{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"1TI","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"1 Timothy","commonName":"1 Timothy","introduction":"Preface to the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy In order to find out who this person was, it will be necessary to consult the Acts of the Apostles, where the first mention is made of him; and by collating what is there said with certain passages in the epistle, we shall find who he was, and the probable time in which the epistle was addressed to him. Paul and Barnabas, in the course of their first apostolic journey among the Gentiles, came to Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, where they preached the Gospel for some time, and, though persecuted, with considerable success. See Act 14:5, Act 14:6. It is very likely that here they converted to the Christian faith a Jewess named Lois, with her daughter Eunice, who had married a Gentile, by whom she had Timothy, and whose father was probably at this time dead; the grandmother, daughter, and son living together. Compare Act 16:1-3 with Ti2 1:5. It is likely that Timothy was the only child; and it appears that he had been brought up in the fear of God, and carefully instructed in the Jewish religion by means of the Holy Scriptures. Compare Ti2 1:5 with Ti2 3:15. It appears, also, that this young man drank into the apostle's spirit, became a thorough convert to the Christian faith, and that a very tender intimacy subsisted between St. Paul and him. When the apostle came from Antioch, in Syria, the second time to Lystra, he found Timothy a member of the Church, and so highly reputed and warmly recommended by the Church in that place, that St. Paul took him to be his companion in his travels. Act 16:1-3. From this place we learn that, although Timothy had been educated in the Jewish faith, he had not been circumcised, because his father, who was a Gentile, would not permit it. When the apostle had determined to take him with him, he found it necessary to have him circumcised, not from any supposition that circumcision was necessary to salvation, but because of the Jews, who would neither have heard him nor the apostle had not this been done: the Gospel testimony they would not have received from Timothy, because a heathen; and they would have considered the apostle in the same light, because he associated with such. See the notes on Act 16:3. It is pretty evident that Timothy had a special call of God to the work of an evangelist, which the elders of the Church at Lystra knowing, set him solemnly apart to the work by the imposition of hands; Ti1 4:14. And they were particularly led to this by several prophetic declarations relative to him, by which his Divine call was most clearly ascertained. See Ti1 1:18, and Ti1 3:14. Some think that, after this appointment by the elders, the apostle himself laid his hands on him, not for the purpose of his evangelical designation, but that he might receive those extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit so necessary in those primitive times to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel. See Ti2 1:6, Ti2 1:7. Yet, it is likely that Timothy had not two ordinations; one by the elders of Lystra, and another by the apostle; as it is most probable that St. Paul acted with that πρεσβυτεριον or eldership mentioned Ti1 4:14, among whom, in the imposition of hands, he would undoubtedly act as chief. Timothy, thus prepared to be the apostle's fellow laborer in the Gospel, accompanied him and Silas when they visited the Churches of Phrygia, and delivered to them the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, freeing the Gentiles from the law of Moses, as a term of salvation. Having gone through these countries, they at length came to Troas, where Luke joined them; as appears from the phraseology of his history, Act 16:10, Act 16:11, etc. In Troas a vision appeared to Paul, directing them to go into Macedonia. Loosing therefore from Troas, they all passed over to Neapolis; and from thence went to Philippi, where they converted many, and planted a Christian Church. From Philippi they went to Thessalonica, leaving Luke at Philippi; as appears from his changing the phraseology of his history at Act 16:40. We may therefore suppose, that at their departing they committed the converted at Philippi to Luke's care. In Thessalonica they were opposed by the unbelieving Jews, and obliged to flee to Berea, whither the Jews from Thessalonica followed them. To elude their rage, Paul, who was most obnoxious to them, departed from Berea by night to go to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy at Berea. At Athens, Timothy came to the apostle and gave him such an account of the afflicted state of the Thessalonian brethren, as induced him to send Timothy back to comfort them. After that Paul preached at Athens, hut with so little success that he judged it proper to leave Athens and go forward to Corinth, where Silas and Timothy came to him, and assisted in converting the Corinthians. And when he left Corinth they accompanied him, first to Ephesus, then to Jerusalem, and after that to Antioch, in Syria. Having spent some time in Antioch, Paul set out with Timothy on his third apostolical journey; in which, after visiting all the Churches of Galatia and Phrygia, in the order in which they had been planted, they came to Ephesus the second time, and there abode for a considerable time. In short, from the time Timothy first joined the apostle, as his assistant, he never left him except when sent by him on some special errand. And by his affection, fidelity, and zeal, he so recommended himself to all the disciples, and acquired such authority over them, that Paul inserted his name in the inscription of several of the letters which he wrote to the Churches, to show that their doctrine was one and the same. His esteem and affection for Timothy the apostle expressed still more conspicuously, by writing to him those excellent letters in the canon which bear his name; and which have been of the greatest use to the ministers of the Gospel ever since their publication, by directing them to discharge all the duties of their function in a proper manner. The date of this epistle has been a subject of much controversy, some assigning it to the year 56, which is the common opinion; and others to 64 or 65. A great balance of probability appears to be in favor of this later date; and it appears to me that the arguments of Drs. Macknight and Paley are decisive in favor of the later date. The former, in his preface, gives a very clear view of the question. In the third verse of the first chapter of this epistle the apostle says: \"As I entreated thee to abide in Ephesus, when going into Macedonia, so do; that thou mayest charge some not to teach differently.