1 Timothy 6:20

Recapitulatory conclusion: the main aim of the whole Epistle being here summarily stated.

O Timothy--a personal appeal, marking at once his affection for Timothy, and his prescience of the coming heresies.

keep--from spiritual thieves, and from enemies who will, while men sleep, sow tares amidst the good seed sown by the Son of man.

that which is committed to thy trust--Greek, "the deposit" (Ti1 1:18; Ti2 1:12, Ti2 1:14; Ti2 2:2). "The true" or "sound doctrine" to be taught, as opposed to "the science falsely so called," which leads to "error concerning the faith" (Ti1 6:21). "It is not thine: it is another's property with which thou hast been entrusted: Diminish it not at all" [CHRYSOSTOM]. "That which was entrusted to thee, not found by thee; which thou hast received, not invented; a matter not of genius, but of teaching; not of private usurpation, but of public tradition; a matter brought to thee, not put forth by thee, in which thou oughtest to be not an enlarger, but a guardian; not an originator, but a disciple; not leading, but following. 'Keep,' saith he, 'the deposit,'; preserve intact and inviolate the talent of the catholic faith. What has been entrusted to thee, let that same remain with thee; let that same be handed down by thee. Gold thou hast received, gold return. I should be sorry thou shouldest substitute aught else. I should be sorry that for gold thou shouldest substitute lead impudently, or brass fraudulently. I do not want the mere appearance of gold, but its actual reality. Not that there is to be no progress in religion in Christ's Church. Let there be so by all means, and the greatest progress; but then let it be real progress, not a change of the faith. Let the intelligence of the whole Church and its individual members increase exceedingly, provided it be only in its own kind, the doctrine being still the same. Let the religion of the soul resemble the growth of the body,which, though it develops its several parts in the progress of years, yet remains the same as it was essentially" [VINCENTIUS LIRINENSIS, A.D. 434].

avoiding--"turning away from" (compare Ti2 3:4). Even as they have "turned away from the truth" (Ti1 1:6; Ti1 5:15; Ti2 4:4).

profane-- (Ti1 4:7; Ti2 2:16).

vain--Greek, "empty": mere "strifes of words," Ti1 6:4, producing no moral fruit.

oppositions--dialectic antithesis of the false teachers [ALFORD]. WIESINGER, not so probably, "oppositions to the sound doctrine." I think it likely germs existed already of the heresy of dualistic oppositions, namely, between the good and evil principle, afterwards fully developed in Gnosticism. Contrast Paul's just antithesis (Ti1 3:16; Ti1 6:5-6; Ti2 2:15-23).

science falsely so called--where there is not faith, there is not knowledge [CHRYSOSTOM]. There was true "knowledge," a special gift of the Spirit, which was abused by some (Co1 8:1; Co1 12:8; Co1 14:6). This gift was soon counterfeited by false teachers arrogating to themselves pre-eminently the gift (Col 2:8, Col 2:18, Col 2:23). Hence arose the creeds of the Church, called symbols, that is, in Greek, "watchwords," or a test whereby the orthodox might distinguish one another in opposition to the heretical. Perhaps here, Ti1 6:20, and Ti2 1:13-14, imply the existence of some such brief formula of doctrine then existing in the Church; if so, we see a good reason for its not being written in Scripture, which is designed not to give dogmatic formularies, but to be the fountain whence all such formularies are to be drawn according to the exigencies of the several churches and ages. Probably thus a portion of the so-called apostle's creed may have had their sanction, and been preserved solely by tradition on this account. "The creed, handed down from the apostles, is not written on paper and with ink, but on fleshy tables of the heart" JEROME [Against John of Jerusalem, 9]. Thus, in the creed, contrary to the "oppositions" (the germs of which probably existed in the Church in Paul's latter days) whereby the aeons were set off in pairs, God is stated to be "the Father Almighty," or all-governing "maker of heaven and earth" [BISHOP HINDS].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Ti_6:20-21

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.

Peril and preservation

I. The peril against which the apostle warns Timothy was the intellectual pride and subtle speculation which, afterwards, in the second and third centuries, became formulated into a sort of philosophical system. It was then known as Gnosticism, because it exalted gnosis--knowledge--above faith, and was of a decidedly presumptuous and pragmatical tendency. The effect of such knowledge has ever been to cause men to err concerning the faith; to lose simplicity and devoutness; to wander into the pleasant meadows of Doubting Castle, till they are seized and imprisoned by Giant Despair; and unless they there learn to pray, and bethink them of the key of promise, they are left at last to fumble and stumble among the tombs. He who wandereth out of the way of understanding shall abide in the congregation of the dead.

II. Preservation from such peril is to be found in Gods answer to the prayer which Paul breathed over Timothy--Grace be with thee. We cannot by searching find out God. Intellectual acuteness has never yet succeeded in discovering Him. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)

The guarding of the deposit

What the deposit was, we may not doubt. It was the Christian faith, in its entirety and purity; and the contexts, in which the apostles repeated warning occurs, present to us the occasions which even then rendered it necessary. Profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called, were, even then, undermining the faith of their authors and of those who listened to them; and it was requisite that even one who had received from the lips of St. Paul himself the form of sound words, should be exhorted to hold it fast. But to us, at this far later stage of the Churchs history, the admonition comes fraught with many a lesson, to be drawn from the experience of the past, and also from the peculiar circumstances in which we find ourselves placed, by the providence of God, as members of the Church of England. The deposit of the faith may be regarded under a more simple or a more complex form. Any Christian man who can recite the Apostles Creed may be said to have the deposit of the faith stored in his memory; but how much more, pertaining to life and godliness, does he not require, both for the enlightening of his understanding, and for the guidance of his life? Brethren, do we consider as we ought the precious form in which the Christian faith has been delivered to us in our Book of Common Prayer? It has been recently affirmed by a distinguished Presbyterian, that the Church, if she would fulfil her mission, must avail herself of the riches which her children during all these ages have been gathering for her. Here is, indeed, the deposit of the faith, elucidated and interpreted in all its fulness. Learned and unlearned, the wayfaring man and little child, are here instructed, in respect of their manifold necessities and obligations, in respect of their diversified relations both to God and to man, what it is to believe the gospel of Christ. Again, there is a most important feature of our Church, in respect of which we must surely feel how urgent is the duty faithfully to guard the deposit which has been committed to our trust. We cannot but regard as a most signal instance of Gods wondrous working for us, the circumstance that He accorded to us the power, which many others did not possess, of retaining in its integrity the constitution of the Church as it has existed from apostolic times. Surely a thoughtful man must ask, with all reverence, why God thus dealt with us; nor will he permit himself to hold the gift in less esteem, because it was not vouchsafed to others. If it be indeed our duty to regard our ecclesiastical polity as a blessing which has been secured to us by the grace and favour of God--if, in this regard, we have indeed cause to say, The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage--then let us be very careful never ourselves to speak or to act, never to lead others to speak or to act, in the spirit of those of whom we read, that they thought scorn of that pleasant land which God had given them. Again, if our Book of Common Prayer be indeed a precious treasure house in which is stored for our use the deposit of the Christian faith, must we not be very careful to guard it from neglect, to secure to it its due honour? Are we, then, as careful as we should be here? We cannot be guarding the deposit if we give, or teach others to give, a non-natural sense to the language of the Baptismal Office, of the Catechism, of the Office for the Administration of the Holy Communion, or of the Ordinal: we are not handing on, as faithful stewards, that which has been committed to our trust, except we give their full significance to the teaching of the Prayer Book, as well as to that of the Articles. Suffer me to mention another point, which is essential to the guarding of the deposit. A complaint is not unfrequently made of those who preach not Christ, but the Church. I do not deny that the want of a right understanding of Christian truth, and of a due feeling of its sacred character, may possibly lead to this monstrous result; but I would venture to remind you, that if we would guard the deposit faithfully, we must preach both Christ and His Church. It is, indeed, a fatal error not to hold the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and being knit together, increaseth with the increase of God; but it is also a most grievous error, so to hold the Head as to ignore the divinely appointed organization, through which, as the apostle assures us, the nourishment of the body is dispensed, and its unity and strength secured. We cannot speak faithfully of Christ the Vine, of Christ the Head, of Christ the chief Corner-Stone, without speaking also of that wondrous, spiritual structure, His gracious relation to which is marked by the many names of love and power which are assigned to Him in Holy Scripture. Some persons may be tempted not to guard the deposit in certain points, by the hope of conciliating those who are unhappily separated from us. They may desire to withdraw what others regard as unauthorized pretensions, and so to occupy a common ground with them. What, then, must be the necessary effect of their doing so, while the deposit, as enshrined in the formularies of our Church, remains what it is? They must deprive themselves of all excuse, before God and man, for using or assenting to those formularies. And, more than this, so far as their action is concerned, the Church becomes degraded into the most presumptuous and arrogant of sects, presuming, as she does from their point of view, to utter before God words of most awful and solemn import, to which her heart does not respond, and before men to make pretences and speak great swelling words of vanity, while she yet repudiates her title to any real distinction from other Christian bodies which put forward no such claims. If we will not guard the deposit which has been committed to our trust as a Church, we have no alternative but to renounce it openly and honestly, having first put to ourselves with all seriousness the momentous inquiry, Did that deposit come to us from the hand of God, or no? But whither will men turn, if they should unhappily resolve to forsake the historic Church of the past, which we are taught to believe and to confess, as retaining to the end of the world her imperishable continuity, marvellously as she may be taught to adapt herself to the needs of successive generations, and to the various characteristics of the nation of them that are saved, that shall walk in her light? Once more, let me present to you that which appears to many a further and most cogent reason for unflinching steadfastness and faithfulness to our high trust. I refer to the remarkable position in which the Church of England has stood ever since the Reformation, in respect of all other Christian bodies throughout the world; and more than ever at this day stands, by virtue of her own wide extension and of her intercommunion with other branches of the Church Catholic, holding the same faith and observing the same order with herself. If there be, says Bishop Lightfoot, any guiding hand in the progress of history, if there be any Supreme Providence in the control of events, if there be any Divine Presence and any Divine call--then the position of England, as the mother of so many colonies and dependencies, the heart and centre of the worlds commerce and manufacture, and the position of the English Church, standing midway between extremes in theological teaching and ecclesiastical order, point to the Church of this nation, with the very finger of God Himself, as called by Him to the lofty task of reconciling a distracted kingdom and healing the wounds of the nations. For the sake, then, of this inspiring hope, under the sense of this overwhelming responsibility, let us as members of that vast communion, whose worship ascends to God from well-nigh every portion of our globe, resolve by His help to guard the deposit which He has committed to our trust, and to stand still in the safe paths of duty and obedience, if haply our eyes or our childrens eyes may be blessed by seeing this great salvation of God. (G. Whittaker, M. A.)

