : a word found only here in the Greek Bible. 124 I TIMOTHY 5. 2-4 2 younger men as brethren : the elder women as mothers ; 3 the younger as sisters, in all purity. Honour widows 4 that are widows indeed. But if any widow hath children which is only suitable in a man speaking to his juniors. An elder man is to be treated with respect as a father. The strange assumption by which a priest, however young, claims to be a Father was unknown to Paul, and implicitly forbidden. 2. the younger as sisters. Titus (ii. 6 is to hand over the charge of the young women to the elder. Probably Paul knew well the relative susceptibility of his two lieutenants. 3. Honour widows that are widows indeed. This difficult passage may be illustrated from Acts vi. i, where, it appears, the church at once recognized its duty to aid genuine Avidows with alms, and from Acts ix. 39, where it seems to be implied that certain widows were appointed by the church to perform acts of charity. Verses 3-8 refer to the widows who were objects of the church's charity. Verses 9-16 pass on to treat of the widows who were employed in the church's work. When Schmidt and Holzendorff say, ' This necessarily supposes that this institution of widows of the church had been in existence for some time, and so points to a period pretty late in the second century,' they seem to forget these indications in Acts, and also that an institution flourishing in the second century might have its germs in the first. That we have no more than the germs here, is suggested by the obscurity in which the passage is involved. Riggenbach even questions whether there is a mention of an order of church widows at all. But in this he is opposed to the Fathers, and to most other commentators. The honour to be shewn to genuine widows, i.e. women who had no relatives to help them, is the honour due to all loneliness, sorrow, and necessity : cf. James i. 27. It would bring in its train practical relief. But the word has not yet the later meaning of 'maintain.' If a widow has children or other descendants, verse 4 goes on to say she is not ' a widow indeed,' for it is the duty of these, her descendants, to shew piety to their own house, and to requite their progenitors ; such filial offices are acceptable to God. As Riggenbach well puts it : ' For widows who were absolutely forlorn and forsaken, the church community takes the place of relatives. And as the church does for the widow what relatives would have done, there is a corresponding obligation for the widow to do for the church what she would have done for relatives if she had possessed any.' {Kurzgefasster Commentary in loc.) 4. Timothj^'s debt to his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. i. 5) would give him light in dealing with this question. I TIMOTHY 5. 5-9 125 or grandchildren ', let them learn first to shew piety towards their own family, and to requite * their parents - : for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she 5 that is a widow indeed, and desolate, hath her hope set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that giveth herself to pleasure 6 is dead while she liveth. These things also command, 7 that they may be without reproach. But if any provideth 8 not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied ^ the faith, and is worse ^ than an unbeliever. Let none be enrolled * as a widow under threescore years 9 5. The widow indeed must, however, not only be destitute of support ; she must also have fixed her hope on God, and must be occupied constantly in prayer, Hke Anna (Lukeii. 37), if she is to be taken into this intimate relationship with the church. 6. A gay and giddy widow is not fit for church aid. Living- she is dead (cf. Rom. vii. 10, 24; Eph. iv. 18; also note the expression Rev. iii. i), and is outside the community of the church (cf. Tit. iii. 10); the church regards her as if she were not. 7. These things . . . command: i.e. he is to explain these conditions of being 'widows indeed,' that the women who lay claim to the church's help may escape the reproach of failing in the conditions. 8. if any provideth not. This goes back to verse 4. If a child or grandchild refuses to help a widow, whether mother or grandmother, he is worse than an unbeliever. That his care of helpless forbears is part of the faith appears from Matt, xv. 5. That one who neglects it is worse than an unbeliever is illustrated by the reverence to parents among the Chinese. Such reverence is a part of natural religion ; it would be monstrous if the new and better faith obliterated a virtue which was recognized before it came. The Essenes, who, we suppose, loom constantly before the writer's mind, were not allowed to give relief to their relatives without the permission of their directors. Now we pass to the widows who were enrolled as church servants (9-16). 9. From Titus ii. 1-5 we may gather one of the duties of these ^ 'grandchildren,' 'requite': both words only found here in the N.T. ' 'parents' : only here and at 2 Tim. i. 3. " ' denied ' and ' worse ' are both words not used elsewhere by Paul. * 'enrolled.' The word used is found only here in the N. T. 126 I TIMOTHY 5. 10-12 10 old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works ; if she hath brought up children \ if she hath used hospitality to strangers \ if she hath washed the saints' feet, if she hath relieved ^ the afflicted, if she 11 hath diligently followed every good work. But younger widows refuse : for when they have waxed wanton ^ against 12 Christ, they desire to marry; having condemnation, elderly women who were appointed church officers. Here wc only learn the qualification in addition to those of ' widows indeed ' which were indispensable for enrolment in the order. They must be over sixty ; they must have lived with one husband ; they must have been active in good works. The order of widows thus instituted by Paul played a con- siderable part in the sub-apostolic age. They were maintained by the church ; and in return served it by instant prayer and works of charity. Polycarp describes them as * an altar of God ' because of their continual prayers. Ignatius implies that in his time even virgins were admitted to the order of ' widows.' Later on the widows were merged in the deaconesses, and the Theodosian Code required that the age limit set by Paul for the widows should be enforced for the deaconesses. wife of one man (cf. lii. 2) : i.e. that she had been a faithful wife before her widowhood. 10. washed the saints' feet: Luke vii. 38; John xiii. 14; saints = Christians, Rom. i. 7, xvi. 2. 11. younger widows refuse (for 'refuse' see iv. 7 ; 2 Tim. ii. 23 ; Titus iii. 10 ; Heb. xii. 25) : viz. from the register of church widows, not in opposition to the 'honour' in verse 3, but to the enrolment in verse 9. waxed wanton. The metaphor is that of a heifer trying to free itself from the yoke, here 'Christ's mild yoke.* 12. having* condemnation. If they had not been enrolled in the list of church widows they might marry without condemnation, see verse 14. But to leave that high calling to marry again would be rejecting their first faith, viz. that choice of, and dedication to, Christ's service in a particular form. The con- demnation meant is probably only that of the community. ^ * brought up children,' * used hospitality to strangers ' : these phrases translate two Greek words which occur only here in the Greek Bible. ' * relieved ': a word only here and at verse 16. ^ ' waxed wanton ' : a word only found here. (Cf. Rev. xviil. 9, the verb not in a compound.) I. TIMOTHY 5. 13-16 127 because they have rejected their first faith. And withal 13 they learn also to be idle \ going about from house to house ; and not only idle, but tattlers ^ also and busy- bodies ^, speaking things which they ought not. I desire 14 therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children ', rule the household ^, give none occasion to the adversary for reviling^: for already some are turned aside after 15 Satan. If any woman that believeth hath widows, let 16 13. they learn. . . to be idle. Von Soden, in the Hand-Com- nientar, will not allow the admissibility of this rendering, thougli a doubtful quotation from Chrysostom, ' if thou wert going to learn to be a physician/ gives it some slight support. The alternative is, by a rather strained construction, to find the object in the 'things that they ought not.' In this case the second reason for not having younger women as church widows is, that 'being idle they learn, by going round to the houses — and not only being idle, but also tattlers and busybodies and talking — things which they ought not.' This mischief done in the houses by young widows corresponds to that done in the same place by the hetero- teachers (2 Tim. iii. 6 ; Titus i. 11). 15. already some are turned aside. In this statement is found a certain relief to the apparent harshness of Paul's judgement on young widows. He had his eye on particular instances, possibly at Ephesus, and after his manner he rises from particular instances to general rules in preference to constructing general rules a priori. It is more than probable that peculiar circumstances in that cor- rupt Ionian city made it necessary to warn Timothy against the introduction of younger women into the church order. Paul's view of marriage on the practical side generally tends to be a concession to the less of two evils; our verse here is quite an echo of the longer counsel in i Cor. vii. He only becomes an enthusiast for marriage when he gets a glimpse of its prototype in the union between Christ and the church, or when heretics forbid it (iv, 3). 16. If any woman that believeth. This is an afterthought on review of all that has been said about widows since verse 9, to ^ ' idle,' ' tattlers ' : two words used only here, and the former in a LXX quotation (Titus i. 12) in the N. T. ^ ' busybodies ' : a word used only here by Paul. ^ 'bear children,' 'rule the household,' 'reviling': three words which are not used elsewhere by Paul. 128 I TIMOTHY 5. 17, 18 her relieve them, and let not the church be burdened ; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. 17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word 18 and in teaching. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. And, direct that a widow, even enrolled in the order, should still be maintained by relatives if they were able. The T. R. here, though MSS. evidence weighs against it, *if any man or woman that believes,' seems to add a necessary word. For it does not appear why a woman, any more than a man, should be responsible for relatives who were widows, to save them from coming on the funds of the church. And the omitted words might easily have dropped out, because careless copyists were under the impression that the whole passage is about women, and did not notice that in this little postscript Paul wished to say that not only children and grandchildren, as in verse 4, but any relative, male or female, who was a believer, should accept the responsibility of maintenance for widowed relatives, and not burden the church. 1*7. the elders that rule well. This is a very interesting verse for shewing how the elder in age (see v. 1) is related to the elder in office, who had hitherto in this Epistle been called 'overseer,' except in iii. 14. We seem to see the general word acquiring its specific meaning. And this is far more marked in the order of the words in the Greek than in our version. It is : * Let the good-ruling elders be counted worthy of double honour' (cf. I Thess. V. 12). An elder man as such was to be honoured (v. i), but if he was called to the office of ruling the church, a double honour was due to him (see Hort, Ecclesia, 196). In the board, or presbytery, the teaching elders might claim a special reverence. As late as the second century, Cyprian (^Ep. xxix) still distinguished the * teaching elders' from the rest. Gradually the distinction ceased, as presbyters became priests, and they thought no more of teaching but only of ruling. those who labour : a stress on the word, meaning more than simply 'work.' The importance attached to the teaching function of the elders in the Pastorals (cf. iii. 2 ; Titus i. 9) is due no doubt to the false teaching which was so rife in the churches affected. 18. the scripture saith: Paul's way of quoting the O.T. (Rom. iv. 3 ; xi. 2 ; Gal. iv. 30.) He quoted this passage (Deut. xxv. 4) in I Cor. ix. 9. I TIMOTHY 5. 19-22 129 The labourer is worthy of his hire. Against an elder 19 receive not an accusation \ except at the motith ofXyjo or three witnesses. Them that sin reprove in the sight of 20 all, that the rest also may be in fear. I charge thee in 21 the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice'^, doing nothing by partiality^. Lay hands hastily on no man, 22 The labourer is worthy of his hire. This is not Scripture, though the principle might be found in Lev. xix. 13 ; Deut. xxiv. 14. But, after quoting Scripture, Paul adds a proverbial saying, which also our Lord once cited (Luke x. 7 ; Matt. x. 10). It is quite gratuitous to say that Paul is quoting the Gospel of Luke as ' Scripture/ and then to use the statement to shew that it cannot be Paul, but a late second-century writer, who thus places the Gospels on a level with the canonical Scriptures. Weiss, however, thinks that it may be a saying of the Lord orally reported, which is by a zeugma coupled with Scripture. 19. The rule is that of Deut. xix. 15 (cf. 2 Cor. xiii. i ; John viii. 17 ; Heb. x. 28). 20. Them that sin : sc. elders, in contrast with the * good- ruling ' elders. The ' all ' would then be the rest of the presby- tery, not the whole church. 21. I (solemnly) charg'e thee. This verse is a kind of paren- thesis, thrown in as Paul realizes the awful responsibility of judicial functions in the church. the . . . angels: cf. Luke ix, 26. In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs occurs the formula, * the Lord is witness and his angels are witnesses.' Another apocalyptic book, Enoch xxxix. i, has the phrase 'elect angels.' Paul uses it probably to express those angels who are chosen to minister to the heirs of salvation, or those who are commissioned to be present at each church service (i Cor. xi. 10). 22. Lay hands hastily. Paul returns to the relations of Timothy with presbyters. For laying on of hands see iv. 14. He was not to make any elder a presbyter without due consideration, and so to be partaker of the sin of an unworthy minister. It has been thought that ' lay hands on ' may be equivalent to ' rebuke ' of verse i. If only the usage of the Pastorals and the linguistic * 'Against an elder receive not an accusation.' Both words,* receive' and ' accusation,' are confined to the Pastorals among Paul's letters. '* * prejudice,' * partiality.' Both words not found elsewhere in the Greek Bible. K I30 I TIMOTHY 5. 23, 24 neither be partaker of other men's sins : keep thyself 23 pure. Be no longer a drinker of water \ but use a little wine for thy stomach's "^ sake and thine often ^ infirmities. 24 Some men's sins are evident *, going before unto judge- possibilities admitted this, it would relieve the rather disjointed effect of the injunctions, and connect verse 22 closely with verse 20. One instance of avoiding prejudice and partiality would be found in * being slow to lay the hand of judgement on an elder even if there were presumptive evidence of guilt.' On the other hand a warning would be necessary against becoming responsible, by undue leniency, for the sins of the guilty officials. This interpretation is tempting ; for it must be owned the sudden introduction of ordination at verse 22 is bewildering. But the * laying on of hands ' can hardly support this meaning ; and the disjointedness is the characteristic of the passage, as the next sentence shews. Hort {Ecchsia, p. 215) agrees with Ellicott in regarding this imposition of hands as ' the act of blessing by which penitents were received back into the communion of the faithful ' (cf. 2 Cor. ii. 6. f.). Hort maintains that there is no instance in the N. T. of elders or bishops being ordained by laying-on of hands. The text here, however, affords such an instance if we accept the commonly received meaning. keep thyself pure more naturally connects itself with what follows than with what precedes. The call to purity is probably suggested by the directions about women in verses 11-15. A man in the prime of life, no less than a novice, only too often falls in his relation with women in the church. And unless purity has become a positive and trained force in his life (cf. iv. 12) the temptation may easily be overwhelming. 23. This injunction against total abstinence is an offence to many, and it led Kingsley to resist the total abstinence movement as a new Manicheism. But it should be remembered (i) that the Essenes, on whom the hetero-teachers leaned, were total abstainers (cf. iv. 3); and (2) the ^ no longer* implies that Timothy was an abstainer up to that point ; and he may have based his abstinence on a weak submission to the Essene principle. (3) The very injunction of Paul implies that he regarded wine as a medicine for the infirm, and not as a beverage for the strong. * ' drinker of water.' The Greek word occurs only here in the N.T. ^ * stomach.' The Greek word occurs onlj' here in the Bible. " 'often.' The word not used otherwise by Paul. * 'evident ' : a word not elsewhere used by Paul. I TIMOTHY 5. 