TOM · The Owner's Manual · New Testament

1 Timothy 4

Chapter 4 in 30 seconds

Some will fall for fake spiritual rules like no marriage and no certain foods. Paul says everything God made is good when you thank Him for it. Hitting the gym is fine, but training for godliness pays off forever. And Timothy, do not let anyone look down on you because you are young.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyPhoebe, Pliny and Sophia · after verse 5 Field Notes · Archaeology · DebatedGod or Who? · after verse 10

A Warning against Apostasy

¹Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

1TI 4:1[PROPHECY]In latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons... forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods → HISTORY: By about AD 120 to 180, groups like the Encratites and followers of Marcion banned marriage and meat. Recorded by Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.24 and 1.28.
1TI 4:1[DEMONIC]Doctrines of demons in the last times

³They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, ⁵because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

1TI 4:4[NOTE]EVERY CREATION OF GOD IS GOOD. The false teachers made up rules: no marriage, no certain foods, 4:3. Paul goes back to Genesis: everything God made was very good, Genesis 1:31. Jesus declared all foods clean, Mark 7:19. Receive what God made with thanks and prayer, 4:5. Freedom still has limits: not everything is helpful, and nothing should control you, 1 Corinthians 6:12.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Phoebe, Pliny and Sophia

1 Timothy 3:8 to 13 · Romans 16:1 to 2

Part of the marble plaque honoring Pliny the Younger, early 100s AD, in the wall of the church of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan. Photo Giovanni Dall'Orto, free with credit.

WHAT IT IS: A piece of a marble plaque honoring Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor. His name PLINIUS is on the top line. Matching pieces let scholars rebuild the whole text, which lists his job as governor of Pontus and Bithynia, in today's Turkey.
HOW OLD IT IS: It was carved about AD 113, around the time Pliny died. It is now built into the wall of an old church in Milan, Italy.
TWO WOMEN CALLED DEACONS: As governor, about AD 112, Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan about the Christians, Letter 10.96. To get the facts, he tortured two slave women who were called ministrae. That Latin word means servants, the same idea as the Greek diakonos, deacon. This was about 50 years after 1 Timothy.
PHOEBE AND SOPHIA: Paul calls Phoebe a diakonos of the church at Cenchrea, Romans 16:1, the same word used for deacons in 3:8. A gravestone from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, from the late 300s, says: Here lies the servant and bride of Christ, Sophia the deacon, the second Phoebe. We could not find a free photo of it.
HOW PEOPLE READ 3:11: Paul says in the same way, the women must be dignified. Many believe these are women deacons, since Paul switches from the deacons' job to the women and back, and Phoebe was one. Others read it as the deacons' wives, since 3:12 says a deacon must be the husband of one wife.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: Pliny does not tell us what the two women did. A deacon was a serving role, not the same as an elder.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH FOR THE SOURCES · 3:11 IS DEBATED

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

⁶By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.

⁷But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. ⁸For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. ⁹This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance.

1TI 4:7[NOTABLE]Train is the Greek word our word gymnasium comes from. Paul is not against working out. He says it helps for this life, but godliness pays off now and forever. Put in the reps for your soul.

¹⁰To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe. ¹¹Command and teach these things.

Field Notes · Archaeology · Debated

God or Who?

One Line in the Oldest Bibles

1 Timothy 3:16 · John 1:14

Top: 1 Timothy 3:16 in Codex Alexandrinus, British Library. Bottom: 1 Timothy 3:16 in Codex Sinaiticus, with a later correction written above the line. Both public domain.

WHAT IT IS: Close ups of 1 Timothy 3:16 in two of the oldest Bibles in the world. In both, the word after mystery is the one people fight over.
HOW OLD IT IS: Codex Sinaiticus was copied about AD 330 to 360. Codex Alexandrinus was copied about AD 400 to 440. Both are in the British Library in London.
TWO LETTERS APART: Scribes wrote God in a short form, ΘΣ, with a line on top. The word who is ΟΣ. The only difference is a tiny line inside the O and the bar on top. In Sinaiticus the first scribe wrote ΟΣ, who. Later someone wrote small letters above it to make it God. You can see them in the bottom photo.
THE ALEXANDRINUS FIGHT: In Alexandrinus the word looks like God. But in the 1700s the scholar Johann Wettstein said the line inside the O was ink showing through from the other side of the page. Others said it was real. The page is so worn that people still argue.
ISAAC NEWTON JOINS IN: The famous scientist wrote a long letter in 1690 arguing that 1 Timothy 3:16 and 1 John 5:7 had been changed. Newton did not believe in the Trinity. His letter was published in 1754, after he died.
WHICH IS RIGHT?: Most modern Bibles follow the oldest Greek copies and early translations: He who appeared. The KJV and most later Greek copies say God. This Bible prints God was manifest in the flesh, the KJV wording.
WHAT IT DOES NOT CHANGE: Either way, the verse is about Jesus, and only someone who already existed can appear in the flesh. The Bible calls Jesus God in other places that no copy disputes, like John 1:1 and 20:28.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.

1TI 4:12[NOTABLE]Timothy was young for a leader, maybe in his thirties. Paul does not tell him to argue. He tells him to outlive the critics: speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders. ¹⁵Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. ¹⁶Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

1TI 4:14[NOTE]THE LAYING ON OF HANDS. The elders laid their hands on Timothy and prayed, and prophecies were spoken over him, 1:18. Paul laid hands on him too, 2 Timothy 1:6. The church did the same when it sent out Paul and Barnabas, Acts 13:3. Many churches still do this to set apart pastors and leaders. Paul warns: do not rush it, 5:22.

1 Timothy 4

A Warning against Apostasy

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

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