Oppositions of science falsely so called.--

Science and theology

There is no more vital and anxious thought in the religious life of to-day than the supposed conflict between science and religion. In certain quarters it has come to be taken for granted, that reason is necessarily opposed to faith; that nature and her teachings, so far as they can be understood and interpreted, are in conflict with the teachings of revelation; and that scientific men and theologians are therefore arranged in two hostile armies, having nothing in common, and engaged in a struggle which must ultimately end in the destruction of the one or the other. The result is, that scientific men and investigations are denounced as sceptical enemies of religious truth; and the compliment is abundantly returned by insinuations of bigotry and intolerance, as essential characteristics of religious teachers. And, in the popular mind, there is a vague and uncertain dread that the faith is to be overthrown, and the verities to which it clings, and upon which it is founded, are to be evaporated into myths and superstitions, which must take their place amid the exploded falsehoods of a too credulous past. A calmer and more comprehensive view of the contest will, however, justify us in saying, that the fear of the Christian is unfounded, and the sneer of the sceptic undeserved; that the apparent conflict is only an apparent one; and that the antagonism finds its field in the want of harmony, not so much between the verities of science and religion, as between scientific hypotheses and religious opinions; and that between nature and revelation, when properly understood, there must be a substantial harmony, since God is the author of them both. The misunderstanding is not between the things themselves, but between the guesses of men who seek to be their priests and interpreters. For science is simply our knowledge of nature, its facts, and its laws; and religion is simply our knowledge of God, and of our relations to Him. And, as the facts of nature reveal themselves slowly and almost reluctantly in response to patient research and careful study, it is but natural that the investigations and conclusions of one age should differ from those of another; that the latest deductions of science to-day should contradict the theories of a century ago, and that, in turn, they should expect to be contradicted by the theories of a century hence. Meanwhile, what is true remains; and this process of investigation and refutation carried on by scientific men from age to age, is but the method by which the truth concerning nature is separated from the fancies of men; and its result is, not the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the true. And yet the truthfulness of the true does not depend upon its having been discovered and known by men. No line or word on the vast page of the universe is altered by the most careful scrutiny; it is only that these mysterious words are spelled out, and read with fewer errors than other scholars made who had gone before. So, also, in religion there are certain facts which constitute its basis, and which are proposed to our faith, not as theories or opinions, but as facts. And along with these, there are systems of opinion, the deductions of human reason from the Divine premises, but which, as human deductions, are liable to be erroneous and false. And yet these human systems are but the honest efforts of men to understand the accepted facts of revelation, and to apply them to the circumstances and needs of human life. Devout men of science will never be wanting to refute the flippant sneer which, in the name of science, invades a domain beyond its proper grasp; and earnest men of theology will ever be ready to expose and correct the errors of other theological systems. And so, in science and in religion, each has, within its own adherents and disciples, its mutual check and safeguard, by which the truth is preserved, and the fancies of men, when inconsistent with it, are exploded. But the trouble begins when scientific men attempt to teach theology, or theologians assume to teach science. For as there is nothing in the study of science which necessarily makes a man a theologian, the theological views of the scientist may not be worth so much as those of an unlettered but earnest Christian; for that value is determined, not by intellectual acquisition, but by a devout habit of mind and heart. And there is nothing in the study of theology which necessarily acquaints a man with what is known as scientific truth; and therefore the scientific views of a theologian are of small value, since they are not in the line of study or thought to which he naturally devotes himself. And so long as scientists attempt to teach theology, and theologians insist upon refuting what they choose to dignify by the name of science, so long there will be a terrible warfare of words; but it will not touch nor jeopardize for a moment the indestructible harmony between true science and true religion, between a right reason and a devout faith, between the broad page of nature, written by His own finger through the long processes of His own law, and the page of inspiration, written by the human amanuensis of His own Spirit. There is one point, however, in the universe, in which nature and revelation meet; one point in which the visible creation comes in contact with the invisible and supernatural forces which pervade the universe. That solitary point is the incarnation of the Son of God. In it nature and revelation mysteriously meet and harmonize; as by it this human nature of ours--the very crown and glory of the visible creation--is taken into union with God. Here the ultimate mystery of science and religion meet and harmonize and are at one; as by the incarnation the nature of man is allied to the throne of God in a union which can never be divorced, and which waits for its final epiphany for the manifestation of the sons of God. (W. A. Snively, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 6:20-21. To conclude all: O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust — The original expression, την παρακαταθηκην φυλαξον, is, literally, guard the deposite; namely, the purity of gospel doctrine, with the dispensation of which thou art intrusted; avoiding profane and vain babblings — See 1Ti 1:4; 1Ti 4:7; and oppositions of science falsely so called — Such philosophical disquisitions and debates, as both contradict one another, and were contrary to the truth, though reckoned high points of knowledge. Though it is not certain that the name of Gnostics, or the knowing men, was used in the church so early to denominate a distinct sect, yet it is highly probable that they who opposed the apostle made extraordinary pretences to knowledge, and this text seems sufficient to prove it. Indeed, most of the ancient heretics were great pretenders to knowledge. Which knowledge, some teachers professing to have attained, (1Ti 1:6-7,) have erred concerning the faith — Have departed from the true Christian doctrine, some entirely forsaking it, and others corrupting it with gross adulterations. Grace be with thee — To guide, in all things, thy judgment and thy conduct. This epistle being chiefly designed for Timothy’s own use, no salutations were sent to any of the brethren at Ephesus.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Ti_6:20. Keep that which is committed to thy trust.—Lit. “guard the deposit.” As St. Paul was entrusted with “the care of all the Churches,” so is Timothy with this particular one. Avoiding profane and vain babblings.—“Full of sound … signifying nothing.” Science falsely so called.—Knowledge that deserved the name was no object of the apostle’s contempt or indifference, but this pseudonymous gnosis excites his scorn.

1Ti_6:21. Have erred.—The same word as in 1Ti_1:6. There it is translated “swerved.” Grace be with thee.—The most contracted form of the apostolic formula of benediction.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Ti_6:20-21

The Gospel a Sacred Trust—

I. To be preserved and handed on inviolate.—“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust” (1Ti_6:20). The apostle returns again, and for the last time before concluding his epistle, to the subject uppermost in his mind, and reiterates the solemn charge to fidelity. He makes a touching and impressive personal appeal, indicating his affection for Timothy, and his fears of approaching corruptions. “O Timothy, keep the truth; guard it from spiritual thieves, and from the subtle infusion of errors which its enemies are industriously generating. It is not thine but another’s property with which thou hast been entrusted: diminish it not at all.”

II. Not to be degraded by profitless and ignorant controversies.—“Avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1Ti_6:20). The gospel is a Divine revelation, not to be criticised, but believed. To attempt to improve it is to spoil it. It is not the child of reason, but the guide and regulator of reason; it is not contrary to reason, though it is above it. If the gospel rested on human philosophy and a false science, it would be utterly unreliable, and its preaching a tissue of “vain babblings.” The true science is the evolution of Christian faith; all else is counterfeit. The knowledge of the gospel, communicated by the Spirit, is superior to all human science and philosophy. The germ of the Gnostic heresy of the dual principles of good and evil was beginning to sprout, and soon after developed into “oppositions of science falsely so called.”

