English · KJV

1 Timothy 6:11

“Timothy’s Personal Charge”1 Timothy 6:11–16

King James Version
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
But G1161 thou G4771, O G5599 man G444 of God G2316, flee G5343 these things G5023; and G1161 follow after G1377 righteousness G1343, godliness G2150, faith G4102, love G26, patience G5281, meekness G4236.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousnesse, godlines, faith, loue, patience, and meekenes.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
and thou, O man of God, these things flee, and pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness;

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
16 Greek words
  1. ΣὺSuYou yourselfG4771P-2NSPersonal pronoun Nominative 2nd Singular
  2. δέdehoweverG1161CONJConjunction
  3. ὦōOG5599INJInterjection
  4. ἄνθρωπεanthrōpemanG444N-VSMNoun Vocative Singular Masculine
  5. τοῦtou[the]G3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  6. θεοῦtheouof GodG2316N-GSM-TNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Title
  7. ταῦταtautathese thingsG3778D-APNDemonstrative pronoun Accusative Plural Neuter
  8. φεῦγεpheugedo fleeG5343V-PAM-2SVerb Present Active Imperative 2nd Singular
  9. δίωκεdiōkedo pursueG1377V-PAM-2SVerb Present Active Imperative 2nd Singular
  10. δὲdenowG1161CONJConjunction
  11. δικαιοσύνηνdikaiosunēnrighteousnessG1343N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  12. εὐσέβειανeusebeiangodlinessG2150N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  13. πίστινpistinfaithG4102N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  14. ἀγάπηνagapēnloveG26N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  15. ὑπομονήνhupomonēnenduranceG5281N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  16. πραϋπαθίαν·praupathian[and] gentlenessN-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

Paul calls Timothy a man of God and tells him to run from the love of money and chase after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness.

“But thou, O man of God,”

Paul sets Timothy apart from the money-loving teachers of the verses before, and the title he gives him is the one borne by Moses, Elijah and the prophets.

“flee these things;”

pheúgō, run away or escape. “These things” are the desire to be rich, the love of money and the empty disputes of 1 Timothy 6:3–10.

“and follow after”

diṓkō, to pursue earnestly, the word Paul uses for pressing toward the prize.

“righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

Six qualities, the first three toward God and the last three toward others. Patience is endurance under trial, and meekness is gentleness.

Passage study1 Timothy 6:11–16

The Good Fight and the King of Kings

11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Summary

Paul has just warned Timothy about men who treat godliness as a way to get rich, and about the love of money, which he calls “the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Now he speaks to Timothy himself. As a man of God, Timothy is to run from those things and chase after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. He is to fight the good fight of faith and take firm hold of the eternal life he was called to and confessed before many witnesses. Paul gives this charge in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made his own good confession before Pontius Pilate, and Timothy is to keep it spotless until Christ appears. The thought of that appearing lifts Paul into praise of God, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in light no one can approach. A charge to one young pastor ends in worship, because everything asked of him rests on who God is.

Flee these things, O man of God

“But thou” sets Timothy apart from the false teachers and lovers of money in 1 Timothy 6:3–10. “These things” are what Paul has just described: the desire to be rich, the love of money, and the empty quarrels of those who have strayed from the truth. Timothy was serving in Ephesus, a wealthy city with many religions and schools of philosophy, where false teaching was getting into the church and the pull of money was strong.

The verb for flee, pheúgō, means to run away or escape, and the command calls for a quick and decisive break, the way a man runs from danger. Its partner, “follow after”, is diṓkō, to pursue or press toward a goal. The same verb can mean to persecute, and here it is the earnest chase of someone who wants to reach what he runs after. Paul uses this word for his own pressing on toward the prize in Philippians 3:12–14. So the man of God runs in two directions at once, away from what destroys and toward what God loves, and both are commands.

Who is the “man of God”?

