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1 Timothy

New Testament

1 Timothy

Paul instructs Timothy on sound teaching, prayer, church leaders and godly living in Ephesus.

Overview

Who

Written by Paul the apostle, who names himself in 1:1.

Written to Timothy, Paul's younger co-worker and "own son in the faith" (1:2), whom Paul had left to lead the church at Ephesus (1:3).

When

Traditional view: About AD 62-64, after Paul's first Roman imprisonment and before his second, during travels not recorded in Acts.

Scholarly view: Many critical scholars date the letter later, around AD 80-110, and see it as written in Paul's name by a follower. Others defend Paul's authorship and the earlier date.

Where

Written to Ephesus, a wealthy port city and capital of the Roman province of Asia, known for its great temple of Artemis (Diana; see Acts 19).

Written from Not stated. Paul had gone on to Macedonia after leaving Timothy in Ephesus (1:3), so he may have written from there.

Why

To instruct Timothy on leading the church in Ephesus: confronting false teachers, setting qualifications for elders and deacons, guiding how believers conduct themselves in worship and in the household of God (3:14-15), and encouraging Timothy as a young leader.

Nero was emperor (AD 54-68). The church was spreading across the empire and facing false teaching from within; Nero's persecution of Christians followed the fire of Rome in AD 64.

Outline

  1. 1:1-2 Greeting
  2. 1:3-20 Confronting false teaching
  3. 2:1-15 Prayer and conduct in worship
  4. 3:1-13 Qualifications for elders and deacons
  5. 3:14-16 Why Paul writes: conduct in God's household
  6. 4:1-16 False teaching identified; how Timothy should lead
  7. 5:1-6:2 Caring for groups in the church: widows, elders, servants
  8. 6:3-21 False teachers, contentment, and a final charge

Key themes

  • Sound teaching produces godly living; belief and behavior belong together.
  • God desires all people to be saved (2:4).
  • Church leaders must be people of proven character.
  • Everything God created is good and is received with thanksgiving (4:4).
  • Contentment, and the danger of the love of money (6:6-10).

Restated from Kourtland's 1 Timothy overview notes and the letter's own text; dating views summarized from standard introductions.

Chapters

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

The world around the text

About AD 62-64. This follows the traditional date of the letter. If it was written later (around AD 80-110, as many critical scholars hold), the emperors were Vespasian, Titus, Domitian or Trajan, and Jerusalem's temple had already fallen in AD 70.

ITALIAACHAIAASIAGALATIASYRIAJUDEAMediterranean SeaAegean SeaBlack SeaEphesusMACEDONIARomeJerusalemLaodiceaMiletusPhilippiThessalonicaCorinth
Places in and around the letter. Ancient region names are approximate.

Who ruled

  • Roman emperorNeroAD 54-68

    Emperor over the whole Roman world, including Ephesus, Macedonia and Judea. When Paul appealed to Caesar as a Roman citizen, the Caesar was Nero. Paul tells Timothy to have prayers made "for kings, and for all that are in authority." Acts 25:10-12Acts 28:161 Timothy 2:1-2Suetonius, NeroTacitus, Annals 13-16

  • Governor of the province where Ephesus stoodThe proconsul of AsiaOne-year terms

    Asia was governed by a proconsul, a former consul appointed by the Senate for a year at a time, who heard cases in the province's leading cities. During the riot in Ephesus the town clerk reminded the crowd that "the law is open, and there are deputies" (proconsuls). Acts 19:38-39Strabo, Geography 17.3.25

  • Jewish client kingHerod Agrippa IIc. AD 50-90s

    Ruled territories north and east of Galilee under Rome and had the right to appoint the high priest in Jerusalem. He heard Paul's defense with Festus and told him, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Acts 25:13Acts 26:28Josephus, Antiquities 20.179, 20.203

  • Roman governors of JudeaFestus, Albinus and Florusc. AD 59-66

    Porcius Festus sent Paul to Rome and died in office around AD 62. Lucceius Albinus (62-64) and Gessius Florus (64-66) followed; Josephus blames Florus's greed and brutality for pushing Judea into revolt. Acts 24:27Acts 25:12Josephus, Antiquities 20.197-203, 20.252-258Josephus, Jewish War 2.271-308

  • King of ParthiaVologases Ic. AD 51-78

    Ruler of the Parthian empire east of the Euphrates, Rome's one great rival. He fought Rome over Armenia until a settlement in AD 63 let his brother Tiridates rule Armenia as Rome's client. Tacitus, Annals 15.1-17, 15.24-31Cassius Dio, Roman History 62.19-23

What was happening

  1. AD 58-63
    WarRome and Parthia fight over Armenia

    Roman armies under Corbulo took the Armenian capitals Artaxata and Tigranocerta. In AD 62 a second Roman army under Paetus surrendered at Rhandeia, and in AD 63 the two empires made peace. Tacitus, Annals 13.34-41, 14.23-26, 15.1-17, 15.24-31

  2. AD 60
    DisasterEarthquake destroys Laodicea

    Laodicea, about 150 km (95 miles) east of Ephesus in the same province, was ruined by an earthquake and rebuilt from its own wealth without help from Rome. Paul's letters mention the church there, and Revelation later quotes the city's boast, "I am rich." Tacitus, Annals 14.27Colossians 4:13-16Revelation 3:17

