English · KJV

1 Timothy 6:13

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

King James Version
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

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

KJV (with Strong's)
I give G3853 thee G4671 charge G3853 in the sight G1799 of God G2316, who G3588 quickeneth G2227 all things G3956, and G2532 before Christ G5547 Jesus G2424, who G3588 before G1909 Pontius G4194 Pilate G4091 witnessed G3140 a good G2570 confession G3671;

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

Berean Standard Bible
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
I charge thee in the sight of God, who giveth life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession;

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

World English Bible Messianic
I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Messiah Yeshua, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,

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

Geneva Bible (1599)
I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth all thinges, and before Iesus Christ, which vnder Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
I charge thee, before God, who is making all things alive, and of Christ Jesus, who did testify before Pontius Pilate the right profession,

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
20 Greek words
  1. ΠαραγγέλλωParangellōI chargeG3853V-PAI-1SVerb Present Active Indicative 1st Singular
  2. σοιsoiyouG4771P-2DSPersonal pronoun Dative 2nd Singular
  3. ἐνώπιονenōpionbeforeG1799PREPPreposition
  4. τοῦtou[the]G3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  5. θεοῦtheouGodG2316N-GSM-TNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Title
  6. τοῦtouwhoG3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  7. ζῳογονοῦντοςzōogonountosis giving lifeG2225V-PAP-GSMVerb Present Active Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
  8. τὰta[the]G3588T-APNDefinite article Accusative Plural Neuter
  9. πάνταpantato all thingsG3956A-APNAdjective Accusative Plural Neuter
  10. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  11. ΧριστοῦChristouChristG5547N-GSM-TNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Title
  12. ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424N-GSM-PNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Individual
  13. τοῦtouthe [One who]G3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  14. μαρτυρήσαντοςmarturēsantoshaving testifiedG3140V-AAP-GSMVerb Aorist Active Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
  15. ἐπὶepibeforeG1909PREPPreposition
  16. ΠοντίουPontiouPontiusG4194N-GSM-PNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Individual
  17. ΠιλάτουPilatouPilateG4091N-GSM-PNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Individual
  18. τὴνtēntheG3588T-ASFDefinite article Accusative Singular Feminine
  19. καλὴνkalēngoodG2570A-ASFAdjective Accusative Singular Feminine
  20. ὁμολογίανhomologianconfessionG3671N-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 gives his 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.

“I give thee charge in the sight of God,”

parangéllō, to pass on a command. Timothy receives it with God looking on.

“who quickeneth all things,”

zōopoiéō, to make alive. The God who gives life to all, and who raised Christ, stands behind the charge.

“and before Christ Jesus,”

the second witness to the charge, and the one whose example follows.

“who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;”

Jesus affirmed his kingship and his mission to bear witness to the truth before the Roman governor (John 18:33–37). His confession is the pattern for Timothy’s.

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 6:13–21. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 9 verses
Passage under comment1 Timothy 6:13–21
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

The apostle here charges Timothy to keep this commandment (that is, the whole work of his ministry, all the trust reposed in him, all the service expected from him) without spot, unrebukable; he must conduct himself so in his ministry that he might not lay himself open to any blame nor incur any blemish. What are the motives to move him to this?

I.He gives him a solemn charge:

I give thee charge in the sight of God that thou do this. He charges him as he will answer it at the great day to that God whose eyes are upon us all, who sees what we are and what we do: - God, who quickens all things, who has life in himself and is the fountain of life. This should quicken us to the service of God that we serve a God who quickens all things. He charges him before Christ Jesus, to whom in a peculiar manner he stood related as a minister of his gospel: Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. Observe, Christ died not only as a sacrifice, but as a martyr; and he witnessed a good confession when he was arraigned before Pilate, saying (John 18:36, John 18:37), My kingdom is not of this world: I am come to bear witness unto the truth. That good confession of his before Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world, should be effectual to draw off all his followers, both ministers and people, from the love of this world.

II.He reminds him of the confession that he himself had made:

Thou hast professed a good profession before many witnesses (1 Timothy 6:12), namely, when he was ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. The obligation of that was still upon him, and he must live up to that, and be quickened by that, to do the work of his ministry.

