Commentary on 1 Timothy 0.1–2.13

Prologue. Timothy was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father, because of whom he could not be circumcised as a child. Through his mother’s care he learned the sacred writings, and by applying himself to them he set his life on a good course (Acts 16:1–2). When the apostle wished to take him on, knowing that he would be a fit steward of the gospel truth, he was compelled because of the Jews, who pressed him, to circumcise him, since one born of a Jewish mother ought not to be taken on uncircumcised for the office of teaching, because of the witness of his descent. Him, then, already made a bishop, he instructs by letter how he ought to order the church. Chapter 1.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” He shows that he was made an apostle by the command of the Father and the Son, to preach salvation in God the Father and hope in Christ his Son; so that, since no one denies that salvation is in God, no one should doubt that hope is in Christ Jesus, recognizing that he, raised from the dead, has given the example of this hope. He writes to Timothy in this way so that he might be sure of his ordination, because he was chosen to teach by the command of the Father and the Son. He calls him a true son, but in faith, as he says to the Corinthians: “In Christ Jesus,” he says, “I begot you through the gospel” (1 Cor 4:15). This is the true and firm begetting, which knows no setting, knows no diseases and plague, and knows nothing of hunger and thirst, but has learned to need nothing in the kingdom of God; for by God’s gift there will be glorious immortality in the kingdom of God and of Christ, whose grace, mercy, and peace he wishes to remain with him.

“As I asked you to remain at Ephesus when I was going into Macedonia, so that you might charge certain people not to teach otherwise, nor to pay attention to fables and endless genealogies, which provide questions rather than the edification of God which is in faith, so do.” A son ought not to be asked by a father; but out of the affection of love, and to show him a pattern of humility, the bishop entreats his fellow bishop not to allow the Jews to teach the people otherwise than was handed down by the apostle, lest they be charmed by the fables the Jews are accustomed to tell about the descent of their origins, about Abraham, Isaac, and the other patriarchs, and about circumcision and the things afterward handed down by Moses, lest they be entrapped into observing things that had been given in a fleshly way. For what need is there to make mention of generations, which are plainly endless by propagation, and of what was done under each of them and to what extent, rather than to seek salvation by the short way through faith? For from this arise questions, when what, when, how, and why something was done is discussed; and this hinders salvation.

“For the end of the commandment is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned; from which certain people, straying, have turned aside to empty talk, wanting to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm.” Since love is the greatest of all, he said that it is the end, that is, the consummation of perfection, of all the commandments, provided it is from a pure heart and a good conscience. For true love cannot have an evil life or a feigned faith, and in these the whole law and the prophets are fulfilled (Matt 7:12). But some of the Jews, ignorant of the mystery of the law and the prophets, because they were handed down to be kept until Christ, went astray, thinking that even after Christ was preached the law of works ought to be kept in new moons, circumcision, and distinctions of foods. Therefore he says they turned aside to empty talk, because they wanted to teach what they did not know.

“But we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, holding this as certain, that the law is not laid down for the righteous but for the unjust and disobedient, the ungodly and sinners, the wicked and profane, parricides and matricides, fornicators, murderers, men who lie with males, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching, which is according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which has been entrusted to me.” He does not deny that the law given through Moses is good, provided that its sense is known and it is taken in the way it was given. For the one who knows the law, and why it was given, is the one who, once Christ has been preached, abandons it in the part in which it is called the law of works, but uses it with regard to the love of God, asserting and affirming the things said of the Savior in the law and the prophets. For he uses the law lawfully who can distinguish what was given for a time from what is perpetual, and that what belongs to the mystery of Christ ought no longer to be kept for the future, as if one were believed to be coming who has already come. If, then, all things are taken in their places, they are good; if not, they will be bad for one who asserts them perversely, for it is a sin not to expound each thing in its place. Moreover, the righteous have no need of the law, that is, those who have been justified by receiving the remission of sins, so that they no longer live under the law, from which they have been freed by the gift of God through faith in Christ; so that thereafter, keeping the law of nature, which takes in the knowledge of the Creator and urges them not to sin, they may await the day of judgment, in which the righteous who keep the natural law are to be rewarded; for if the human race had held to that law as its guide, the law in writing would not have been given through Moses. But because it was held in contempt, as if it had no authority, it was confirmed by Scripture, so that it might be known that it must be kept, both for the present time and because he who confirmed it will inquire in the future by whom it was neglected and by whom kept. And so he says that the law was given not only because of evil acts and vices of the body, but also because of the faithlessness by which they despised the Creator, so that they might learn to live well and to give thanks to the Creator.