“Man of God”, in Greek anthropos theou, is an old and honoured title. Moses is called “the man of God” (Deuteronomy 33:1), a man of God came with a message to Eli (1 Samuel 2:27), and the widow of Zarephath calls Elijah a man of God (1 Kings 17:18). In the Old Testament it belongs to prophets and others God set apart for his service. By giving it to Timothy, Paul reminds him whose he is and what kind of life fits someone sent to lead God’s people in a hard place. The words were written to Timothy as a leader, and fleeing evil and pursuing good belong to every child of God, so the verse speaks to every believer who wants to please him, whatever their place in the church.

The six things to pursue

Paul names six things, and they fall into two groups. The first three concern our walk with God. Righteousness, dikaiosýnē, is rightness of character and conduct, living by God’s standard within and without. Godliness, eusébeia, is reverent devotion to God shown in everyday life, the very thing the false teachers had turned into a means of gain. Faith, pístis, is trust in God and reliance on his promises.

The second three shape how we treat others. Love, agápē, is the self-giving love that belongs to God himself, the love Jesus commanded his disciples to have for one another (John 13:34–35). Patience, hypomonḗ, is steady endurance, especially under trial, and some translations render it steadfastness. Meekness, praiótēs, is gentleness and humility, and other translations call it gentleness.

Scripture gives other lists like this one. Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23, and Peter tells believers to add to their faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity (2 Peter 1:5–7). The fruit of the Spirit shows where these qualities come from. They grow in those who belong to Christ by the work of his Spirit, so the pursuit is real effort made in his strength.

Fight the good fight of faith

“Fight” is agōnízomai, to strive or contend, whether as an athlete competing for a prize, a soldier against an enemy, or anyone working hard to accomplish something. “The fight” is its noun, agṓn, from the same root, so the Greek says in effect “contend the contest”, and the doubling makes the command vivid and forceful. Greeks and Romans knew athletic contests such as the Isthmian Games and the training of soldiers, so Timothy would have heard in these words a picture of hard, disciplined effort against opposition.

The fight is called good, kalós, a word for what is good, fine and worthy, so this is an honourable struggle. It is “of faith” because faith is what the struggle is about and also how it is fought. It is waged against the spiritual wickedness Paul describes in Ephesians 6:10–18, against temptation, and against the false teaching that was troubling Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3–7). Near the end of his life Paul could say of himself, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Hebrews pictures the same life as a race run with patience, looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:1–2).

How can we lay hold on eternal life if it is a gift?

“Lay hold on” is epilambánomai, to seize or take firm hold of something. The life is zōḗ, the ordinary word for life, used for natural life and also for the life of God’s kingdom, and here it is called eternal, aiṓnios, lasting without limit of time.

Eternal life is God’s free gift to all who believe in his Son (John 3:16), and Jesus says that the one who believes on him has it already (John 6:47). To lay hold on it is to take firm hold of what God has given, to live now as people who possess it, to cling to his promises, and to let that life govern our choices. Jesus said that eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3), so it begins now. Paul tells the Colossians to set their minds on things above, because Christ is their life (Colossians 3:1–4).

“Whereunto thou art also called” reminds Timothy that God began all this. God called him to eternal life, and his fighting and grasping answer that call, which covered both his salvation and his ministry.

A good profession before many witnesses

“Hast professed” is homologéō, to assent or acknowledge, the verb the KJV renders both “profess” and “confess”. “Profession” is its noun, homología, an acknowledgment or confession. At some point Timothy had openly declared his faith before many witnesses, mártys, the word for a witness that later gave us “martyr”. This was probably at his baptism or when he was set apart for ministry, and either way the confession was public and those who heard it could speak to it. Paul writes that confessing with the mouth and believing in the heart belong together in salvation (Romans 10:9–10). In Timothy’s world, where religious and civic loyalties were bound up together, such a confession could be costly.

