independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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Slaves under the yoke — for the name's sake 6:1–2
1
As many as are slaves under a yoke,relative — generalizing relative as virtual protasis ('as many as' = 'if any'), leaning forward on the command below — ζυγός names the burden without euphemism
let them count their own masters worthy of all honor,independent — third-person imperative — ἡγέομαι the verb of reckoning; ἴδιος: the master one actually belongs to, not masters in general
so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed.purpose — negative purpose — the missionary stake (cf. Isa 52:5; Tit 2:5, 10): conduct guards the name and the διδασκαλία together
2
And those who have believing masters must not despise them,independent — the harder case — καταφρονέω, to look down on: brotherhood tempts to presumption
because they are brothers,cause — the ground of the temptation, not of the duty — equality misread as license
but rather let them serve,independent — the counter-command — μᾶλλον: faith raises the standard of service; δουλεύω, the cognate verb of δοῦλος
because those who benefit from the good service are believers and beloved.cause — read with the masters as subject — οἱ ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι receive the benefit of the slaves' εὐεργεσία; the alternative ('masters devoted to kindness') remains possible
Teach and urge these things.independent — the clipped transition formula (cf. 4:11) — closing the household table and pivoting to the different teachers
The different teacher — sick with controversies 6:3–5
vv. 3–4a — the double protasis and its verdict: one perfect verb
3
If anyone teaches otherwiseconditional — first-class protasis — ἑτεροδιδασκαλέω, the letter's opening worry (1:3), leaning forward on τετύφωται
and does not adhere to sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ,conditional — the protasis' second verb — προσέρχομαι, to attach oneself; ὑγιαίνοντες λόγοι, the health metaphor the diagnosis below inverts
and to the teaching that accords with godliness,phrase modifier — coordinate dative object — εὐσέβεια the letter's touchstone, about to be counterfeited as a profit-scheme (v. 5)
4
he is puffed up,independent — the whole apodosis — one perfect verb: τυφόω, wrapped in smoke; a settled fog of conceit
understanding nothing,participial — concessive-descriptive — the pretension and the vacuum in one breath
but morbidly obsessed with controversies and disputes about words,participial — νοσέω περί, to be sick with craving — the diseased counterpart of the healthy words refused (v. 3)
vv. 4b–5 — the harvest: five vices, then the ruined men who breed them
from which come envy, strife, slanders, evil suspicions,relative — the vice-harvest — ἐξ ὧν on the disputes; singular γίνεται distributed over the whole list
5
constant frictions among people corrupted in mind and robbed of the truth,phrase modifier — the list's last and longest item — διαπαρατριβή, perpetual chafing; τὸν νοῦν accusative of respect; ἀπεστερημένων, truth once had, now stripped away
supposing that godliness is a means of gain.participial — the root error exposed — πορισμός, a profit-scheme; the next section picks the word up and turns it inside out
Great gain — godliness with contentment 6:6–10
6
But godliness with contentment is great gain;independent — the slogan reclaimed — fronted Ἔστιν concedes the 'gain' and relocates it; αὐτάρκεια, the Stoic self-sufficiency baptized (cf. Phil 4:11)
7
for we brought nothing into the world,cause — the ground — Job 1:21; Eccl 5:15: empty-handed in
so that neither can we carry anything out;cause — the awkward ὅτι — read as loosely consecutive ('so that,' 'which shows that'), the exit proving the entry; some MSS smooth with δῆλον ὅτι
8
but having food and covering,conditional — participial protasis — 'if/when we have,' leaning forward on the resolve below; σκεπάσματα, covering: clothing and roof alike
with these we will be content.independent — the resolve — future ἀρκεσθησόμεθα with imperatival force, cognate with αὐτάρκεια (v. 6)
vv. 9–10 — the counter-case: the will to be rich, and the root beneath it
9
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snareindependent — βουλόμενοι — the settled will to be rich is the danger, not wealth itself; παγίς, the snare of 3:7 without its owner named
