Pastor-Teacher Series: 1 Timothy 1:20-Alexander and Hymenaeus Were Disciplined By Paul

The apostle Paul in verse 20 identifies two pastors who suffered the shipwreck of their faith, namely Hymenaeus and Alexander.

He also reveals that he administered discipline to these two individuals by handing them over to Satan in order that they would be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1:20 Among whom are Hymenaeus as well as Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan in order that they will be disciplined not to blaspheme. (Lecturer’s translation)

This verse teaches that Hymenaeus and Alexander belonged to a certain class of Christian pastors in Ephesus who suffered the shipwreck of their faith.

To suffer shipwreck of one’s faith means that these pastors experienced spiritual disaster.

It speaks of the catastrophic damage to their fellowship with God and the church as a result of rejecting Paul’s teaching and adhering to the false teaching of the Judaizers.

Consequently this rejection of Paul’s teaching adversely affected their conscience, i.e. their norms and standards.

Therefore, because these pastors in Ephesus rejected faith in Paul’s apostolic teaching, i.e. his gospel, this rejection adversely affected their norms and standards and thus their conduct and speech.

So this verb describes the disastrous consequences of this rejection in that it caused them to lose fellowship God, which results in divine discipline from God.

The sin of “Hymenaeus” is revealed by Paul in 2 Timothy 17-18.

Therefore, he was teaching that the resurrection or rapture of the church had already taken place, which upset the faith of many Christians in Ephesus.

Paul’s statement here in 1 Timothy 1:20 makes clear that Hymenaeus did not stop propagating this teaching after being confronted by Paul and ordered to do so.

This led to the apostle administering church discipline and expelling him from the fellowship of the church.

If he had stopped, Paul would have restored him to the fellowship of the church.

We know this because of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 2 where Paul ordered the Corinthians to discipline a man who was having an incestuous relationship.

When he repented, Paul ordered that the Corinthians restore him to fellowship with themselves.

The fact that Hymenaeus was a pastor is clearly indicated by Paul’s statements throughout chapter one.

This individual was among a group of pastors who suffered the shipwreck of their faith.

That this was a group of pastors who suffered the shipwreck of their faith is indicated in that they are described in verse 3 as teaching false doctrine and being occupied with myths and genealogies rather than fulfilling their responsibilities to administrate the household of God by studying, teaching, praying and setting an example for the flock in Ephesus.

Paul also describes them in verse 7 as desiring to be teachers of the Law but yet don’t understand the purpose of the Law and were misapplying it.

Furthermore in 2 Timothy 2:17-18, Paul says that Hymenaeus was teaching that the resurrection had already taken place. So it is clear that Hymenaeus was a pastor.

He was not an unbeliever and neither were any of these unidentified individuals in this chapter who were teaching false doctrine because Paul has no authority over an unbeliever but only believers.

Thus, he would not have the authority to have these individuals stop what they were doing unless they were under his authority.

The Alexander mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:14 might be the same one mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20 since both were disciplined by Paul.

However, the former is identified as a well-known coppersmith and no such identification is given of this individual in 1 Timothy 1:20.

So we can’t be dogmatic that the Alexander mentioned in these two passages are one in the same.

The phrase “whom I handed over to Satan” refers to Paul disciplining Hymenaeus and Alexander by expelling them from the fellowship of the church until they have stopped teaching false doctrine.

It is used here of a judicial act performed by the apostle Paul in handing over these two to suffer the consequences of their actions in teaching false doctrine.

It expresses Paul exercising his apostolic authority.

This judicial act is designed to get these two to stop conducting themselves against the will of God and to correct this behavior.

This decision is designed to correct their behavior and produce the holiness of God in them or in other words so that they can have fellowship with God and the church again and experience their sanctification.

So this statement speaks of a disciplinary act performed by the apostle Paul, which was designed to lead the sinning Christian to confess their sins to God and correct their behavior.

In both instances, it is an expression of the love of God since God disciplines His children in love.

This passage teaches that Satan is agent that God uses to administer discipline to Hymenaeus and Alexander.

In fact, Satan himself more than likely did not personally administer this discipline but rather one of those in his army was assigned to these two.

Of course, Satan is accountable to God and is restricted and could not kill these two unless the Lord gave him permission.

The purpose clause “in order that they will be disciplined not to blaspheme” indicates that Paul disciplined Hymenaeus and Alexander by handing them over to Satan for the express purpose that they would be taught not to blaspheme.

It denies any idea of Hymenaeus and Alexander ever again blaspheming God by teaching false doctrine rather than the gospel.

This act of disciplining Hymenaeus and Alexander was an expression of God’s love for these two.

He was expressing His love through Paul by punishing them by removing them from the fellowship of the church and exposing them to Satan’s kingdom.

It refers to training these two not to blaspheme God by handing them over to the authority of Satan who would have been given authority to cause these two suffering in some form.

It speaks of educating these two through suffering and pain.

These two Christian pastors were blaspheming God in the sense that they were insulting God by not communicating the gospel and instead teaching false doctrine.

It indicates that by rejecting communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ and instead teaching false doctrine, Hymenaeus and Alexander were act disrespectfully of God and insulting Him and were insubordinate.

By rejecting communicating the gospel and instead teaching false doctrine, these two were disrespecting God since the gospel is concerning His Son Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.

They were blaspheming God in the sense of insulting Him by contradicting Him by teaching false doctrine instead of proclaiming the gospel.