1 Timothy 1

“Apostle” means “official messenger,” such as a delegate or an ambassador sent to deliver a message. The title “apostle” came to mean disciples handpicked by Jesus to tell his story and spread his teachings. The title usually referred to the 12 original disciples of Jesus and to Paul, who met Jesus in a miraculous encounter while Paul was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians (Acts 9:5).

More literally, “Christ Jesus our Lord.” This works today like a divine title. But in the early days of the church, “lord” referred to a boss, a master, or a person of high status or respect. “Christ” was the Greek version of “Messiah,” which in Hebrew meant “Anointed One,” as in a king anointed under God’s authority. A literal translation today might be, “Messiah Jesus our leader.” But early on, Christians started using “Christ” as more than the Greek word for “Messiah.” They used it as part of Jesus’s name. Paul may be doing that here.

“Great kindness” is often translated as “grace,” from the Greek word charis. The Greek word also means “life.”

Ephesus was a busy port city on the west coast of what is now Turkey. In Paul’s day, it was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. Paul, on his third mission trip, spent three years there getting the church started. Before he left, he asked Timothy to stay there and lead the church as a pastor.

Macedonia was a Roman territory in what is now northern Greece.

The myths, some Bible experts speculate, may have been legendary tales about Jewish heroes and family members in Old Testament times. These tall tales may have been a bit like the American legend about three-year-old Davy Crockett killing a bear that was not named Teddy.

Tradition and genealogies were important to observant Jews. In some cases, the family tree determined what a Jew could or couldn’t do. Three families of Jewish priests, about 500 years before Paul, returned from exile in what is now Iraq. But because they couldn’t prove they were priests by tracing their genealogy back to the tribe of Levi, they were disqualified (Ezra 2:61-6). A group of 652 other returning exiles couldn’t even prove they were Jews (Ezra 2:59).

Paul doesn’t say what “Law” he’s talking about. But many Bible experts say that the context that follows, in verses 8-11, suggests he’s talking about the laws Moses gave the Jews. These are the Old Testament laws, summarized in the book of Deuteronomy, that distinguished the Jews as a race of people uniquely devoted to God.

The Greek word is charis, often translated as “grace.”

Literally, “Amen.”

Hymenaeus and Alexander were possibly leaders in a heretical teaching. Paul essentially excommunicates them. He later accused Hymenaeus of causing people to leave the church by teaching that the resurrection of the dead had already come and gone (2 Timothy 2:17-18).