25 131 ment; and some men also they follow after. In like : manner also there are good works that are evident ; and such as are otherwise cannot be hid. 24. Some men's sins are evident. Paul goes back from the personal recommendation to the judicial position of Timothy among the presbyters, quite in the fashion of a letter-writer who allows himself to throw in thoughts as they occur without regard to logical connexion. In judging offenders one can only escape hasty misjudgement by remembering that some sins are flagrant, and arrive at the judgement-seat, as it were, before the culprit himself; others are only found, lagging behind, when the culprit has been examined. 25. And then Paul adds a reflection, which may aid a judge, * the good works are also sometimes quite evident,* and therefore make a favourable impression on the bench. And, for one's comfort be it said, though as a warning to hasty judgement, if they are not evident at first sight, yet in the end they shine by their inner light and cannot be hid. In chap. v. the most interesting questions are raised by the ghmpse which is obtained into the organization of the early church, before the plastic material had become stereotyped. We seem to see how the older men were set aside to manage the church, were spoken of as the elders, and became an 'order* of ministry as the body of elders or the presbytery. At verse i the word means simply the older men; at verse 17 the same word means the presbyters. The position of Timothy in relation to the elders, displayed in verses 17-25, can only be understood by remembering that he was in Ephesus as the representative of Paul. The modesty of demeanour, and the scrupulous care for justice, which are enjoined upon him by his master, are qualities which certainly might be expected, but have not historically always been found, in diocesan bishops. Indeed, the difference between Timothy's position and that of a bishop is fundamental. A bishop stands as the essential element of the ecclesiastical structure : his authority is ex officio^ monarchical. Divine ; he is spoken of in terms which are applied only to sovereigns or the high nobility. Timothy, on the other hand, stands outside the church constitution, a temporary delegate, discharging a special task of organization and direction. He may not ' rebuke an elder.* He, so far from making assumption of superiority, has to take care that he is not despised. His authority is moral, and rests on his being an example of the virtues which he commends (iv. 12). Again, in this chapter we observe the perfectly natural origin of church widows. ' The first care of the church was to provide K 2 132 I TIMOTHY 6. i 6 Let as many as are servants under the yoke count their own masters ^ worthy of all honour, that the name of for the wants of the widows,' says Lightfoot in his commentary on Ignatius, ad Smyrnxos xiii, 'The next step was to impose upon them such duties as they were able to perform in return for their maintenance, e. g. care of orphans, nursing of the sick, visiting of prisoners, Sec. Hence they were enrolled in an order, which, however, did not include all who received the alms of the church.' One must distinguish the church widows from the deaconesses (iii. ii), but we are not able to determine the separate functions of the two orders. The passage on which Lightfoot is commenting shews that in the beginning of the second century the widows were dignified by the honourable title of virgins ; and later in the century, it would appear from Tertullian, de Pudicitia, 13, that they were treated with the same reverence as presbyters. The age regulation was a little relaxed, though Tertullian was greatly scandalized that a virgin under twenty should have been admitted into the order. After the second century the order gradually declined, and finally disappeared from the church, as the presbyters, in the apostolic sense, and the deaconesses disappeared. But probably in the organization of the early church depicted in the Pastoral Epistles lie suggestions by which the church may be reformed and restored and started on a new career of progress and victory. Chap. vi. The status of slaves in the church (i, 2) ; and then an epilogue, in which Paul reverts to the hetero-teachers (3-5), and that leads him to point out the perils of wealth (6-1 1), and to give Timothy a fresh exhortation to escape these perils himself (11 -16), and to save rich men from them (17-19). And with one closing exhortation to Timothy by name, and a benediction, the letter ends. 1. slaves. After discussing different ages and the church orders, one special class demands attention, that class which, in the eyes of antiquity, were something less than men, but by the religion of Christ had been raised to a potential equality with their more fortunate fellow creatures. Aristotle taught that as an implement is a lifeless slave, so a slave is a living implement. Observe, the gospel does not proclaim the natural rights of slaves : its mode of liberation is different. When slaves became Christian, slavery became gradually impossible. In Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free. As uncle Tom made slavery in ^ ' masters.' The word used here is by Paul only used in the Pastorals (2 Tim. ii. 21 ; Titus ii. 9). I TIMOTHY 6. 2, 3 133 God and the doctrine be not blasphemed. And they 2 that have beheving masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren ; but let them serve them the rather, because they that partake of the benefit are believ- ing and beloved. These things teach and exhort. If any man teacheth a different doctrine, and con- 3 senteth not ^ to sound words, eveji the words of our Lord America intolerable, so in the early church slaves that were heirs together of the same hope as their masters found their fetters wearing thin. The precepts cover two cases : (i) If the masters were pagan the slaves were to commend their religion by being good and respectful servants. (2) If on the other hand the masters were Christian, and master and slave worshipped together in the same assembl}', there was a fear that the slave, with the sense of emancipation, would become insolent. The Christian teacher therefore bases the service of the slave on the brotherhood (cf. Philem. 16; Gal. iii. 28 ; Col. iii. 11). The masters are to partake of the benefits which a faithful slave can render, for the reason that they are in the slave's eye believers and beloved (cf, Eph. vi. 11). Seneca taught that a slave could confer benefits on his master by doing anything which exceeded what was demanded of him. Paul's thought is similar. A Christian slave will, give to a Christian master service in good measure, pressed down and running over. (This is the practical application of Gal. iii. 28 and Col. iii. 11.) That a slave should serve for love and not for fear is the revolution wrought by the gospel, which ultimately abolishes slavery. 2. they that partake : a word not used in the Pauline letters, but found in a Pauline speech. Acts xx. 35. 3. If any man teacheth a different doctrine. We come back to the hetero-teacher. The new feature added is that the motive of the different teaching is to make money. From love of money spring evils of every kind, and, amongst others, that kind of speculative and contentious teaching against which Paul inveighs. A religion which feeds self-conceit and gives abundant occasion of quarrelling is for fallen man one which he will gladly support with his money. The religion which makes him humble, enjoins love and forbids strife, is not one which is profitable to its teachers (cf. 2 Tim. ii. 6; Titus i. 11). * 'consenteth not' : not elsewhere in Paul. 134 I TIMOTHY 6. 4-7 Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to 4 godliness ; he is puffed up, knowing nothing \ but doting* about questionings and disputes of words ^ whereof 5 cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings*, wranglings** of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, 6 supposing that godliness is a way of gain. But godliness 1 with contentment is great gain " ; for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out ; sound words. See i, 10. the words of our Iiord Jesus Christ. This shews the position that the logia, or sayings, of Jesus, took from the earhest time in the teaching of the apostles. 4. puffed up : rather as in iii. 6. dotingf : rather, as in the margin, * sick ' in contrast with the 'healthful words.' 5. corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth. This ex- pression demands a moment's reflection. Mental degeneration implies missing the truth, because reason and understanding are the organs by which truth is received. But mental degeneration results when the mind, instead of being directed to God and exercised in His revelation, is given over to idle questions and to empty forms. A religion which stultifies the reason and demands a blind obedience to authority will occupy its adherents and dupes with endless petty affairs of practice or belief, which hasten the ruin of the mind. Then truth cannot be attained ; and naturally the mind declines on base materialism, such as the making of gain. This single phrase thus illumines the whole course of a corrupt Christianity, which begins with destroying the mind, and ends with emptying the pocket of its misguided victims. Godliness has become a way of gain to a vast corrupt priesthood through the dark ages of the church. 7. we brought nothingr into this world because we can carry nothing out. This is the literal translation (cf. Job i. 21 ; Eccles. V. 14). The idea that we brought nothing into the world ^ 'knowing nothing.' This word not elsewhere in Paul. ' 'doting.' The word occurs nowhere else in the N.T. ' ' disputes of words ' : not elsewhere in Greek Bible (the verb in 2 Tim. ii. 14). * 'surmisings' : nowhere else In Greek Bible. * ' (incessant) wranglings ' : nowhere else in Greek Bible. * * gain ' : only here in the N. T. I TIMOTHY 6. 8-1 r 135 but having food and covering* we shall be therewith 8 content. But they that desire to be rich fall into a 9 temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtfuP lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money ^ is a root of all kinds of evil : 10 which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves ^ through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things ; and follow n because we can take nothing out of it, which the syntax requires as the meaning, is not so absurd as Dr. Bernard seems to think. It is a reasonable if not a common point of view that as at death we are obviously unable to take any earthly thing away with us, it would have been useless — and disturbing to the balance of things — if at our coming into the world we brought anything with us. At the same time it would be simpler, with Hort, to suppose that ' because ' is an intrusion. In certain versions it does not occur, 'we brought nothing in, &c., neither can we, &c.* 8. we shall be . . . content : of course only so far as material things are concerned : cf. Matt. vi. 25. 9. they that desire to be rich. This might be a quotation from Seneca {Ep. 87), 'while we wish to gain riches we fall into many evils.' But the statement is a truism. Dr. Bernard thinks it is not the possession, but the desire, of riches which brings a snare. But if Paul knew Luke xii. 21 he would hardly agree with this view ; and therefore the stress is not to be laid on the desiring. 10. which some reaching* after. The 'which ' grammatically is the love of money : it is a rather slipshod expression ; they reach after the money rather than the love of it. (It is after Paul's manner, however, e. g. 'a hope seen,' Rom. viii. 24.) Now, in contrast with the hetero-teachers, whose work turns on the pivot of money, the man of God is exhorted to teach the healthful doctrine (11-16). 11. man of God. Cf. 2 Tim. iii. 17. A man removed from ^ 'food and covering.' The former a word only found in i Mace. vi. 49, and the latter not at all in the Greek Bible. * * hurtful ' : a word not found elsewhere in the Greek Testament. ^ * love of money ' : a word only here in the N. T., but the adjective in 2 Tim. iii. 2. * * pierced themselves ' : only here in the Greek Bible. 136 I TIMOTHY 6. 12-14 after righteousness, godluiess, faith, love, patience, 1 1 meekness \ Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on '^ the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many 13 witnesses. I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth ^ all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before 14 Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession ; that thou keep the commandment, without spot ^ without reproach, earthly things, is Bengel's explanation. The term identifies the evangelist with the old prophets (i Sam. ii. 27, ix. 6 ; i Kings xii. 22) and hints that all Christians should deserve the title. 12. Pig-ht the g-ood fight of . . . faith. It is not so warlike as it sounds, or as i. 18. For the word means the contest of the great games, Olympian or Isthmian. And the image is a favourite one with Philo as well as with Paul (i Cor. ix. 24 ; Phil. iii. 12-T4 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7). There is a line in the Alcestis of Euripides, from which Paul might have been quoting, 'And 3'et thou wouldst have fought this good fight.' For the fight of faith see i. 19 : it means perhaps the wrestle which is carried on by faith. didst confess the good confession. This may refer to the occasion when Timothy was brought before a magistrate and committed to prison (Heb. xiii. 23). And some such meaning seems required by the repetition of the phrase in verse 13 of Jesus Christ before Pilate, though note the difference : Timothy 'confessed,' Christ 'witnessed' a good confession. To refer it to baptism, with Hoffmann, Weiss, Zahn, and Dr. Bernard, is arbitrary : cf. Heb. iii. i, where Jesus is called the ' Apostle and High Priest of our confession.' His confession before Pilate became the model, the motive, and the power of all the confessions which his followers make for him (Matt. v. 11 : cf. Heb. xiii. 15). The emphasis and urgency of verses 13-16 imply that Paul was not overwhelmingly sure of Timothy's steadfastness. He had been steadfast in one trial, and had endured bonds ; but there were possibilities of weakness in him, and therefore appeal is made to the most momentous facts — the faithfulness of Christ and the omnipotence of God — to confirm him. 13. God, who quickeneth: i.e. 'presei-veth all things alive.' ^ 'meekness.' The word used not found in the Greek Bible (2 Tim. ii. 25, a different form of the same root). '^ ' lay hold on ' : a word used by Paul only here and at verse 19. ^ ' who quickeneth ' : a word only used here by Paul. * ' without spot ' : only here by Paul. I TIMOTHY 6. 15,16 137 until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Clirist: which in 15 its own times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate \ the King" of kings, and Lord of lords; who 16 only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachal:)le ■'■ ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see : to whom be honour and power eternal. Amen. This description of God is determined by the thought that the Giver of all life can alone bestow life adequate to keep the command- ment unspotted and without reproach. 14. the commandment might mean the direction just given in verse 11. But it seems better to identify it with 'that which is committed to thee * in verse 19 (2 Tim. i. 14, or iv. i and 5). The whole truth of the gospel entrusted to Timothy to keep and to preach is treated for the moment as one commandment. without spot. The word occurs in J as. i. 27 ; i Pet. i. 19 ; 2 Pet. iii. 14 ; and in each case applies to persons. It and without reproach apply to thou, not to commandnient. the appearing-. Up to the last Paul expected the second Advent in his Hfetime ; sometimes he called it, as here, epiphany, sometimes the day of the Lord, sometimes the revelation of the Lord Jesus, sometimes the paroiisia, and once the epiphany of his paroiisia (2 Thess. ii. 8). 15. which ... he shall shew. The same God that preserveth all things alive will effect the second coming. Timothy is there- fore exhorted to devotion in the presence of this living God by the most majestic description of the God who will bring again in due time the Lord Jesus. This liturgical description of God is marked by several words which are not found elsewhere in Paul's writings. 16. who only hath immortality: (cf. i. 17) the immortality of angels and men is derived. lig'ht unapproachable: suggested by Exod. xxxiii. 