Posted by Peter Kirby at 5:43 PM | Permalink

I have begun to create a set of notes on the interpretation of the Pastoral Epistles. I have completed the first two sections of it (and part of the third). I plan to do a section or two per day. After I have finished making notes, I plan to write an introduction, treating at least the issues of authorship, date, provenance, and occasion. At that time I may, or I may not, write the kind of free flowing prose that is usually termed "commentary."

What follows is the first section. I invite your help in making it better.

First Timothy, Greeting
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus in obedience to the order of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope; 1:2 unto Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notes

Paul is also called an apostle in the greetings to Rom, 1Cor, 2Cor, Gal, Eph, Col, 2Tim, and Tit. He is designated δοῦλος (servant) in Rom, Phil, and Tit. In Phlm he is called a prisoner (δέσμιος).

The expression κατ᾿ ἐπιταγὴν is translated "in obedience to the order" from the parallel expression in Polybius, Histories 12.26.2. ("Hercules ... had injured all those persons against whom he waged war, under compulsion and in obedience to the order of another, but was never voluntarily the author of harm to any man.") See also Tit 1:3, Rom 16:26, 1Cor 7:6, and 2Cor 8:8 for the phrase (literally "according to the command"). With the influence of 2Tim 1:1, the Codex Sinaiticus has επανγελιαν ("according to the promise of God").
The Pastoral Epistles use the title σωτὴρ frequently for God (see also 1Tim 2:3, 1Tim 4:10, Tit 1:3, Tit 2:10, Tit 3:4) or, alternately, for Jesus (2Tim 1:10, Tit 1:4, Tit 3:6), while in the other Paulines this title is found applied only to Jesus (Phil 3:20, Eph 5:23). This is a minor indicator against the authenticity of the Pastorals.

J. L. Houlden writes: "The word was common in pagan circles for gods and emperors; but it is also common in the LXX as a designation for God, e.g. Ps 25 (LXX 24); Is. 12:2; 17:10, as well as for heroes like the judges, cf. Jud. 3:9. Whether the application of the term in our writings to God (and indeed to Jesus as the bringer of salvation) owes more to the LXX, perhaps together with the piety of Hellenistic Judaism, or to the cult of rulers and the mystery religions so popular at the time, it is hard to say. The Pastoral Epistles have little clear reference to Old Testament passages; on the other hand they are far from redolent of the heady and speculative religiosity of the pagan cults, though a word like ἐπιφανείᾳ (appearing) in II Tim. 1:10 (cf. also Tit. 3:4) also belongs to their vocabulary." (1976: 48)

See also Col 1:27 for Jesus as "our hope." Ignatius of Antioch also refers to Jesus as "our hope" (IgnMagn 11:1) or "our common hope" (IgnEph 21:2, IgnPhld 11:2), as does Polycarp (PolPhil 8:1). L. T. Johnson notes, "The theme of hope is prominent in Titus (1:2; 2:13; 3:7), but is of particular theological significance in 1 Timothy. In three places, 'hoping' (ἐλπίζειν) in the living God is opposed to a hope placed in human means (4:10; 5:5; 6:17). It is therefore the more noteworthy that hope is here attached so simply and directly to Christ Jesus." (2001: 157)

Timothy is called a "genuine child" here and in Tit 1:4, while he is called ἀγαπητός (beloved) in 2Tim 1:2. This term recalls the description of Timothy in Phil 2:20, "For I have no one of like spirit, who so genuinely [γνησίως] concerns himself in the things pertaining to you." Jouette M. Bassler notes that the adjective also means "loyal" and states, "As the letters unfold the treachery of the opposing teachers (see 1:6-7; 4:1; 2 Tim 1:15; 4:14-15), the significance of that adjective becomes clear." (1996: 36) Martin Dibelius and Hans Conzelmann write of the technical meaning of the phrase: "A 'true child' (γνήσιον τέκνον) is actually the legitimate child, the child born in wedlock. The expression could be meant here as an allusion to what is reported in Acts 16:1ff or 2 Tim 1:6. It would then have to be understood spiritually, as in Corp. Herm 13.3: 'Do not refuse me, father; I am (your) true son; explain to me the nature of the rebirth.'" (1972: 13)

