Commentary on 1 Timothy

“Commentary on 1 Timothy” consists of 18 conversations that were delivered by St. John Chrysostom in 402 in Constantinople. In the 7th conversation of St. John speaks of two natures in Christ: “And just as He became a partaker of the human nature, because He came to men, so He is also a partaker of the divine nature, because He came from God. Since two natures were united through Him, He must have been close to both natures.” The topic of atonement is also touched upon here: “What does atonement mean? He intended to punish them, and yet did not do so; they should have perished, but for them He gave up His Son and sent us preachers to preach about the cross.” The saint touches on the topic of the priesthood (Conversations 5,10,11,14). Following the apostles, the place of Christ in the Church began to be occupied by bishops and elders, who equally received the right to teach and govern the Church. The difference between bishops and presbyters lies in the right of ordination. The last church rank is occupied by deacons. St. John Chrysostom reduced the functions of bishops and presbyters to governing the Church, performing sacred rites and teaching. In the 6th conversation we talk about three types of war: the first is an ordinary war, the second is when we are at enmity with each other, the third is when everyone fights against himself. The last type of war is the most dangerous of all, because our body rebels against the soul. In his conversations, the saint touches on such topics as the origin of heresies (Conversations 2:12), the humility of the Apostle Paul (Conversations 3:4), repaying good for evil (Conversations 3), the meaning of faith for a Christian (Conversations 1:18), raising children (Conversation 9), unworthy communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ (Conversation 5), etc. *The title of the work in Greek is: *The title of the work in Latin is In epistulam I ad Timotheum argumentum et homiliae 1-18. Conversation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Why up. Paul wrote only to Titus and Timothy. Timothy was one of the disciples of the apostle (Paul). Luke testifies (Acts 12:2) that he was a young man worthy of admiration, earning approval from the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. He was at the same time a student and a teacher, and at the same time he was so reasonable that, although he heard that Paul, when preaching, did not oblige him to accept circumcision, although he knew that on this issue he opposed Peter, he agreed not only not to preach against (circumcision), but even to accept it: he circumcised him (the apostle), says (Luke) (Acts 16:23), when he was already at that age, and then has already entrusted him with the management (of the Church). Thus, Paul’s disposition towards him alone adequately shows what kind of husband he was. He also testifies about him in another place when he writes: “And his faithfulness is known to you, because as a son to his father he served me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22); and again in the letter to the Corinthians he says: “I have sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful son in the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:17); and again: “See that he is safe with you; for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I do” (1 Cor. 16:10); and in the letter to the Hebrews he says: “Know that our brother Timothy has been set free” (Heb. 13:23). And from very many other places you can see the great love (of the apostle) for him. Likewise, the miracles still happening today show his boldness (before God). 1 Perhaps someone will ask: why (the apostle) writes only to Titus and Timothy, while Silas was one of the venerable people, as well as Luke, about whom he speaks in his epistle: “Luke alone is with me” (2 Tim. 4:10); also Clement was one of his colleagues, because (the apostle) says about him: “with Clement and with the rest of my colleagues” (Phil. 4:3)? So why does he only write to Titus and Timothy? Because he has already entrusted these latter to the Church; Meanwhile, the first ones still accompanied him on his travels; he placed the latter in prominent places. (Timothy) was endowed with such sublime qualities that even his youth did not pose the slightest obstacle to this. That is why (the apostle) wrote: “Let no one despise your youth” (1 Tim. 4:12), and again: “young people,” he says, “like sisters” (1 Tim. 5:2). When there is virtue, then everything is in abundance and there is no obstacle in anything. That is why, when discussing bishops and speaking a lot about them, (the apostle) never goes into a detailed study regarding their age. If he says in his message that (the bishop should be) “keeping children in obedience with all honesty; and one wife to the husband” (1 Tim. 3:4, 2), then he expresses this not because it is necessary for him to have a wife and children, but because if it ever happened to raise any of the laity to this place, then they should be such that they could manage the house, and children, and everything else. After all, if someone, besides being a layman, would still remain a useless person even in such matters, then how could one entrust him with the care of the Church? But why, you say, (the apostle) writes a letter to a student when he has already been appointed to a teaching position? Shouldn't he have been instructed first and then sent (to this position)? But (Timothy) had a need not for the kind of instruction that is necessary for the disciples, but for the kind that is necessary for the teacher. Therefore, notice that throughout the epistle he gives him the instructions necessary for a teacher. So even from the very beginning, in the preface, he did not say: do not listen to those who teach differently, but how? – “to exhort some, that they should not teach otherwise” (1 Tim. 1:3). These conversations were delivered by the saint, probably in Antioch around 397. Probably, here the saint points to the miracles that exuded the relics of St. Timofey. You might be interested in: