1 TIM 1:4 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:3–11: Paul told Timothy to oppose false teaching

Paul reminded Timothy about things that he had told him to do the last time he was with him. That is, he told him to command certain people to stop teaching the Old Testament Scriptures incorrectly. Paul told Timothy that when people listened to the false teachers, they started arguing about things that were unimportant. Paul said that when Timothy taught the Scriptures, the result should be that people love one another, not that they argue with one another.

After talking about the incorrect use of Scripture in 1:3–7, Paul talked about the correct use of Scripture in 1:8–11. Paul did not want people to use Scripture to speculate about unimportant things. Instead he wanted them to stop sinning and behave how God wanted them to behave.

Paragraph 1:3–4

Some time before Paul wrote this letter, he had been with Timothy in the city of Ephesus. As he was preparing to leave Ephesus for Macedonia, he told Timothy to remain in Ephesus.

One of the reasons that Paul wanted Timothy to remain in Ephesus was to command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer. In 1:3–4, Paul was reminding Timothy about this.

Specifically, Paul told Timothy to command people to stop using the lists of ancestors in the Scriptures to teach things that were untrue. When they taught like that, they caused people to argue about unimportant topics.

1:4a

or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies,

Command them to stop paying so much attention to legends and numerous lists of ancestors.
Do not spend your^(plur) time on untrue stories and never-ending family histories.”

In 1:4a, Paul was explaining the specific false doctrines that he had referred to in 1:3d.

devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies: The Greek word that the BSB translates as “devote to” means “pay close attention to.” The false teachers were paying close attention to myths and endless genealogies. They were continually thinking about them and teaching people about them.Some commentators understand myths and endless genealogies as a hendiadys; that is, the two nouns compose one unit of meaning. The phrase would then mean that false teachers were teaching myths that they based on endless genealogies. For example, Lock, page 8, says that the two words should “be taken closely together, muthoi being defined by genealogiai, legendary stories about genealogies.” Stott, page 44, agrees.

myths: A myth is a story that has been made up and passed down from one generation to another. It may be based on something that happened in the past. Or it might be something made up to teach people why they should follow certain customs. But it is not true like history. See also 2 Timothy 4:4 and Titus 1:14.

endless genealogies: A “genealogy” is a list of the names of ancestors in a family history. It shows how people are related to each other. Paul did not explain what genealogies he meant hereSome commentators think that the false teachers in Crete studied the Jewish genealogies in the OT and tried to find secret meaning in them. Other commentators think that the false teachers studied long lists of names of angels and other supernatural beings that they thought could help them reach God., but it was probably something connected to religion, and something that people studied and argued about.Some people do not think that Paul was referring to lists of ancestors when he said genealogies. They say that he was talking about different spirits, or angels, that stood between men and God. The idea that there were different levels of spirits, or angels, between men and God is a part of Gnosticism. But Paul was probably not talking about this here. Stott, page 45, comments: “There are two main problems with this reconstruction [that Paul was talking about Gnosticism]. The first is that Paul was not predicting the future phenomenon of developed second-century Gnosticism, but was describing a reality with which Timothy had to deal in his own day, in which Gnosticism had only begun to develop. Secondly, there is no evidence that the Gnostics ever referred to the aeons as ‘genealogies’…. All we can say in conclusion is that Paul’s references suggest a false teaching which combined Jewish and Gnostic elements, either ‘a Gnosticizing Judaism’ or ‘Judaizing forms of Gnosticism.’”Knight, pages 73–74, drawing on Spicq, mentions that this kind of teaching is found in rabbinic Haggadah, Philo’s writings, the pseudo-Philonic The Biblical Antiquities of Philo (shortly after AD 70), in The Book of Jubilees (135–195 BC), and in the Qumran writings (cf. 1QS 3:13–15). Stott, page 44, says, “The author of The Biblical Antiquities supplements the biblical narrative ‘by means of his fabulous genealogies’, which occupy chapters 1, 2, 4 and 8. Similarly The Book of Jubilees supplies us with the names of all the children of Adam and Eve, of Enoch’s family, of Noah’s predecessors and descendants, and of the seventy people who went down into Egypt. It may be, then, that it is to this kind of fanciful literature that Paul is referring when he writes of law, myths and genealogies.” See also Titus 3:9.

endless: The genealogies that the false teachers taught were very long and complicated. That is the reason that Paul called the genealogies endless. This is an example of hyperbole or exaggeration.

1:4b

which promote speculation

The teaching of these stories and ancestral lists only encourages people to argue
When they teach people such things, everyone begins to argue about them

which: The relative pronoun which refers grammatically to the “endless genealogies” (1:4a). However Paul probably intended to refer both to the myths and to the genealogies. Try to make this clear in your translation.

promote: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as promote means “cause” or “bring about.” You could also say “lead to,” “produce,” or “result in.”

speculation: The Greek word that the BSB translates as speculation is only found in Christian writings. A similar word occurs in 6:4b; 2 Timothy 2:23; and Titus 3:9. Scholars understand the word here in two ways:

It means “controversies” or “arguments.” These teachers spent a lot of time talking about “myths and endless genealogies.” This caused other people to discuss them and argue about them. For example, the CEV says:
Such things only cause arguments. (CEV, NIV, GNT, NCV)
It means “speculations” or “questions.” People were listening to what the false teachers were teaching. When they heard these things, they began to wonder about things that were unimportant. For example, GW says:
These myths and genealogies raise a lot of questions (BSB, GW, RSV, NJB, NASB, REB, NET, NLT, KJV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Paul was telling Timothy that false teaching caused arguments.

