Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · 1 Timothy Capítulo 1

1 Timothy 1:1. Commandment of—Christ, which is our hope;— Appointment of—Christ our hope.

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1 Timothy 1:2. My own son, &c.— It is not certain from the history that Timothy was converted by St. Paul: See Acts 16:1-2. It seems therefore that he calls him his son, to express the parental affection that he had for him, and the complacency he found in that assistance which he had received from him in the work of the ministry, and in the filial reverence and affection which this excellent young minister expressed to him. Nor can we doubt but Timothy had received much confirmation in Christianity from the apostle.

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1 Timothy 1:4. Neither give heed to fables, &c.— Nothing can be conceived more monstrous and absurd than the fables with which the writings of the Jewish rabbies are filled. It is probable this wild romantic humour might in some measure prevail as early as the apostle's days, and may be referred to here. The Jewish Christians valued themselves very much upon their descent from Abraham and the prophets, though possibly some of them could hardly make out the whole genealogy: but if they could have done it ever so exactly, Christians were to regard no man according to the flesh, nor to reject or despise the Gentile Christians for want of such a genealogy or extraction. Holiness and love were chiefly to be looked after in a Christian: he who had these, had all that was truly valuable; and he who wanted them, was of no account in the sight of God.

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1 Timothy 1:5. Now the end of the commandment, &c.— "The sum and great end of the Christian doctrine, or of the gospel, is love, &c." See 1 Thessalonians 5:10. Philemon 1:2

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1 Timothy 1:7. Desiring to be teachers of the law;— The gospel alone was too simple a thing for the Judaizing Christians; and their partiality for the law of Moses was so great, that they not only considered the whole of it, even the ceremonial part, as obligatory upon themselves, but they would have imposed it upon the Gentile converts; though they understood not the grand design of the law with respect to the Jews, much less the freedom of the Gentile converts from any subjection to it. The law was given because of transgressions, or to restrain the Jews from idolatry and other vices, and to prepare them for the reception of the Messiah and his gospel; when therefore the gospel was come, there was no longer any occasion for that severe tutor. The word Νομοδιδασκαλος means a doctor of the law, a rabbi, or father. See Luke 5:17. Acts 5:34.

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1 Timothy 1:8. If a man use it lawfully;— This plainly intimates, that there were some who abused the law, borrowing a pretence from it to condemn some of the best of men, and to subvert the gospel: and whereas some have represented St. Paul as an enemy to the law, he here denies and disproves the charge. The design of the Mosaic law was to direct the conduct of those to whom it was given, to humble them under a sense of their sins, and to lead them to an atoning Saviour; but it could not be intended to save them by a perfect conformity to it, which was το αδυνατον, what the law could not do. Romans 8:3.

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1 Timothy 1:9. Knowing this, &c.— The apostle's thought seems to be this, "That a law in the general,—(for there is no article, as in 1Ti 1:8 to determine or confine it to the Jewish law)—is chiefly intended to restrain men from actions injurious to the public:" what it says, therefore,chiefly relates to crimes, and their punishments; but the genius of Christianity is so sublime, that while it brings us to an all-sufficient Saviour, it leads us to all the heights and depths of holiness and love—to a religion which is not supported by slavish fear, but governs the soul by the most liberal and noble principles which can influence and animate an intellectual being.

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1 Timothy 1:10. And if there be any other thing, &c.— That was sound doctrine, in St. Paul's account, which condemned wicked practices and evil tempers, and promoted holiness and love; that, therefore, must be unsound doctrine, which encourages the contrary practices, tempers, and experience: here then is a proper test or standard, given by an apostle, by which to judge of the soundness or unsoundness of any doctrine. Some read, To the sound doctrine, (1 Timothy 1:11.) which is according, &c.

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1 Timothy 1:12. Who hath enabled me,— "Who hath qualified me with so many, and such extraordinary spiritual gifts and miraculous powers, to enable me for so great and blessed an undertaking," See Acts 1:8. Doddridge renders it, "Who hath strengthened me for the arduous duties of such a calling."

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1 Timothy 1:13. But I obtained mercy, &c.— It is not to be supposed that the apostle, by saying because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief, meant that his ignorance and unbelief were deserving; or were a proper cause of his obtaining mercy: for it would be strange indeed to imagine, that there was any merit in an ignorance which was owing to a wilful rejection of the clearest means of knowledge; and in unbelief, which is itself a heinous sin, with an entail of damnation upon it, under the light of the gospel: accordingly the apostle in the next words speaks with high admiration of the grace of the Lord Jesus, as exceeding abundant towards him, who considered himself as the chief of sinners: but his ignorance and unbelief did not shut him out of the sphere of mercy, as it left him a capable subject of it, according to the grace of the gospel; whereas, had his blasphemy and persecutions been maliciously practised, contrary to his knowledge and belief of Christ's being the true Messiah, they would have amounted to the unpardonable sin.

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1 Timothy 1:14. With faith and love— When he was a bigotted Jew, he had no love to the Christians, or to the Gentiles, nor any true love to God; but love soon followed faith in Christ Jesus: the benevolent spirit of Christianity, accompanied with the power of divine grace, sweetened his temper, regenerated his soul, and altered his cond

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1 Timothy 1:15. Of whom I am chief.— As distance diminishes objects to the sight, and nearness magnifies them, so to holy men their own faults appear greater than those of others; and truth is not injured by expressions which humility suggests, because they speak their real sentiments.

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1 Timothy 1:17. Unto the king eternal, &c.— It has been thought that in giving such titles to the true God here, St. Paul, among various other reasons, might possibly glance at the absurdity of idolatrous Ephesus, in worshipping such a visible corruptible image as that of Diana. The apostle therefore plainly intimated, that God is God alone, and there is none besides him.

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1 Timothy 1:18. According to the prophesies, &c.— "That according to the predictions made concerning you, you may exert yourself with success in this conflict" See Ch. 1 Timothy 4:14.

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1 Timothy 1:19. Holding faith and a good conscience;— "Retaining the great principles of the Christian faith in power, and with it the exercise of a good conscience."

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