1 Timoteo 6:4 Commento

I. He treats of the duty of servants (Ti1 6:1, Ti1 6:2). II. Of false teachers (Ti1 6:3-5). III. Of godliness and covetousness (Ti1 6:6-10). IV. What Timothy was to flee, and what to follow (Ti1 6:11, Ti1 6:12). V. A solemn charge (Ti1 6:13-16). VI. A charge for the rich (Ti1 6:17-19). And lastly, a charge to Timothy (Ti1 6:20, Ti1 6:21).

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY 6 In this chapter the apostle gives some instructions to servants; lays down some rules, by which to judge of false teachers; advises to contentment; exposes the sin of covetousness; exhorts Timothy to avoid sin, and follow after things that are good, to be constant in his warfare, the issue of which would be eternal life; gives him a charge with respect to himself, and orders him what he should enjoin others, particularly the rich, and what he should do himself; and wishes grace unto him, to enable him to discharge his duty. The instructions to servants are of two sorts; first, to such who had unbelieving masters, whom they ought to honour and obey; that the name and doctrine of Christ be not evil spoken of: and then to such as had believing masters, that they despise them not being brethren, but should the more cheerfully serve them; because believers in Christ, beloved of God, and partakers of his grace; which duties are worthy to be insisted upon in the Gospel ministry, Ti1 6:1, and such who teach not these things are to be accounted false teachers, whose characters are given in several particulars; as men unsound, proud, ignorant, quarrelsome, and covetous, and to be withdrawn from, Ti1 6:3. And from hence the apostle exhorts to contentment; and argues for it, partly from the gain of it along with godliness; and partly from the consideration of what men are, when they come into the world, and what they will be, when they go out of it; and also from having food and raiment, which include all the necessaries of life, Ti1 6:6. And then he exposes the folly and danger of covetousness, being the root of all evil; an enemy to true religion and godliness; and the cause of ruin and destruction, Ti1 6:9. Wherefore he addresses himself to Timothy, in particular, to avoid everything of this kind; and to follow the reverse of those things that were in the false teachers; to fight the good fight of faith, and then lay hold on eternal life; to which he encourages him, from his calling, and the profession he had made, in a very public manner, Ti1 6:11. And then follows a solemn charge unto him, given him before God and Christ; that he would observe what had been commanded him in the most perfect manner, until the appearance of Christ; which is certain, and may be concluded will be, from the various epithets of God; who will make him manifest in his own time, Ti1 6:13. To which is added an injunction on Timothy to charge rich men not to be elated with their riches, nor trust in them, since they are uncertain things; but in God, from whom they have received such a plentiful measure of them; that they be beneficent to others, which will turn to their own advantage in the issue, Ti1 6:17. And to close all, he is very urgent upon Timothy, to keep the Gospel pure and uncorrupt, he was intrusted with; and avoid everything that was opposite to it, as profane and mere babbling, and having only a show of knowledge, but not that itself; and the rather, since some profane teachers and professors of the Gospel had erred from it: and concludes with wishing him grace, to enable him to attend to the several instructions which had been given him, Ti1 6:20.

He is proud,.... Or swelled and puffed up with a vain conceit of himself and his own notions, and treats with an haughty air the faithful ministers of the word. The doctrines of grace are of an humbling nature, especially when they are spiritually and experimentally understood and received; but notional knowledge, knowledge of natural things, and the doctrines of men, such as are of their own invention, fill the mind with pride and vanity: knowing nothing; as he ought to know; not anything that is solid and substantial; nothing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: he may have knowledge of natural and civil things, but not of spiritual ones; he may have collected a medley of knowledge together, but what will be of no real use either to himself or others: but doting about questions and strifes of words: or he is "sick or diseased"; his mind is distempered; he is like one in a fever, that is delirious; his head is light and wild; his fancy is roving, and he talks of things he knows not what; his head runs upon "questions"; foolish and unlearned ones, about the law and works, and the necessity of them to justification and salvation; concerning genealogies, and other fruitless and unprofitable subjects: and strifes of words; mere logomachies; contending and quarrelling more about words than things, which tend to no profit, but to the subverting and confounding of hearers. The ill effects of which are as follow: whereof cometh envy: at the superior gifts and talents of others; at their success, and any little degree of honour and respect they have from others; which shows that such men, in whom this vice is a governing one, are carnal men, for this is a work of the flesh; and that they are destitute of charity, or the grace of love, which envieth not: also from hence comes strife; contention, quarrelling; the peace and comfort of particular persons, and even of whole communities, are broken and destroyed hereby; for foolish and unlearned questions gender strifes, Ti2 2:24 which are very unbecoming the servants of the Lord, and very uncomfortable to the churches of Christ: yea, these also produce railings; at one another, and especially at the faithful ministers of the Gospel; for when the false teachers cannot overcome them by Scripture and argument, they fall to railing and reviling of them: or entertain evil surmises; groundless suspicions: or from hence follow, as the words may be rendered, "wicked opinions": concerning the being, perfections, purposes, and providence of God; concerning the person and offices of Christ; concerning the law and Gospel, grace and good works; and so the Syriac version renders it, "an evil opinion of the mind".

