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For more great commentaries on 1 Timothy check:
Commentaries on the Epistles, Commentaries on the Whole New Testament
& Whole Bible Commentaries
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Order of Contents 22+
Best 3
Commentaries 15
Early & Medieval 9
Chapters 2
Bible Characters 2
Authenticity 2
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The Best Commentaries on 1 Timothyearly
Reformer
Calvin, John – The First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to Timothy in Sermons on the Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy & Titus (1579; Banner of Truth, 1983), pp. 1-658 no ToC Doctrines
*** “Quite a different work from Calvin’s Commentaries.” – Spurgeon
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1600’s
Dickson, David – ‘The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy Analytically Expounded’ in An Expositon of all St. Paul’s Epistles… (1659), pp. 158-70
Dickson was a prominent Scottish covenanter.
*** – ‘Dickson is a writer arfter our own heart. For preachers he is a great ally. There is nothing brilliant or profound; but everything is clear and well arranged, and the unction runs down like the oil from Aaron’s head. In this volume the observations are brief.’
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Intermediate
Fairbairn, Patrick – The First Epistle to Timothy ToC in The Pastoral Epistles: the Greek Text & Translation… (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1874), pp. 69-254
*** “What with a good translation, full defense of the Apostolic authorship of the Epistles, fruitful comments, and profitable dissertations, this volume is about as complete a guide to the smaller epistles as one could desire.” – Spurgeon
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Commentaries on 1 Timothy
Reformer
Luther, Martin – Lectures on 1 Timothy ToC in Luther’s Works, vol. 28: 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 15, Lectures on 1 Timothy ed. Hilton Oswald (Concordia, 1973), pp. 215-384
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Simple, Practical & Devotional
Bickersteth, Edward – The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy in Exposition on the Epistles of John & Jude, & of Paul to Timothy 2nd ed. (London: Seeleys, 1853), pp. 183-235
** – “Notes taken by his children of Mr. Bickersteth’s expositions at family prayer. Simple, devout, soundly evangelical, and, we must add, superficial and commonplace.” – Spurgeon
Rowland, Alfred – Paul’s Ideal Church & People: a Popular Commentary on the First Epistle to Timothy (1893) 312 pp. This was reprinted by Klock & Klock.
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Intermediate
1800’s
Kelly, J.N.D. – The First Epistle to Timothy ToC in A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (Hendrickson, 1993), pp. 39-152 Reprinted by Baker in the Thornapple Commentary series
Kelly (1909–1997), the noted early Church historian was an Oxford scholar. He has a few liberal tendencies.
“Able defense of the Pauline authorship. Presents a vivid picture of first-century church life. Thorough.” – Cyril J. Barber
Lilley, J.P. – The First Epistle to Timothy ToC in The Pastoral Epistles, a New Translation, with Introduction, Commentary & Appendix in Handbooks for Bible Classes, eds. Dods & Whyte (1901), pp. 67-150
Patterson, Alexander – Commentary on Timothy & Titus (1848)
** “Notes of discourses with much in them. Hints may be gleaned here in abundance by students who open their eyes.” – Spurgeon
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1900’s
Hendriksen, William – Commentary on I Timothy ToC in Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles in New Testament Commentary (Baker, 1957), pp. 49-222
“Firmly establishes the credibility of the Pauline authorship of the epistles, ably refutes the critical theories of men like P.N. Harrison, and provides a satisfying exposition of the text.” – Cyril J. Barber
Guthrie, Donald – 1 Timothy ToC in The Pastoral Epistles: an Introduction & Commentary rev. ed. in The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (IVP, 1960), pp. 63-131
Hiebert, David E. – First Timothy in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Moody, 1957) 125 pp. ToC
Hiebert was premillennial.
“A balanced exposition, true to the original text and fully abreast of the most recent scholarship.” – Cyril J. Barber
Kent, Jr., Homer A. – ‘Expository Exegesis & Translation of 1 Timothy’ ToC in The Pastoral Epistles: Studies in 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus (Moody, 1982), pp. 69-206
“A work of quality and reliability. Admirably bridges the gap between a laborious, technical treatment and a superficial, popular one.” – Cyril J. Barber
Clark, Gordon – The Pastoral Epistles Buy (1983)
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Advanced
1800’s
Liddon, Henry P. – Explanatory Analysis of St. Paul’s First Epistle to Timothy (1897) 112 pp. reprinted by Klock & Klock
This is something of an Annotated outline of the book.
Liddon (1829–1890) was an Oxford scholar, a promoter of the Tractarian movement (High-Church Anglicanism) and was known for his work on the Divinity of Christ. He also has an ‘Explanatory Analysis’ on Romans.