“And I give thanks to him who strengthened me in Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, putting me into the ministry, though I was formerly a blasphemer and persecutor and insolent; but I obtained mercy, because I acted in ignorance, not yet believing. And the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Because every unbeliever suffers weakness of mind, bound by fleshly reasoning so as not to believe what is spiritual, he therefore says he gives thanks to Christ, because by the appearance of his majesty he strengthened the feebleness of his mind; for he thought impossible what was preached about the Lord’s power, his twofold birth, his resurrection, and the hope. Being strengthened, he was seen to be such a one as was worthy and able to be a steward of the Lord’s mystery, so that he might confirm as true through the law what before, out of love of the law, he judged incredible, and might rejoice in the persecutions which before he inflicted on believers as if justly, grieving that he had done it, glad that he was suffering. For he had learned so great a hope in him whom before he denied that he rejoiced more in suffering than he had once exulted in persecuting. For he did this not from malice but from error, which can easily be forgiven when one comes to one’s senses. But one who knows that what he denies is true does not do it from error but from ill will, and his wound is incurable; for he is driven by envy to call false what he knows to be true.

“A human saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. But for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might show all magnanimity and patience, as an example to those who will believe in him for eternal life.” What is so welcome and so delightful as to preach pardon to sinners? For who is without sin, that he should not receive this gift with all thanksgiving, setting God before him as its author and praising him in Christ, who, to wash man from his sins, came down from heaven to earth and took the flesh of sin; mingled himself with earthly things in order to make man heavenly; let himself die in order to snatch him from death and restore him immortal to paradise? Who would not extol without end these benefits which God bestowed on man, the Lord on the servant, the Maker on the creature, so that there should be more in his benefits to humans after he had made them than when he made what did not exist? For abandoned by them, despised, and assailed with insults, he added to his benefits without being asked, so as to be the more pleasing and the more to be preferred in restoring than in making, to show that he is the one who can do all these things. So Christ brought help to man in such a way as not to violate his purity nor lose his power. For he willed to be born a man, holding it as certain that he would in no way be defiled by contact with the flesh; he mingled with human life, knowing that he could not be corrupted by sins; he let himself be killed, well knowing that death could not rule over him but that he would crush it by his power. He did these things, then, to teach that he can do all things. For this humility tends not to his diminishment but to his glory, and not only his but also that of those who believe in him; for it is a dignity to be the servant of one who is mighty. And although many of the Jews, from among those who killed the Lord himself, had certainly believed before the apostle, the apostle nevertheless humbles himself, still grieving over his unbelief, and calls himself the first of all sinners. For since, more than the rest, he steeped himself in the Savior’s mystery, coming nearer to know his magnificence, he accuses himself the more for having recognized so great a good late, and not of his own accord but forestalled by his mercy, so that he might be a witness to the divinity of him whom before he reckoned a dead man. This is his self-accusation, but the praise of the Savior, who as an example to the other believers called his persecutor to grace, so that by his patience and magnanimity toward him he might show the rest that he who was so kind to an enemy would be still more so to those who run to him.

