Some people in fact have lost their way in so far as faith is concerned, due to the influence of these false teachings. These people are not identified, but evidently they were already members of the Christian community, for how else could they be described as losing their way? For professing see comments on “profess” in 2.10. To “profess” is both to acknowledge and to advocate something. The antecedent of it is the so-called knowledge mentioned in the previous verb; this is perhaps the reason for Good News Translation‘s translation “some have claimed to possess it.” One may also translate “have claimed that they possess this knowledge.” The word for have missed the mark also occurs in 1.6 as “swerving”; to have missed the mark as regards the faith is to lose their faith, that is, to stop trusting in Christ, to cease being a member of the church, or to stop believing in true Christian doctrine. The last two alternatives are perhaps more appropriate, since faith here is with the definite article and thus refers either to the Christian faith in general or to a body of doctrine that is recognized as authoritative by the Christian community. An alternative translation model is “and as a result they have stopped believing in the true Christian message.”

The conclusion of the letter is a simple benediction. For grace see 1.2. The source of grace is not mentioned; it could either be God (so Good News Translation) or Christ, or both. Leaving it implicit or identifying the source as the Lord (as in Contemporary English Version) has the effect of retaining the ambiguity of the text. It should also be noted that in the Greek you is plural, referring not only to Timothy but to the whole Christian community; this intention should be reflected in the translation (as, for example, Contemporary English Version “I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of 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 .

This verse expands on what it means to be shown mercy: it is to experience the overflowing of grace. For comments on this word see 1.2. The focus here is on the Lord’s undeserved love and favor. The first person pronoun our is inclusive, since it includes both Paul and his readers (or listeners). It is not at all clear who our Lord refers to. But since in the New Testament Lord is more often a designation for Jesus rather than for God, then it may seem appropriate to understand the term as referring to Jesus. However, it does not seem natural for Lord to refer to Jesus here, since he is mentioned by name later in the verse. A clue to the meaning in this verse is 1.2, where “grace” comes from both God the Father and Jesus Christ. That may indicate that Lord here in verse 14 refers to God, who gives grace through Jesus Christ. (See verse 2 for comments on Lord.) The word for overflowed occurs only here in the whole New Testament and denotes overabundance and even excess. Grace of course cannot overflow without someone making the flow of grace possible. Accordingly it is possible to restructure the sentence to show that the Lord is the source of grace and is therefore the subject of the sentence; in such a case the verb overflowed can be rendered as causative (for example “cause to overflow”), and one may translate the whole clause as “And our [inclusive] Lord caused his love and favor to overflow to me,” or “And our [inclusive] Lord caused me to receive his love and favor in a great amount.” In languages where the metaphor overflowed is not natural in this context, one may say, for example, “And our [inclusive] Lord showed me his abundant grace continually,” or even “And our [inclusive] Lord continually showed that he loved and favored me very much.”

Faith and love are mentioned as a pair, with faith directed toward Jesus Christ (hence “trust”), and love directed to other human beings, especially to fellow believers.

What is the relationship between grace and the pair of faith and love? One possibility is to understand the preposition with in the sense of “together with,” in which case the overflowing of grace was accompanied by the bestowing of faith and love. A second possibility is to understand faith and love as the content of grace. It is more likely, however, that faith and love are the results of grace. Through the divine act of bestowing grace, the believer is enabled to have the virtues of faith and love. Nevertheless the text is clear in stating that faith and love are received from the Lord in much the same way as grace, and this should therefore be made clear in the translation. In many languages it will be helpful to start a new sentence; for example, “He also caused me to believe in him and love other people.”

The prepositional phrase in Christ Jesus is used in the New Testament letters (especially in Paul) to describe the intimate relationship between believers and Jesus Christ. This involves recognition of Christ as Lord to be honored and obeyed, and of the believer as subservient to Christ and belonging to him. But beyond that, it also means identification between believers and Christ, so that his death becomes their death, and his life becomes their life.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• And our [inclusive] Lord continually showed me that he loved and favored me very much. He also caused me to believe in him and love other people. This is what happens to us when we are in union (or, have a close relationship) with Christ Jesus.

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 .

The text does not say what evil deeds these people were doing. But it does give two examples of their erroneous teachings, namely, commanding people not to marry and not to eat certain kinds of food.

Forbid can also be rendered as “hinder,” “prevent,” “tell people it is wrong.”