  3. AD 60-61
    WarBoudica's revolt in Britain

    Boudica, queen of the Iceni, led a rising that burned Camulodunum (Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium before the Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus defeated her. Tacitus, Annals 14.29-39

  4. c. AD 60-62
    The churchPaul under guard in Rome

    Paul lived two whole years in Rome under house arrest, receiving visitors and preaching openly. The traditional date for 1 Timothy places it soon after his release. Acts 28:16Acts 28:30-31

  5. c. AD 61-63
    DiscoveryNero's expedition up the Nile

    Nero sent a party of soldiers to find the source of the Nile. They travelled far beyond Egypt and reached vast marshes they could not cross, likely the Sudd in today's South Sudan. The date is approximate. Seneca, Natural Questions 6.8.3-4Pliny, Natural History 6.181

  6. AD 62
    The churchJames, the Lord's brother, is killed in Jerusalem

    Festus died in office. Before the next governor arrived, the high priest Ananus had "James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ" and others stoned. Ananus was removed after three months. Josephus, Antiquities 20.197-203Galatians 1:19Acts 15:13

  7. AD 62 or 63
    DisasterEarthquake hits Pompeii

    An earthquake badly damaged Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, seventeen years before Vesuvius buried them. Seneca dates it to AD 62; Tacitus to AD 63. Seneca, Natural Questions 6.1Tacitus, Annals 15.22

  8. c. AD 62
    DiscoveryHero of Alexandria's machines

    The engineer Hero of Alexandria, whose work is dated by an eclipse of AD 62 he describes, wrote up a steam-spun sphere (the aeolipile) and a coin-operated machine that dispensed water in temples. Hero, Pneumatics 1.21, 2.11Hero, Dioptra 35

  9. c. AD 63-64
    BuildingJerusalem's temple is finished

    Work on the temple Herod began around 20 BC was completed under Albinus, leaving some 18,000 workers without jobs. Six years later Roman armies destroyed it, as Jesus had foretold. Josephus, Antiquities 20.219-222John 2:20Luke 21:5-6

  10. July AD 64
    DisasterThe Great Fire of Rome

    Fire burned for days. Of Rome's fourteen districts, three were destroyed and seven badly damaged. Nero then built his vast Golden House on the cleared land. Tacitus, Annals 15.38-43Suetonius, Nero 31, 38

  11. AD 64
    The churchNero blames and kills Christians

    To end rumours that he had started the fire, Nero blamed the Christians of Rome. Tacitus records a "vast multitude" put to death, some torn by dogs and some burned as torches. Tacitus, Annals 15.44Suetonius, Nero 16.2

  12. AD 65
    RulersA plot against Nero fails

    The Pisonian conspiracy to kill Nero was betrayed. Among those forced to take their own lives was Seneca, Nero's former tutor and the brother of Gallio, the governor who dismissed the case against Paul in Corinth. Tacitus, Annals 15.48-74Acts 18:12-17

  13. AD 66
    WarThe Jewish revolt begins

    After Florus seized money from the temple treasury, Jerusalem rose against Rome and the daily sacrifice offered for the emperor was stopped. The war ended with Jerusalem and its temple destroyed in AD 70. Josephus, Jewish War 2.293-308, 2.409-410Luke 21:20-24

  14. AD 66-67
    BuildingNero tours Greece and starts a canal at Corinth

    Nero competed in the Greek games and broke ground for a canal across the Isthmus of Corinth. The work stopped after his death; the canal was finally cut in 1893. Suetonius, Nero 19, 22-24

  15. c. AD 67
    The churchPaul's death in Rome

    In his last letter Paul writes from prison that "the time of my departure is at hand." Early Christian tradition says he was beheaded in Rome under Nero. 2 Timothy 4:6-8Eusebius, Church History 2.25

  16. June AD 68
    RulersNero dies

    Facing revolt in the provinces and declared an enemy by the Senate, Nero took his own life. Four emperors ruled in turn during the following year before Vespasian took power. Suetonius, Nero 47-49Tacitus, Histories 1.2

Ephesus

Where Timothy was when Paul wrote. A port city on the west coast of today's Turkey and the greatest market of the province of Asia.

