Humanitext Reader

New Testament · 1 Timothy §6.1-6.21

Warning against the Love of Money and Charge to Timothy

Passage 6 of 6 · Greek

Summary

The author instructs slaves on their attitude towards believing masters, warns against false teachings driven by financial gain and greed, charges Timothy to remain faithful, and advises the rich to be generous, concluding with a warning against false knowledge.

§6.1Ὅσοι εἰσὶν ὑπὸ ζυγὸν δοῦλοι, τοὺς ἰδίους δεσπότας πάσης τιμῆς ἀξίους ἡγείσθωσαν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ διδασκαλία βλασφημῆται.
Let all who are under the yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed.
§6.2οἱ δὲ πιστοὺς ἔχοντες δεσπότας μὴ καταφρονείτωσαν, ὅτι ἀδελφοί εἰσιν· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δουλευέτωσαν, ὅτι πιστοί εἰσιν καὶ ἀγαπητοὶ οἱ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι.
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
§6.3Ταῦτα δίδασκε καὶ παρακάλει.
Teach and urge these things.
εἴ τις ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖ καὶ μὴ προσέρχεται ὑγιαίνουσι λόγοις, τοῖς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῇ κατʼ εὐσέβειαν διδασκαλίᾳ, §6.4τετύφωται, μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενος, ἀλλὰ νοσῶν περὶ ζητήσεις καὶ λογομαχίας, ἐξ ὧν γίνεται φθόνος, ἔρις, βλασφημίαι, ὑπόνοιαι πονηραί, §6.5διαπαρατριβαὶ διεφθαρμένων ἀνθρώπων τὸν νοῦν καὶ ἀπεστερημένων τῆς ἀληθείας, νομιζόντων πορισμὸν εἶναι τὴν εὐσέβειαν.
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
§6.6ἔστιν δὲ πορισμὸς μέγας ἡ εὐσέβεια μετὰ αὐταρκείας· §6.7οὐδὲν γὰρ εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα·
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
§6.8ἔχοντες δὲ διατροφὰς καὶ σκεπάσματα, τούτοις ἀρκεσθησόμεθα.
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
§6.9οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι πλουτεῖν ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς πειρασμὸν καὶ παγίδα καὶ ἐπιθυμίας πολλὰς ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς, αἵτινες βυθίζουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ ἀπώλειαν·
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, and into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
§6.10ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστὶν ἡ φιλαργυρία, ἧς τινὲς ὀρεγόμενοι ἀπεπλανήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἑαυτοὺς περιέπειραν ὀδύναις πολλαῖς.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
§6.11Σὺ δέ, ὦ ἄν θρωπε θεοῦ, ταῦτα φεῦγε·
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
δίωκε δὲ δικαιοσύνην, εὐσέβειαν, πίστιν, ἀγάπην, ὑπομονήν, πραϋπαθίαν.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
§6.12ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς πίστεως, ἐπιλαβοῦ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, εἰς ἣν ἐκλήθης καὶ ὡμολόγησας τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν ἐνώπιον πολλῶν μαρτύρων.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
§6.13παραγγέλλω σοι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζωογονοῦντος τὰ πάντα καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ μαρτυρήσαντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πειλάτου τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν, §6.14τηρῆσαί σε τὴν ἐντολὴν ἄσπιλον ἀνεπίλημπτον μέχρι τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, §6.15ἣν καιροῖς ἰδίοις δείξει ὁ μακάριος καὶ μόνος δυνάστης, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων, §6.16ὁ μόνος ἔχων ἀθανασίαν, φῶς οἰκῶν ἀπρόσιτον, ὃν εἶδεν οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν δύναται·
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.
ᾧ τιμὴ καὶ κράτος αἰώνιον·
To him be honor and eternal dominion.
ἀμήν.
Amen.
§6.17Τοῖς πλουσίοις ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι παράγγελλε μὴ ὑψηλοφρονεῖν μηδὲ ἠλπικέναι ἐπὶ πλού του ἀδηλότητι, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ θεῷ τῷ παρέχοντι ἡμῖν πάντα πλουσίως εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν,
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
§6.18ἀγαθοεργεῖν, πλουτεῖν ἐν ἔργοις καλοῖς, εὐμεταδότους εἶναι, κοινωνικούς, §6.19ἀποθησαυρίζοντας ἑαυτοῖς θεμέλιον καλὸν εἰς τὸ μέλλον, ἵνα ἐπιλάβωνται τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς.
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
§6.20Ὦ Τιμόθεε, τὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον, ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, §6.21ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλόμενοι περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἠστόχησαν.
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge", for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Ἡ χάρις μεθʼ ὑμῶν.
Grace be with you.

Notes

  1. §6.2οἱ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι — On the interpretation of `ἀντιλαμβάνομαι` with the genitive. Here it means 'to benefit from' or 'to receive a share of', taking `εὐεργεσίας` (good service, benefit) as its object. Thus, it refers to 'those who benefit from the service (i.e., the believing masters).' Although some interpret it as 'those who devote themselves to good deeds (i.e., the slaves),' the former is more natural in this context to explain why the masters should be served even better.
  2. §6.5νομιζόντων πορισμὸν εἶναι τὴν εὐσέβειαν — Determination of the subject and predicate of the infinitive `εἶναι`. Both `πορισμὸν` (gain) and `τὴν εὐσέβειαν` (godliness) are in the accusative case, but `τὴν εὐσέβειαν`, having the definite article, is the subject, while the anarthrous `πορισμὸν` is the predicate. Thus, it is correctly translated as 'imagining that godliness is a means of gain.'
  3. §6.7ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα — The function and contextual interpretation of the conjunction `ὅτι`. If `ὅτι` is taken as a simple causal 'because,' the logic becomes circular or reversed ('we brought nothing into the world because we cannot take anything out'). Therefore, `ὅτι` here is best understood either as having a consecutive force ('and so/consequently'), or as an elliptical expression for `δῆλον ὅτι` ('it is clear that we cannot take anything out').
  4. §6.14τηρῆσαί σε τὴν ἐντολὴν — The infinitive `τηρῆσαι` serves as the object of the main verb `παραγγέλλω` (I charge) in §6.13, forming an accusative-with-infinitive construction with `σε` as its subject. Due to the extensive parenthetical phrases praising God and Christ Jesus intervening between the main verb and the infinitive, one must trace the grammatical core: `παραγγέλλω... τηρῆσαί σε` ('I charge you... to keep').
  5. §6.19ἀποθησαυρίζοντας — The participle `ἀποθησαυρίζοντας` is masculine accusative plural. Grammatically, one would expect the dative `ἀποθησαυρίζουσιν` to agree with `Τοῖς πλουσίοις` (the rich) in §6.17, or to align with the subject of the infinitives in §6.18. The shift to the accusative plural is an anacoluthon, reflecting a mental shift where the rich are conceived of as the logical subject of the action in the preceding infinitive clauses.

Cite this passage

New Testament, 1 Timothy §6.1-6.21. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg015.humanitext-grc2:6.1-6.21

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