“A valuable treatment based upon a grammatical analysis of the Greek text.” – Cyril J. Barber
Wiesinger, Lic. August – Biblical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistles to the Philippians, to Titus & the First to Timothy; in Continuation of the Work of Olshausen (1857)
Olshausen was a liberal.
** “Many mistake this for Olshausen’s. It is of the critical and grammatical school, and bristles all over with the names of the German band. We prefer the Puritanic gold to the German silver which is now in fashion.” – Spurgeon
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1900’s
Bernard, John Henry – The Pastoral Epistles in The Cambridge Greek New Testament, with Introduction & Notes (1922)
“Provides helpful exegetical studies on all three epistles. Thorough.” – Cyril J. Barber
Simpson, Edmund K. – ‘The First Epistle to Timothy’ in The Pastoral Epistles, the Greek Text with Introduction & Commentary (Eerdmans, 1954), pp. 24-93
“Ably defends the Pauline authorship, carefully examines the external and internal which bears on the authenticity of these letters, draws on an extensive knowledge of classical literature, and expounds the text in a scholarly, satisfying way.” – Cyril J. Barber
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The Early Church on 1 Timothy
Compilation
ed. Gorday, Peter – The First Epistle to Timothy in Ancient Christian Commentary: Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (IVP Academic, 2007), pp. 129-228
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Individual Fathers
Clement of Alexandria – On 1 Timothy (chs. 2-3, 5-6) at Patristic Bible Commentary
Clement (c. 150 – c. 215) was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria.
Ambrosiaster – Commentary on 1 Timothy in Commentaries on Galatians-Philemon trans. Gerald Bray in Ancient Christian Texts Pre Buy (IVP Academic, 2009), pp. 120-41
Ambrosiaster (c. 366-384)
Chrysostom – Homilies on 1 Timothy ToC in NPNF1, vol. 13, pp. 407-74 HTML
Chrysostom (c. 347 – 407)
** ‘Enough of solid truth and brilliant utterance will be found here to justify this father’s title of ‘Golden Mouth’; but still all is not gold which fell from his lips, and to modern readers Chrysostom is not so instructive as he was to his own age [A.D. 349-407].’ – Spurgeon
Theodore of Mopsuestia – ‘On 1 Timothy’ in Theodore of Mopsuestia: The Commentaries on the Minor Epistles of Paul trans. Rowan Greer in Writings from the Greco-Roman World Pre (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010), pp. 525-683
Theodore (c. 350 – 428) was a bishop of Mopsuestia and is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate. He is the best known representative of the middle Antioch School of hermeneutics.
Augustine – Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament by S. Augustine in A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1839), pp. 890-918 ToC
sermon 124, on 1 Tim. 1:15
sermon 125, on 1 Tim. 1:15
sermon 126, on 1 Tim. 1:15
sermon 127, on 1 Tim. 6:7
Augustine (354–430)
Theodoret of Cyrus – Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul, vol. 2: Galatians–Hebrews Ref (Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2007)
Theodoret (c. 393 – c. 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator and bishop of Cyrus.
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The Medieval Church
Ishodad of Merv – On 1 Timothy at Patristic Bible Commentary
Ishodad (fl. 850) was a bishop of Hdatta during the Abbasid Caliphate (near current-day Mosul, Iraq) and prominent theologian of the Church of the East, best known for his commentaries on the Syriac Bible.
Aquinas, Thomas – Commentary on 1 Timothy
Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
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On Chapters in 1 Timothy
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1 Tim. 3
On the Qualifications of 1 Tim. 3 & the Good Order of the Church
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1 Tim. 4
Du Moulin, Pierre – ‘The Prophecy of the Apostle, St. Paul, in 1 Tim. 4:1-4’ in The Accomplishment of the Prophecies... (Oxford: Barnes, 1613), pp. 1-72
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Bible Characters in 1 Timothy
Whyte, Alexander – Bible Characters (d. 1921)
Timothy as a Child
Timothy as a Young Minister
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The Authenticity of 1 Timothy
Lilley, J.P. – ‘The Theory of Composite Authorship’ in the Appendix to The Pastoral Epistles, a New Translation, with Introduction, Commentary & Appendix (1901), pp. 230-34
Guthrie, Donald – Appendix: ‘An Examination of the Linguistic Argument Against the Authenticity of the Pastorals’ in The Pastoral Epistles: an Introduction & Commentary rev. ed. in The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (IVP, 1960), pp. 224-40
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