\" From this it is plain, 1. That Timothy was in Ephesus when the apostle wrote his first letter to him; 2. That he had been left there by the apostle, who at parting with him entreated him to abide at Ephesus; 3. That this happened when Paul was going from Ephesus to Macedonia; and, 4. That he had entreated Timothy to abide in Ephesus, for the purpose of charging some teachers in that Church not to teach differently from the apostles. In the history of the Acts of the Apostles there is no mention of Paul's going from Ephesus to Macedonia but once; viz. after the riot of Demetrius, Act 20:1, for which reason Theodoret, among the ancients, and among the moderns, Estius, Baronius, Capellus, Grotius, Lightfoot, Salmasius, Hammond, Witsius, Lardner, Pearson, and others, have given it as their opinion, that the apostle speaks of that journey in his First Epistle to Timothy. Yet, if I am not mistaken, the following circumstance will show their opinion to be ill founded: - 1. When the apostle went from Ephesus to Macedonia, as related Act 20:1, Timothy was not in Ephesus, having gone from that city into Macedonia with Erastus by the apostle's direction; Act 19:22. And in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, which was written after Timothy's departure from Ephesus, we are informed that he was to go from Macedonia to Corinth. Co1 4:17 : \"I have sent to you Timothy.\" Co1 16:10, Co1 16:11 : \"If Timothy be come, take care that he be among you without fear. Send him forward in peace, that he may come to me, for I expect him with the brethren.\" But before Timothy returned from Corinth, the apostle left Ephesus and went into Macedonia, where the brethren above mentioned met him, Co2 2:12, Co2 2:13, having Timothy in their company; as is plain from his joining the apostle in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which all agree was written from Macedonia, immediately after the brethren from Corinth gave the apostle an account of the success of his first letter. Wherefore, since Timothy was not in Ephesus when the apostle left the city after the riot, it could not be the occasion on which the apostle said to him: \"As I entreated thee to abide in Ephesus, when going into Macedonia, so do.\" But the journey into Macedonia, of which he speaks, must have been some other journey not mentioned in the Acts. To remove this difficulty we are told that Timothy returned from Corinth to the apostle be lore his departure from Ephesus, and that he was left there after the riot; but that something happened, which occasioned him to follow the apostle into Macedonia; that there he joined him in writing his Second Epistle to the Corinthians; and, having finished his business in Macedonia, he returned to Ephesus and abode there, agreeably to the apostle's request. But as these suppositions are not warranted by the history of the Acts, Timothy's joining the apostle in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians may still be urged as a proof that he came with the brethren directly from Corinth to Macedonia. Farther, that Timothy did not go from Macedonia to Ephesus after joining the apostle in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, but returned with him to Corinth to receive the collections, is, I think, plain from Act 20:4, where he is mentioned as one of those who accompanied Paul from Corinth to Jerusalem with the collections. 2. When the apostle wrote his First Epistle to Timothy, \"he hoped to come to him soon,\" Ti1 3:14; but from the history of the Acts it is certain that in no letter written to Timothy after the riot, till his first confinement in Rome, could the apostle say that he hoped to come to him soon. He could not say so in any letter written from Troas, the first place he stopped at after leaving Ephesus; for at that time he was going into Macedonia and Achaia to receive the collections for the poor from the Churches in these provinces. Neither could he say so after writing his Second Epistle to the Corinthians from Macedonia; for in that epistle he told the Corinthians he was coming to them with the Macedonian brethren, who were commissioned to attend him in his voyage to Jerusalem, with the collections, Co2 9:4, and that he meant to sail directly from Corinth to Judea, Co2 1:16. As little could he write to Timothy that he hoped to come to him soon, when he altered his resolution on the occasion of the lying in wait of the Jews, and returned into Macedonia, Act 20:3. For he was then in such haste to be in Jerusalem on the day of pentecost, that when he came to Miletus, instead of going to Ephesus, he sent for the elders of that Church to come to him, Act 20:16, Act 20:17. When he arrived in Judea, he could not write that he hoped to come to Ephesus soon, for he was imprisoned a few days after he went up to Jerusalem; and having continued two years in prison at Caesarea, he was sent bound to Rome, where likewise being confined, he could not, till towards the conclusion of that confinement, write to Timothy that he hoped to come to him soon. And even then he did not write his First Epistle to Timothy, for Timothy was with him at the conclusion of his confinement, Phi 2:19, Phi 2:23. 3. From the first epistle we learn that the following were the errors Timothy was left in Ephesus to oppose: 1. Fables invented by the Jewish doctors to recommend the observance of the law of Moses as necessary to salvation. 2. Uncertain genealogies, by which individuals endeavored to trace their descent from Abraham, in the persuasion that they would be saved, merely because they had Abraham for their father. 3. Intricate questions and strifes about some words in the law; perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, who reckoned that which produced most gain to be the best kind of godliness. 4. Oppositions of knowledge, falsely so named. But these errors had not taken place in the Ephesian Church before the apostle's departure; for in his charge to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, he foretold that the false teachers were to enter in among them after his departing. Act 20:29, Act 20:30 : \"I know that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.\" The same thing appears from the two epistles which the apostle wrote to the Corinthians; the one from Ephesus before the riot of Demetrius, the other from Macedonia after that event; and from the epistle which he wrote to the Ephesians themselves from Rome, during his confinement there. For in none of these letters is there any notice taken of the above mentioned errors, as subsisting among the Ephesians at the time they were written; which cannot be accounted for on supposition that they were prevalent in Ephesus when the apostle went into Macedonia after the riot. I am therefore of opinion that the first to Timothy, in which the apostle desired him to abide in Ephesus for the purpose of opposing the Judaizers and their errors, could not be written either from Troas or from Macedonia after the riot, as those who contend for the early date of the epistle suppose; but it must have been written some time after the apostle's release from confinement in Rome, when no doubt he visited the Church at Ephesus, and found the Judaizing teachers there busily employed in spreading their pernicious errors. 