This last verse is an appropriate summing up of the preceding verses. Take heed to yourself refers back to verse 12 and perhaps verse 14 as well; your teaching refers back to verse 13; and as we shall see later, hold to that may refer back to verse 15. The word Take heed pertains to being attentive, holding on, paying attention (so New Revised Standard Version “Pay close attention”). For teaching see verse 13. Here what is being referred to is not only the actual activity of teaching but also what is being taught. Hold to that is literally “remain in them” (so New Revised Standard Version “continue in these things”), with “them” referring to the duties and obligations he is supposed to discharge as a teacher, pastor, and leader of the congregation (so Good News Translation “Keep on doing these things”). If this interpretation is correct, then this part of the verse repeats the ideas emphasized in verse 15. An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse is “Watch (or, Be careful about) your conduct (or, the way you live) and the things you teach. You must keep doing these things I have instructed you to do.”

The result of Timothy’s persistence and faithfulness is the salvation of himself and those who listen to him. By so doing is literally “by doing this,” with “this” conveniently summing up all the activities and obligations that Timothy has been admonished to perform. For save see 1.15. It is possible that what is meant here is that by doing these things Timothy will save himself and his hearers from the false teachers. It is more likely, however, that the focus is perhaps on the final salvation at the end of the age. Understood in this way salvation includes being free from judgment and from the power of death. The recipients of this salvation are Timothy himself and those who hear him, that is, those who listen as Timothy exercises his duties of exhortation and teaching. The statement you will save both yourself and your hearers should not be taken literally, since in the New Testament the objects of salvation are sometimes spoken of as the agents (see, for example, Rom 11.14; 1 Cor 7.16; 9.22; James 2.14; 5.15, 20; Jude 23). In this letter the function of saving is assigned primarily to God, and this theological truth should influence the interpretation of the present verse. What is meant is not that Timothy is the one who will save himself and his hearers, but that he is the means by which he and his hearers will receive this eternal salvation. In languages that must indicate what Timothy and his listeners are saved from, one may say, for example, “you will save both yourself and your hearers from judgment” or “you will prevent both yourself and those who listen to you from having God judge you.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Be careful about the way you live and the things you teach. You must keep on doing these things that I have instructed you to do. As a result, through you God will save both you yourself and your hearers from judgment.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .