The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (237 page)

11
 Command and teach these things.
¹²
Let no one despise
your youth
, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
¹³
Till I come, attend to the public
reading of Scripture
, to preaching, to teaching.
¹⁴
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when
the elders
laid their hands upon you.
¹⁵
Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
¹⁶
Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Duties toward Believers

5
  
Do not rebuke
an older man but exhort him as you would a father; treat younger men like brothers,
²
older women like mothers, younger women like sisters, in all purity.

3
 Honor
widows
who are real widows.
 
*
⁴
If a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
⁵
She who is a real widow, and is left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and
prayers night and day
;
⁶
whereas she who is self-indulgent is
dead
even while she lives.
⁷
Command this, so that they may be without reproach.
⁸
If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9
 Let a widow be
enrolled
if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband;
¹⁰
and she must be well attested for her good deeds, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality,
washed the feet
of the saints, relieved the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.
¹¹
But refuse to enrol younger widows; for when they grow wanton against Christ they desire to marry,
¹²
and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge.
 
*
¹³
Besides that, they learn to be idlers, gadding about from house to house, and not only idlers but gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.
¹⁴
So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, rule their households, and give the enemy no occasion to revile us.
¹⁵
For some have already strayed after Satan.
¹⁶
If any believing woman
^l
has relatives who are widows, let her assist them; let the Church not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are real widows.

17
 Let
the elders
who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching;
¹⁸
for the
Scripture says
, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages."
¹⁹
Never admit any charge against an elder except on the evidence of
two or three witnesses
.
²⁰
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
²¹
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without favor, doing nothing from partiality.
²²
Do not be hasty
in the laying on of hands, nor participate in another man's sins; keep yourself pure.

23
 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and
your frequent ailments
.

Men's Deeds, False Teaching, and True Riches

24
 The sins of some men are conspicuous, pointing to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.
²⁵
So also good deeds are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

6
  
Let all who are under the yoke of
slavery
regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed.
²
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brethren; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved.

Teach and urge these duties.
³
If any one teaches
otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness,
⁴
he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions,
⁵
and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
⁶
There is great gain in godliness with contentment;
⁷
for we brought
nothing into the world
, and
^m
we cannot take anything out of the world;
⁸
but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
⁹
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
¹⁰
For
the love of money
is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.

The Good Fight of Faith

11
 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
¹²
Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made
the good confession
in the presence of many witnesses.
¹³
In the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who in his testimony
before Pontius Pilate
made the good confession,
¹⁴
I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until
the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ;
¹⁵
and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the
King of kings
and Lord of lords,
¹⁶
who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17
 As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy.
¹⁸
They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous,
¹⁹
thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.

Personal Instructions and Benediction

20
 
O Timothy, guard
what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the godless chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge,
²¹
for by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith.

Grace be with you
.

Commentary on The First Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy

1:1 Paul:
The sender of the letter, traditionally identified as the great apostle to the Gentiles (2:7; Rom 11:13). As an ambassador of Christ Jesus, Paul is divinely authorized to announce the gospel to Israel and all nations (Acts 9:15). His mission stems, not from his own initiative, but from a direct command of the risen Lord (Gal 1:1, 15-16).
our Savior:
Six times in the Pastoral Epistles this title is given to God the Father (2:3; 4:10; Tit 1:3; 2:10; 3:4), and four times to Jesus Christ (2 Tim 1:10; Tit 1:4; 2:13; 3:6). 
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1:2 Timothy:
One of Paul's associates and a member of his missionary team. He was a native of Asia Minor instructed in the Scriptures by his Jewish mother, Eunice (2 Tim 1:5; 3:15). After his conversion, Paul recruited Timothy as a traveling companion (Acts 16:1-3) and ordained him to the priestly ministry (1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6). Thereafter, Timothy spent most of his time at Paul's side, as suggested by the six NT letters that identify him as a co-sender with the apostle (2 Cor; Phil; Col; 1 and 2 Thess; Philem). Though Timothy's youth might sometimes have been a liability (1 Tim 4:12), his health unstable (5:23), and his disposition timid and unassertive (2 Tim 1:7), Paul always thought very highly of him and considered him a dear friend (Phil 2:19-23). According to tradition, Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus and was martyred there in old age.
my true child:
Similar expressions occur in 1 Tim 1:18, Phil 2:22, and 2 Tim 1:2. They imply that Paul's apostleship is a ministry of spiritual fatherhood: through preaching and administering the sacraments, he begets the supernatural life of God in others and makes them his children. Timothy is a spiritual son who received the priesthood through Paul (2 Tim 1:6), and, as the apostle's successor, he is to communicate the gift of that ministry to others as well (1 Tim 5:22; 2 Tim 2:1-2).
See note on 1 Cor 4:15
. 
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1:3-11
Timothy's first assignment is to halt the spread of false teaching in Ephesus (1:3). Proponents of these novelties are not missionary invaders but misguided individuals from within the Ephesian congregation. Aspiring to be teachers of the Torah (1:7), they occupy themselves with imaginative theories about the mysteries and genealogies of the books of Moses (1:4). Timothy is to silence them and preach sound doctrine that inspires love and faith (1:5). For Paul, it is unbecoming for teachers of the faith to neglect the certainties of revelation in order to revel in the uncertainties of speculation. 
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1:3 Macedonia:
A Roman province in northern Greece.
Ephesus:
Capital of the Roman province of Asia (Minor) in southwest Turkey. Paul established the Church there in the mid 50s on his third missionary tour (Acts 19:1-20:1). Although Ephesus is a flourishing center of Christianity in the first century, the apostle foresees doctrinal troubles heading their way (Acts 20:17, 28-29). 
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1:4 myths:
Probably legendary stories about OT figures that are found in Jewish apocryphal writings before the dawn of Christianity (Tit 1:14).
divine training:
The Greek
oikonomia
can also mean "arrangement of God" or "household management of God". The latter sense would connect with a theme developed later in the letter, namely, that the Church is the "household of God" (3:15). 
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1:7 teachers of the law:
Elsewhere in the NT this title is used of scribal (Lk 5:17) and rabbinic teachers (Acts 5:34). 
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1:8 the law:
The Torah or Law of Moses is "good" because it promotes virtue and prohibits vice (Rom 7:12, 16). Since many of the sins in the following verses are direct violations of the Decalogue (Ex 20:1-17), it is clear that the moral precepts of the Old Covenant are carried over into the New and, in Paul's mind, are part of what constitutes "sound doctrine" (1 Tim 1:10). This is consistent with his teaching elsewhere in Rom 13:8-10, 1 Cor 7:19, and Gal 5:14.
lawfully:
I.e., according to its true intent. Improper use of the Law was made by false teachers, whose useless conjectures spread confusion instead of religious conviction among believers. The purpose of the Torah is not to satisfy our curiosity but to encourage justice, mercy, and faith (Mt 23:23) (CCC 1962). • The person who thinks he understands the Scriptures but is unable to build up the double love of God and neighbor does not truly understand them (St. Augustine,
On Christian Doctrine
1, 36). 
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