4. In the first Epistle to Timothy the same sort of persons, doctrines, and practices, are reprobated, which are condemned in the second. Compare Ti1 4:1-6 with Ti2 3:1-5; and Ti1 6:20 with Ti2 2:14; and Ti1 6:4 with Ti2 2:16. The same commands, instructions, and encouragements are given to Timothy in the first epistle as in the second. Compare Ti1 6:13, Ti1 6:14, with Ti2 4:1-5. The same remedies for the corruptions which had taken place among the Ephesians are prescribed in the first epistle as in the second. Compare Ti1 4:14 with Ti2 1:6, Ti2 1:7; and as in the second epistle, so in the first, every thing is addressed to Timothy as superintendent both of the teachers and of the laity in the Church at Ephesus; all which, I think, imply that the state of things among the Ephesians was the same when the two epistles were written; consequently that the first epistle was written only a few months before the second, and not long before the apostle's death. These arguments appeared so convincing to Pearson, Le Clerc, L'Enfant, Cave, Fabricius, Mill, Whitby, and others, that they were unanimously of opinion Timothy was left by the apostle in Ephesus as he went into Macedonia, not after the riot of Demetrius, but after he was released from his first confinement at Rome. And from that circumstance they infer that he did not write his first epistle till some time in the end of the year 64, or in the beginning of 65. I think it was written from Nicopolis. To the late date of this first epistle, there are three plausible objections which must not be overlooked: - 1. It is thought that, if the First Epistle to Timothy was written after the apostle's release, he could not with any propriety have said to Timothy, Ti1 4:12 : \"Let no man despise thy youth;\" but it is replied: That Servius Tullius, in classing the Roman people, as Aulus Gellius relates, lib. x. c. 28, divided their age into three periods: Childhood he limited to the age of seventeen; youth, from that to forty-six; and old age, from that to the end of life. Now, supposing Timothy to have been eighteen years old, a.d. 50, when he became Paul's assistant, he would be no more than 32, a.d. 64, two years after the apostle's release, when it is supposed this epistle was written. Wherefore, being then in the period of life which, by the Greeks as well as the Roman, was considered as youth, the apostle with propriety might say to him, Let no man despise thy youth. 2. When the apostle touched at Miletus, in his voyage to Jerusalem with the collections, the Church at Ephesus had a number of elders, that is, of bishops and deacons, who came to him at Miletus, Act 20:17. It is therefore asked: What occasion was there in an epistle written after the apostle's release, to give Timothy directions concerning the ordination of bishops and deacons, in a Church where there were so many elders already? The answer is: The elders who came to the apostle at Miletus in the year 58 may have been too few for the Church at Ephesus, in her increased state, in the year 65. Besides, false teachers had then entered, to oppose whom more bishops and deacons might be needed than were necessary in the year 58; not to mention that some of the first elders having died, others were wanted to supply their places. 3. Because the apostle wrote to Timothy that \"he hoped to come to him soon,\" Ti1 3:14, it is argued that the letter in which this is said must have been written before the apostle said to the Ephesian elders, Act 20:25 : \"I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.\" But if, by this, the First Epistle to Timothy is proved to have been written before the apostle's interview with the elders at Miletus, his Epistles to the Philippians, to the Hebrews, and to Philemon, in which he promised to visit them, must likewise have been written before the interview; in regard, his declaration respected the Philippians, the Hebrews, and Philemon, as well as the Ephesians; for they certainly were persons among whom the apostle had gone preaching the kingdom of God. Yet no commentator ever thought the epistles above mentioned were written to them before the apostle's interview with the Ephesian elders; on the contrary, it is universally acknowledged that these epistles were written four years after the interview; namely, during the apostle's first imprisonment at Rome. Wherefore, when he told the Ephesian elders that they, and his other converts, among whom he had gone preaching the kingdom of God, should see his face no more, as it was no point either of faith or practice which he spake, he may well be supposed to have declared nothing but his own opinion, resulting from his fears. He had lately escaped the rage of the Jews, who laid wait for him in Cenchrea to kill him, Act 20:3. This, with their fury on former occasions, filled him with such anxiety that, in writing to the Romans from Corinth; he requested them \"to strive together with him in their prayers that he might be delivered from the unbelieving in Judea;\" Rom 15:30, Rom 15:31. Farther, that in his own speech to the Ephesian elders the apostle only declared his own persuasion, dictated by his fears, and not any suggestion of the Spirit, I think plain from what he had said immediately before, Act 20:22, Act 20:23 : \"Behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.\" Wherefore, although his fears were happily disappointed, and he actually visited the Ephesians after his release; his character as an inspired apostle is not hurt in the least, if, in saying he knew they should see his face no more, he declared, as I have said, his own persuasion only, and no dictate of the Holy Ghost. Dr. Paley's arguments are the same in substance; but he does not mention Dr. Macknight, who wrote before him, and whose work he must have seen. The principal difficulty in this opinion is, that it necessarily implies that St. Paul visited Ephesus after his liberation at Rome; which appears so contrary to what he said to the Ephesian Church, that they should see his face no more. Dr. Paley, however, finds some farther presumptive evidences that the apostle must have visited Ephesus. The Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon were written while the apostle was a prisoner at Rome; to the former he says: \"I trust in the Lord, that I also myself shall come shortly;\" and to the latter, who was a Colossian, he gives this direction: \"But withal, prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.\" An inspection of the map will show us that Colosse was a city of Asia Minor, lying eastward, and at no great distance from Ephesus; Philippi was on the other, i.e. the western, side of the Aegean Sea. Now if the apostle executed his purpose, and came to Philemon at Colosse soon after his liberation, it cannot be supposed that he would omit to visit Ephesus, which lay so near it, and where he had spent three years of his ministry. As he was also under a promise to visit the Church at Philippi shortly, if he passed from Colosse to Philippi he could hardly avoid taking Ephesus in his way. See Paley's Horae Paulinae, page 293. This, taken in connection with the preceding arguments, can leave little doubt that the date of this epistle must be referred to a time subsequent to St. Paul's liberation from Rome, and consequently to the end of the year 64, or the beginning of the year 65.","order":54,"numberOfChapters":6,"sha256":"a2b2cd49573f6c94ed01e15406e5facd887c55421885bb23eb47671275cf2684","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TI/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TI","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":6,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TI/6.