17-23, where also occurs the saying, ' no man shall see my face and live.' It was more exact, with Philo, to apply the word to the mount, than as here to apply it to the light. But it is true that we as men cannot approach the light in which God dwells; we see through a glass darkly. For the interjection to whom be honour and power see i. 17 ; Rom. i. 25, xi. 36. ' ' Potentate ' : not used elsewhere by Paul. ^ ' King,' applied to God : not used elsewhere by Paul. ^ ' unapproachable ' : not used elsewhere by Paul. 138 I TIMOTHY 6. 17-19 17 Charge them that are rich in this present world', that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty'^ of riches, but on God, who giveth us J 8 richly all things to enjoy ^ ; that they do good \ that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute ^ 19 willing to communicate '* ; laying up in store for them- selves •"' a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is /(fe indeed. 17. The charge to the rich, verses 17-19, is an obvious inter- polation between verses 16 and 20, w^hich can only be justified by the desultory and interjectional style of a letter. But it is unusually full of un-Pauline phrases and, perhaps, thoughts. The doctrine, though it rests on Luke xii. 21 and xvi. 9, presents a foundation which is ' other ' than that which Paul laid ; for here almsgiving appears as a means of securing life indeed. The idea of good works may be defended, but is un-Pauline. If this is an integral part of the letter it certainly presents a strong argument against the authorship of Paul. In view of the fact that the passage breaks the continuity, and the fact that it contains so many unusual words, we may regard it as an insertion, made perhaps by Timothy himself. As the insertion must have been far earlier than our oldest textual authorities, it is a witness to the rapidity with which Paul's doctrine of justification by faith, and eternal life as the gift of grace, was clouded by the more familiar notion of merit. Whether ' the life indeed' means 'life in Christ Jesus' or 'life everlasting' (verse 12), it is equally unlike Paul to regard it as won by good works and the right use of wealth. ^ Mn this present world,' i.e. 'in the now world/ is a deviation from the constant usage, 'this world' (Rom, xii. 2: i Cor. ii. 6; Eph. i. 21. ^ ' uncertainty ' is a word not found in the Greek Bible. ^ *to enjoy.' The word never in Paul, or in the Greek Bible, except Heb. xi. 25. * * do good ' : a verb never used in the Epistles (though it occurs in Paul's speech at Lystra, Acts xiv. 17). ^ ' ready to distribute,' * willing to communicate ' : two words that occur nowhere else in the Greek Bible. * 'laying up treasure': a word not elsewhere in the Greek Bible. I TIMOTHY 6. 20, 21 139 O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee \ 20 turning away from the profane babbh'ngs ^ and oppositions" of the knowledge which is falsely so called "^ ; which some 21 professing have erred concerning the faith. 20. With regard to the Gnosis (knowledge falsely so called) we have seen that there is no decisive reason for recognizing a reference to the Gnosticism of the second century, and the oppositions (antitheses) cannot be an allusion to the antitheses of Marcion (a series of oppositions between the Old and New Testaments^, as it is introduced here without explanation, and must refer to the quarrelhngs and wranglings so frequently mentioned during the letter (i. 6, iv. 7, vi. 4 ; 2 Tim. ii, 25 ; 1 itus i. 9). that which is committed unto thee, or ' deposit ' : the word occurs again only in 2 Tim. i. 12, 14. Its meaning must therefore be determined by the Pastoral Epistles. To see in the term, with patristic writers and their followers to-day, a reference to a secret deposit of doctrine which the apostles handed down verbally to their successors is as indefensible as the claim which the Roman Church makes, to have received, preserved, and developed that deposit. When Paul says that he is persuaded God is able to preser\'e his 'deposit* against that day, it is evident that he is not thinking so much of a body of doctrine as of that spiritual grace of life in Christ, the vital factor of the gospel entrusted to him, and the secret of his ministerial acti\nty. This treasure given to him, an earthen vessel, God would preserve, though the earthen vessel should be broken. Only some such interpretation as this will fit the context of 2 Tim. i. 13. But if that be so we are bound to give the same interpretation to the same word in the next verse, where Timothy's deposit is in question, and consequently the same interpretation must be given here. The thing committed to him, which Timothy has to guard, is the gospel as a life-giving power, in contradistinction to the babblings and cobwebs of a speculative system, that inward and personal experience of salvation, communicated by the Holy Spirit, which can only be kept by the power of God, and can easily be frittered away by the vanity, logomachy, and self-interest which accompany doctrinal discussions. ' Two words peculiar to the Pastorals, ' that which is committed unto thee' (the deposit), and 'babblings.' ^ ' oppositions ' and * falsely so called ' occur nowhere else in the Greek Bible. I40 I TIMOTHY 6. 21 Grace be with you. 21. Grace be with you. This mode of concluding a letter was not that in common use, which was the Greek equivalent to * farewell,' but it was a characteristic of Paul, to whom this grace of God was the beginning and the ending and the secret of life. It is the change which some fervent Christians make when they substitute for the formal ending of their letters ' God bless you.' The simple form ' grace be with you ' (plural) is found in Colossians and i and 2 Timothy. The subscription in some MSS. (e.g. K. and L.) is ' i Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is the metropolis of Pacatian Phrygia.' THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO TIMOTHY Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, 1 according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child : Grace, mercy, 2 peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. i. I, 2. The Salutation. 1. toy the will of God. This is omitted in the very similar saluta- tion of I Timothy and Titus. The lonely and deserted prisoner, in the absence of human recognition, falls back on the consciousness that he is an apostle, not by his own appointment, but by the will of God. In the hour of our extremity, when earthly friends and securities fail, there is but one security, the rock on which we stand, the will of God, and the assurance that we are standing upon it. according' to the promise of the life ... in Christ Jesns. The preposition rendered 'according to ' might mean 'for' (cf. John ii. 6, where the preposition may mean ' for tlie purification of the Jews'). This would shew the purpose of his apostleship, viz. to preach the promise of life in Christ. But a far simpler connexion is to bring the clause close to the preceding one; 'by the will of God according to the promise of life,' i. e. the will of God called Paul to apostleship in accordance with that promise of life which was in Christ, for that promise of life demanded persons in whom it could be manifested and by whom it could be preached. Unless God had appointed chosen vessels to convey the promise of life to the world, it would have remained uncommunicated. That is the significance of apostleship, and that is the task which the dying man wishes to hand on to his successor, his beloved son. The mercy, for some reason or other, only springs to his lips in writing to Timothy and to the Colossians. 142 II TIMOTHY 1. 3-5 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of 4 thee in my suppHcations, night and day longing to see thee, remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with 5 joy ; having been reminded ^ of the unfeigned faith that is in thee ; which dwelt first in thy grandmother * Lois, and thy mother Eunice ; and, I am persuaded, in thee also. Z. An exhortation to a true and fearless contention for the g-ospel. i. 3 — ii. 13. i. 3 — ii. 13, Contend for the gospel. 3. I thank God. See on i Tim. i. 12. Paul loves to begin a letter with thanks. from my forefathers. Cf. i Tim. v. 4. A prisoner facing death goes back on his early associations ; and it is suggested too by the fact that he is thinking of Timothy's mother and grandmother (cf. Acts xxiv. 14, xxii. 3). tinceasing^ is my remembrance. For Paul's beautiful habit see Rom. i. 10 ; i Thess. i. 2, iii. 6. It is good to pray for indi- viduals ; it is good also to tell them that you pray for them. 4. remembering' thy tears. The master and disciple had parted with tears : cf. Acts xx. 37. Timothy was evidently of an emotional nature. When they meet agam Paul will be filled with joy : cf a more mutual motive in Rom. xv. 13. 5. having" been reminded : perhaps by a common friend or by a letter from Timothy. In spite of the rather irregular connexion of the clauses, this seems to express the real ground of the writer's thanksgiving. Ziois, the grandmother, was most likely Eunice's mother. Eunice's husband was a Greek, The two women had trained Timothy in the Scriptures (lii. 14, 15), and were probably converted on Paul's first visit to Lystra. Eunice, unnamed, is described in Acts xvi. i as a believing Jewish woman. Von Soden, in the Hand-Commentar, convinced that this Epistle is simply an imitation of Paul, sees the original of verses 3-5 in Rom. i. 8-12, and pronounces all that is added to the model thoroughly un-Pauline. But the natural references to ' Lois ' and 'Eunice 'are stamps of genuineness. And the objection that Paul would not say that he served God from his fathers in view of his ^ ' reminded.' The word occurs only here in Paul, but the cognate verb is at ii. 14; Titus iii. i. ^ 'grandmother.' The word used occurs nowhere else in the N.T. II TIMOTHY 1. 6, 7 143 For the which cause * I put thee in remembrance that 6 thou stir up ^ the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us not a 7 spirit of fearfulness ^ \ but of power and love and sense of guilt for his opposition to the gospel (i Tim. i. 13) is sufficiently met by Acts xxiv. 14. Indeed, such an objection overlooks the curious fluctuations of the human spirit ; Paul, if he was like other men, might frequently be overwhelmed with sorrow for having persecuted the Church of God and for having resisted his Saviour, and yet in other moments might honestly feel that he had all along served God according to his light, and in fact obtained mercy because he acted in ignorance. 6. the gift of God, or, charisma. See note on i Tim. iv. 14. This spiritual gift was imparted when Paul originally ordained Timothy to accompany him on his missionary travels. It was the capacity, and also the zeal and spirit, for his work as an evangelist. Paul reminds Timothy of the nature of the gift as a reason for stirring it up ; it was not a spirit of fearfulness — perhaps that was the spirit which Timothy was displaying — but of power and love and discipline. the laying' on of hands: a Jewish custom in transmitting an office ; see Num. xxvii. 18 of Joshua, and Num. viii. 10 of the priests. So it appears in Acts vi. 6, xiii. 3. It also appears as a means of imparting healing power, 2 Kings iv. 34 ; and so in Acts iii. 7, iv. 30, v. 12, ix. 12, xiv. 3, xix. 11, xxviii. 8. Thus there was a laying on of hands in baptism, Heb. vi. 2 ; Acts viii. 17, 19, xix, 6. In the Pastoral letters the laying on of hands seems to unite the two ideas of transmitting an office and of imparting a direct power. But if we are to maintain successfully the Pauline authorship of these Epistles, we must be careful not to push too far the idea of a mechanical transmission. Otherwise the words of the Hand-Commentar will apply ; ' what in Paul was a free gift of the spirit, inwardly communicated, is now an official grace, passed on by men who possess it, through an external ceremony. While the Pauline charisma was manifold, it appears in the Pastorals only to embrace a qualification for the task of teaching (i Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6).' In any case there seems to be a considerable chasm between Paul's view in the older Epistles and the implication in these ; but if the freedom of the Spirit in the former is maintained, we may contend that, as * * For the which cause ' : a phrase not used by Paq^ except in the Pastorals, see verse 12, Titus i. 3. "^ ' stir up ' : only here in the N. T. ^ ' fearfulness ' : not found elsewhere in the Greek Testament. 144 n TIMOTHY 1. 8-10 8 disciplined Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner : but suffer hardship 9 with ^ the gospel according to the power of God ; who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times 10 eternal, but hath now been manifested by the appearing^ appears in the latter, the spiritual gifts might be accompanied by the ceremony of laying on of hands. 7. discipline: viz. exercising discipline on defaulters. The verb translated ' train ' in Titus ii. 4. Note that the gift of the spirit is ethical, not official. 8. Be not ashamed. As Bengel tersely says, 'when fear is overcome false shame flies.' the testimony of our Iiord : viz. the gospel, i Cor. i. 6 ; Rom. i. 16. This latter passage shews that it was not only the fact of Paul being a prisoner under sentence that gave occasion for shame ; but the humiliation of a crucified Saviour, and of a salvation not by works but by faith, constantly tempts the proud human heart to be ashamed of Christ. his prisoner: i. e, a prisoner for his sake : cf. Eph. iii. i, iv. I ; Philem. 9. suffer hardship with. Cf. ii. 3, which shews that ' me ' is understood. The R. V. rendering is not approved by Dr. Bernard or the Hand-Commentar. It should be * suffer with me for the gospel.' according to the power of God : i. e. which He gives, to endure verse 7. 9. who saved us : not Paul and Timothy only, but men : cf. Titus iii. 5. This saving purpose of God, by grace and not of works, is Paul's peculiar doctrine (Rom. viii. 28, xi. 29 ; i Cor. i. 9 ; Gal. i. 6 ; Eph. ii. 9). It is an offset against the prevailing importance attached to works in the Pastorals. The purpose of God being before time is also thoroughly Pauline, Rom. xvi. 25 ; Eph. i. 4 (cf. Acts xv. 18) ; i Cor. ii. 7. But to say that the grace was given to us before time is a step into the concrete which Paul does not elsewhere take. By being given to ^ ' discipline ' : not found elsewhere in the Greek Testament (but the verb is in John xiv. 27 and the adjective in Rev. xxi. 7, S), frequent in the Pastorals, see i Tim. ii. 9. "^ 'suffer hardship with ' : only here and at ii. 3. ^ 'the appearing' (cf. i Tim. vi. 14) ; only here of the first coming (cf. Titus iii. 4). II TIMOTHY 1. II, 12 145 of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought hfe and incorruption to hght through the gospel, whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, n and a teacher. For the which cause I suffer also these la things : yet I am not ashamed ; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against the pre-existent Christ it is regarded as being given to us. Cf. Rom. xii. 3, 6, xv. 15 ; i Cor. i. 4, iii. 10 ; Gal. ii. 9 ; Col. i. 25 ; Eph. iii. 2, 7, iv. 7. 10. Jesus Christ : that is the order of the majority, though not the oldest of MSS. It is more suitable here than the common order ' Christ Jesus,' because it lays stress on the historical person Jesus, and adds that he was Christ (Messiah). abolished death : viz. physical death, because its sting is sin, and Christ by dying destroyed sin (i Cor. xv. 56). and broug'ht life and immortality to lig'ht: hendiadys for 'eternal life.' The verb ' brought to light ' is that in John i. 9, ' which lighteth every man.' It implies that 'life and immortality,' before the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus, were shadowy and insubstantial, guesses, hopes, aspirations rather than solid realities. The shadowy realms of Hades, under the gloom of the grave, filled the Greek mind with dejection, while among the Jews only one party admitted the future life at all, while the strict legalists flatly denied it. But through the gospel, i. e. the glad tidings of a risen Lord, who could bring again from the dead those who believe in him, this dim region of hope was illuminated. Christ within, the hope of glory, corresponded to Christ without who was risen from the dead. Life and immortality were henceforth lit up with the double certainty of an objective resurrection, and of a subjective experience of the risen One. 11. preacher, apostle, teacher. See i Tim. i. 12, ii. 7 ; the ' of the Gentiles ' in the latter passage is here, according to the best manuscript authority, omitted. It is only in the Pastorals that Paul ranks himself as a teacher (Eph. iv. 11). 12. whom I have believed: rather, 'have trusted' ; cf. Tit. iii. 8. The trust has been placed in him, and remains. able : rather, ' mighty.' that which I have committed unto him should be 'my deposit,' see i Tim. vi. 20. The word is in LXX, Lev. vi. 2, 4; 2 Mace. iii. 10, 15. In the latter passage the deposits represent money entrusted by widows and orphans to the temple, and the priests pray that God will keep them safe. As was pointed out 146 II TIMOTHY 1. 13, 14 13 that day. Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ 14 Jesus. That good thing ^vhich was committed unto at I Tim. vi. 20, it is necessary to keep the same meaning in the three places where the word occurs in the Pastorals, and that requires us to adopt the marginal reading rather than that which the Revisers admitted into the text. It is quite arbitrary to identify the deposit with 'the pattern of sound words' in verse 13. The doctrinal forms are not the deposit, but merely the intellectual account of it. Far nearer the mark would it be to identify the deposit with ' the faith and the love in Christ Jesus.' Accordingly the ' beautiful deposit ' of verse 14, which must be identical with that of verse 12, viewed now not as Paul's, but as Timothy's received from the master, is to be guarded, not as doctrine might be, in a creed or symbol, nor as an ecclesiastical office might be, by the church, but ' through the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.' The attempt of von Soden, for example, to identify this deposit with a body of orthodox doctrine which, entrusted to Paul, is handed over to Timothy, for transmission to his successors, is determined by the conviction that the whole Epistle comes from a later age, when such a notion would be intelligible. But if we abide by the simple meaning of the words there is nothing in them which is un-Pauline. That the church misunderstood and wrested the words of Paul, and turned his purely spiritual and living notion of a deposit, as the power of an inward life, into the formal idea of orthodox doctrine, does not shew that Paul had any such intention, but only that this passage gave a verbal starting- point for such an un-Pauline develo.pment. against that day : a phrase, says the Hand-Commentar, not found in Paul, but borrowed from the Synoptic Gospels ; but if a Thessalonians is Paul's, he uses it there (i. 10) : cf. 2 Tim. i. 18, iv. 8. Paul is persuaded, having kept his deposit, the spiritual life entrusted to him, up to the present time, when his fight was fought and his course ended (iv. 7), that God was powerful to maintain it for him through the dark passage of death and restore it to him in ' that day,' viz. the day of judgement. He urges Timothy, during the course that lay before him, to keep his deposit in the same way, implying that, if he does, he also will be able to commit it in confidence to God in articulo mortis, 13. pattern. See i Tim. i. 16. sound words. See i Tim. i. 10, vi. 3. The healthful words come from God, who is life and health. It is only in the faith and love in Christ Jesus that one can hold the sound words; apart from such faith and love, the sound words themselves become unwholesome, the source of contention and damning. II TIMOTHY 1. 15, 16 147 ^/lee guard through the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all that are in Asia turned 15 away from me ; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes, The Lord grant mercy' unto the house of Onesiphorus : 16 for he oft refreshed ^ me, and was not ashamed of my 14. which dwelleth in us. Dr. Bernard says * especially in you and me,' to whom grace for ministry has been given. This is quite an un-Pauline contraction of interpretation. Paul recognizes the Spirit equally in all Christians, Rom. viii. 11, Verses 15-18 hold before Timothy two concrete instances, one as warning, the other as an example, to encourage him to guard his deposit. 15. thou knowest, in verse 15, is a different Greek verb from that in verse 18. The first is a mere head-, the second a heart- knowledge. Asia: the Roman province of that name, Asia Minor. Ephesus was its metropolis. Certain Christians from that quarter had evidently been in Rome and had repudiated Paul the prisoner. Probably Phygelus and Hermogenes were Ephesians, and are therefore named. In the apocryphal Acfs of Paul and Thecla the writer introduces Hermogenes, borrowing no doubt from this passage, as a coppersmith and full of hypocrisy. But the names are mere names to us. 16. Onesiphorus (cf. iv. 19), who, in the apocryphal Ads of Paul and Thecla^ is represented as a householder of Iconium, and a friend to Paul on his first missionary journey, had evidently been in Rome, and taken pains to find out Paul in his confinement and to cheer him with love and sympathy. This example of one who was not ashamed of the prisoner is held up to Timothy, who evidently (verse 8) shewed some tendency to such a false shame. It would seem that Onesiphorus had subsequently died, and there- fore it is only for his family that Paul invokes the blessing. During Paul's stay at Ephesus Onesiphorus had rendered him service, to Timothy's personal knowledge. They who are anxious to support prayers for the dead, having otherwise no scriptural authority except from the Apocrypha (2 Mace. xii. 44), clutch at this passage. Assuming, with some probability, that Onesiphorus was dead, they find in the exclamation, ' The Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that da}',' an instance of the Apostle praying for the dead. Dr. Bernard assents and quotes an epitaph in the second half of the second century, in which Abercius, Bishop of Hierapolis, asks for the prayers of all ^ * grant mercy,* * refreshed ' : both words only here in the N. T. L 2 148 II TIMOTHY 1. 17, 18 17 chain; but, when he was in Rome, he sought me 18 dihgently, and found me (the Lord grant unto him to find mercy ^ of the Lord in that day) ; and in how many things he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well '\ who see his tomb (Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 496). Certainly, if this is a prayer for the dead, it brings the composition of the letter into the second century, and negatives the Pauline authorship. But there is a difference between an optative and a request. Paul expresses the wish, he does not utter a prayer, that Onesiphorus may find mercy. That wish we are entitled to entertain for all. But to pray for the dead, and to offer Masses for them, is a thought remote from the apostolic mind ; it had its origin, not in the interests of the dead, but in those of the living. The Mass priest is paid to pray for the dead. It is a lucrative business ; for it is touching with the finger of superstition the tenderest point of a bereaved heart. There may be nothing to hinder the sorrowing soul from breathing out its prayers for the departed into the Father's ear, but there is every reason to discourage the doctrine of prayers for the dead which, based on superstition, is maintained for filthy lucre's sake. And while the Council of Trent made 2 Maccabees canonical, in order to get scriptural ground for the abuse, w^e are bound to insist that the Roman Church must be content with that slender scriptural support. Certainly the case of Onesiphorus affords no slenderest foothold for the dogma : for in the first place it is only a surmise that he was dead at the time, and in the second place there is here no prayer but a pious wish. The peculiar interest of this first chapter lies in the close relations it establishes between Paul and his correspondent. Timothy is very dear to him. He broods on the childhood and training and ordination of his young friend. He proposes his own example to him. He is most anxious not to lose the younger man's sympathy and support. He puts Timothy and himself side by side as recipients of the great deposit, which they must both faithfully keep. He cites the instances of desertion, and invokes a blessing on the faithful friend Onesiphorus, as if to say, with an almost nervous solicitude : God grant that my beloved son Timothy may not be like Phygelus and Hermogenes ! God grant that he may search me out and bear my reproach as bravely as Onesiphorus did ! And it is in this eager anxiety that he passes on in chap. ii. to exhort Timothy to courage. very well is ' better,' viz. better even than I. * * find mercy ' : only here in the N. T. ' 'very well ' : only here in the N.T. II TIMOTHY 2. I, 2 149 Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the 2 grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which 2 thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the ii. 1-7. A more personal exhortation to Timothy. 1. Thou therefore : as against Phygelus and Hermogenes, and with Onesiphorus. my child : in contrast with the aliens who turned away from him. be streugrthened : £ph. vi. 10. in the grace : i. e. by abiding in the grace of Christ strength comes. Cf. i Tim. i. 12. 2. the thing's which then hast heard from me through many witnesses is the original Greek. We naturally refer to i. 13. And we explain the phrase as a reference to the intercourse which Timothy had enjoyed with Paul for twelve years. In that period he had received much of Paul's instruction directly (i. 13), but much had come indirectly through the other companions of Paul, who had all been either observers of the Christian verities or actual subjects of Christian grace ; and though these are not cited as authorities, they are referred to as independent witnesses of the truth. These things which Timothy heard from Paul we may discover not only in the Pastoral but in the other Pauline Epistles. There is absolutely no reason for supposing that there was any esoteric doctrine privately handed dov^n by the apostles to their successors. The only reason why Paul lays stress on the trans- mission here is that as yet he did not think of his own letters as Scripture. When these letters were admitted into the Canon the demand which Paul makes here was secured. And thus the sufficiency to teach others, mentioned here, turns upon the ac- quaintance with the apostolic tradition contained in the N, T. The Roman claim, that Paul handed down to Timothy the deposit of truth which has subsequently been developed and authorized hy the infallible church, is just one of those desperate afterthoughts by which Rome endeavours to justify her assumptions from a text of Scripture interpreted in her own way. It was in order to realize the command of verse 2 and to save it from perversion that the letters of Paul were gathered together and treated as holy Scripture ("2 Pet. iii. 15). But the Roman Church has used this passage as an excuse for neutralizing all that Paul taught, and would have us believe that what Timothy heard from Paul through many witnesses was, not the great principle of justification by faith (i. 9% but a principle of justification by works and faith ; not a doctrine of one Mediator, but a doctrine of Mary as the mediatrix between us and her Son, and the saints as mediators through whom we approach God ; not a faith in a sacrifice offered once for all, but I50 II TIMOTHY 2. 3-7 same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to 3 teach others also. Suffer hardship with me^ as a good 4 soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs ' of this life ; that he may please him 5 who enrolled ^ him as a soldier. And if also a man contend in the games ^, he is not crowned ^, except he have 6 contended lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth 7 must be the first to partake * of the fruits. Consider what the practice of a daily sacrifice of the Mass, after the pattern of the tabernacle which, Paul saw, was done away in Christ. Rome makes use of the Scriptures to wrest from them an authority for her tradition which supersedes them. This is the way in which the followers of the Apostle have carried out his command in this verse. 3. suffer hardship with : i. 8. a g-Qod soldier: especially in conflict with the several teachers of heresy (Phil. ii. 25 : Fhilem. 2) — the church militant. Cf, iv. 7 ; I Tim. i. 18, vi. 12 ; Phil. i. 30 ; Col. i. 29. 4. The immediate reference is to work for the means of living^ (cf. Mark xii. 44 ; Luke xv. 12, 30). Paul's thought is amplified in I Cor. ix. 4. 11 ; cf. Gal. vi. 6. 5. See on i Tim. vi. 12. lawfully (see i Tim. i. 8) : i. e. submitting to the rules of the contest, training, age, &c. Epictetus uses just the same image, and shews how the athlete eating * by rule* to conquer in the 013'mpian games is like the philosopher who aims at truth by self-discipline. In Timothy's case the * rule ' is that he must abstain from worldlyand renumerative employments, giving himself wholly to his ministr3\ 6. the husbandman that laboureth must. It is an economic necessity that the actual tiller of the soil should get his maintenance out of it ; the wages of labour is the first charge on agricultural produce. From this is inferred the right of the Christian minister to receive the temporal things by which he may live while he ministers spiritual things. (Cf. i Cor. ix. 7, also i Cor. iii. 9 for the idea of husbandry.) ' ' affairs ' and * him who enrolled ' : both words only found here in the Greek Bible. '^ ' contend in the games ' : a word = be an athlete, only here in the Greek Bible. ' 'crowned ' : a word not elsewhere in Paul (but in Heb. ii, 7). * ' partake ' : not used elsewhere in Paul's letters. II TIMOTHY 2. 8-10 151 I say ; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, 8 of the seed of David, according to my gospel : wherein 9 I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor ^ ; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all 10 *J. Consider ... for the Lord shall give. The Lord would make Paul's meaning the more plain, and reconcile Timothy to the idea of living on a stipend instead of working for a maintenance, all the more because it was the definite teaching of the Lord that they who preach the gospel should live by it. There are few respects in which the soldier of Christ is more hampered and humiliated than this ; he has to lay aside the ordinary work by which he might earn his bread, and to be dependent on the charity of others. This is rightly described as a hardship ; but the Master made it easier for every servant of his by himself setting the example. ii. 8-13. Remember Jesus Christ. This is the highest motive for the preceding exhortation. Keep the risen Christ before the mind ; risen and yet human (for this combination see Rom. i, 3). according to my g*ospel : Rom. ii. 16, xvi. 25. 9. wherein I suffer : viz. in proclaiming which. As Bengel says, Paul uses the example of Christ, according to his custom, to give life to his own example. malefactor : thus Paul identifies himself with Christ's fellow sufferers on the cross. Prof. Ramsay {Church in the Roman Empire, p. 249) sees in this strong word an indication of the Jlagitia imputed to Paul and the Christians in the Neronic persecu- tion (Tac. Ann. xv. 44). If Prof. Ramsay is right in this view, it points to the Pauline authorship, or at least to the date of the early persecution. Up to Domitian's time Christianity was not a forbidden religion ; Paul and the other sufferers under Nero were proceeded against as common criminals, charged with setting the city on fire. Of course one could not rest the genuine- ness of the Epistle on this use of the word 'malefactor,' but it is an undesigned indication of an historic situation. the word of God is not bound : he rejoices in the thought that he can writc^ and, like Rutherford, Baxter, Bunyan, Law, and Penn in later times, the tyranny which binds the preacher may only result in sending his written word farther and making it more lasting. ' ' z. malefactor': a word not used by Paul, but by Luke (xxiii. 32). 152 II TIMOTHY 2. 11-13 things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 Faithful is the saying : For if we died with him, we shall 12 also live with him : if we endure, we shall also reign with 13 him : if we shall deny him, he also will deny us : if we are faithless, he abideth faithful ; for he cannot deny himself. 10. I endure all . . . for the elect's sake. For the 'elect' see Rom. viii. 33 ; Col. iii. 12 ; Titus i. i. Paul had a belief that he could fill up the measure of Christ's sufferings, and in that way enable the elect to obtain salvation as he himself had done. But it is evident, from his attitude of humility and his confidence in the sole sufficiency of Christ, that he does not mean to place his sufferings on a level, or in the same category, with Christ's. They are not vicarious or redemptive. But by enduring, without giving way, he takes part in establishing the truth of the gospel : and his sense of identification with Christ, brought out in verses 11-13, enables him to share in Christ's redemptive work, though humility and love alike prevent him from even thinking of himself as redeemer. The point of view is readily gained if we put the supposition : What would have happened if Paul had not endured ? If he, like Demas, had proved traitor to the gospel, humanly speaking the elect would not have heard the good news, and the stream of truth would have been dammed up at its source. 11. Paithful is the saying" (see on i Tim. i. rs, iv. 9). Though the R. V. does not favour the view, the simpler method is to treat the faithful saying as the personal truth just uttered (cf. I Tim. i. 15 , then, as in i Tim. iv. 9, it concludes a strong and passionate assertion. But if we follow the Revisers, we shall see in the faithful saying ^vhich follows, verses 11-13, a hymn. In that case the 'for' remains quite unexplained, except as part of a quotation. Whichever view is taken, the truth of these verses remains unaffected: cf. Rom. vi. 8, viii. 17; cf. v. 17, iii. 3. Dr. Bernard notices that the phrases are all (except one from Matt. X. 33) taken from parallels in Paul's own Epistles, and supposes that Paul here is ' quoting a popular version of words from his own great Epistle, which had become stereotyped by liturgical use ' ; to such odd conclusions are men driven when they are bent on finding a justification of liturgies in the N. T. died with him in this connexion refers to martyrdom. 