The First Epistle of St Paul to Timothy (1 Timothy)

The First Epistle to Timothy, in the Vulgate Epistola I ad Timotheum, is the first of the three Pastoral Epistles, with the Second Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus. Most of Paul's letters went to churches; these went to shepherds. Challoner's preface gives the purpose: St Paul wrote "to his beloved Timothy, being then bishop of Ephesus, to instruct him in the duties of a bishop, both in respect to himself and to his charge". In six short chapters the Apostle teaches how the Church prays, whom she ordains, how she cares for widows and honours her priests, what she thinks of money, and how she keeps the faith "committed to thy trust."

Who wrote 1 Timothy?

St Paul the Apostle. The letter opens: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the commandment of God our Saviour, and of Christ Jesus our hope: To Timothy, his beloved son in faith" (1 Timothy 1). The writer recalls that he "before was a blasphemer, and a persecutor," which is Paul's own story, and calls himself "a doctor of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (2:7).

The ancient witness is constant. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 finds "a very strong probability" that St Clement of Rome knew the Pastoral Epistles about the year 96; St Ignatius of Antioch and St Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop forty miles from Ephesus, show acquaintance with them; St Irenaeus "makes frequent use of the Epistles and quotes them as St. Paul's," and named his great work against the Gnostics after the "knowledge falsely so called" of 1 Timothy 6. The Muratorian Fragment ascribes them to Paul, Eusebius counts them among the books received by all, and Tertullian marvelled that the heretic Marcion alone had rejected them.

On 12 June 1913 the Pontifical Biblical Commission answered that, by the tradition of the Church, the Pastoral Epistles were written by the Apostle Paul himself and were always held genuine and canonical, and that objections drawn from their style, from the errors they combat or from the hierarchy they describe do not weaken that testimony. Many modern scholars hold that a later disciple wrote them in Paul's name; the Church's teaching rests on the Fathers who received them as his. For the Apostle's life, see St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Who was 1 Timothy written to?

To Timothy, Paul's "beloved son in faith," born most probably at Lystra, "the son of a Jewish woman that believed; but his father was a Gentile," whom Paul took as his companion on his second journey (Acts 16). His name stands beside Paul's at the head of the Epistles to the Philippians and the Colossians. When the letter was written he was governing the Church of Ephesus: "As I desired thee to remain at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some not to teach otherwise" (1:3). Tradition honours him as its first bishop and a martyr; our article on St Timothy, disciple of St Paul tells his life.

When and where was 1 Timothy written?

After St Paul's release from the first Roman captivity that closes Acts 28, and before his second imprisonment and death. The Biblical Commission placed the Pastorals in that interval, citing the Fathers of East and West, the abrupt ending of Acts, and the letters Paul wrote from Rome, above all 2 Timothy. Challoner dates the Epistle "about 33 years after our Lord's Ascension," that is, in the middle sixties; the Catholic Encyclopedia allows the years 63 to 67 for the writing of 1 Timothy and Titus.

As to the place, Challoner is candid: "where it was written is uncertain: the more general opinion is, that it was in Macedonia." The letter fits, for Paul had gone on into Macedonia and hoped to return to Ephesus "shortly" (3:14).

What is 1 Timothy about? A summary

The key is one sentence: "These things I write to thee... that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (3:14-15). Each chapter applies it to one part of a bishop's care.

Sound doctrine and Paul's conversion (chapter 1)

Timothy must silence those who teach "fables and endless genealogies," for "the end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith" (chapter 1). The Law "is not made for the just man, but for the unjust," and Paul lists the sins it condemns. Then he gives thanks for his own conversion, a proof that "Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners," and warns of Hymeneus and Alexander, who "have made shipwreck concerning the faith."

The prayer of the Church (chapter 2)

Prayer must be made "for all men: For kings, and for all that are in high station" (1 Timothy 2), because God "will have all men to be saved," and there is "one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Men are to pray "lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention"; women are to adorn themselves "with modesty and sobriety" and good works, and not to teach in the assembly.

Bishops, deacons and the mystery of godliness (chapter 3)

"If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work" (1 Timothy 3). A bishop must be blameless, "the husband of one wife," sober, chaste, hospitable, "a teacher," free of wine and of covetousness, ruling his house well, "not a neophyte." Deacons must be proved first, "holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience." The chapter ends with the Church as "the pillar and ground of the truth" and a hymn to Christ: "great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the spirit, appeared unto angels, hath been preached unto the Gentiles, is believed in the world, is taken up in glory."