“Now to the King of the ages, immortal and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” These words belong to the person of God the Father, whom he therefore calls alone immortal and invisible, because all immortality is from him, so that it belongs more truly to him alone; for whoever is immortal has it not from himself but from him. In a like way we read in the gospel, the Lord saying: “No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18). And again he says: “A good man brings forth good things from a good treasure” (Matt 12:35). Yet no one is good but God alone, because he is the fountain of goodness, from which the others drink so as to be good. He is also the only invisible God, because he has never been seen by anyone; for he does everything through the Son, whom we therefore say was seen, meaning that he appeared, though otherwise than he is. So he proclaims honor and glory in truth to God the Father, by whose kindness and providence Christ freed sinners from death.

“This command I entrust to you, my son Timothy, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a pure conscience, which some have rejected and made shipwreck concerning the faith; among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” After recalling what and how great are the benefits of God the Father and of Christ his Son toward sinful humans, whom, when they deserved punishment, he not only pardoned but also justified and adopted as his sons, he shows in what follows in what order he should instruct the people in church discipline, warning holy Timothy, mindful of his election, to fulfill that for which he was predestined. For he was predestined when he was taken on by the apostle for this purpose, to be ordained, judged worthy to become a bishop, so as to fulfill the warfare of the gospel in faith and a pure conscience; for one who teaches faithfully cannot have a bad conscience. For then he gives credibility to his preaching, if he abstains from all things contrary to it; because by the example of good works he stirs many to believe, trusting in the hope of his preaching; for whoever spurns faith is without doubt of a bad conscience. For either he is shown to be a hypocrite or an open blasphemer, as were Hymenaeus and Alexander, who, deserting the faith, were shipwrecked, that is, stripped of the truth, or deprived of life. For what is truth but life? He says that he handed them over to Satan, so that they might be corrected on account of their blasphemy. This handing over is this: the apostle, moved by their blasphemies, pronounced sentence against them; and the devil, who is ready for this purpose, to receive into his power those who are opposed to God, having heard the sentence, seizes them, so that they might understand that they were bound by punishments because they had blasphemed. Hence it is that in the gospel it is said, among other things: “Sin no more, lest something worse befall you” (John 5:14), showing that infirmities are sometimes brought on bodies because of sin. And that they happen with the devil as minister the Lord made plain, saying among many things: “But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16).

“I urge, then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are placed in high position, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and chastity. For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This is a church rule, handed down by the teacher of the gentiles, which our priests use, so that they make supplication for all, praying for the kings of this world, that they may hold the nations subject, so that, set in peace, we may serve our God in tranquility of mind and quiet; praying also for those to whom high authority has been entrusted, that they may govern the state in justice and truth, with an abundance of goods supplied, so that, the disturbance of sedition being removed, gladness may follow; for “bread strengthens the heart, and wine gladdens the mind” (Ps 104:15); and petitioning for those who are in various necessities, that, rescued and freed, they may praise God the author of their safety; and also returning thanks for what God’s providence daily provides us for life, so that in all these things God the Father may be praised, “from whom are all things” (1 Cor 8:6), and his Son, “through whom are all things”; so that, everything hostile and inimical to this empire being laid to rest, we may serve God in the disposition of godliness and chastity; for disturbance and captivity preserve neither godliness nor chastity. For how is one godly who is naked? And how chaste where one is not in his own power? So that these may be kept, then, quiet is necessary, so that services pleasing to God may be rendered, who wants all people to be saved and to know the truth. “This,” he says, “is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). If God, who is called almighty, wants all people to be saved, is his will not fulfilled? But in every utterance a sense and a condition lie hidden; hence the apostle Peter says: “All Scripture needs interpretation” (2 Pet 1:20). For God wants all people to be saved, but if they come to him; for he does not so will that the unwilling be saved, but wills them to be saved if they too are willing. For certainly he who gave the law to all excluded no one from salvation. Does not a physician advertise in public for this reason, to show that he wants to save all, provided he is sought out by the sick? For it is not true salvation if it is given to one who is unwilling; nor can one rejoice in salvation received who accepted the medicine against his will, if that can even happen; not to mention that the medicine cannot have its effect unless the sick person applies his mind to it, for this medicine is not bodily but spiritual, and it profits neither the doubtful nor the unwilling. For it is faith that gives salvation, and unless the mind receives it with its whole will, it will not only profit nothing but will even do harm. For the grace of faith has this power: that it pours divine healing into those devoted to it, but in the undevoted it aggravates the disease by which the whole man perishes.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” He indicates that God and Christ have one will in saving people; hence he declares that God the Father, because all authority is from him, is one, and that there is one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. For, sent by the Father and made arbiter, he reconciled God and men, re-forming them to the knowledge of him. For since the Father and the Son are one, not in person but in sameness of nature, the Son of God, taking flesh, was born a man, so as to be arbiter between God and men; so that the mediator between God and men was the man Christ Jesus, that is, not without divinity; for man was in God and God in man; and so that he might be mediator from both, and reconcile both, he first did this in himself. For keeping the unity of God, he could not be called mediator between God and men as though there were another God to call man, estranged from God, back into favor; but as a man who did not transgress the law given, he was made arbiter between the one who sinned and the one who knew not how to sin, so that the latter might pardon and the man might thereafter remain in God’s faith.

