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Bible chapter guide
1 Timothy 1
Paul urges Timothy, left at Ephesus, to stop certain people teaching different doctrine. The aim of the charge is love from a pure heart. Paul gives thanks that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 'of whom I am the foremost'.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
See it in the Labs
- Paul's RoadsMacedonia (Later (debated)) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsMacedonia · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsLater travels (debated) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsEphesus (Later (debated)) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's Roads1 Timothy · Paul's RoadsOpen
Places
Also in this chapter
The letter: who wrote it, where and when
These questions are debated; the views are shown side by side with how sure each is, as in Paul's Roads.
- Plausible
Paul's authorship of 1 Timothy is debated.
Many scholars think this letter was written after Paul's death in his name; others hold that Paul wrote it. The lab shows the setting the letter itself gives and takes no side.
- Speculative
1 Timothy written from Macedonia
1:3 says Paul was going into Macedonia when he left Timothy at Ephesus. This journey does not fit Acts, so it is placed in the debated later travels.
- Speculative
The Pastoral Letters reliably record Paul's last journeys.
They name Paul as author and give personal details. Many scholars judge their vocabulary, church order and setting to be later than Paul and read the details as literary; others defend Paul's authorship, perhaps with a secretary.
How sure can we be?
- Speculative
Paul was at Ephesus with Timothy.
1 Timothy 1:3 implies it; Paul had told the Ephesian elders they would not see him again (Acts 20:25, 38).
- Speculative
Paul went from Ephesus to Macedonia.
1 Timothy 1:3; the route is a guess.