complete verse (1 Timothy 4:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Timothy 4:12:

  • Uma: “Even though you are still young, you must not be considered-insignificant [by people]. You must be an example to the one-faith relatives in your words, your behavior, your love to others, your faith in the Lord, and your holy actions.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Do not be ashamed if someone looks-down-on you because you are already teaching/preaching but you are yet young. But your behavior ought to be good and your words/speech. Love your fellow-men, strengthen your trust in God and there ought not to be any evil/bad in your thinking/mind. So then your behavior is copied/joined-in by the ones who trust in Isa Almasi there.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Even though you are still young, you must be deserving of the respect of everybody; you must be the one that the believers in Christ imitate. And because of this, it is necessary that you watch carefully what you say, what you do, your love for all, your trust in God, and your avoiding immoral behavior.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Don’t be ashamed/embarrassed if there are some who disparage you (sing.) because of your (sing.) youth, but rather the way you (sing.) speak is to be good and your (sing.) behavior is also to be good so that that’s what those who believe may follow-as-an-example. Also show them your (sing.) love to your (sing.) companions, your (sing.) trust in God, and the absence of filthiness in your (sing.) thoughts and deeds so that that also will be what they follow-as-an-example.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Ensure that those people don’t disregard what you say just because you are still young. What you are to persevere in is, that you are the one who can be copied by the believers in your speech, your nature/ways and your valuing, and because your believing/obeying holds fast, and your whole life is in harmony with the will of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Do not want that anyone will not respect you because you are only a young man. Rather show them the good which the believers must live by. Show that you speak what is good. Show that you love your fellowman. Show that what you believe is good. Cause people to know that you walk according to all that is good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Timothy 4:12

Whereas in the previous verse Timothy is urged to command and teach, here he is urged to become an example to the believing community. No one can refer to anybody; in the context of the verse, however, it is more likely that it refers to members of the Christian community. Despise translates a verb that means “to scorn,” “to look down on” (Good News Translation), “to treat with contempt,” “make fun of you” (Contemporary English Version). Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show two different ways of translating the text.

Youth refers to chronological age. There is no way of determining exactly how old Timothy was, but obviously he was younger than Paul, and most probably younger than many of the church leaders and members who were under his charge. In a culture where age was revered and youth given a somewhat lower value, it was important for young leaders to be encouraged to regard youth as an asset and not as a liability. In the Greek text your youth is represented by two genitives and can be translated literally as “of your youth,” or “of you of youth.” This has led to some differences of opinion on the interpretation of this part of the verse. A first position is to relate despise directly with youth, which results in the translation represented by Revised Standard Version. Another position is to relate despise with you, and to take youth as defining you more precisely; despise then would be connected with a double negative, and the translation that results would then be like Good News Translation (so also New English Bible, Phillips, New International Version, Jerusalem Bible). The only problem with this position is that it would be a unique understanding of this kind of grammatical construction.

In actual fact, however, there is no need to resort to a grammatical explanation as above in order to arrive at the translation represented by Good News Translation. The difference, in fact, between Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible is not exegetical but translational; that is, it is based not on a different understanding of the text but on the application of different translation principles, with Revised Standard Version rendering the text in a more formal manner and hence more literal, and Good News Bible translating the text in a more dynamic and meaningful way. Contemporary English Version‘s translation, “Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young,” is another good model for translators to follow.

Set the believers an example is literally “be an example for the believers”; this is a case where Good News Translation is more literal than Revised Standard Version. The word for example by itself refers to a stamp or a scar, and can also refer to a shape or a statue. From this the word has acquired the meaning of resemblance or model, hence example. The believers are of course fellow Christians. Another way of expressing this is “but you should be a good model for the believers to follow, both in your….” What follows are five kinds of activity in which Timothy is supposed to be a model for other Christians. These may be taken separately (as, for example, Good News Translation) or grouped together in a certain pattern. One pattern is to take speech and conduct as a pair, love and faith as another pair, and purity as standing by itself. Another pattern is to take speech and conduct together as defining the ways in which Timothy should be a model for others, and the last three as the qualities in which he should excel. (This kind of grouping, in addition to Revised Standard Version, occurs also in New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, and New International Version.) It remains for us then to examine these five elements more closely. Speech is literally “word” and has reference to conversation in general. Conduct refers to manner of life, behavior. Love is directed to other people, especially the members of the Christian community, while faith combines both the elements of trust and confidence in Christ, as well as faithfulness to him. Purity can be understood as a general term for an upright and morally blameless life, and specifically as referring to being free from any immoral acts, especially acts related to sex.

An alternative translation model for the second part of this verse is:
• But you should be a good model (or, example) for the believers to follow (or, imitate), by the words you speak, your behavior (or, way of life), your love for others, your trust in Christ, and your blameless life.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 Timothy 4:12

4:12a

Let no one despise your youth: People who lived when Paul did normally expected spiritual leaders to be older than Timothy was. Therefore, some people thought that he was too young to teach them so they didn’t want to obey him.

The form of the Greek verb is a third-person command. It could better be expressed in English as “May no one look down on you.” Paul was telling Timothy that he should behave in ways that made him deserve respect. Then people would respect him and not look down on him. The next verses told Timothy how to do this. Use a form of the verb in your language that will best fit this context.

despise: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as despise means “regard as worthless,” “show disrespect to,” or “regard as inferior.”

youth: Timothy was probably between thirty and forty years old when Paul wrote this letter. Try to use a word for youth that includes Timothy’s age group. In some cultures, people do not consider a man of this age group a youth. If this is true in your area, you may need to state that some people thought that Timothy was too young to teach them.

