All who are under the yoke of slavery is literally “all slaves who are under yoke.” The yoke is the wooden frame placed over the necks of animals, as for instance over two oxen in order to join them together, either for plowing or for pulling a cart. But the yoke was not solely for animals; sometimes it was used on people who were taken captives in battle, or people who were sold into slavery. It is this background that has led to the figurative usage of the yoke as a symbol of absolute subjection and dependence.

There is no unanimity regarding the relationship between “all slaves” and “who are under yoke.” Some interpret these two expressions as two ways of saying the same thing. This means that both expressions together refer to all the Christian slaves, with “who are under yoke” stressing the continuing situation of bondage of these slaves, in spite of the fact that they have found spiritual freedom in Christ. Others hold that the slaves who are “under yoke” refer to a segment of Christian slaves, namely, those who are owned by nonbelieving masters and thus would suffer much more than those who are fortunate enough to be working under Christian masters. Many modern translations take the first of these two positions (in addition to Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, compare also New English Bible “all who wear the yoke of slavery”). And since “under the yoke” is interpreted as equivalent to “slaves,” it is even possible to treat it as redundant information and omit it in translation, as Good News Bible has done (compare Phillips “Christian slaves”). A “slave” is a person who is the property of someone else. He or she has no rights and must show complete obedience and loyalty to their owner. Possible alternative translation models for this word in cultures where slaves are unknown are “a person who belongs to (or, is the property of) another” or “a person who is bound to a master.”

Masters refers to all slave owners, whether Christian or not. Regard is literally “to think,” that is, to have an opinion regarding something, hence to “consider” (Good News Translation). This is obviously related to the way in which slaves would act toward their masters; however, the focus here is not on action but on mental attitude. For worthy see discussions on 5.17 and 18. For honor see discussion on 5.3. In the present context the emphasis is on extending to them the “respect” (Good News Translation) and honor that is due them as masters.

The purpose of this respectful attitude toward slave owners is in order that God and the Christian message may not be regarded with disrespect in any way. For slaves to act in a disrespectful way toward their masters, and to refuse to obey them as slaves should, would bring dishonor not only to the slaves but to the Christian faith itself.

The expression the name of God occurs only here and in two other places in the New Testament (Rom 2.24 and Rev 16.9). In the Old Testament the name of God was sometimes understood as the secret of God’s power, and that name was made known to Moses (see Exo 3.14). In the present context the name stands for the nature and character of God; in fact it can be interpreted as equivalent to God himself, and in certain languages it will be more natural to translate “say evil things about God,” omitting the phrase the name of.

One further comment needs to be made, and that is that the expression “the name of God” is very often used in connection with saying something evil against God. This may be the reason why the Jews forbade even the mention of the name of God so as to avoid any possibility of insulting or defaming God himself.

The teaching is used in the Pastoral Letters to refer to the Christian faith in general, and in a specific sense to a body of Christian doctrine. For further discussion see comments on “doctrine” in 1.10; 4.6; and see comments on “teaching” in 4.13, 16; 5.17.

Defamed is literally “blasphemed”; the Greek word pertains to harmful or insulting speech, that is, speaking in such a way as to harm or destroy someone’s reputation. Blasphemy can be directed to both human and divine beings, but it is more often directed to God. The implicit agents, that is, the ones doing the blaspheming, are most probably people in the community who are not members of the Church, that is, non-Christians; this information can be made explicit in translation, although a generic form can be used as well (for example, Good News Translation “no one”). For the idea of defamed or “blasphemed,” see 1.13.

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 .

Rebuke is literally “to strike upon,” “to beat upon”; from this has developed the extended meaning “to chastise with words,” “to chide,” “to upbraid,” “to rebuke.” The literal meaning does not occur in the New Testament; in most occurrences the meaning is to express disapproval as a form of punishment, hence “to denounce,” “to reproach,” “to reprimand” (Phillips), “to reprove, censure, scold,” or even “to speak severely to.”

The word for older man is the same word for “elder” (see 5.17, 19; Titus 1.5). Here, however, the term is not used for a person who occupies a particular office in the church, but to a man of advanced age, as the context clearly shows. So Phillips “a senior member of your church,” Jerusalem Bible “a man older than yourself.”

The Greek word for exhort has a wide range of meaning. The meaning in classical Greek writings is “to call to one’s side,” “to summon.” In some places in the New Testament, the word means “to comfort,” “to encourage.” In the present context it means “to appeal to” (Good News Translation), “to advise” (Jerusalem Bible), “to admonish,” “to exhort” (New International Version). However this is translated, it must be ascertained that the term chosen is appropriate to a son-father relationship, since the older man is to be considered like a real father and therefore treated with respect and as one who is in a higher position. A literal translation of the text (for example Revised Standard Version) would not make it clear that Timothy should treat the older man as his own father; this has been made explicit in many translations; for example, Good News Translation “appeal to him as if he were your father,” Jerusalem Bible “advise him as you would your own father.” In some languages it may be necessary to repeat the verb; for example, “appeal to him in the same way that you appeal to your own father.” In other languages one may use an idiomatic expression such as “speak to him from a true heart in the same way that you would speak to your own father” or “speak to him with your heart exposed….”