True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which "the natural man receiveth not," the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man "taste," he will not accede to the disputations and quibbles of proud and puffed-up men, who go into matters of which they have no perception. For the truth is unsophisticated; and "the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart," as the same apostle declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient.

And that the whole range of the doctrine of the apostles proclaimed one and the same God, who removed Abraham, who made to him the promise of inheritance, who in due season gave to him the covenant of circumcision, who called his descendants out of Egypt, preserved outwardly by circumcision-for he gave it as a sign, that they might not be like the Egyptians-that He was the Maker of all things, that He was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He was the God of glory,-they who wish may learn from the very words and acts of the apostles, and may contemplate the fact that this God is one, above whom is no other. But even if there were another god above Him, we should say, upon [instituting] a comparison of the quantity [of the work done by each], that the latter is superior to the former. For by deeds the better man appears, as I have already remarked; and, inasmuch as these men have no works of their father to adduce, the latter is shown to be God alone. But if any one, "doting about questions," do imagine that what the apostles have declared about God should be allegorized, let him consider my previous statements, in which I set forth one God as the Founder and Maker of all things, and destroyed and laid bare their allegations; and he shall find them agreeable to the doctrine of the apostles.

With reason, therefore, the noble apostle, depreciating these superfluous arts occupied about words, says, "If any man do not give heed to wholesome words, but is puffed up by a kind of teaching, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh contention, envy, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth." You see how he is moved against them, calling their art of logic-on which, those to whom this garrulous mischievous art is dear, whether Greeks or barbarians, plume themselves-a disease. Very beautifully, therefore, the tragic poet Euripides says in the Phoenissae,- "But a wrongful speech is diseased in itself, and needs skilful medicines." For the saving Word is called "wholesome," He being the truth; and what is wholesome (healthful) remains ever deathless. But separation from what is healthful and divine is impiety, and a deadly malady.

The apostle forbids us to enter into hypothetical questions, or to lend our ears to newfangled statements or to consort with a heretic “after the first and second admonitions.” We do not enter into these discussions. Discussion has been inhibited in this way by designating admonition as the purpose of dealing with a heretic. The first reason, too, is because he is not a Christian. The instruction is given in order that he might not, after the manner of a Christian, seem to require correction again and again and “before two or three witnesses.” The impression could be created that he ought to be corrected, for the very reason that he is not to be disputed with. The second reason is that a controversy over the Scriptures can, clearly, produce no other effect than to upset either the stomach or the brain.

I shall address my words to those whose cleverness is in words.… “Strife of words” is the term given to all elaborate verbiage by Paul, who proclaims and confirms the “short and final account,” Paul, the pupil and teacher of fishermen. These people I speak of have versatile tongues and are resourceful in attacking doctrines nobler and worthier than their own. I only wish they would display comparable energy in their actions.

"Doting about questions." To question then is to dote. "And strifes of words"; this is justly said. For when the soul is fevered with reasonings, and stormy, then it questions, but when it is in a sound state, it does not question, but receives the faith. But from questionings and strifes of words nothing can be discovered. For when the things which faith only promises are received by an inquisitive spirit, it neither demonstrates them, nor suffers us to understand them. If one should close his eyes, he would not be able to find anything he sought: or if, again with his eyes open, he should bury himself, and exclude the sun, he would be unable to find anything, thus seeking. So without faith nothing can be discerned, but contentions must needs arise. "Whereof come railings, evil surmisings"; that is, erroneous opinions and doctrines arising from questionings. For when we begin to question, then we surmise concerning God things that we ought not.

he is inflated with conceit and understands nothing. For he who does not know what he ought to know, knows nothing. But he who does not know the sound things, obviously knows the demonic things. Moreover, arrogance is a matter welcoming and proper to demons. an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels. For if you do not believe, but craving for controversy, there must be debate and conflicts of reasoning. Since Christianity promises future things, and these cannot be shown to the eyes, faith is necessary. But see that to crave controversy is to be ill. blasphemies. For it is necessary that human reasoning permit what pertains to God, and that blasphemy arises from questioning. evil suspicions. These are opinions and contaminated doctrines.

