Additional Notes §10
§10 Final Indictment of the False Teachers (2 Tim. 3:1–9)
With this paragraph Paul shifts his focus from Timothy to the false teachers themselves and sets them against the backdrop of the eschatological urgency that runs throughout the letter. The only personal word to Timothy is the reiterated imperative in verse 5—that he should have nothing to do with such people—which functions to tie the two parts of the paragraph (vv. 1–5, 6–9) together.
Timothy is again reminded (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1) that the presence of the false teachers should come as no surprise; they belong to the theme of eschatological fulfillment, begun with the coming of Christ. But in this case Paul does an interesting turn. By including a typical vice list (vv. 2–5), he ties together the defections of the false teachers with the general increase in evil seen all about them as evidence that the final evil days have dawned.
The second part of the paragraph (vv. 6–9) makes an equally arresting correlation. By describing their activities of subverting weak women (vv. 6–7) and by comparing them with the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses (vv. 8–9), Paul intimates what he finally asserts in verse 13, that the false teachers are nothing more than religious charlatans, comparable to the sorcerers and charlatans of all kinds of which the ancient world was full (cf., e.g., Acts 8:9; 13:6–8; 19:13–16).
Except for the passing references in verse 13 and 4:3 (and perhaps 4:14), this is the final word about the false teachers in this letter. Thus it functions very much like 1 Timothy 6:3–10, as both exposure and indictment. From here Paul will return to his personal exhortations to Timothy, but now (esp. in 3:10–4:5) with what has been said in 2:14–3:9 always hovering in the background.
3:1 / This sentence follows 2:22–26 rather abruptly. But its place in the argument is not difficult to follow. Although the letter is primarily a series of personal appeals to Timothy, the continuing influence of the false teachers and Timothy’s apparent failure to stem the tide have caused Paul to address this issue in some detail, beginning at 2:14. What he does here, similarly to 1 Timothy 4:1 (which see), is to place their presence into a broader theological perspective—the eschatological reality that the time of the End, the coming of the New Age, has already been set in motion with the coming of Christ.
Thus Timothy is reminded (mark this; or as the RSV, “understand this”) that the presence of the false teachers belongs to the well-known eschatological phenomenon that there will be terrible times in the last days. This was a common motif in Jewish apocalyptic (cf. Dan. 12:1: “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time” [RSV]; cf. 1 Enoch 80:2–8; 100:1–3; Assumption of Moses 8:1; 4 Ezra 5:1–12; 2 Baruch 25–27; 48:32–36; 70:2–8). It was picked up by Jesus (Mark 13:3–23), and the early church saw the increase of evil as evidence that the End had already begun (cf. 1 Cor. 7:26; 1 John 2:18; 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 17–18). For the term the last days as referring especially to the beginning of the Christian era, see Acts 2:16–21 and Hebrews 1:2.
3:2–4 / As evidence that the last days are already upon us (despite the future verb will be) Paul resorts to a common practice of his—a catalogue of vices (cf. 1 Tim. 1:9–10; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Gal. 5:19–21; Rom. 1:29–31). The list itself contains eighteen items, six of which occur only here in the NT, four others are found only here and in the list in Romans 1, and five are shared vocabulary with Luke–Acts. While only five of the words occur elsewhere in the PE, the catalogue has nonetheless been tailored somewhat to fit this situation. Thus, in a way similar to 1 Timothy 1:9–10 and Romans 1:29–31, the list especially reflects the prevailing evils of pagan society. At the same time, Paul is indicting the false teachers, both by characterizing their existence as in keeping with these evils and by implying that they themselves fit many of the items in the list (pride, arrogance, greed, lack of love, slander, etc.).
The list itself doesn’t seem to have any clear design to it, such as one finds in 1 Timothy 1:9–10. Some items seem to be in pairs, but that is not evident for all. It begins appropriately enough with lovers of themselves (cf. Titus 1:7 where “not self-willed” tops the list) since from such misdirected love all other vices flow. “Love of self” is paired with lovers of money, which was one of the basic vices of the false teachers (see 1 Tim. 6:5–10; Titus 1:11). The next two, boastful and proud (or “arrogant”), which also appear together in Romans 1:30, emphasize boastfulness in words and thought, respectively, and also reflect what is said elsewhere of the false teachers (1 Tim. 1:7; 6:4). The word abusive (blasphēmoi) reflects the malicious talk of 1 Timothy 6:4; disobedient to their parents (cf. Rom. 1:30) may be reminiscent of some(one?) not caring for parents in 1 Timothy 5:8.