III. To mix human errors with the gospel is to mistake its spirit and drift.—“Which some professing have erred concerning the faith” (1Ti_6:21). Vincentius Lirinensis, in the first half of the fifth century, thus comments on these verses: That which was entrusted to thee, not found by thee—which thou hast received, not invented; a matter not of genius but of teaching, not of private usurpation but of public tradition; a matter brought to thee, not put forth by thee, in which thou oughtest to be not an enlarger but a guardian, not an originator but a disciple, not leading but following. Keep the deposit; preserve intact and inviolate the talent of the catholic faith. What has been entrusted to thee, let that same remain with thee; let that same be handed down by thee. Gold thou hast received; gold return. I should be sorry thou shouldest substitute ought else. I do not want the mere appearance of gold, but its actual reality. Not that there is to be no progress in religion in Christ’s Church. Let there be so by all means, and the greatest progress; but then let it be real progress, not a change of the faith. Let the intelligence of the whole Church and its individual members increase exceedingly, provided it be only in its own kind, the doctrine being still the same. Let the religion of the soul resemble the growth of the body, which, though it develops its several parts in the progress of years, yet remains the same as it was essentially.”

IV. The grace of God the best preservative from error.—“Grace be with thee. Amen” (1Ti_6:21). The grace of God reveals the truth, communicates the truth, suffuses every power and faculty of the soul which embraces the truth, and is the influence that keeps the truth pure and vitally operative in the Christian life. The grace that bestows the truth can alone keep it. The grace of God makes us what we are, and must make us what we ought to be.

Lessons.—

1. The gospel that saves us can save others.

2. We receive the gospel not only for ourselves, but in trust for others.

3. To depend on human reason for salvation is to be lost.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Ti_6:20-21. Science in its Relation to the Christian Faith.

I. Scientific study may be abused to mischievous results.

II. Has a tendency to bring the mind into collision with a number of religious difficulties.

III. May possibly tempt the mind to regard God as the law of the universe rather than as the one Divine Person from whom all law proceeds.

IV. The tone of mind fostered by such a study is a preservative against religious instability.

V. The true tendency of such a study is to lead men to Christ.

VI. Christ is the answer to questions which science cannot answer.—Harvey Goodwin.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:20-21 This brief but pointed exhortation summarizes and shows the importance of Timothy’s task in Ephesus (cp. 1:18-20; 2 Tim 1:13-14).

6:20 what God has entrusted to you (literally the deposit): The Good News is a deposit entrusted to the church and its leaders for safekeeping (1:15; 2:5-6; 3:16). It encompasses the whole pattern of conduct that follows from it (2 Tim 1:13-14; 3:10-11). It stabilizes and purifies the church when it is buffeted by counterfeits in the polluted environment of difficult times (2 Tim 3:1). The deposit belongs to the “tradition” of the church (see 2 Tim 2:2; 1 Cor 11:23-25; 15:1-8; 2 Thes 2:15; 3:6). It requires creative and faithful interpretation to meet changing circumstances and problems (see 2 Tim 1:12-14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Ti 6:20. Ὦ Τιμόθεε, O Timothy) He calls him familiarly his son, ch. 1Ti 1:18, with gravity and affection. What comes last in 1Ti 6:20-21, corresponds to the beginning of the epistle, and is to be explained from it.—τὴν παραθήκην, what is committed) 1Ti 1:18. So the commandment, 1Ti 6:14; 2Ti 1:14, note. The opposite in this passage is vain babblings, emptiness of words.—τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας, profane and vain babblings) LXX., τοὺς κενολογιῦντας for המצפצפים, Isa 8:19. Barbarous words were formerly used by the Magi, which are said to have a secret power, though they have in reality none, and are altogether vain. Paul seems to have had respect to this circumstance, as he has substituted the more significant term; for φωνὴ, a voice, an utterance, expresses vehemence; comp. 2Ti 2:15-16, note, [where τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας is opposed to κενοφωνίας; the φωνὴ, implying vehemence of voice, being opposed to temperate speech or word, λόγος]. Moreover, the word γνῶσις agrees with the Hebrew ידעוני, a wizard, in the passage quoted above, which the Greeks, in the books of Samuel and Kings at least, have interpreted γνώστην [as we use the term, “a wise man,” of a dealer in magic, a wizard]. And in this way, Paul calls the false teachers by the terms signifying magi and magic, to show how much he held them in abomination: comp. γόητες, 2Ti 3:13. Clemens Al., l. 2, Strom. f. 280, puts under these words of Paul the following: ὑπὸ ταύτης ἐλεγχόμενοι τῆς φωνῆς οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων, τὰς πρὸς Τιμόθεον ἀθετοῦσιν ἐπιστολάς, “the heretics being reproved by this word (voice), reject the Epistles to Timothy.”—καὶ ἀντιθέσεις, and oppositions) A false γνῶσις, knowledge, curiously set forth (puffed off) various oppositions taken from philosophy, pretending that there are two Gods opposed to each other as rivals (ἀντιτέχνους), the one good and the other bad; and in both, that there are wonderful ἀντιστοιχίας, corresponding oppositions. Paul notices these oppositions, and at the same time severely ridicules them by a play on the words; because their teachers oppose themselves to the truth, and their θέσεις, positions [taken out of ἀντιθέσεις, oppositions], are contrary to the ‘foundation’ already laid. See the conjugates, ἀντιδιατιθεμένους and θεμέλιος, 2Ti 2:25; 2Ti 2:19. On the other hand, Paul himself, in his epistles, especially to Timothy, handles most wise oppositions or ἀντιθέσεις: for example, 1Ti 1:7-8; 1Ti 3:16; 1Ti 4:1; 1Ti 4:6-7; 1Ti 6:2-3; 1Ti 6:5-6; 1Ti 6:10-11, where we have expressly, But thou [marking an antithesis]. Moreo1Tim 1 Timothy 6 :2Ti 2:15-23, in which again the phrase, But thou, is frequent; ch. 1Ti 3:10; 1Ti 3:14, 1Ti 4:5.—ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, of science falsely so called) which in 1Ti 6:21 is to be referred to science, by separating it from its epithet. The Gnostics, who are here denoted by a Metonymy of the abstract for the concrete, boasted of and applied the name science to their teaching; but Paul says that it was so named falsely; they are without understanding, ch. 1Ti 1:7.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti_6:20-21. Final exhortation and benediction to Timothy. The apostle begins fervently and impressively with: ὦ Τιμόθεε (Matthies).

τὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον] comp. 2Ti_1:12; 2Ti_1:14; παραθήκη is a possession entrusted; Paul does not say what kind of possession. Even in these parallel passages a more precise definition is not given, except that at 1Ti_6:12 he denotes by μου that it is entrusted to him, and in 1Ti_6:14 adds the adjective καλήν. In any case there is meant by it here a gift entrusted to Timothy by God, which gift he is to preserve (φύλαξον) from every hurt. As the apostle puts its preservation (φυλάσσειν) in close connection with the ἐκτρέπεσθαι of the heretics, we may understand by it either Timothys διακονία (de Wette, Otto), or the gospel, sound doctrine (Wiesinger, van Oosterzee, Hofmann).

As the chief purpose of the epistle is to instruct Timothy regarding his conduct in the ministry committed to him, it seems right to understand by παραθήκη a possession entrusted, not to all Christians, but to Timothy in particular. Thusin spite of the absence of σουthe first view deserves the preference, all the more that in the other passages quoted this meaning of the word is the most suitable. The next word, ἐκτρεπόμενος, shows that Timothy would injure his office by entering upon the βέβηλοι κενοφωνίαι. Plitt arbitrarily takes παραθήκη as equivalent to eternal life.

ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας] ἐκτρέπεσθαι, properly: turn away from anything; then with the accusative (as in 2Ti_3:5 : ἀποτρέπεσθαι): avoid, synonymous with παραιτεῖσθαι.

κενοφωνία] synonymous with ματαιολογία, 1Ti_1:6; comp. 2Ti_2:16 : empty talk without anything in it.

This talk is still more precisely defined by the next words: καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως] It is to be observed that ἀντιθέσεις is closely connected with the previous κενοφωνίας, the article τάς belonging to both words and the genitive τῆς ψευδ. γνώσεως referring to both alike. Hence ἀντιθέσεις must here express some thought corresponding with κενοφωνίας. It is not therefore advisable to understand by it in general terms the statutes of the heretics against the gospel (Matthies, Wiesinger), or the controversial theses of the heretics directed against the gospel (so before in this commentary[210]); it is much more correct to understand it of the theses which the heretics sought to maintain against one another (Hofmann). Thus understood, the word corresponds to λογομαχίαι in 1Ti_6:4. It is possible that these had the character of dialectic proofs (Conybeare and Howson, quoted in van Oosterzee), but the word itself does not show this. Baurs assertion is purely arbitrary, that the contrariae oppositiones are here meant which Marcion exerted himself to establish between the law and the gospel.

τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως] The expression is easily explained by the fact that the heretics boasted of possessing a knowledge, a φιλοσοφία (Col_2:8), in which there was a more perfect science of divine things than that presented by the gospel.

Paul was also acquainted with a γνῶσις, which, however, was rooted in faith, and was effected by the πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ. But the γνῶσις of the heretics did not deserve this name, and hence Paul called it ψευδώνυμος (occurring only here in the N. T.); on which Chrysostom aptly remarks: ὅταν γὰρ πίστις μὴ εἶ, γνῶσις οὐκ ἔστιν. Baur, without just ground, seeks to draw from the use of this word a proof for his hypothesis that the epistle was composed at the date of the heresy of Marcion.1Ti_6:21. ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλόμενοι] ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι stands here in the same sense as in 1Ti_2:10; Luther inexactly: which some allege.

τερὶ τὴν πίστιν ἠστόχησαν] The same construction in 2Ti_2:18; with the genitive, 1Ti_1:6. The ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι τὴν ψευδ. γν. includes (comp. 1Ti_1:6) the ἀστοχεῖν περὶ τ. πίστιν, erring in regard to the faith. This Wiesinger wrongly denies, with the remark that the apostle did not consider the mere occupation with such things to be apostasy, but only a possible occasion for apostasy.[211] Ἐπαγγ. manifestly denotes more than merely being occupied with a thing. By τινες here, as in 1Ti_1:3; 1Ti_1:6 (1Ti_6:3), we must understand the heretics.

[210] Against these explanations there is also the relative clause ἣν κ.τ.λ. attached to γνώσεως, since, of course, the followers of a γνῶσις containing anti-evangelic doctrines had departed from the faith.

[211] Hofmann, coinciding with Wiesingers view, says: The occupation with that which claimed, but did not deserve, the name of science, brought them unawares on the wrong track; but the unawares is purely imported into the verse.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 6:20 . As Ell. points out, this concluding apostrophe, like the last paragraph in 2 Cor. (2Co 13:11 sqq ,), is a summary of the whole epistle.

On the intensity of the appeal in the use of the personal name see on 1Ti 1:18 .

τὴν παραθήκην : depositum . The term occurs in a similar connexion with φυλάσσω , 2Ti 1:14 , and also in 2Ti 1:12 , where see note. Here, and in 2Ti 1:14 . it means, as Chrys. explains, ἡ πίστις , τὸ κήρυγμα ; so Vincent of Lerins, from whose Commonitorium (c. 22) Alf. quotes. “Quid est depositum ? id est. quod tibi creditum est, non quod a te inventum; quod accepisti, non quod excogitasti; rem non ingenii, sed doctrinae; non usurpationis privatae, sed publicae traditionis … catholicae fidei talentum inviolatum illibatumque conserva.… Aurum accepisti, aurum redde: nolo mihi pro aliis alia subjicias: nolo pro auro aut impudenter plumbum, aut fraudulenter aeramenta supponas.” That the “deposit” is practically identical with the “charge,” ch. 1Ti 1:5 ; 1Ti 1:18 , “the sound doctrine,” 1Ti 1:10 , “the commandment,” 1Ti 6:14 , is indicated by the use of the cognate verb παρατίθεμαι in 1Ti 1:18 , 2Ti 2:2 , and the correlative παρέλαβες , Col 4:17 , and even more by the contrast here between it and “the knowledge falsely so called”.

ἐκτρεπόμενος : turning away from, devitans .

τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας : In 2Ti 2:16 the Vulg. has vaniloquia . The rendering vocum novitates found here in Vulg. and O.L. represents the variant καινοφωνίας . The term does not differ much from ματαιολογία , 1Ti 1:6 , which is also rendered vaniloquium .

ἀντιθέσεις : In face of the general anarthrous character of the Greek of these epistles it is not certain that the absence of an article before ἀντιθ . proves that it is qualified by βεβήλους . The meaning of ἀντιθ . is partly fixed by κενοφωνίας , to which it is in some sort an explanatory appendix; but it must finally depend upon the signification we attach to τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως . The epithet ψευδων . is sufficient to prove that γνῶσις was specially claimed by the heretics whom St. Paul has in his mind. That it should be so is in harmony with the other notices which we find in these epistles suggestive of a puerile and profitless intellectual subtlety, as opposed to the practical moral character of Christianity. We are reminded of the contrast in 1Co 8:1 , “Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up”. Hort ( Judaistic Christianity , p. 139 sqq .) proves that γνῶσις here and elsewhere in N.T. (Luk 11:52 ; Rom 2:20 sq .) refers to the special lore of those who interpreted mystically the O.T., especially the Law. Knowledge which is merely theoretical, the knowledge of God professed by those who “by their works deny Him” (Tit 1:16 ), is not real knowledge. The ἀντιθέσεις then of this spurious knowledge would be the dialectical distinctions and niceties of the false teachers. Perhaps inconsistencies is what is meant. For an example of ἀντίθετος in this sense, see Moulton and Milligan, Expositor , vii., 6:275. Something more definite than ( a ) oppositions, i.e., objections of opponents (so Chrys. Theoph. and von Soden, who compares ἀντιδιατιθεμένους , 2Ti 2:25 ) is implied; but certainly not ( b ) the formal categorical oppositions between the Law and the Gospel alleged by Marcion.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He rehearseth the chiefest of all the former exhortations, which ought to be deeply imprinted in the minds of all ministers of the word, to wit, that they eschew all vain babblings of sophistry and continue in the simplicity of sincere doctrine.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 20. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust] This is another repetition of the apostolic charge. (See 1Ti 1:5; 1Ti 1:18-19; 1Ti 4:6-7; 1Ti 4:14-16; 1Ti 5:21; 1Ti 6:13.) Carefully preserve that doctrine which I have delivered to thee. Nothing can be more solemn and affectionate than this charge.

Avoiding profane and vain babblings] See note on 1Ti 1:4, and "1Ti 4:7".

And oppositions of science falsely so called] Και αντιθεσεις της ψευδωνυμου γνωσεως· And oppositions of knowledge falsely so named. Dr. Macknight's note here is worthy of much attention: "In the enumeration of the different kinds of inspiration bestowed on the first preachers of the Gospel, 1Co 12:8, we find the word of knowledge mentioned; by which is meant that kind of inspiration which gave to the apostles and superior Christian prophets the knowledge of the true meaning of the Jewish Scriptures. This inspiration the false teachers pretending to possess, dignified their misinterpretations of the ancient Scriptures with the name of knowledge, that is, inspired knowledge; for so the word signifies, 1Co 14:6. And as by these interpretations they endeavoured to establish the efficacy of the Levitical atonements, the apostle very properly termed these interpretations oppositions of knowledge, because they were framed to establish doctrines opposite to, and subversive of, the Gospel. To destroy the credit of these teachers, he affirmed that the knowledge from which they proceeded was falsely called inspired knowledge; for they were not inspired with the knowledge of the meaning of the Scriptures, but only pretended to it." Others think that the apostle has the Gnostics in view. But it is not clear that these heretics, or whatever they were, had any proper existence at this time. On the whole, Dr. Macknight's interpretation seems to be the best.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20 O Timothy, guard that which is committed, to thee Though interpreters differ in expounding παραθήκην, a thing committed, yet, for my part, I think that it denotes that grace which had been communicated to Timothy for the discharge of his office. It is called “a thing committed,” for the same reason that it is called (Matthew 25:15,) “a talent;” for all the gifts which God bestows on us are committed to us on this condition, that we shall one day give an account of them, if the advantage which they ought to have yielded be not lost through our negligence. The Apostle therefore exhorts him to keep diligently what had been given to him, or rather, what had been committed to him in trust; that he may not suffer it to be corrupted or adulterated, or may not deprive or rob himself of it through his own fault. It frequently happens that our ingratitude or abuse of the gifts of God causes them to be taken from us; and therefore Paul exhorts Timothy to endeavor to preserve, by a good conscience and by proper use, that which had been “committed” to him.

Avoiding profane vanities of noises The object of the admonition is, that he may be diligent in imparting solid instruction; and this cannot be, unless he detest ostentation; for, where an ambitious desire to please prevails, there is no longer any strong desire of edification. For this reason, when he spoke of “guarding the thing committed,” he very appropriately added this caution about avoiding profane talkativeness. As to the rendering which the Vulgate gives to κενοφωςίας, “vanities of voices,” I do not so much object to it, except on the ground of an ambiguity which has led to a wrong exposition; for “Voces“ is commonly supposed to have the same meaning here as “Vocabula,” “Words,” such as Fate or Fortune.

But, for my part, I think that he describes the high-sounding and verbose and bombastic style of those who, not content with the simplicity of the gospel, turn it into profane philosophy.

The κενοφωβίαι consist, not in single words, but in that swelling language which is so constantly and so disgustingly poured out by ambitious men, who aim at applause rather than the profit of the Church. And most accurately has Paul described it; for, while there is a strange sound of something lofty, there is nothing underneath but “empty” jingle, which he likewise calls “profane;” for the power of the Spirit is extinguished as soon as the Doctors blow their flutes in this manner, to display their eloquence.

In the face of a prohibition so clear and distinct, which the Holy Spirit has given, this plague has nevertheless broken out; and, indeed, it showed itself at the very beginning, but, at length, has grown to such a height in Popery, that the counterfeit mark of theology which prevails there — is a lively mirror of that “profane” and “empty noise” of which Paul speaks. I say nothing about the innumerable errors and follies and blasphemies with which their books and their noisy disputes abound. But even although they taught nothing that was contrary to godliness, yet, because their whole doctrine contains nothing else than big words and bombast, because it is inconsistent with the majesty of Scripture, the efficacy of the Spirit, the gravity of the prophets, and the sincerity of the apostles, it is, on that account, an absolute profanation of real theology.

What, I ask, do they teach about faith, or repentance, or calling on God; about the weakness of men, or the assistance of the Holy Spirit, or the forgiveness of sins by free grace, or about the office of Christ, that can be of any avail for the solid edification of godliness? But on this subject we shall have occasion to speak again in expounding the Second Epistle. Undoubtedly, any person who possesses a moderate share of understanding and of candor; will acknowledge that all the high-sounding terms of Popish Theology, and all the authoritative decisions that make so much noise in their schools, are nothing else than “profane κενοφωνίαι,” (empty words,) and that it is impossible to find more accurate terms for describing them than those which the Apostle has employed. And certainly it is a most righteous punishment of human arrogance, that they who swerve from the purity of Scripture become profane. The doctors of the Church, therefore, cannot be too earnestly attentive to guard against such corruptions, and to defend the youth from them.

The old translation, adopting the reading of καινοφωνίας instead of κενοφωνίας, rendered it novelties of words; and it is evident from the commentaries of the ancients, that this rendering, which is even now found in some Greek copies, was at one time extensively approved; but the former, which I have followed, is far better.

And contradictions of science falsely so called This also is highly exact and elegant; for so swollen are the subtleties on which men desirous of glory plume themselves, that they overwhelm the real doctrine of the gospel, which is simple and unpretending. That pomp, therefore, which courts display, and which is received with applause by the world, is called by the Apostle “contradictions.” Ambition, indeed, is always contentious, and is the mother of disputes; and hence it arises that they who are desirous to display themselves are always ready to enter into the arena of debate on any subject. But Paul had this principally in view, that the empty doctrine of the sophists, rising aloft into airy speculations and subtleties, not only obscures by its pretensions the simplicity of true doctrine, but also oppresses and renders it contemptible, as the world is usually carried away by outward show.

Paul does not mean that Timothy should be moved by emulation to attempt something of the same kind, but, because those things which have an appearance of subtlety, or are adapted to ostentation, are more agreeable to human curiosity, Paul, on the contrary, pronounces that “science” which exalts itself above the plain and humble doctrine of godliness — to be falsely called and thought a science. This ought to be carefully observed, that we may learn boldly to laugh at and despise all that hypocritical wisdom which strikes the world with admiration and amazement, although there is no edification in it; for, according to Paul, no science is truly and justly so called but that which instruct us in the confidence and fear of God; that is, in godliness.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.—More literally and better rendered, O Timothy, keep the trust committed to thee. It is a beautiful thought which sees in these few earnest closing words the very handwriting of the worn and aged Apostle St. Paul. The Epistle, no doubt dictated by the old man, was in the handwriting of some friend of St. Paul and the Church, who acted as his scribe; but, as seems to have been sometimes his habit (see especially the closing words of the Galatian Letter), the last pleading reminder was added by the hand of the Apostle himself. “O Timothy”—he writes now no longer addressing church or pastor, but his own favourite friend and pupil, the loved heir of his God-inspired traditions and maxims, which so faithfully represented the doctrine and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth—“O Timothy, keep the sacred trust committed to thy charge.”

This “sacred trust,” so solemnly committed as the parting charge to Timothy, was “the doctrine delivered by St. Paul to him to preach,” the central point of which, we know from the Apostle’s other writings, was the teaching respecting the atonement and the precious blood of Christ. There is a beautiful, though somewhat lengthened, paraphrase of the “Trust” in the Commonitorium of Vincentius Lirinensis, composed about A.D. 430. “What is meant,” he asks, “by ‘keep the trust?’ The disciple of St. Paul must keep the sound doctrine of his master safe from robbers and foes. . . . What is meant by ‘the trust?’ Something intrusted to you to keep—not a possession you have discovered for yourself; something you have received from another—not what you have thought out for yourself . . . of this ‘trust,’ remember, you are nothing but the guardian. . . . What, then, is the meaning of ‘keep the trust?’ It is surely nothing else than ‘guard the treasure of the Catholic faith.’ . . . Gold have you received; see that you hand gold on to others.”

“Is there, then,” asks this same wise writer “to be no progress, no development in religious teaching? Yes,” he answers; “there should be a real progress, a marked development, but it must partake of the nature of a progress, not of a change. . . . Let religion in the soul follow the example of the growth of the various members which compose the body, and which, as years roll on, become ever stronger and more perfect, but which, notwithstanding their growth and developed beauty, always remain the same.”

Avoiding profane and vain babblings.—The Apostle has before in this Epistle warned Timothy against these useless, profitless discussions. Anything like theological controversy and discussion seems to. have been distasteful to St. Paul, as tending to augment dissension and hatred, and to exalt into an undue prominence mere words and phrases.

Oppositions of science falsely so called.—Rather, of knowledge falsely so called. These “oppositions” have been supposed by some to be a special allusion to some of the Gnostic theories of the opposition between the Law and the Gospel, of which peculiar school, later, Marcion was the great teacher. It is hardly likely that any definite Gnostic teaching had as yet been heard in Ephesus, but there is little doubt that the seeds of much of the Gnosticism of the next century were—when St. Paul wrote to Timothy—being then sown in some of the Jewish schools of Ephesus and the neighbouring cities. (Comp. the allusions to these Jewish and cabalistic schools in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossian Church.) The “oppositions” here may be understood as referring generally to the theories of the false teachers, who were undermining the doctrine of St. Paul as taught by Timothy.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20, 21. A last Appeal. The keeping of the Deposit

20. See the summary above at 1Ti_6:3. This brief résumé, at the close, of the main anxiety of the whole Epistle is like the corresponding résumé, 1Ti_6:16, of the rule for widows, and v. 24 of the visitation of presbyters.

O Timothy] Previously, and in 2 Tim., when the address is less intense and solemn, ‘my child,’ ‘my child Timothy.’

keep] The stronger word guard. Compare 1Jn_5:21, ‘Little children, guard yourselves from idols.’

that which is committed to thy trust] The mss. favour the simpler noun, compounded with only one preposition, here and in the only other places where the word occurs in N. T., 2Ti_1:12; 2Ti_1:14, the latter place being exactly parallel. What is this ‘deposit?’ it has been thought to be (1) grace for his own spiritual life, ‘the commandment’ above 1Ti_6:14, (2) grace for the office of superintending the Church at Ephesus, ‘the charge’ above 1Ti_6:17 and elsewhere; and these are the two subjects pressed most closely upon Timothy, next to the great, the recurring and now all absorbing anxiety, that he may have (3) grace to maintain sound doctrine; the ‘charge’ of 1Ti_1:3; 1Ti_1:18, 1Ti_4:6; 1Ti_4:16, 1Ti_6:3; 2Ti_1:13-14; 2Ti_2:2; 2Ti_2:16. The words which follow are alone sufficient to make (3) the certain reference. In effect, to use the words quoted from St Vincent of the island-school of Lerins (the author of the famous canon of Christian doctrine ‘quod semper quod ubique quod ab omnibus’), St Paul says to Timothy ‘Depositum custodi: catholicae fidei talentum inviolatum illibatumque conserva.’

avoiding profane and vain babblings] Lit. turning away from the profane babblings; the article with ‘babblings’ and not with ‘oppositions ‘shews that both go together, with ‘knowledge.’ ‘Babblings is another of the ‘Pastoral’ compounds recurring in 2Ti_2:16. The word is literally ‘empty voicings,’ vox et praeterea nihil, windbag; speculations and errors which are the complete opposite of the solid Church truth on its firm foundation and rock, ‘Thou art the Christ.’ For the accus. after this verb, cf. Winer, § 38, 2, 6.

oppositions of science falsely so called] Rather, as R.V. the knowledge which is falsely so called. ‘The knowledge falsely so called’ is in the Greek the well-known Gnosis, only used here in N. T. with direct reference to the heretical teaching, though the allusions, both with substantive and verb, imply that assumptions of superior knowledge were among the claims of the new theology. The ‘oppositions’ meant are probably the dualistic oppositions between the good and evil principle, see introduction, pp. 45, 46; though some explain them as the dialectical niceties and subtle rhetorical antitheses of the teachers. See Dr Hort’s interpretation, Appendix B. This peculiar ‘Pastoral’ word goes to make the Apostle’s biting ‘aculeus in fine.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep that which is committed to thy trust,.... That is, the Gospel, see Ti1 1:11 which is a rich treasure put into earthen vessels, and ought to be kept pure and uncorrupt, and faithfully dispensed, and diligently preserved, that so it may be continued genuine and sincere, and not be either adulterated and depraved, or be taken away by false teachers. And it may also include his gifts for the ministration of it, which were to be kept in use, and stirred up, and not neglected, but cultivated and improved to the advantage of the church, and of the interest of Christ:

avoiding profane and vain babblings; about the law, and circumcision, and other things, which the false teachers insisted much on, and amused their hearers with; and which were vain, empty, useless, and unprofitable talk. Some copies, and so the Vulgate Latin version, read, "profane newnesses of words"; or new words, which ought not to be introduced, for they often bring in new doctrines: the form of sound words, the wholesome words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, should be held fast; and especially all new words should be avoided, which are contrary to them, or in the least weaken them, or detract from them.