“Who gave himself as a redemption for all, the testimony to which was given at its own times, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I speak the truth, I do not lie), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.” Since man, reconciled to God, was still liable to the death of the underworld, the Savior, to bring his arbitration to its effect so that man could ascend to the God to whom he had been reconciled, let himself die against right, so that, descending to the underworld, he might condemn death for the impiety it had committed against him, taking from it those it held, so that thereafter whoever had his sign could not be held by it. He showed the testimony of this when he rose at its own time; for the destruction of death is the resurrection of the dead. This apostle was sent to preach this hope to the gentiles, so that they might learn from him what hope there was in Christ; for this reason he is called a teacher, to teach faith and truth.

“I want, therefore, men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger and dispute.” He warns that in prayer the mind ought to be peaceable, so that the prayer may be brought to effect; for hands are holy when the heart is clean. Yet he commands that one should pray in every place in such a way that a suitable place is understood, certainly not an unseemly or filthy place, since the Lord forbids praying in public; rather, he warns of this lest they think that prayer is to be made only in church (Matt 6:5–6).

“Likewise also women in orderly dress, with modesty and chastity, adorning themselves not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, as befits women professing godliness, with good works.” He warns that women ought to pray in humble dress, not in ostentation; for one who wants to be heard ought to bow down, putting away display, in order to call forth God’s mercy. For proud dress neither obtains its request nor makes one believed to be upright. For what prudent person would not shudder at a woman ostentatiously adorned? How much more God the creator, who sees the body he made free bound in metals! For humble dress suits a good profession, so that one may be thought nothing other than what is seen; but she who prefers to be seen with display in the house of God gets what she wants, to appear splendid, certainly not on God’s account but on men’s, and will obtain nothing from God but a stain. For the more splendid she seems to men, the more she is despised by God. (Verses 11–12.) “Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. For a woman is not permitted to teach, nor to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” He commands not only that a woman ought to have humble dress, but also that authority is to be denied her and she is to be subject to the man, so that both in dress and in obedience she may be under the power of the man, from whom she takes her origin.

“For Adam was created first, then Eve (Gen 1:27); and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression. But she will be saved through the bearing of children, if she remains in faith and love and holiness with chastity” (Gen 3:6). He ranks the man above the woman because he was created first, so that the woman is inferior because she was created after the man and from the man. He adds something else as well: that the devil did not lead the man astray but the woman, while the man was deceived through the woman; and therefore no boldness is to be allowed her, but she ought to be in humility, because through her death entered the world. “She will be saved,” he says, “through the bearing of children,” provided she remains in faith and love and a pure life. By “children” he means those who are reborn through faith in Christ; for if these persevere in their begetting, the woman will be freed with them, rising from the dead; not that she will be freed by them, but through their begetting. For when those who are destined for eternal life believe, the resurrection from the dead is reached, and she will be saved when they believe and lead a chaste life. For the resurrection is suspended until all who are predestined to salvation believe.