Treat younger men as brothers is literally “younger men as brothers,” without a verb. The most likely verb to be read with the phrase is exhort that occurs in the first part of the verse; however, many translations supply another verb here, one example being treat. Any verb chosen must be appropriate to a brother-brother relationship in which Timothy would be in a higher position than the younger men. Younger has to do with age and can be related either to Timothy (hence, younger than you are) or, more likely, to the older men (hence older man … younger men). The latter is more likely in view of verse 2. It is also possible that these younger men belonged to an identifiable group within the church. So perhaps we can imagine a church composed of at least four groups: adult men, young men, adult women, young women.

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 .

Here the importance of the virtues mentioned in the previous verse is emphasized by mentioning what happened to some people who did not hold on to them. Certain persons are the same ones referred to in verse 3, where the same Greek word is used, and in some languages it will be helpful to translate Certain persons as “Those false teachers.” These people have been swerving from these Christian virtues; the verb used here literally means “to miss the mark” and has the extended meaning of “to deviate,” to “turn away from” (Good News Translation). Other ways to express this are “strayed from” or even “forsaken.” In some languages it will be helpful to make these explicit by saying “strayed from these teachings.”

As a result of their deviating from these important Christian virtues, these people have wandered away into vain discussion. Wandered away (Good News Translation “lost their way”) is a term that is used in Greek philosophical writing during the second century before the time of Christ; it carries the idea of turning away from something important into something less desirable. The notion of turning away from the faith is one of the main features of the Pastoral Letters. Wandered away may also be expressed as “got enmeshed in,” or “have entangled themselves,” or idiomatically, “have got themselves bogged down in.” Vain discussion translates a term that is also used in Greek writings during the second century before Christ. The term is a combination of two words. The first word means “vain,” “useless,” “of no value,” and is used frequently in the New Testament to describe the worship of idols and other undesirable conduct. The second word is the word logos, which in this context means not simply “word” but “speech” or “discussion.” These two words put together form a term that describes any foolish discussions or senseless arguments (so New Revised Standard Version [New Revised Standard Version] “meaningless talk”).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Those false teachers have strayed from these teachings and have entangled themselves in foolish discussions.

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 presents a real problem of interpretation. Commentators are divided as to the meaning of women in this verse: does it refer to the wives of the deacons (Good News Translation text) or to deacons who are women (Good News Translation margin)? The Greek word used for women does not provide much help, since it can mean either “woman” or “wife.” Some translations keep the ambiguity by simply translating The women (Revised Standard Version, also Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible, Revised has simply “women”). Translations that don’t retain the ambiguity generally opt for “wives” (in addition to Good News Translation, also King James Version, New English Bible, New International Version). Below is a summary of the arguments for either position:

Arguments for “wives of deacons”:
1. Deacons are mentioned in verse 8 and again in verse 12, which leads to the deduction that verse 11 refers to a category other than deacons. But of course one can counter that there was not yet at that time a feminine term for deacons.
2. One would have expected a more detailed description of this new office. But then there is very little description of bishops and deacons, so why should one expect this of woman deacons?
3. It would have been possible for Paul to use the feminine form of “deacon.” But of course one can counter that such a form did not exist at that time, and besides, there is evidence that the term “deacon” was used of women during Paul’s time; for example, the case of Phoebe in Rom 16.1-2.

Arguments for “woman deacons”:
1. The structure of the sentence allows it to be read as introducing a new category, that is, woman deacons. The word likewise is used in verse 8 to introduce the category of deacons, and its presence in this verse may indicate the same intent.
2. Had the wives of deacons been in view, the verse might have said “their wives” (as, for example, Good News Translation, New International Version, King James Version).
3. No special requirements are mentioned for the wives of bishops. Both of these arguments (numbers 2 and 3) are arguments from silence.
4. The four qualities are roughly the equivalent of four qualities of the deacons in verse 8.

It is difficult to be certain as to what interpretation one should hold. A compromise solution has been offered by some commentaries to the effect that the verse speaks of women who were in some way involved in service as deacons, although perhaps at that time the title of “deacon” was not yet applied to them. This does not exclude the position that these women were indeed the wives of deacons, but it does allow the possibility for these wives (and other women as well) to be performing services as deacons.

It should be further noted that, if one holds to the position that the verse indeed refers to woman deacons, then a possible structure of the passage would be: 8-10, general qualifications for both men and women deacons; 11, specific qualifications for women deacons; and 12-13, specific qualifications for men deacons.

As has been noted, the four qualities of these women are parallel to the qualities mentioned in verse 8:
serious – translates the same Greek word in verse 8
slanderers – “double-tongued”
temperate – “not addicted to much wine”

The word for temperate also occurs in 3.2, for which see discussion there. Slanderers may be also expressed as “those who say harmful things about others.”

