1 Timothy 1:18

1:18-20 The ministry is a warfare against sin and Satan; carried on under the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The good hopes others have had of us, should stir us up to duty. And let us be upright in our conduct in all things. The design of the highest censures in the primitive church, was, to prevent further sin, and to reclaim the sinner. May all who are tempted to put away a good conscience, and to abuse the gospel, remember that this is the way to make shipwreck of faith also.

{15} This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by {l} them mightest war a good warfare; (15) The conclusion of both the former fatherly admonitions, that is, that Timothy striving bravely against all stops, being called to the ministry according to many prophecies which went before of him, should both maintain the doctrine which he had received, and keep also a good conscience. (l) By the help of them.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 . This charge — To the Judaizers not to teach differently, or this office of the ministry; I commit unto thee — That thou mayest deliver it to the church; according to — Or, being encouraged by; the prophecies which went before on thee — He refers to some special revelations concerning Timothy, that he should be taken into the ministry, and be eminently useful therein; probably these were uttered when he was first received as an evangelist, (see 1 Timothy 4:14 ,) and that by many persons, 1 Timothy 6:12 . That being assured by them that thy calling is from God, and that his grace and blessing will accompany thee, thou mightest war a good warfare — Mightest execute thy office with courage, resolution, and persevering diligence, notwithstanding all opposition and discouragements whatever. Holding fast a true and lively faith — In the gospel and its divine Author; and a good conscience — That is, walking uprightly before God and man, according to the directions of an enlightened and renewed mind; which — Namely, a good conscience; some — Απωσαμενοι , having thrust away, or rejected. “It departs unwillingly,” says Bengelius, “it always says; ‘Do not hurt me;’ and they who retain this, do not easily make shipwreck of their faith.” Indeed, none can make shipwreck of faith who never had faith. The persons here spoken of, therefore, were once true believers; yet they fell, not only foully, but finally.

For ships once wrecked cannot be afterward saved. “In this metaphorical passage the apostle insinuates that a good conscience is the pilot, who must guide us in our voyage through the stormy sea of this life into the harbour of heaven.” Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander — Two of the corrupt teachers at Ephesus, whom Timothy was left to oppose; whom I have delivered unto Satan — See on 1 Corinthians 5:5 ; that they may learn not to blaspheme — That by what they suffer they may be, in some measure, restrained from speaking evil of the truths of God. The apostles delivered obstinate offenders to Satan, not only for their own reformation, but to strike terror on others. If the offender, in consequence of this punishment, was afflicted with some bodily disease, it probably was removed on his repentance, or after a time. And even though it continued, some of the offenders may have been so obstinate in their wicked courses, that they did not amend. This seems to have been the case with the two persons here named; “for notwithstanding the apostle, after his departure, punished them by delivering them to Satan, they persevered in spreading their erroneous doctrines, 2 Timothy 2:17 ; 2 Timothy 4:14 . At what time the apostle delivered these persons to Satan does not appear; but from his informing Timothy of it as a thing he did not know, it may be conjectured that the apostle did it after he left Ephesus, and was come into Macedonia, probably immediately before he wrote this epistle.

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy: the term son, here applied to Timothy, whom he elsewhere calls his brother, is not a term of natural relation, but of spiritual relation, and of affectionate friendship and endearment. By the charge mentioned he probably means that before mentioned, 1 Timothy 1:3,4 , to charge the false teachers to teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables, & c. According to the prophecies which went before on thee: these prophecies were either the judgments of good men before concerning him, or (which possibly is more probable) some Divine revelations Paul, or some believers, had received concerning this young man. That thou by them mightest war a good warfare; that thou, having heard of them, or remembering them, (though thou meetest with opposition as a minister and as a Christian, yet) mightest not be discouraged, but preach and hold the faith, against all opposers. So the apostle expoundeth himself.

1 Timothy 1:18 . Παρατίθεμαί σοι , I commit to thee ) to lay before thy hearers, 1 Timothy 1:3 . [ Its sum is indicated in 1 Timothy 1:5 .—V. g.]— προαγούσας , that went before ) When hands were laid on Timothy, the spirit of prophecy showed that many things of great importance were about to be entrusted to Timothy, ch. 1 Timothy 4:14 .— προφητείας ) Divine predictions ( Acts 11:27 ), given forth regarding thee by many witnesses, ch. 1 Timothy 6:12 .— στρατεύῃ , mightest war ) A comparison taken from military concerns. In the following verse the comparison is from naval concerns.— αὐταῖς ) προφητείαις , viz. the predictions .— τὴν καλὴν στρατείαν ) that good warfare .

