THE PASTORAL EPISTLES THE PASTORAL EPISTLES INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION AND NOTES BY Sm ROBERT FALCONER I\ K.C.M.G.; D.LITT. and HoN. D.D. (EDIN.) HoN. D.CL. (OxoN.); HoN, LL.D. P:RESIDENT E.MERlrv'"S OI' Tm: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO OXFORD AT TIIB CLARENDON PRESS 1 937 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMEN HOUSE, E.C, 4 London Edinburgh Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Capetown Bombay Calcutta Madras HUMPHREY MILFORD l'UBLlSJD!R TO THE U~'RSITY PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN PREFACE T may appear to be a bold venture for one who for I twenty-five years was absorbed in the duties of the President's office in a large university to re-enter the field of scholarship. Even if release from the pressure of ad­ ministration has allowed me to resume the studies of an earlier period, why should I not be content with reflecting on the results of the work of scholars who have been able to give unbroken attention to the literature and history of New Testament times? My chief reason for making this venture is, that on re-reading an article on the Pastoral Epistles, which at the request of the late Dr. James Hastings I wrote many years ago for the Dictionary of tlze Apostolic Church, I found it to be more unsatisfactory than, at the time of its composition, I was afraid that it might be. I began, therefore, to study these Epistles again, and, as the best way of understanding their many baffling problems, I made for myself a commentary on them. Thereby I have, I think, got a much more consistent and probable picture of their origin, purpose, and character than I had before. My views I now submit, with no little diffidence, to the judgement of others who are interested in these important documents of Early Christianity. They appear to me to give glimpses of the life of the Apostle Paul and of Pauline tradition which are afforded nowhere else. In Titus, the earliest but not the most directly Pauline of the three, a glimpse is given of his work in Crete· during an interval of his ministry in Ephesus, mediated by Titus himself; 2 Timothy consists in part of an appeal to his beloved disciple before Philip­ pians was written, in part of oral tradition emanating from him; 1 Timothy is mainly a tractate on Christian piety and Church order. All the materials which underlie the Pastorals were worked over by a successor to Timothy, who gave them much of the unity in language and outlook which they possess. In their final form these Epistles may be dated shortly after the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. vi PREFACE While I cannot profess to have read all the best recent literature on the Pastorals, I have sought to examine the most important books and articles. Dr. Harrison I have found to be remarkably thorough and highly useful in his treatment of the language, though I do not agree with him in his conclusion as to the date of the Epistles. As a com­ mentator Dr. Dibelius is excellent, and Dr. Lock's work is that of an accurate scholar and felicitous translator. To Theodore of Mopsuestia, as edited by Professor Swete, I have turned again and again with satisfaction. Of transla­ tions, those by Dr. R. F. Weymouth and Dr. James Moffatt have been in constant use, as well as that in German by Carl Weizsacker; also Dr. White's smaller edition of the Latin Vulgate. To the massive Theologisches Wiirterbuch zum Neuen Testament, edited by Dr. Gerhard Kittel, of which the first two volumes have appeared, I have been under deep obligation; as well as to the illuminating Vocabulary of the New Testament illustrated from the Papyri, fsc., by the late Professors Moulton and Milligan. Professor John Dow, D.D. (St. Andrews), of Emmanuel College in the University of Toronto, has done me the very great service of reading my manuscript and making many valuable suggestions, valuable not least when he was not persuaded by my opinions. To Mrs. Dow also I am much indebted for having read the proof. Whatever may prove to be the worth of my comments and views, they are the out­ come of much re-reading of these and the Pauline Epistles in the light of recent historical research into the religious life and thought of the Hellenistic age. While the Pastorals can­ not stand alongside the great epistles of the Apostle in the originality and power of their religious and ethical concep­ tions, they are most important as showing the transmission of the Pauline Gospel through the followers of the Apostle into forms of settled Christian piety, which took to itself much of the finest contemporary moral life. They also con­ tain some of the most pregnant and magnificent formula­ tions of early Christian faith. TORONTO, March 1937. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. The Pastoral Epistles. I 2. Earliest Traces 2 3. The Language of the Pastorals 4. Pauline and other Material 5. The Structure of the Epistles. 6. The Occasion and Purpose of each Epistle 7. EYXEBEIA, Piety, Godliness, Religion. 8. Forms of Error 9. Church Organization. 10. Church Worship u. The Text 12. Contents TRANSLATION AND NOTES The Second Epistle to Timothy 74 The Epistle to Titus IOI The First Epistle to Timothy INDEX 161 CHIEF BOOKS OF REFERENCE LEXICONS AND LANGUAGE Theologisches· Worterbuch zum Neuen Testament, edited by GERHARD KITTEL, 1933-5 {TWNT.). The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, illustrated from the Papyri and other Non-literary Sources, MOULTON and MILLIGAN, 1914-29 (M&M). The Problem of the Pa,staral Epistles, by P. N. HARRISON, D.D., 1921. COMMENTARIES Theodari Episcopi Mopsuestini in Epistola,s B. Pauli Commentarii, edited by H. B. SWETE, D.D.; 2 vols., 1880, 1882 (Th.Mops.). The Pa,storal Epistles, edited by w. LOCK, D.D.; The International Critical Commentary, 1924. Die Pa,storalbriefe, von MARTIN DIBELIUs; Handbuch zum NT., 2te Aufl., 1931. The Epistle to the Romans, by PROFESSOR c. H. DODD, D.D. An die Romer, von HANS LIETZMANN; Handbuch zum NT., 4te Aufl., 1933. An die Korinther, I, II, von HANS LIETZMANN; Handbuch zum NT., 3te Aufl., 1931. The Epistle to the Galatians, by ERNEST DEWITT BURTON, D.D.; The International Critical Commentary, 1921. The Gospel according to St. Luke, by JOHN MARTIN CREED, B.D., 1930. The Beginnings of Christianity; edited by PROFESSORS F. J. FOAKFS JACKSON, D.D., and KIRSOPP LAKE, D.D., D.LITT.; 5 vols., completed in 1933. GENERAL ADOLF BONHOFFER: Epiktet und das Neue Testament, 19n. SAMUEL DILL: Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, 1904. LUDWIG FRIEDLANDER: Roman Life and Manners under the Early Roman Empire, translated by J. H. FREESE; 4 vols., 1909. F. J. A. HORT, D.D.: The Christian Ecclesia, 1897. EDUARD MEYER: Ursprung und Anfiinge des Christentums; i-iii, 1921-3. GEORGE FOOT MOORE: Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era; i, ii, 1928. GILBERT MURRAY: Five Stages of Greek Religion, 1925. A. D. NOCK : Conversion: The Oul. and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo, 1933. PAUL WENDLAND: Die hellenistisch-romische Kultur, 3te Aufl., 1912. INTRODUCTION § 1. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES HE two epistles addressed to Timothy, and that ad­ T dressed to Titus, by the Apostle Paul are conveniently called the Pastoral Epistles. The term seems to have been used casually by Thomas Aquinas; but it was not until 1726--7 that it was introduced into modem Biblical scholar­ ship, when Paul Anton at Halle employed it in a course of lectures, on the ground that these epistles were 'the classical and supreme examples of writings serviceable to those who seek preparation for, and guidance in, the Christian minis­ try'. Gradually the designation was accepted, though in the later years of the nineteenth century its suitability began to be challenged by scholars of different shades of opinion. 1 The Shorter Oxford Diction.ary defines 'pastoral' as 'per­ taining to the work of a shepherd of souls, or the spiritual care of a "flock" of Christians', and 'adds that these epistles are so called because they 'deal largely with the work of a pastor'. This latter statement, however, only reflects the common opinion. It is not an entirely accurate description of their character. The epistles are not uniform in purpose: 2 Timothy especially differs from the other two. But the application of the term to 1 Timothy is justifiable, if the theme of the epistle is found in iii. 15, 'that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God'. The epistle to Titus, also, is generally pastoral, though one of its chief objects was to advise Titus how he should organize the churches of Crete, in view of a serious outbreak of immoral teaching. To 2 Timothy the term 'pastoral' is less rightly applied. It consists of two portions,• the more important being a distinctly personal letter, the other outlining the duty of the servant of the Lord when 1 Dr. Harrison, in The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles, pp. 13 ff., gives a good outline of the historical use of the term and of recent opinion. 4335 B 2 INTRODUCTION confronted by definite phases of false teaching. The most serious result of the use of this convenient term is that it tends to impose upon these epistles a greater uniformity than actually exists. But there is much likeness between them, and that they form a group within the New Testa­ ment is obvious. They have stood together in their present form since they first appeared, so far as can be determined, in authoritative Christian literature.