A charge in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus

In verse 13 Paul makes his charge solemn. “I give thee charge” is parangéllō, to pass on a message, and so to order or command. He gives it in the sight of God, before whom every creature lies open: “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). Timothy will carry out his ministry with God watching, and Paul names two witnesses to the charge, God and Christ Jesus.

God is the one “who quickeneth all things”. The verb zōopoiéō joins the ideas of “alive” and “make”, so it means to make alive or give life. God is the source and sustainer of all life, and he is the God who raised Christ from the dead and “shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11). The God who gives this hard charge can bring life out of death and strengthen the one he sends.

Christ’s good confession before Pilate

Christ Jesus is the second witness, and Paul reminds Timothy what he did: “before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession”. Standing before the Roman governor, with his life at stake, Jesus affirmed that he was a king and said why he had come: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth” (John 18:33–37). Revelation calls him “the faithful witness” (Revelation 1:5).

“Confession” here is homología, the same word Paul has just used for Timothy’s “profession” in verse 12. Timothy’s confession before many witnesses stands beside his Lord’s confession before Pilate, and the Master’s steadfastness is the pattern for the servant. Paul tells him elsewhere to “hold fast the form of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13). The Father answered Christ’s confession by raising him and giving him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9–11), and the risen Christ makes everyone who is in him a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). So Timothy makes his own confession in the strength of the one who made the first.

Keep the commandment until Christ appears

To keep, tēréō, is to guard, observe and hold to something steadily. “This commandment”, entolḗ, is a charge or command. Paul has given Timothy one instruction after another, and here he gathers them up: fleeing the love of money, pursuing godliness, fighting the fight of faith, laying hold on eternal life, and the sound teaching and faithful ministry the whole letter has laid out.

He is to keep it “without spot”, áspilos, a word built from “not” and “spot”, meaning unblemished and undefiled. Peter uses the same picture for Christ, “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). “Unrebukeable”, anepílēptos, joins “not” to a word for seizing or laying hold, so it describes someone no accusation can take hold of, blameless and beyond reproach. Timothy has just been told to lay hold on eternal life, and now he is to live so that no fair charge can lay hold on him. The two words together describe a life clean within and blameless before others, which matters greatly in a leader whose life must match what he teaches. The same standard runs through the qualifications for bishops and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and for elders in Titus 1:7–9.

This keeping lasts “until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The word is epipháneia, a shining forth or manifestation, and here it means Christ’s return in glory, the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:13. His return sets the length of Timothy’s faithfulness, which is the whole of his life. It is also when everything will come to light, for Christ “shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:1). And it is the great hope of every believer. God, who began a good work in us, will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6), and he means to present us holy and unblameable in his sight (Colossians 1:22). John writes that when he appears, “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is”, and that “every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2–3). A spotless life of this kind is the fruit of a changed heart, the Spirit’s work in those already saved, and it grows from that hope.

The blessed and only Potentate

“Which in his times he shall shew” means that God will show, deiknýō, the appearing of Christ at the time he has set. The Greek is kairois idiois, “his own times”, and kairós means an occasion, a set or proper time. The timing belongs to God alone. Jesus told his disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7), and Habakkuk was told that the vision is for an appointed time and will surely come (Habakkuk 2:3). Christ will appear exactly when God has determined, however long the wait looks to us.

Then come the titles. God is “blessed”, makários, blessed and happy in himself, complete and lacking nothing, the source of every blessing. Paul calls him this earlier in the letter, “the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11). He is the “only”, mónos, “Potentate”, dynástēs, a ruler or sovereign, and every other ruler has his authority from him. He is “King of kings”, with basileús, king, and “Lord of lords”, with kýrios, lord. Setting a word beside its own plural in this way is a Hebrew way of saying the highest of all, so he reigns over every king and lord on earth and over every power beyond it.

Paul wrote this while emperors such as Nero claimed supreme authority and many gods had worshippers in Ephesus. To call the one true God the only Potentate told the believers there where their final loyalty belonged. Earlier in the letter Paul breaks into praise in the same way: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17). The Lord who calls himself “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” holds all of time (Revelation 1:8).