The next four words, all of which begin with the negative prefix a (comparable to the English un-, in-, im-), seem to broaden the perspective. In the last days people will be ungrateful (which meaningfully follows disobedient to parents), unholy (in the sense of “offending against the fundamental decencies of life,” Barclay), without love (in the sense of lacking natural affection; cf. Rom. 1:31), and unforgiving (i.e., incapable of being reconciled to a fellow human being). They will be slanderous (cf. 1 Tim. 3:11; Titus 2:5), without self-control, and brutal (a different word for the sentiment expressed in 1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7), and not lovers of the good (cf. the opposite expected of elders in Titus 1:8). They will be treacherous, rash (“stops at nothing to gain his ends,” Kelly), and conceited (same word as in 1 Tim. 3:6; 6:4). The list concludes with yet another form of misdirected love, they will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
As always, such lists seem to come down a bit heavily on the human race and are the object of attack by those with humanist tendencies. But unfortunately the list is only too realistic, reminding God’s people over and again that these, too, are the last days.
3:5 / With this final description, Paul brings the eschatological motif of the increase of evil in the last days to focus on the false teachers. Their great problem, from Paul’s point of view, is that they have a form of godliness (eusebeia; see disc. on 1 Tim. 2:2), but deny its power. They liked the visible expressions, the ascetic practices and the endless discussions of religious trivia, thinking themselves to be obviously righteous because they were obviously religious. But they thereby denied the essential power of the Christian eusebeia, since they engaged in so many of the “irreligious” attitudes and practices that characterized the pagan world. Compare the similar indictment in Titus 1:16. So one more time, Timothy is told to have nothing to do with them, the clear evidence that Paul did not have some future time in mind in verses 1–4. This imperative also serves for Paul as a transition to the final exposure of the false teachers.
3:6–7 / This sentence, which was certainly unnecessary information for Timothy himself, is probably something of a reflex action on Paul’s part. Perturbed as he is by the false teachers, with their “form of godliness” without “its power,” he reminds Timothy (and the church) of the kind of people they are dealing with—religious charlatans. Paul intends this description to be a scathing censure. It serves us, however, by filling in all kinds of blanks in 1 Timothy about the false teachers and their relationship to the women in the church.
Although our other sources date from a somewhat later period, there is plenty of evidence that religious quackery had an especially fruitful field among women. Both their less-than-satisfying social position in Greco-Roman society and their religious hunger, typical of the era, made women easy prey. With these words Paul simultaneously associates the false teachers with such quackery and condemns the women in the church who have let themselves be taken in. It is with this information in hand that one must read 1 Timothy 2:9–15; 3:11; 4:7; 5:3–16.
Thus Paul ties the false teachers to the preceding vice list by saying that they are the kind (lit. “of such people” as those mentioned in vv. 1–5) who worm their way (a verb suggesting “creeping in” under false pretenses; cf. “some of that ilk sneak into,” Berkeley) into homes (Gk., into the homes, implying into those homes you already know about—this feat would have been far easier to accomplish among some “well-heeled” younger widows than the wives of ordinary tradesmen) and gain control over weak-willed women. The verb gain control, when used metaphorically, as here, means to take captive by misleading or deceiving (cf. Judith 16:9; Ignatius, Philadelphians 2:2). This is quite in keeping with the theme throughout these letters of the deceptive nature of these teachers (1 Tim. 2:14; 4:1–2; 2 Tim. 3:13).
The women themselves are designated with the Greek diminutive (lit., “little women”), which was a scornful pejorative connoting “silly” or “foolish” (intended by the NIV’s weak-willed, meaning “easy prey”). They are further described as loaded down with sins (which could mean that they are currently full of sin, but more likely means “burdened with a sinful past,” NEB) and swayed by all kinds of evil desires. It is just possible that there was some sexual involvement between the false teachers and these women, which would throw light on several texts in 1 Timothy (see note). But that is not a necessary inference, and Paul does not pursue such a point. He pursues the point that the guilt of their sins and their having all kinds of evil desires has made them religious dilettantes, women who are always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Thus the false teachers and these women feed on one another. The women are given “religious training”—of the worst kind, destined to feed their curiosity but not bring them to the freedom of the gospel—and they in turn undoubtedly pay the false teachers handsomely (1 Tim. 6:3–10). No wonder that Paul forbade the women to teach, encouraged submission to their husbands (1 Tim. 2:9–15), and wanted the younger widows, who had given themselves to pleasure (5:6) and had already turned away to follow Satan (5:15), to marry (5:14).
