§ 1 Salutation ( 1 Tim. 1:1–2 )
The letter begins with the standard form of salutation found in almost all the letters from the Greco-Roman period. Where such a letter in our time would have begun, “Dear Timothy,” and concluded something like, “Your affectionate father in Christ, Paul,” ancient letters began with the name of the writer, followed by the addressee and a greeting. Usually these were terse: “Paul, to Timothy, greetings.” Such a terse greeting may be found in Paul’s earliest existing letter (1 Thessalonians), but as time went on, each part of the salutation tended to become elaborated (“Christianized”) in a variety of ways. These elaborations, especially the longer ones, often reflect the urgencies of the letter in hand. This seems to be true of our letter.
1:1 / Paul regularly calls himself an apostle of Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians; cf. Romans), especially in those letters in which his authority was in question or what he was about to say needed the weight of apostolic authority. In more personal letters his self-designation is “servant” (Philippians; cf. Romans) or “prisoner” (Philemon). Why, then, does Paul use the designation apostle when writing to his longtime missionary companion and son in the faith? Probably because, as was noted in the Introduction, Paul is writing to Timothy with the full expectation that the church in Ephesus will overhear. The errors being spread in the church call for Timothy’s strong action, action ultimately based on Paul’s apostolic authority.
Paul’s authority is further emphasized with the addition by the command of God. Ordinarily he speaks of his apostleship as “by the will of God” (cf. 2 Tim. 1:1); but in this letter he is going to charge Timothy to “command” the church, or the errorists, to do or refrain from doing certain things. Thus he who gives commands is himself under command.
The source of Paul’s authority is God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope. It is Paul’s habit especially in the salutations to qualify the mention of God, but only in the PE (Pastoral Epistles) does he designate God as Savior. This title has its roots deep in OT piety, where God is often referred to as (my) “Savior” (Deut. 32:15; Pss. 24:5; 25:5; 27:9; 42:5, et al.; cf. Luke 1:47 and Jude 25). Here the emphasis is on God as the source of salvation, which in turn leads Paul to refer to Christ Jesus as our hope, who will complete our salvation at his appearing. (Note how these ideas all come together in Christ himself in Titus 2:13.)
1:2 / The designation of Timothy as his true son in the faith also seems to reflect the authority motif. (Note that in the more personal 2 Timothy he is simply called “my dear son.”) The word translated true literally refers to a legitimate child. Since Paul similarly refers to an unknown brother in Philippians 4:3 as a “true” yokefellow, one should perhaps not overstress the concept of legitimacy here. But it fits Paul’s concern well, not simply reassuring Timothy himself, but also ensuring that the church does not reject him (see 4:6–16).
The meaning of in the faith is debated (see disc. on v. 5 for the word faith in the PE). There is no article in the Greek text. Since elsewhere in these letters, where Paul unambiguously means to say “the faith.” he always uses the article, it is much more likely that in faith is meant here. That is, Paul is referring either to Timothy’s own faith (by his having faith in Christ he thereby also became Paul’s son) or to the sphere of his relationship with Paul (in his faith[fulness] to Christ he is a true, faithful son). The latter is probably what is meant. Although Paul often uses parent-child imagery to reflect his relationship to his converts (e.g., 1 Cor. 4:14–15; Philem. 10), the evidence in Acts 16:1–3 does not suggest that Timothy was in fact Paul’s own convert. Paul’s feelings for his younger colleague may often have been paternal, but in most references to him in the earlier letters, Timothy is spoken of as a co-worker (e.g., 1 Thess 3:2; Phil. 2:19–20). In 1 Corinthians 4:16–17 Paul had already used language similar to what he uses here, and in that case the emphasis on his being Paul’s “dear and faithful son in the Lord” was that by watching “son” Timothy’s example, his Corinthian “children” would know how to behave like their “father:” Thus the church in Ephesus is to recognize Timothy as Paul’s true son because of his faith.
The greeting proper, the prayer-wish that Timothy receive grace, mercy and peace, is (apart from the addition of mercy) the standard Pauline formula. Early on, Paul had already transformed the Greek greeting chairein (“Greetings!”) into charis (“Grace”) and brought it alongside the Hebrew greeting shalom (“Peace”). In Paul’s theology, and therefore in his greeting and prayer for his converts, grace comes from God through Christ and issues in peace. The combination mercy and peace has Jewish roots and had been used earlier by Paul in Galatians 6:16. Thus in the final letters the salutation has become complete.
For a collection of scores of examples of salutations from letters in the papyrus finds, see F. X. J. Exler, The Form of the Ancient Greek Letter of the Epistolary Papyri (3rd c. B.C.–3rd c. A.D.), pp. 23–68.
1:1–2 / It is Paul’s habit in his salutations to refer to Christ as Christ Jesus (although in several instances some early scribes reversed the order to Jesus Christ). However, in his earlier letters he also speaks of “Jesus” (e.g., Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 4:10; Gal. 6:17), “Christ” (Rom 5:6, 8, and throughout), “Jesus Christ” (e.g., Rom. 1:8; 3:22; and throughout), and “our Lord Jesus Christ” (e.g., Rom. 1:4; 7:25; and throughout). By the time of the PE, the title Christ Jesus predominates (twenty-six times to two) and has become something very close to a full proper name.
Sōtēr (savior), along with kyrios (lord), was a common title for the deities of the Hellenistic mystery cults. Already the title had been taken over and applied to God in Hellenistic Judaism by Philo of Alexandria. Therefore, many scholars see this as a non-Pauline term, used by our author who has himself imbibed Philonic Hellenistic Judaism and adapted it to fit Paul. However, the title is thoroughly biblical, and it is just as likely that Paul’s use of it in these letters reflects the emphases of the errorists.
Indeed, God our Savior could be argued to be a very Pauline idea. Only once does Paul call Christ our Savior—in the thoroughly eschatological context of Phil. 3:20 (the usage in Eph. 5:23 does not seem to be an appellation). But the subject of the verb save, or the verbal idea in the noun salvation, is never Christ, only God (1 Cor. 1:21; 1 Thess. 5:9). In Paul’s view of things, “we shall be saved [by God] through him [Christ]” (Rom. 5:9). Thus it should not be surprising that eventually he should come to call both God and Christ our Savior, especially since the former has already happened in Hellenistic Judaism.
It is often argued that there are non-Pauline elements in the salutation that betray another hand than Paul’s (by the command of God, God our Savior, the addition of mercy, and the word order God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord). One could note in response how many genuinely Pauline features there are as well. In fact one might have expected an imitator to be more slavish in copying Paul. The modifications in this salutation just as easily argue for Paul, since such modifications are his regular habit. Of course, an imitator could have noted that as well. So the argument is a standoff here.