Does this verse speak of the Father or of Christ?

In this verse the titles belong to God the Father, because he is the one who will show the appearing of Christ named in verse 14. The same titles are given to Christ in Revelation, where he has on his vesture “a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16). Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), and Revelation calls him “the prince of the kings of the earth”. The shared titles show the Father and the Son sharing one divine nature, and at Christ’s appearing the Father’s rule will be seen in the Son.

Who only hath immortality

God “only hath immortality”. The word athanasía means deathlessness, freedom from death and decay. God has this life in himself, without beginning and from no other source. Angels and people live because he gives them life, and any life that lasts in them comes from him. The risen Christ shares it: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:18).

He dwells “in the light which no man can approach unto”. The word is aprósitos, unapproachable, what cannot be drawn near to. The light stands for his holiness, purity and glory, so intense that sinful people cannot come into it by themselves. Israel learned this at Sinai, where the mount quaked at his presence and the LORD had bounds set that the people were to keep (Exodus 19:16–24). In Ephesus, where gods and emperors were shown in images and sought through rituals, Paul sets before the church a God beyond every image. That same light makes the gospel wonderful. Christ, “the light of the world” (John 8:12), has opened the way, and through him we have access by one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).

Has anyone ever seen God?

“Whom no man hath seen, nor can see” speaks of God in the full, unveiled glory of who he is. The LORD told Moses, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). Yet Jacob said at Peniel, “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:30), the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11), and Isaiah “saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne” (Isaiah 6:1). In those moments God showed his presence in a veiled form people could bear, and some of those appearances were appearances of the Son.

John brings it together: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and he told Philip, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). The God whom no one can see has made himself known in his Son.

Honour and power everlasting

The praise ends with what belongs to such a God. Honour, timḗ, is worth and esteem, and power, krátos, is might and dominion, and both are his everlasting, aiṓnios, without limit of time. Heaven says the same: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things” (Revelation 4:11). “Amen”, amḗn, is a strong “so be it”, the speaker’s own agreement with what he has just said.

Christ, who kept the whole charge

Every part of this charge was first lived out by Jesus. He is righteous, the one “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). His godliness was complete devotion to the Father: “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). He is “the author and finisher of our faith”, who endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). His love led him to die for us while we were sinners and enemies (Romans 5:8–10). His patience showed when “he suffered, he threatened not” (1 Peter 2:23), and his meekness when he said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

He fought the fight against sin, death and the powers of darkness and won it, spoiling principalities and powers and triumphing over them at the cross (Colossians 2:15). He is the life we lay hold on, for he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). His good confession was part of an obedience that went “unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). In him is no sin (1 John 3:5), and he is the true lamb without spot. So the charge to Timothy is a call to become like Christ, carried out in union with him and by the Spirit he gives.

A charge that ends in praise

This passage gives us both a calling and a God great enough to stand behind it. The man of God runs from the love of money and runs after righteousness, faith and love. He fights a fight worth fighting and holds fast to a life God has already given him. He keeps his charge in the sight of the God who raises the dead and of the Saviour who stood firm before Pilate. The end of his road is the appearing of Christ, at the time God has set.

Over all of it stands the blessed and only Potentate, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and who has made himself known in his Son. Paul’s charge rests on that God, and so its last word is “Amen”.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers 1 Timothy 6:6–12. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 7 verses
Passage under comment1 Timothy 6:6–12
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

From the mention of the abuse which some put upon religion, making it to serve their secular advantages, the apostle,

I.Takes occasion to show the excellency of contentment and the evil of covetousness.

1.The excellency of contentment, 1 Timothy 6:6-8. Some account Christianity an advantageous profession for this world. In the sense they mean this is false; yet it is undoubtedly true that, though Christianity is the worst trade, it is the best calling in the world. Those that make a trade of it, merely to serve their turn for this world, will be disappointed, and find it a sorry trade; but those that mind it as their calling, and make a business of it, will find it a gainful calling, for it has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.

