Tag: First Timothy (Page 1 of 3)

Priesemuth, Der ein unzugängliches Licht bewohnt

September 29, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Priesemuth, Annemarie. Der ein unzugängliches Licht bewohnt: Die Rede von Gott im 1. Timotheusbrief. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament 180. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2025.

This recent monograph is the published version of Priesemuth’s Kiel University dissertation. The dissertation was completed under Christiane Zimmermann, who herself has written in the area Priesemuth addresses:

“Gott, unser Retter—Christus, unsere Hoffnung: Soteriologische Aspekte des 1. Timotheusbriefs.” Pages 405­–426 in Sōtēria: Salvation in Early Christianity and Antiquity. Festschrift in Honour of Cilliers Breytenbach on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. Edited by David S. du Toit, Christine Gerber, and Christiane Zimmermann. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“Die negative Gottesbezeichnungen in 1 Tim 1,17 und 6,15f.: Eine sprachliche Grenzüberschreitung und ihre Folgen.” Pages 390‒408 in Kommunikation über Grenzen: Kongressband des XIII. Europäischen Kongresses für Theologie 21.‒25. September 2008 in Wien. Edited by Friedrich Schweitzer. Veröffentlichungen der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theologie 33. Gütersloh: Gütersloher, 2009.

Priesemuth discusses theology proper as presented in 1 Timothy: “how, where, and why 1 Timothy speaks of God” (15). On the Kiel University website, she offers this description:

“Die Betrachtung frühchristlicher Gottesbilder wurde in der neutestamentlichen Forschung lange Zeit vernachlässigt, insbesondere im Hinblick auf die nachpaulinischen Briefe. Die Dissertation versucht diese Lücke durch eine Untersuchung der Rede von Gott des 1. Timotheusbriefes ein Stück weit zu schließen. Eine detaillierte synchrone exegetische Analyse im Durchgang durch den Brief wird ergänzt durch motivgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, die die Motivgeschichte einzelner Aussagen über Gott berücksichtigen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass die Rede von Gott, die der Brief enthält, zentrale Funktionen für die Kommunikationsinteressen des Briefschreibers übernimmt und zugleich auf mögliche Adressat:innen des Briefes abgestimmt erscheint.”

“The study of early Christian conceptions of God has long been neglected in New Testament scholarship, particularly regarding the post-Pauline epistles. This dissertation seeks to help bridge that gap by examining how God is portrayed in the First Epistle to Timothy. A detailed synchronic exegetical analysis of the letter is complemented by studies tracing the history of specific motifs found in statements about God. The findings reveal that the letter’s depiction of God serves key functions in advancing the author’s communicative aims while simultaneously appearing tailored to the letter’s intended recipients.” (Google Translate)

Köstenberger notes in his five-page biblical-theological treatment of the topic that “theology proper has been a largely neglected theme in the literature on the LTT [Letters to Timothy and Titus]” (Commentary on 1–2 Timothy & Titus, BTCP, 414). Priesemuth’s work is not the first monograph-length study on theology proper in 1 Timothy, though it is, to my knowledge, the first published one. Roughly twenty years ago, this comparatively brief 171–page dissertation addressed the same topic:

Hetzler, Charles Oscar. “Our Savior and King: Theology Proper in 1 Timothy.” PhD diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008.

Other focused work on the theology proper in the Pastorals can be found in these resources:

Bailey, M. L. “A Theology of Paul’s Pastoral Epistles.” Pages 333–67 in A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Chicago: Moody, 1994. [see pp. 340–43]

Couser, Gregory A. “God and Christian Existence in the Pastoral Epistles: Toward Theological Method and Meaning.” Novum Testamentum 42.3 (2000): 262–83.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. “The Savior God.” Pages 181–96 in The Forgotten God: Perspectives in Biblical Theology. Essays in Honor of Paul J. Achtemeier on the Occasion of His Seventy-fifth Birthday. Edited by A. Andrew Das and Frank J. Matera. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002.

Marshall, Tim. “A Sovereign and Transcendent God: The Doxologies of 1 Timothy.” Semănătorul (The Sower): The Journal of Ministry and Biblical Research (Oradea, Romania) 1:2 (2018): 52–72. Repr., Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2018.

