9this means understanding that the law is laid down not for the righteous but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,
The Greek that is translated as “sinner” in English is translated in various ways:
“people with bad hearts” (“it is not enough to call them ‘people who do bad things,’ for though actions do reflect the heart, yet it is the hearts with which God is primarily concerned — see Matt. 15:19“) in Western Kanjobal
“people who are doing wrong things in their hearts” in San Blas Kuna (source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 148)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Timothy 1:9:
Uma: “In order that our use [of it] be true, we must remember the purpose of the Law of Musa. The Law of Musa was not made for people whose behavior is upright. Its purpose is to forbid/stop people who transgress laws and people who are rebellious, who don’t submit to God, who sin, who don’t regard/pay-attention-to religion, who just follow the happiness of the world, who murder their mother or their father, and other murderers.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Because we/one (dual) ought to understand that the law is not hep given to straight/righteous people but to/for people who transgress/break the law and (to) the people who do not follow/obey instruction/teaching, people not afraid of God and sinners. It is also given to people who do not honor/respect God and just mock/make-fun-of God, to people who kill their mother-father or their fellow humans. The law of God is given for these ones.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However this was not commanded in order to forbid righteous people from acting, rather, it was commanded in order to forbid from acting transgressors, those who are not faithful, those who will not believe in God, criminals, wicked people, and those who do not respect God, those who kill their mother and father, murderers,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “We ought to be-able-to-understand that it is not the righteous person who is the reason for the making of the law but rather the bad person like these: the one who habitually-breaks laws and doesn’t submit-to (lit. cause-himself-to-be-ruled-by) those who have authority, the one who refuses to worship God and the sinner, the not religious (loan relihioso) and the one who belittles/mocks that which concerns God, the one who kills his father or his mother and the one who kills his fellow person,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Let us consider that God gave his laws, not because of those who do good, but rather because of those who do evil. People like these, (they are those who) don’t acknowledge the law, the disobedient, those who don’t acknowledge God and his will is far from their mind/inner-being, and who belittle things which are far-from-ordinary in his sight. The laws are also necessary because of the ones who kill their parents and their fellowman,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “For the people who do good, there isn’t any law that can judge them. The law was written in order to judge the lawbreakers. It judges the disobedient. It judges the evil people, those who sin. It judges the people who do not honor God and do not believe. It judges the people who kill fathers, mothers, and fellow men.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
(San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Understanding this these verses may be understood as explaining the meaning of verse 8, primarily the proper use of the law. This connection between these verses is made clear in some translations; for example, New Revised Standard Version “This means understanding that….” Or one may say “We understand, of course, that….”
In the Greek, law is without the definite article; it is possible therefore to take law here as referring to any law. However, considering the reference to sound doctrine in verse 10, “the glorious gospel” in verse 11, and the reference to “God’s law” or “the law” (Good News Translation) in verse 8, it seems that law does not include secular laws but is limited to various rules and regulations that are included in the Torah, or the Law of Moses. So it will be possible to translate understanding this, that the law is not laid down for as “We understand, of course, that Moses did not give these laws just for….”
Laid down refers to the enactment and proclamation of the law, and in many languages it will be more natural to use an active expression and say, for example, “Moses gave (or, enacted) these laws,” or if translators understand the law to refer to “laws” in general (compare Good News Translation), then one may translate “These laws are given (or, enacted)” or “They [unknown agents] gave the laws.” The just is literally “the righteous one”; the singular is used here in a generic sense, referring to all those who are “righteous.” As to the meaning of the expression itself, some take it in the generic sense, hence “good” (Good News Translation), “upright people,” “law-abiding people,” or else not violating any law, hence “innocent” (New Revised Standard Version). In this sense it is contrasted with lawless in the next part of the verse. Others, however, take it in its specific Christian sense of referring either to being restored into a right relationship with God (compare Contemporary English Version “people who please God”) or to the result of such a restoration in one’s ethical and moral life, that is, being empowered to live in obedience to the will of God. Either one is possible, depending on how law in the first part of the verse is interpreted. If law is taken as generic, the first alternative will seem more likely. However, if law is interpreted as referring specifically to the law of Moses or to precepts and commandments found in the Scriptures, then the more specific understanding of just will be much more appropriate. Here again, a literal translation will not contain any clue as to what the expression really means. Alternative translation models for the first part of this verse are “We understand, of course, that Moses did not give these Laws just to control people who please God (or, are living in obedience to God)…” or “We also understand that laws are made (or, they [unknown agents] make these laws) not for good people….”