False asceticism and the young bishop (chapter 4)

"In the last times some shall depart from the faith... forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats" (1 Timothy 4), though "every creature of God is good." Timothy is to train himself in godliness, to "attend unto reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine," and not to neglect "the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophesy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood."

Widows and priests (chapter 5)

Timothy is to treat the old as fathers and mothers, the young as brothers and sisters, "in all chastity" (1 Timothy 5). He must "honour widows, that are widows indeed": families first care for their own; the Church enrols only widows of sixty years, "the wife of one husband," proved in good works. Priests who rule well deserve "double honour"; no accusation against a priest is received "but under two or three witnesses"; and "Impose not hands lightly upon any man."

Riches and the deposit of faith (chapter 6)

Servants are to honour their masters; teachers "supposing gain to be godliness" are rebuked, for "the desire of money is the root of all evils" (1 Timothy 6). Timothy, "man of God," must "fight the good fight of faith," charge the rich "to be rich in good works," and above all: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called."

Themes and the Catholic reading of 1 Timothy

The hierarchy of the Church. The letter shows a bishop set over a Church by an Apostle, who ordains by the laying on of hands (4:14; 5:22), judges priests and appoints deacons. The Council of Trent, defining Holy Orders as a true sacrament, cites the Apostle's words to Timothy on "the grace of God which is in thee, by the imposition of my hands" (Session XXIII, ch. 3, from 2 Timothy 1:6). See our article on Holy Orders.

"The husband of one wife." Challoner's note: "The meaning is not that every bishop should have a wife (for St. Paul himself had none), but that no one should be admitted to the holy orders of bishop, priest, or deacon, who had been married more than once."

One Mediator, and the prayers of the saints. On 2:5 Challoner writes that Christ "is the one and only mediator of redemption," and that this "is not against our seeking the prayers and intercession, as well of the faithful upon earth, as of the saints and angels in heaven," since Paul himself asks for "intercessions" for all men (2:1). Trent condemns those who call the invocation of saints contrary to the honour of the "one mediator of God and men" (Session XXV). See why Catholics pray to saints.

The Church, pillar of truth. On 3:15: "Therefore the church of the living God can never uphold error, nor bring in corruptions, superstition, or idolatry." See the four marks of the Church.

Celibacy and fasting. "Forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats" (4:3) has been turned against Catholic practice. Challoner answers that Paul "speaks of the Gnostics, the Marcionites, the Encratites, the Manicheans," who held all flesh evil, "whereas the church of God, so far from condemning marriage, holds it a holy sacrament; and forbids it to none but such as by vow have chosen the better part," and forbids no food in itself, though not every diet befits days of penance.

The deposit of faith. Depositum custodi, "keep that which is committed to thy trust" (6:20), is the charter of Tradition: the bishop does not invent doctrine but guards what he received. St Vincent of Lerins expounds this verse at length in his Commonitorium (ch. 22). St John Chrysostom preached eighteen homilies on the Epistle; St Thomas Aquinas and Cornelius a Lapide commented it in full.

Famous verses and chapters from 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 1:15 and 1:17. "A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief"; "Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Timothy 1).

1 Timothy 2:1-5. "I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men," for God "will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2).

1 Timothy 2:9-15. Women in "decent apparel... not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire"; "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence" (2:12), read by the Church, with 1 Corinthians 14, of public teaching in the liturgical assembly, and among the reasons she has never ordained women (see can women be priests?). "Yet she shall be saved through childbearing; if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety" (2:15): woman is saved by living her own state in faith and holiness, and St John Chrysostom applies the verse also to the Christian upbringing of children.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 and 3:15-16. The qualities of a bishop, the Church "the pillar and ground of the truth," and "great is the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3).

1 Timothy 4:8 and 4:12. "For bodily exercise is profitable to little: but godliness is profitable to all things"; "Let no man despise thy youth: but be thou an example of the faithful in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in chastity" (1 Timothy 4), "conversation" meaning one's whole manner of life.

1 Timothy 5:8, 5:17-18 and 5:23. "But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5). Priests' "double honour" rests on "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn" (Deuteronomy 25) and "The labourer is worthy of his reward," Our Lord's words in Luke 10. And to the ascetic Timothy: "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake"; see what the Bible says about alcohol.

1 Timothy 6:7-12 and 6:17-19. "For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out"; "For the desire of money is the root of all evils"; "Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life"; and the rich are to "give easily" (1 Timothy 6). With the Vulgate, radix omnium malorum est cupiditas, the root is the desire of money, not money itself; see what God says about money.