3:8–9 / Paul now turns from the women to the false teachers and by analogy places their activities in the category of the religious sorcerers. As Pharaoh’s magicians used sorcery to withstand Moses (Exod. 7:11–12, 22; 8:7) so by implication the false teachers use deceptions to oppose the truth (cf. Acts 13:8). It is not certain by this whether Paul actually thought them to be using sorcery; in any case, he sees clear analogies between their deceptions and the sorceries of the magicians.
In the OT the magicians are not named, but it is a part of the religious tradition of both Judaism and Christianity to give names to the nameless. Thus by at least 150 B.C. the Egyptian magicians had been narrowed to two brothers and given the names Jannes (a form of Johanna, still found in some sources) and Jambres (or Mambres in other sources). By the time of Paul this tradition had become common stock (cf. the similar use of such tradition in 1 Cor. 10:4).
But Paul is not finished. Once more (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4–5) he describes the lack of “clear-mindedness” (see disc. on 2 Tim. 1:7; Titus 2:2) in these teachers. They are men of depraved minds (cf. 1 Tim. 4:5) who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected (the opposite of “approved” in 2:15).
As often happens (cf. 2:13 and 19), Paul cannot conclude on such a dismal note. So he returns to their theme of “making progress” (see disc. on 1 Tim. 4:15 and 2 Tim. 2:16) and once again gives it an ironic twist. With great confidence in God’s faithfulness (cf. 2:13, 19) he affirms: They will not get (“progress” or “advance”) very far. The reason for this is tied back to what was just said at the end of verse 8: because … their folly will be clear to everyone. This does not mean that they will no longer be effective in their deceptions (cf. 3:13), but, for Paul, truth will win out. Thus their end, in terms of the exposure of their folly, will come, just as in the case of Jannes and Jambres. This may refer to Exodus 9:11; although it is equally possible that he is reflecting on a legend, which included their names, that is no longer available to us.
Thus the analogy has served a further useful turn. Just as the magicians were shown up for what they were, Paul cannot see the false teachers as ultimately triumphing.
3:2–4 / Those rejecting Pauline authorship feel obliged to determine both the source and the function of this vice list. Hanson sees the source as Rom. 1:29–31, with most of the vices having “an exact or fairly close parallel” to that list (p. 144); he considers the function as irrelevant, “probably part of the author’s source material.” Again, the evidence speaks favorably for Pauline authorship. Such lists are a common feature, yet none closely resembles the others, and each is adapted to its context—as here. For an analysis of this and other vice lists, see McEleney, “The Vice Lists of the PE.”
3:6–7 / For texts that reveal the susceptibility of women to religious charlatans, see Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet 6: “They went about the country practicing quackery and sorcery, and ‘trimming the fatheads’—for so they style the public in the traditional patter of magicians. Well, among these they hit upon a rich Macedonian woman, past her prime but still eager to be charming and lined their purses fairly well at her expense” (Loeb, vol. 4, p. 183); and Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.13.3. Cf. also the story of the lady Paulina (Jos., Antiquities 18.65–80) and her readiness to please the god Anubis and, although the author did not intend such a comparison, the readiness of women to follow Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla.
D-C suggest, on the basis of 1 Tim. 1:11, “that emancipation tendencies may be present” among these women. That is altogether possible, given the similar problems in Corinth, which stemmed from some similar theological tendencies.
The possibility that sexual liaison may also be involved would make further sense of such texts as 1 Tim. 2:9–10, and the concern there for chastity; 3:2, that the overseer be “faithful to his own wife”; 5:2, that Timothy treat “younger women as sisters, with absolute purity”; 5:6, 11–15, that the younger widows were giving themselves to pleasure and “becoming wanton”; and 5:22, in the context of judgment on the straying elders, that Timothy “not join in others’ sins but keep himself pure.” Nonetheless, it must be admitted that there is a degree of speculation involved in this suggestion.
3:8–9 / For the phenomenon of naming the nameless in early Christianity, see B. M. Metzger, “Names for the Nameless in the New Testament: A Study in the Growth of Christian Tradition,” in New Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic (Leiden: Brill, 1980), pp. 23–43, reprint from the Quasten Festschrift, 1970.
Because the names of Jannes and Jambres were such a widespread phenomenon in antiquity, both Jewish and pagan, the suggestion by Kelly that this may belong to the elaboration of Jewish legends about Moses makes a lot of sense. The names are mentioned in the Damascus Document 5:18; Targum Ps-Jonathan 1.3 (on Exod. 1:15) and 7.2 (on Exod. 7:11)—although there is some debate on the dating of this source; Menahoth 85a; Midrash Rabbah Exodus 9:7; and Pliny, Natural History 30.1.11. In the Targum (Ps-Jonathan 40.6) on Num. 22:21–22 they are called the sons of Balaam!