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TI","chapter":6},"totalNumberOfVerses":112},"chapter":{"number":4,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["Now the Spirit speaketh expressly - Ῥητως· Manifestly, openly. It is very likely that the apostle refers here to a prophecy then furnished by the Holy Ghost, and probably immediately after he had written the words in the preceding verses; and as this prophecy contains things nowhere else spoken of in the sacred writings, and of the utmost moment to the Christian Church, we cannot hear or read them with too much reverence or respect.\nIn the latter times - This does not necessarily imply the last ages of the world, but any times consequent to those in which the Church then lived.\nDepart from the faith - Αποστησονται - της πιστεως· They will apostatize from the faith, i.e. from Christianity; renouncing the whole system in effect, by bringing in doctrines which render its essential truths null and void, or denying and renouncing such doctrines as are essential to Christianity as a system of salvation. A man may hold all the truths of Christianity, and yet render them of none effect by holding other doctrines which counteract their influence; or he may apostatize by denying some essential doctrine, though he bring in nothing heterodox.\nGiving heed to seducing spirits - Πνευμασι πλανοις· Many MSS. and the chief of the fathers have πνευμασι πλανης· spirits of deceit; which is much more emphatic than the common reading. Deception has her spirits, emissaries of every kind, which she employs to darken the hearts and destroy the souls of men. Pretenders to inspiration, and false teachers of every kind, belong to this class.\nAnd doctrines of devils - Δαιμονιων· Demons; either meaning fallen spirits, or dead men, spectres, etc., or doctrines inspired by Satan relative to these, by which he secures his own interest, and provides for his own worship. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Speaking lies in hypocrisy - Persons pretending, not only to Divine inspiration, but also to extraordinary degrees of holiness, self-denial, mortification, etc., in order to accredit the lies and false doctrines which they taught. Multitudes of lies were framed concerning miracles wrought by the relics of departed saints, as they were termed. For, even in this country, Thomas a Becket was, deemed a saint, his relics wrought numerous miracles; and his tomb was frequented by multitudes of pilgrims! However, as he works none now, we may rest assured that he never did work any. In 1305, King Edward I. was prevailed on by his clergy to write to Pope Clement V. to canonize Thomas de Cantelupo, bishop of Hereford, because a multitude of miracles had been wrought by his influence; In tantum, says the king, quod ipsius meritis et intercessionibus gloriosis, lumen caecis, surdis auditus, verbum mutis, et gressus claudis, et alia pleraque beneficia ipsius patrocinium implorantibus, caelesti dextra conferuntur. \"Insomuch that, by his glorious merits and intercessions, the blind receive their sight, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, and the lame walk; and many other benefits are conferred by the right hand of the Divine Being on those who implore his patronage.\" And therefore he prays that this dead bishop may be added to the calendar, \"that he and his kingdom may enjoy his suffrages and merit his patronage in heaven, who had the benefit of his conversation on earth.\" Nos attendentes, per Dei gratiam, fideles in Christo, nosque praecipue, et populum regni nostri, ejus posse suffragiis adjuvari, ut, quem familiarem habuimus in terris, mereamur habere patronum in caelis. Foedera, vol. i., p. 976. Edit. 1816.\nHaving their conscience seared with a hot iron - They bear the marks of their hypocrisy as evidently and as indelibly in their conscience in the sight of God, as those who have been cauterized for their crimes do in their bodies in the sight of men. It was customary in ancient times to mark those with a hot iron who had been guilty of great crimes, such as sacrilege, etc. And the heathens supposed that even in the other world they bear such marks; and by these the infernal judges knew the quantum of their vices, and appointed the degrees of their punishment. There is a saying much like that of the apostle in the invective of Claudian against Rufinus, whom he supposes to be thus addressed by Rhadamanthus, one of the infernal judges: - \nQuid demens manifesta negas? En pectus InUstae\nDeformant Maculae! vitiisque inolevit imago,\nNec sese commissa tegunt.\n\"Thou fool, why dost thou deny what is so manifest? Behold the deep-burnt marks deform thy conscience; the appearance of them has grown up with thy vices; neither can the crimes which thou hast committed hide themselves.\" \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["Forbidding to marry - These hypocritical priests pretending that a single life was much more favorable to devotion, and to the perfection of the Christian life. This sentiment was held by the Essenes, a religious sect among the Jews; and we know that it is a favourite opinion among the Romanists, who oblige all their clergy to live a single life by a vow of continency.\nTo abstain from meats - Both among the heathens, Jews, and Romanists, certain meats were prohibited; Some always, others at particular times. This the apostle informs us was directly contrary to the original design of God; and says that those who know the truth, know this. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["For every creature of God is good - That is: Every creature which God has made for man's nourishment is good for that purpose, and to be thankfully received whenever necessary for the support of human life; and nothing of that sort is at any time to be refused, ουδεν αποβλητον, rejected or despised. We find a saying very similar to this in Lucian's Timon: Ουτοι αποβλητα εισι δωρα τα παρα Διος. The gifts which are from Jove ought not to be Despised. This appears to have been a proverbial saying among the heathens. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["For it is sanctified by the word of God - Δια λογου Θεου· By the command of God; probably referring to Gen 1:29 : And God said, I have given you every herb - and every tree - to you it shall be for meat; and to Gen 9:3 : Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things; i.e. I have given you every animal that is proper for food, as I have given you every herb and fruit proper for nourishment. Therefore, all this was sanctified, set apart, and appropriated to this use by this command. And when man is about to use it, he is to sanctify or set it apart to that use by prayer to God,\n1. That it may answer the end to us for which it was designed;\n2. That we may use it with gratitude and moderation;\n3. That all the strength derived from it may be devoted to God, in filling up the duties of those situations in which his providence has placed us.