This charge (ταύτην τὴν παραγγελίαν) See on 1 Timothy 1:5. It refers to what follows, that thou might'st war, etc. I commit (παρατίθεμαι) The verb in the active voice means to place beside. In the middle, to deposit or intrust. Only once in Paul, 1 Corinthians 10:27. Comp. 1 Peter 4:19. According to the prophecies which went before on thee (κατὰ τὰς προαγούσας ἐπὶ σὲ προφητείας) Const, according to with I:commit: which went before is to be taken absolutely, and not with on thee: const. prophecies with on these. On thee means concerning thee. The sense of the whole passage is: "I commit this charge unto thee in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning thee." Prophecy is ranked among the foremost of the special spiritual endowments enumerated by Paul. See Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 13:2, 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 14:6, 1 Corinthians 14:22. In 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11, prophets come next after apostles in the list of those whom God has appointed in the church. In Ephesians 2:20, believers, Jew and Gentile, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. According to 1 Timothy 4:14, prophecy has previously designated Timothy as the recipient of a special spiritual gift; and the prophecies in our passage are the single expressions or detailed contents of the prophecy mentioned there. Προαγεῖν to go before is not used by Paul.

In the Pastorals and Hebrews it appears only as an intransitive verb, and so in the only instance in Luke, Luke 18:39. In Acts always transitive, to bring forth. See Acts 12:6; Acts 16:30; Acts 17:5; Acts 25:26. That by them (ἵνα ἐν αὐταῖς) Ἵνα that denoting the purport of the charge. By them (ἐν), lit. in them; in their sphere, or, possibly, in the power of these. Thou mightiest war a good warfare (στρατεύῃ - τὴν καλὴν στρατείαν) More correctly, the good warfare. Στρατεία war-fare once by Paul, 2 Corinthians 10:4. Not flight (μάχην), but covering all the particulars of a soldier's service.

18. He resumes the subject begun at 1Ti 1:3. The conclusion (apodosis) to the foregoing, "as I besought thee … charge" (1Ti 1:3), is here given, if not formally, at least substantially. This charge—namely, "that thou in them (so the Greek) mightest war," that is, fulfil thy high calling, not only as a Christian, but as a minister officially, one function of which is, to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine" (1Ti 1:3). I commit—as a sacred deposit (1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 2:2) to be laid before thy hearers. according to—in pursuance of; in consonance with. the prophecies which went before on thee—the intimations given by prophets respecting thee at thy ordination, 1Ti 4:14 (as, probably, by Silas, a companion of Paul, and "a prophet," Ac 15:32). Such prophetical intimation, as well as the good report given of Timothy by the brethren (Ac 16:2), may have induced Paul to take him as his companion. Compare similar prophecies as to others: Ac 13:1-3, in connection with laying on of hands; Ac 11:28; 21:10, 11; compare 1Co 12:10; 14:1; Eph 4:11. In Ac 20:28, it is expressly said that "the Holy Ghost had made them (the Ephesian presbyters) overseers." Clement of Rome [Epistle to the Corinthians], states it was the custom of the apostles "to make trial by the Spirit," that is, by the "power of discerning," in order to determine who were to be overseers and deacons in the several churches planted.

So Clement of Alexandria says as to the churches near Ephesus, that the overseers were marked out for ordination by a revelation of the Holy Ghost to St. John. by them—Greek, "in them"; arrayed as it were in them; armed with them. warfare—not the mere "fight" (1Ti 6:12; 2Ti 4:7), but the whole campaign; the military service. Translate as Greek, not "a," but "the good warfare."

Verse 18. - My child for son , A.V.; by them thou mayest for thou by them mightest , A.V.; the good for a good , A.V. This charge. The apostle now picks up the thread which he had dropped at ver. 4, and solemnly commits to Timothy the episcopal care of the Ephesian Church, for which he had bid him stop at Ephesus. Omitting the long digression in vers. 5-17, the sense runs clearly thus: "As I besought thee to tarry at Ephesus in order that thou mightest charge some not to teach a different doctrine, so now do I place this charge in thy hands, according to the prophecies which pointed to thee, that thou mayest war the good warfare according to the tenor of them." He thus adds that he entrusted this charge to Timothy, not mero motu , but according to direct indications of the Holy Ghost, through the prophets of the Church, which pointed out Timothy as the person who was to war that good warfare. The words, ἵνα στρατεύῃ ἐν αὐταῖς τὴν καλὴν στρατείαν , might possibly depend upon τὰς προαγούσας ἐπί σε , meaning that those prophecies had this end in pointing to Timothy, viz. that he might war the good warfare, that he might be placed in the difficult post of στρατηγός , and the ἐν αὐταῖς follows rather more naturally in this case. But it is, perhaps, better to take them as dependent upon παρατίθεμαι . By them ( ἐν αὐταῖς ).