(1.)The truth he lays down is that godliness with contentment is great gain. Some read it, godliness with a competency; that is, if a man have but a little in this world, yet, if he have but enough to carry him through it, he needs desire no more, his godliness with that will be his great gain. For a little which a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, Psalm 37:16. We read it, godliness with contentment; godliness is itself great gain, it is profitable to all things; and, wherever there is true godliness, there will be contentment; but those have arrived at the highest pitch of contentment with their godliness are certainly the easiest happiest people in this world. Godliness with contentment, that is, Christian contentment (content must come from principles of godliness) is great gain; it is all the wealth in the world. He that is godly is sure to be happy in another world; and if withal he do by contentment accommodate himself to his condition in this world he has enough. Here we have,

[1.]A Christian's gain; it is godliness with contentment, this is the true way to gain, yea, it is gain itself.

[2.]A Christian's gain is great: it is not like the little gain of worldlings, who are so fond of a little worldly advantage.

[3.]Godliness is ever accompanied with contentment in a great or less degree; all truly godly people have learned with Paul, in whatever state they are, to be therewith content, Philippians 4:11. They are content with what God allots for them, well knowing that this is best for them. Let us all then endeavour after godliness with contentment.

(2.)The reason he gives for it is, For we brought nothing with us into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, 1 Timothy 6:7. This is a reason why we should be content with a little.

[1.]Because we can challenge nothing as a debt that is due to us, for we came naked into the world. Whatever we have had since, we are obliged to the providence of God for it; but he that gave may take what and when he pleases. We had our beings, our bodies, our lives (which are more than meat, and which are more than raiment), when we came into the world, though we came naked, and brought nothing with us; may we not then be content while our beings and lives are continued to us, though we have not every thing we would have? We brought nothing with us into this world, and yet God provided for us, care was taken of us, we have been fed all our lives long unto this day; and therefore, when we are reduced to the greatest straits, we cannot be poorer than when we came into this world, and yet then we were provided for; therefore let us trust in God for the remaining part of our pilgrimage.

[2.]We shall carry nothing with us out of this world. A shroud, a coffin, and a grave, are all that the richest man in the world can have from his thousands. Therefore why should we covet much? Why should we not be content with a little, because, how much soever we have, we must leave it behind us? Ecclesiastes 5:15, Ecclesiastes 5:16.

(3.)Hence he infers, having food and raiment, let us be therewith content, 1 Timothy 6:8. Food and a covering, including habitation as well as raiment. Observe, If God give us the necessary supports of life, we ought to be content therewith, though we have not the ornaments and delights of it. If nature should be content with a little, grace should be content with less; though we have not dainty food, though we have not costly raiment, if we have but food and raiment convenient for us we ought to be content. This was Agur's prayer: Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, Proverbs 30:8. Here we see,

[1.]The folly of placing our happiness in these things, when we did not bring any thing into this world with us, and we can carry nothing out. What will worldlings do when death shall strip them of their happiness and portion, and they must take an everlasting farewell of all these things, on which they have so much doted? They may say with poor Micah, You have taken away my gods; and what have I more? Judges 18:24.

[2.]The necessaries of life are the hounds of a true Christian's desire, and with these he will endeavour to be content; his desires are not insatiable; no, a little, a few comforts of this life, will serve him, and these may hope to enjoy: Having food and raiment.

2.The evil of covetousness. Those that will be rich (that set their hearts upon the wealth of this world, and are resolved right or wrong, they will have it), fall into temptation and a snare, 1 Timothy 6:9. It is not said, those that are rich, but those that will be rich, that is, that place their happiness in worldly wealth, that covet it inordinately, and are eager and violent in the pursuit of it. Those that are such fall into temptation and a snare, unavoidably; for, when the devil sees which way their lusts carry them, he will soon bait his hook accordingly. He knew how fond Achan would be of a wedge of gold, and therefore laid that before him. They fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts. Observe,

(1.)The apostle supposes that,

[1.]Some will be rich; that is, they are resolved upon it, nothing short of a great abundance will satisfy.