\nThose who thank not God for their food, and pray not for his blessing in the use of it, are unworthy even of a morsel of bread, and of the breath they breathe. Bishop Newton's opinion of this prophecy I have reserved to the end of this chapter. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things - Show the Church that, even now, there is danger of this apostasy; put them on their guard against it; for the forewarned are half armed. Schoettgen supposes from this verse that what is spoken above refers to the Jews alone; and that there is no reference here to a Church which in after ages might apostatize from, or corrupt, the true doctrine of our Lord and Savior. Bishop Newton and others are of a different opinion. See at the end of this chapter.\nNourished up in the words of faith - By acting as I command thee, thou wilt show that thou art a good minister of Jesus Christ, and that thou hast been nourished from thy youth upon the doctrines of faith. The apostle seems to allude here to Timothy's Christian education. See the preface to this epistle.\nWhereunto thou hast attained - Ἡ παρηκολουθηκας· Which thou hast thoroughly understood. For the meaning of this word, see the note on Luk 1:3. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["But refuse profane and old wives' fables - This seems to refer particularly to the Jews, whose Talmudical writings are stuffed with the most ridiculous and profane fables that ever disgraced the human intellect. It may with equal propriety be applied to the legends of the Romish Church. Let any man read the Aurea Legenda, and he will find of profane and old wives' fables what may stand, with considerable propriety, column for column with the Talmud. See Joseline's Life of St. Patrick for miracles, without rhyme or reason, abundantly more numerous and more stupendous than all the necessary ones wrought by Jesus Christ and his apostles. This is enough to persuade a man that the Spirit of God had these very corruptions and this corrupt Church particularly in view.\nExercise thyself rather unto godliness - To understand this expression it is necessary to know that the apostle alludes here to the gymnastic exercises among the Greeks, which were intended as a preparation for, their contests at the public games. They did this in order to obtain a corruptible or fading crown, i. e, a chaplet of leaves, which was the reward of those who conquered in those games; Timothy was to exercise himself unto godliness, that he might be prepared for the kingdom of heaven, and there receive a crown that fadeth not away. See the notes on Co1 9:24, etc. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["For bodily exercise profiteth little - Προς ολιγον εστιν ωφελιμος. Those gymnastic exercises, so highly esteemed among the Greeks, are but little worth; they are but of short duration; they refer only to this life, and to the applause of men: but godliness has the promise of this life, and the life to come; it is profitable for all things; and for both time and eternity.\nBut godliness is profitable unto all things - By godliness we are to understand every thing that the Christian religion either promises or prescribes: the life of God in the soul of man; and the glory of God as the object and end of that life. To receive the first, a man must renounce his sins, deny himself, take up his cross, and follow his Lord through evil and through good report. To obtain the latter, a man must labor to enter into that rest which remains for the people of God.\nHaving promise, of the life that now is - The man that fears, loves, and serves God, has God's blessing all through life. His religion saves him from all those excesses, both in action and passion, which sap the foundations of life, and render existence itself often a burden. The peace and love of God in the heart produces a serenity and calm which cause the lamp of life to burn clear, strong, and permanent. Evil and disorderly passions obscure and stifle the vital spark. Every truly religious man extracts the uttermost good out of life itself, and through the Divine blessing gets the uttermost good that is in life; and, what is better than all, acquires a full preparation here below for an eternal life of glory above. Thus godliness has the promise of, and secures the blessings of, both worlds. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["This is a faithful saying - The truth of this doctrine none need doubt; and every man has it in his power to put this to the proof. See on Ti1 1:15 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["For therefore we both labor - This verse was necessary to explain what he had before said; and here he shows that his meaning was not that the followers of God should enjoy worldly prosperity and exemption from natural evils; for, said he, it is because we exercise ourselves to godliness that we have both labor and reproach, and we have these because we trust In the living God: but still we have mental happiness, and all that is necessary for our passage through life; for in the midst of persecutions and afflictions we have the peace of God that passeth knowledge, and have all our crosses and sufferings so sanctified to us that we consider them in the number of our blessings.\nWho is the Savior of all men - Who has provided salvation for the whole human race, and has freely offered it to them in his word and by his Spirit.\nSpecially of those that believe - What God intends for All, he actually gives to them that believe in Christ, who died for the sins of the world, and tasted death for every man. As all have been purchased by his blood so all may believe; and consequently all may be saved. Those that perish, perish through their own fault. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["These things command and teach - Let it be the sum and substance of thy preaching, that true religion is profitable for both worlds; that vice destroys both body and soul; that Christ tasted death for every man; and that he saves to the uttermost all them that believe in his name. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Let no man despise thy youth - Act with all the gravity and decorum which become thy situation in the Church. As thou art in the place of an elder, act as an elder. Boyish playfulness ill becomes a minister of the Gospel, whatever his age may be. Concerning Timothy's age see the conclusion of the preface to this epistle.\nBe thou an example of the believers - It is natural for the flock to follow the shepherd; if he go wrong, they will go wrong also.\n\"Himself a wanderer from the narrow way,\nHis silly sheep, no wonder if they stray.