1 Timothy 3 is the third chapter of the

First Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the pastoral epistles, along with Second Timothy and Titus. The letter, traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul, consists ma ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The author was traditionally identified as

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

since as early as AD 180,Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. although most modern scholars consider the letter

pseudepigraphical Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

, perhaps written as late as the first half of the second century AD.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter has been divided into 16 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *Papyrus 133 (200–300; extant verses 3:13–4:8) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(AD 330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(c. 450; extant verses 10–16) *

Codex Freerianus Codex Freerianus, designated by I or 016 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1041 ( von Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Pauline Epistles'', is a 5th-century manuscript in an uncial hand on vellum in Greek. It is named afte ...

(c. 450; extant verses 1, 9–13) *

Uncial 061 Uncial 061 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1035 ( Soden); is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 5th century. Description The codex contains a part of the First Epistle to Timothy (3:15-16; 4:1- ...

(c. 450; extant verses 15–16) * Codex Claromontanus (c. 550) *

Codex Coislinianus Codex Coislinianus designated by Hp or 015 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1022 ( Soden), was named also as ''Codex Euthalianus''. It is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Pauline epistles, dated palaeographically to the 6th century. The t ...

(c. 550; extant verses 7–16) There has been some claims that the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

contain fragments of Timothy (such as: 7Q4 contains verse 3:16) and other Christian Greek scriptures, but this is rejected by the majority of scholars.

The office of bishop (3:1–7)

This section indicates that at this time the Christian church already 'reached a settled situation, where it needs capable and dignified men to run it' in the position of "overseer" or "bishop".

Verse 1

:''This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.'' *"This is a faithful saying" ( grc, Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος, '' ''): is a formula assuming 'general acceptance' and is stated 5 times in the Pastoral Epistles ( 1 Timothy 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8). *"Bishop" (Greek: ''episkopos''): literally "overseer"

The Church's Great Confession (3:14–16)

Verse 15

:''if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.'' In his ''Commentary on John'', while talking about the

cleansing of the Temple The cleansing of the Temple narrative tells of Jesus expelling the merchants and the money changers from the Temple, and is recounted in all four canonical gospels of the New Testament. The scene is a common motif in Christian art. In this acc ...

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...

mentions the Temple as "the house of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth", referring to the Church which provides firmness. Clark H. Pinnock uses this verse to say that the view that God raising up Church leaders to protect and interpret the Bible is "good and scriptural". He argues that in the Apostolic Age itself there were heretics misinterpreting the truth, and the Church as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" had to take action against them. Citing

Lesslie Newbigin James Edward Lesslie Newbigin (8 December 1909 – 30 January 1998) was a British theologian, missiologist, missionary and author. Though originally ordained within the Church of Scotland, Newbigin spent much of his career serving as a mis ...

, who says that the Church confessing the mystery of the faith is "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", Brian Stanley says, "The church herself, as the body of Christ, ... is the only missiologically effective 'hermeneutic of the gospel', bearing witness with 'proper confidence' (a favourite phrase of Newbigin's) to the revelation she has received." Linking with ecclesial authority, the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

uses this verse to state that the Church (''Ekklēsia'') proclaims and protects divine truths, both written (Scripture) and unwritten (Tradition), "which coexist in complete harmony with each other".

Peter Kreeft Peter John Kreeft (; born March 16, 1937) is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he is the author of over eighty books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics. He also f ...

gives his summary: "The Bible appeals to the authority of Tradition and Tradition appeals to the authority of the Bible. The Bible calls the ''Church'' "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15), and the Church calls the Bible infallible divine revelation." Though there are disagreements on the exercise of teaching authority, the

Evangelicals and Catholics Together ''Evangelicals and Catholics Together'' is a 1994 ecumenical document signed by leading Evangelical and Catholic scholars in the United States. The co-signers of the document were Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus, representing each side o ...

(ECT) participants cites this verse and share their agreement in ''Your Word Is Truth'':

Verse 16

The

New King James Version The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...

of verse 16 reads: : And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: :: God was manifested in the flesh, :: Justified in the Spirit, :: Seen by angels, :: Preached among the Gentiles, :: Believed on in the world, :: Received up in glory. * "Mystery of godliness": which is the incarnation of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, involving his birth of a virgin, the union of the two natures, divine and human, in his person. * "God was manifest in the flesh": that is the second Person, the Word, or Son of God (cf. ) who existed as a divine Person, and as a distinct one from the Father and Spirit. This clause is a very apt and full interpretation of the word "Moriah", the name of the mount in which Jehovah would manifest himself, and be seen (; ). * "Received up into glory": Jesus was raised from the dead, had a glory on his risen body and ascended in a glorious manner to heaven, is set down at his right hand, and crowned with glory and honor, that he had with him before the world was.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'', – 1 Timothy 3:16
/ref> In ''

An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture ''An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture'' is a dissertation by the English mathematician and scholar Isaac Newton. This was sent in a letter to John Locke on 14 November 1690. In fact, Newton may have been in dialogue wi ...

'' (posthumously published in 1754),

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

argues that a small change to early Greek versions of this verse effectively changed "which" (referring to godliness) to "God". This change increases textual support for

trinitarianism The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

, a doctrine to which Newton did not subscribe. There is evidence that the original Greek read 'ος' but was modified by the addition of a strikethrough to become 'θς' (see the excerpt from the Codex Sinaiticus, above). 'θς' was then assumed to be a contraction of 'θεος.' The biblical scholar Metzger explains, "no uncial (in the first hand) earlier than the eighth or ninth century (Ψ) supports θεος; all ancient versions presuppose ὃς or ὃ; and no patristic writer prior to the last third of the fourth century testifies to the reading of θεος."Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd Ed., (New York, NY: American Bible Society, 1975), 641. In other words, Bible manuscripts closest to the ''original'' said 'who' and not 'God' in verse 16.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{First Epistle to Timothy 03