50 Fun Facts About 1 Timothy

Paul asked Timothy to stay in which city and silence false teachers while Paul went on to Macedonia?

Ephesus was the post Timothy was told to hold while Paul travelled on, and the letter never says whether Paul came back, though 3:14 has him 'hoping to come unto thee shortly'.

Which group does 1 Timothy's 'faithful saying' say Christ came into the world to save, 'of whom I am chief'?

Sinners is the word, and Paul calls himself their chief because he had been 'a blasphemer, and a persecutor' before he obtained mercy.

Which two men does 1 Timothy 1:20 say Paul 'delivered unto Satan' so that they might learn not to blaspheme?

Hymenaeus and Alexander are the only false teachers the letter names, and 2 Timothy adds that Hymenaeus taught that the resurrection 'is past already'.

For what ailment does 1 Timothy 5:23 tell Timothy to 'drink no longer water' but take a little wine?

His stomach and his 'often infirmities' are the reasons given, a rare glimpse of Timothy's health in a letter otherwise about running a church.

Which Roman governor does 1 Timothy 6:13 name as the one before whom Christ 'witnessed a good confession'?

Pontius Pilate is the only person from the Gospel narratives, apart from Jesus himself, named anywhere in the letter, and the verse uses that trial to charge Timothy to keep his own confession.

Which hymn by Free Church of Scotland minister Walter Chalmers Smith takes its opening words from 1 Timothy 1:17?

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise lifts 'immortal, invisible, the only wise God' from the letter's first doxology, was published in 1867 and is usually sung to the Welsh tune St Denio.

Catholic and Orthodox churches cite 1 Timothy 2:12, 'I suffer not a woman to teach', to justify which stance?

Rejecting female ordination is the stance, though the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible glosses the verse as 'not an absolute prohibition that applies in all circumstances'.

To which period do modern scholars generally assign the composition of 1 Timothy?

Late 1st to mid-2nd century is the usual bracket, partly because the letter's church offices and vocabulary look later than Paul's undisputed letters, and the word gnosis turns up in 6:20.

Which kind of tales does 1 Timothy 4:7 tell Timothy to refuse as 'profane', in a phrase that became an English idiom?

Old wives' fables is the 1611 King James wording, and 'old wives' tale' has been English shorthand for a dubious folk belief ever since.

After urging Timothy to 'fight the good fight', 1 Timothy 6:12 tells him to 'lay hold on' what?

Eternal life is the thing to seize, and the same verse recalls that Timothy had 'professed a good profession before many witnesses'.

What does 1 Timothy 4:12 tell Timothy to 'let no man despise', before calling him 'an example of the believers'?

His youth is the thing no one may despise, and the verse then names six areas, 'in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity', where he must set the pattern.

1 Timothy 5:9 says a widow may not be 'taken into the number' supported by the church under what age?

60 is the floor, 'threescore years old' in the King James wording, and the list also demands a record of hospitality and of having 'washed the saints' feet'.

1 Timothy 3:2 says a bishop must be blameless, vigilant, 'apt to teach' and 'the husband of' what?

One wife is the phrase, repeated in 3:12 for the church's other office, and the wider list also wants a man 'given to hospitality' and 'not greedy of filthy lucre'.

For whom does 1 Timothy 2:2 ask that prayers be made, so that believers 'may lead a quiet and peaceable life'?

Kings and all in authority are singled out, a striking request from a church living under pagan emperors, and the stated goal is a 'quiet and peaceable life'.

What reason does 1 Timothy 2:13 give immediately after saying it does not permit a woman to teach?

Adam was formed before Eve is the argument, and the next verse adds that it was the woman, not Adam, who 'was deceived' and fell into transgression.

What does 1 Timothy 4:8 say is 'profitable unto all things', in contrast to bodily exercise, which 'profiteth little'?

Godliness wins the comparison because it holds 'promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come', while the body's training pays off only now.