[2.]Such will not be safe nor innocent, for they will be in danger of ruining themselves for ever; they fall into temptation, and a snare, etc.

[3.]Worldly lusts are foolish and hurtful, for they drown men in destruction and perdition.

[4.]It is good for us to consider the mischievousness of worldly fleshly lusts. They are foolish, and therefore we should be ashamed of them, hurtful, and therefore we should be afraid of them, especially considering to what degree they are hurtful, for they drown men in destruction and perdition.

(2.)The apostle affirms that the love of money is the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6:10. What sins will not men be drawn to by the love of money? Particularly this was at the bottom of the apostasy of many from the faith of Christ; while they coveted money, they erred from the faith, they quitted their Christianity, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Observe,

[1.]What is the root of all evil; the love of money: people may have money, and yet not love it; but, if they love it inordinately, it will push them on to all evil.

[2.]Covetous persons will quit the faith, if that be the way to get money: Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, 2 Timothy 4:10. For the world was dearer to him than Christianity. Observe, Those that err from the faith pierce themselves with many sorrows; those that depart from God do but treasure up sorrows for themselves.

II.Hence he takes occasion to caution Timothy, and to counsel him to keep in the way of God and his duty, and particularly to fulfil the trust reposed in him as a minister. He addresses himself to him as a man of God. Ministers are men of God, and ought to conduct themselves accordingly in every thing; they are men employed for God, devoted to his honour more immediately. The prophets under the Old Testament were called men of God.

1.He charges Timothy to take heed of the love of money, which had been so pernicious to many: Flee these things. It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of this world; men of God should be taken up with the things of God.

2.To arm him against the love of the world, he directs him to follow that which is good. Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness: righteousness in his conversation towards men, godliness towards God, faith and love as living principles, to support him and carry him on in the practice both of righteousness and godliness. Those that follow after righteousness and godliness, from a principle of faith and love, have need to put on patience and meekness - patience to bear both the rebukes of Providence and the reproaches of men, and meekness wherewith to instruct gainsayers and pass by the affronts and injuries that are done us. Observe, It is not enough that men of God flee these things, but they must follow after what is directly contrary thereto. Further, What excellent persons men of God are who follow after righteousness! They are the excellent of the earth, and, being acceptable to God, they should be approved of men.

3.He exhorts him to do the part of a soldier: Fight the good fight of faith. Note, Those who will get to heaven must fight their way thither. There must be a conflict with corruption and temptations, and the opposition of the powers of darkness. Observe, It is a good fight, it is a good cause, and it will have a good issue. It is the fight of faith; we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 2 Corinthians 10:3, 2 Corinthians 10:4. He exhorts him to lay hold on eternal life. Observe,

(1.)Eternal life is the crown proposed to us, for our encouragement to war, and to fight the good fight of faith, the good warfare.

(2.)This we must lay hold on, as those that are afraid of coming short of it and losing it. Lay hold, and take heed of losing your hold. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown, Revelation 3:11.

(3.)We are called to the fight, and to lay hold on eternal life.

(4.)The profession Timothy and all faithful ministers make before many witnesses is a good profession; for they profess and engage to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life; their calling and their own profession oblige them to this.