The word for foods refers specifically to solid food in contrast to liquid food such as milk, for example. This is perhaps the reason why King James Version translates food here as “meat.” However, the word is also used to refer to food in general, and this is perhaps what is intended here. Abstinence from foods may refer to several things: (1) eating as little food as possible; (2) not eating certain kinds of food (compare Good News Translation); or (3) refraining from eating food at certain times, as, for instance, during periods of fasting. This third option seems quite unlikely. Favoring the first option is the fact that abstinence from food is directly connected with abstinence from sexual activity. Furthermore, there is evidence elsewhere in the New Testament of certain ascetic movements that included prohibition of food (see, for example, Col 2.20-23). Favoring the second option is the fact that the word for foods is plural and thus seems to refer to certain types of food, particularly those that are considered ritually unclean and therefore not fit to be eaten; eating them would be tantamount to sinning against God and against the rules of the believing community. This second option is quite possible, but on the whole, the first of these options seems to be the most appropriate one.

In the Greek there is no verb corresponding to “demand” (New Revised Standard Version) or enjoin. But every translation has to make an adjustment here to make sure that the verb forbid is read only with marriage and not with “abstinence.” Thus, like Revised Standard Version, many English translations add a verb to the second part of the verse; for example, King James Version “command,” New International Version “order,” New American Standard Bible “advocate,” Phillips “command,” Jerusalem Bible “lay down rules about,” Revised English Bible “insist on,” New Jerusalem Bible “prohibit.” Some other translations restructure the whole verse, with one verse governing both parts, as, for example, Good News Translation “teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods.”

It is rather difficult to determine the reasons for this attitude toward marriage and certain foods. There are of course Old Testament laws dealing with food and how to determine whether a certain kind of meat or food is ritually clean or unclean (see, for example, the list in Leviticus 11). But these false teachers do not seem to be dependent only on the Old Testament, since there is no provision there regarding the prohibition of marriage. The apostle Paul discusses the problem of food and marriage in some of his letters. He recommends abstinence from certain kinds of food so as not to offend the weaker members of the Christian community (see, for example, Rom 14.13-23; 1 Cor 8.7-13). As to marriage, Paul does not forbid it, although he puts higher value to being unmarried. But more importantly Paul encourages Christians to remain as they are, that is, the married to remain married and the unmarried to remain unmarried (see, for example, 1 Cor 7). So it seems that the proper background for these prohibitions is a certain attitude toward the spiritual and the physical, with the former being viewed as good and the latter as evil. According to that attitude the soul is spiritual and is therefore good, but the body is physical and therefore evil. In the same way of thinking, the physical universe is evil, and people who are truly spiritual should refrain from being involved in anything that has to do with the physical world. The more a person withdraws from the world and becomes ascetic, the closer that person is to attaining the life that God intends. One practical result of this attitude is the abstinence from marriage and from food.

The last part of the verse (together with verse 4) is to be read only with foods and not with marriage. Food is described as created by God and is therefore to be received with thanksgiving. Good News Translation‘s restructuring, “But God created those foods to be eaten,” is a good translation model. One may also say, following option (1) above, “But God created food to be eaten.” In languages that do not use the passive voice, translators will need to introduce the subject of “to eat” and say, for example, “But God created food for those who believe in Christ to eat.” The word for received can have the general sense of receiving, sharing, and participating in something, but in a more specific sense of having a share in or partaking of some food. This specific meaning is perhaps intended here, which means that what is being referred to is the very act of sharing in a meal. If this is the case, then thanksgiving would refer to the prayer of thanks before the meal. This was a common practice among the Jews, and it became a common practice among the Christians as well. With thanksgiving may also be expressed as “after thanking him [God]” or “after they have thanked him.” Contemporary English Version‘s translation “with thankful hearts” is also a helpful model.

The people who believe and those who know the truth are one and the same, as clearly indicated by the Greek text, where one definite article is used for the two groups. The two expressions therefore are descriptions of the members of the Christian community. The term used for believe is used elsewhere in this letter with the meaning “faithful” (as, for example, 1.12; 1.15 [“sure”]; 3.11; and other verses) but is used in this verse either to refer to trust in and commitment to Christ, or as a technical term for Christians, hence Good News Translation “believers.” As for know the truth, a similar expression is used in 2.4 (for which see discussion there). The term truth also appears in 2.7 and 3.15. As in these cases and in other parts of the Pastoral Letters, truth is used to describe the message of the gospel in general and a body of Christian teaching in particular. Translators should make sure that the translation does not imply that truth here refers to the statement found in the next two verses.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• Such people (or, those liars) teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain kinds of food. But God created these foods for believers (or, those who believe in Christ) to eat after a prayer of thanks (or, after thanking him). These are people who have come to know the true teachings.

