1 Timothy, Chapter 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the command of God the Savior of us and of Christ Jesus the hope of us, 2 to Timothy, genuine child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, the Lord of us.
3 Just as I urged you to remain in Ephesus when I was going to Macedonia so that you may instruct certain men not to teach other doctrine, 4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies which bring debate rather than stewardship of God, which is in faith. 5 And the goal of instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith 6 from which some, having missed the mark, have turned away to foolish talking, 7 desiring to be teachers of the Law, not understanding neither what they are saying, nor about which they confidently assert. 8 We know now that the law is good, if one lawfully uses it, 9 knowing this, that for a righteous man, law is not laid, however for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and improper, for murders of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man-slayers, 10 for male prostitutes, pederasts, slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anything other that the sound teaching is opposed to, 11 according to the good message of the glory of the blessed God, which has been entrusted to me.
12 Thankfulness I have to Christ Jesus the Lord of us, having strengthened me, because faithful me He esteemed, having appointed to service, 13 formerly being a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and insolent; but I was shown mercy because being ignorant, I acted in unbelief. 14 Abounding exceedingly, then, is the grace of the Lord of us, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance is the saying that Christ Jesus came into the world of sinners to save, of whom foremost am I. 16 But because of this, I was shown mercy, so that in me foremost might display Jesus Christ’s perfect patience as a pattern for those being about to have faith in Him, to age-long life. 17 To now the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory, to the ages of the ages. Amen. 18 This charge I set before you, child, Timothy, according to the preceding prophecies about you, to wage war on them the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having thrust away the faith and suffered a shipwreck— 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have surrendered over to Satan, so that they may be disciplined not to blaspheme.
Or, possibly, “set,” or “applied” (according to other translations) (Englishman’s Concordance qtd. in 2749)
Literally, “not subject to rule[s]” (Strong qtd. in 506)
Literally, “permitted to be trodden,” i.e. unhallowed (Strong qtd. in 952). Refers to people being “unfit to access (know) God, because they approach him apart from faith” (HELPS Word-studies qtd. in 952)
πόρνος, pornos, masculine; fornicator, or male prostitute. (Strong qtd. in 4205)
ἀρσενοκοίτης, arsenokoites, masculine. This Greek word is translated as “homosexual” or “sodomite” in almost every English version of the Bible. Broken up by its roots, the word means “man” (arsen) “bed” (koites; with a sexual implication, possibly adultery). The assumption, then, is that this word translates to something to do with male-on-male sex. However, arsenokoites is a rare Greek word, listed only 73 times in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae from Paul’s assumed first usage of it to usages in 1453 CE. In many of these references, the context is either referring to “robber, defrauder, thief” or adultery, murder, or interspecies sex (specifically, Greek gods fornicating with and raping humans) (Brentlinger). Paul is, as far as we know, the first person to write this word down (assuming he wrote this word in his original letter, or wrote the letters at all); some theorize that he made the word up himself. It is most likely, according to the time period in which Paul was assumedly writing, that he was referring to pederasty, the Greek practice of older men grooming and molesting young boys (Strong also defines this word as pederast [qtd. in 733]). Male-on-male anal rape or sex is specified because it was seen as especially demeaning for a man to be penetrated “as a woman.” The first translation of arsenokoites as “homosexual” appeared in the Revised Standard Version published on February 11, 1946. In a letter to Dr. Luther Weigle, head of the translation committee for the RSV, a young seminarian pointed out the mistranslation, to which Weigle agreed and acknowledged their mistake, committing to correcting the error (“What if”). However, the revised RSV did not appear until 1971. By then, other translations and editions began using “homosexual” as well.
Contextually, a man taken in war and sold into slavery, or one who unjustly reduces free men to slavery, or one who steals the slaves of others and sells them (Thayer qtd. in 405). Slaves still obviously existed en mass in Biblical times.
Click here to read about the Apostle Paul's questionable authorship of the Pastoral Epistles (1-2 Timothy and Titus).
Χριστός, Christou, properly means “the Anointed One” The word is synonymous with the Hebrew term mashiah or “messiah” (“Messiah”). In Old Testament Jewish writings, “messiah” is a descriptive title for the deliverer of the Jewish nation (“Messiah”). According to Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, author of “The Speaking Tree: Concept of Salvation in Judaism,” “The Jewish concept of Messiah…is not considered as a future divine or supernatural being but as a dominating human influence in an age of universal peace, characterised by the spiritual regeneration of humanity.” Since the apostle Paul who we associate with the writing of 1 Timothy was a Jew, he most likely believed in this version of the concept of the messiah and the Christ—a living human who saves Jews from their oppressors—or, at the very least, his knowledge of the Christ was influenced by this teaching.
σωτήρ, sōterōs, masculine, defined as “a savior, deliverer.” It is used in other passages of the Bible as “savior, deliverer, preserver” (Strong qtd. in 4490). Culturally, the term “Savior” to refer to Jesus was based on the belief that he was the Christ (or Messiah) (see 2) who would save Jews from exile and oppression.
Or, “true child,” “[my] true child,” “[my] genuine child” (Strong qtd. in 1103)
Or missing “God’s target,” walking “off line” from God’s will (HELPS Word-studies, qtd. in 795)
Mosaic Law; traditionally refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
Or, possibly, “thinking [about]” (Strong qtd. in 3539)
αἰώνιος, aiónios. Most commonly translated to “eternal,” which no longer holds the same meaning as it did in ancient times. Historically, this terms refers basically to a “long life.” Strong defines the usage of this term as “age-long, and therefore: practically eternal, undending; partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeing” (qtd. in 166). The Jewish religion, modernly, does not have a solid belief on afterlife or the immortality of the soul; this was likely the case in Biblical times as well.
αἰών, aión, masculine. All of the references to “ages” in this verse use the same term, referencing specifically the Messianic age of the New Testament and referencing Paul’s apocalyptic views.
Or, “truly,” “verily” (Strong qtd. in 281).