and many senseless and harmful desires,phrase modifier — the fall's third landing-place — desires at once witless and wounding
which sink people into ruin and destruction.relative — βυθίζω, to drag to the bottom — the drowning that ends the trajectory; ὄλεθρος καὶ ἀπώλεια doubled for finality
10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils,cause — the maxim — ῥίζα anarthrous: a root, not the only one; πάντων τῶν κακῶν, evils of every kind rather than every single evil
by craving which some have wandered away from the faithrelative — ἧς with ὀρεγόμενοι — the participle's genitive complement: reaching for money itself, the verb of 3:1 aimed at the wrong object
and have pierced themselves through with many pains.relative — the relative's second verb — περιπείρω, to impale; ἑαυτούς emphatic: the wound is self-inflicted
The man of God — flee, pursue, fight, seize 6:11–16
11
But you, O man of God, flee these things;independent — the emphatic turn — Σὺ δέ against the money-lovers; ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ, the prophets' title (Deut 33:1; 2 Kgs 1:9) laid on Timothy
and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.independent — flight and chase in one breath — six virtues, εὐσέβεια now pursued rather than sold; πραϋπάθεια a rare, gentle close
12
Fight the good fight of the faith;independent — the athlete's cognate accusative — the contest is the faith's own (cf. 2 Tim 4:7)
take hold of eternal life,independent — ἐπιλαμβάνομαι — seize the prize already given; the one aorist among the present imperatives
to which you were calledrelative — the divine ground of the grasp — calling precedes contest
and confessed the good confession before many witnesses.relative — the relative's second verb — baptism or ordination; the many human witnesses answer the two divine ones below
vv. 13–14 — the adjuration: two witnesses, one spotless commandment
13
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,independent — performative παραγγέλλω — ζῳογονέω names God the life-giver, the martyr's comfort (cf. 2 Macc 7:22–23)
and Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,phrase modifier — the second witness — ἐπὶ Πιλάτου read locally ('before,' at his tribunal) rather than merely temporal; Christ's ὁμολογία the pattern for Timothy's (v. 12)
14
that you keep the commandment spotless, beyond reproach,content — infinitive of the charge — ἡ ἐντολή the whole entrusted ministry; ἄσπιλον ἀνεπίλημπτον asyndetic, the overseer's word (3:2) now on the charge itself
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,phrase modifier — the horizon — ἐπιφάνεια, the Pastorals' word for the visible advent
vv. 15–16 — the doxology: the Sovereign's titles, light none can approach
15
which the blessed and only Sovereign will display in his own times —relative — God the Father, not Christ, the subject — he 'shows' the appearing at times his own; μόνος δυνάστης against every imperial claim
the King of those who reign and Lord of those who exercise lordship,phrase modifier — apposition — participles, not nouns: whoever happens to be reigning, he outranks (cf. Deut 10:17; Dan 4:37 LXX)
16
who alone has immortality,participial — second μόνος — deathlessness possessed, not conferred; creatures receive it, God has it
dwelling in unapproachable light,participial — the Shekinah figure — φῶς ἀπρόσιτον (cf. Ps 104:2; Ex 33:20): nearness itself forbidden
whom no one of humankind has seen or is able to see;relative — the invisibility of God — fact (εἶδεν) and capacity (ἰδεῖν δύναται) both denied (cf. Jn 1:18)
to whom be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.relative — the ascription — verbless doxological relative (εἴη understood), sealed with ἀμήν
The rich in the present age 6:17–19
17
Charge those who are rich in the present ageindependent — παράγγελλε resumes the charge-verb of v. 13, now relayed through Timothy — wealth located ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι, already relativized against 'the coming' (v. 19)
not to be high-minded,content — the first infinitive — ὑψηλοφρονέω, to think high: pride the rich man's first peril
nor to set hope on the uncertainty of riches,content — perfect ἠλπικέναι, hope settled in place — its object dissolved into an abstraction: not riches but their uncertainty
