The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Timothy — Section 130

Olympie M~embly ror any or the prizes, in the bapti"?lal con_fcssion (Aots viii. 87 wrestling, ohariot-racing, foot-rncing, mueio, (T.R.); xvi. 81 ; xix. 4, 5). The ne.turnl or what not. 'Ayw,,/{«r8a, .,-bv aywva ie to word to have followed µ.ap,-upiw woe µ.a.pTUplmv, "carry on euoh a oontc>st •· (oomp. 2 Tim. iv. ae above dµoll.oyla.v followa &µoll.&')'11ns • but 7). The oomparieon is different from that St. Paul substitutes the word of oognate in oh. i. l 8, "Iva <T-rpan6r, . . • -r~v ,caJ\.~v meaning, 6µ.oll.oylav, in order to keep the <M"pa.nlav," That thou mayest war the good formula, ll iraJ\.~ dµ.oll.rry(a., warfare." The faith. There is nothing to Ver.14.-Thefortltis, A.V.; without reproach determine abso!utL·lv whether ;, 1rlu-r,s here for unrebukable, A. V. The oommandment means faith subjectively or "the faith" ob- (T¾v lv-rall.~v). The phre.se is peculiar, and jecti vcly, nor does it muoh matter. The must have some special mee.ning. Perhe.ps, result is the same; but the eubjective sense ae Bishop Wordsworth expounds it, "the aecms the most appropriate. Lay hold, etc.; oommandment" is that le.w of faith and duty RS the fJpafJiiov or prize of the oonte:,;t (see to which Timothy vowed obedience at his ; Cor. ix. 24, 25). Wherennto thou wast baptism, and is parallel to II the good oon- called. So St. Paul continually (Rom. i. 1, fession." Some think that the comme.nli 6, 7; viii. 28, 30 ; I Cor. i. 29; Eph. iv. I ; given in vere. 11, 12 is referred to; and 1 Theu. ii. 12; and numerous other pas- this is the meaning of the A.V. "this." sages). He seems here to drop the metaphor, Without spot, without reproaoh. There is as in the following clause. Didst oonfese a difference of opinion amongcommentatore, the good oonfeesion. The connection of this whether these two adjectives (lirT1r1ll.ov, a.v,1rl- i,hraBe with the call to eternal life, and the ll.711r-rov) belong to the commandment or to "llueion to one special occasion on which the person, i.e. Timothy. The introduction Timothy " had confessed the good confes- of ,,., after T71p11n1 ; the facte that -r71p711Ta1 sion " of his faith in Jesus Christ, seems to -rus Iv-roll.as, without any addition, means point clearly to his baptism (see Matt. x. " to keep t.he commandments," and that in :12; John ix. 22; xii 42; Heh. x. 23), the New Testament, li<T1r1,\os and a11•1r1,\71,r,-os The phrase, " the good confession," seems to always are used of persons, not things (Jae. have been technically applied to the bap- i. 27; 1 Pet. i. 19; 2 Pet. iii. 14; eh. iii. 2; tismal confession ofChrist(compare the other v. 7); and the consideration that the idea of '.Jhurch sayings, eh. i. 15 ; iii 1 ; iv. 9; 2 the person being found blameless in, or kept Tim. ii 11 ; Titus iii. 8). In the sight of blameless llllto, the coming of Christ, ie a many witnesses. The whole congregation of frequent one in the Epistles (Jude 24; 2 the Church, who were witnesses of his bap- Pet. iii. 14 ; 1 Cor. i. 8: Col. i. 22 ; 1 These. tism (see the robric prefixed to the Order of iii. 13; v. 23),-seem to point strongly, if not "Ministration of Public Baptism" in the oonclusively, to the adjectives /i,,-,ri.\ov and Book of Common Prayer). a.v,1r[,\711M"ov here agreeing with ,,-1, not with Ver.18.-1 charge thee for I gi~ thee charge, lno,\n11.' The appearing (T¾II '"•</>av,lav). ..\..V.; o/forbejore(initalics),A. V.; the fora, The thought of the second advent of the Lord A.. V. loharge thee, It has been well observed Jesus, always prominent in the mind of St. that the apostle's language incree.ses insolem- Paul (1 Cor. i. 7, 8; iv. 5; xv. 28; Col iii. Hity as he approaches the end of the Epistle. 4 ; 1 These. iii. 13; iv. 15; 2 These. i. 9, Th.is word 1rapa:yyeMJ,, is of frequent use .. tc.), seems to have acquired fresh intensity in St. Paul's Epistles (1 Cor. vii. 10; l These. amidst the troubles and danger1 of the iv. 11 : 2 Thess. iii. 4, 6, 10, 12 ; and above, closing years of his life, both as an object eh. i. S; iv. 11; v. 7). In the sight of God, of hope and us a motive of action (2 Tim. etc. (compare the adjuration in eh. v. 21). L 10; ii. 12; iv. 1, 8; Titus ii. 13). Who qniokeneth, etc. The T.R. he.a (r.,01ro1- Ver. 15.-Its own for hie, A.V. This cor- ouv-ro,. The R. T. has (r.,cryovoiivTo<, with rection seems to be manifestly right. The no clliference of meaning. Both words are same phrase is rcndi,red in eh. ii. 6 and used in the LXX. as the rendering of the Titus i. 3 "in due time," in the A.V.; but Pihel and Hiphil of ~r;i- As an epithet of in the R.V. ii. 6 is "its own times," and in "God," it sets before us the highest creative Titus i. 3 "his own seasons. In Gal. vi. 9 a.et of the Almighty as " the Lord, and the ,calpq, l6lq, is also rendered "in due season," Giver of life;" o.nd is equivalent to "the in both t!Je A.V. and the R.V. Buch a Ii ving God" (Matt. xxvi. 63), "the God of phrase as ;., ,ca,poi, l6lois must be taken 11,e spirits of all flesh" (N u1u b. xvi. 22). everywhere in the same scll80. It clearly The existence of " life" is the one thing means at the JUting or proper time, and cor- which baffles the ingenuity of science in its responds to the ,rA.npwµo. 'TOii xp&vo11, "the ~ttempts to dispew,e with a Creator. The fulness of time," in Gal. iv. •• The two good oonfeui.on refer1 to our Lord's confes- aion of himself as "the Chris!, t!Je Son of 1Bishop Ellicott, Dean Alford, Buther, (,od," in Matt. :uvii. 11; Luke xxiii. 3; 11,ndothers, with De Wette, refer, howe-rer, John xriii.. Iii, 'ifl, whioh ~ analogoua to theae adjeoti ves to ,-J,,, 4vro,\~•• OIi, vt. 1-21.J THE F'IRS'J.I EP1STLE 1'0 1'IM01'Il:V.