Which animal's treatment under the Law does 1 Timothy 5:18 cite to argue that church elders deserve their pay?

The ox 'that treadeth out the corn' must not be muzzled, a rule from Deuteronomy that the letter pairs with 'the labourer is worthy of his reward' and calls scripture.

What image does 1 Timothy 1:19 use for people who 'put away' a good conscience and ruined their faith?

A shipwreck is the picture, and the next verse names two men it had happened to, whom Paul handed over to be taught not to blaspheme.

The earliest known copy of any part of 1 Timothy, a single papyrus leaf labelled P133, comes from which famous find?

Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 5259, labelled P133, preserves parts of 3:13-4:8 on one codex leaf, and even this oldest witness is well over a century younger than the letter.

1 Timothy 4:3 warns of 'latter times' teachers who forbid marriage and command abstaining from what?

Meats are named, and the passage brands such teaching the work of 'seducing spirits', insisting that 'every creature of God is good'.

Which church office does 1 Timothy 3:8 require to be 'grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine'?

Deacons get that list, and 3:13 promises that those who serve well 'purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith'.

1 Timothy 3:15 calls the church of the living God 'the pillar and ground of' what?

The truth is what the church holds up, in a sentence Paul writes in case he should 'tarry long' before he can reach Timothy in person.

What does 1 Timothy 5:17 say elders who rule well deserve, 'especially they who labour in the word'?

Double honour is the phrase, and the following verse makes clear that pay is part of it by quoting 'the labourer is worthy of his reward'.

1 Timothy 2:6 says the 'one mediator between God and men' gave himself as what 'for all'?

A ransom is the word, offered 'for all', and the next verse says this is the message for which Paul was made 'a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity'.

1 Timothy 5:1 tells Timothy not to rebuke an older man but to 'intreat him' as what?

As a father is the rule, and the verse goes on to make the church a family: younger men 'as brethren', older women 'as mothers' and younger women 'as sisters, with all purity'.

How many people must back an accusation against an elder before 1 Timothy 5:19 allows it to be received?

Two or three witnesses are required, a standard borrowed from the Law of Moses, while the next verse says those who do sin should be rebuked 'before all'.

1 Timothy 3:5 asks how a man can take care of the church of God if he cannot rule what?

His own house is the proving ground, and the previous verse spells it out: a leader should have 'his children in subjection with all gravity'.

What does 1 Timothy 5:13 warn that idle younger widows may become, 'speaking things which they ought not'?

Tattlers and busybodies is the charge, which is why the letter tells the younger widows to marry and 'give none occasion to the adversary'.

Whoever will not provide for his own family 'hath denied the faith', says 1 Timothy 5:8, and is worse than what?

An infidel, meaning an unbeliever, is the comparison, and the verse sits inside the rules for widows, where children are told to 'requite their parents' first.

The apocryphal Acts of Timothy has the aged bishop killed in AD 97 for disrupting a procession honouring which goddess?

Diana was the goddess being honoured when the 80-year-old tried to stop the parade by preaching, and the crowd turned on him and killed him.

1 Timothy 6:20 tells Timothy to avoid 'profane and vain babblings' and oppositions of what, 'falsely so called'?

Science is the King James rendering of gnosis, the word for knowledge, which is one reason some scholars read the letter as a reply to early Gnostic teaching.

Isaac Newton argued that a small change to early copies of 1 Timothy 3:16 propped up which doctrine he rejected?

The Trinity is the doctrine, and Newton's case appeared in An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture, printed only in 1754, long after he died.

Whose work Against Heresies, written about 180, quotes all three pastoral epistles and credits 1 Timothy to Paul?

Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, is the first writer to quote the letter at length, and his treatise was aimed at the Gnostic teachers whose 'knowledge falsely so called' the letter itself seems to anticipate.

Which bishop of Smyrna's letter to the Philippians is called the 'key witness' that 1 Timothy was known early?