but on God, who richly provides us all things for enjoyment,phrase modifier — the counter-object of hope — πλουσίως, wordplay on the rich; εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν: given for enjoyment, no asceticism here
18
to do good,content — the positive series opens — beneficence as the rich man's proper occupation
to be rich in good works,content — the verb redeployed — πλουτέω in a better currency: the true wealth is done, not held
to be generous, ready to share,content — two NT hapax adjectives — the open hand and the common table
19
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future,participial — the paradox of giving as saving (cf. Mt 6:20) — the mixed metaphor, treasuring up a foundation, left standing
that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.purpose — ἡ ὄντως ζωή — the prize of v. 12 opened to the rich; the real life against the seeming life of wealth
O Timothy — guard the deposit 6:20–21
20
O Timothy, guard the deposit,independent — the letter's last charge — παραθήκη, the entrusted gospel (cf. 2 Tim 1:12, 14); aorist φύλαξον, one standing order
turning away from the profane empty chatter and antitheses of falsely named knowledge,participial — the guarding's negative side — κενοφωνία, sound without substance; ἀντιθέσεις the errorists' rival theses (not yet Marcion's book); ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις an incipient gnosis-claim
21
which some, professing it, have missed the mark concerning the faith.relative — ἀστοχέω, to miss the aim (1:6) — the casualties again unnamed (τινες, as in v. 10; cf. 1:19)
Grace be with you.independent — the terse benediction — verbless; plural ὑμῶν reaches past Timothy to the listening church (some MSS read σοῦ)
Analysis. The shape alternates command-columns and their grounds, running from the household to the throne of light and back to a whispered goodbye. In vv. 1–2 two third-person imperatives sit flush left with ὅτι-grounds hanging beneath, the generalizing Ὅσοι-clause leaning forward on the first like a protasis; the layout reads οἱ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι as the believing masters who receive the benefit of their slaves' good service — beloved beneficiaries, not benefactors — while flagging the alternative. Verses 3–5 are one sentence: a double protasis leans on the single perfect τετύφωται, two participles descend from it (knowing nothing, sick with disputes), then ἐξ ὧν releases the vice-harvest, whose last item διαπαρατριβαί drags a genitive chain of ruined men — and their exposed axiom, godliness as πορισμός, v. 6 picks up verbatim and inverts. In the contentment run the crux is the ὅτι of v. 7, taken here as loosely consecutive (the empty-handed exit proving the empty-handed entry) rather than strictly causal; v. 8's participial protasis leans on the quasi-imperatival future ἀρκεσθησόμεθα; and the famous maxim of v. 10 is rendered honestly — anarthrous ῥίζα, 'a root,' with πάντων τῶν κακῶν as evils of every kind. The Σὺ δέ of v. 11 turns the page: four flush-left imperatives (flee, pursue, fight, seize), then the performative παραγγέλλω of v. 13 with its two witnesses — ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου read as 'before Pilate,' the tribunal and not merely the date — carrying the τηρῆσαι-infinitive out to the ἐπιφάνεια, at which point the mention of the appearing triggers the doxology: everything in vv. 15b–16 hangs at one depth under δυνάστης — the participial royal titles, the two μόνος-claims, the unapproachable light, the unseeable God, and the verbless ᾧ-ascription — God the Father, not Christ, being the one who 'shows' the appearing in his own times. Verses 17–19 re-run the charge-shape at second hand: five infinitives hang on παράγγελλε, hope's object corrected from an abstraction (the uncertainty of riches) to the God who gives richly for enjoyment, and the participle ἀποθησαυρίζοντας carries the paradox of treasure laid up by being given away, aimed (ἵνα) at ἡ ὄντως ζωή — the same prize v. 12 told Timothy to seize. The close is a vocative and three lines: guard the παραθήκη, swerve from the ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις (its ἀντιθέσεις left as the errorists' own rival theses, not yet Marcion's book), and a benediction whose plural ὑμῶν lets the whole listening church under the letter's last word.