So, contention is a disease: for where there is no faith, everything is sick; there only a war of words flares up and nothing more – wherein the more skilled in debate strains to overthrow the other. Faith is the eye; he who has no eyes finds nothing, but only searches. That is, from contentions are born harmful dogmas. When we give ourselves over to contentions, we begin to blaspheme and to think about God what we ought not.

Do you see that complete ignorance drives a person to madness and makes him arrogant, so that whoever does not accept sound teaching is proud? And pride is to a sick soul what inflammation is to a bodily wound. So then, if he had not become proud, he would have accepted the teaching of the Lord, Who humbled Himself, washed the feet of the disciples, and said: "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly" (Matt. 11:29). He called blessed the "poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3); He sent the tax collector away justified for his humility (Luke 18:13–14). Whoever does not accept this and does not know it is undoubtedly proud.

The root of this error is twofold, namely, pride and lack of understanding. In regard to the first he says, he is proud. There are two ways in which pride is said to be the root of errors: first, because the proud desire to insert themselves into matters that are not their concern; hence it is expected that they err and fall short: we have heard of the pride of Moab; he is exceedingly proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength (Isa 16:6). Second, because they refuse to submit their intellect to any other, but rely on their own prudence; consequently, they rebel against Sacred Scripture. Against such a person it is said: lean not upon your own prudence (Prov 3:5), and again: where humility is, there also is understanding (Prov 11:2). The other root is weakness of intellect. Here it should be noted that just as health in the body depends on a proper balance among the humors, so truth consists in a proper balance in the intellect, because truth is a correspondence of intellect and thing. Hence just as a sick person, when he does not have a balanced condition, is affected by the slightest contrary stimulus, so too when a man's intellect is not grounded on the truth and lacks the virtue by which to judge what is true, that man falls into error in the face of any difficult question; hence he says, sick about questions: a weak man and of a short time, and falling short of the understanding of judgment and laws (Wis 9:5). Hence Boethius says that understanding is to reasoning as a circle is to its center. For reason roves about and considers the perfections and defects and relationships of one thing to another, and unless it finally arrives at an understanding of the truth, its roaming is in vain. Hence, when it discovers the truth of a thing, it holds it as a center. But some take intellectual journeys without ever arriving: ever learning and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:7); hence he says, sick about questions, i.e., never reaching the center. And he says, questions and strifes of words, because in some matters doubt arises from the object itself, but in others from the words and names; hence he says, questions, in regard to the first, namely, questions about things: which furnish questions rather than the edification of God, which is in faith (1 Tim 1:4); in regard to the second he says, and strifes of words: he who follows after words only shall have nothing (Prov 19:7). And he says, strifes of words, meaning those cases when strife arises from words alone. For example, the Lord says: if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36) and in Matthew: then the children are free (Matt 17:25); now if someone wished to infer from this that all Catholics, since they are sons of God, are therefore free, it would be a strife of words, because the Lord is speaking of spiritual freedom, not bodily. Then when he says, from which arise envies, he describes the effect of error: first, he mentions the effect; second, he explains some things previously stated, at but godliness. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he mentions the evils that follow false doctrine; second, where these evils reside, at men corrupted in mind. Among the evils he lists, some are within, in the heart; others are external. Within are disorderly emotions in regard to good or in regard to evil. In regard to the good is sadness about someone else's good; hence he says, envies, which can be understood as referring either to the present case or to all cases; for when men labor not for the truth but only about words, they do not see with a balanced mind, if someone prevails: envy slays the little one (Job 5:2). In the present case, if servants regard themselves as free and not subject, their masters grow envious and bewail the fact that their servants are equal to them. As a result of envy a man rises up against his neighbor of whom he is envious: and this is contentions: it is an honor for a man to separate himself from quarrels (Prov 20:3); or he rises up against God: and this is blasphemies: blaspheming the things which they know not (2 Pet 2:12). In regard to evil there is suspicion; hence he says, evil suspicions, namely, on the part of masters toward Christians, as though for gain we pretended that they were free: and suspicion of them has deceived many, and has detained their minds in vanity (Sir 3:26). As a result there issue conflicts of men against believers: there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot (Gen 13:7).