\"\nThough, according to the just judgement of God, they who die in their sins have their blood on their own head; yet, if they have either gone into sin or continued in it through the watchman's fault, their blood will God require at his hand. How many have endeavored to excuse their transgressions by alleging, in vindication of their conduct, \"Our minister does so, and he is more wise and learned than we.\" What an awful account must such have to give to the Head of the Church when he appears!\nIn word - Εν λογῳ· In doctrine; teach nothing but the truth of God, because nothing but that will save souls.\nIn conversation - Εν αναστροφῃ· In the whole of thy conduct in every department which thou fillest in all thy domestic as well as public relations, behave thyself well.\nIn charity - Εν αγαπῃ· In love to God and man; show that this is the principle and motive of all thy conduct.\nIn spirit - Εν πνευματι· In the manner and disposition in which thou dost all things. How often is a holy or charitable work done in an unholy, uncharitable, and peevish spirit! To the doer, such work is unfruitful.\nThese words are wanting in ACDFG, and several others; both the Syriac, Erpen's Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala, and many of the fathers. Griesbach leaves them out of the text. They have in all probability been added by a later hand.\nIn faith - Εν πιστει· This word πιστις is probably taken here for fidelity, a sense which it often bears in the New Testament. It cannot mean doctrine, for that has been referred to before. Be faithful to thy trust, to thy flock, to thy domestics, to the public, to thy God. Fidelity consists in honestly keeping, preserving, and delivering up when required, whatever is intrusted to our care; as also in improving whatever is delivered in trust for that purpose. Lose nothing that God gives, and improve every gift that he bestows.\nIn purity - Εν ἁγνεια· Chastity of body and mind; a direction peculiarly necessary for a young minister, who has more temptations to break its rules than perhaps any other person. \"Converse sparingly with women, and especially with young women,\" was the advice of a very holy and experienced minister of Christ. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["Give attendance to reading - Timothy could easily comprehend the apostle's meaning; but at present this is not so easy. What books does the apostle mean? The books of the Old Testament were probably what he intended; these testified of Jesus, and by these he could either convince or confound the Jews. But, whether was the reading of these to be public or private? Probably both. It was customary to read the law and the prophets in the synagogue, and doubtless in the assemblies of the Christians; after which there was generally an exhortation founded upon the subject of the prophecy. Hence the apostle says: Give attendance to reading, to Exhortation, to Doctrine. Timothy was therefore to be diligent in reading the sacred writings at home, that he might be the better qualified to read and expound them in the public assemblies to the Christians, and to others who came to these public meetings.\nAs to other books, there were not many at that time that could be of much use to a Christian minister. In those days the great business of the preacher was to bring forward the grand facts of Christianity, to prove these, and to show that all had happened according to the prediction of the prophets; and from these to show the work of God in the heart, and the evidence of that work in a holy life.\nAt present the truth of God is not only to be proclaimed, but defended; and many customs or manners, and forms of speech, which are to us obsolete, must be explained from the writings of the ancients, and particularly from the works of those who lived about the same times, or nearest to them, and in the same or contiguous countries. This will require the knowledge of those languages in which those works have been composed, the chief of which are Hebrew and Greek, the languages in which the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments have been originally written.\nLatin is certainly of the next consequence; a language in which some of the most early comments have been written; and it is worth the trouble of being learned, were it only for the sake of the works of St. Jerome, who translated and wrote a commentary on the whole of the Scriptures; though in many respects it is both erroneous and superficial.\nArabic and Syriac may be added with great advantage: the latter being in effect the language in which Christ and his apostles spoke and preached in Judea; and the former being radically the same with the Hebrew, and preserving many of the roots of that language, the derivatives of which often occur in the Hebrew Bible, but the roots never.\nThe works of various scholars prove of how much consequence even the writings of heathen authors, chiefly those of Greece and Italy, are to the illustration of the sacred writings. And he who is best acquainted with the sacred records will avail himself of such helps, with gratitude both to God and man. Though so many languages and so much reading are not absolutely necessary to form a minister of the Gospel, (for there are many eminent ministers who have not such advantages), yet they are helps of the first magnitude to those who have them and know how to use them. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["Neglect not the gift that is in thee - The word χαρισμα here must refer to the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit, which Timothy received when set apart to the work of an evangelist by the imposition of St. Paul's hands, Ti2 1:6, and by that of the presbytery or eldership; for it most evidently appears, from this verse and that above quoted, that he received this double imposition, not probably at different times, but on one and the same occasion. These very gifts and graces might be improved; and we have reason to believe, if not improved, would be withdrawn by the great Head of the Church.\nGiven thee by prophecy - It has already been conjectured (see the preface, and the note on Ti1 1:18) that there had been some remarkable prediction relative to the future destiny and usefulness of Timothy. And probably it was in consequence of this that he was set apart to the office of evangelist and bishop in the Church at Ephesus. When apostles laid their hands on men, they ordinarily received the Holy Spirit with this imposition. This may be what the apostle calls to the remembrance of Timothy, and tells him not to neglect what he had received, nor the purpose for which he had received it. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["Meditate upon these things - Ταυτα μελετα· Revolve them frequently in thy mind; consider deeply their nature and importance; get them deeply fastened in thy heart, and let all thy conduct flow from this inward feeling and conviction. Let the nature, reasons, and motives of thy ministry, be ever in the view of thy heart and conscience.\nGive thyself wholly to them - Εν τουτοις ισθι· Be thou in these things. Horace has a similar expression: Omnis in hoc sum. \"I am absorbed in this.