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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Tim 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15
OET (OET-LV) And confessedly great is the of_ the _devoutness mystery:
Who was_revealed in the_flesh, was_justified in the_spirit, was_seen by_messengers, was_proclaimed among the_nations, was_believed in the_world, was_taken_up in glory.
OET (OET-RV) But yes, this godliness is quite a mystery: he appeared in a body, was declared innocent by the spirit, was seen by messengers, was preached among the nations, was believed in around the world, and then was taken up to heaven to be honoured.
In this section, Paul described the qualifications for Christian leaders, those who lead a group of believers.
This section can be divided into three paragraphs:
Paragraph 3:1–7: The sort of people who should be overseers
Paragraph 3:8–13: The sort of people who should be deacons
Paragraph 3:14–16: The reason Paul wrote this letter to Timothy
Paul again stated the reason that he was writing this letter. Then he quoted a hymn about Christ.
By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great:
Without any doubt, our(incl) faith contains a deep mystery:
No one can rightly deny that what God has revealed to us(incl) is awesome.
By common confession: The Greek word that the BSB translates as By common confession literally means “undeniably, most certainly.” It means that the statement that follows is absolutely true.
the mystery of godliness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as mystery here is the same word as in 3:9. See the note there. Paul was referring to the true message that God has revealed to people.
In the rest of this verse, Paul explained the aspects of this mystery, The mystery is that God himself came to earth as Jesus. Paul called it the mystery of godliness because when people understand it they want to be godly.
godliness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as godliness the way people behave when they respect God. See godliness, godly in the Glossary.
great: The word great in English can have more than one meaning. In this verse it means “wonderful” or “awesome.”
Here, Paul stated in six short lines what “the mystery of godliness” is. These six lines are possibly a hymn that the believers sang in Paul’s time, or they may be a creed that believers recited. To show this, you may want to print them on separate lines as some English versions have done.
He appeared in the flesh,
Christ became a human.
He: The Greek word that the BSB translates as He literally means “who.” This suggests that this hymn/creed was part of a longer composition. Both the literal “who” and the BSB’s He are ambiguous: they could refer to either God or Christ. If it is possible in your translation to retain the ambiguity you should do so. If you must chose, you should use “Christ” or “Christ Jesus.”There is also a textual issue as some manuscripts begin with the word “God” rather than “who”. The KJV follows this reading. However, the oldest manuscripts use “who” to start the hymn. The Editorial Committee of the UBS New Testament (4th edition) gives the reading with “who” an {A} rating, indicating that the text is almost certain.
appeared in the flesh: That is, he “became a human” or “came to earth as a human being.”
was vindicated by the Spirit,
He was proved to be the Son of God by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit showed that he really was the Son of God.
was vindicated by the Spirit: The Greek word that the BSB translates as vindicate means “to prove that something or someone is right.” Therefore, when Paul said that Christ was vindicated by the Spirit, he meant that the Holy Spirit showed that Christ was the Son of God, as he claimed to be. Paul did not specify here in what way the Spirit vindicated Christ, so you should not say so either.
the Spirit: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Spirit probably refers to the Holy Spirit.
In some languages it may be necessary to use the normal term for “Holy Spirit” instead of simply “the Spirit” to make it clear.
was seen by angels,
He was seen by angels.
Angels saw him.
was seen by angels: This could refer to several different events in Jesus’ life. For example, it could refer to:
the angels who saw Jesus at the time of his resurrection
the angels who saw Jesus after his ascension
the angels who saw Jesus during the time of his life on earth
The text is not explicit and so in your translation you should not make this explicit either.
angels: In this context, The word that the BSB translates as angel refers to “a supernatural, spiritual being who is a messenger from God.”
was proclaimed among the nations,
The message about him was preached to every nation.
The apostles told the good news about him to people everywhere.
was proclaimed among the nations: In some languages, it may be necessary to state who proclaimed about Christ. The subject could be “his disciples” or “the apostles.”
nations: This word refers to people who are not Jews, people of every language, culture, and ethnic group.
was believed in throughout the world,
He was believed in by people everywhere in the world.
In all places where believers preached about Christ, people believed in him.
was believed in throughout the world: It may be necessary in some languages to state who believed in Christ. One way to do this is:
people of the world believed in him
was taken up in glory.
He was taken up into the glory of heaven.