What follows is a catalog of vices, with the clear message that it is for people with such vices that the law is enacted. The function of the law in this case is not primarily to expose these vices but to judge those who do these things. Some things can be said about this catalog. First, this is one of several lists of vices that are found in the New Testament letters. Among the other lists are those found in Rom 1.29-31 and Gal 5.19-21. Some of the lists of vices are followed immediately by a list of virtues, as, for example, Gal 5.22-23. The presence of these lists in the New Testament seems to indicate that these were part of the body of material used in the church’s nurture program. Scholars have noted the absence of the catalog form in rabbinic Judaism, which tends to indicate that here is another instance of Greek influence in New Testament writings.
Secondly, the list is not meant to be exhaustive, but it only includes vices that are considered serious and unusual.
Thirdly, this list has a structure that is unique to itself. It consists first of all of four pairs connected with the conjunction and. These four pairs are followed by six single vices. The list as a whole reflects the order of the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue), although there is no unanimity regarding the details of this relationship. Some aspects of this relationship will be pointed out in this Handbook.
The first three pairs consist of generic terms that describe people in their attitude toward the law, toward God, and toward spiritual matters. The first pair consists of two general terms that describe people in terms of their negative attitude toward the law. Lawless describes people who have no regard for the law and who wouldn’t think twice before breaking it; so “law-breakers” (Good News Translation). Disobedient (Good News Translation “criminals”) translates a word that refers to people who rebel and disobey the law instead of submitting to it. The second pair (ungodly and sinners) are also generic terms describing people in terms of their attitude toward God. Ungodly translates a term that is used of people who are impious, irreverent, and who find no place for God in their lives. Other ways to express ungodly are “people who do not worship God,” “people who have no use for God,” or “people who are not faithful to God.” Sinners on the other hand refers to people who consistently commit acts that are against God and against the law. The third pair likewise are generic terms, but this time they describe people in terms of their attitude toward religious or spiritual matters. The unholy (Good News Translation “those who are not religious”) are the irreligious, the impious, people who have no place for the sacred in their lives. Many languages will not have a set expression for either “religious” or “irreligious.” In such cases they may call unholy or “irreligious” people “those who don’t customarily worship or pray to God.” The profane on the other hand are those who not only regard anything spiritual as irrelevant but who also treat it with contempt and ridicule. In some languages profane will be expressed as “people who speak evil of God” or “people who hate God.” Good News Translation‘s “not … spiritual” is too weak.
There are various possibilities of relating these first three pairs with the first commandments in the Decalogue. One way is to relate the first pair to the commandment “You shall have no other gods,” the second pair to the commandment “You shall not make for yourself a graven image,” and the third pair to the commandments “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” and “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Another possibility is to take the first pair as a general introduction to the catalog, the second pair as related to the first and second commandment cited above, and the third pair as related to the third and fourth commandments cited. A third option is to take all three pairs as related in a general way to all these commandments cited, but without a pattern of one-to-one relationship. But, finally, it is also possible to take these as general descriptions of people in terms of their attitude toward the law and toward God but without any specific relationship to the Decalogue. In the least, it will add to their understanding and appreciation of the passage.
Beginning with the fourth pair, the list moves to specific acts, and here it is much easier to identify parallelisms and relationships with specific parts of the Decalogue, as shown by the following outline:
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers = “Honor your father and your mother.” manslayers = “You shall not kill.” immoral persons and sodomites = “You shall not commit adultery.” kidnapers = “You shall not steal.” liars and perjurers = “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” whatever else = “You shall not covet….”
Murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers must refer to children who murder their own parents. This is a much more severe example of the violation of the commandment to honor parents. These terms appear only here in the New Testament. It is tempting to speculate on why such an item is included in the list, since the practice of killing one’s own parents must not have been prevalent at that time. But perhaps this just stresses the importance of faithfully obeying that commandment, and of not mistreating one’s parents in any way.
Manslayers are also murderers, but this time the object is other people and not one’s own parents. Since murdering parents has just been mentioned, it would be much more accurate to translate manslayers as “other murderers.” These are people who deliberately kill others, but not in warfare.