Polycarp's letter, written to the Philippians around 130, echoes 1 Timothy closely enough to set a cut-off date before which the epistle must already have existed.

1 Timothy 1:4 tells Timothy to stop teachers giving heed to myths and 'endless' what, which 'minister questions'?

Genealogies, 'endless' ones, are the problem, and Titus 3:9 repeats the warning, calling such disputes 'unprofitable and vain'.

What does the King James phrase 'filthy lucre', forbidden to church officers in 1 Timothy 3, mean?

Ill-gotten money is the sense, and the phrase appears twice in the chapter, once for each office, before the letter's closing warning against those who 'will be rich'.

By what act 'of the presbytery', done 'by prophecy', does 1 Timothy 4:14 say Timothy received his gift?

Laying on of hands is the act; 'the presbytery' means the council of elders, and 2 Timothy 1:6 tells the same story with Paul's own hands doing it.

Which hairstyle does 1 Timothy 2:9 list alongside gold, pearls and costly attire as adornment women should avoid?

Braided hair, 'broidered hair' in the King James spelling, is the banned style, and the verse asks instead for 'modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety'.

1 Timothy 2:15 says a woman 'shall be saved in' what, 'if they continue in faith and charity and holiness'?

Childbearing is the word, and the verse has puzzled commentators for centuries, partly because the subject shifts from 'she' to 'they' in mid-sentence.

Which crime appears as 'menstealers' in the King James list of lawbreakers in 1 Timothy 1:10?

Slave trading, seizing people to hold or sell as slaves, is what 'menstealers' means, and the NIV simply reads 'slave traders' in the same list.

1 Timothy 3:6 bars a 'novice' from church leadership lest, 'lifted up with pride', he fall into whose condemnation?

The devil's condemnation is the danger, and the next verse adds a second 'snare of the devil' for the leader who lacks 'a good report of them which are without'.

On what condition does 1 Timothy 1:8 say 'the law is good', before listing whom the law is made for?

If a man use it lawfully is the condition, and the list that follows says the law is 'not made for a righteous man' but for the lawless, from murderers to perjurers.

Which German theologian's 1807 study began the scholarly case that the pastoral letters' style is not Paul's?

Friedrich Schleiermacher opened the argument that the letters' vocabulary and concerns belong to later Christians, and most scholars now treat them as pseudepigrapha.

How does the opening greeting of 1 Timothy describe Timothy, before wishing him 'grace, mercy, and peace'?

My own son in the faith is the phrase, and the greeting adds 'mercy' to the 'grace and peace' with which Paul's earlier letters open.

1 Timothy 6:18 tells the wealthy to be 'rich in' what, 'ready to distribute, willing to communicate'?

Good works are the wealth that counts, 'laying up in store' what the next verse calls 'a good foundation against the time to come'.

1 Timothy 6:17 charges the wealthy of this world not to be 'highminded' nor to trust in what?

Uncertain riches are what not to trust, and the verse turns the phrase round by saying God 'giveth us richly all things to enjoy'.

Which word for a ruler does the King James text of 1 Timothy 6:15 use in 'the blessed and only ___'?

Potentate is the title, and the same doxology goes on to call God the one 'who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto'.

1 Timothy 5:6 says a widow who 'liveth in pleasure' is what, even 'while she liveth'?

Dead 'while she liveth' is the verdict, set against the 'widow indeed' who 'continueth in supplications and prayers night and day'.

Which First Great Awakening preacher said reading 1 Timothy 1:17's doxology gave him 'a new sense' of God's glory?

Jonathan Edwards wrote that as he read the words 'there came into my soul' a sense of the glory of the Divine Being, and he dated his new apprehension of Christ from that moment.

Which fragmentary list of about 170–180 ascribes all three pastoral epistles to Paul?

The Muratorian Canon's verdict was echoed by Eusebius around 330, who called the letter 'undisputed', though Tatian and the gnostic Basilides dissented.