1 Timothy in the canon and in the liturgy

1 Timothy belongs to the New Testament. It bears the same name and has the same six chapters in Catholic and Protestant Bibles, and stands between 2 Thessalonians and 2 Timothy, the tenth of the fourteen Epistles of St Paul. It was never disputed: the Councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393), Carthage (397), Florence and Trent (Session IV, 1546) name the two Epistles to Timothy among Paul's. Written in Greek, it came to the West in the Latin Vulgate, from which our Douay-Rheims Bible was translated.

In the 1962 Missal, the Mass of St Timothy, Bishop and Martyr, on 24 January, takes its Epistle from 1 Timothy 6:11-16: "pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness. Fight the good fight of faith." In the Roman Breviary, 1 Timothy 1:17, Regi saeculorum immortali et invisibili, soli Deo honor et gloria, is the Chapter of Prime on Sundays and feasts. Follow these days in our liturgical calendar and pray the Hours in the Breviary.

How to read 1 Timothy

Read it first at one sitting, as a letter. Then read it with Titus, its twin, and 2 Timothy, Paul's last letter, and keep Acts 20 at hand, where Paul bids farewell to the priests of Ephesus, with the Epistle to the Ephesians. Go slowly through chapter 3 with the Latin beside the English: episcopus, diaconus and ecclesia Dei vivi carry the order of the Church in a few words.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the book of 1 Timothy?

St Paul the Apostle, as its first verse states: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ... To Timothy, his beloved son in faith." The Fathers from St Polycarp and St Irenaeus onward received it as his, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission affirmed in 1913 that the Church's tradition holds the Pastoral Epistles to be the Apostle's own. Many modern scholars attribute it to a later disciple, but the tradition stands.

Who was 1 Timothy written to?

To Timothy, St Paul's young disciple and companion, born at Lystra of a Gentile father and a Jewish mother who believed. Paul had left him at Ephesus to govern that Church, and tradition honours him as its first bishop. Read his life in our article on St Timothy.

When was 1 Timothy written?

In the middle sixties of the first century, between St Paul's release from his first Roman captivity and his second imprisonment, as the Pontifical Biblical Commission taught in 1913. Challoner dates it "about 33 years after our Lord's Ascension," and the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 allows the years 63 to 67.

Where was Paul when he wrote 1 Timothy?

Most probably in Macedonia. Challoner says the place "is uncertain: the more general opinion is, that it was in Macedonia," and the letter recalls that Paul had left Timothy at Ephesus "when I went into Macedonia" (1:3).

What is 1 Timothy about?

It is a pastoral rule for a bishop. Paul tells Timothy to guard sound doctrine, order the Church's prayer for all men, ordain worthy bishops and deacons, care for widows, honour and judge priests justly, warn the rich against the love of money, and keep the deposit of faith. Its key verse calls the Church "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3).

How many chapters are in 1 Timothy?

1 Timothy has 6 chapters and 113 verses, in the Douay-Rheims, the Latin Vulgate and Protestant Bibles alike. You can read every chapter here, beginning with 1 Timothy 1, Latin and English side by side.

Is 1 Timothy in the Old or New Testament?

In the New Testament. It is one of the fourteen Epistles of St Paul, placed after 2 Thessalonians and before 2 Timothy, and it has never been disputed in the Church's canon.

What does 1 Timothy 2:12 mean?

"But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence." With 1 Corinthians 14:34, the Church has always understood it of public, authoritative teaching in the liturgical assembly, which belongs to the ordained ministry. It is no judgement on women's worth: the same Epistle honours holy widows and women "professing godliness, with good works."

What does 1 Timothy 5:23 mean?

"Do not still drink water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thy frequent infirmities." Timothy drank only water out of austerity and his health suffered, so Paul prescribes a little wine as a remedy. St John Chrysostom observes that Paul allows him wine only "as much as was for health and not for luxury," a lesson in moderation for everyone.

Read the whole First Epistle to Timothy verse by verse, Latin and English, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The First Epistle of St Paul to Timothy, Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims (Challoner revision, 1749-1752), with Challoner's preface and notes; St Irenaeus, Against Heresies; Tertullian, Against Marcion; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History; St John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle to Timothy; St Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium; St Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the First Epistle to Timothy; Cornelius a Lapide, Commentaria in Epistolas ad Timotheum; Council of Trent, Sessions IV (1546), XXIII and XXV (1563); Pontifical Biblical Commission, response on the Pastoral Epistles (12 June 1913); The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Epistles to Timothy and Titus"; Missale Romanum (1962); Breviarium Romanum (1962).