Immoral persons translates a term that can be understood in a general sense as referring to people who do evil things, but more accurately, as describing people who engage in sexual immorality. A specific example of sexual immorality is now given, namely, that of homosexual relationships; the term sodomites refers to male partners in such relationships. Many languages do not have specific vocabulary for such activity. In such cases one may translate sodomites as “men who perform sexual intercourse with other men” or “men who engage in abnormal sexual activity.”
Kidnapers refers generally to those in Biblical times who sold people as slaves (so New Revised Standard Version “slave traders”), and specifically to those who used kidnaping as a way of capturing people for the purpose of selling them into slavery. Liars is a general term for those who do not tell the truth, and perjurers (literally those who swear falsely) refers specifically to those who “give false testimony” (Good News Translation), particularly in court. Whatever else would include other actions (so Good News Translation “who do anything else”) that are not specifically mentioned but are nevertheless violations of the law. Some scholars have identified this last unspecific statement as referring to the commandment not to covet, since it does not receive a specific example in the list, probably because of the difficulty of identifying acts of covetousness. At any rate, this seems to be a convenient way to refer to any violation of the law that is not specifically mentioned in the list.
To be included as a violation, an action must be contrary to sound doctrine. The word for doctrine is used fifteen times in the Pastoral Letters, four times in the other letters, and twice in the Gospels (Matt 15.9 and Mark 7.7). The word itself can refer either to the act of teaching or to the content of what is being taught; this latter meaning seems to fit the context in the present verse and in the Pastoral Letters as a whole. It does seem that, at the time the Pastorals were written, there was a body of Christian teaching (or doctrine) that was the basis for determining the validity and acceptability of certain teachings or beliefs. Sound doctrine aptly describes a body of teaching that is correct, accurate, valid, and which contributes to the well-being and building up of the church. Other ways of expressing this final clause are “who do anything else that is against correct Christian teachings” or “who go against correct Christian teachings in any other way.”
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 .
We realize: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as We realize literally mean “understanding this.” Paul was saying that people needed to understand the reasons that God gave them his law. The false teachers did not understand this, and so they were not teaching the law properly. (People have interpreted the phrase “We also know that law is made not for the righteous” (1:9a) in several different ways. The interpretation which the Notes and the Display explain is probably the best interpretation. Other interpretations include the following:(1) Paul was not referring to the Mosaic law when he mentioned the word “law,” but to laws made by governments. When he said that “law is not for the righteous”, he meant that people would not need to make laws if everybody always did what was right. This fits the popular Greek thinking about the purpose of laws in general. This is a possible interpretation. It is true that people do not make laws for those who do what is right. The purpose of law is to change people’s behavior by warning them to avoid doing what is wrong or harmful. Paul referred to this to imply that the primary purpose of God’s laws in the Scriptures is similar to the purpose of other laws. This interpretation is very similar to what is detailed in the Notes. However, the immediate context in 1 Timothy talks about God’s laws in the Scriptures. It is unnecessary to think that Paul changed to talk about laws in general.(2) Paul did not mean that the righteous should not teach, study, and obey the law. Instead, he meant that they should not use it for teaching myths and speculation. Knight seems to follow this view when he says, “Paul is saying that the law is not given to apply in some mystical way to people who are already ‘righteous,’ i.e, those already seeking to conform to the law.” But the trouble with this interpretation is that it seems to mean the opposite of what the text actually says: that “the law is intended for the righteous,” while the text says “the law is not for the righteous.”(3) God’s commandments which are in the Old Testament are “not for the righteous” in the sense that Christians do not need to obey all the commandments and rules which are in the Old Testament in order to please God (as Galatians 5:18 says). Before Jesus came and fulfilled the law, God wanted people to obey him by carefully observing all the commandments in the Old Testament. But now, Christians serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit (as Romans 7:6 says). However, this interpretation is not best because Paul did not talk about Christians no longer having to obey the Old Testament laws anywhere else in 1 Timothy. It would be surprising if he mentioned such a weighty topic in such a passing way in 1:9a.)
1:9b
law: Scholars interpret the word law here in two different ways:
(1) It refers to the law that God gave to Moses, that is, the same law that Paul mentioned in 1:7a and 1:8a. English versions that say “the law” or “these laws” probably follow this interpretation.