Or:
• Such people teach that it is wrong to eat food (or, teach that one should abstain from food). But God created food for….

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 .

The first part of this verse deals with one of the functions of Timothy, that of the laying on of hands, for which see discussion in 4.14. The function of consecration into a particular office or function seems to be in focus here as well, except that here the office of elder is certainly what is meant. How elders were chosen and commissioned, and who has the right to commission elders, are questions about which the text is silent.

In some languages the laying on of hands is sometimes used in connection with arresting someone. A literal translation then would create some difficulty for the reader. In such cases a functional equivalent may be used; for example, “commissioning,” “consecrating”; it is also possible to add the function description to the literal translation; for example, “consecrating elders by laying your hands on them,” or “commissioning church leaders by laying your hands on them,” or even “laying your hands on people to dedicate them to the Lord as church leaders.”

Timothy is urged not to be hasty in commissioning elders. The word used here refers to an extremely short span of time, hence “quick,” “swift,” “hurried.” The intention here is perhaps to make sure that the candidates for the office of elder are screened carefully, in order to avoid the problem of erring elders that is mentioned in verses 19-20.

The second part of the verse is an admonition to Timothy not to participate in another man’s sins and to keep himself pure. The word participate is literally “to have fellowship with” or “to share in,” whereas the word for pure signifies the absence of any moral defects; in the present context it can be understood negatively as abstaining from anything that can be considered immoral and sinful, and positively as behaving in an honest, sincere, and acceptable manner.

While some hold that this second part of the verse is unrelated to the first part, it is quite clear from the Greek text that the two parts are directly related. This is especially evident in the use of the connective nor that in the Greek never begins a new topic but always introduces something that is directly connected to what has immediately preceded. This would mean that, in hastily ordaining elders without first ascertaining whether they are qualified for the office or not, and especially without ascertaining their moral standing, Timothy would in a real sense be participating in and accepting responsibility for their sins. So Timothy is urged to keep himself morally pure and blameless by making sure that those whom he ordains to the office of elder are morally blameless as well.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Do not be in a hurry to lay your hands on someone to dedicate them to the Lord’s service as a church leader, for you may in a sense be participating in (or, sharing in) their sins. You must, on the other hand, keep yourself free of moral defects (or, abstain from doing immoral things).

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 .

In the Greek text verse 7 is not a separate sentence but is connected with verse 6 by the expression “into which” that Revised Standard Version translates For this. There are some translations which retain the Greek form here. However, it is advisable to make verse 7 into a separate sentence for the following reasons: (1) In the Greek the sentence begins with verse 5, and to retain the Greek form results in a rather long sentence. (2) As has been noted, verses 5 and 6 form a unity and may be an early Christian creed; it is best therefore for this unit to stand by itself. So this verse may begin as follows: “This is why I…” or “It is for this reason that I….”

The problem of course that arises when verse 7 is translated as a separate sentence is how to make clear its logical relationship with the rest of the passage. What the verse wants to emphasize is the purpose and reason for Paul’s appointment as prophet and apostle. It is possible to connect For this (literally “into which”) with what follows (for example, “I am appointed to teach the Gentiles faith and truth”) or with what precedes. However, it most probably refers to what precedes, particularly the emphasis on the universal effect of Christ’s sacrifice. This connection needs to be made clear in the translation. It is made very clear in Good News Translation (“and that is why”). I was appointed has as the implicit agent either God or, more likely, Christ; this can be made explicit in the translation; for example, “This is why Christ appointed me as….” Appointed translates a Greek verb that in this context primarily means to assign or designate someone to a special task or function. Paul’s appointment in this case is three-fold: to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. For apostle see 1.1 and comments. The word for preacher is derived from the verb that means “to preach,” “to proclaim a message”; it is noted by some commentators that, in Greek societies at that time, this term was used of a person whose duty was to go about announcing the honors that have been bestowed on someone, hence a “herald.”

