1 Timothy 4.13-Paul Commands Timothy To Continue Being Occupied With The Public Reading Of Scripture, Exhortation And Teaching
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 28, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:13-Paul Commands Timothy To Continue Being Occupied With The Public Reading Of Scripture, Exhortation And Teaching
Lesson # 89
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 4:6.
In 1 Timothy 4:13, the apostle Paul issues another command to his young delegate and fellow pastor-teacher, Timothy.
In this passage, he commands Timothy to continue making it his habit of being occupied with the public reading of Scripture, exhortation and teaching.
In this verse, Paul is employing the figure of “asyndeton,” which means that he is not using a connective word between his command in the adversative clause in 1 Timothy 4:12 and his command here in 1 Timothy 4:13.
This figure emphasizes the importance of this command for Timothy personally in that it will enable him to fulfill his responsibility of administrating the household of God in Ephesus.
1 Timothy 4:13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. (NASU)
This verse is composed of the temporal adverbial conjunction heos (ἕως) (ehoce), “until” which is followed by the first person singular present middle indicative form of the verb erchomai (ἒρχομαι) (air-koe-meh), “I come” and the second person singular present active imperative form of the verb prosecho (προσέχω) (prose-eh-koe), “give attention to” and then we have the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun anagnosis (ἀνάγνωσις) (ahnahg-ah-no-cease), “the public reading” followed by the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun paraklesis (παράκλησις) (pahrah-klee-cease), “to exhortation” and the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun (διδασκαλία) (thee-thask-ah-lee-ah), “teaching.”
The conjunction heos refers to the period in which Paul is away from Ephesus due to his trip to Macedonia (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3).
The word indicates that during the period that Paul is away from Ephesus because of his trip to Macedonia, Timothy is to be occupied with the public reading of Scripture, exhortation and teaching.
The verb erchomai means “to arrive” and refers to Paul reaching Ephesus after traveling from the Roman province of Macedonia.
The present tense of the verb is a futuristic present and speaks of the certainty of his arrival in that city.
The verb prosecho means “to occupy your mind and body with a particular activity or activities,” which is identified by Paul as the public reading of Scripture, exhortation and teaching.
It refers to the fact that he must devote all his energy to these tasks and speaks of concentration upon these activities to the exclusion of others activities, which are trivial in comparison.
The present imperative form of the verb prosecho is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy “to continue making it your habit of” being occupied with the public reading of Scripture, exhortation and teaching.
Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 1:3 and 4:6 imply that Timothy was carrying out everything he wrote in this epistle.
Thus, the command here to Timothy here in 1 Timothy 4:13, as is the case with the others in this chapter, are simply a reminder to Timothy to continue doing what they talked about before Paul left for Macedonia.
Furthermore, Paul would not have delegated Timothy such a difficult task as the one in Ephesus unless he felt confident that his young delegate could carry out everything he required of him.
Therefore, the present imperative is simply a reminder to Timothy to continue doing what Paul told him to do before he left for Macedonia.
The noun anagnosis refers to “reading aloud” or “the public reading” of the Old Testament and Paul’s epistles in the local assemblies that met in various homes or school rooms or other public settings in Ephesus.
It refers to the public reading of the Old Testament and Paul’s epistles in the corporate worship setting.
The Jews practiced the reading aloud of Scripture in a public setting in their synagogues (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:15; 2 Corinthians 3:14).
Ezra read the Old Testament to the returning Jewish exiles at the water gate in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8:1-8).
Moses’ final words to Israel included a command for the Law to be read publicly to her when she has assembled to worship the Lord (Deuteronomy 31:11-12).
The apostles incorporated this practice into their corporate worship settings.
When Paul wrote First Timothy, that which would be publicly read aloud in Ephesus would be the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew bible since the Ephesian church was Gentile and not Jewish.
They would also have read Paul’s epistles, which is indicated by the fact that in Colossians 4:16, Paul commanded that his letters to the Colossians be read to the Laodiceans.
Also, Paul commanded the Thessalonians to have First Thessalonians read to all Christian (1 Thessalonians 5:27).
Therefore, he considered his epistles to be essential for the life of the churches he planted and ministered to throughout the Roman Empire.
The gospel of John would not have been read in Paul’s churches since it was not composed until the last decade of the first century.
Mark was not composed until late fifties or sometime during the sixties and thus, it probably was not known and read in the Pauline churches.
Some scholars such as D.A. Carson and G.J. Wenham argue for Matthew to be written in the eighties and some like Walvoord and Zuck believe that it was written in the fifties.
Thus, it could have possibly been read by the Pauline church according to the latter but would not have been according to the former.
Luke was written in the sixties and since he was a companion of Paul, would have been read in the Pauline churches and maybe by the church in Ephesus by 63-65 A.D when First Timothy was written.
However, with this being said, even if the gospels were not written by the time Paul wrote First Timothy in approximately 63-65 A.D., the stories and traditions of Jesus that found their way into the four gospels would have been communicated to the church in the public worship service.
The reading of Scripture in the public worship setting would provide the foundation for pastor-teachers communicating to the church their application.
Also, these pastors would teach the church from that which was read publicly from this public reading of the Scriptures.
The public reading of Scripture and communicating their application to the church and teaching the church from them would not only answer the believer’s question as to who they were but also answer their question as to how they should live in light of this identity in Christ.
It would also resolve disputes, especially between Jewish believers and Gentile believers with regards to such things as the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law and circumcision.
Now, not only does Paul want Timothy to be occupied with the public reading of Scripture but also the pastors in Ephesus.
Those who were faithful, to encourage them to continue and those who were unfaithful to get them back on track.
The noun paraklesis refers to the believer being encouraged by the public reading of the Scriptures to live in a manner worthy of their calling, to grow up to become like Christ.
It refers to the wisdom received from the teaching of the Scriptures and under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.
It manifests itself by encouraging other believers to live according to the Father’s will and can involve not only encouraging but also warning other believers in a humble and loving way when they are going astray from doing the will of God.
This encouragement involves comforting through the Scriptures those believers who have lost love ones or are experiencing suffering whether emotionally or physically.
This public reading of the Scripture can encourage the believer in the sense that it provides help and gives support to them when they are having problems with a certain temptation or with a difficult trial that they are facing.
This encouragement from the Scriptures involves helping the believer deal with a particular burden that is too heavy to bear alone and manifests itself by encouraging the believer when they are depressed, frustrated or grieving.
The noun didaskalia is used in an active sense and means “instruction” referring to teaching church age believers from the Scriptures and the various doctrines contained in them.
The word refers to Timothy and the pastors in Ephesus teaching the Christian way of life to the Ephesian Christian community.
It would involve teaching them with regards to their union and identification with Christ.
Also, it would involve teaching them with regards to the character and nature of the Trinity as well as what each member has accomplished on their behalf.