1 Timothy 6

All who are slaves should consider their own masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching are not spoken against.

1Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.

Note"Under the yoke" is a stock phrase for slavery; a yoke is the wooden bar laid across the necks of oxen to harness them to a plow or cart. The people in view are household slaves in Roman cities, who might be doctors, teachers or estate managers as well as laborers, and who were legally their masters' property. "Blasphemed" here is not cursing: it is the ordinary Greek word for being insulted or badly spoken of, and the worry is how the message looks to outsiders.

2Those who have masters who are believers should not treat them with less respect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better, because the ones benefiting from their service are believers and dearly loved. Teach these things and urge people to follow them.

2And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

Note"Partakers of the benefit" is ambiguous in the Greek and translators divide over it. It may mean the masters are the ones who benefit from their slaves' good service, as this rendering takes it, or it may mean that master and slave alike share in the benefit of God's kindness. Either way, the argument is that shared faith is a reason to serve better rather than a license to serve worse.

3Suppose someone teaches something different and will not agree with the healthy words of our Lord Jesus Christ, or with teaching that leads to a godly life.

3If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

Note"Wholesome words" translates a Greek word meaning healthy, the opposite of diseased; the same word lies behind "sound doctrine" elsewhere in these letters. The medical picture carries straight into the next verse, where the rival teacher is the one who is sick.

4That person is swollen with pride and understands nothing. He has a sick craving for arguments and fights about words. Out of these come envy, quarreling, insults, and suspicions that assume the worst of people,

4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

Note"Doting about questions" does not mean being fond of them. The Greek verb means to be ill, and "doting" in older English meant being unsound in mind. "Strifes of words" is a single compound meaning word battles, quarrels over terms rather than substance. "Railings" means abusive talk, and "evil surmisings" means suspicions that read the worst possible motive into what others do.

5and constant friction between people whose minds are ruined and who no longer have the truth. They think that being religious is a way to make money. Stay away from people like that.

5Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

NoteThe King James "supposing that gain is godliness" reverses the Greek, which says these men regard godliness as a means of gain, a way to make money. Older English allowed that word order; modern English does not, so the phrase now reads backwards.

6But a godly life joined with being content with what you have is great gain.

6But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Note"Gain" is the same commercial word for profit used in the previous verse. The sentence turns the opponents' calculation around: godliness is indeed profitable, but the profit is contentment rather than cash. "Contentment" was a well known term in Greek moral philosophy for self sufficiency, the state of needing nothing from outside yourself.

7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can take nothing out of it.

7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8So if we have food and clothing, let us be content with that.

8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Note"Raiment" simply means clothing. The Greek word behind it means covering, and some take it broadly enough to include shelter as well as clothes.

9But people who are determined to get rich fall into temptation and into a trap. They fall into many foolish and harmful desires that drag people down into ruin and destruction.

9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Note"They that will be rich" does not mean those who are going to become rich. In 1611 English "will" often meant want or intend, so this means people who are set on getting rich. The "snare" is a hunter's trap, the kind set for birds or small game.

10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people have craved money, and in doing so they have wandered away from the faith and stabbed themselves through with many sorrows.

10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

NoteThe Greek has no "the" before "root" and says "all kinds of evils" rather than evil as a whole. The claim is that love of money is a root from which every sort of evil can grow, not the single source of everything bad. The familiar King James wording is stronger than the original.

11But you, man of God, run away from all these things. Chase after right living, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, and gentleness.

11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Note"Man of God" is a title used in the Hebrew scriptures for Moses, Elijah and the prophets; applying it to Timothy places him in that line. "Patience" in the King James normally means endurance, holding up under pressure, not calm waiting. "Meekness" means gentleness, a settled refusal to throw your weight around, not weakness or timidity.

12Fight the good fight that faith calls for. Take hold of eternal life, which is what God called you to, and about which you made your good declaration in front of many witnesses.

12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Note"Fight the good fight" is athletic language rather than military: the noun is the Greek word for a contest at the games, the word behind our "agony." "Profession" here and "confession" in the next verse translate the same Greek word, a public statement of allegiance said out loud. The many witnesses may point to Timothy's baptism or to a formal commissioning.

13I give you this charge in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and in the presence of Christ Jesus, who made his own good declaration when he testified before Pontius Pilate:

13I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

Note"Quickeneth" is old English for gives life. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from about AD 26 to 36, and he conducted the hearing at which Jesus was sentenced to death. Naming him fixes the event in public, secular history and makes Jesus' own declaration one given under direct threat.

14keep this command with no stain on it, so that no one can find fault with you, until our Lord Jesus Christ appears.

14That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Note"Without spot, unrebukeable" is two Greek adjectives that grammatically attach to the command but in sense describe the person keeping it: unstained and beyond criticism. "The appearing" translates epiphaneia, a word used in the Greek world for the visible arrival of a god or the state visit of an emperor.

15God will bring that appearing about at the time he has chosen. He is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

15Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

Note"Potentate" is an old word for sovereign or ruler. "King of kings, and Lord of lords" was the grand official title of Persian and other eastern emperors, a way of saying highest of all rulers; here it is taken off them and given to God. Verses 15 and 16 read in Greek like a piece of liturgy or a hymn, which is why the language is so formal.

16He alone can never die, and he lives in light that no one can come near. No one has ever seen him, and no one is able to see him. Honor and power belong to him forever. Amen.

16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Note"Power" here translates a word closer to dominion or sovereign might than to ability. The statement that no one has seen God echoes the Hebrew scriptures, where no living person can look directly at God and survive.

17Give this instruction to those who are rich in this present world: do not be proud, and do not put your hope in riches, which are so uncertain. Put your hope in the living God, who richly gives us everything to enjoy.

17Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

Note"Highminded" in 1611 English meant arrogant, roughly the opposite of the modern sense of noble or principled. "Uncertain riches" renders a phrase that literally reads "the uncertainty of riches," meaning the unreliability of wealth itself rather than an unknown amount of it.

18Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous, and to be ready to share what they have.

18That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

Note"Willing to communicate" means ready to share. "Communicate" in the King James means to have something in common with someone, not to talk. "Ready to distribute" means open handed in giving.

19In this way they store up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, so that they may take hold of eternal life.

19Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

NoteThe image combines two pictures: storing up treasure, and laying a foundation. "Against the time to come" means in preparation for the future, an older use of "against." Some early manuscripts end the verse with "the life that is really life" rather than "eternal life."

20Timothy, guard what has been placed in your care. Stay away from godless, empty talk, and from the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge.

20O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

Note"Science falsely so called" is one of the most misleading phrases in the King James. "Science" in 1611 meant knowledge of any kind, with nothing of the modern sense of laboratory research; the Greek word is gnosis. "That which is committed to thy trust" translates a legal and banking term for a deposit left with someone for safekeeping, to be returned intact. "Profane" means unholy or irreverent rather than obscene, and "vain babblings" means empty chatter.

21Some people have claimed to have that knowledge, and by doing so they have wandered away from the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

21Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

Note"Grace be with thee" is a standard closing, matching the way ordinary Greek letters signed off with a word of good wishes; grace means undeserved favor. Some early manuscripts have a plural "you" here instead of the singular "thee," which suggests the letter was expected to be read aloud to a whole congregation and not to Timothy alone.