Concoll ia Tbeologica Monthly JUNE 1950 A.RCHI Conco123io Theological Monthly Published by The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod EDITED BY mE FACULTY OF CONCORDIA SEMINARY ST. LOUIS, Mo. Address all communications to the Editorial Committee in care of the Managing Editor, F.E.Mayer, 801 De Mun Ave., St.Louis 5, Mo. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE PAUL M. BRETSCHER, RICHARD R. CAEMMERER, THEODORE HOYER, FREDERICK E. MAyER, LoUIS J. SIECK CONTENTS FOR JUNE 1950 THE NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. W' aller Bartling STUDY ON 1 TIMOTHY 1: 3-11. Otto E. Sohn THE CHRISTIAN AND GOVERNMENT. A. M. Reh10inkel A SERIES OF SERMON STUDIES FOR THE CHURCH YEAR BRIEF STUDIES THEOLOGICAL OBSERVER BOOK REVIEWS PAGE 401 419 429 441 451 454 472 Leupold. H. C.: Exposition of Genesis. -Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Job. Psalms). -Brunner, Bmil.· The Christian Doctrine of God. -Huggenvik. Theodore.' We Believe. -WisloD. Predrik.· I Believe in the Holy Spirit. -Cullmann: Christ and Time. -Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge.· The Person and Work of Christ. -Paslors 0/ Btl. tuth. Church: We Beheld His Glory; What Seek Ye? By the Obedience of One; Unto a Living Hope; In Whom We Live; Teach Me Thy Paths; For This Cause. -A/bus, HtZTry J.: A Treasury of Dwight L. Moody.-Erdman, Charles R.,. Blackwood. Andrew W.: Great Pulpit Masters (Moody and Spurgeon). -Great Gospel Sermons 0: Classic; II: Contemporary). CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY is published monthly by Concordia Publishing House. 355S S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis IS, Mo . to which all business correspondence is to be addressed. $3.00 per annum, anywhere in the world. payable in advance. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. AcceptaQce for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in SeCtion 1103, ACt of OCtober 3, 1917, authorized on July 5. 1915. pRIlf'm) Dr v. S. A. Study on 1 Timothy 1:3-11 By Orro E. SOHN T .ATE in his career, in the early sixties, the Apostle Paul was able L to carry out his projected visit to Asia and Macedonia (Philem.22 and Phil. 1:25; 2:24), at which time he doubtless visited Crete, leaving Titus behind to supply the churches with pastors (Titus 1: 5 ). Likewise he met with Timothy in Ephesus, upon whom he also prevailed not to accompany him to Macedonia, since evil forces were threatening to wreak havoc in the church (1 Cor. 16:9; Eph. 5:16; Acts 19:23 f.). Furthermore, the matter of staffing the churches with pastors and deacons needed attention (1 Tim. 3:1-10, 14-15).-In the section before us, the Apostle concentrates upon one specific problem, namely, that of the errorists in the Ephesian church. Vv. 3-4.-We must at the outset point to the peculiar construction of this section. The protasis introduced by x u - & w ~ has no apodosis following it. The A. V. therefore adds "so do" in v.4. Most commentators regard this as an anacoluthon, which may be resolved as was done in the A. V., or by regarding the instruction beginning at v.18 as the apodosis. Others take the infinitive :I1{)OcrflEv£LV as an imperative, as is frequently done in the papyri, but not so often in the N. T., though examples are not wanting: XULQEtV in Acts 15:23; 23:26; James 1:1-2; 2 John 11; cr-COLXELV, Phil. 3: 16; cruVUVUflLYVUcr-&UL, 2 Thess. 3: 14; v:n:O-cucrcrEcr-&m, Titus 2: 9 (though this may be regarded as ace. e. info dependent upon :n:UQUXUA£L in V. 6). -Robertson, Grammar, 943. The : n : Q 6 ~ in :n:QOcrflEVEtV points to the problem at hand and adds urgency to the appeal of St. Paul that Timothy remain in Ephesus. Apparently the latter was anxious to go along, but finally yielded to the Apostle's earnest entreaty, :n:UQEXUAEcrU. When the flock is threatened by wolves, the shepherd must be on duty. Paul himself was not able to solve this problem, yet his promise to the Philippians did not permit him to delay (Phil. 1:25; 2:24). The specific problem at Ephesus, then, was the disruptive activity of certain errorists or leaders, who apparently were still within the church, else Timothy could hardly command them to quit teaching 419 420 STUDY ON 1 TIMOTHY 1:3-11 falsely and dabbling in idle myths and speculations. The present infinitive Et"EQo5t5a()'.(aAELv denotes that their false teaching had become habitual on their part. Needless to say, the Apostle objected to the false doctrine of these men, not to wrong methods used by them. That situation could not be permitted to continue. Since this nefarious activity was going on even then, it is proper to translate: "that you should command certain ones to stop teaching falsely and giving attention to fables and endless genealogies." Who were these errorists? St. Paul does not identify them, yet in v.20 he mentions a Hymenaeus and an Alexander, who concerning the faith had made shipwreck. Whether he is referring to them here in v. 3 cannot be established. He merely speaks of ncrLv, certain ones. Of H ymenaeus nothing further is known, except that his false view and that of a certain Philetus with respect to the resurrection is mentioned 2 Tim. 2: 17 as a stumbling block to the faith of some. Alexander is likewise difficult to identify. Though it is not altogether out of the question, yet he would hardly seem to have been the coppersmith who so viciously opposed Paul, 2 Tim. 4: 14; for Timothy would have had little hope of success in commanding him to cease teaching falsely. Presumably this Alexander was a convert who later became a victim of false doctrine, possibly the one mentioned Acts 19:33. -The men whom St. Paul has in mind were quite likely of a Jewish background or leanings, since they paid so much attention to Jewish fables and genealogies (d. Titus 1: 10-14) . According to the "Book of Jubilee," they tried to fill in, or complete, deficiencies in the ancient ancestor records, which of course was a useless and hopeless endeavor, for which reason the Apostle calls them MEQav-coL, endless, interminable, adding that they present questions for disputings, C i L t " L V E ~ E % ~ ' l ' j t " 1 1 c r E L I ; :rt