\" Occupy thyself wholly with them; make them not only thy chief but thy sole concern. Thou art called to save thy own soul, and the souls of them that hear thee; and God has given thee the Divine gifts for this and no other purpose. To this let all thy reading and study be directed; this is thy great business, and thou must perform it as the servant and steward of the Lord. Bengel has a good saying on this verse, which I will quote: In his qui est, minus erit in sodalitatibus mundanis, in studiis alienis, in colligendis libris, conchis, nummis, quibus multi pastores notabilem aetatis partem insistentes conterunt; \"He who is wholly in these things will be little in worldly company, in foreign studies, in collecting books, shells, and coins, in which many ministers consume a principal part of their life.\" Such persons are worthy of the deepest reprehension, unless all these studies, collections, etc., be formed with the express view, of illustrating the sacred records; and to such awful drudgery few Christian ministers are called. Many, when they have made such collections, seem to know nothing of their use; they only see them and show them, but can never bring them to their assistance in the work of the ministry. These should be prayed for and pitied.\nThat thy profiting may appear to all - By being made a universal blessing; convincing and converting sinners; and building up the Church of God on its most holy faith. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["Take heed unto thyself - See that the life of God remains and the work of God prospers in thine own soul. Take heed to thy doctrine, that the matter be pure and orthodox; that thou teach nothing for truth but what God has revealed.\nContinue in them - i.e., In taking heed to thyself and to thy doctrine; for this must be thy continual study. Without this, the Divine influence shall recede from thy heart, and the Divine gift from thy intellect; and, like Samson shorn of his strength, thou wilt soon become as another man, as any common man; thy power will depart from thee, and thou shalt be no longer able to persuade; the Unction shall depart from thee, and, destitute of spiritual feeling thyself, thou shalt not be able to cause others to feel. Take the apostle's advice, and thou shalt save thy own soul, and the souls of them that hear thee.\nIn the course of the preceding notes I have referred to Bishop Newton's opinion and application of the prophecy contained in the first five verses. Not being fully persuaded in my own, mind to what Church this, and the prophecy in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, should be applied, I produce an accredited author, who, for his Dissertations on the Prophecies, has a high and, honored name in the Church.\n\"I. The first thing to be considered is, the apostasy here predicted. 'Some shall depart, or rather apostatize, from the faith.' An apostasy from the faith may be either total or partial; either when we renounce the whole, or when we deny some principal and essential article of it. It is not every error, or every heresy, that is apostasy from the faith. It is a revolt in a principal and essential article, when we worship God by any image or representation, or when we worship other beings besides God, and pray unto other mediators besides the one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. This is the very essence of Christian worship, to worship the one true God, through the one true Christ; and to worship any other god, or any other mediator, is apostasy and rebellion against God and against Christ. Such is the nature of apostasy from the faith; and it is implied that this apostasy shall be general, and affect great numbers. For, though it be said only some shall apostatize, yet by some, here, many are understood. The original word frequently signifies a multitude and there are abundant instances in Scripture where it is used in that sense, as the reader may perceive from Joh 6:64-66; Rom 11:17; Co1 11:5, Co1 11:6. This apostasy may be general and extensive, and include many but not all.\n\"II. It is more particularly shown wherein the apostasy should consist, in the following words: Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; or rather: `Giving heed to erroneous spirits and doctrines concerning demons.' Spirits seem to be much the same in sense as doctrines, the latter word may be considered as explanatory of the former; and error sometimes signifying idolatry, erroneous doctrines may comprehend idolatrous as well as false doctrines. But it is still farther added, for explanation, that these doctrines should be doctrines of devils or of demons, where the genitive case is not to be taken actively, as if demons were the authors of these doctrines, but passively, as if demons were the subject of these doctrines. In Jer 10:8; Act 13:12; Heb 6:2, the genitive case is used in this manner; and, by the same construction, doctrines of demons are doctrines about or concerning demons. This is, therefore, a prophecy that the idolatrous theology of demons, professed by the Gentiles ,should be revived among Christians. Demons, according to the theology of the Gentiles, were middle powers between the gods and mortal men; and were regarded as mediators and agents between the gods and men. Of these demons there were accounted two kinds: one kind were the souls of men deified or canonized after death; the other kind were such as had never been the souls of men, nor ever dwelt in mortal bodies. These latter demons may be paralleled with angels, as the former may with canonized saints; and as we Christians believe there are good and evil angels, so did the Gentiles that there were good and evil demons. It appears then as if the doctrine of demons, which prevailed so long in the heathen world, was to be revived and established in the Christian Church. And is not the worship of saints and angels now, in all respects, the same that the worship of demons was in former times? The name only is different, the thing is essentially the same. The heathens looked upon their demons as mediators and intercessors between God and men; and are not the saints and angels regarded in the same light by many professed Christians? The promoters of this worship were sensible that it was the same, and that the one succeeded the other; and as the worship is the same, so likewise it is performed with the same ceremonies. Nay, the very same temples, the very same images, the very same altars, which once were consecrated to Jupiter and the other demons, are now reconsecrated to the Virgin Mary and other saints. The very same titles and inscriptions are ascribed to both; the very same prodigies and miracles are related of these as of those. In short, the whole almost of paganism is converted and applied to popery, the one is manifestly formed upon the same plan and principles as the other.