Section 1:3–11

Paul told Timothy to oppose false teaching

Paul reminded Timothy about things that he had told him to do the last time he was with him. That is, he told him to command certain people to stop teaching the Old Testament Scriptures incorrectly. Paul told Timothy that when people listened to the false teachers, they started arguing about things that were unimportant. Paul said that when Timothy taught the Scriptures, the result should be that people love one another, not that they argue with one another.

After talking about the incorrect use of Scripture in 1:3–7, Paul talked about the correct use of Scripture in 1:8–11. Paul did not want people to use Scripture to speculate about unimportant things. Instead he wanted them to stop sinning and behave how God wanted them to behave.

Paragraph 1:3–4

Some time before Paul wrote this letter, he had been with Timothy in the city of Ephesus. As he was preparing to leave Ephesus for Macedonia, he told Timothy to remain in Ephesus.

One of the reasons that Paul wanted Timothy to remain in Ephesus was to command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer. In 1:3–4, Paul was reminding Timothy about this.

Specifically, Paul told Timothy to command people to stop using the lists of ancestors in the Scriptures to teach things that were untrue. When they taught like that, they caused people to argue about unimportant topics.

1:3a

As I urged you: Paul was referring to instructions that he had given Timothy on an earlier occasion. Here he repeated those instructions. You may need to translate this as:

Now I am telling you again the things that I urged you to do before

Or you may need to say something like:

Continue to command them in the way I told you earlier

on my departure to Macedonia: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as on my departure to Macedonia means:

as I was leaving for Macedonia
-or-
before I left Ephesus to go into Macedonia

Macedonia: Macedonia was a region in the northern part of the modern country of Greece. In New Testament times, it was a province in the Roman Empire. Paul may have been writing this letter from one of the cities there, perhaps Philippi. You may need to supply the information that Macedonia was a region or province.

1:3b

you should stay on: In some languages it may be more natural to translate this as a direct quote. One possibility might be:

Before I left for Macedonia, I told you: “Stay here in Ephesus…”

Ephesus: Ephesus was a large city in the Roman province of Asia. Paul first visited Ephesus on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:19–21). On his third missionary journey, he stayed and taught there for about two years (Acts 19:1–41).

1:3c

to instruct: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to instruct here indicates purpose. The purpose for Timothy remaining in Ephesus is explained in the rest of this verse.

certain men: When Paul used the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as certain men, he implied that both he and Timothy knew people who were teaching these wrong doctrines.

1:3d

not to teach false doctrines: This means “to stop teaching false doctrines.”

to teach false doctrines: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to teach false doctrines literally means “to teach what is different.” The false teachers were teaching something different from the things that Paul taught. More importantly, what these people were teaching was different from what Jesus and the apostles taught, and from what God wanted them to teach. Paul used the same term again in 6:3a.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.