Spicq, Ceslas. Les épîtres pastorales. 2 vols. 4th edition. Études bibliques 39. Paris: Gabalda, 1969. [see pp. 243–45]

Sumney, Jerry L. “‘God Our Savior’: The Fundamental Operational Theological Assertion of 1 Timothy.” Horizons in Biblical Theology 21.2 (1999): 105–23.  

Sumney, Jerry L. “‘God Our Savior’: The Theology of 1 Timothy.” Lexington Theological Quarterly 33 (1998): 151–61. 

Below, the interested reader can find the contents of Priesemuth’s work, courtesy of the publisher.

Jenks, “Eve as Savior of Humanity?”

June 10, 2023 /

Within the Pastorals, 1 Timothy 2:9–15 holds pride of place as having more secondary literature devoted to it than any other passage in the letters. Within that passage, verse 15 has received particular focus, and has been interpreted in a surprising number of ways. With the amount of attention given to this crux interpretum it might be thought that possible understandings of the verse have been exhausted, but a new article presents yet another take on this disputed passage:

R. Gregory Jenks, “Eve as Savior of Humanity? From the Genesis Narrative to Paul’s Comments on Childbearing in 1 Timothy 2:15.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 66.1 (2023): 133–61.

Abstract: As the concluding text to one of the more controversial Pauline teachings about women in the church community, 1 Timothy 2:15 carries a host of grammatical, semantic, and cultural questions that tax the most motivated and careful exegete. It is rendered distinctly troublesome by the change in number in the verbs and debates about their referent(s), the meaning of “salvation,” and Paul’s choice of desired attributes. I examine Paul’s use of the figure of Eve by looking first at the Genesis passage, where I consider her role as Adam’s helper, her fall, her curse, and her recovery as keys to interpret her mention in 1 Timothy 2. I offer a surprising solution: Adam, not Eve, is saved through childbirth; that is, humanity is saved from extinction through the woman’s role of mother with the condition that the couple, that is, men and women in the church, maintain the godly attributes listed.

The Pastorals in New Testament Abstracts 66.2

November 15, 2022 /

The following items listed in New Testament Abstracts 66.2 (2022) may be of interest to Pastorals scholars.

615. L’ubomir Majtán, “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.

673. Michel Gourgues, “‘…Lui qui veut que tous soient sauvés et arrivent à la connaissance de la vérité’ (1 Tm 2,4). Quelle vérité?” Science et Esprit 73.1­–2 (2021): 65–77.

674. Adam Booth, “Paul among the Physicians: 1 Tim 2:15 and Salvation in a Context of Contested Health Claims.” Revue Biblique 128.4 (2021): 593–608.

675. Christian Schramm, “Der ‘Mantel des Paulus’ (2 Tim 4,13): vergessen, zurückgelassen, deponiert? Eine Notiz mit Autorisierungspotenzial.” Biblische Zeitschrift 65.1 (2021): 86–110.

676. John G. Cook. “Titus 1,12: Epimenides, Ancient Christian Scholars, Zeus’s Death, and the Cretan Paradox.” Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity 25.3 (2021): 367–94. https://doi.org/10.1515/zac-2021-0032

712. Ricardo Sanjurjo Otero, “El origen del término πρεσβύτερος, entre Pablo y la tercera generación Cristiana.” Estudios Biblicos 79.3 (2021): 469–95.

791. Perkins, Larry J., and Spencer Elliott. “The Use of οἰκία/οἶκος in Greek Exodus: An Attempt to Understand Principles of Lexical Variation in Greek Exodus.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 54 (2021): 111–27. [Perkins wrote the BHGNT volume on the Pastorals, and the variation of οἰκία/οἶκος is relevant to the Pastorals]

(p. 284) Peter Wick and Daniel Klinkmann, Bibelkunde des Neuen Testaments. 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2020. [note the treatments of the Pastorals, pp. 73–79, as well as the “Exkurs zu Timotheus und Titus,” pp. 79–81, on the identity of Timothy and Titus]

(p. 302) Mark J. Keown, Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes, vol. 2: The Pauline Letters. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2021. [treatment of the Pastorals as a group, pp. 331–51]

(p. 303) Kathy Ehrensperger, “Διδάσκαλος ἐθνῶν—Pauline Trajectories According to 1 Timothy.”  Pages 88–104 in The Early Reception of Paul the Second Temple Jew: Text, Narrative and Reception History. Edited by Isaac W. Oliver and Gabriele Boccaccini with Joshua Scott. Library of Second Temple Studies 92. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2020.