\n\"III. Such an apostasy as this - of reviving the doctrines of demons, and worshipping the dead - was not likely to take place immediately, it should prevail and prosper in the latter days. The phrase of the latter times or days, or the last times or days, signifies any time yet to come; but denotes more particularly the times of Christianity. The times of Christianity may properly be called the latter times or days, or the last times or days, because it is the last of all God's revelations to mankind. Heb 1:1, Heb 1:2; Pe1 1:20.\n\"IV. Another remarkable peculiarity of this prophecy is, the solemn and emphatic manner in which it is delivered: The Spirit speaketh expressly. By the Spirit is meant the Holy Spirit of God, which inspired the prophets and apostles. The Spirit speaking expressly, may signify his speaking precisely and certainly, not obscurely and involvedly, as he is wont to speak in the prophets; or it may be said, The Spirit speaketh expressly, when he speaks in express words in some place or other of Divine writ; and the Spirit hath spoken the same thing in express words before in the prophecy of Daniel. Daniel has foretold, in express words, the worship of new demons or demi-gods; Dan 11:38. The mauzzim of Daniel are the same as the demons of St. Paul; gods protectors, or saints protectors, defenders and guardians of mankind. This, therefore, is a prophecy, not merely dictated by private suggestion and inspiration, but taken out of the written word. It is a prophecy not only of St. Paul's, but of Daniel's too; or rather of Daniel, confirmed and approved by St. Paul.\n\"V. The apostle proceeds, Ti1 4:2, to describe by what means and by what persons this apostasy should be propagated and established in the world. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, etc.; or rather, through the hypocricy of liars, having their conscience, etc.; for the preposition rendered in, frequently signifies through or by. Liars too, or speaking lies, cannot, possibly be joined with the original word rendered some, and that rendered giving heed, because they are in the nominative case, and this is in the genitive. Neither can it well be joined in the construction with the word rendered devils, or demons; for how can demons, or devils, be said to speak lies in hypocrisy, and to have their conscience seared, etc.? It is plain, then, that the great apostasy of the latter times was to prevail, through the hypocrisy of liars, etc. And has not the great idolatry of Christians, and the worship of the dead particularly, been diffused and advanced in the world by such instruments and agents? by fabulous books, forged under the names of the apostles and saints; by fabulous legends of their lives; by fabulous miracles, ascribed to their relics; by fabulous dreams and revelations; and even by fabulous saints, who never existed but in imagination.\n\"VI. Ti1 4:3. Forbidding to marry, etc. - This is a farther character of the promoters of this apostasy. The same hypocritical liars who should promote the worship of demons should also prohibit lawful marriage. The monks were the first who brought a single life into repute; they were the first also who revived and promoted the worship of demons. One of the primary and most essential laws and constitutions of all monks was the profession of a single life, and it is equally clear that the monks had the principal share in promoting the worship of the dead. The monks then were the principal promoters of the worship of the dead in former times. And who are the great patrons and advocates of the same worship now? Are not their legitimate successors and descendants, the monks and priests and bishops of the Church of Rome? And do not they also profess and recommend a single life, as well as the worship of saints and angels? Thus have the worship of demons, and the prohibition of marriage, constantly gone hand in hand together; and as they who maintain one maintain the other, so it is no less remarkable that they who disclaim the one, disclaim the other.\n\"VII. The last mark and character of these men is: Commanding to abstain from meats, etc. The same lying hypocrites who should promote the worship of demons, should not only prohibit lawful marriage, but likewise impose unnecessary abstinence from meats; and these too, as indeed it is fit they should, usually go together as constituent parts of the same hypocrisy. It is as much the law of monks to abstain from meats, as from marriage. Some never eat any flesh; others only certain kinds, on certain days. Frequent fasts are the rule and boast of their orders. So lived the monks of the ancient Church; so live, with less strictness perhaps, but with greater ostentation, the monks and friars of the Church of Rome; and these have been the principal propagators and defenders of the worship of the dead, both in former and in latter times. The worship of the dead is indeed so monstrously absurd as well as impious, that there was hardly any probability of its ever prevailing in the world but by hypocrisy and lies. But that these particular sorts of hypocrisy - celibacy, under pretense of chastity; and abstinence, under pretense of devotion - should be employed for this purpose, the Spirit of God alone could foresee and foretell. There is no necessary connection between the worship of the dead, and forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats; and yet it is certain that the great advocates for this worship have, by their pretended purity and mortification, procured the greater reverence to their persons, and the readier reception to their doctrines. But this idle, popish, monkish abstinence is as unworthy of a Christian as it is unnatural to a man; it is preventing the purpose of nature, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by believers, and them who know the truth.\" See Bishop Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies; and Dr. Dodd's notes.\nWhich mode of interpretation is best, I shall not attempt to say: to determine the meaning of prophecies is a difficult task; and, in a case of this kind, I rather choose to trust to the judgment of others than to my own. It is to be deplored that all the preceding particulars apply but too well to the corruptions in the Romish Church, therefore to it they appear peculiarly applicable. But whether God had this Church alone in view, I dare not affirm.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"Apostasy from the true faith predicted, and in what that apostasy should consist, Ti1 4:1-5. Exhortations to Timothy to teach the truth, Ti1 4:6. To avoid old wives' fables; to exercise himself to godliness, Ti1 4:7, Ti1 4:8. To labor, command, and teach, Ti1 4:9, Ti1 4:10, Ti1 4:11. To act so that none might despise his youth, Ti1 4:12. To give attendance to reading and preaching, Ti1 4:13, Ti1 4:14. To give up himself wholly to the Divine work, Ti1 4:15. And so doing he should both save himself and them that heard him, Ti1 4:16. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TI/4.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TI","chapter":4},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TI/5.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TI","chapter":5},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TI/3.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TI","chapter":3},"numberOfVerses":16}