Author
Both early tradition and the
salutations of the Pastoral Letters (1,2
Timothy; Titus) themselves claim Paul as
their author (1:1; 2Ti 1:1; Tit 1:1).
Some objections have been raised in
recent years on the basis of an alleged
uncharacteristic vocabulary and style
(see, e.g., notes on 1:15; 2:2), but
other evidence still convincingly
supports Paul’s authorship. See essay,
p. 2481.
Background and Purpose
During his fourth missionary journey
(see map, pp. 2486–2487), Paul had
instructed Timothy to care for the
church at Ephesus (1:3) while he went on
to Macedonia. When he realized that he
might not return to Ephesus in the near
future (3:14–15), he wrote this first
letter to Timothy to develop the charge
he had given his young assistant (1:3,
18), to refute false teachings (1:3–7;
4:1–8; 6:3–5,20–21) and to supervise the
affairs of the growing Ephesian church
(church worship, ch. 2; the appointment
of qualified church leaders, 3:1–13;
5:17–25).
A major problem in the Ephesian
church was a heresy that combined
Gnosticism (see Introduction to 1 John:
Gnosticism), decadent Judaism (1:3–7)
and false asceticism (4:1–5).
Date
1 Timothy was written sometime after
the events of Ac 28 (c. 63–65; see
chart, p. 2261), at least eight years
after Paul’s three-year stay in Ephesus
(see Ac 19:10 and note).
Recipient
 As
the salutation indicates (1:2), Paul is
writing to Timothy, a native of Lystra
(in modern Turkey). Timothy’s father was
Greek, while his mother was a Jewish
Christian (Ac 16:1). From childhood he
had been taught the OT (2Ti 1:5; 3:15).
Paul called him “my true son in the
faith” (1:2; see note there), perhaps
having led him to faith in Christ during
his first visit to Lystra. At the time
of his second visit Paul invited Timothy
to join him on his missionary travels,
circumcising him so that his Greek
ancestry would not be a liability in
working with the Jews (Ac 16:3). Timothy
helped Paul evangelize Macedonia and
Achaia (Ac 17:14–15; 18:5) and was with
him during much of his long preaching
ministry at Ephesus (Ac 19:22). He
traveled with him from Ephesus to
Macedonia, to Corinth (see Ac 20:3 and
note), back to Macedonia, and to Asia
Minor (Ac 20:1–6). He may even have
accompanied him all the way to
Jerusalem. He was with Paul during the
apostle’s first imprisonment (Php 1:1;
Col 1:1; Phm 1).
Following Paul’s release (after Ac
28), Timothy again traveled with him but
eventually stayed at Ephesus to deal
with the problems there, while Paul went
on to Macedonia. Paul’s closeness to and
admiration of Timothy are seen in Paul’s
naming him as the co-sender of six of
his letters (2 Corinthians, Philippians,
Colossians, 1,2 Thessalonians and
Philemon) and in his speaking highly of
him to the Philippians (Php 2:19–22). At
the end of Paul’s life he requested
Timothy to join him at Rome (2Ti
4:9,21). According to Heb 13:23, Timothy
himself was imprisoned and subsequently
released—whether at Rome or elsewhere,
we do not know.
Timothy was not an apostle. It may be
best to regard him as an apostolic
representative, delegated to carry out
special work (cf. Tit 1:5).
Outline
-
Greetings (1:1–2)
-
Warning against False Teachers
(1:3–11)
-
The Nature of the Heresy (1:3–7)
-
The Purpose of the Law (1:8–11)
-
The Lord’s Grace to Paul (1:12–17)
-
The Purpose of Paul’s Instructions
to Timothy (1:18–20)
-
Instructions concerning Church
Administration (chs. 2–3)
-
Public Worship (ch. 2)
-
Prayer in public worship
(2:1–8)
-
Women in public worship
(2:9–15)
-
Qualifications for Church
Officers (3:1–13)
-
Overseers (3:1–7)
-
Deacons (3:8–13)
-
Purpose of These Instructions
(3:14–16)
-
Instructions concerning False
Teaching (ch. 4)
-
False Teaching Described (4:1–5)
-
Methods of Dealing with It
Explained (4:6–16)
-
Instructions concerning Different
Groups in the Church (5:1—6:2)
-
The Older and Younger (5:1–2)
-
Widows (5:3–16)
-
Elders (5:17–25)
-
Slaves (6:1–2)
-
Miscellaneous Matters (6:3–19)
-
False Teachers (6:3–5)
-
Love of Money (6:6–10)
-
Charge to Timothy (6:11–16)
-
The Rich (6:17–19)
-
Concluding Appeal and Benediction
(6:20–21)
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