(p. 307) Andrea Taschl-Erber, “Gottesbilder in den Deuteropaulinen: Metaphernrezeption im Kontext von Bildfeldtraditionen.” Pages 187–216 in Gottes-Bilder: Zur Metaphorik biblischer Gottesrede. Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament 232. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2022.

(p. 308) Seth M. Ehorn, “Exodus in the Disputed Pauline Letters.” In Exodus in the New Testament. Edited by Seth M. Ehorn. Library of New Testament Studies. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022.

(p. 309) Siker, Jeffrey, Sin in the New Testament. Essentials of Biblical Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. [pp. 137–38 on the Pastorals.]

(p. 316) Allan T. Georgia, Gaming Greekness: Cultural Agonism among Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire. Gorgias Studies in Early Christianity and Patristics 76. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2020. [note section 2 in chap. 3, “The Evolution of ἀγῶνες in the Pauline Tradition,” esp. “Venues of Competition in the Pastoral Epistles,” pp. 121–29; and section 3 in chap. 3, “Paul and the Critique of Magic and Popular Cult Practices in the Acts of the Apostles and the Pastoral Epistles,” esp. “Characterizing Paul’s Adversaries in the Pastoral Epistles,” pp. 143–149]

Waters, Women, Salvation, and Childbearing

July 16, 2022 /

Kenneth L. Waters, Sr., is Professor of New Testament and Associate Dean of Personnel, Contracts, and Undergraduate Studies in the School of Theology of Azusa Pacific University. Those who have sought to probe the depths of the extensive literature on 1 Timothy 2:15 have encountered the two related essays that Waters has produced on this crux interpretum:

“Saved Through Childbearing: Virtues as Children in 1 Timothy 2:11–15.” Journal of Biblical Literature 123.4 (2004): 703–35.
“Revisiting Virtues as Children: 1 Timothy 2:15 as Centerpiece for an Egalitarian Soteriology.” Lexington Theological Quarterly 42 (2007): 37–49.

Waters has now incorporated these two essays into a new, book-length treatment of the debated 1 Timothy 2:11–15:

Women, Salvation, and Childbearing: The Mystery of 1 Timothy 2:11–15. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2022.

The book also includes a four-page appendix: “Exploring Further: Teknogonía in Classical Literature” (111–14).

Annual Bibliographies on the Pastorals

April 12, 2022 /

For some few years now, we have been producing annual bibliographies for researchers in the Letters to Timothy and Titus. These bibliographies are meant to help students of these letters keep up with the secondary literature, and give some idea of research trends. We compile this list each year by contacting academic publishers and 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 2021 and early 2022. Over 170 items long and international in scope, the list contains monographs, journal articles, and commentaries, as well as lists of conference presentations and dissertations on the letters. It is available for viewing and downloading here.

Our annual bibliography of forthcoming publications on the Letters to Timothy and Titus is wide-ranging and academically oriented, 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.

The Pastorals in Interpretation 75.4

November 24, 2021 /

Every so often, a scholarly journal will devote an entire issue to the Pastorals. The current issue of Interpretation does so (TOC), and contains the following articles:

MacDonald, Margaret Y. “Education and the Household in the Pastoral Epistles.” Interpretation 75.4 (2021): 283–93. (https://doi.org/10.1177/00209643211027768) Abstract: “The article examines the convergence of studies on the Pastoral Epistles, with greater attention to the theme of education as a key to the purpose of the documents. The close association between the household and education is considered in an effort to shed light on the presentations of Timothy and Titus, emerging leadership roles, intergenerational instruction, and constructions of gender.”