13. he ahideth faithful. It is a consolation that our faithless- ness may be counteracted by his faithfulness (Rom. iii. 3), as Dr. Bernard sees ; but that can hardly be the reference here, for II TIMOTHY 2. 14-17 153 Of these things put them in remembrance \ charging 14 the?n in the sight of the Lord, that they strive not about words ^ to no profit ^ to the subverting ^ of them that hear. Give dihgence to present thyself approved unto God, 15 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed ^^ handhng aright ^ the word of truth. But shun ^ profane babbhngs : 16 for they will proceed further in ungodliness, and their 17 it destroys the whole connexion of the passage, God is faithful in abiding by His eternal principles of action. His faithfulness makes it impossible for Him to acknowledge those who deny Him. This truth is not so palatable to our day, but it can hardly be doubted that this is the meaning in the present context. II. The warfare against error and apostasy, ii. 14 — iv. 8. ii. 14 — iii. 9. Circumstances existing among the Christians atnong whom Tiynothy had to work. First there are certain phenomena which are stated negatively and positively {^verses 14, 15), then the negative is developed (16-20), and the positive, with a fresh recapitulation of the negative (22", 23), is more clearly expressed (21-26). Then iii. 1-9, description of certain false teachers that are to come. 15. approved vmto God. Cf. 2 Cor. x. 18. Chrysostom took needeth not to he ashamed to mean '■ who is not to be put to shame.' The meaning of ' handling aright' may be found from LXX, Prov. iii. 6, xi. 5, 'giving a right direction to the word of truth,' i.e. applying the gospel fearlessly and appropriately, the opposite of corrupting it '^2 Cor. ii. 17), and contrasted here with striving about words. 16. profane babblings. See i Tim. vi. 20. for they (sc. they who utter the profane babblings), will proceed further in ungodliness : the opposite cf godliness for which see on i Tim. ii. 2. ^ ' put them in mind ' : a word only used by Paul here and at Titus iii, i. ^ 'to strive with words' : only here, but the noun in i Tim. vi, 4, ^ * profit ' : a word only here in the N. T. ■" * subverting ' : only here in the N, T. ■' ' that needeth not to be ashamed ' : a word only here in the Greek Bible. ^ ' handling aright ' : a word only here in the N, T. ^ ' shun ' : the word is only used here and at Titus iii, g by Paul. 154 n TIMOTHY 2. 18, 19 word will eat as doth a gangrene ' : of whom is Hymen?eus iB and Philetus ; men who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and over- 19 throw ^ the faith of some. Howbeit^ the firm^ foun- dation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord spread (marg. ) : lit. ' will have pasture,' a Greek medical term for the spreading of a disease, Polyb. i. 81. 6. gangrene : opposed to the ' healthy words.' Hymenaeus and Philetns. For the first see i Tim. i. 20 ; it seems that Paul's rebuke had not succeeded, and this justifies verse 16. 18. concerning the truth have erred : lit. missed the mark. I Tim. i. 6, vi. 21. saying that the restirrection is past already. The precise form of this false opinion is matter of conjecture. Polycarp (§ 7) mentions a man who said that there was neither resurrection nor judgement, and in the sermon called 2 Clement, § 9, there is a warning against saying that the flesh is not judged and does not rise. In the Acts of Paid and Thecla there is mention of an opinion that the resurrection was to be sought in the fact that we live again in our children, the notion expressed in George Eliot's 'choir invisible.' In the second century Justin {Dial. 80) and Irenaeus (Har. ii, 31. 2) refer to the Gnostic tenet that the resurrection was to be understood allegorically. But we can hardly identify the present opinion with any of these later developments. Rather there must have been visionaries, like the Fifth-Monarchy men of the Commonwealth ; probably they thought that the millennium had come, and death was abolished, and the second coming of Christ had taken place. It is likely that the 'forbidding to marry' (i Tim. iv. 3) was connected with this illusion and justified by Luke xx 35 ; Matt. xix. 12. Such wild conceptions have in all ages of the church subverted the faith of many. 19. the firm foundation of God (see i Tim. iii. 15) is the Christian society which, in spite of individual vagaries, holds fast to the truth. Inscribed on this foundation are the two truths which are the essence of a Christian church, viz. ' The Lord knoweth them that are his,' cf. John x. 3, 14, 27; Num. xvi. 5; and, 'Let every one that nameth,' &c., cf. Matt. vii. 23; Luke xiii. 27 ; I Cor. viii. 13, xiii. 12 ; Gal, iv. 9. The Christian ^ ' a gangrene ' : only here. ^ 'overthrow' : a word only here and at Titus i. 11. ^ ' howbeit ' and ' firm ' are both words only used here by Paul. II TIMOTHY 2. 20,21 155 knoweth them that are his : and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteous- ness. Now in a great house there are not only vessels 20 of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; and some unto honour, and some unto dishonour. If a man 21 therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel society, built on the corner-stone Christ Jesus — he is the Lord here meant — is distinguished by the intimate mutual knowledge of the Lord and his members (see Paul's assurance, ii. 10), and by the purity and guilelessness of those who form his body. A true church can only be composed of those to whom God's knowledge of them has brought a personal knowledge of acceptance, and who have been so affected by the name they name as to carry the will of their Lord into practical ethics. It is such a society — the Puritans dreamed of it and toiled for it — that is a solid foundation, a security against the vagaries of individualism, a pillar and ground of the truth. 20. The thought of the church as the Lord's house (cf. i Tim. iii. 15), in which every implement must be clean, suggests the variety of members that are needed to make up the whole. All may be clean, but all cannot be for honour. Dr. Bernard declares that this is like the parable of the draw-net (Matt. xiii. 47), and adds : * It is noteworthy that this is the only place where Paul directly expresses the thought of the church embracing evil members as well as good.' It is so noteworthy that if this passage contained that thought, we might suspect that it was not Paul's. And Dr. Bernard in his own interpretation falls into a curious inconsistency, for he interprets verse 21 of purging out the false teachers, shewing that it would be the church's duty to get rid of evil members. But, natural as is the desire to justify from Scripture the conception of an impure church, this passage gives no countenance to it. In the house the wooden things are as needed as the golden, and the vessels of dishonour are as useful as the vessels of honour (cf. i Cor. xii. 23). And this is the point of the whole simile. We cannot choose whether we should be gold and silver, or wood and earthenware ; nor can we choose whether our service shall be what appears to men honourable or the opposite. But each of us, if he is clean, will be counted as a vessel unto honour ; it is sufficient honour to be of use to the Master, sanctified and ready for good works, however humble the}' may be. 21. piirg'e himself from tliese. 'These' can only mean the various false notions described in verses 14 18. 156 II TIMOTHY 2. 22, 23 unto honour, sanctified, meet for the master's use, 22 prepared unto every good work. But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with 23 them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that meet for . . . use is the word in iv. ii and applied to Onesimus in Philem. ii. 22. flee yonthftil lusts. The older man speaks to the younger. One feels that such a warning implies a certain weak- ness in Timothy, as 'the Lord's servant must not strive,' verse 24, implies that Timothy was inclined to do so. But another view is possible. This passage (ii. 22) is exactly parallel to i Tim. vi. ir. 'Flee youthful lusts' corresponds to 'flee these things,' and ' these things ' were the errors and practices of the hetero-teachers. From iii. 6 and iv, 3 it is evident that these men, under cover of their teaching, practised sexual immoralities. And it may be these lusts, of the kind into which young men naturally fall, that Timothy is to avoid; and then the contrast, in rig'hteousness, faith, love, &:c., exactly corresponds to that in i Tim. vi. 11. Only here is added peace, with them that call on the lK>rd, which seems to suggest that in his contention with members of the flock Timothy had shewn some hastiness of temper, or a disposition to contention. 23-26. The folly and ignorance of the false teaching gender strife, and the Lord's servant must not strive, but try to recover the victims of error ^ 23. The word ignorant is in the Greek the negative of * correct- ing'; we could keep this connexion by translating * uninstructed questions,' i. e. questions unworthy of a trained mind, and ' instructing them that oppose themselves.' This latter phrase also may be connected with the 'oppositions' of i Tim. vi. 20, and may mean ' those who are only capable of making endless verbal antitheses, or contradictory statements.' We have seen that all through, Paul's crusade against the prevalent lines of teaching is based upon their emptiness and futility. There is a caustic saying of a college don that the discussion whether the planets are inhabited was one eminently suited for theology, because no evidence was available on either side of the question. ^ These four verses contain five words, viz. ' ignorant,' * gentle,' * forbearing,' ' oppose themselves,' and ' recover themselves,' not found elsewhere in the Greek Bible, and a conjunction * if haply ' never used by Paul. II TIMOTHY 2. 24-26 157 they gender strifes. And the Lord's servant must not 34 strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves ; if 25 peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, and they may recover themselves 26 It is discussion of this kind, speculative, remote from life and fact, which leads to the bitterest of verbal wrangles, and is in the end as fatal to religion as sensuality, with which, strange to say, it easily connects itself; for if thought is diverted to empty and barren discussions, it renounces its proper religious function of grasping the verities which, as ideas, move the will and cleanse the passions. Thus while the brain is idly occupied, the corrupt nature, left to itself, falls into uncleanness. (Cf. i Tim. i. 4, 7, iv. 7, vi. 4, 20 ; Titus iii. 9. These parallels in the three Epistles should be used to illustrate each other, though the greater severity of Paul in 2 Timothy seems to imply that the heresy had gone farther than in i Timothy and Titus, and deserved a more uncompromising suppression.) 25. For meekness refer to the supreme example, Matt. xi. 29. repentance : only twice, besides here, does Paul use this word, Rom. ii. 4 ; 2 Cor. vii. 9, 10. knowledgre of the truth: so iii. 7; see i Tim. ii. 4. 26. return to soberness : as in margin (the verb with another compound in i Cor. xv. 34). That the snare of the devil (cf. on i Tim, iii. 6) is a spiritual drunkenness is a most striking suggestion : for in that case intoxication represents visibly the diabolical possession of man. A distinguished brewer once spoke of drink as the devil in solution. And in the same way the devil's method of taking men captive is to benumb the conscience, confuse the senses, and paralyse the will. This is effected sometimes by the excitation of phj'sical passions, sometimes by the daring promulgation of religious lies or superstitions, but often, as here, by diverting the mind with trivialities and the vanity of empty discussions, so that it does not settle steadily on the ideas of God, the Soul, and Life, or on the facts of Sin, Redemption, and Salvation. By a faithful ministry the servant of God may win men to repentance, so that they may be taken captive (Jit. ' taken alive ') by him unto the will of God. The Revisers have settled the meaning of this last clause by boldly putting for the two pronouns the lK>rd's servant and God. That is the only rendering which does justice to the distinction of the pronouns, nor is it possible in English to bring out the sense except by substituting for them the implied noun. Dr. Bernard 158 II TIMOTHY 3. i out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive ^ by the Lord's servant unto the will of God. 3 But know this, that in the last days grievous - times prefers the rendering suggested in the margin, thinking that the 'by him' could not refer to the distant subject, the Lord's servant, but must necessarily refer to the nearer subject, the devil. But as the main subject of the sentence is the Lord's servant, it is quite natural that a pronoun not otherwise designated should refer to him. And the meaning Dr. Bernard's rendering gets out of the words is far too intricate and far-fetched to commend itself, viz. that the heretics have been taken captive by the devil, but are now recovered in order to do God's will. If this were the meaning it may be surmised that Timothy, no less than we, would have needed a commentary to understand his master's letter. iii. 1-9. Characteristics of the false teachers of the future'^ . ' The prophecy,' say Schmidt and Holzendorff, ' betrays itself flagrantly as a description of the present.' For this judgement verses 5, 9 are referred to. And it must be owned that these verses cannot be explained except as a comment on facts actually before the Apostle's eye. But, as a matter of fact, it is only verse I that is in the strict sense a prophecy. He dips into the future and sees hard times in the last days ; but he at once returns to justify his expectation by noting the signs of the present times (cf. I Tim. iv. i). It must be remembered that to Paul the last days were not a distant future : the time was at hand : the judge was at the gate, and ' not far off he seemed to hear the thunder of his chariot-wheels.' Like John (i John ii. 18), he felt that he was living in the last times, and in recollection, perhaps, of the Lord's own apocalyptical utterances, he saw in the corruption and heresy ^ * taken captive ' : the word not used by Paul, but only at Luke v. i o. ^ * grievous ' : the word nowhere else in Paul, and in the N. T. only Matt. viii. 28. ^ These nine verses contain no fewer than fifteen words peculiar in some sense to this passage : ' lovers of self ' (not in the Greek Bible), implacable' .not in the Greek Bible), Svithout self-control' (not in the Greek Testament), ' fierce ' (not in the Greek Bible), ' without love for good* (not in the Greek literature), 'traitors,' * headstrong' (not in Paul), Movers of pleasure' (not in the N. T.), * lovers of God' fnot in the Greek Bible), * turn away' (not in the N. T.), 'creep into' (not in the N. T.), 'silly women' (diminutive only here), ' divers ' (in Paul confined to the Pastorals, Titus iii. 3), * corrupted ' (not in the N. T.}, * manifest ' (not in the N. T.). II TIMOTHY 3. 2-5 159 shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of 2 money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, 3 slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather 4 than lovers of God ; holding a form of godliness, but 5 having denied the power thereof: from these also turn of believers a sign of the last times. ' When the Son of man Cometh, shall he find faith in the earth 1 ' So far then from treating this and the other passage in i Tim. iv. i as independent prophecies, it is a juster view to regard Paul as recalling the prophecies, and what * the Spirit saith,' to confirm faith by shew- ing that what has come to pass was foretold. It is not necessary to suppose that a/ 1 the features in verses 1-8 were already realized, but from what he actually saw he filled in the details of what was yet to be. All Apocalyptic is of this character. 1. the last days: taken from Isa. ii. 2: cf. Acts ii. 17; Jas. V. 3, points to a more remote period than the 'later times' of I Tim. iv. I. That Paul felt these hard times alread}' present (i Cor. vii. 26; Gal. i. 4; Eph. v. 16) only confirms what has just been said about the close connexion of the last daj's with the present. We are reminded of 2 Pet. iii. 3 and Jude 18. 2. Cf. Rom. i. 29-31. lovers of self. Philo (de Pro/. 15) speaks of Movers of self rather than lovers of God.' boastful and haughty : word and thought ; cf. Rom. i. 30. without self-control f Prov. xxvii. 20) : the noun i Cor. vii. 5. In Greek the common word for one who is at the mercy of his passions. 