Paul's Traveling Companions: 1st Timothy 4:13 in Context

Were Timothy and Titus located preachers at congregations under the oversight of elders or were they apostolic workers sent to correct others who were doing the teaching in the assemblies?

Richard C. H. Lenski's translation of 1st Timothy 4:13 is:

"While I am traveling, pay close attention to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching.”

He comments:

"hEOS (ἕως) with the present tense means 'while' although many translate it 'till.' They misunderstand the situation."

"'While' Paul is away... (ἔρχομαι does not mean 'coming' but 'journeying,' 'traveling' from place to place)... Timothy is to watch things in the churches.”

The fact that Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire and had traveling companions whom he sent to various cities consisting of multiple churches is confirmed by one of Paul's traveling companions, Luke, in the book of Acts:

Acts 13:13 reads:

“From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John [Mark] left them to return to Jerusalem. From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch” (NIV, 2011).

And Acts 20:2-4 reads:

“He [Paul] traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months... He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

The letters of 1st & 2nd Timothy (and Titus) are private letters meant to encourage (only) two of Paul's many companions. Lenski's translation and interpretation of 1 Tim. 4:13 is also confirmed by Paul himself :

1^st Timothy 1:4 reads:

"As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.”

Titus 1:5 says:

“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.”

Colossians 4:7-8 reads:

“Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts…”

Commenting on what other scholars have said 1 Timothy 4:13 means, Lenski states:

"The usual understanding of this passage is that Timothy is stationed only in the congregation at Ephesus, and that he is there to read the Scripture lections in the services, exhort the congregation, and act as the teacher. If that were the situation, it would be strange, indeed, that Paul would here ask him to do these things. Did not Paul tell him to teach in v. 11?"

"Some note that 'the exhortation' precedes 'the teaching' and feel that this is a bit strange; Timothy ought first to teach and then to exhort. A few say that 'the reading' includes diligent private Scripture study on Timothy’s part. But the articles ['the'] used with the three nouns [reading, exhortation, teaching] may suggest the proper interpretation."

"Timothy has a number of congregations under his care; how can he conduct the services in all of them? Is he to displace the elders? Would that be proper?"

What Lenski is referring to is that the NT 'pattern' was that the elders, or "pastor teachers" (Eph. 4:11) and "prophets" (1 Cor. 14:29)--not a 'gospel preacher' or 'single pastor'--taught the people. Note these passages:

Ephesians 4:11-12:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry….”

1 Timothy 5:17:

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching….”

1 Corinthians 14:29-31:  

"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."

Prophets were more "forth-tellers" than future "fore-tellers."

John Mark Hicks writes:

"While the prophets of Israel peeked behind the scenes and saw the future in some cases, their main function was to prosecute, rebuke, and confront the people of God. They called Israel to renewal and recommitment; they called them out of their injustices and idolatries."

Lenski continues:

“Verse 11 directs him [Timothy] to inculcate everywhere what in the preceding [1:3--4:10] Paul has stated as being necessary. And now Timothy is directed to pay close attention to 'the reading' in the churches, i. e., to what lections are being read at the services. Not that lections be read, still less that Timothy is to read them.”

This extremely rare and valuable interpretation clarifies the context of First Century Christianity and is enlightening when studying the Bible.

Lenski continues:

“From their very beginning, all the congregations read the LXX Old Testament in their services just as was done in the synagogues. Now the present danger was that here and there some of the cranks and fanatics (1:4) and the foolish law teachers (1:7) might read or ask to have read as lections the Old Testament genealogies, to which to pin their myths, and lections from the Levitical laws, to be interpreted for their ignorant purposes. This Timothy was not to allow.”

1 Timothy 1:4, 7 read:

"As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies..."

"They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm."

Timothy was acting as Paul's representative with authority to correct others who were doing the teaching.

Lenski's comments that the LXX (Septuagint or Greek Old Testament) was read in the synagogues is confirmed in the following Scriptures:

Acts 15:21; 13:14-15:

“For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

“On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets…"

First Timothy 1:3-7 is the thesis of Paul's first letter to Timothy. Everything in the private letter relates to this thesis:

“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves [“pay attention to” = same word in 1 Tim. 4:13] to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.”

How could Timothy know if he was not there at a particular assembly?

Timothy would hear from others, like Paul heard from the household of Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), or see for himself while traveling around the city of Ephesus and surrounding areas to various assemblies. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, Ephesus was called "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." There was certainly more than one church and Timothy could not have been the located preacher every Sunday at them all.

As Lenski confirms:

"It was not necessary for him to be present at every service in every church; it was easy to find out and to keep track of what was going on, to learn where suspicious lections were being read and where such as helped true godliness were being read."