The relationship between these three terms can be expressed in several ways. First of all they can be taken as belonging to a series; hence preacher, apostle, teacher. This same series in the same order appears in 2 Tim 1.11. Secondly preacher and teacher may be taken as defining apostle; hence “an apostle to preach and to teach.” Thirdly preacher and apostle may be understood as offices, and teacher as a function of both offices; hence “a preacher and an apostle to teach….” This third interpretation is justified by the fact that, while preacher and apostle are connected with the conjunction and (and therefore can be understood as coordinates), there is no conjunction before teacher. A fourth possibility (compare Good News Translation) is to understand teacher and apostle as offices, and preacher as a function of these two offices. This interpretation does not seem likely, as it appears to conflict with the grammar of the sentence. A literal translation would favor the first of these possibilities; translating preacher and teacher as verbs will result in the second option; while verbalizing only teacher results in the third alternative. The second alternative is the more likely one, however, and is recommended in this Handbook. In some languages it will be necessary to restructure as follows: “For this reason God appointed me as his apostle (or, ambassador) to those who are not Jews. In this capacity I must preach the Good News to them and teach them the true teachings about Jesus.”

Gentiles is literally “nations” and can refer either to all peoples, including Jews and non-Jews, or in most contexts only to non-Jews. This is the case here. In certain languages it will be helpful to begin a new sentence after Gentiles and say, for example, “He wanted me to proclaim” or “He did this so that I might proclaim.”

The expression in faith and truth may be understood as referring to the spirit of the teacher and the way the teaching is done (hence, one who teaches in the spirit of faith and truth), or more likely to the content of the teaching (as in, for example, Good News Translation “the message of faith and truth”); in this latter case faith and truth may be understood as hendiadys, two expressions for one idea, with truth being interpreted as qualifying faith, hence “the true faith” (Translator’s New Testament) or “the true teachings about Jesus.”

The parenthetical statement consists of both a positive part, I am telling the truth, and a negative part, I am not lying. The combination of a positive and a negative statement is a rhetorical device to make an emphatic assertion. In some languages it is more natural to reverse the order. A harder problem is where to connect this statement. In the Greek text the statement comes right after apostle; it is therefore possible to understand the statement as an affirmation of Paul’s apostleship, and a literal translation of the Greek would lend itself to this interpretation. Another possibility is to connect the statement with what follows, as, for example, New Jerusalem Bible “… apostle and—I am telling the truth and no lie—a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.” A third possibility is to understand the statement as referring to the whole of verse 7, in which case it can be transferred to the last part of the verse; that is what Good News Translation has done. This position is quite attractive and is in fact preferred by this Handbook.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• It is for this reason that God appointed me as an apostle (or, ambassador) to those who are not Jews. In this capacity (or, As his representative) I must preach the Good News (or, the message about Jesus) to them, and teach the true teachings about Jesus. What I have just said is true! I am not lying!

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 .

This verse is the most problematic in this section, as we shall soon see. Neglect translates a verb that means to overlook, to forget, to be unconcerned, to fail to use. The positive equivalent of the negative expression Do not neglect is “attend to” at the beginning of verse 13 and the two positive imperatives in verse 15, “practice” and “devote yourself.” Another way of expressing Do not neglect is “You must continually use.”

Gift is a word that can be used in general for any gift, but it refers in a specific way to spiritual gifts or gifts from the Holy Spirit (so Good News Translation “spiritual gift”). Another way of rendering this is “gift (or, ability) which comes from the Holy Spirit.” The gift you have is literally “the gift that is in you” (so Good News Translation; once again, Good News Bible is more literal than Revised Standard Version). While the gift is not specified, the context suggests that it has something to do with Timothy’s role as a minister and church leader. Two alternatives are possible: either to understand gift as the Holy Spirit, since it was the belief at that time that the Holy Spirit was received at the time of the laying on of hands; or a particular gift or talent from the Holy Spirit that makes Timothy effective in his duties of exhortation and teaching. If a translator understands that the gift was the Holy Spirit, one may render the gift you have as “the Holy Spirit which is in you”; but if a translator follows the second interpretation, one may translate “gift (or, talent) which comes from the Holy Spirit” or “… which the Holy Spirit gave you.” All in all, though, the second interpretation is the more likely one.

For prophetic utterance see 1.18. In fact 1.18 is parallel in content to the present verse, since both seem to refer to the time when Timothy was commissioned for his task in the church.