Huizenga, Annette. “Idealized Motherhood: Examples of the Gendered Worldview of the Pastoral Letters.” Interpretation 75.4 (2021): 294–304. (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00209643211027765) Abstract: “In the Pastoral Letters, the roles and practices of mothering in a domestic household serve as benchmarks for the general instructions on how ‘one ought to behave in the household of God’ (1 Tim 3:15). This article examines several passages in 1–2 Timothy and Titus in which the author employs an idealized and stereotypical view of motherhood in order to persuade female believers to fulfill this socially-appropriate condition and to restrict them from leadership positions in the community.”

Kartzow, Marianne Bjelland. “The ‘Believing Woman’ and Her ekklēsia: Rethinking Intersectional Households and Manuscript Variations in the Widows’ Tale (1 Tim 5:3–16).” Interpretation 75.4 (2021): 305–16. (https://doi.org/10.1177/00209643211027767) Abstract: “The widows of the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 5:3–16) have been a puzzle for interpreters for generations. In the ‘Widows’ Tale’ different categories of women are given a whole set of instructions, including how they shall be organized and with whom to live. In this article, I will highlight the interpretative potential of the very last verse of the paragraph, where ‘a believing woman who has widows’ is mentioned. In some important manuscripts, scribes have added ‘believing man’ in v. 16, while others have left out the woman altogether. What can these disagreements and changes tell? I will argue that not enough scholarly attention has been directed to this verse. There is huge potential for a new understanding of the whole paragraph hidden here. Attention to alternative housing arrangements and manuscript variations will be employed as interpretative tools. I will use the disagreement among scribes to rethink variety and difference, and to reimagine ekklēsia within intersectional early Christian households.”

Fortune, Marie M. “Is Nothing Sacred? I Timothy and Clergy Sexual Abuse.” Interpretation 75.4 (2021): 317–27. (https://doi.org/10.1177/00209643211027764) Abstract: “1 Timothy and the Pastoral Letters appear to be efforts to codify structure and roles in the early church. These efforts largely reflected the patriarchal social structures of the time and as such are not relevant to the twenty-first-century church. But some of the concerns identified herein, for example expectations of church leaders, are useful for a current discussion. What is missing is any acknowledgement of the potential for identified church leaders to take advantage of vulnerable congregants, particularly women and children. How might the writer of 1 Timothy have addressed this serious problem in the churches?”

Merkle, “The Authority of Deacons in Pauline Churches”

November 22, 2021 /

Benjamin L. Merkle has made another contribution to the literature on the Pastorals:

Merkle, Benjamin L. “The Authority of Deacons in Pauline Churches.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 64.2 (2021): 309–25.

Abstract: The New Testament office of deacon is disputed primarily because of the paucity of information. Consequently, many look to the following in order to determine the role of deacons in the church: (1) the lexical meaning of διάκονος and its cognates (διακονέω and διακονία); (2) the function of the Seven in Acts 6:1–6; and (3) the qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8–13. Additionally, one’s view of the role of women in ministry can influence how one perceives the function and authority of deacons. This essay argues that deacons held an official and authoritative, yet nonessential and subordinate, position in the Pauline churches. I support this thesis by considering: (1) the official title of deacons; (2) the official function of deacons; (3) the official qualifications of deacons; and (4) the official period of testing and honorable standing of deacons.

I took a class on the Greek text of the Pastorals with Dr. Merkle and benefitted greatly from it. I’m thankful for his commitment to thinking through issues in these letters and publishing the results for the benefit of both church and academy, as well as his work behind the scenes in the ETS Pastorals study group. Other publications of his on the Pastorals include:

“Are the Qualifications for Elders or Overseers Negotiable?” Bibliotheca Sacra 171.682 (2014): 172–88.

“Ecclesiology in the Pastoral Epistles.” Pages 173–98 in Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul’s Theology in the Pastoral Epistles. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Terry L. Wilder. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010.

The Elder and Overseer: One Office in the Early Church. Studies in Biblical Literature 57. New York: Lang, 2003.

“Hierarchy in the Church? Instruction from the Pastoral Epistles regarding Elders and Overseers.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 7 (2003): 32–43. Reprinted as “Hierarchy in the Church? Instruction from the Pastoral Epistles concerning Elders and Overseers.” Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry 2.1 (2004): 45–62.

