1 Timothy 4:12

μηδείς καταφρονείτω (“ Libenter id faciunt senes inanes,” Bengel). Many, probably, of the Ephesian presbyters were older than Timothy. For μηδείς in this position, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 10:24; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 2:18; Titus 2:15; James 1:13. καταφρονέω connotes that the contempt felt in the mind is displayed in injurious action. (See Moulton and Milligan, Expositor, vi., viii. 432). The meaning of this direction is qualified by the following ἀλλὰ τύπος γίνου, κ. τ. λ. It means, Assert the dignity of your office even though men may think you young to hold it. Let no one push you aside as a boy. Compare the corresponding direction Titus 2:15, μηδείς σου περιφρονείτω. On the other hand, St. Paul shows Timothy “a more excellent way” than self-assertion for the keeping up of his dignity: Give no one any ground by any fault of character for despising thy youth.

σου depends on τῆς νεότητος. Field supports this by an exact parallel from Diodorus Siculus. The two genitives do not, in strict grammar, depend on καταφρον., despise thee for thy youth.

τῆς νεότητος : St. Paul had met Timothy on the second missionary journey, dated by Harnack in A.D. 47, and by Lightfoot in A.D. 51. About the year 57, St. Paul says of Timothy, “Let no man despise him” (1 Corinthians 16:11). 1 Tim. may be dated not more than a year before St. Paul's martyrdom, which Harnack fixes in A.D. 64, and Lightfoot in A.D. 67. The question arises, Could Timothy's νεότης have lasted all that time, about fifteen or sixteen years? We must remember that we have no information about Timothy's age when he joined St. Paul's company. But if he had been then fifteen or sixteen, or even seventeen, νεότης here need cause no difficulty. Lightfoot (Apostolic Fathers, Part II. vol. i. p. 448) adduces evidence from Polybius and Galen to show that a man might be called νεός up to the age of thirty-four or thirty-five. In any case, the terms “young” and “old” are used relatively to the average age at which men attain to positions in the world. Forty is reckoned old for a captain in the army, young for a bishop, very young for a Prime Minister. In an instructive parallel passage, Ignatius commends the Magnesians (§ 3) and their presbyters for not presuming upon the youth of their bishop. For Timothy's comparative youth, cf. 2 Timothy 2:22, τὰς δὲ νεωτερικὰς ἐπιθυμίας φεῦγε.

τύπος γίνου : For the sentiment, compare reff. and 1 Corinthians 4:16; Philippians 4:9.

τύπος is followed by the genitive of the person for whose edification the τύπος exists in 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Peter 5:3.

In the following enumeration, λόγος is coupled with ἀναστροφή as words with deeds (Romans 15:18; Colossians 3:17). These refer to Timothy's public life; while love, faith and purity refer to his private life, in reference to which they are found in conjunction in 1 Timothy 2:15.