1:7a

For: The conjunction For connects this verse to 1:6. For introduces the reason why Timothy should rekindle his gift.

us: Notice that in this verse, Paul changed his discourse from addressing Timothy as “you” in 1:6 to using the word us. In this declaration, Paul was speaking of at least Timothy and himself. It is also possible that he was including all Christians.

a spirit of fear: There are two ways to interpret the word spirit here:

(1) It means our human spirit/nature. For example:

God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid…. (New Century Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, New Century Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) It means the Holy Spirit. For example:

God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. (Contemporary English Version)

(Good News Translation, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the majority of Bible scholars.

fear: In this context fear means “timidity.” It describes a person who fears doing something that is his duty to do, and so he refuses to do it or avoids doing it. In this context, it probably means that Timothy had been afraid to do some of the tasks that God had told him to do and had given him a special ability to do.

1:7b

but: The Greek conjunction alla, which means but, indicates a strong contrast between 1:7a and 1:7b. Some other ways to indicate this strong contrast are “instead” or “on the contrary.”

a spirit of power: As was explained in 1:7a, Paul was talking about the human spirit/nature. The human, fearful spirit contrasts greatly with the power that God gives. It is not physical power, but spiritual power.

1:7c

love: Here Paul is primarily talking about love for other people.

1:7d

and self-control: A person who has self-control has good judgment and practices restraint in what he (or she) says and does. He is able to control the way he thinks or behaves.

© 2003 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.