Students of the Pastorals might be interested in two recent presentations from the 2023 Priscilla and Aquila Center Annual Conference at Moore College. Lionel Windsor provides an overview of the issues involved in 1 Timothy 2:8–15 (video and notes), and Claire Smith discusses the household of God in 1 Timothy (video, notes).
Tag: 1 Timothy (Page 3 of 10)
The 2023 Stone Campbell Journal Conference occurred earlier this month in Knoxville, Tennessee. Interestingly, out of 31 papers listed from study groups and parallel sessions, four were on the Pastorals:
Baldwin, Brian. “Artemis and Wonder Woman: Artemis Ephesia and 1 Timothy 1–2.” Baldwin’s paper is grounded in the work of Sandra Glahn, which will be presented in her forthcoming volume, Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament. The paper is available here.
Hester, David. “Did Paul Accept The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres as Scripture?” Hester finds that Paul was not necessarily referring to the Apocryphon as such in 2 Tim 3:8, and that he did not accept the Apocryphon as Scripture. The paper is available here.
Pereira, Mary Ellen. “Antidotes for Treason: Eusebeia and the Themes of 1 Timothy.” Summary available here.
Sedlacek, James. “The Meaning of αὐθεντεῖν: Some Considerations for 1 Tim 2:12.” Summary available here.
Readers of this blog may be interested to know that Paul Jeon, who has reviewed several books for us,* has recently produced the TGC online commentaries for 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. They are freely available for online reading or download.
* Roberts, The PE and the NPP; Kuruvilla, 1&2 Timothy, Titus; Gatiss/Green, RCS; Hutson, 1&2 Timothy, Titus
It’s that time of year again! For some years now, we’ve been compiling and posting annual bibliographies for researchers in the Letters to Timothy and Titus. These projects are intended to help researchers in the Pastorals maintain control of the secondary literature, and give some idea of research trends. Our compilation of these bibliographies involves the input of Pastorals scholars who have published previously on the letters. Our thanks to all who contributed!
Our annual bibliography of recent publications on the Letters to Timothy and Titus covers contributions from all of 2022 and early 2023. Over 170 items long and international in scope, the list contains monographs, journal articles, and commentaries, as well as lists of dissertations and conference presentations on the letters. It is available for viewing and downloading here.
Our annual bibliography of forthcoming academic publications on the Letters to Timothy and Titus is wide-ranging, containing over 60 forthcoming works on the Pastoral Epistles, including essays, monographs, and commentaries. In some cases, authors have provided a brief synopsis of their work. This bibliography is available for viewing and downloading here.

A remarkable-looking contribution that had escaped my notice until now:
L’ubomír Majtán. La crescita nella responsabilità di Timoteo. Storicità ed esemplarità di Timoteo [The growth in Timothy’s responsibility. The historicity and exemplarity of Timothy]. Rome: Angelicum University Press, 2021.
I knew of a few earlier articles produced by Majtán in Slovak and Italian, which had been noted in New Testament Abstracts:
- “Timotej—Pavlov delegát v komunitách: Osoba delegáta v Pavlových listoch vo svelte grécko-rimskej korešpondencie a rabínskej halachickej literatúry” [“Timothy—Paul’s Agent in the Communities: The Status of Agent in the Pauline Epistles in the View of Greco-Roman Diplomatic Correspondence and Rabbinic Halachic Literature”]. Studia Biblica Slovaca (Bratislava) 11.1 (2019): 42–56. [Slovak]
- “Timotej a charizma v 1Tim 4,14 Ratifikácia alebo transfer pri vkladaní rúk starších? [Timothy and Charisma in 1 Tim 4:14: A Recognition or a Transfer through the Laying on of Hands by the Elders?]” Studia Biblica Slovaca (Bratislava) 11.2 (2019): 103–19. [Slovak]
- “Motívy obriezky Timoteja v Sk 16,1–5: Historický, etnický, a náboženský aspekt obriezky Timoteja v Skutkoch apoštolov a teologická interpretácia z pohl’adu spoločenstva prvotnej Cirkvi [Motives of Circumcision of Timothy in Acts 16:1–5: Historical, Ethnical and Religious Aspects of the Circumcision of Timothy in the Acts of the Apostles and the Theological Interpretation from the Perspective of the Early Church Community].” Studia Biblica Slovaca (Bratislava) 13.1 (2021): 74–94. [Slovak]
- “È vero che Timoteo sostituisce Paolo a Tessalonica in 1 Ts 3,1–10? // Ali drži, da Timotej nadomesti Pavla v Tesalonikah v 1 Tes 3,1–10? // Is It True that Timothy Substitutes [for] Paul in Thessalonica in 1 Thess 3,1–10?” Bogoslovni vestnik 81.1 (2021): 47–56. [Italian]
These seem to have been preparatory for Majtán’s monograph, which I presume is a published doctoral thesis. Timothy is significant enough a figure in the New Testament that there have been numerous treatments of him in the scholarly literature, both as standalone essays and in broader treatments of Paul’s coworkers (in addition, of course, to commentary discussion). Here is a sampling of those treatments:
- Franz X. Pölzl, Die Mitarbeiter des Weltapostels Paulus (Regensburg: G. J. Manz, 1911), 136–70.