4. puffed up. See on i Tim. iii. 6. lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. There is an interesting parallel in Philo {cie Agric. § 19), who speaks of making one ' a lover of pleasure and a lover of passion rather than a lover of virtue and a lover of God.' 5. holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power (cf Rom. ii. 20): this is paralleled by Titus i. 16. The word used for ' form ' does not mean the philosophical ' form,' which is the essence, but the hypocritical * form,' which is the denial, of a thing. This inimitable description of a ceremonial religion was prophetic of later days. ' It is,' says Wiesinger, 'a new heathen- dom under a Christian name.' from these . . . turn away : of course plainly shews that Paul is speaking of actual persons and not of future apostates. i6o II TIMOTHY 3. 6-9 6 away. For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away 7 by divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to 8 the knowledge of the truth. And like as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth ; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the 9 faith. But they shall proceed no further : for their folly shall be evident unto all men, as theirs also came to be. 6. silly women. It is not the peculiarity of the Gnostic systems of the second century, but the conimon feature of all empty or sensuous forms of religion, that men, under cover of teaching, seduce and corrupt unheeding women. This passage therefore is no argument for the later date. As the passions of men are strong, and the hearts of women are trustful, wherever evil and error are, the things suggested in this verse occur. The mastery of the passions, on the other hand, and the security of female virtue are found only in a living and redemptive power of God, working not in forms, but in the Spirit. 6. led away toy divers lusts : i Tim. vi. 9 ; Titus iii. 3. *7. ever learning', &c. , applies to the women, not the teachers. It is significant that the mind which gives itself to idle specula- tions * finds no end, in wandering mazes lost,' and becomes unable to come to a knowledge of truth. 8. Jannes and Jamtores. In the Jewish tradition these names are given to the magicians ofExod. vii. 11-22. In the Targum of Jonathan on that passage they are said to be the sons of Balaam. Origen thought Paul was quoting from an apocryphal book, Jannes et Mambres liber. It is curious that both Pliny and Apuleius know of Moses and Jannes together as magicians living after Zoroaster. The comparison with these men cannot be pressed ; the word * impostors' in verse 13 hardly justifies us in ascribing to the false teachers magical pretensions. cormpted in mind: i Tim. vi. 5. reprotoate concerning the faith : Titus i. 16 ; i Tim. i. 19. Ck. they shall proceed no farther. Assuming that the false teachers are the same here as in ii. 16, the words seem to be the exact contradiction of the words there, but it is not so ; the contradiction is only verbal. They will proceed further in ungod- liness, and as that senselessness will be their ruin, they will proceed no further in their career. as theirs also: Exod. viii, 18, ix. ii. iii. 10 — iv. 8. Resumes the personal exhortation to Titnothy, like i. 6 — ii. 13. II TIMOTHY 3. 10, II i6i But thou didst follow my teaching, conduct ', purpose, lo faith, longsuffering, love, patience, persecutions, suffer- n ings ; what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra ; what persecutions I endured : and out of them 10. But thou (in contrast with the false teachers) didst follow (at the outset of his Christian life): sc. when Timothy at Lystra first made the acquaintance of Paul as a man, who, carry- ing a great teaching, was despised, stoned, driven from city to city. This reminiscence of the first days of their meeting is very natural for an elder man, in solitary confinement, going over the past. And this psychological suitability is a sufficient answer to the remark of Schmidt and Holzendorff": ' If Paul were the writer of the Epistle, it would be impossible to understand why he should choose to instance these persecutions of the first missionary journey (Acts xiii, xiv), when Timothy was not yet in his com- pany. But to the actual writer of the Epistle, these persecutions, as the first, lay nearest to hand, and it never occurred to him that Timothy was not there at the time.' It is to be noted that the writer does not imply that Timothy was present at those sufferings, but that he took the course of teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, &c. (viz. Paul's), which, as he well knev/, led to those famous persecutions. It was the fact that Timothy came from that region of suffering (Acts xiii. 50 ; xiv. i f., 8 f , xvi. i), and yet deliberately chose to follow the prime sufferer, that gave Paul confidence in him now, and led to this exhortation to stand fast, in spite of the deliration of the magicians of heresy. To this ground of confidence he adds soon (14-17) the early grounding in the inspired Scriptures which Timothy had received. faith, longsuffering, love, patience. Paul's injunction to imitate his virtues, and his enumeration of them, is relieved from egotism by the conception underlying his theology, that it is ' God that worketh in us to will and to do.' It cannot be urged that this egotism of humility is unlike Paul and therefore a reason for suspecting his authorship here. ' Be ye imitators of me,' ' 1 would to God that you were altogether such as I except these bonds,' is the tone which is characteristic of him, especially in these later days. 11. The mention of patience leads him from graces to perse- cutions, and with Timothy in mind he naturally recalls the persecutions which befell him in and around Timothy's home. ' What things,' * what persecutions,' rather, ' such things as,' ' such persecutions as,' because he is dwelling not so much on the instances as on the kind of instances. * * conduct ' : a word not used elsewhere in the N.T. M i62 II TIMOTHY 3. 12, 13 12 all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that would live 13 godly ' in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors '^ shall wax worse and worse, deceiving out of them all : not only those in southern Galatia, but the more serious troubles at Philippi, at Ephesus, at Jerusalem, and Caesarea, and even the first imprisonment at Rome. God always delivered him until now ; and the deliverance which now awaited him was the best of all (iv. 8). 12. all that would live grodly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This is implied in Matt. v. 10 and perhaps John xv. 20. The life in Christ Jesus is a life of spiritual or mystical identification with him, and consequently it involves a partaking of his sufferings as surely as a partaking of his victory. The certainty, therefore, of persecutions does not depend on the accident of a persecuting government or society : Nero or Domitian is but the outward minister of a bad and persecuting world. The persecution in the Christian life is intrinsic ; as common in Christian England as in heathen China ; endured as truly by the faithful in the kindly atmosphere of the church as by the missionary pioneer in the midst of savages or heathen powers. The persecution arises from the fact that the life in Christ is alien to this present world, and involves an inward and constant crucifixion of lusts and tendencies, which the world admits, but which Christ destroys. Consequently, not the least tragic of sufferings have been those of Molinos or Madame Guyon ; those of Covenanters, Puritans, and Stundists ; those of persons who to-day are set on the ways of God and the fullness of life in Christ ; though in all these cases it is a Christian society and a Christian church that inflicts the persecu- tion. The life of Christ, in which the believer shares, is a life which, if not against, is always athwart, the world. Its motives and springs, its standards and precepts, its modes and develop- ments, its goal and its ends, are as different from the world's as light is from darkness. And as day and night are the perpetual battle between the light and the darkness, so the Christian life is an unceasing struggle against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world. The woman flees to the wilderness, and the dragon follows her with his engulfing flood. 13. impostors* lit. 'wizards' or 'conjurors,' suggested by the comparison with Jannes and Jambres. shall wax worse and worse : ch. ii. 16, they will proceed to ^ ' godly.' This adverb occurs only here and at Titus ii. 12 in the N.T. ^ * impostors.' The word does not occur elsewhere in the Greek Bible. II TIMOTHY 3. i.t, 15 163 and being deceived. But abide thou in the things which 14 thou hast learned and hast been assured o{\ knowing of whom thou hast learned them ; and that from a babe i ;; thou hast known the sacred ^ writings which are able to even greater lengths of ungodliness along the road of deceit, where the deceiver is always himself the most deceived. And yet, as verse 9 says, they will proceed no further ; their very deceit will be their ruin, for the worse men get, the more surely are they discovered. This paradox of progress and no progress, of apparent success and actual failure, is curiously illustrated by the history of the Jesuits. Within a generation they covered the earth : ' Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris ? ' was their boast. Their workings and their powers have never ceased : Pascal riddled their ethics, but Alphonso vindicated their worst impostures ; a pope suppressed the order, and half a century after another pope restored it ; they have been formally ejected from nearly every country in Europe ; at present they are twisting their shackles around the vitals of Germany, England, and America. And yet with all their progress they proceed no further. Their folly becomes evident with each generation. Their perverted ethics, their underhand machinations, their misguided faith in the virtue of the crushed will, are always rousing men afresh to shake off the seduction and to crush the imposture. And as verses 14-17 remind us in the case of those first perverters of the gospel, the Holy Scriptures abide in constant protest against them, so that whoever is instructed in the Bible is impregnable against all the guile, subtlety, and far-reaching designs of the Jesuit. 14. knowingr from whom. The best MSS. make 'whom' plural, in which case it would refer to Timothy's mother and grandmother, according to verse 15. But the texius recepttis has the singular, in which case it would refer to Paul, whose teaching Timothy followed, and verse 15 would go on to adduce another fact from Timothy's infancy. The Revisers take the side of the leading MSS. 15. the sacred writingfs. Following the Revised text we must omit the article, and it would be better to read * hast known sacred letters.* It is the word in John vii. 15 and v. 47. And in this case it would point to the written truth as opposed to merely oral teaching (Rom. i. 2 ; ii. 27), But if, with the majority of MSS., we retain the article, then the term 'the holy writings' is the technical term, used in Philo and Josephus, for the O. T. writings. The phrase was first applied to the N. T., and the ' ' assured of ' : a word not elsewhere in the N. T. ^ ' sacred,' only here in the N. T. is the word applied to writings. M 2 i64 n TIMOTHY 3. i6 make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in 1 6 Christ Jesus. Every scripture' inspired^ of God is also word 'inspired' was first used of the N. T. writings by Clement of Alexandria at the end of the second century {Strom, i. 20, § 98 ; vii. 16, § loi). which are able to make thee wise. Paul was very clear that even without the O. T. men might be saved (Rom. ii. 14 ; ix. 30) ; he cannot therefore mean that these ancient writings were necessary to salvation. But he dwells on their abiding power to make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. If the Scriptures, whether the O. T. or the N. T., make us wise unto salvation it is because they lead us to faith in Christ Jesus. And if, without Scripture, men are led to salvation, it is because, unknown to themselves, they have gained a faith in him ' that lighteth every man coming into the world.' But Paul evidently regarded the O. T. Scriptures as 'they which testify of Christ. And the Christ-given exposition of them in Luke xxiv. 27 was essentially the possession of Christians from the first. It may truly be said that the use made of the O. T. by the apostles, and especially by Paul, is often allegorical and apparently arbitrary. Passages are quoted out of their context, and with reference to things which the writers never dreamed of; frequently the force of the quotation is found in the LXX version and not in the original Hebrew, and sometimes words are quoted as Scripture which are not found in our O. T. But the Scriptures are not the less able to make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ because allegorical and other methods of interpretation are applicable to them. In proportion as faith in Christ Jesus transforms, by possessing, the intepreter, it has been found from the days of Origen to those of Swedenborg that the O. T. from beginning to end forms a text-book for the preaching of Jesus. The text-book may, as Paul saw, be read with a veil on the heart, with the result that Jesus is not manifest in the O. T. ; but directly men turn to the Lord the veil is taken away, and all the Scriptures are found eloquent of him. 16. Every scripture. In the fifty places where this word occurs in the N. T. it means the O.T. 'Every scripture': each individual writing in what Paul and others more generally call 'Holy Scriptures' (Rom. i. 2), or 'Prophetic Scriptures' (xvi. 26) in the plural. is inspired of God : so the A. V. But the older interpreters — ' ' scripture.' The singular not elsewhere used by Paul (so used In Acts viii. 32, 35). ^ * inspired ' : only here in the N. T. II TIMOTHY 3. 17 165 profitable for teaching, for reproof \ for correction \ for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of i; God may be complete \ furnished completely ^ unto every good work. Origen, the Vulgate and Syriac ; Luther, WycHffe, Tyndale, Coverdale— and our Revisers put the predicate, which is unex- pressed, after the word : ' every scripture inspired of God is profitable.' The meaning is not materially altered either way ; for in any case we must understand by Scripture the O.T. as commonly received and admitted to be inspired in Paul's time ; and it matters not whether the statement made here is that Scripture being inspired is profitable, or that Scripture is inspired and also profitable. The former is more in keeping with the context, for Paul's point is that the training Timothy had received was the kind to furnish him completely for his work, and the inspiration of Scripture was not in question (2 Pet. i. 21). Whether the so-called Apocrypha, or any of them, were included in the idea of Scripture when this was written ; whether we are justified with Clement in bringing under this designation the N. T. writings, to which 2 Timothy itself belongs ; whether in dealing with the writings of the N.T., classed as inspired, ought to be excluded some that are in, or included some that are out (Irenaeus, for example, speaks of Hermas as Scripture — Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, p. 320) ; and what is to be understood by the word inspired, whether it precludes errors, and practically ehminates a human element, or how far the human element is reconcilable with inspiration ;— these are momentous questions, but they are not in the least affected by the passage before us. inspired, i Clement 45 - imitates this : ' the true scriptures which are through the Holy Ghost.' 'About the measure and means of this Divine afflatus nothing is said' (von Soden in Hand-Commc7ttar). If inspired it must be 'profitable for teaching, reproof, and correction, and for discipline in righteousness'; but it is a further dogmatic assertion that the Scriptures of the O. T. are sufficient to make the man of God (i Tim. vi. 11) complete and thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Certainly, to justify this broad statement, we must constantly understand ' through faith which is in Christ Jesus.' * The words for 'reproof,' 'correction,' 'complete,' are only here in the N. T., and ' furnished completely ' is a term not elsewhere used by Paul. 1 66 II TIMOTHY 4. 1-4 4 I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and by his 2 appearing and his kingdom ; preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season^; reprove, rebuke-, exhort, 3 with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine ; but, having itching " ears, will heap to themselves ^ teachers after 4 their own lusts ; and will turn away their ears from the iv. 1-8 rises to a passionate exhortation to Timothy to be earnest, in view of (i) the growing poiver of error, and of (2) Paul's approaching death. 1. Z charge thee. Cf. i Tim. v. 21. appearing*. See on i Tim. vi. 14. 