The practice of laying hands on people was common in the early church for several functions, among which are: (1) healing (see, for example, Mark 8.23); (2) bestowing a blessing (see, for example, Mark 10.16); (3) making it possible for people to receive the Holy Spirit (see, for example, Acts 8.17); and (4) setting people apart for certain functions (see, for example, Acts 13.3). This last function is in focus in the present context. In the history of the church, the laying on of hands has become an important part of the rite of ordination, that is, of setting apart certain people for specific church offices. It is not altogether certain, however, whether in the present context the formal ordination of Timothy is meant or, less formally, his commissioning to a certain task. This is complicated by the fact that, while various church offices are discussed in the letter, nowhere is Timothy’s particular office mentioned, nor his relationship to the church officers that are mentioned.

At any rate it was through prophetic utterance that the spiritual gift was bestowed on Timothy at the time that the elders laid their hands on him. The relationship of these three events (the prophetic utterance, the receiving of the spiritual gift, and the laying on of hands) is not at all clear. The text seems to suggest that the laying on of hands was not the means by which the spiritual gift was bestowed; it was only an action that accompanied the bestowing of the gift. Since these prophetic utterances occurred at Timothy’s ordination, it is very likely then that these were uttered by Christian prophets who were present at that time; some of them may even have been elders themselves.

There also seems to be a discrepancy between the information in this verse and that found in 2 Tim 1.6: in the former it was the elders who laid their hands on Timothy, whereas in the latter it was Paul himself. It is of course possible to reconcile the two verses by assuming that Paul was the main commissioning official and was himself a member of the group of elders.

Elders is literally the “presbytery,” a term that suggests a certain grouping of the elders, hence council of elders. That there were many elders in the church at that time is beyond doubt, but the existence of a formal organization of elders during such an early stage of the church has been questioned by some scholars. There is no problem, however, of an informal grouping or gathering of elders in order to participate in an important function. Some translations in fact drop the idea of a council of elders and simply concentrate on the idea of the elders coming together (so Phillips “the assembled elders”; Good News Translation has simply “elders”).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• You must keep on using the talent (or, ability) which was given (or, the Holy spirit gave) to you when people spoke about what would happen to you in the future and the church leaders laid their hands on 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 .

In this verse Paul proves his case against those who desire to be rich, by first of all quoting a popular proverb, and secondly, by noting that this desire for money has indeed led people to lose their faith and to experience unnecessary suffering.

This proverb is one of the most abused and misused parts of the New Testament. Some of the misunderstandings should be clarified in order that the verse may be properly translated and interpreted.

First of all, it is not money that is the root of evil, but love of money. Secondly, love of money is not the only source of evil, nor is it the source of all evil, as Revised Standard Version would have us understand. The meaning of the verse is clearly depicted in New Revised Standard Version “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and Good News Translation “For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.” Some commentators claim that the root is a better and more grammatically correct translation than “a root,” since, while root does not have the article, yet it is in initial position in the Greek text, and according to Greek grammar a definite predicate noun that is placed before its verb is usually without the definite article. A good example of this is John 1.1, which can be rendered literally “God was the Word,” with “God” not having the article. Other ways to express this first sentence are “When people love money it causes them to receive all kinds of troubles (or, evils)” or “All kinds of evils beset (or, fall upon) people who love money.”

The last part of the verse emphasizes once again the effect that the desire for wealth has on people. Craving translates a participle from the verb that pertains to eagerly desiring to achieve some goal or purpose; hence “to strive to attain,” “to aspire,” “to eagerly long for.” Here the goal is money, so New Revised Standard Version “in their eagerness to be rich.” Two results of this craving for wealth are mentioned. First, they have wandered away from the faith. Wandered away translates an aorist passive of a verb that means to stop believing in something that is true and start believing in something that is false, hence “to go astray from the truth.” For the faith see 1.2. To wander away from the faith is to cease to be a Christian, to stop believing and trusting in Christ.

Secondly, they have pierced their hearts with many pangs. This can be understood as a result not only of their craving for money but also of their wandering away from the faith. The verb for pierced is literally “pierce through,” “impale” (compare New English Bible “spiked themselves”). This is of course not intended in a literal but in a figurative sense. The meaning of the figure is to experience something severe and painful. A substitute figure may be used to express the same meaning; for example, Good News Translation “have broken their hearts.” Pangs may refer to physical pain due to a wound or a stabbing, but it is used here in a figurative sense to refer to intense anxiety, great mental anguish, severe grief. Other ways to say this are “they have been so sorrowful that their hearts have broken,” “their hearts have broken because of all the sorrows that have come to them,” or “their hearts ache because of all the sorrows that they have experienced.”

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 .

