I TIMOTHY 6:1-16

My previous analysis of I Timothy (see the post titled “I and II Timothy: Introduction to the Literary Structure”) indicated the symmetrical arrangement for 6:1-19 shown below:

A. Servants (6:1-2a)

B. False teachers (6:2b-10)

B'. True teachers (6:11-16)

A'. The Rich (6:17-19)

Since I have already posted my comments on verses 17-19, I would like to now share some insights into vv. 1-16 found in the scholarly literature on that subject, leaning heavily on Dictionary of Biblical Imagery.

Advice to Servants (vv. 1-2a)

verse 1: Hendricksen states, “ With the entrance of the Christian religion into the fabric of Roman society, difficult problems arose...his way toward a solution commends itself by reason of its evident wisdom. It avoids extremes which would have resulted in much harm both to the slave and to his master, and it would have reflected dishonor upon the cause of the Christian religion.”

verse 2: “Even believing slaves and masters are viewed as 'brethren' (1 Tim 6:2; also see Philemon). Yet brotherly equality is never used as an excuse not to serve one another.” (DBI)

Warnings Against False Teachers (vv. 2b-10)

verses 3-6: Mitchell calls vv. 3-5 “a portrait of the unsound teacher, with many resonances to 1:3-11” and explains, “The catchword gain [see vv. 5,6] leads to a favorite philosophical and biblical (Job 1.21; Eccl. 5.15) commonplace about the false security of riches (taken up again in 6.17-19).”

verses 7-8: “We can take only the 'self' [out of the world] (cf. Job 1:21; Luke 12:20)...We shall face our Maker alone, with no baggage. Everything will depend on whether we are in Christ...The identity of the we [in v. 8] makes all the difference...If we are people of godliness (v. 6) we are not secularists, tied down to our own age. Our eyes are on the distant horizon, for we are pilgrims with a heavenly destiny as well as witnesses to our own times.” (Ward)

verse 9: “ Strong words are used in the description of those whose desires are set upon the acquistion of wealth. The words apply to all whose aims are controlled by the passion to increase material possessions in themselves. The apostle is not so much thinking of those who are already rich, as of those ever grasping to become so.” (Guthrie)

verse 10: “Wandering is...used to picture deviation from faith (1 Tim 6:10), from light (John 8:12), from the Lord (1 Sam 12:20-21; Deut 29:38) and from the path of life available to those who follow wisdom (Prov 5:6).” (DBI)

“Since a plant's root may be viewed as its very life source, the Bible occasionally uses the image to describe the source of someone or something...Paul views Israel as the 'root' from which the people of God spring (Rom 11:16,18). He also warns that the love of money is the root, or source, of all kinds of evil (I Tim 6:10).” (DBI)

Advice to Teachers (vv. 11-16)

verse 11: “For leaders in Christ's church, integrity is essential (2 Cor 4:2): they flee immorality (1 Tim 6:11), do not act from impure motives (1 Thess 2:3) and avoid presenting stumbling blocks for others (2 Cor 6:3).” (DBI)

“Meekness is a virtue that NT Christians are commended to 'put on' (Col 3:12) and 'aim at' (1 Tim 6:11), and Christians are repeatedly exhorted to 'be' meek or gentle (Tit 3:2; 1 Pet 2:18; cf. 1 Thess 2:7; Jas 13, 17).” (DBI)

“The NT exhorts God's people to flee unrighteousness (1 Cor 6:18; 10:14; 1 Tim 6:11) and to pursue righteousness and all its attendants (Rom 12:10; 14:19; 1 Cor 14:1; 1 Thess 5:15; 1 Pet 3:11). The nature of this flight and chase reveal one's character and motives.” (DBI)

verse 12: “Paul writes to Timothy about 'the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession,' (1 Tim 6:12 RSV), and to the Thessalonians about being called 'through our gospel' to be saved (2 Thess 2:13-14). Here the calling of God is the general call to salvation and sanctification that comes in the same form to all people.” (DBI)

verse 13: Knight explains that “paraggello (see 1:3) means here 'I charge,' i.e., 'I command' or 'I direct.' It is in the first person to express Paul's authority as Christ's apostle (cf. 1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:4,6,10,12, especially vv. 6 and 12).”
verse 14: “Although Genesis 3 puts the emphasis on the willful disobedience of Adam and Eve, the NT commentary evokes a complementary picture of the pathos of Eve as a victim of Satan 's seduction (1 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 2:14).” (DBI)

verse 15: Lea states, “In vv. 15-16 Paul expressed seven statements of majestic praise to God in a moving doxology. In v. 15 he used three names in a description of God. The phrases are Jewish in style and praise the unique sovereignty of God...All three titles fit well with the emphasis that the return of Christ is certain ('God will bring [it] about') and sovereignty in his hands ('in his own time'). Paul's certainty of Christ's return did not cause him arbitrarily to set a date.”

“The image of four horsemen (Rev 6:1-8) illustrates the difference between power and authority...Only Christ, rider of the white horse, returns later and wears the name 'King of kings and Lord of lords' (Rev. 19:1-16; cf. Rev 17:14; Dan 2:47; 1 Tim 6:15).” (DBI)

verse 16: “Writers who portray the transcendent also use a technique of negation, denying to the spiritual world the qualities of finite reality. In such 'negative theology' God is portrayed in terms of what he is not – 'immortal' (not mortal; Rom 1:23; 1 Tim 1:17), 'beyond measure' (Ps 147:5), 'unapproachable' (1 Tim 6:16).” (DBI)

“By extension, God who is light inhabits a heaven bathed in light. Here light becomes the preeminent symbol for transcendence, dear to the mystics' and poets' expressions through the ages. The classic passage is 1 Timothy 6:16...” (DBI)

Concerning the statement that no man has seen God, Davids canvasses those passages reporting people witnessing the presence of God. These include Exodus 24:11; Exodus 33:18-20, 29; Ezekiel 1-2; Isaiah 6:1-5. But he notes that in no case did they actually see his face.

“The Bible describes God both as living in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:10) and as dwelling in thick darkness (Ps 97:2; Ps 104:2).” (DBI)