2. preach, "be instant, reprove, &c. These are aorist and not present imperatives. The tense therefore lays stress on the individual act, and not on its perpetual repetition. the word (ii. 9, 15) : i.e. the Divine message of the gospel (Gal. vi. 6 ; Col. iv. 3). in season, otvt of season. Latin : opportune, importune. Needless to say, ' be instant ' does not refer to preaching ; it means * keep steadily pressing on in all the duties of an evangelist, at all times, and under all circumstances'; we are no judges of which is 'in season' and which is 'out of season,' It is ours to be always abounding in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ; for, strictly speaking, in that work there is no season, but every day is sowing, spring-tide, and harvest. lonofsiifFariug and teaching : the latter, because reproof with- out instruction is negative, and it is more important to tell men what they ought, than what they ought not, to do ; the former, because the best efforts of the worker for God will not be visibly suc- cessful, or overcome the lasting opposition ofworldlinessand error. 3. Por the time will come. As we saw in iii. 1-9, the time that will come, in Paul's mind, to a great extent already is. soiind doctrine: i Tim. i. 10. having itching ears : Wycliffe's translation. Hearers who wish to be tickled with novelty, eloquence, or wit, instead of desiring only the health-giving truths of the gospel. * ' in season, out of season ' : two words not used as adverbs else- where by Paul (but as verbs in i Cor. xvi. 12 ; Phil. iv. 10). ^ * rebuke ' : a word not elsewhere used by Paul. ^ * heap to themselves ' : a v.ord nowhere else in the Greek Bible; also * itching.' II TIMOTHY 4. 5-8 167 truths and turn aside unto fables. But be thou sober in 5 all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil ' thy ministry. For I am already being offered, and 6 the time of my departure ^ is come. I have fought the 7 good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of 8 4. fables : myths. (Cf. ii. 17 ; i Tim. i. 4, iv. 7; Titus i. 14.) The baseless Haggadoth of Essenes and Judaizers. 5. be thou sober. See on ii. 26, also i Tim. iii. 2. suffer hardship : i. 8, ii. 3. evangelist (Acts xxi. 8; Eph. iv. 11), This does not mean that there was a special order of evangelists, but that the work of proclaiming the good news (i Cor. i. 17) — and that is the meaning of evangelize — as it had been the chief work of an apostle, Paul, must be the chief work of his successor, who could not be an apostle, Timothy. The apostolate ceased with that generation : the evangelist must exist until the good news is known by all the world. ministry: ///. 'diaconate.' See for the general use i Tim. i, 12. 6. I am . . . being- offered : sc. poured out as a libation : cf. Phil, ii. 17 ; the prison walls recall the same image. Then it was ' if I am poured out ' ; now it is ' I am being poured out.' Seneca used the same image of his death ; so did Ignatius. The contrast with the situation in Philippians may be further noted, Phil, i, 23, 'having the desire to depart' ; here the time of my departure is com.e. Also Phil. iii. 13, 14, he is pressing on to the goal ; here he has reached it. departure. The word suggests ' loosing,' ' weighing anchor ' {Ociyss. XV. 548). 7. the good fig-ht, i Tim. vi. 12: sc. 'of faith.' For the 'course' cf. Acts XX. 24 ; I Cor. ix. 24 ; Gal. ii. 2 ; Phil. iii. 12. I have kept the faith. See iii. 10, viz. the faith by which he was first saved, and the faith in the Son of God by which he had lived. Dr. Bernard's rendering, 'the Christian creed, regarded as a sacred deposit of doctrine,' becomes more probable, if the letter is un-Pauline, a work of the second century. In proportion as we can retain the Pauline sense of faith, we are able to maintain the Pauline authorship of the Epistle. 8. the crown of righteousness. If we may interpret by ' the ^ 'fulfil' : a word not used in this sense by Paul (Rom. iv. 21, xiv. 5; Col. iv. 12). ^ ' departure ' : a word not in the Greek Bible, though the corre- sponding verb is in Phil. i. 23, but common in the later Apocrypha. i68 II TIMOTHY 4. 9, 10 righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day : and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved his appearing. 10 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me : for Demas crown of life,' Jas. i. 12 ; Rev. ii. 10, and * the crown of glory,' I Pet. V. 4, the genitive is one of substance : '■ a crown whicli consists in righteousness.' But that ignores Paul's peculiar doctrine of a * righteousness of God ' imparted by faith, which makes righteousness a present possession (e.g. Phil. i. ir). The term immediately following applied to Christ, 'the righteous judge,' is also in favour of interpreting the crown of righteousness, as the crown with which righteousness is crowned. If we were to press the idea of merit (cf. i Tim. vi. i8, 19) we should leave Paul's ideas and condemn our Epistle as later ; but if we hold fast to Paul's doctrine of righteousness, and the thought of a judge ' who is righteous and yet justifies ' the believer, we can find here a consistent conception. Paul's righteousness was of God , through faith in Christ Jesus ; and because he had received that righteous- ness from the righteous judge, the righteous judge will himself give to him, and to all who love his appearing, the crown (Rom. ii. 6. f. ; i Cor. iii. 8, 14, iv. 5 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; Gal. vi. 7, 8.) in that day: i. 12, 18. have (perfect from the standpoint of that future) loved his appearing*. As Calvin says, ' Paul excludes from the number of the faithful those to whom the advent of Christ is terrible.' Do we love his appearing ? It is a searching question. appearing*: not that of i. 10, but that of iv. i. Note. It should be observed, as Riggenbach sa3's, that Paul glances at his own finished course and approaching reward, not so much in an outbreak of personal joy as in a strong desire to confirm and encourage Timothy to fight his fight and run his course with a view to the crown. III. Certain closing injunctions and the last words of Paul. iv. 9-22. 9. We probably have in do thy diligence to come shortly the motive of the letter (cf, ii. 15, iv. 21 ; Titus iii. 12). The course is decided by the request to call at Troas. Timothy would have to cross Greece by the Egnatian Road to Dyrrachium, and then sail to Brundisium. Yet, as he only urged him to come 'before winter' (verse 21), that might leave him some months of work, during which the counsel and exhortation of this letter might be needed, not to mention that Paul seems to have a desire to write down a general commission of succession as a last will and testament (Weiss). Perhaps even he had some inkling that his letter would soon II TIMOTHY 4. ri 169 forsook me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica ; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with 1 1 rank as Scripture, and abide with Timothy as part of the means of his outfit (iii. 16, 17). 10. The reason for wanting Timothy is very human ; it is the cry of affection from a deserted and lonely man. Demas, a fellow worker in the former imprisonment (Philem. 24 ; Col. iv. 14), perhaps a Thessalonian (Lightfoot points out that the name, in the fuller form Demetrius, occurs twice in the list of politarchs of Thessalonica), left Paul for Thessalonica because he loved this present world (for the phrase see i Tim. vi. 17). This does not justify the tradition that Demas was an apostate from the faith. Unfortunately there are too many Christians who love the present world and shirk positions of danger or discomfort to make this severe judgement of tradition (Epiphanius, Hercs, 51) necessary. Crescens to Galatia (Gaul). This might, whichever reading is adopted, be either Gaul, or that Gaul in Asia which in the N. T. is called Galatia. Latin writers of the period called both Gaul, Greek writers both Galatia. Tradition determined in favour of Gaul (Eus. H. E. iii. 4). And Crescens, of whom nothing is known, was regarded as the founder of the Church of Vienne. On the other hand in a writing of Paul's we more naturally think of Galatia. Titus to Dalmatin. Dalmatia was in the province oflllyria, Rom. XV. 19. Prof. Ramsay {Galatiatis, p. 276) points out that the Roman province of Illyricum during Paul's lifetime gradually changed its name until it was generally called Dalmatia. Originally the province was divided into two parts — Liburnia and Dalmatia. From 70A.D. the name Dalmatia prevailed. This change, therefore, from Rom. xv. 19 would not prove that 2 Timothy is not Pauline, but only that Paul most sensitively reflected the realities of his time. "We may suppose that Titus (according to Titus iii. 12) joined Paul at Nicopolis, and went on mission work to Dalmatia, possibly first accompanying him to Rome. 11. Only Iiuke. This is not depreciatory as it sounds: in Col. iv. 14 he is * the beloved physician ' ; but Paul was accustomed to a group of followers (cf. Philem. 24), and besides, Timothy was so dear that, with him absent, the old man felt lonely. Paul wanted also to get Mark back to him. The former distrust (Acts XV. 38; had gone, and in the first imprisonment Mark had been a companion (Col. iv. 10). He is now regarded as useful for ministering: lit. ' diaconate,' which might mean either personal or missionary service. * Useful ' is the word rendered at ii. 21 as ' meet for use.' I70 II TIMOTHY 4. 13-15 12 thee : for he is useful to mc for ministering. But Tychicus 13 I sent to Ephesus. The cloke ^ that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially 14 the parchments ^ Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil : the Lord will render to him according to his 15 works : of whom be thou ware also; for he greatly 12. Tychious, of the province of Asia 1 Acts xx. 4), was with Paul on his third missionary journey and preceded him to Troas. In Col. iv. 7, 8, he is, as the bearer of the letter, described in affectionate terms ; in Eph. vi. 21 he is mentioned in the same connexion. In the letter to Titus Paul thought of sending Tychicus to take the place of Titus in Crete fiii. 12). It is possible that I sent is the epistolary aorist, and is equivalent to * I am sending ' ; in this case Tychicus may have been sent to take Timothy's place at Ephesus while the latter came to Rome. 13. the cloke. The Peshito took this to be a case for books (the word had that meaning). But it is more likely to have been a long-sleeved travelling-cloak useful in winter. The word in a diminutive was used in Chrysostom's time for a chasuble. The importance of this is evident, for it is an authority in the N. T., and the only authority, for Ritualistic vestments. Carpus is unknown. Needless to say the visit to Troas could not have been that in Acts xx. 6, six years before. In the interval between the imprisonments it is evident that Paul had been there again. the books, and especially the parchments : nicmbrance, prepared skins of vellum. These would be more precious than ordinary books, which would simply be papyrus. The contents of these books and parchments, as there are no facts to interfere with conjecture, have greatly exercised the ingenuity of commen- tators ; e. g. Thiersch supposes that they were notes on the life of Jesus; Wieseler, documents connected with the legal process; Baumgarten, Greek literature ; Dr. Bernard, the O. T. and the diploma of Paul's Roman citizenship. A safe conclusion may be that Paul was not a man of one book {uniiis libri). 14. Alexander the coppersmith : perhaps the same Alexander as in I Tim. i. 20. Riggenbach takes him to be the Alexander of Acts xix. 33. the evil was perhaps in revenge for Paul's stern treatment recorded in i Tim. i. 20, and probably took the form of advancing the prosecution in Rome. He was evidently at Ephesus, or Troas, or some place en route ; hence the warning to Timothy to beware of him. A tradition identified him with ' the thorn in the flesh.' * 'cloke,' 'parchments' : both words found only here. II TIMOTHY 4. 16-18 171 withstood our words. At my first defence no one took i^ my part, but all forsook me : may it not be laid to their account. But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened J 7 me ; that through me the message might be fully pro- claimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear : and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. The Lord will 18 the Lord will render. Fortunately the MSS. authority is in favour of this calm forecast in place of the imprecation which another mood expressed in the Received Text (Ps. Ixii. 12). Paul also quotes these words, Rom. ii. 6. 15. our words: probably the words Paul used in his defence in his first appearance at the trial; 'our' may include Luke and Tychicus. 16. At my first defence: what was called in Roman Law prima actio, not, as Eusebius thought, the earlier trial, which was four years before, but the first step of the last trial. That none stood by him, not even Luke, is explained by von Soden in the Hajid-Commeniar thus : * As the process turned upon work done in his missionary journeys, the Roman Christians would not be able to help him, and Luke was not in a position to help either. All who could have helped had, for one reason or another, gone at the critical moment.' Riggenbach suggests no one took my part means as patronus. No Asiatic or influential Roman Christian stood up to protect and plead for the prisoner. This would imply that Luke had neither the influence nor the other qualifications to serve the part, and would leave no reflection upon his readiness to help his friend. 1*7. the Iiord stood by me : viz. Christ. Cf. i Tim. i. 12. the messag-e . . . fully proclaimed : or, ' the preaching ful- filled,' either because in his defence all present in the Basilica would hear the gospel, or because the account of his trial would be noised throughout the world (Mark xiv. 9) ; what happened in Rome was known in the world. I was delivered : i. e. a non liquet was the verdict in the first action, and therefore the decision was postponed. The lion is perhaps an allusion to Dan. vi. 20 and Ps. xxii. 21, without any more definite reference. But considering the popular cr^' Chris- tianos ad ieoiies, it is difficult not to see a hint at the awful doom of the condemned to be thrown to the lions in the amphitheatre. To suppose that the lion is Nero, or Satan, * who goeth about as a roaring lion ' (i Pet. v. 8), is far less probable. 18. The Lord will deliver. The verse is full of reminiscences of the Lord's prayer. 172 II TIMOTHY 4. 19-21 deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom ^ : to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 9 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus abode at Corinth : but Trophimus I left at 21 Miletus sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus saluteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. from (not out of) every evil work : i. c. remove me from the machinations of evil, no doubt by death ; for w^hen the sword fell on his neck he would be for ever beyond the reach of all his fierce assailants and faint-hearted friends. will save me (and bring me) uiito Ixis heavenly kingdom. 19-22. Greetings. 19. Frisca and Aquila (Acts xviii. 2) : Jews, tentmakers, who were expelled from Rome by an edict of Claudius, and joined Paul at Corinth ; went with him to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 19) and stayed there. They send greetings to the Corinthians, with the church in their house (i Cor. xvi. 19) ; at Rome when Romans was written (xvi. 3), now back at Ephesus. Prisca is usually mentioned first ; perhaps she was a Roman lady of some consequence. (Ramsay, Paul the Traveller^ p. 268. ) house of Onesiphorus (cf. i. 16, 17). Certain cursives give Lectra as the name of Onesiphorus' wife, and Simaeas and Zeno as his sons. 20. Erastus (Rom. xvi. 23) was treasurer of Corinth ; it is strange if the Erastus who, we read here, abode at Corinth can be the same man ; but he may be identified with the person of the same name in Acts xix. 22, Trophimus (Acts xx. 4, xxi. 29): an Ephesian who was seen with Paul at Jerusalem, a fact which led to the riot and Paul's apprehension. Of course the facts mentioned about Erastus and Trophimus must have happened between the two imprisonments. Paul would mention their whereabouts to shew that they had not deserted him in his hour of need. 21. winter: when navigation was suspended, saluteth. See Rom. xvi. 21, 23, for the construction. The four Roman Christians mentioned are not otherwise known to Scripture, and it seems odd that they should send their ^ *his heavenly kingdom ' 5 a phrase not elsewhere in the N. T. II TIMOTHY 4. 22 173 The Lord be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. greetings when Paul had just complained of being alone ; but perhaps they were comparative strangers to him, and were not available for his defence. Linus, according to Irenaeus {Har. iii. 33, Eusebius, Ecd. Hist. iii. 2), was the first Bishop of Rome. The Apostolic Constitutions (vii. 2, 6) improved on this and made him son of Claudia. A Pudens and Claudia appear in Martial's epigram, iv. 13, and another pair of the same name in an inscription quoted by Lightfoot. But the connexion with the persons in the text is quite fanciful (cf. the still wilder conjecture that the Pudens discovered in an inscription at Chichester is the Pudens of this Epistle). 