6:21a

which some have professed: This verse part is closely connected to 6:20b. Some people had accepted the false teaching and also claimed that it was true. These people had been members of the Christian community but were no longer members.

6:21b

and thus: That is, in accepting the false teaching.

swerved away from the faith: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as swerved away from originally meant “to miss the mark.” Later it came to mean “to miss, fail, deviate, and depart.” Here it is figurative language. It means that the believers who had accepted the false teaching had stopped following their faith. See the notes on 1:6a and 6:10b.

Paragraph 6:21c

6:21c

Grace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Grace means “favor, good will, kindness.” Paul wanted God to show kindness and favor to Timothy. The same Greek word occurs in 1:2c with the same meaning. Try to use the same term here as you used in 1:2c.

you all: This is the one place in the letter where the word you in Greek is plural. Paul may have meant for more people than Timothy to read the letter, or he expected Timothy to pass on his greetings to the other believers.

© 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.

2:4

Here Paul stated the reasons that God would be pleased when believers prayed for everyone. Paul knew that God wanted two important things:

(a) that people are saved (2:4a)

(b) that people come to a knowledge of the truth (2:4b)

2:4a

wants everyone to be saved: This is the first thing that God wants for everyone, that is he wants to save everyone.

to be saved: In some languages it will be necessary to provide a subject here and say that it is God who saves people. In other languages it may be necessary to make explicit what people are to be saved from. God saves people from their sin.

2:4b

to come to the knowledge of the truth: Not only does God want to save everyone. He also wants everyone to understand the truth about him, not just with their minds. They should also act according to the truth.

the truth: In this context, Paul used the expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the truth to refer to the Christian message. Paul explained more about this in 2:5b through 2:6b.

In many languages this can be a difficult expression to translate. Three possible ways are:

God’s true message
-or-
what is true, that is, God’s message
-or-
the true message about God

General Comment on 2:3–4

In 2:4, Paul stated the reason that it is good to pray for other people and why it pleases God. In some languages, it may be necessary to reorder 2:3 and 2:4. One way to do this is:

4aGod wants all people to be saved 4band come to know the truth. Therefore, when we pray for everyone, 3awe are doing something right 3band pleasing God.

© 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.

Paragraph 4:6–8

Paul once more gave Timothy some direct commands about how he could be a good servant of Christ. He must reject false teaching and train himself to behave in ways that please God.

4:6a

By pointing out these things: Paul was indirectly commanding Timothy to point certain things out to other believers. (Sherman and Tuggy (1994) say about the English language, “It is commonly understood that such forms as “Would you like to do the dishes?” means “I would like you to wash the dishes; please wash them.” This is a gentle way of suggesting that someone do something. Greek, English, Spanish, and probably many other European languages use this (and other devices) for gentle suggestions. For instance, we all react to the sentence “If we confess our sins, he will cleanse us” as meaning “We should confess our sins, since he will cleanse us.” Notice the mismatching between the surface grammar and the meaning which it expresses. Grammatically, the sentence is made up of a dependent conditional clause attached to an independent clause. Semantically, however, the relationship is reversed; that is, the central appeal unit is expressed by the dependent clause, and the supporting motivational unit is expressed by the independent clause. This mismatching between the grammar and the meaning is a device for making the exhortation or command a gentle one.”) Other ways to express this are:

In pointing out these things (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
when you point these things out (God’s Word)

pointing out: In this context, Paul meant that Timothy should make the other believers aware of “these things.”

these things: It is not clear what things Paul was referring to here. It could be:

(1) the things that Paul had mentioned immediately before this, that is, in the previous section (4:1–5). Paul was giving the reasons why it was acceptable to eat any kind of food.

(2) all the instructions that Paul had given in the letter so far.

Most translations do not make clear what these things refer to. It is recommended that you also leave this ambiguous if you can. However, Paul was probably emphasizing at this point what he had written about immediately before this in 4:1–5. So if it is necessary for you to make a choice here, it is recommended that you translate these things in a way that refers to the immediately preceding verses.

brothers: The word brothers refers to believers, or other Christians. This term probably includes both men and women. In your translation, you can say “all the other believers” or “all the brothers and sisters.”

