Whereas in the previous verse Timothy is urged to command and teach, here he is urged to become an example to the believing community. No one can refer to anybody; in the context of the verse, however, it is more likely that it refers to members of the Christian community. Despise translates a verb that means “to scorn,” “to look down on” (Good News Translation), “to treat with contempt,” “make fun of you” (Contemporary English Version). Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show two different ways of translating the text.
Youth refers to chronological age. There is no way of determining exactly how old Timothy was, but obviously he was younger than Paul, and most probably younger than many of the church leaders and members who were under his charge. In a culture where age was revered and youth given a somewhat lower value, it was important for young leaders to be encouraged to regard youth as an asset and not as a liability. In the Greek text your youth is represented by two genitives and can be translated literally as “of your youth,” or “of you of youth.” This has led to some differences of opinion on the interpretation of this part of the verse. A first position is to relate despise directly with youth, which results in the translation represented by Revised Standard Version. Another position is to relate despise with you, and to take youth as defining you more precisely; despise then would be connected with a double negative, and the translation that results would then be like Good News Translation (so also New English Bible, Phillips, New International Version, Jerusalem Bible). The only problem with this position is that it would be a unique understanding of this kind of grammatical construction.
In actual fact, however, there is no need to resort to a grammatical explanation as above in order to arrive at the translation represented by Good News Translation. The difference, in fact, between Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible is not exegetical but translational; that is, it is based not on a different understanding of the text but on the application of different translation principles, with Revised Standard Version rendering the text in a more formal manner and hence more literal, and Good News Bible translating the text in a more dynamic and meaningful way. Contemporary English Version‘s translation, “Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young,” is another good model for translators to follow.
Set the believers an example is literally “be an example for the believers”; this is a case where Good News Translation is more literal than Revised Standard Version. The word for example by itself refers to a stamp or a scar, and can also refer to a shape or a statue. From this the word has acquired the meaning of resemblance or model, hence example. The believers are of course fellow Christians. Another way of expressing this is “but you should be a good model for the believers to follow, both in your….” What follows are five kinds of activity in which Timothy is supposed to be a model for other Christians. These may be taken separately (as, for example, Good News Translation) or grouped together in a certain pattern. One pattern is to take speech and conduct as a pair, love and faith as another pair, and purity as standing by itself. Another pattern is to take speech and conduct together as defining the ways in which Timothy should be a model for others, and the last three as the qualities in which he should excel. (This kind of grouping, in addition to Revised Standard Version, occurs also in New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, and New International Version.) It remains for us then to examine these five elements more closely. Speech is literally “word” and has reference to conversation in general. Conduct refers to manner of life, behavior. Love is directed to other people, especially the members of the Christian community, while faith combines both the elements of trust and confidence in Christ, as well as faithfulness to him. Purity can be understood as a general term for an upright and morally blameless life, and specifically as referring to being free from any immoral acts, especially acts related to sex.
An alternative translation model for the second part of this verse is:
• But you should be a good model (or, example) for the believers to follow (or, imitate), by the words you speak, your behavior (or, way of life), your love for others, your trust in Christ, and your blameless life.
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 .