As I urged you will be expressed in some languages “As I asked you very strongly,” or even idiomatically in others; for example, “As I pressed your heart to.”

When I was going (Good News Translation “when I was on my way to”) may also be rendered as “while I was traveling to.”

Ephesus was a port city in Asia Minor. It was the site of the temple of Artemis (Diana), considered one of the seven wonders of the world in New Testament times. There is a reference to this temple in Acts 19.23-41. The book of Acts also contains information on Paul’s first visit to Ephesus (18.19-21) and also records a meeting of Paul with the Ephesian elders at Miletus, during which Paul gave his farewell speech (Acts 20.16-38).

Macedonia on the other hand, was a mountainous Roman province in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula. In a modern map it would cover parts of North Greece, South Yugoslavia, and Southwest Bulgaria. Included in this province or region are cities that Paul visited in his missionary journeys, among which are Beroea, Thessalonica, and Philippi. (See Acts 16.9–17.14; 20.1-6; and others.) A Roman “province” was a large region or area that included many cities and even states, and it was organized in this way for effective government control by the Romans. In many languages it will not be possible to find a term that is like the English word “province.” In such cases one must use a general term referring to a large area of land; for example, “region,” or even “big (or, wide) land named Macedonia.”

Since the false teachers seemed to have Ephesus as their headquarters, Paul urged Timothy to stay on in Ephesus, an instruction that Paul had already given his young co-worker while Paul was on his way to Macedonia. In some languages it will be helpful to identify Ephesus as a “city.” In cultures where cities are unknown, one may speak about “a very large village with big walls around it” or “a place with many houses.”

A comparison between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation shows various changes and adjustments that have been made during the translation process. For example, As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia is in the initial position in RSV, following the order of the Greek text, while in Good News Bible it is transferred into the second part of the verse. Furthermore, remain at Ephesus is in second position in both Revised Standard Version and the Greek text, but in initial position in TEV. One other thing to notice is that the imperative in this kind of a construction would not be natural in English; TEV’s restructuring of the imperative into an indicative, “I want you to stay in Ephesus,” is much more natural. The important thing to note here is that translators should use grammatical constructions that are most natural and appropriate in the receptor language. For example, in some languages it will be helpful to divide the first part of the verse into two sentences and say “I want you to remain in the city of Ephesus. This is what I urged you to do when I was traveling to the province of Macedonia.”

Charge (Good News Translation “must order”) is the same word used in verse 1. Another way to express this clause is “you must demand that they stop….” The false teachers are simply referred to as certain persons (Good News Translation “Some people”) but are not otherwise identified; it is therefore difficult to determine whether they were members of the Christian community or were outsiders. Timothy is exhorted to order these people not to teach any different doctrine. There are two pieces of information here: (1) certain persons are teaching different doctrines; and (2) Timothy should order them not to do so. In terms of time sequence, (1) of course occurs earlier than (2), and Good News Bible restructures the text according to this order of events. A literal translation is ambiguous since it allows the understanding that certain people are about to teach some unacceptable doctrines. Translators in many languages will wish to follow TEV’s ordering of the clauses. Different doctrine translates a rare Greek expression that can be translated literally as “other things.” The focus, however, is on the nature of these teachings as immoral, resulting in changes being made in the accepted teachings within the Christian community; these teachings were therefore heretical or “false” (Good News Translation). The term doctrine refers to an organized body of teaching that the believing community accepts as the basis and expression of its faith.

One other thing that needs to be noted is that the Greek text does not seem to be a complete sentence and can be translated “As I urged you … to remain at Ephesus” without any main verb. Nevertheless most translations have translated this as a complete sentence. What is important, though, is that an incomplete sentence in the Greek has some rhetorical functions, since it doesn’t occur very often, and when it does, it is in a context where the writer is deeply concerned with a problem and is writing about it in an extremely emotional state. Thus in the present passage one can imagine the concern of Paul with regard to what was happening in the Christian community to which Timothy belonged. Translators will do well to try to recapture the emotional impact represented by this seemingly ungrammatical construction.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• As I urged you when I was traveling to the province of Macedonia, you must remain in the city of Ephesus. I want you to do this so that you can command certain people there to stop teaching false doctrines.

Or:
• I want you to stay in the city of Ephesus. This is what I urged you to do when I was traveling to the province of Macedonia. Some people there in Ephesus are teaching false doctrines, and I want you to command them to stop doing this.

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 .