Concerning 'the exhortation' and 'the teaching' following 'the reading' in 1 Tim. 4:13, he adds:

"The same was true with regard to 'the exhortation.' This is properly placed next. We know from statements by Justin Martyr [A. D. 100-165] that after the Scripture reading by the lector, a presbyter or some other person admonished and exhorted the people to take to heart what had been read. At times there was also 'the teaching,' not necessarily of the lection read, but of this or that subject."

Luke confirms this statement in Acts 13:14-15:

"On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation [paraklesis, see 1 Thess. 2:3 below] for the people, please speak."

Lenski further explains:

"So Paul taught the gospel of Christ in the synagogues and did this without basing it on the haphtarah or the parashah that happened to be the lections of the day. How easy it would be for some of the heterodidaskaloi [false teachers] to inflict some of their myths or some of their ignorant notions of the law on a congregation!"

Paul left Timothy in the metropolis of Ephesus to courageously confront (often older) Christian teachers who, although eager and confident, did not know what they were talking about.

Lenski calls attention to Paul's purpose of leaving Timothy there:

1 Timothy 4:1-3, 6-7:

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to…. If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly."

Lenski concludes:

“Timothy must “give heed” to [pay attention to, devote himself to] what is going on, “to the lections [being read by others], to the exhortation [being done by others], to the teaching [being done by others]. The articles ['the'] are, indeed, material to the sense. The fact that Timothy is to stop this kind of thing 1:4 has already stated. Unless we understand Timothy’s office and situation as they were, this verse will be misunderstood...” 

As 1 Timothy 1:3-4 states:

“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies."

PULPIT COMMENTARY: READING, EXHORTATION, TEACHING

The Pulpit Commentary also gives some insight into "the public reading," "the exhortation," and "the teaching" from 1 Timothy 4:13:

 [THE] Reading ( τῆ ἀναγνώσει).

“The public reading of the Scriptures….This we know was the practice in the synagogue (Luke 4:16).”

Luke 4:16-21 :

“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:”

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor."

"He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

"Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

[THE] Exhortation ( τῆ παρακλήσει), paraklesis:

Acts 13:14-15:

“On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation [paraklesis, see 1 Thess. 2:3 below] for the people, please speak.”

PC adds, as does Lenski above, that:

"We see the beginning of reading the New Testament in the Christian assemblies in Ephesians 3:4 and Colossians 4:16; and generally in the fact of Epistles being addressed by the apostles to Churches:"

Ephesians 3:3-5:

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”

Colossians 4:15-16:

“Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.”

1 Thessalonians 2:3:

“You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make [exhortation, KJV—paraklesis, see Acts 13:15 above] does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.”

“On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we [Paul and his companions] were like young children among you.”

[THE] Teaching ( τῆ διδασκαλία):

Thayer says this word means: “to teach; to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them.”

Elsewhere, discourse is defined as "a generalization of the concept of conversation within all modalities and contexts."

And,

"Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following rules of etiquette. It is polite give and take of subjects thought of by people talking with each other for company."

This is exactly what we find "leaders in the synagogue" asking Paul and Barnabas to do in Acts 13:14-15 and also Paul instructing Christians to do in 1 Corinthians 14:29-40.

The Pulpit Commentary says of the word for "teaching:"

“Almost always rendered "doctrine" in the A.V. But here, where the act of teaching (like the act of reading, the act of exhorting, in the two preceding clauses) is intended, 'teaching' is perhaps the best word according to our modern usage.”

CONCLUSION

Does this mean that Paul’s companions, like Timothy and Titus, John Mark, Tychicus, et al. never spoke publicly themselves? No. As Paul's representative companions they would naturally imitate him.

1 Corinthians 4:17:

"Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church."

Acts 20:20:

"You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house."

And I believe that is what they did. 

As these Scriptures show:

1 Timothy 4:11-12; 6:2:

“Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you….”

“…These things teach [didasko] and exhort [paraklesis].”

Titus 2:15:

“Speak these things, exhort [paraklesis] and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”

However, to claim that they were “gospel preachers” or single "pastors” like we have today, and to forbid others from speaking (up) in an assembly, or not to expect other teachers to speak in an assembly, week after week (1 Cor. 14:27-29), and saying that “we do exactly what they did according to the pattern revealed in the NT” is simply false.

Timothy and Titus were not 'gospel preachers' in the modern sense of the term doing located work under the oversight of an 'eldership.'
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ALL bold emphasis mine, sp.

ALL [brackets] mine, sp.

ALL underlining and italics mine, sp.