- William E. Hull, “The Man—Timothy,” RevExp 56 (1959): 355–66.
- Pedro Gutiérrez, La paternité spirituelle selon saint Paul, EBib (Paris: Gabalda, 1968), 225–31 (“Fils, Disciples, Successeurs (Timothée et Tite)”).
- E. E. Ellis, “Paul and His Co-Workers,” NTS 17 (1970–71): 437–52.
- Wolf-Hennig Ollrog, Paulus und seine Mitarbeiter: Untersuchungen zu Theorie und Praxis der paulinischen Mission, WMANT 50 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1979), 20–23.
- Udo Borse, “Timotheus und Titus, Abgesandte Pauli im dienst des Evangeliums,” in Der Diakon: Wiederentdeckung und Erneuerung seines Dienstes, ed. Josef G. Plöger and Hermann J. Weber (Freiburg: Herder, 1980), 27–43 (although his aim is to show that Timothy and Titus were actually the same person, he provides along the way an excellent summary of the biblical data).
- F. F. Bruce, The Pauline Circle (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 29–34.
- John Gillman, “Timothy,” ABD 6:558–60 (1992).
- Margaret M. Mitchell, “New Testament Envoys in the Context of Greco-Roman Diplomatic and Epistolary Conventions: The Example of Timothy and Titus,” JBL 111.4 (1992): 641–62.
- Christopher R. Hutson, “Was Timothy Timid? On the Rhetoric of Fearlessness (1 Corinthians 16:10–11) and Cowardice (2 Timothy 1:7),” BR 42 (1997): 58–73.
- Giancarlo Biguzzi, “L’autore delle Lettere Pastorali e Timoteo,” in Il deposito della fede: Timoteo e Tito, ed. Giuseppe de Virgilio, RivBSup 34 (Bologna: Dehoniane, 1998), 81–112.
- Bruce Malina, Timothy: Paul’s Closest Associate (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2008), though note Mark Batluck, “Paul, Timothy, and Pauline Individualism: A Response to Bruce Malina,” in Paul and His Social Relations, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Christopher D. Land, PSt 7 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 35-56.
- Yann Redalié, “Timothée, le disciple à l’ombre de Paul,” LumVie 59 (2010): 21–31.
- Hermann von Lips, Timotheus und Titus: Unterwegs für Paulus, 2nd ed., Biblische Gestalten 19 (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2010).
- Bernhard Mutschler, “Silas/Silvanus und Timotheus als Mitarbeiter des Paulus: Eine Spurensuche in der Apostelgeschichte und im 1. Thessalonicherbrief,” Der 1. Thessalonicherbrief und die frühe Völkermission des Paulus, ed. Ulrich Mell and Michael Tilly, WUNT 479 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 179–227.
I have not yet obtained Majtán’s monograph, but its 361-page length suggests that anyone seeking to produce a serious treatment of Timothy in the future will need to take account of it. Here is the volume’s summary in English translation (original Italian):
- “Timothy is one of Paul’s most faithful and important collaborators. After being added to the missionary team in Acts 16:1-5, he never ceases to accompany Paul in the important stages of his apostolic work. He is mentioned in later chapters of the Acts of the Apostles as witnessing the entrance of Gentiles into the church. Taking note of the various difficulties in which the Christian communities live, Paul sends him entrusting him with the responsibility of resolving the difficult situation, the problems that arise in the Christian communities or at least to send the Apostle’s recommendations. In the balance of the following years, we can see the growth of his responsibility, so much so that Timothy, day after day, receives authority, prominence and an important role within the communities. Thus, in various moments of his life, Timothy grows in his responsibility and according to the Pastoral Letters he becomes the successor of the Apostle.” [Google Translate]
Following are the contents of the volume. Notice that though the Pastorals are mentioned only briefly in the above summary, two entire chapters consisting of 115 pages discuss Timothy in the context of 1 and 2 Timothy.





A new article on church offices in the Pastorals against their Greco-Roman background:
Thomas Johann Bauer, “Befähigung und Einsetzung, Tugendlehre und Standesethos: Die Ämterspiegel der Pastoralbriefe und der religiös-philosophische Diskurs der hellenistisch-römischen Zeit.” Pages 147–68 in Ermutigung zur Verantwortung: Festschrift für Josef Römelt. Edited by Christof Mandry and Stefan Meyer-Ahlen. Studien der Moraltheologie 16. Münster: Aschendorff, 2022.