4:12b

set an example: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as example means a “model” or “pattern.” Paul wanted Timothy to behave in a way that other believers could copy. If he did that, people would respect him and would listen to what he taught them, even though they considered him young.

an example: In some languages there is no noun that means example. In such languages it may be possible to use a verb like “demonstrate” or “show.” For example:

Instead, show the other believers how to behave as God wants them to.

4:12c–d

Paul wanted Timothy to be an example to the other believers in the way he behaved. In the rest of this verse Paul listed five ways in which Timothy was to be an example. (Some translations, such as the King James Version, add a sixth way, the words “in spirit”, after “in faith” in 4:10d. However, the oldest and best Greek texts that Bible scholars know about do not have the words “in spirit” here. That is why most modern translations do not include this phrase.)

4:12c

in speech: This is the first way in which Timothy was to be an example. Paul meant that Timothy should be careful that everything he said was true, kind, and helpful to others. He should avoid lying or gossiping.

in conduct: This is the second way in which Timothy was to be an example to the other believers. Paul meant that Timothy should behave in a way that pleased God and that others could imitate. Other believers should not have any reason to criticize him for his behavior.

4:12d

in love: This is the third way in which Timothy was to be an example to the other believers. Paul meant that Timothy should be an example to other people by loving them. Here Paul was probably referring to loving people more than to loving God. So if you need to use a verb here with an object, you should say:

in the way you love other people

in faith: This is the fourth way in which Timothy was to be an example to the other believers. Paul told Timothy to be an example to other people in faith. He meant that Timothy should be an example in the way he trusted in God.

in purity: This is the fifth and final way in which Timothy was to be an example to the other believers. Paul meant that Timothy was always to behave in a pure way. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as purity often refers to avoiding sexual sin in particular. However in this context, it probably refers to avoiding any kind of sin, including sexual sin.

General Comment on 4:12b–d

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder this verse. For example, you could begin with the list of the ways in which Timothy should be an example. Here is one way to do that:

12cspeak what is right, behave in a way that pleases God, 12dlove other people, trust in God, and behave in a blameless way. 12bThen you will be an example 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.

Commentaire sur la traduction de 1 Timothée 4.12

Paul passe maintenant à des recommandations concernant le comportement, les relations personnelles et la vie spirituelle de Timothée.

Que personne ne méprise ton jeune âge est assez proche du texte en grec. La forme d’un souhait (un impératif à la troisième personne) pourrait être rendue comme un impératif à la deuxième personne, par exemple, « Ne permets à personne de mépriser ta jeunesse ».

mépriser peut exprimer l’opposé d’aimer comme en Matt 6.24. Mais ici il a le sens de « dédaigner », « minimiser », « ne pas avoir du respect pour ».

ton jeune âge représente un seul mot en grec « jeunesse ». Il peut aussi être rendu par une expression verbale comme « parce que tu es jeune » (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). Selon certain biblistes, ce mot désigne des gens depuis l’adolescence jusqu’à quarante ans.

Tout au contraire rend la conjonction forte ἀλλά alla qui introduit un contraste. On pourrait dire « Au contraire » (Bible de Jérusalem) ou « mais » (La Bible du Semeur, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie).

sois pour les fidèles un modèle : sois ou « deviens » est un impératif présent, comme en 1 Tim 4.11. Le mot modèle a le sens d’« exemple ». Alors on pourrait dire « Sois un exemple » (Bible en français courant) ou « montre l’exemple aux croyants » (Parole de Vie).

fidèles, en grec πιστός pistos, est le terme rendu par « croyants » en 1 Tim 4.10. Le sens est le même.

Le reste du verset indique cinq aspects de l’exemple que Timothée doit donner, chacun introduit par la préposition en qui pourra aussi avoir le sens de « par ». Comparer 1 Tim 6.11 ; 2 Tim 2.22 ; Tite 2.2.

en parole et en conduite : ces notions pourraient être rendues par des expressions verbales, par exemple, « par ce que tu dis et la façon dont tu te conduis ». Pour conduite, voir aussi 1 Tim 3.15 où un verbe apparenté paraît.

Pour amour, voir 1 Tim 1.5.

Pour foi, voir 1 Tim 1.2. Ici, il s’agit plutôt de la confiance placée en Jésus-Christ.

pureté rend un nom se trouvant seulement ici et en 1 Tim 5.2 dans tout le NT. Un adjectif apparenté figure en 1 Tim 5.22 et Tite 2.5. Il a surtout un sens moral : « sans souillure ».

Dans beaucoup de langues, il ne sera pas facile de combiner toutes ces qualités et de les présenter en parallèle comme en grec. Les traducteurs devraient souvent reformuler et utiliser des expressions naturelles dans leur langue, par exemple, « Sois un exemple dans ce que tu dis, comment tu te comportes, et dans ta façon d’aimer les autres. Sois un exemple (pour les croyants et les autres) dans ta façon de croire en Dieu, et dans ta façon de mener une vie pure ».

Source: Zogbo, Lynell & Ellingworth, Paul La première lettre à Timothée – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.