22. First, a personal greeting to Timothy ; compare it with Gal. vi. 18 and Philemon 25. So Barnabas, ' The Lord of glory and of all grace be with your spirit.' Then a greeting to the church at large, 'the sign in every epistle.' Grace . . . witli you (plur.). See on i Tim. vi. 21. Note. No other letter presents Paul in his simple manhood so strikingly as this last which we possess of his ; the loneliness and longing for his younger friend, the anxiety for the truth and its defence, the gratitude to Christ who stood by him when all else forsook him, the little personal commissions, and lifelike touches of the closing verses, bring Paul the man before us, and endear him to us for ever. THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO TITUS 1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, i. 1-4. The Salutation. 1. a servant of God. One requisitioned for the service of the kingdom of God. Paul's usual phrase is 'a bond-servant of Christ ' or ' of the Lord ' (2 Tim. ii. 24). But the phrase occurs in James i. i and in Rev. xv. 3 of Moses. The addition of and an apostle of Jesus Christ gives a specific character to this intro- duction. One can hardly imagine a forger inventing this kind of slight innovation ; but the real Paul with his fertility of mind would quite naturally designate himself suitably to the Epistle in hand. according^ to (see 2 Tim. i. i). A nearer rendering of the preposition would be ' for.' His service of God and apostleship of Christ is to produce faith in God's elect and knowledge of the truth according to godliness. 'The objective truth and the subjective godliness correspond, and this correspondence is the criterion of the genuineness of both ' (Riggenbach). (Cf. I Tim. ii. 4 ; for the elect, 2 Tim. ii. lo.) 2. in hope of. The apostleship rests on this hope of eternal life as on a sure ground ; all its labours and suflfering are supported by it (2 Tim. i. i). In what sense did God, who cannot lie, promise the life eternal before times eternal? See a Tim. i. 9. A reference to Gen. iii. 15 and Luke i. 70 is inadequate to the expression. Paul goes back into the purpose of God, and sees in that * vast backward and abysm of time,' in the eternity which preceded time, this promise of God But while that might justify the statement God purposed TITUS 1. ?,4 175 promised before times eternal ; but in his own seasons 3 manifested his word in the message, wherewith I was intrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour ; to Titus, my true child after a common faith : 4 Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour ^ to give eternal life, how does it justify promised ? One can only give definite meaning to the word by supposing Paul to refer to the truth which John expresses in the doctrine of the Logos. Before the beginning of years, when God said to His Son, 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee,' He gave a promise to man who would be made in His image, a promise of eternal life. This underlying thought leads up to the next words. 3. in his own seasons manifested Ms word. Here the writer trembles on the verge of the Logos doctrine of John. It would not be appropriate to translate it ' the incarnate Logos ' ; but the thought almost breaks through the language. Ms own seasons (i Tim. ii. 6, vi, 15). The idea of the Incarnation and Advent occurring at a suitable point in time is rendered peculiarly fruitful by our modern conception of evolution. Why did not Christ appear before ? is a question sometimes asked. It should be met by another question, Why did not man appear before ? in a (not 'the') message: not the act, but the substance, of the message is implied in the word. The ' I ' is emphatic, as it is in verse 5, ' I gave thee charge.' It is the sublime self-consciousness of an apostle who knows himself commissioned and commissioning (i Tim. i. II, ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11 ; Gal. ii. 7). our Saviour God : i Tim. i. i. 4. to Titus, true child (no 'my' in original) after a common faith (i Tim. i. 2). The corresponding phrase to Timothy, 'in faith,' only differs in suggesting a closer relation between Paul and Timothy than between Paul and Titus. 'True child in faith ' suggests that Timothy was his child in faith. * True child after a common faith ' would leave it indeterminate whether Paul did not class himself with Titus as heirs together of the same promise, children by faith of the one Father. Altogetiier there is an originality and personal verve in this salutation which makes it very hard to think of it as a literary forgery. A forger may imitate his original with servility, or he ' * Christ Jesus our Saviour.' Paul, outside the Pastorals, does not use this exact designation, the nearest being Phil. iii. 20. (See 2 Tim. i. 10; Titus ii. 13, iii. 6; 2 Pet. i. i, 11, ii. 20, iii. 18.) 176 TITUS 1. 5-7 5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order ^ the things that were wanting, and appoint 6 elders in every city, as I gave thee charge ; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that J- believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God's steward; not self- willed ^ not soon angry ^ no brawler, no striker, not greedy may strike into gross divergences ; but it is almost beyond the reach of art to be so different that copying is out of the question, and yet so Hke that the personal characteristics of the original are unmistakable. I, i. 5-9. The appointment and the qualifications of elders in Crete. 5. I left thee in Crete. This shews that Paul had been in Crete himself during that busy and eventful time between the two Roman imprisonments. For the origin of Cretan Christianity see Acts ii. 11. elders. Cf. Acts xiv. 23; i Tim. v. 17, 19. as I grave thee charg-e invests Titus with the authority that Paul himself had. 6. The qualifications are the same as those in i Tim. iii. 1-7 for bishops (overseers), which shews that 'presbyter' and 'over- seer ' are two terms for one office. blameless: i Tim. iii. ro. having' children that believe : a new requirement. who are not accused of riot or unruly; The word * not ' is found in the story of the Prodigal Son, Luke xv. 13. 7. Per the bishop. This again shews that 'presbyter' is identical with 'bishop' (overseer). The only other places where episcopus occurs are i Tim. iii. 2 ; Phil, i. i ; Acts xx. 28. as God's steward : viz. the manager of God's house (i Tim. iii. 15). not self-willed. In Aristotle the ' gravity ' of i Tim. iii. 4 is a mean between self-will on the one side and complacency on the other. The content of ' not self-willed ' is deployed in the following words. not soon ang-ry. In Aristotle this 'anger' is an extreme, and 'inability to be angry' is the opposite. The mean in which he saw virtue is ' gentleness.' greedy of filthy lucre. In i Tim. iii. 8 this is used of deacons. * 'set in order' : a word not elsewhere in the Greek Bible. * 'not self-willed' : only here in Paul (cf. 2 Pet. ii. 10). ^ * not soon angry ' : a word only here in the N. T. TITUS 1. 8-II 177 of filthy lucre ; but given to hospitality, a lover of 8 good \ soberminded, just, holy, temperate^; holding to 9 the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers. For there are many unruly men, vain talkers^ and 10 deceivers^, specially they of the circumcision, whose u 8. just, holy : additions to the other hst. The former applies to duties to men, the latter to duties to God. temperate : rather, ' continent.' 9. holding to the faithful word. * The whole clause,' writes Dr. Bernard, * indicates the function of the episcopits as the guardian of the deposit of faith' (i Tim. vi. 20). Commentators like Dr. Bernard are determined to find here authority for a creed, and for a bishop as the guardian of the apostolic doctrine. As to the latter, we have seen that there can be no thought here of a bishop in the Ignatian sense: the 'bishop' is simply the elder, one of a group appointed in each church. As to the former, it is well to note what Schmidt and Holzendorff say : 'Faithful . . . the word which corresponds with the doctrine of the church. Hence we have here already an ecclesiastical doc- trinal canon, a rule of faith. This supposes the circumstances of the second century.' If episcopus here meant a 'bishop' as distinct from an ' elder,' or if ' the faithful word ' meant a doctrinal symbol, we should have to give up all idea of Pauline authorship. But as ' bishop' is identical with ' presbyter,' so ' the faithful word according to the doctrine ' simply means the faithful proclamation of the truth which Paul had taught. the healthful teaching* (marg.). See on i Tim. i. 10. gainsayers : 2 Tim. ii. 25. i. 10-16. The hetero-teachers in Crete. 10. unruly: i Tim. i. 9. they of the circumcision. The Judaizers were the worst of the false teachers in Crete. As we have seen, the whole character of the heresy in the Pastorals points to a type of Jewish teaching, Hke that of the Essenes, which had crept into the church. ^ 'lover of good' : only here. The negative of this is at 2 Tim. Hi. 3- ^ ' temperate ' : only here in the N. T. ^ * vain talkers ' and ' deceivers ' : two words only here in the Greek Bible (Gal. vi. 3, the verb of the latter). N 178 TITUS 1. 12 mouths must be stopped ' ; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy 12 lucre's sake. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons. And Titus, as an uncircumcised Greek, would be especially obnoxious to these men. 11. overthrow whole houses: i.e. 'subvert households.' Cf. 2 Tim. iii. 6. This implies that the heretics did not so much teach in the church, in which case their gains would not be properly called base, as surreptitiously get into families, and trade upon the ignorance, or curiosity, or even vice of the people, especially the women, extracting money from them in a way which justifies the strong expression ' for the sake of shameful gain.' Tyndale's * filth}'^ lucre ' is misleading. It is not gain as such that is shameful, but gain obtained in such a way (the two words are combined into one adjective in i Tim. iii. 8). It was characteristic of the heretics with whom Timoth}' had to do, that they thought godli- ness was a means of gain (i Tim. vi. 5). But the bad reputation of the Cretans for avarice, to which Livy, Plutarch, and Polybius refer, might make the words here specially forcible. 12. a prophet of their own: Epimenides, 600 B.C., called by Plato ' a divine man ' {Laws, 642 D). Diogenes Laertius says that the Cretans offered sacrifice to him as to a god. Only here and in 2 Pet. ii. 16 is the title of * prophet ' ascribed to heathen. It is a touch of that consciousness always present in Paul that God has nowhere left Himself without a witness. The reference, slight as it is, justifies us in ranking some of our poets and teachers among the prophets, without leaving the N.T. standpoint. Cretans are alway liars, &c. It is a hexameter verse from Epimenides on Oracles, quoted by Callimachus in his Hymn to Zeus, and well known in antiquity. The Cretans were ranked with Cappadocians and Cilicians, all beginning with K in Greek, as the three worst peoples in the Greek world. To Cretize was a word for ' to lie ' (Suidas). evil beasts, idle gluttons. Observe, the three characteristics of the Cretans reappears in these false teachers : 'liars,' vain talkers and deceivers of verses 10, 11; 'evil beasts,' unruly and overturning houses ; * idle gluttons,' the base gain, and perhaps the riot and love of wine, which are implicitly condemned in the characteristics of a bishop. This peculiar aptness in quotation indicates considerable culture in Paul (cf. Acts xvii. 28 and i Cor. xv. 33). ^ 'mouths must be stopped': a word not used by Paul, nor in the N.T., unless (doubtfully) at Luke xi. 53. TITUS 1. 13-16 179 This testimony is true. For which cause reprove them 13 sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving 14 heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure all things are 15 pure : but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure ; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God; but by 16 their works they deny him, being abominable \ and 13. Paul's assertion, this testimony is true, is very severe, especially as the letter was to be read afterwards in the Cretan Church. Holtzmann and Clemen consider it unpastoral tactless- ness to say this ; Riggenbach thinks it was only said to Titus. But such outspokenness (Phil. iii. 2) is the privilege of an apostle who has ' felt the spirit of the Highest.' may be sound in the faith : the verb to which corresponds the adjective we have so often had (i Tim. i. 10). Compared with 2 Tim. ii. 25, iv. 2, this treatment of the heretical teachers shews a higher degree of severity. 14. the Jewish fables, and commandments of men: as in I Tim. i. 4 ; but the special reference, as the next verse shews, is to such ascetic restrictions as are mentioned in i Tim. iv. 3. Such ' commandments of men ' (the word is always elsewhere in Scripture used only of Divine commandments) have been con- demned not only by Isaiah fxxix. 13), but by our Lord (Matt. XV. 9). Prohibitions of certain foods or of marriage may seem innocent, or to err only on the side of piety, but if they are human and not Divine, they divert our thoughts from the requirements of God, and may be as subtilely hurtful as the gross temptations of the world in just the opposite direction. 15. To the pure, &c. Rom. xiv. 14, 20 ; Luke xi. 41. When men, though fasting and continent, are yet inwardly defiled and essentially unbelieving, i. e. when understanding and conscience are defiled, the mere outward or physical purity is of no moment in the eyes of God. These Judaizing ascetics, though confessing that they knew God, and though practising ostentatiously religious austerities, were in conduct none the less denying Him, by giving the impression that He who is Wisdom and Love delights in such things. Outwardly correct and even saintly, they were inwardly abominable, and disobedient, and reprobate. 16. confess : not profess. As Jews, they inherited the great tradition of Monotheism ; they could not plead ignorance of Him * * abominable ' : only here in the N.T. (though the cognate N 2 i8o TITUS 2. I, 2 disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. 2 But speak thou the things which befit the sound 2 doctrine : that aged men be temperate, grave, sober- as an excuse for their perverse presentation of Him, as the nations that know Him not might (i Thess. iv 5 . For unto every g-oocl worlc cf. a Tim. iii. 17 and Titus iii. i. reprobate: 2 Tim. iii. 8. The hetero teachers of this Epistle are particularized as com- pared with those in i Timothy, by reference to the Cretan national character, to the subversion of ' whole homes,' and to special ascetic demands described as 'the commandments of men' (as in Matt. XV. 9 . In Romans and Corinthians the Judaizcrs are called 'weak'; here they are 'defiled and unbelieving.' The Judaizing tendency in the church was a disease, which through Paul's lifetime grew worse and worse ; ultimately, in the form of Catholicism, it captured and subdued the church up to the time of the Reformation. In the modern revival of Catholicism these exhortations of the Pastoral Epistles acquire a new value. II. ii. I — iii. 7. This tnain passage of the Epistle is an injunction to Timothy to apply the precepts of the healthy doctrine to several classes and conditions of men ; and it incidentally implies that the healthful influence of the teaching must depend to some extent on the discrimination with which it is thus applied, just as a physician is effective not so much by a theoretical knowledge of medicine as by recognizing what medicine must be given to the particular patient, and how and when. Chap. ii. is complete in itself. First there is 'speak' (1-5 , then 'exhort' (6-10), and lastly 'reprove,' implied in 11-14. Then 'speak, exhort, reprove' in verse 15 is the summing-up. The truth in verses 11-14 also furnishes the ground of the directions given in verses 2-10. 'The grace of God hath appeared'; that is the general healthful truth from which the applications to men and women, to the aged and the 3'oung, are drawn. 1. But: in contrast with the misleading teaching, Titus is to be active in his right teaching, sound doctrine. See on i Tim. i. 9 ; 2 Tim. i. 13. 2. aged men. The word used (only Philem. 9 ; Luke i. 18) is not the same as in i Tim. v. i, though the idea is the same, viz. not elder as official, but only in point of age. temperate : i Tim. iii. 2. grave : i Tim. ii. 2, iii. 4. words are in Rom. ii. 22; Rev. xxi. Sj Mark xiii. 14; Luke xvi. 15). TITUS 2. 3-5 i8i minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience : that aged wo- 3 men ^ likewise be reverent ^ in demeanour '•, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good * ; that they may train ^ the young women to love 4 their husbands, to love their children, /