And oppositions of science falsely so called; the false teachers boasted of their science and knowledge, but it was not true, solid, spiritual, and saving; it was not an experimental knowledge of the Gospel; it was not the excellent knowledge of Christ, which has eternal life connected with it; it was merely notional and speculative; it was idle, empty, and useless, mere Pagan philosophy, and vain deceit, upon which they formed antitheses, or oppositions and objections to the truths of the Gospel; and even opposed themselves, and the word of God, as well as the faithful ministers of it.

(Knowledge is not determined by a "show of hands". Even though the majority of people believe something, that does not make it true. The majority today do not believe in Noah's flood, Pe2 3:4. It was so in Noah's day also, but the unbelievers all drowned! Many fervently believe in evolution and try to compromise the scriptures with it. This verse stands as a stark warning to those who do not try everything through God's Word. Isa 8:20 Editor.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

Ver. 20. That which is, &c.] viz. The treasure of true doctrine, esteeming every particle of it precious, as the filings of gold.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep that which is committed to thy trust - All that is entrusted to you, and to which reference has been particularly made in this Epistle. The honor of the gospel, and the interests of religion, had been specially committed to him; and he was sacredly to guard this holy trust, and not suffer it to be wrested from him.

Avoiding profane and vain babblings - Greek, “Profane, empty words.” The reference is to such controversies and doctrines as tended only to produce strife, and were not adapted to promote the edification of the church; see the notes on 1Ti 1:4; 1Ti 4:7.

And oppositions of science falsely so called - Religion has nothing to fear from true science, and the minister of the gospel is not exhorted to dread that. Real science, in all its advances, contributes to the support of religion; and just in proportion as that is promoted will it be found to sustain the Bible, and to confirm the claims of religion to the faith of mankind. See this illustrated at length in Wiseman’s Lectures on the connection between science and religion. It is only false or pretended science that religion has to dread, and which the friend of Christianity is to avoid. The meaning here is, that Timothy was to avoid everything which falsely laid claim to being “knowledge” or “science.” There was much of this in the world at the time the apostle wrote; and this, more perhaps than anything else, has tended to corrupt true religion since.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

O Timothy, keep that which is committed [11] to thy trust. He does not mean his charge of bishop, nor the graces of God, but the true and sound doctrine delivered to him either by writing or word of mouth, according to the common interpretation. See St. John Chrysostom, Vincentius Lirinensis, Commonitorii, chap. xvii. This is confirmed by the following words, avoiding the profane novelties [12] of words: (in the Greek empty, vain, babbling). The apostle here condemns new words, which change the doctrine; but sometimes to express the ancient doctrine, new words may be found necessary, as those of trinity, incarnation, consubstantiality, transubstantiation, &c. as St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, and others observed. See 2 Timothy i. 14. --- Oppositions of knowledge falsely so [13] called. St. John Chrysostom understands in particular the errors of the Gnostics, so called from the same Greek word, who were successors of Simon Magus. But they perhaps not having the name when St. Paul wrote, we may rather understand heretics in general, who all pretend to an uncommon knowledge in Scripture, when they follow their own private judgment, and so fall from the faith. (Witham) --- Keep the deposit, viz. of faith, which has been committed to thee. Throughout this whole epistle the apostle beseeches Timothy, in the most earnest manner, as a guardian of the faith, to preserve it without change. He every where condemns sects, heresies, and changes in faith. It would be well for the modern religionists, to inform us and themselves, why St. Paul is so particular in insisting upon union of faith, under pain of damnation, if it was the intention of Christ that men should differ on questions of religion. Let them tell us what St. Paul means, or else say plainly that they differ from the apostle’s religion, and have formed their upon a more liberal scale. (Haydock)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Depositum custodi, Greek: ten parakatatheken phulaxon. See St. John Chrysostom on these words.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Profanas vocum novitates; though all the Greek copies have now Greek: kenophonias, vocum inanitates: the Latin interpreter must have read, Greek: kainophonias.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Falsi nominis scientiæ, Greek: pseudonuma gnoseos. St. John Chrysostom, (Greek: log. ie.) Greek: tines eautous ekaloun tote Gnostikous.

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust; either the doctrine of the gospel, which ministers ought to keep pure, and without mixture, or the ministerial office; be true and faithful in the discharge of it, preaching Christ and the doctrine of Christ.

Avoiding profane and vain babblings; avoid all impertinent discoursings under the notion of preaching, which in thy discharge of that work are the best of them but profane babblings.

And oppositions of science falsely so called; avoid also all idle speculations, and disputations, no way serving to the end of preaching, and falsely called science.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. O Timothy—The final, most personal, most earnest address of all.

That which is committed to thy trust—In Greek, a single word, the deposit, the intrusted thing. The duties in this epistle commended to him; his care of his own salvation and that of his hearers; his rebuke of errorists and firm maintenance of Christ’s gospel, through the apostle intrusted to him.

Vain babblings—Rather, the profane empty-talkings. See note on 1Ti_1:6.

Oppositions of science—A remarkable phrase. Literally, antitheses of gnosis. And gnosis (identical with the English word knowledge) is the word from which subsequently the Gnostics derived their proud title. Note, Act_11:19. The word gnosis was for a while in good repute in the Church, (used Luk_1:77; Rom_2:20; Rom_11:13; and elsewhere,) embracing the settled truths of the gospel. But as used by the Corinthians, 1Co_8:1, (where see notes,) it is apparently treated sarcastically by St. Paul, as it is here reprehendingly. As the Corinthian gnosis was a little pretentious, so this gnosis, being further advanced, is absolutely fictitious, being falsely so called. It had already begun to indicate that arrogance, based upon purely imaginary superiority, by which the Gnostics of the next century were distinguished. Note on 2Th_2:7. What the oppositions, antitheses, were, is not clear. They may have been the points opposed to the gospel. More probably they were counter propositions, balances of phrases, within the gnosis itself. One is reminded of the antinomies in the Kant philosophy; consisting of a series of coupled prepositions seen by the mind to contradict each other, yet both sides of the contradiction seeming, and claimed by the philosophy, to be true.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Guard for keep, A.V; unto thee for to thy trust, A.V; turning away from for avoiding, A.V; the profane for profane and vain, A.V; the knowledge which is falsely for science, falsely, A.V Guard that which is committed unto thee; thkhn (parakataqhkhn, T.R.). Guard for keep is hardly an improvement. The meaning of "keep," like that of fulattw, is to guard, keep watch over, and, by so doing, to preserve safe and uninjured. This meaning is well brought out in the familiar words of Psalm 121., "He that keepeth thee will not slumber.... He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord himself is thy Keeper". (so Psa_127:1; Gen_28:15, etc.) Paraqhkh or parakataqhkh, occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2Ti_1:12, 2Ti_1:14, where the apostle uses it (in ver. 12) of his own soul, which he has committed to the safe and faithful keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ; but in ver. 14 in the same sense as here. "That good thing which was committed unto thee guard "keep," A.V." There does not seem to be any difference between paraqhkh and parakataqhkh, which both mean "a deposit," and are used indifferently in classical Greek, though the latter is the more common. The precept to Timothy here is to keep diligent and watchful guard over the faith committed to his trust; to preserve it unaltered and uncorrupt, so as to hand it down to his successors exactly the same as he had received it. Oh that the successors of the apostles had always kept this precept (see Ordination of Priests)! Turning away from (ejktrepomenov); only here in the middle voice, "turning from," "avoiding," with a transitive sense. In the passive voice it means "to turn out of the path," as in 1Ti_1:6 1Ti_5:15; 2Ti_4:4. The profane babblings (see 1Ti_4:7; 2Ti_2:16) kenofwnia; only here and 2Ti_2:16, "the utterance of empty words," "words of the lips". (2Ki_18:20) Oppositions (ajntiqeseiv); here only in the New Testament. It is a term used in logic and in rhetoric by Plato, Aristotle, etc., for "oppositions" and "antitheses," laying one doctrine by the side of another for comparison, or contrast, or refutation. It seems to allude to the particular method used by the heretics to establish their tenets, in opposition to the statements of the Church on particular points such as the Law, the Resurrection, etc. The knowledge which is falsely so called. There is a very similar intimation of the growth of an empty philosophy, whose teaching was antagonistic to the teaching of Christ insiv Col_2:8, and with which St. Paul contrasts the true gnw in ver. 3. This was clearly the germ (called by Bishop Lightfoot "Gnostic Judaism") of what was later more fully developed as the Gnostic heresy, which, of course, derived its name from gnwsiv, knowledge or science, to which they laid claim. (see Bishop Light-loot"s able "Introduction to the Epistle to Colossians," specially p. 100; and his notes on. 1Ti_2:8, sqq .)