“Paul’s Arguments from Creation in 1 Corinthians 11:8–9 and 1 Timothy 2:13–14: An Apparent Inconsistency Answered.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 49 (2006): 527–48.

Heringer, “Beginning with the End: 1 Timothy 1:3–6 and Formative Theological Education”

October 6, 2021 /

Researchers in the Pastorals may be interested in a new article on moral formation as an integral part of Christian higher education. This is, to my knowledge, the first article in the five-year-old Journal of Theological Interpretation specifically focusing on a passage from the Pastorals:

Seth Heringer. “Beginning with the End: 1 Timothy 1:3–6 and Formative Theological Education.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 15.2 (2021): 365–80. https://doi.org/10.5325/jtheointe.15.2.0365

Abstract: Institutions of Christian higher education are currently facing numerous and substantial challenges pressuring them to direct resources into training students in professional skills and away from religious and moral formation. Contrary to this prevailing movement, Joel Green has emphasized that Christian education should be orientated toward the church with the goal of forming students to love God with their whole being. This article will argue that Green’s position is rooted in 1 Tim 1:3–6, where Paul juxtaposes heterodox and orthodox instruction. Heterodox instruction seeks “myths” and “genealogies,” leading to worthless arguments and the destruction of relationships. Orthodox instruction teaches about God’s ordering of the world according to his plan as revealed in the gospel. The telos of orthodox instruction is love brought about by three penultimate ends: “a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” If these ends are to be sought by Christian institutions, then formative instruction is a biblically mandated, essential aim that must be sought through institution-wide efforts and measured like other educational outcomes.

Tomczyk, “Wealth as Generosity in Giving: Linguistic and Theological Study of 1Tim 6:17–19”

July 8, 2021 /

I gratefully acknowledge the help of Dominik Tomczyk for his assistance in all things Pastorals-related in the Polish language (and there are many!). He has recently published an article on 1 Timothy 6:17–19 (which happens to connect topically with this year’s ETS theme):

Tomczyk, Dominik. “Bogactwo jako hojność dawania. Analiza lingwistyczno-teologiczna 1Tm 6,17–19 / Wealth as Generosity in Giving: Linguistic and Theological Study of 1Tm 6:17–19.” Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny [Wrocław Theological Review] 29.1 (2021): 71–93.

The article is in Polish, but has an English-language abstract (reproduced below), and I found that the pdf translated reasonably well using Google Translate — enough to get the gist of the article. Note also that in the first footnote there is a good bibliography of earlier treatments of the article’s passage of interest. The article is available at Academia.

Abstract: The author of the article provides a linguistic and theological study of
the text from 1Tm 6:17-19, which is a sort of “instruction” offered by the author of the Letter on the Christian attitude towards wealth. Each one of these three verses is analysed separately. The paper draws the reader’s attention to the fact that the material riches owned by a man is a gift from God and brings with itself a threefold accountability: to man, to society and to God. The text under study underlines two main components of wealth which are captured by the adjectives εὐμετάδοτος (generosity beyond measure) and κοινωνικός (the social dimension of wealth). God’s intention for providing men with tangible assets (wealth) is, primarily, doing good to others, also by generous sharing of their possessions. We should perceive wealth from the eschatological point of view which ought to influence the present attitude of wealthy people. A rich man should put his trust not in ephemeral and temporary things but in God who is everlasting and eternal. He is the source of all abundance and wealth. Rich Christians should imitate God in His universal attitude of sharing with everybody.

Forthcoming Publications on the Pastorals (as of April 2021)

April 9, 2021 /

We have produced our annual list of forthcoming publications on the Letters to Timothy and Titus. This bibliography is wide-ranging and academically oriented, containing 50 forthcoming works on the Pastoral Epistles including essays, monographs, and commentaries. We compile this list each year by contacting academic publishers and Pastorals scholars who have published previously on the letters, with the aim of helping researchers in the Pastorals to see current trends. In some cases, authors provided a brief synopsis of their work specifically for this project. Our thanks to all who contributed!

The list is available here.

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