Paul calls himself an apostle of Christ Jesus. The word apostle literally means one who is sent with a message and a mission and who can therefore act on behalf of the sender. This word can be understood in a narrow sense to refer to the first twelve disciples of Jesus. However, in the New Testament it is also used in a wider sense as a general term for Christian missionaries. In his letters Paul uses this term to refer to himself, thus claiming equality with the first disciples of Jesus. Other ways to translate the term apostle are “a specially sent one of Christ Jesus,” “a messenger of Christ Jesus,” “a special representative who has been sent out by Christ Jesus,” “one who is sent by Christ Jesus to represent him,” or even “a person sent with the authority of Christ Jesus” (see the comment below on the word command or “authority”). But in other languages a term similar to “ambassador” will be appropriate, referring to an individual who is sent by someone to proclaim a message—in this case the Good News; for example, “an ambassador from Christ Jesus,” or even “a special ambassador from Christ Jesus.”

The term Christ Jesus is usually used in reverse order, that is “Jesus Christ.” In this letter Christ Jesus is used eleven times, whereas “Jesus Christ” is used only three times. In 2 Timothy Christ Jesus appears twelve times, and “Jesus Christ” is used only once; in Titus, however, Christ Jesus appears once and “Jesus Christ” three times. It is thus apparent that the letters to Timothy prefer Christ Jesus to “Jesus Christ.” The difference between these two ways of expressing the same name is not exactly clear. A possibility is that Christ Jesus emphasizes the exaltation of Jesus as a result of the resurrection and ascension, while “Jesus Christ” emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, that is, the fact that the human Jesus was proclaimed as the Christ. Because of the possibility that the arrangement of these two words may be meaningful, the translator is urged to retain the ordering whenever possible. However, if the reverse order Christ Jesus is neither possible nor natural in the receptor language, then of course “Jesus Christ” should be used.

A further issue for the translator is whether to translate Christ as a title or whether to simply reproduce or transliterate it as a name. A rule of thumb that has proved helpful is: whenever Christ is used as a title, the term should be translated; but whenever it is used simply as a name, it should be reproduced as a name. In the New Testament the use of Christ as a title is usually signaled by the definite article, literally “the Christ.” In such cases Christ should be translated meaningfully; for example, “God’s promised King,” “God’s promised Savior,” or “God’s promised Ruler.” It should be noted, however, that in the Pastoral Letters Christ is almost always used as a name and not as a title, so translators will not need to translate it but may simply transliterate it in a form similar to the Greek, or similar to whatever other language is being used by the translator as a base.

The word translated command (Good News Translation “order”) can refer to the right or authority to issue an order (as in Titus 2.15, “authority”); in the present context, however, it refers to a mandate or an injunction that must be obeyed. The Greek term is used of commands from kings and from gods. This first clause may therefore be translated as “From Paul, a sent one (apostle) from Christ Jesus, whom God … commanded to…,” or one may combine the idea of “authority” with the role of apostle above and translate “From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the authority of God our [inclusive] Savior and Christ Jesus in whom we hope (or, trust),” or even “From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, whom God our [inclusive] Savior and Christ Jesus in whom we trust have commissioned to….”

The command to be an apostle comes from two sources, God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope. In both cases our is in the inclusive sense, referring to both the writer and his audience. The term Savior is generally used in the New Testament to refer to Jesus Christ, although in some cases the Old Testament practice of designating God as Savior is followed; for example, Luke 1.47 and Jude 25. In the Pastoral Letters Savior is used to describe God six times, and Jesus four times. In the first century the term Savior was used of Greek and Roman gods and was one of the titles of the Roman emperor. Designating God as Savior therefore makes clear that salvation does not come either from the Greek and Roman pantheon of gods or from the Roman emperor, but from God alone. In certain languages one will express God our Savior as “God who saves us [inclusive],” or “God who sets us free,” or “God who gives us new life,” or in languages where one must make clear what we are saved from, a translator may say “God who sets us free from sin (or, the power of evil).”

Christ Jesus is described as our hope, that is, the source of our hope, the one in whom we place our hope. Hope includes the elements of certainty and firm conviction; to hope in Christ, then, is to live a life characterized by confidence in the future as a result of trusting in Christ. The pronoun our is inclusive, that is, it includes Paul, Timothy, and all Christians. In languages where the dual form exists, it should not be used here, since that would only include Paul and Timothy and exclude all other members of the Christian community. Christ our hope may also be expressed as “Christ, in whom we trust,” or idiomatically, “Christ, in whom we set our hearts.” In languages where the content of hope needs to be identified, we may say “in whom we hope for a good (or, sure) future.”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• From Paul an apostle (or, ambassador) of Christ Jesus by the authority of God, who saves us [inclusive], and Christ Jesus, in whom we hope (or, trust)—

Or:
• I, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, whom God our [inclusive] Savior and Christ Jesus in whom we trust have given authority, am writing this letter to….

Or:
• God has saved us and we have hope in Christ Jesus, and they have commanded me, Paul, to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I write this letter to you ….

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 .