Port and trade
Ephesus stood near the mouth of the Cayster River. Its harbor kept silting up, but its position made it, in Strabo's words, the greatest trading center of Asia this side of the Taurus mountains. Strabo, Geography 14.1.24
The temple of Artemis (Diana)
The city's great temple of Artemis was counted among the Seven Wonders of the World; Pliny gives it 127 columns and a length of 425 feet. Ephesus called itself the goddess's "temple keeper," and the temple also held deposits of money, like a bank. Acts 19:27Acts 19:35Pliny, Natural History 36.95-97Dio Chrysostom, Orations 31.54
A living made from the goddess
Silversmiths made silver shrines of Artemis for sale. When people turned from idols under Paul's preaching, the silversmith Demetrius stirred up a riot to protect the trade and the temple. Acts 19:23-27
Magic
The "Ephesian letters" were magic words known across the ancient world. Many in Ephesus who believed burned their books of magic, worth 50,000 pieces of silver. Acts 19:18-19Plutarch, Table Talk 7.5
The theater
The city's theater, cut into the side of Mount Pion, held around 24,000 people. The crowd rushed there during the riot and shouted "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" for two hours. Acts 19:29Acts 19:34Austrian Archaeological Institute excavations at Ephesus
The Jewish community
Ephesus had a synagogue where Paul first taught. Roman decrees preserved by Josephus confirm the right of the Jews of Ephesus to keep the Sabbath and their own customs. Acts 18:19Acts 19:8Josephus, Antiquities 14.225-227, 14.262-264
The church at Ephesus
Priscilla and Aquila taught there, and Paul stayed about three years, teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus. Saying farewell to its elders, he warned that from among themselves men would arise "speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts 18:24-26Acts 19:9-10Acts 20:17Acts 20:29-31
Rome's gods in the city
In 29 BC Augustus allowed the Romans living in Ephesus to dedicate a sacred precinct to the goddess Roma and the deified Julius Caesar, an early step in honoring emperors as gods in Asia. Cassius Dio, Roman History 51.20.6
Decades later
Revelation's letter to Ephesus praises the church for testing those who claimed to be apostles and finding them false, but rebukes it for leaving its first love. Revelation 2:1-7

Macedonia

Where Paul had gone after leaving Timothy in Ephesus. The Roman province north of Greece, home of the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea.

A Roman province
Rome made Macedonia a province in 146 BC, with Thessalonica as its capital. The Via Egnatia, a Roman highway, crossed it from the Adriatic coast to the east, passing through Philippi and Thessalonica. Strabo, Geography 7.7.4Acts 17:1
Paul's churches there
Philippi was a Roman colony and Paul's first church in Europe. The Macedonian churches gave generously to Paul and to the poor in Jerusalem despite their own deep poverty. Acts 16:9-12Philippians 4:15-162 Corinthians 8:1-5
The road from Ephesus
Paul had made the same journey before: after the riot in Ephesus he "departed for to go into Macedonia." Acts 20:1

Daily life and culture

Praying for rulers · 2:1-2
Scripture had long told God's people to seek the peace of the city they lived in and to pray for the king. In Jerusalem a sacrifice was offered daily for the emperor until the revolt of AD 66 stopped it. Jeremiah 29:7Ezra 6:10Josephus, Jewish War 2.197, 2.409
Lifting up hands in prayer · 2:8
Praying standing with hands raised was a familiar posture in Israel's worship. 1 Kings 8:22Psalms 28:2Psalms 134:2Psalms 141:2
Hair, gold and pearls · 2:9-10
Portraits of wealthy Roman women of the period show elaborately braided and piled hairstyles. Pliny tells of Lollia Paulina, once married to the emperor Caligula, wearing emeralds and pearls worth 40 million sesterces to an ordinary betrothal dinner. Peter's letter names the same adornments. Pliny, Natural History 9.1171 Peter 3:3-4
Hospitality · 3:2, 5:10
Christians travelling between cities depended on believers who would take them in, and the New Testament repeatedly urges it. Romans 12:13Hebrews 13:23 John 1:5-8
Widows · 5:3-16
There was no public pension; a widow depended on her family. The Law commanded care for the widow, and the early church had a daily distribution for widows. Augustus's marriage laws pressed widows under fifty to remarry within two years. Deuteronomy 14:29Deuteronomy 24:19-21Acts 6:1James 1:27Ulpian, Rules 14
Threshing with oxen · 5:18
Grain was threshed by driving oxen over it on a hard floor. The Law forbade muzzling an ox while it worked, a command Paul quotes twice. Deuteronomy 25:41 Corinthians 9:9
Wine as medicine · 5:23
Wine was an everyday drink and a common remedy; the Samaritan in Jesus' parable treats a wounded man's injuries with oil and wine. Luke 10:34Proverbs 31:6
Slavery in the Roman world · 6:1-2
Slaves worked in nearly every kind of household and trade, as laborers, servants, teachers and managers, and many were later freed. Paul's letters address believing slaves and masters directly. 1 Corinthians 7:21Ephesians 6:5-9Colossians 4:1Philemon 1:15-16
Kidnapping for the slave trade · 1:10
Free people were kidnapped and sold as slaves. The Law of Moses made stealing a man to sell him a capital crime. Exodus 21:16Deuteronomy 24:7
Athletic training · 4:7-8
Greek cities had gymnasia where young men trained their bodies, and athletic contests were part of public life. Paul uses runners and boxers as pictures of discipline. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Pontius Pilate · 6:13
Pilate governed Judea as prefect from AD 26 to 36, about thirty years before this letter. Tacitus also records that Christ was executed under him, and a stone found at Caesarea in 1961 bears his name and title. Luke 3:1Matthew 27:2Tacitus, Annals 15.44The Pilate Stone, Caesarea (found 1961)

Scripture first, then the ancient historians who wrote about these years (Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Strabo, Cassius Dio). Dates are as those writers give them; approximate dates say so. Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.