Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - 1 Timothy 1:2 - 1:2
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Ti_1:2
2To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1Ti_1:2 "To Timothy" The Pastoral Letters follow the typical Greek letter form: (1) from whom; (2) to whom; and (3) a prayer/wish.
hyperlink
▣ "my true child" "My" is not in the Greek text. "Child" is teknon, which means a legitimate child. Paul saw himself as Timothy's spiritual father (cf. 2Ti_1:2; 2Ti_2:1). He also refers to Titus (cf. Tutus 1Ti_1:4) and Onesimus (cf. Phm_1:10) by similar phrases.
▣ "Grace, mercy and peace" Notice the commonality and differences in Paul's opening greetings:
1. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:3; 2Co_1:2; Gal_1:3; Eph_1:2; Php_1:2; 1Th_1:2; Phm_1:3)
2. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father" (cf. Col_1:2)
3. "Grace to you and peace" (cf. 1Th_1:1)
4. "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" (cf. 1Ti_1:2; 2Ti_1:2)
5. "Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior" (cf. Tit_1:4)
Notice that there is variety, but some elements are standard.
1. "Grace" begins all greetings. It is a Christianized form of greeting focusing on the character of God.
2. "Peace" is the result of humans trusting in the trustworthy God.
3. "Mercy" is another way of describing God's character and is unique in Paul's writings, used only in I and 2 Timothy. This term was used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew term hesed (i.e., covenant loyalty). God is gracious and trustworthy.
4. The Father and Son are mentioned in each greeting (in 1 Thessalonians they are mentioned in the previous phrase). They are always grammatically linked. This was one way the NT writers asserted the full deity of Jesus of Nazareth. This is also true of the use of the OT titles for YHWH applied to Jesus (i.e., Lord and Savior).
▣ "Father" The Bible uses human categories (anthropomorphisms) to describe deity as an aid to time-bound, sinful mankind. The most common biblical metaphors relate to the family:
1. God as Father, as parent (mother and father), as near kin (go'el)
2. Jesus as Son, as brother, as husband
3. believers as children, as adopted children, as bride
hyperlink