III.He reminds him of Christ's second coming:

"Keep this commandment - until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; keep it as long as thou live, till Christ come at death to give thee a discharge. Keep it with an eye to his second coming, when we must all give an account of the talents we have been entrusted with," Luke 16:2. Observe, The Lord Jesus Christ will appear, and it will be a glorious appearing, not like his first appearing in the days of his humiliation. Ministers should have an eye to this appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in all their ministrations, and, till his appearing, they are to keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable. Mentioning the appearing of Christ, as one that loved it, Paul loves to speak of it, and loves to speak of him who shall then appear. The appearing of Christ is certain (he shall show it), but it is not for us to know the time and season of it, which the Father has kept in his own power: let this suffice us, that in time he will show it, in the time that he thinks fit for it. Observe,

1.Concerning Christ and God the Father the apostle here speaks great things.

(1.)That God is the only Potentate; the powers of earthly princes are all derived from him, and depend upon him. The powers that exist are ordained of God, Romans 13:1. He is the only Potentate that is absolute and sovereign, and perfectly independent.

(2.)He is the blessed and the only Potentate, infinitely happy, and nothing can in the least impair his happiness.

(3.)He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. All the kings of the earth derive their power from him; he gave them their crowns, they hold them under him, and he has a sovereign dominion over them. This is Christ's title (Revelation 19:16), upon his vesture and his thigh; for he has a name higher than the kings of the earth.

(4.)He only has immortality. He only is immortal in himself, and has immortality as he is the fountain of it, for the immortality of angels and spirits derived from him.

(5.)He dwells in inaccessible light, light which no man can approach unto: no man can get to heaven but those whom he is pleased to bring thither, and admit into his kingdom.

(6.)He is invisible: Whom no man hath seen, nor can see. It is impossible that mortal eyes should bear the brightness of the divine glory. No man can see God and live.

2.Having mentioned these glorious attributes, he concludes with a doxology: To him be honour and power everlasting. Amen. God having all power and honour to himself, it is our duty to ascribe all power and honour to him.

(1.)What an evil is sin, when committed against such a God, the blessed and only Potentate! The evil of it rises in proportion to the dignity of him against whom it is committed.

(2.)Great is his condescension, to take notice of such mean and vile creatures as we are. What are we then, that the blessed God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, should seek after us?

(3.)Blessed are those who are admitted to dwell with this great and blessed Potentate. Happy are thy men (says the queen of Sheba to king Solomon), happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, 1 Kings 10:8. Much more happy are those who are allowed to stand before the King of kings.

(4.)Let us love, adore, and praise, the great God; for who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy, Revelation 15:4.

IV.The apostle adds, by way of postscript, a lesson for rich people, 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

1.Timothy must charge those that are rich to beware of the temptations, and improve the opportunities, of their prosperous estate.

(1.)He must caution them to take heed of pride. This is a sin that easily besets rich people, upon whom the world smiles. Charge them that they be not high-minded, or think of themselves above what is meet, or be puffed up with their wealth.

(2.)He must caution them against vain confidence in their wealth. Charge them that they trust not in uncertain riches. Nothing is more uncertain than the wealth of this world; many have had much of it one day and been stripped of all the next. Riches make themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle, etc., Proverbs 23:5.

(3.)He must charge them to trust in God, the living God, to make him their hope, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Those who are rich must see God giving them their riches, and giving them to enjoy them richly; for many have riches, but enjoy them poorly, not having a heart to use them.

(4.)He must charge them to do good with what they have (for what is the best estate worth, any more than as it gives a man an opportunity of doing so much the more good?): That they be rich in good works. Those are truly rich who are rich in good works. That they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate: not only to do it, but to do it willingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.

(5.)He must charge them to think of another world, and prepare for that which is to come by works of charity: Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come, that they may take hold on eternal life.

2.Hence we may observe,

(1.)Ministers must not be afraid of the rich; be they ever so rich, they must speak to them, and charge them.

(2.)They must caution them against pride, and vain confidence in their riches: That they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches. Stir them up to works of piety and charity: That they do good, etc.

(3.)This is the way for the rich to lay up in store for themselves for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life; in the way of well-doing we are to seek for glory, honour, and immortality, and eternal life will be the end of all, Romans 2:7.

