1 Timothy 6:11

Rec. text has τοῦ before θεοῦ with אcD2GKLP, and this is adopted by Tregelles and given a place in Westcott and Hort’s margin. The article is omitted by א*A 17 and by Tischendorf and Lachmann. See on 1 Timothy 6:13.

πραϋπαθίαν. So א*AGP; πραότητα, the more usual word, is read by D2KL אc.

11. σὺ δέ. Emphatic, and in contrast with τινές of 1 Timothy 6:10.

ὦ ἄνθρωπε θεοῦ. This is not a technical title of office, nor on the other hand is the phrase used quite so generally as in 2 Timothy 3:17; but it emphatically recalls to the mind of Timothy his position as one entrusted with a Divine message. It is the regular O.T. expression for a prophet, אִישׁ אֱלהִים; see 1 Samuel 9:6; 1 Kings 12:22; 1 Kings 13:1 &c. The N.T. prophets, of whom Timothy perhaps was one (among his other qualifications for his high position), might naturally be thus described.

ταῦτα φεῦγε, flee these things, sc. φιλαργυρία and its attendant evils.

δίωκε δὲ δικαιοσύνην. See, for this phrase, Proverbs 15:9; Romans 9:30 and 2 Timothy 2:22, in which last place, as here, it follows φεῦγε, and is followed by πίστιν, ἀγάπην.

The qualities now enumerated fall into three pairs, (i.) δικαιοσύνη and εὐσέβεια, righteousness (in the largest sense) and piety, linked together again at Titus 2:12; these are the ground of all performance of duty to man and to God: (ii.) πίστις and ἀγάπη, faith and love, the supreme Christian graces: (iii.) ὑπομονή and πραϋπαθία, patience and meekness, especially necessary in dealing with opponents. ὑπομονή, which in the canonical books of the LXX. stands for hopeful waiting or expectation, is used often in Ecclus. and always in 4 Macc. (e.g. 4Ma 17:12) for patient endurance; it is a favourite word with the Apostle in this sense. St Paul is described by Clement (§ 5) as himself ὑπομονῆς γενόμενος μέγιστος ὑπογραμμός. See further on Titus 2:2.

The form πραϋπαθία does not occur elsewhere in the Greek Bible; but we find it in Philo De Abr. § 37.