4:6b

a good servant of Christ Jesus: There are several interpretations of what Paul meant when he said that he expected Timothy to be a good servant of Christ Jesus. The two most likely meanings are:

(1) He expected Timothy to do the work of Christ by teaching others. In other words, he expected Timothy to do what Christ wanted and commanded.

(2) He expected Timothy to be a person whom Christ appointed to teach and help others.

It is recommended that you use a general expression here rather than making one of these interpretations explicit. But if you must be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

Christ Jesus: Notice that in this verse Paul referred to Jesus as Christ Jesus instead of “Jesus Christ.” The names “Christ Jesus” and “Jesus Christ” refer to the same person. (Some people, however, think that when Paul used the word Christ before the word Jesus, as in Christ Jesus, he was emphasizing that Jesus was the Messiah.)

In most English versions “Jesus Christ” and “Christ Jesus” are translated in the same order as they occur in the Greek manuscripts. It is recommended that you do the same thing.

However, it is possible that, in some languages, people may be confused to see the names in two different orders. They may even think that Paul was referring to two different people. If this is true in your language, it may be necessary to translate Christ Jesus as “Jesus Christ.” This is the more usual word order in the New Testament.

Christ: The word Christ is used two ways in the New Testament. In the Gospels, Christ is a title for Jesus. It means “the anointed one.” But later, by the time that Paul and others wrote letters to individuals and churches, the word Christ was used as another name for Jesus. It was no longer used as a title. So here and in other New Testament letters you should spell Christ according to the rules of your language.

4:6c

nourished by: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as nourished by is a word used when referring to rearing a child. In this context, it is a metaphor that means “being trained by.”

Paul was saying that when Timothy taught other believers, God would use those teachings to train not only the listeners but also Timothy himself.

the words: The expression the words is connected to both “the faith” and “the good teaching.”

faith: Here, faith refers to Christianity. In other words, it refers to all that God revealed to people concerning what we should believe and do in order to follow Christ properly. See the note on faith at 3:9.

sound instruction: The sound instruction refers to the true teaching about God. It contrasts with the false teaching that Paul had been warning Timothy about.

4:6d

that you have followed: That is, that Timothy had chosen to listen to and obey.

General Comment on 4:6a–d

In some languages it may better to reorder this verse. One way to do this is:

^6aTeach these things to the brothers, ^6c–dand the truths of the faith and the good teaching you follow will nourish/train you. ^6bIn this way you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.

© 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.

Paragraph 5:23

Paul told Timothy in 5:22c to keep himself pure so that he could appoint elders effectively. In this paragraph he made a brief comment to Timothy about wine. Then he resumed his instructions in 5:24 about appointing elders.

5:23a

Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead: During the time when Timothy lived, people frequently drank wine. However, if a person drank too much wine, he would become drunk. See the note on 3:8b.

Apparently Timothy had only been drinking water and not drinking any wine. Paul told him that to drank a little wine as medicine was acceptable.

little: Paul did not define how much “wine” Timothy should drink, but it was a small quantity. It was not enough to make Timothy drunk.

5:23b–c

your stomach and your frequent ailments: There are two ways to interpret these words:

(1) These expressions refer to the same thing. That is, Timothy’s frequent illnesses were stomach problems. For example, the Good News Translation says:

to help your digestion, since you are sick so often

(Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), God’s Word)

(2) These expressions refer to different illnesses. In addition to Timothy’s stomach problems, he was also often sick with some other illnesses. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

your stomach trouble and the other illnesses you always have

Other versions are a little ambiguous, but most likely follow interpretation (2).

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The illnesses were stomach problems that go away when people drink a little wine.

General Comment on 5:23a–c

In some languages it may be helpful to reorder this verse. For example:

Because your stomach makes you ill so often, try drinking a little wine instead of only water.

© 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.