Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
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As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters,
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not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
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Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one
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is revealed, the one destined for destruction.
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He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.
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Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
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And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes.
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For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed.
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And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus
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will destroy
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with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.
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The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders,
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and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
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For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false,
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so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.
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But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters
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beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits
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for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
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For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news,
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so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So then, brothers and sisters,
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stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,
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comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
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Finally, brothers and sisters,
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pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you,
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and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith.
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But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
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And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.
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May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
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Now we command you, beloved,
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in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are
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living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they
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received from us.
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For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,
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and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.
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This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.
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For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
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For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.
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Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
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Brothers and sisters,
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do not be weary in doing what is right.
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Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.
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Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.
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Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.
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I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
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THE FIRST LETTER OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY
INTRODUCTION
First and Second Timothy, along with Titus, are known as the “Pastoral Epistles”; despite differences among them, they are commonly grouped together. The term “Pastoral Epistles,” though it is not used in the letters themselves, has been used for these three letters because they are concerned mostly with the life and rules governing individual Christian communities. Although presented as a short, personal letter written by the apostle Paul to Timothy, a co-missionary who remained in Ephesus to guide the nascent community, 1 Timothy’s Pauline authorship is doubted. The themes and issues are different from Paul’s concerns with justification and are more focused on matters of dissent within the communities. The concept of faith presented here—that of “sound teaching” (4.6)—differs from that in the genuine letters of Paul, for instance Gal 3.6–9. The tone and vocabulary of these epistles differ from Paul’s undisputed letters. On the one hand they share commonality with popular Greek ethical writings, and on the other they speak of Jesus’ epiphany, moral uprightness, and community traditions to be kept, rather than Jesus’ second coming, justification, and trust in God. It is therefore more likely, in the view of scholars, that these letters are attributed to Paul but not written by him. The attribution of letters and other texts to past worthies was known in various contexts: Jewish (e.g.,
1 Enoch
), pagan (e.g., the so-called
Homeric Hymns
, odes to the gods in the style of Homer but almost certainly not by him), as well as in early Christian history (e.g., the
Gospel of Thomas
), and it is possible the Pastorals represent the views of late first- or early second-century Christians who appealed to Paul for their authority.
According to Acts (16.1) Timothy is the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father. If pseudonymous, the letter’s choice of Timothy (rather than some other disciple) makes sense, for Timothy, who encountered Paul in Lystra, accompanied the apostle in some cities, represented him in others, and often co-signed his letters (e.g., 2 Cor 1.1; Phil 1.1; 1 Thess 1.1; Philem 1).
INTERPRETATION
Paul sought to prepare his churches for Jesus’ imminent return (see 1 Thess 4). In some of his undisputed letters, and particularly in later legendary stories (such as the apocryphal second-century
Acts of Paul and Thecla
), Paul can be understood as erasing the distinctions between slave and free and between male and female (see Gal 3.28) as well as advocating celibacy (see 1 Cor 7.7). This understanding led some of his followers to refuse the social conventions of slavery and marriage. The delay of the “coming of the Lord” (1 Thess 4.15) prompted others to insist on conformity to prevailing Roman social values: slaves were to be obedient to their masters; women and men were to marry and procreate; husbands and fathers were to rule their homes. In this corrective mode, the Pastoral Epistles present Paul as supporting the status quo.
Naomi Koltun-Fromm
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
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To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine,
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and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training
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that is known by faith.
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But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.
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Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk,
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desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.
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Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.
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This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,
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fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching
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that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
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I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
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even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
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and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
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The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.
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But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.
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To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,
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having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith;
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among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.