A new article of interest to students of 1 Timothy:
Marion Hauck. “Der Kampf gegen die Irrlehre als ‘Krieg’: Überlegungen zur Semantik der Verben ἀπωθέομαι and ναυαγέω im Kontext 1 Tim 1.” Novum Testamentum 65.1 (2023): 57–82. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685365-bja10037
Abstract: In 1 Tim 1, particularly in vv. 18–20, the author of the letter uses a cluster of terms that evoke the image of “Timothy” engaged in a military campaign. Along these lines, the verb ἀπωθέοµαι (v. 19) activates the mental picture of a previous struggle or clash through which one party (the τινες) has been disadvantaged. This article seeks to identify the leading metaphors that the author summons in 1 Tim 1, to scrutinize the concepts that he employs for creating these metaphors, and to describe the set of relations that enables a coherent understanding of 1 Tim 1 in general and 1:18–20 in particular. In addition, this article examines how these metaphors are embedded in the wider framework of 1 Tim 1–6 and integrated into the author’s struggle against a false teaching circulating in the Ephesian ekklesia.
The article is available here.
The following entries in New Testament Abstracts 66.3 may be of interest to students of the Pastorals.
921. Butticaz, Simon. “De la parenté d’auteur(s) à la ‘mémoire générationelle’ (P. Nora): L’œuvre de Luc et les lettres pastorales en relation.” New Testament Studies 68.3 (2022): 274–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0028688522000054
1008. Beale, Greg K. “The Background to ‘Fight the Good Fight’ in 1 Timothy 1:18, 6:12, and 2 Timothy 4:7.” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 113.2 (2022): 202–30. https://doi.org/10.1515/znw-2022-0011
1009. Kidson, Lyn M. “Real Widows, Young Widows, and the Limits of Benefaction in 1 Timothy 5:3–16.” Australian Biblical Review 70 (2022): 83–100.
1026. Schmidt, Karl Matthias. “Alter von Schönheit? Anmerkungen zur Datierung des Zweiten Petrusbriefes.” Novum Testamentum 64.4 (2022): 489–510. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685365-bja10026 [engages parallelism between 2 Peter 3:3 and 2 Timothy 3:1]
(p. 432) Porter, Christopher A. “1 Timothy” (pp. 445–60), “2 Timothy” (pp. 461–68), “Titus” (pp. 469–73) in T&T Clark Social Identity Commentary on the New Testament. Edited by J. Brian Tucker and Aaron Kuecker. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2020.
A new article of potential interest to students of 1 Timothy:
Daniel K. Darko. “Kinship and Leadership in 1 Timothy: A Study of Filial Framework and Model for Early Christian Communities in Asia Minor.” Religions 14.2 (2023): 1–14, article 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020169
Abstract: “This essay examines the kinship framework and lexemes in the directives for leadership in 1 Timothy, aiming to curb the influence of false teachers and to bolster internal cohesion in the communities. It explores the author’s appeal to household conduct, natural and fictive kinship, and group dynamics couched in filial parlance vis-à-vis the undisputed Pauline letters. The study sheds light on the authorial framework, and suggests that the notion of a departure from ‘love-patriarchalism’ or egalitarian Paul developing later into hierarchical kinship framework in 1 Timothy may be misleading. It becomes apparent that the letter’s kinship lexemes are consistent with what we find in the undisputed letters. Thus, the pseudonymous author, an associate of Paul, does not appeal to or use kinship lexemes any differently from the undisputed letters or elsewhere in Greco-Roman discourse. This does not establish Pauline authorship, but suggest that the notion that the kinship lexemes reflect an elevated hierarchical institutional development in a post-Pauline era, that is uncharacteristic of Paul in the authorship debate, may need to be reconsidered if not revised.”
The article is open access.
Another addition to the literature on 1 Timothy 2 has appeared:
Jonathan Jodamus. “(Con)texturing Ideologies of Modesty, Authority, and Childbearing in 1 Timothy 2:8–15.” Journal of Early Christian History 12.3 (2022): 59–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2022.2146520
Abstract: “Feminist and gender critical biblical scholarship has shown how texts ideologically function as products of their ancient social and cultural norms. In my dissertation work on Pauline texts, through isolating the ideological component of socio-rhetorical-interpretation, I demonstrated how these texts are “ideologically textured” within their ancient social context. In this article, I bring a combination of approaches from ideological criticism and theoretical insights from feminist criticism to bear on both the biblical text of 1 Timothy 2:8–15 and contemporary interpretations of this text. The latter is exemplified by the conservative Christian blogger, “The Transformed Wife.” Beginning with an examination of how both Paul and the blogger establish authority amongst believing communities, I then interrogate three areas of focus within their ideological purview: modesty, authority, and childbearing. I conclude that (con)texturing (a taxonomy of approaches that I propose which reads for ideological texture within text and context) provides a productive way to engage with the enduring influence of biblical texts and their harmful interpretations for wo/men.”