A fourth trait is mentioned, namely, faithful in all things. Some take this to mean that they should be honest (Good News Translation) and absolutely trustworthy (New English Bible, Moffatt [Moffatt]). All in all this evidence seems to point toward women deacons being the focus of this verse, and it is recommended by this Handbook that translators follow this interpretation. The alternative “their wives” may be put into a footnote.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• The women (or, female) church helpers must also have a good character (or, be respectable). They should not say evil things about people and should not drink too much wine.

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 an alternative to putting younger widows on the roll, and to save them from the negative activities that have been mentioned, Paul would prefer for younger widows to marry and live normal lives as wives and mothers in the context of a family.

Rule their households translates the Greek literally (see 3.4 for comments on the similar expression “manage his own household”), but the term is used for someone who manages a home (Good News Translation “take care of”); at that time, of course, a home would include slaves and servants. The reason for this recommendation (that is, of the younger widows remarrying and having a new home) is in order to give the enemy no occasion to revile us. Us refers to the total Christian community and should therefore be translated inclusively. Occasion can also be “pretext,” “excuse.” Revile actually is a noun in the Greek and can be translated as “slander,” “insult,” “say bad things about,” hence Good News Translation “speak evil.” The insult would of course be directed to Christians, and this is made explicit in Revised Standard Version‘s to revile us.

But who is the enemy? In view of verse 15, and in view of the fact that enemy is singular, the logical conclusion would be to identify Satan as the enemy. The problem with this option is, how can Satan insult members of the Christian community? It is for this reason that some translations have opted for identifying the enemy with certain people, perhaps and especially the followers of the false teachers. If such an option is taken, then enemy is considered as a collective noun and is therefore better translated plural, as, for example, Good News Translation “enemies.” Those who hold to the view that the enemy here refers to Satan would reason that Satan insults the Christian community through a human being. All in all, though, it is recommended by this Handbook that translators render this word as “enemies.” In a number of languages “our enemies” will be rendered as “those who hate us.”

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 already mentioned, charge is the same word used in verses 3 and 5. Commit entails the idea of entrusting or handing over something to someone for implementation and preservation. Timothy is addressed here intimately as my son, or more accurately “my child” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version), since the Greek word for son is the generic word for any child. See further comments in 1 Tim. 1.2.

In accordance with may define the charge as agreeing with the prophetic utterances (so Good News Translation, Phillips) or may designate the act of committing the charge to Timothy as being in harmony with the prophetic utterances (so New English Bible, New International Version). A third possibility is to understand in accordance with as designating the content of the charge itself (so Jerusalem Bible “I ask you to remember the words once spoken over you … and taking them to heart to fight…”). The prophetic utterances are described in the past tense as pointing to Timothy; the Greek word for pointed is literally “to go ahead,” “to precede.” The sense is that these were utterances spoken by prophets about Timothy (so New Revised Standard Version “prophecies made earlier about you”), or one may translate “according to the words that prophets spoke in the past about you,” or in the case of languages that do not have one specific word for “prophets,” one may say “according to what people in the past said would happen to you.” The question of the identity of these prophets and on what occasion they spoke is a matter of debate; among the suggested possibilities are the following:

1. These are predictions of certain Christian prophets about Timothy, and these prophetic statements led Paul to choose Timothy as his companion in the work.
2. These are utterances of Christian prophets at the time of Timothy’s ordination (see 4.14).
3. These are the actual words of ordination that are uttered by the ordaining person, who in this case is most probably Paul.
4. These are orders and words of encouragement that Timothy continues to receive in the course of his ministry.

It is difficult to decide which of the above is what is intended. In a study Bible it would be appropriate to include all of these as notes. But due to the difficulty of being certain, it may be best in this case for the translation to retain the ambiguity of the text.

At any rate, Timothy is exhorted to use these prophetic utterances as weapons in the battle ahead. Inspired by them is literally “in them” or more probably “by them,” which describes these prophetic utterances as instruments or weapons both to be used (so Good News Translation) and obeyed (so New Revised Standard Version “by following them”). You may wage the good warfare is literally “you may fight the good fight” (so New Revised Standard Version). There is a play on words in the Greek, since the word for “fight” in both instances is related to the word for “soldier.” This feature may be retained in translation if the resources in the language make it possible. The expression itself (“fight the good fight”) can be treated as an idiom that means “to fight well” (so Good News Translation). But of course this is all figurative language drawn from the military world, comparing Timothy’s ministry to that of a war. In other parts of the New Testament, there are references to warfare against evil spiritual forces, and especially against Satan. In the present context this battle is against those teachers who are teaching doctrines contrary to the gospel itself, and in certain languages translators will need to make the goal of the verb “fight” explicit and say, for example, “You may fight well against those false teachers.” However, the positive aspect of the struggle may be emphasized; for example, “you may fight well for the gospel (or, for the truth of the gospel).”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• Timothy, my son (or, my child), these are the instructions that I am giving you: I ask you to remember the things that people (or, prophets) in the past said would happen to you. You must use those words like weapons in order to fight well against those false teachers (or, to fight well for the truth of the gospel).

Or:
• … in order to fight well for (or, to maintain) the truth of the gospel.

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 .