Vers. 20, 21.

Concluding exhortation and benediction.

The parting counsel of the apostle goes back upon the substance of all his past counsels. It includes a positive and a negative counsel.

I A POSITIVE COUNSEL. "O Timothy, keep the deposit" entrusted to thee. This refers to the doctrine of the gospel. It is "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jud_1:3).

1. The doctrine of the gospel is thus not something discovered by man, but delivered to man.

2. It is placed in the hands of Timothy as a trustee, to be kept for the use of others. It is a treasure in earthen vessels, to be jealously guarded against robbers and foes.

3. If it is kept, it will in turn keep us.

II A NEGATIVE COUNSEL. "Avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called: which some professing erred concerning the faith.

1. The duty of turning away from empty discourses and the ideas of a false knowledge.

(1) Such things were utterly profitless as to spiritual result.

(2) They were antagonistic to the doctrine of godliness; for they represented theories of knowledge put forth by false teachers, which ripened in due time into the bitter Gnosticism of later times. It was a knowledge that falsely arrogated to itself that name, for it was based on ignorance or denial of God"s truth.

2. The danger of such teachings.

(1) Some members of the Church were led to profess such doctrines, perhaps because they wore a seductive aspect of asceticism, or pretended to show a shorter cut to heaven.

(2) But they lost their way and "erred concerning the faith." This false teaching undermined the true faith of the gospel.

(3) As the tense implies an event that occurred in the past, these persons were not now in the communion of the Ephesian Church. T.C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep that which is committed to thy trust - The charge I have given thee, chap. i, 18. Avoid profane empty babblings - How weary of controversy was this acute disputant! And knowledge falsely so called - Most of the ancient heretics were great pretenders to knowledge.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Vers. 20-22. The conclusion, containing another very earnest charge to fidelity: O Timothy, keep the deposit (τὴν παραθήκην, used again in 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 1:14, and each time with the same verb). What deposit? Neither here nor in the other two passages in which the word is employed, first with reference to Paul, and then with reference to Timothy, is any further description given of it: the apostle himself commits to Christ’s keeping what he calls a deposit; and Timothy had committed to him a deposit to keep, which is simply characterized as good. So far, however, the connection here throws some light upon the subject; for the deposit is plainly represented as what, if faithfully kept, would preserve Timothy from the false teachings of the Gnostic school, which were already beginning to make themselves heard: turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of knowledge (the gnosis) falsely so called, which some professing, erred concerning the faith. So that remaining stedfast in the one, he should avoid the dangers of the other. And what could possibly avail for such a purpose, but the sound faith or doctrine of the gospel? This is what the apostle himself, in various passages, sets against the false tendency in question, as the only true antidote; for example, at chap. 1Ti 1:3, 1Ti 1:11, 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 4:6, 1Ti 6:3, etc. So Chrysostom, who identifies the deposit with faith, on the ground that “where faith is not, there is no knowledge; when anything is produced of one’s own thoughts, it is not knowledge:” in other words, the errors to be guarded against are the teachings of man; the safeguard against them is what is received by faith from the teaching of God. Tertullian also not only explains it in the same way, but argues against the abuse made of the passage by the Gnostic teachers, to support their assertion that the apostles taught certain things secretly and to a few, which they withheld from others. “What (says he) is this deposit, so secret, that it may be reckoned another sort of doctrine?” And referring to the charge given in 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 6:13, of this epistle, as probably pointing to the same thing, he proceeds: “From what is written in the preceding and subsequent context, it will be perceived that there is no allusion in the form of expression to any secret doctrine, but rather that he is warned against admitting any other doctrine than that which he had heard from himself (viz. Paul), and that openly—Before many witnesses, says he (2Ti 2:2). If by those many witnesses they are unwilling to understand the church, it is of no moment; since nothing could be secret which was set forth in the presence of many witnesses “(de Prcescrip. Haeret. c. 25). The modern advocates, therefore, of a secret traditional doctrine handed down from Patristic testimony, follow not the Fathers, but the Gnostics, in their use of this passage; and in the interpretation they put on it, they always assume two things which are absolutely incapable of proof,—first, that Timothy’s deposit embraced something of importance not in Scripture; and second, that Patristic tradition is an infallible informant as to what that deposit was (see Goode’s Rule of Faith, ii. p. 78). Even Vincentius Lirinensis, in a long passage regarding the deposit in his Commonitorium, expressly designates it, like Tertullian, as no more of private teaching, than of private invention: “Quid est depositum? . . . rem, non ingenii sed doctrinae, non usurpationis privatae sed publicae traditionis;”—nothing else, in short, than the great facts and principles which constituted the burden of apostolic teaching.

The profane babblings and oppositions of the falsely-named knowledge have already been referred to, both in the Introduction to the epistles and at 1Ti 1:6, 1Ti 1:19-20. What is meant is that peculiar kind of religious speculation which originated in the East, but gradually spread westward to Asia Minor, Greece, and Egypt, and which bears the general name of Gnosticism, because of the predominant account it made of gnosis, or knowledge. It was this, however, still only in an incipient form, not as ultimately developed into the regularly constructed systems, which appeared one after another in the second and third centuries, and which, though courting alliance with Christianity, were always denounced as essentially antichristian by the Fathers. It was this in spirit and character, even in its earlier and more sporadic existence, in which it assumed a variety of phases and manifestations; so that it cannot be either very particularly characterized or identified with any single locality and individual, but was the native fruit of the spirit of the age, animated and influenced by the circumstances of the time (see Reuss, Theol. Chretienne, vol. ii. p. 641). But being in its very nature of a presumptuous and pragmatical tendency, whenever yielded to, it was sure to lead men away from the simple and earnest faith of the gospel.

The grace (namely, of God) be with you! (The best authorities have ὑμῶν, א, A, F, G, P, which at 2Ti 4:22 is the reading also of the received text.) or simply, Grace be with you: thee, and those with thee.

(For the subscription, see close of INTRODUCTION.)

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our apostles concludes this his epistle to Timothy with a very passionate and pathetic exhortation to him; that he would maintain the purity of the doctrine of the gospel, and preach that to his hearers, avoiding all idle speculations and philosophical niceties, which the heathen philosophers admire, despising, in the mean time, the plainness and simplicity of the gospel: and he tells him farther, that some Christians, being taken with this sort of learning, have corrupted christianity, turned heretics, erring concerning the faith; to prevent which, he begs for Timothy the grace of God, to preserve, sanctify, and save him.

Learn hence, That in the first beginnings of Christianity, the philosphers, by pretences of great learning, were the greatest despisers and the bitterest enemies of Christianity.

Secondly, That the generality of them were taken up with mere useless notions, instead of necessary and useful knowledge.

Thirdly, That Timothy, and every minister of Christ with him, ought to preach the gospel without any such human mixtures, in the purity and plainness of it; and the people receive it with a simplicity of mind, to be guided and directed by it.

Lastly, That the sanctifying and establishing grace of God is necessary, and indispensably needful, to preserve both ministers and people steadfast in the faith of the gospel, and to persevere in their obedience to it.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20, 21. O Timothy. A final exhortation to faithfully discharge his trust. Oppositions of science. The wild speculations which were already taught by dreamers and which were probably derived from Jewish sources. These speculations a half century later had ripened into what was called Gnosticism. Some had already run off after speculations and departed from the faith. There are allusions in the Epistles to Ephesus and Colosse to the germs of the same false teaching.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

protect what was given to you

This can be stated in active form. AT: "faithfully proclaim the true message that Jesus has given to you" (See: Active or Passive)

Avoid the foolish talk

"Do not pay attention to the foolish talk"

of what is falsely called knowledge

This can be stated in active form. AT: "of what some people falsely call knowledge" (See: Active or Passive)

they have missed the faith

Paul speaks of faith in Christ as if it were a target at which to aim. AT: "they have not understood or believed the true faith" (See: Metaphor)

May grace be with you

"May God give grace to all of you." The "you" is plural and refers to the whole Christian community. (See: Forms of You)

translationWords

Timothy

preach

faith

grace

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20, 21. iii. CONCLUDING CHARGE TO TIMOTHY, summarising the main thought of the Epistle; cp. 1Co 16:21.

20. παραθήκην. So all the uncials: the rec. text has παρακαταθήκην with many cursives.

κενοφωνίας. So אAD2EKLP &c.; G has καινοφωνίας, by itacism, which the Latin Versions support, vocum novitates.

20. ὦ Τιμόθεε. A solemn and emphatic personal address.

τὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον, guard the deposit, sc. the Christian Creed which has been committed to you in trust, to be transmitted unimpaired to those who shall come after you. You are to guard the depositum fidei with jealous care, “quod accepisti non quod excogitasti” (Vinc. Lir. Common. § 22). Cp. 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 5:21; 2Ti 1:14, and (for the main thought) Jud 1:3; Rev 3:3.

παραθήκη is only found in the N.T. again at 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 1:14; we have it in Lev 6:2; Lev 6:4. The rec. reading παρακαταθήκη (see crit. note) does not differ substantially in meaning. Cp. Philo (Quis rer. div. haer. § 21) who in interpreting λάβε μοι of Gen 15:9 goes on: καὶ ἂν λάβῃς λάβε μὴ σεαυτῷ, δάνειον δὲ ἢ παρακαταθήκην νομίσας τὸ δοθὲν τῷ παρακαταθεμένῳ καὶ συμβαλόντι ἀπόδος. see on 2Ti 1:12.

ἐκτρεπόμενος, turning away from; for the word see on 1Ti 1:6. Cp. 2Ti 3:5.

τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called. Observe that βεβήλους (for which see note on 1Ti 1:9) qualifies both κενοφωνίας and ἀντιθέσεις, as is indicated by the absence of the article before the latter word.

κενοφωνία, empty talk, only occurs in the Greek Bible here and in the parallel passage 2Ti 2:16, τὰς δὲ βεβήλους κενοφωνίας περιίστασο; it is a forcible word for the ματαιολογία already mentioned in 1Ti 1:6, or for the irrelevant ζητήσεις καὶ λογομαχίαι of 1Ti 6:4. Cp. 1Ti 4:7, τοὺς δὲ βεβήλους καὶ γραώδεις μύθους παραιτοῦ. In the ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως some have found the Marcionite oppositions between the Old and New Testaments; but this (see Introd. chap. IV., On the heresies contemplated in the Pastoral Epistles) is to read into the text the ideas of a later age. The phrase probably alludes (to use Dr Hort’s words[534]) to “the endless contrasts of decisions, founded on endless distinctions, which played so large a part in the casuistry of the Scribes as interpreters of the Law.” These dialectic subtleties proceed from that esoteric γνῶσις or technical lore in which the Teachers of the Law revelled; a γνῶσις only to be described as ψευδώνυμος, for it has not the faith and obedience which are the necessary conditions of gaining that true γνῶσις which is itself eternal life (Joh 7:17; Joh 17:3).

[534] Judaistic Christianity, p. 140.

The words ἀντίθεσις and ψευδώνυμος do not occur elsewhere in the Greek Bible, but are common in secular Greek literature.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20, 21. Conclusion. Very probably added by St. Paul with his own hand, 2Th 3:17, summing up the thoughts of 1:3-11, 4:1-10, 6:3-10.

Paraphrase. O Timothy, it is to you that I must look. Remember the truth is a sacred trust which Christ has left with us, and He will come to ask it back. Keep it then jealously; avoid all empty argumentations, all balancing of casuistical problems: they have nothing to do with religion, they add nothing to it, they spoil its simplicity, though some who falsely claim to special knowledge lay stress on them. These teachers, though they assert their proficiency in knowledge, have wholly missed the central truths.

May God’s grace be with you all.

20. ὦ Τιμ.] cf. 11, 1:18 notes. τὴν παραθήκην; cf. II 1:12 note; and for this application, Didache 4. 13, φυλάξεις ἃ παρελάβες: Dem. c. Meid. p. 572, τοῦτο γὰρ ἐσθʼ ὃ φυλάττειν ὑμᾶς δεῖ, τοὺς νόμους, τὸν ὅρκον. ταῦτʼ ἒχεθʼ ὑμεῖς οἱ δικάζοντες ὡσπερεὶ παρακαταθήκην ἣν ἅπασιν . . . σῶν ὑπάρχειν δεῖ: Philo, de ebriet. § 52, παρακαταθήκην βιωφελεστάτων δογμάτων φυλάξαι μὴ δυναμένῳ (Wohlenberg). An exact exegesis of each word in this verse will be found in Vincent. Lerin. Commonitorium, 22.

ἐκτρεπόμενος] 1:6, 5:15, II 4:4; cf. II 2:16 τὰς β. κ. περϊίστασο. This last passage makes it probable that the meaning is not “turning your back on those who so talk,” but “refusing to adopt their methods.”

βεβ.] cf. 4:7; κενοφ. II 2:16 only; cf. ματαιολογίαν, 1:6; λογομαχίας, 6:4 note; τοῦς κενολογοῦντας, Isa 8:19.

ἀντιφέσεις] parallel to κενοφωνίας, and under the construction of τὰς βεβήλους; hence not (i) oppositions, controversies, “turn aside from opponents and do not argue with them”; cf. II 2:25 τοὺς ἀντιδιαθεμένους: supra, 1:10 εἲ τι ἀντικεῖται: 5:14 τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ: Job 32:3 οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν ἀποκριθῆναι ἀντιθέτα Ἰώβ (so Chrys., Holtzmann, von Soden); but (ii) rival theses (= θεσὶν ἀντὶ θεσέως), sets of antitheses (cf. Lucian, Mort. D. x. 373, ἀποθοῦ τῶν ῥημάτων τὴν τοσαύτην ἀπεραντολογίαν καὶ ἀντιθέσεις καὶ παρισώσεις . . . καὶ τὰ ἄλλα βάρη τῶν λόγων (Harrison, P.E. p. 165)); either the Gnostic contrasts between the O.T. and the New, which found their fullest expression in Marcion’s “Antitheses,” cf. Tert. adv. M. i. 19, iv. 1, “opus ex contrarietatum oppositionibus Antitheses cognominatum et ad separationem legis et evangelii coactum”; but this is not consistent with the stress on the Jewish law implied in 1:6-10: or, more probably, “the endless contrasts of decisions, founded on endless distinctions, which played so large a part in the casuistry of the scribes as interpreters of the law” (Hort, Judaistic Christianity, p. 140). It is identical with “the tradition of the elders” which the Lord denounced, and of which St. Paul had been zealous before his conversion (Mar 7:3, Gal 1:14), afterwards embodied in the Halacha; cf. 4:7, II 3:8 note.

τῆς ψ. γνώσεως (contrast γνῶσιν ἀψευδῆ, Wisd 7:17). The opponents must have claimed a special knowledge, but this might apply to the early stages of Gnosticism; cf. 1Co 8:2, 1Co 8:3 εἲ τις δοκεῖ εἰνωκέαι τι, οὒπω ἔγνω καθὼς δεῖ γνῶναι: or to the Rabbinical pride in knowledge, Luk 11:52, Rom 2:20.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That which is committed to thy trust [την παραθηκην] . Only in Pastorals. Comp. 2Ti 1:12, 14. From para beside or with, and tiqenai to Place. It may mean either something put beside another as an addition or appendix (so Mr 6:41; Act 16:34), or something put with or in the keeping of another as a trust or deposit. In the latter sense always in LXX See Lev 6:2, 4; Tob. 10 13; II Macc. 3 10, 15. Hdt 6 73, of giving hostages; 9 45, of confidential words intrusted to the hearer's honor. The verb is a favorite with Luke. The meaning here is that teaching which Timothy had received from Paul; the "sound words" which he was to guard as a sacred trust, and communicate to others.

Vain babblings [κενοφωνιας] . Only in Pastorals. o LXX, o Class. From kenov empty and fwnh voice.

Oppositions of science falsely so called [ανιθεσεις της ψευδωνυμου γνωσεως] Better, oppositions of the falsely - named knowledge. Antiqesiv, N. T. o. o LXX Used here, in its simple sense, of the arguments and teachings of those who opposed the true Christian doctrine as intrusted to Timothy. Gnwsiv knowledge was the characteristic word of the Gnostic school, the most formidable enemy of the church of the second century. The Gnostics claimed a superior knowledge peculiar to an intellectual caste. According to them, it was by this philosopllic insight, as opposed to faith, that humanity was to be regenerated. faith was suited only to the rude masses, the animal - men. The intellectual questions which occupied these teachers were two : to explain the work of creation, and to account for the existence of evil. Theil ethical problem was how to develop the higher nature in the environment of matter which was essentially evil. In morals they ran to two opposite extremes - asceticism and licentiousness. The principal representatives of the school were Basilides, Valentinus, and Marcion. Although Gnosticism as a distinct system did not reach its full development until about the middle of the second century, foreshadowings of it appear in the heresy at which Paul 's Colossian letter was aimed. It is not strange if we find in the Pastoral Epistles allusions pointing to Cxnostic errors; but, as already remarked, it is impossible to refer these allusions to any one definite system of error. The word gnwsiv cannot therefore be interpreted to mean the Gnostic system; while it may properly be understood as referring to that conceit of knowledge which opposed itself to the Christian faith. Yeudwnumov falsely - named, N. T. o. o LXX It characterises the gnwsiv as claiming that name without warrant, and as being mere vain babbling. Comp. Col 2:8.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.