W. D. Mounce writes: "The significance of the salutation in 1 Timothy has often been overlooked. In relatively few words, a large part of the Ephesian problem is addressed, the core of Paul’s solution given, and the tension between a private letter and a public message established. (1) The Ephesian problem arose because the church had turned away from Paul’s authority and from the salvation through Christ that he preached. So Paul begins by asserting that his apostleship is by a command from God and Christ (cf. Spicq, 1:313); this will be placed in contrast to the opponents who merely 'wish' to be teachers (v 7). (2) The solution is that the church should listen to Timothy’s teaching since Timothy, and not the opponents, is Paul’s spiritually legitimate son." (2002) This contrast is in response to those such as Marcion who claimed Paul as their spiritual father and guarantor of doctrine.

The definite article for "in the faith" is not supplied in the Greek, but it is in the translation to indicate the meaning of "the Christian religion" that is common in the Pastorals. The word "and" is added to "grace, mercy, peace."

L. T. Johnson notes, "As in other Pauline letters, 'grace' (χάρις) replaces the 'greeting' (χαίρειν) of the typical Hellenistic letter (1 Macc 10:18, 25; 11:30; 12:6, 20; 13:36; 14:20; 15:2, 16; 2 Macc 1:1; 9:19; 11:16; 3 Macc 3:12; 7:1; Letter of Aristeas 41; James 1:1). 'Peace' (εἰρήνη) appropriates the traditional Jewish greeting of shalom (LXX Judg 6:23; 18:6; 19:20; 1 Sam 1:17; 20:42; Jdt 8:35), which appears as an epistolary salutation in 2 Macc 1:1 (compare Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:2; Tit 1:4). Although ἔλεος (mercy) appears in other Pauline letters (Rom 9:23; 11:31; Gal 6:16), it forms part of the greeting only here and in 2 Tim 1:2. In both letters, it is inserted between 'grace' and 'peace.'" (2001: 157)

Hellenistic letters began with a pattern of "X to Y, greeting." Raymond F. Collins expands on the literary form of the beginning of the Pauline letters: "The Pauline epistolary tradition witnesses to an expansion of all three elements—the designation of the sender, the designation of the recipient, and the greeting—in the Hellenistic epistolary scheme for greetings. In his first letter, 1 Thessalonians, Paul identified the senders and the recipients in simple fashion. Thereafter he added an intitulatio to his self-designation as well as to the designation of his recipients. The intitulatio is the 'title' appended to the author's name in Hellenistic letters. In a fashion analogous to the signature block of a contemporary letter, the epistolary title justifies the claim that the letter-writer is about to make on the recipients of the letter. Rhetorically, the title of a Hellenistic letter is an important element of the author's ethos appeal, that is, the attempt to persuade not on the inherent basis of the argument itself (logos) or on the advantage to the audience (pathos) but rather on the authority of the person from whom it comes." (2002: 21)

J. L. Houlden makes the following argument: "Most of Paul's letters bear the greetings not only of Paul himself but also of his associates. The exceptions are Romans, Galatians—and Ephesians. The first case may be explained by the generally less personal nature of the work: it is probably written to a congregation of which Paul has little intimate knowledge, certainly one with which he has had no direct contact. In the second case, paradoxically as it may appear, it may be that the impetuously personal manner in which Paul begins the letter may have made him ignore any friends who were with him (at least there was an amanuensis, cf. Gal. 6:11). Perhaps Ephesians gives us a closer parallel. Here too Pauline authorship is doubted, on many varied grounds. Here too Paul is understandably placed on a pedestal. He is a venerated figure. To associate others with him would detract from the very point which the writer wishes to make. Those who argue for Pauline authorship will naturally retort that the truth is simply that Paul was alone at the time of writing. They must then account for the opening of II Timothy, which again comes from Paul alone, though Luke is with him (II Tim. 4:11). It is more likely that here, as in Ephesians, we are witnessing the beginning of the process whereby Paul is, at least for the Christians who sponsored these writings, the revered hero of the recent past, the anchor of true doctrine." (1976: 46)