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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadEzekiel, Jonah, and Pastoral Epistles by Patrick Fairbairn - 1 Timothy 6:17 - 6:17
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Ver. 17. The apostle here again reverts to the subject of riches, but now under a different aspect, with reference not to those who made wealth their idol, and were ready to sacrifice principle and character for its attainment, but to such as, having acquired riches, still retain their Christianity, and are willing to use what they possess in accordance with the truth of God and their own best interests. Charge them that are rich in this world not to be high-minded, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who ministers to us all things richly for enjoyment. The instruction to give such a charge obviously implies, that there already were persons in the church at Ephesus to whom the epithet rich might not improperly be applied. But that, as every one knows, is a relative term, and in one country or one stage of social progress might include persons whom none almost would think of associating with it in another. It is absurd, therefore, to find an argument against the early existence of the epistle—as is done by Schleiermacher and others—in the mention of rich persons in the church at Ephesus; and, indeed, the disturbance occasioned there many years before the real date of the epistle by Demetrius and his craftsmen, was alone a proof that even then the movement from the old worship in favour of Christianity must have embraced individuals in various grades of society; not a few that were well-to-do in the world, as well as those who were comparatively poor. The persons who might be deemed relatively rich were to be exhorted not to be high-minded, nor to have their hopes set on the uncertainty of riches— ἠëðéêÝíáé ἐðὶ ðëïýôïõ ἀäçëüôçôé , a very Striking expression. The verb is in the perfect; and being used in connection with a charge to the persons in question, it must mean that they ought not to have done so in the past, nor continue to do so now—not so to hope in such an object as if it were a settled and abiding habit of mind. Then, instead of putting riches as the object of the hope, the apostle rather indicates the quality in riches which rendered it peculiarly unsuitable for such a purpose. It is a rhetorical rather than a strictly grammatical construction; for the term for riches is undoubtedly the principal substantive, and the natural construction would have been to put it in the dative, and couple it with an adjective, expressive of the uncertain element adhering to them— ðëïõ ́ ôù ͅ ôù ͂ͅ á ̓ äç ́ ëù ͅ ). But the mode of expression in the text is not arbitrary; as Winer remarks (Gr. § 34, 3, a), “it is chosen for the purpose of giving more prominence to the main idea, which, if expressed by means of an adjective, would be thrown more into the background: hence it belongs to rhetoric, not to grammar.” To trust in riches, the apostle would have it understood, is virtually to make uncertainty one’s confidence, since both their continuance with us, and our possession of them, may at any moment come to a termination. The contrast to such an insecure foundation is God, the eternal, the all-sufficient, who ministers richly to His people’s necessities and just desires, and who, as a source of enjoyment to those who trust in Him, can never fail.