1 Timothy 2 Explained
1 Timothy 2 is the second chapter of the First Epistle to Timothy in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The author has been traditionally identified as Paul the Apostle since as early as AD 180,[1] [2] [3] although most modern scholars consider the letter pseudepigraphical,[4] perhaps written as late as the first half of the second century AD.[5]
This chapter refers to prayer (verses 1 to 7, also in verse 8) and to the behaviour of women (verses 8 to 15).[6]
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 15 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Instruction on prayer (2:1–7)
Verse 1
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone.[7] Clare Drury reads this verse as meaning that prayer is to be "the first duty of a member of the community". Although four words, "supplication", "prayer", "intercession", and "thanksgiving", are used, "no distinction is made between them".
Verses 3–4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.[8]
- "Savior" (Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σωτῆρος, ): The second of three times in this letter (others: 1:1; 4:10) where God is called "Savior", recalling the 'well-known appellation of Yahweh in the Greek Old Testament' (for examples, LXX 32:15 KJV; 23:5 KJV; KJV; KJV; KJV; 12:2 KJV; KJV; KJV; KJV).
Men and women at prayer (2:8–15; 3:1)
Verse 12
See main article: 1 Timothy 2:12.
And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.[9]
- "I do not permit a woman to teach" (KJV: "But I suffer not a woman to teach"): Baptist theologian John Gill interprets this in the sense that women may teach only in private, that is, in their own houses and families, to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, not to forsake the law or doctrine of a mother, any more than the instruction of a father (see 1:8 KJV; KJV), and they are to be teachers of good things (cf. 2:3 KJV). Timothy surely received a lot of advantage from the private teachings and instructions of his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois, but then women were not to teach in the church.
- "To have authority over a man" (KJV: "to usurp authority over the man"): Gill sees this as not to be done in civil and political things, or in things relating to civil government; and in things domestic, or the affairs of the family, therefore also not in ecclesiastical things, nor what relate to the church, for one part of rule is to feed the church with knowledge and understanding; and for a woman to do this, can be seen as to usurp an authority over the man.
- "To be in silence": according to Gill is "to sit and hear quietly", learning, not teaching, as in 2:11 KJV.[10]
Verse 13
For Adam was formed first, then Eve.[11]
- "Was formed" (Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐπλάσθη): having the same root as the word used in the LXX in 2:7 KJV, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἔπλασεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, "The Lord God formed man...;" and in 2:19 KJV of the beasts of the field, whereas in 9:20 KJV man is called Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τὸ πλάσμα, "the thing made;" and God is Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ὁ Πλάσας, "he that made it;" the words "plaster", "plastic", or "protoplasm" are also from the same root.[12]
Verse 14
And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.[13]
Verse 15
But a woman will be saved through having children, if she perseveres in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.[14] Chapter 3 opens with the words This is a faithful saying,[15] The saying is sure, or The saying is commonly accepted.[16] The words may refer back to the latter part of this chapter, including this verse, or they may be read as introductory to the material in chapter 3 about the office of a bishop.
See also
Sources
- Book: Towner, Philip H.. Philip H. Towner . The Letters to Timothy and Titus . The New International Commentary on the New Testament . Frederick Fyvie. Bruce . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 2006 . 9780802825131 .
External links
Notes and References
- See the arguments on composition of the epistle.
- [Henry Hampton Halley|Halley, Henry H.]
- Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
- David E. Aune, ed., The Blackwell Companion to The New Testament (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 9: "While seven of the letters attributed to Paul are almost universally accepted as authentic (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon), four are just as widely judged to be pseudepigraphical, i.e. written by unknown authors under Paul's name: Ephesians and the Pastorals (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus)."
- Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), 366.
- Drury, C., 73. The Pastoral Epistles, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 1223-4
- Timothy 2:1
New Revised Standard Version
- 2:3–4 NKJV NKJV
- 2:12 NKJV NKJV
- Web site: 1 Timothy 2:12 - Meaning and Commentary on Bible Verse. biblestudytools.com.
- 2:13 NKJV NKJV
- Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "1 Timothy 2". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2018.
- 2:14 NLT
NLT
- 2:15 GNT
GNT
- 3:1 NKJV
KNJV
- 3:1 NRSV
NRSV
