Home
1 Timothy Chapter 2

1 Timothy Chapter 2

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Pray for all
  1. First of all therefore, I urge intercessions, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings to be made on behalf of all men;
  2. for kings and all the men being in authority so we might lead a tranquil and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity.
  3. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior,
  4. who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
  5. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus the Anointed,
  6. the One who gave Himself as a full repurchase pricefn“full repurchase price” is one word in Greek, typically translated ransom.  The root refers to the price paid to free a slave. for all, the testimony given in their own fitting times,
  7. to which I was appointed a herald and an apostle – I speak the truth, I don’t lie – a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.
  8. Therefore, I long for the men in every place to pray, raising holy hands without anger and dissension.
Concerning Women
  1. Likewise also, women are to adorn themselves in respectable apparel with reservefn“reserve” is literally “shamefacedness” in the sense of turning from what is unbecoming because it’s shameful. and self-control; not in braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or expensive clothing,
  2. but in what is proper for women professing fear of God through good works.
  3. A woman must learn in tranquil silence,fn“tranquil silence” is one word in Greek.  It denotes an inner calm and reserve which is expressed by outward action.  It’s used four times in the Bible: this verse, the following verse, in Acts 22:2 (denoting “silence”), and in 2 Thessalonians 3:12 referring to leading a “tranquil life”. in all submission.
  4. But I don’t permit a woman to teach nor to have authority over a man but to be in tranquil silence.fn“tranquil silence” see note on previous verse
  5. For Adam was formed first, and then Eve.fnquotation/allusion to Genesis 2:7, and Genesis 2:18-24
  6. And Adam wasn’t deceived, but having been thoroughly deceived, the woman *came into deliberate sin.fnquotation/allusion to Genesis 3:1-6
  7. Yet she will be saved through childbearing,fn“she will be saved through childbearing” This almost certainly does not indicate that women somehow attain salvation through giving birth to children.  It is likely Paul dealing with Gnosticism, which was a huge problem as early as Paul’s day.  The Gnostics believed in an physical vs spiritual dualism, elevating the spiritual and deriding the physical.  As a consequence, some Gnostics forbade marriage (as in 1 Timothy 4:3).  They also had some strange ideas about the creation, with some believing that Eve was created first or that Adam, not Eve, was deceived (which Paul corrected in verses 13 and 14 respectively).  Some of the more extreme Gnostics believed that the earthly/fleshly was wicked, and thus that having children was wicked/sinful, some even to the point of saying it endangered salvation.  It’s likely Paul was correcting this error, saying that women will be saved “through childbearing”, in the sense of “you can be saved while bearing children” because it’s not a sin, not that childbearing itself would save them.  A similar use of this Greek preposition is 1 Corinthians 3:15 if theyfn“they” the switch here from singular (“she”) in the first half of the verse to plural (“they”) is accurate to the Greek. remain in faith, and ^love, and holiness with self-control.

 

Next: 1 Timothy chapter 3

Previous: 1 Timothy chapter 1

Up: The Book of 1 Timothy

Up: BOS Bible Index

 

Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.

Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.