Historical interpretation

Seven Centuries of Reception

7 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

7 quotes · AD 311–990
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
3004005006007008009001000

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 325Lucius Caecilius Firmianus LactantiusPost-NiceneSourceThe Divine Institutes, Book 7, Chapter V
Immortality, then, is not the consequence of nature, but the reward and recompense of virtue. Lastly, man does not immediately upon his birth walk upright, but at first on all fours, because the nature of his body and of this present life is common to us with the dumb animals; afterwards, when his strength is confirmed, he raises himself, and his tongue is loosened so that he speaks plainly, and he ceases to be a dumb animal. And this argument teaches that man is born mortal; but that he afterwards becomes immortal, when he begins to live in conformity with the will of God, that is, to follow righteousness, which is comprised in the worship of God, since God raised man to a view of the heaven and of Himself. And this takes place when man, purified in the heavenly laver, lays aside his infancy together with all the pollution of his past life, and having received an increase of divine vigour, becomes a perfect and complete man.

Therefore, because God has set forth virtue before man, although the soul and the body are connected together, yet they are contrary, and oppose one another. The things which are good for the soul are evil to the body, that is, the avoiding of riches, the prohibiting of pleasures, the contempt of pain and death. In like manner, the things which are good for the body are evil to the soul, that is, desire and lust, by which riches are desired, and the enjoyments of various pleasures, by which the soul is weakened and destroyed.
AD 400Pseudo-ClementPost-NiceneSourceTwo Epistles on Virginity
He in whomsoever the Spirit of God is, is in accord with the will of the Spirit of God; and, because he is in accord with the Spirit of God, therefore does he mortify the deeds of the body and live unto God, "treading down and subjugating the body and keeping it under; so that, while preaching to others," he may be a beautiful example and pattern to believers, and may spend his life in works which are worthy of the Holy Spirit, so that he may "not be cast away," [1 Corinthians 9:27] but may be approved before God and before men. For in "the man who is of God," [1 Timothy 6:11] with him I say there is nothing of the mind of the flesh; and especially in virgins of either sex; but the fruits of all of them are "the fruits of the Spirit" [Galatians 5:22] and of life, and they are truly the city of God, and the houses and temples in which God abides and dwells, and among which He walks, as in the holy city of heaven.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on 1 Timothy 17
"But thou, O man of God."

This is a title of great dignity. For we are all men of God, but the righteous peculiarly so, not by right of creation only, but by that of appropriation. If then thou art a "man of God," seek not superfluous things, which lead thee not to God, but

"Flee these things, and follow after righteousness." Both expressions are emphatic; he does not say turn from one, and approach the other, but "flee these things, pursue righteousness," so as not to be covetous.

"Godliness," that is, soundness in doctrines. "Faith," which is opposed to questionings. "Love," patience, meekness.
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-NiceneSourceSERMONS 177.3
“As for you, man of God, flee from these things.” You see, he didn’t just say, “Leave and forsake,” but “Flee from,” as from an enemy. You were trying to flee with gold; flee from gold instead. Let your heart flee from it, and your use of it need have no worries. Do without greed; don’t do without concern for others. There’s something you can do with gold, if you’re its master, not its slave. If you’re the master of gold, you can do good with it; if you’re its slave, it can do evil with you.
d. AD 700Isaac of NinevehEarly MedievalSourceINSTRUCTIONS FOR MONKS, SECOND PART
Strive to discover stirrings that are good during the time of prayer, as the wise do. These consist in reflection on the Spirit’s insights and sagacious thought, and consideration during the time of prayer of how to please the will of the Maker of all. This is the final end of all virtue and of all prayer. When in these matters you receive the power that stems from grace to be bound firmly to their continual stirrings, you will become a “man of God” and will be close to spiritual things.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceCOMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY
But you, O man of God, flee these things; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

But you, O man of God. Great is the dignity. For all men are servants of God, especially the righteous, not only according to the reason of creation, but also according to that of adoption.

flee these things. Both with emphasis; for Paul did not say, "Avoid this one, but approach that one," but rather, "Flee and pursue."

pursue righteousness. To have no more than is sufficient for life.

godliness. In doctrines.

faith. Without controversies.

love. The offspring of faith, towards God and men. The order of the statement is good. For from faith, love is born; and from love, patience. And patience, as it walks, makes gentleness.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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