1 Timothy 2

So first of all, I urge that requests, prayers, appeals made on behalf of others, and thanks be offered for all people.

1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

Note"Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks" stacks up four overlapping Greek words for praying; the pile-up is for emphasis, and the terms are not sharply distinct types of prayer. "Intercessions" means requests made on someone else's behalf. "All men" in 1611 English meant all human beings, not males only, and the Greek word here is the general one for people, unlike verse 8, which uses a word for adult males.

2Pray for kings and for everyone who holds power, so that we can live calm and peaceful lives, godly and dignified in every way.

2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Note"Honesty" in 1611 did not mean truthfulness. It meant respectability or dignity, the kind of conduct other people honor. The Greek word covers seriousness and good standing in public life.

3This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,

3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

4who wants all people to be saved and to come to know the truth.

4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Note"Who will have all men to be saved" uses "will" in its older sense of wills or wants, not as a future tense. The sentence states a desire, not a guarantee.

5For there is one God, and there is one go-between who stands between God and people: the man Christ Jesus,

5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Note"Mediator" translates a Greek word at home in legal and business documents, where it named the neutral third party who arranged an agreement between two sides or stood as its guarantor. It was not originally a religious word.

6who gave himself as the payment to set all people free. This was the message that was given at the right time.

6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

NoteA "ransom" was the price paid to free a prisoner of war or to buy a slave out of slavery, so the word pictures a payment that releases someone rather than a fine or a penalty. "To be testified in due time" is compressed in the Greek, running roughly "the testimony at its own proper times," and translators differ over whether that phrase describes the ransom itself, the public announcing of it, or Paul's commission in the next verse.

7And I was appointed to announce that message as a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying) a teacher of the non-Jewish nations, in faith and truth.

7Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

Note"Ordained" here means appointed or installed, with no implication of a modern ordination service. A "preacher" is a herald, the official crier who announced a ruler's message aloud in public. "Gentiles" means the non-Jewish nations, everyone outside Israel. "Verity" is simply an older word for truth.

8So I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and without arguing.

8I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Note"I will therefore" again means I want, not a prediction. "Lifting up holy hands" describes the ordinary posture of prayer across the ancient world, standing with the arms raised and the palms turned up; calling the hands "holy" is a standard image for a person whose conduct is clean. The Greek word behind "doubting" can mean either inward doubt or a dispute between people, and translators split between the two; its pairing with "wrath" pushes many toward quarreling.

9In the same way, I want the women to dress properly, with modesty and self-control; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or expensive clothes,

9In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Note"Shamefacedness" did not mean embarrassment in 1611; it meant modesty, a sense of decent reserve. "Sobriety" did not mean abstaining from alcohol; it meant self-control and sound judgment. "Broided" is an old spelling of braided, and the target is the elaborate piled hairstyles worn by wealthy Roman women, often worked through with gold thread and pearls, which is why gold and pearls come next in the same list. "Costly array" means expensive clothing.

10but with good deeds, which is what fits women who say they worship God.

10But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

Note"Which becometh" means which is fitting for, or which suits. "Professing godliness" means claiming publicly to worship God.

11A woman should learn quietly, in full subjection.

11Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

Note"Silence" here translates a Greek noun meaning quietness or settled calm. It is from the same root as the word translated "quiet" in verse 2, where it describes a peaceable life, and by itself it does not have to mean saying nothing at all. "Subjection" is the ordinary word for being placed under someone's authority.

12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to stay quiet.

12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Note"I suffer not" means I do not permit. The verb behind "usurp authority" is rare: it appears nowhere else in the New Testament and seldom in Greek of this period, and its attested range runs from simply holding or exercising authority to seizing it or domineering with it. Which sense is meant here is genuinely disputed; the King James "usurp" picks the strong end of that range.

13For Adam was formed first, and Eve after him.

13For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

Note"Formed" uses the word Genesis uses for shaping something out of clay or dust, so the verse is pointing back to the making of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2.

14And Adam was not the one who was fooled; it was the woman who was fooled and broke God's command.

14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Note"Transgression" means the breaking of an explicit command, not wrongdoing in general. The wording "was in the transgression" is literally closer to "came to be in transgression," describing the state she ended up in. The reference is to Genesis 3, where the serpent deceives Eve.

15Even so, she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holy living, with self-control.

15Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Note"She shall be saved in childbearing" is one of the most disputed sentences in the letter, and every translation of it picks a side. The Greek preposition can mean during, by means of, or through the experience of; the noun has "the" attached to it, which some read as bearing children in general and others as a pointer to one particular birth; and the sentence then switches from a singular "she" to a plural "they continue," with no agreement about who that plural is. "Charity" is the King James word for love, not for giving to the poor. "Sobriety" again means self-control.