God took him up into heaven.
was taken up in glory: Again in some languages it may be necessary to state who took Christ up in glory. If this is true in your language, you should say that God took Christ up in glory.
in glory: In this context the word glory can mean two things:
It refers to the place where God took Christ, that is, heaven. The term glory is used because God, who is awesomely bright, glorious and splendid, is in heaven. Versions that follow this interpretation use the preposition “into” or “to” before the word glory. For example, the CEV says:
he was taken up to glory (CEV, GNT, KJV, REB, NLT, GW)
It refers to the manner in which God took Christ to be with him—in an amazing, powerful, glorious way. Versions that follow this interpretation usually use the preposition in before the word glory. For example, the NIV says:
was taken up in glory (BSB, NIV, RSV, NJB, NASB, NET, NCV)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1): that God took Christ up to heaven. See glory, meaning 3, in the Glossary.
In some languages it will be best to reorder these verse parts so that they appear in chronological order. For example:
16gwas taken up in glory.
16ewas preached among the nations,
16fwas believed on in the world,
That is, Christ was taken up to glory before his disciples preached about him.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe a mystery that could: (1) lead to or cause godliness. Alternate translation: [the mystery that leads to godliness] (2) contain godliness. Alternate translation: [the mystery that is godliness]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of mystery and godliness, you could express the same ideas in another way. Make sure that your translation fits with the option you chose in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [what was hidden that makes us godly]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks
ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
Here it is likely that Paul is quoting a confession or hymn. In order to indicate this, the ULT and UST put quote marks around these words and format them as poetry. Consider how you might indicate in your language that these words are from a confession or hymn.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
If your language does not use these passive forms, you could express the ideas in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the actions, it is clear from the context that either God or Jesus himself did the revealing, that the Spirit did the justifying, that the angels did the seeing, that believers did the proclaiming, that people in general did the believing, and that God did the taking up. Alternate translation: [God revealed him in flesh, the Spirit justified him, angels saw him, believers proclaimed him among the nations, people in the world believed in him, God took him up in glory]
Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns
ὃς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
The pronoun Who refers to Jesus Christ. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use the person's name here. Alternate translation: [Jesus] or [The Christ]
Note 6 topic: translate-textvariants
ὃς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν τό τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον Ὅς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ)
Many ancient manuscripts read Who. The ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “God.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of the ULT.
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἐν σαρκί
in ˓the˒_flesh
Here, the word flesh refers to human existence in its weakness and frailty. Paul means that Jesus was human. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [as a human being]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐδικαιώθη ἐν Πνεύματι
˓was˒_justified in ˓the˒_Spirit
Here, the phrase was justified could indicate that Jesus was: (1) proved by the Holy Spirit to be who he said he was. Alternate translation: [was proven right by the Spirit] (2) declared innocent by the Holy Spirit. Alternate translation: [was proven guiltless by the Spirit] or [was vindicated by the Spirit]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐν ἔθνεσιν
in in among ˓the˒_nations
Here, the word nations could refer to: (1) non-Jewish people. Alternate translation: [among the Gentiles] (2) all groups of people. Alternate translation: [among all people groups]
Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐν κόσμῳ
in in among in ˓the˒_world
Here, the phrase in the world indicates that people in many places throughout the world believed in Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [by people throughout the world]
Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἀνελήμφθη
˓was˒_taken_up
Here Paul implies that Jesus was taken up into heaven. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [was taken up to heaven]
Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐν δόξῃ
in in among in in glory
Here, the phrase in glory could describe: (1) how Jesus was taken up. Alternate translation: [with much glory] (2) Jesus, as he was taken up. Alternate translation: [as a glorious being] or [as a person with glory]
Note 13 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἐν δόξῃ
in in among in in glory
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of glory, you could express the same idea in another way. Make sure that your translation fits with the option you chose in the previous note. Alternate translation: [gloriously]
OET (OET-LV) And confessedly great is the of_ the _devoutness mystery:
Who was_revealed in the_flesh, was_justified in the_spirit, was_seen by_messengers, was_proclaimed among the_nations, was_believed in the_world, was_taken_up in glory.
OET (OET-RV) But yes, this godliness is quite a mystery: he appeared in a body, was declared innocent by the spirit, was seen by messengers, was preached among the nations, was believed in around the world, and then was taken up to heaven to be honoured.
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.