(Revised Standard Version, King James Version, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
(2) It refers to all laws. This includes all human laws, as well as the law of Moses. English versions that say “law” or “laws” instead of “the law” probably follow this interpretation.
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word)
Paul had been talking about God’s law immediately before this verse, in 1:8. So it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Paul’s point was that God gave people his law to stop them from doing wrong.
is not enacted: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as is not enacted literally means “does not exist,” “does not exist for a purpose,” or “is not set.” (Louw and Nida (13.73) say, “to exist, with the implication of having been established and thus having continuity and purpose – ‘to exist, to exist for, to be set.’”) In this context, you could also translate this word as “is not given.”
for the righteous: Paul used this phrase to mean that God gave his law because people were sinful (1:9b–1:10d) and needed to know the right way to behave.
When Paul said “not enacted for the righteous“, he did not mean that righteous people should not learn about God’s law. But he meant that the law was not primarily intended to correct their behavior. It was intended to show other people that they were sinning.
the righteous: A righteous person in this context refers to someone who is just and upright, who wants to do what pleases God.
1:9c–f
In the rest of this verse, as well as in 1:10, Paul listed different kinds of people who needed to understand God’s law in order to stop sinning. (The sins that Paul mentioned here are similar to the sins mentioned in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2–17). Since the Ten Commandments refer to the most important of God’s laws, Paul possibly made his list of sins similar to the list in the Ten Commandments so that it would refer to those who break the most important of God’s laws. It is not always clear to which of the Ten Commandments each item on Paul’s list refers. Probably the first pair of words are general descriptions that introduce the whole list. After that, each element of the list is similar to one of the Ten Commandments.)
The list is long, so in some languages it may be helpful to split the list into several shorter lists. If you do so, you may want to begin each list with something like:
God gave his law to teach people who…
1:9c
but: The Greek particle de that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but introduces a contrast between “the righteous” (1:9b) and “the lawless and rebellious” (1:9c).
the lawless: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the lawless here refers to people who ignore God’s law and disobey it.
and rebellious: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rebellious refers to people who are disobedient to those in authority. They defy their authorities. Here Paul specifically refers to people who refuse to accept God’s authority. This word is also used in Titus 1:10.
These two words translated lawless and rebellious mean almost the same thing. In some languages it may be necessary to combine these two terms into one expression. For example:
those who disobey God
1:9d
for the ungodly: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ungodly refers to those who behave without respect for God. This word is also used in Romans 5:6 and Jude 4 and 15.
and sinful: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sinful refers to a person who continues to sin without repenting. (Sometimes this word was used in a special way to refer to people who did not obey the Law of Moses, especially Gentiles (see for example Matthew 9:10–11, 11:19; Mark 2:15–16; Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:1; Galatians 2:15). People called Gentiles “sinners” because they did not worship the Lord as the one true God. If that is what Paul meant, then the word sinful here refers especially to those who break the Second Commandment against worshiping idols (Exodus 20:4–6).)
1:9e
for the unholy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as unholy refers to people who behave in ways that do not please God. They behave wickedly and as if God were not important. Some English synonyms for this term are “irreverent,” “profane,” or “wicked.” (This sin could be related to the Third Commandment, which says, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…” (Exodus 20:7). Those who are unholy may either speak as if God were unimportant or behave as if he were unimportant.). The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as unholy occurs only here and in 2 Timothy 3:2.
and profane: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as profane refers to people who do not respect God. They are only concerned about things in this world. This word is also used in Hebrews 12:16. (This word could be connected to the Fourth Commandment, which prohibits people from profaning the Sabbath by treating it as if it were like any other day (Exodus 20:8–11).)
1:9f
for killers of father or mother:
The phrase those who kill their fathers or mothers refers to those who radically disobey the Fifth Commandment, which says that a person must honor his or her father and mother (Exodus 20:12). At the time when Paul wrote, the words in Greek generally referred to those who actually killed their mother or father. Even so, it is worthwhile to note that in Exodus 21:15, which is found in a chapter which serves as a commentary on the Ten Commandments, God forbids even the striking of a person’s father or mother) The phrase killers of father or mother is literally “father-killers and mother-killers.” It refers to people who murder their fathers and to people who murder their mothers.
for murderers: The term murderers refers to people who deliberately kill someone. (The Sixth Commandment, in Exodus 20:13, prohibits murder.)
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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.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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