Of the duty of servants, Ti1 6:1, Ti1 6:2. Of false teachers, who suppose gain to be godliness, Ti1 6:3-5. Of true godliness, and contentment, Ti1 6:6-8. Of those, and their dangerous state, who determine to be rich; and of the love of money, Ti1 6:9, Ti1 6:10. Timothy is exhorted to fight the good fight of faith, and to keep the charge delivered to him, Ti1 6:11-14. A sublime description of the majesty of God, Ti1 6:15, Ti1 6:16. How the rich should behave themselves; and the use they should make of their property, Ti1 6:17-19. Timothy is once more exhorted to keep what was committed to his trust; and to avoid profane babblings, through which some have erred from the faith, Ti1 6:20, Ti1 6:21.

He is proud - Τετυφωται· He is blown up, or inflated with a vain opinion of his own knowledge; whereas his knowledge is foolishness, for he knows nothing. Doting about questions - He is sick, distempered, about these questions relative to the Mosaic law and the traditions of the elders; for it is most evident that the apostle has the Judaizing teachers in view, who were ever, in questions of theology, straining out a gnat, and swallowing a camel. Strifes of words - Λογομαχιας· Logomachies; verbal contentions; splitting hairs; producing Hillel against Shammai, and Shammai against Hillel, relative to the particular mode in which the punctilios of some rites should be performed. In this sort of sublime nonsense the works of the Jewish rabbins abound. Whereof cometh envy, strife, etc. - How little good have religious disputes ever done to mankind, or to the cause of truth! Most controversialists have succeeded in getting their own tempers soured, and in irritating their opponents. Indeed, truth seems rarely to be the object of their pursuit; they labor to accredit their own party by abusing and defaming others; from generals they often descend to particulars; and then personal abuse is the order of the day. Is it not strange that Christians either cannot or will not see this? Cannot any man support his own opinions, and give his own views of the religion of Christ, without abusing and calumniating his neighbor? I know not whether such controversialists should not be deemed disturbers of the public peace, and come under the notice of the civil magistrate. Should not all Christians know that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of the Lord?

EXHORTATIONS AS TO DISTINCTIONS OF CIVIL RANK; THE DUTY OF SLAVES, IN OPPOSITION TO THE FALSE TEACHINGS OF GAIN-SEEKERS; TIMOTHY'S PURSUIT IS TO BE GODLINESS, WHICH IS AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION: SOLEMN ADJURATION TO DO SO AGAINST CHRIST'S COMING; CHARGE TO BE GIVEN TO THE RICH. CONCLUDING EXHORTATION. (1Ti. 6:1-21) servants--to be taken as predicated thus, "Let as many as are under the yoke (as) slaves" (Tit 2:9). The exhortation is natural as there was a danger of Christian slaves inwardly feeling above their heathen masters. their own masters--The phrase "their own," is an argument for submissiveness; it is not strangers, but their own masters whom they are required to respect. all honour--all possible and fitting honor; not merely outward subjection, but that inward honor from which will flow spontaneously right outward conduct (see on Eph 5:22). that the name of God--by which Christians are called. blasphemed--Heathen masters would say, What kind of a God must be the God of the Christians, when such are the fruits of His worship (Rom 2:24; Tit 2:5, Tit 2:10)?

He is proud--literally, "wrapt in smoke"; filled with the fumes of self-conceit (Ti1 3:6) while "knowing nothing," namely, of the doctrine which is according to godliness (Ti1 6:3), though arrogating pre-eminent knowledge (Ti1 1:7). doting about--literally, "sick about"; the opposite of "wholesome" (Ti1 6:3). Truth is not the center about which his investigations move, but mere word-strifes. questions--of controversy. strifes of words--rather than about realities (Ti2 2:14). These stand with them instead of "godliness" and "wholesome words" (Ti1 6:3; Ti1 1:4; Tit 3:9). evil surmisings--as to those who are of a different party from themselves.