1:4c

rather than the stewardship of God’s work,

instead of encouraging them to do God’s work,
instead of doing the work that God wants them to do,

rather than: In 1:4b Paul said what the myths and genealogies did promote (that is, speculation and controversies; see 1:4b). Here, in 1:4c, he told Timothy what they did not promote. They did not promote God’s work.

the stewardship of God’s work: Scholars interpret the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as God’s work in three ways:

It refers to the work that God had given believers to do. By teaching wrongly, the false teachers were not working for God in the way that he wanted them to work for him. For example, the CEV says:
They don’t help anyone to do God’s work (BSB, CEV, NIV, NCV)
It refers to God’s plan to save people and change them so that they will behave as God wants them to behave. For example, the REB says:
and do not further God’s plan for us (REB, GNT, NJB, NET, GW)
It refers to training or instruction. For example, the RSV says:
rather than the divine training

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). God’s work refers to work that is done for God or work that God has given people to do.

1:4d

which is by faith.

for this work can only be done by those who believe in him.
which they can only do by believing in him.

by faith: There are two different ways to interpret the Greek words that the BSB translates as by faith:

A person can only do God’s work when he himself has faith in God. The NCV probably follows this interpretation when it says:
God’s work…is done in faith. (NCV, CEV)
A person can only do God’s work when he helps other people have faith in God. For example, the NLT translates this verse part as:
They [myths and genealogies]… don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

Most translations do not say who was to have faith, and it is recommended that you do not either. But if you must be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). God’s work can only be done by people who have faith. That is, only those who trust in him can do his work. See faith, meaning 1, in the Glossary.

General Comment on 1:3–4

In some languages it may be more natural to combine these verses and change the order of some of the information. In 1:3b Paul told Timothy to stay in Ephesus. In 1:3c–d Paul told Timothy the purpose for that command. He wanted Timothy to tell certain men to stop teaching wrong things. In 1:4 he gave more details about this.

In some languages it may be necessary to mention some of the information about the false teachers before you translate Paul’s command. This will help people understand the reason that Paul wanted Timothy to tell them not to teach wrong doctrines. Here is one way to combine these verses and reorder the parts:

^4a As you know, Timothy, there are some people in Ephesus who teach what is wrong. They continually teach untrue stories which they base on long lists of ancestors. ^3aRemember when I was ready to go to Macedonia? ^3bAt that time I asked you to remain in Ephesus ^3cand to tell those people ^3dnot to teach like that. ^4bWhen they teach such things, people argue about them. ^4cThe result is that those teachers are not doing the work God gave them, ^4dwhich they can only do by trusting God.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

μύθοις

˱to˲_myths

The word myths refers to a certain kind of story that is generally considered to be untrustworthy. This kind of story is often about what important people did a long time ago. Often, many people in a culture know these stories but do not consider them to be reliable historical narratives. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of story, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [fictional narratives] or [traditional tales]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις

genealogies endless

Paul says endless here as an overstatement for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: [genealogies that seem as if they will never end] or [extremely lengthy genealogies]

Note 3 topic: translate-unknown

γενεαλογίαις

genealogies

The word genealogies refers to lists of someone’s ancestors. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of list, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [collections of the names of forefathers] or [lists of important people from long ago]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐκζητήσεις

speculations

Here, the word translated arguments could refer to: (1) debates or heated discussions. Alternate translation: [debates] (2) questions or enquiries. Alternate translation: [questions] or [speculations]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ

management ˱of˲_God

Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe a stewardship that could: (1) be something that God has and works out. Alternate translation: [the stewardship that God carries out] (2) be given by God to his people. Alternate translation: [the stewardship from God] or [the stewardship given by God]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ

management ˱of˲_God

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of stewardship, you could express the same idea in another way. Make sure your translation fits with the interpretation you chose in the previous note. Alternate translation: [how God is stewarding everything] or [what God is working out]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τὴν ἐν πίστει

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: μηδέ προσέχειν μύθοις καί γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις αἵτινες ἐκζητήσεις παρέχουσι μᾶλλον ἤ οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ τήν ἐν πίστει)

Here Paul could be implying that the stewardship of God: (1) is promoted or accomplished when people have faith. Alternate translation: [which is promoted by faith] or [which is brought about by faith] (2) is known or experienced when people have faith. Alternate translation: [which is known by faith] or [which people learn by faith]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τὴν ἐν πίστει

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of faith, you could express the same idea in another way. Make sure that your translation fits with the interpretation you chose in the previous note. Alternate translation: [which we promote when we believe] or [which is promoted by believing in Jesus]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear 1 TIM 1:4

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 1:3–11: Paul told Timothy to oppose false teaching

Paragraph 1:3–4

1:4a

1:4b

1:4c

1:4d

General Comment on 1:3–4

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 1 TIM 1:4

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 1:3–11: Paul told Timothy to oppose false teaching

Paragraph 1:3–4

1:4a

1:4b

1:4c

1:4d

General Comment on 1:3–4

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 1 TIM 1:4