First Epistle to Timothy

The First Epistle to Timothy is one of three New Testament letters known as the pastoral epistles, alongside Second Timothy and Titus. It has traditionally been credited to the Apostle Paul and offers advice to his younger associate Timothy, who is serving in Ephesus. The letter covers how the Church should be organized, the duties of its leaders, and calls for Timothy to stay faithful to the truth in the face of false teachings. Most scholars today believe the pastoral epistles were composed after Paul’s death, though a small and shrinking number still defend Pauline authorship.

Regarding authorship, the letter itself names Paul as its writer. In early Christianity, this claim was sometimes disputed. By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many scholars began questioning its authenticity, arguing that First Timothy, along with Second Timothy and Titus, was written by an unknown Christian in the late first or mid-second century. Most scholars now accept this view. They point out that the pastoral epistles contain over three hundred words Paul never uses in his undisputed letters, have a different writing style, reflect a church structure that did not exist in Paul’s time, and are absent from early lists of his accepted works. Scholars who still support Pauline authorship note that Polycarp likely knew First and Second Timothy, and some—like Robert Grant, Ian Howard Marshall, and Hans von Campenhausen—even suggest Polycarp himself wrote First Timothy around 140. Marcion, an excommunicated bishop, created an early scriptural canon around 140 that included ten Pauline letters but excluded the pastorals. Whether he rejected them as inauthentic or because they contradicted his teachings—such as their view that creation is good—remains debated. The word “antithesis” in 1 Timothy 6:20 has been seen as a possible reference to Marcion’s work, but it is a common Greek term, and the attack on heresy is not central to these letters. By the late second century, Irenaeus quoted all three pastorals and attributed them to Paul. The Muratorian Canon (around 170–180) also lists them as Pauline, and Eusebius (around 330) considered them undisputed. Exceptions include Tatian and the gnostic Basilides. Earlier possible allusions appear in writings by Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp, but the nature of these connections is unclear.

Scholars generally date First Timothy to the late first or early second century, with a wide margin of uncertainty. If Polycarp’s epistle depends on First Timothy, that sets a cutoff date before Polycarp wrote. Verbal similarities between Ignatius and a section of First Timothy could push the date earlier if Ignatius borrowed from it. Irenaeus, writing around 180, is the first author to clearly attribute the letter to Paul.

The original Greek manuscript is lost, and surviving copies vary. The earliest known fragment, Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 5259 (designated P133), dates to the fourth century (330–360). Other early manuscripts include Codex Alexandrinus (400–440), Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (around 450), Codex Freerianus (around 450), Uncial 061 (around 450), Codex Claromontanus (around 550), Codex Coislinianus (around 550), and Uncial 0262 (seventh century).

The epistle opens by claiming Paul as its author and addressing Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy that he was asked to stay in Ephesus to stop others from teaching false interpretations of the law. Paul explains that the law is meant for certain people.