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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - 1 Timothy 2:4 - 2:4
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Who will have all men to be saved (ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι)
Lit, who willeth all men, etc. As who, or seeing that he, giving the ground of the previous statement. Prayer to God for all is acceptable to him, because he wills the salvation of all. Θέλει willeth, marking a determinate purpose.
Come to the knowledge of the truth (εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν)
The phrase only here and 2Ti 3:7. Ἑπίγνωσις is a favorite Pauline word. See on Rom 3:20; see on Col 1:9; see on 1Ti 2:4; see on 1Ti 4:3. It signifies advanced or full knowledge. The difference between the simple γνῶσις and the compound word is illustrated in Rom 1:21, Rom 1:28, and 1Co 13:12. In N.T. always of the knowledge of things ethical or divine, and never ascribed to God. For ἀλήθεια truth, see on sound doctrine, 1Ti 1:10. It appears 14 times in the Pastorals, and always without a defining genitive. So, often in Paul, but several times with a defining genitive, as truth of God, of Christ, of the gospel. The logical relation in the writer's mind between salvation and the knowledge of the truth is not quite clear. Knowledge of the truth may be regarded as the means of salvation, or it may be the ideal goal of the whole saving work. See 1Co 13:12; Phi 3:8; Joh 17:3. The latter is more in accord with the general drift of teaching in these Epistles.