(4.)Here is a lesson for ministers in the charge given to Timothy: Keep that which is committed to thy trust. Every minister is a trustee, and it is a treasure committed to his trust, which he has to keep. The truths of God, the ordinances of God, keep these, avoiding profane and vain babblings; not affecting human eloquence, which the apostle calls vain babbling, or human learning, which often opposes the truths of God, but keep close to the written word, for that is committed to our trust. Some who have been very proud of their learning, their science, which is falsely so called, have by that been debauched in their principles and been drawn away from the faith of Christ, which is a good reason why we should keep to the plain word of the gospel, and resolve to live and die by that. Observe, [1.] Ministers cannot be too earnestly exhorted to keep what is committed to their trust, because it is a great trust lodged with them: O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust! as if he had said, "I cannot conclude without charging thee again; whatever thou doest, be sure to keep this trust, for it is too great a trust to be betrayed." [2.] Ministers are to avoid babblings, if they would keep what is committed to them, because they are vain and profane. [3.] That science that opposes the truth of the gospel is falsely so called; it is not true science, for if it were it would approve of the gospel and consent to it. [4.] Those who are so fond of such science are in great danger of erring concerning the faith; those who are for advancing reason above faith are in danger of leaving faith.

V.Our apostle concludes with a solemn prayer and benediction:

Grace be with thee. Amen. Observe, this is a short, yet comprehensive prayer for our friends, for grace comprehends in it all that is good, and grace is an earnest, yea, a beginning, of glory; for, wherever God gives grace, he will give glory, and will not withhold any good thing from him who walketh uprightly. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Historical interpretation

Eight Centuries of Reception

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

3 quotes · AD 220–990
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
2003004005006007008009001000

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

d. AD 220TertullianAnte-NiceneSourceThe Prescription Against Heretics
What is this deposit? Is it so secret as to be supposed to characterize a new doctrine? or is it a part of that charge of which he says, "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy? " and also of that precept of which he says, "I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ who witnessed a good confession under Pontius Pilate, that thou keep this commandment? " Now, what is (this) commandment and what is (this) charge? From the preceding and the succeeding contexts, it will be manifest that there is no mysterious hint darkly suggested in this expression about (some) far-fetched doctrine, but that a warning is rather given against receiving any other (doctrine) than that which Timothy had heard from himself, as I take it publicly: "Before many witnesses" is his phrase.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on 1 Timothy 18
Again he calls God to witness, as he had done a little before, at once to increase his disciple's awe, and to secure his safety, and to show that these were not human commandments, that receiving the commandment as from the Lord Himself, and ever bearing in mind the Witness before Whom he heard it, he may have it more fearfully impressed upon his mind.

"I charge thee," he says, "before God, Who quickeneth all things."

Here is at once consolation in the dangers which awaited him, and a remembrance of the resurrection awakened in him.

"And before Jesus Christ, Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession."

The exhortation again is derived from the example of his Master, and what he means is this; as He had done, so ought ye to do, for for this cause He "witnessed" (1 Pet. ii. 21), that we might tread in His steps.

"A good confession." What he does in his Epistle to the Hebrews,-"Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Heb. xii. 2, Heb xii. 3),-that he now does to his disciple Timothy. As if he had said, Fear not death, since thou art the servant of God, Who can give life to all things.

But to what "good confession" does he allude? To that which He made when Pilate asked, "Art thou a King?" "To this end," He said, "was I born." And again, "I came, that I might bear witness to the Truth. Behold, these have heard Me." (John xviii. 37.) He may mean this, or that when asked, "Art thou the Son of God?" He answered, "Thou sayest, that I am (the Son of God)." (Luke xxii. 70.) And many other testimonies and confessions did He make.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceCOMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who testified before Pontius Pilate the good confession, to keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Again Paul makes God a witness, both increasing the fear and making the disciple more secure, because he has in mind the one who was witnessed.

who gives life to all things. This is also a comfort against dangers. For if God, Paul says, gives life to all things, why should we fear the struggles for faith? And that He encourages this is clear from what follows, Jesus Christ, who testified before Pontius Pilate. For if the Master testified, why do we delay?

Who testified before Pontius Pilate. For Jesus testified concerning what he was doing, that he himself is the Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, Clement in the seventh book of Hypotyposes.

the good confession. What good confession does it speak of? In a somewhat mysterious way, however, Jesus confessed that he is God. For when Pilate said, "Are you a king?" he said, "For this I was born." (Jn. 18:37)

to keep the commandment without spot. That is, neither tainted by doctrines nor by conduct.

until the appearing. Until, Paul says, your last breath. But he did not say it thus. However, in order to stir him more greatly, he remembered the Lord's appearance, and the dreadful glory.
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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