Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (April-June 1997) 189-204.
Copyright © 1997 by Dallas Theological Seminary. Cited with permission.


RHETORICAL DESIGN
IN 1 TIMOTHY 4

Barth Campbell

Many writers view 1 Timothy as an assemblage of in-
structions by Paul that have no logical plan. Hanson, for exam-
ple, says, "The Pastorals are made up of a miscellaneous collec-
tion of material. They have no unifying theme; there is no devel-
opment of thought."1

Yet other Pauline literature, when examined in light of
Greco-Roman rhetorical principles, shows evidence of skillful
discursive artistry,2 even where (in the case of Philippians) any

Barth Campbell is a Bible teacher in Modesto, California.

1 A. T. Hanson, The Pastoral Epistles, New Century Bible Commentary (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 42. See the outlines of 1 Timothy in Earle E. Ellis,
"Pastoral Letters," in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne,
Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: 1993), 665; and George W.
Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New Interna-
tional Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), viii–ix. Ben-
jamin Fiore states that the Pastoral Epistles have a loose style that reflects horta-
tory literature of Paul's day (The Function of Personal Example in the Socratic
and Pastoral Epistles, Analecta Biblica 105 [Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1986],
10).

Peter G. Bush argues for "a clearly defined and well planned structure" in 1
Timothy ("A Note on the Structure of 1 Timothy," New Testament Studies 36
[January 1990]: 152–53). His study, though helpful in its assertion that the letter is
structured, goes no further than to point out an inclusio (1 Tim. 1:12–20 and 6:11–16,
20–21) and concluding markers that demarcate sections of the epistle (3:14–15; 4:11;
6:2b; 6:17). The rhetorical structure proposed in the present article (see note 4)
builds on Bush's structural ideas, and suggests that 1 Timothy displays a structure
that is consistent with Greco-Roman rhetorical principles.
2 Examples of the growing body of literature on Paul's Greco-Roman rhetorical
skill include Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians: A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the
Churches in Galatia, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979); L. Gregory
Bloomquist, The Function of Suffering in Philippians (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993);
Robert Jewett, The Thessalonian Correspondence: Pauline Rhetoric and Mil-
lenarian Piety, Foundations and Facets (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986); Margaret
M. Mitchell, Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation: An Exegetical Investigation
of the Language and Composition of 1 Corinthians (Louisville: Westminster/Knox,

189

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190 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / April—June 1997

argumentative design has been denied.3 This article proposes
that 1 Timothy demonstrates rhetorical design in the classical
mode, with the discussion focused on 1 Timothy 4.4

FIVE STEPS IN RHETORICAL ANALYSIS5
DETERMINE THE RHETORICAL UNIT
A classical-rhetorical analysis of a New Testament book begins
with the definition of the rhetorical unit. A discernible begin-
ning, middle, and end delineate the rhetorical unit, which may
be an entire discourse or a segment within it. First Timothy is
obviously a rhetorical unit—it is a communication framed by an
introductory salutation (1–2) and by a concluding charge and
benediction (6:20–21). Chapter 4 constitutes a smaller rhetorical
unit within the larger unit.

1993); Walter B. Russell, "Rhetorical Analysis of the Book of Galatians, Part 1,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (July-September 1993): 341-58; and idem, "Rhetorical
Analysis of the Book of Galatians, Part 2," Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (October-Decem-
ber 1993): 416-39.
3 Duane F. Watson refutes the contention of some interpreters that Philippians
is marked by "artlessness" ("A Rhetorical Analysis of Philippians and Its Implica-
tions for the Unity Question," Novum Testamentum 30 [1988]: 57).
4 First Timothy exhibits an oratorical design after Greco-Roman standards. Be-
low is an outline of the rhetorical arrangement in the letter (on the study of ar-
rangement in rhetorical criticism, see note 13).

Exordium (1:1-2)

Proposition (1:3-7)

Narration (1:8-20)
Proof
(2:1-6:2)


Proof A (2:1-15)


Proof B (3:1-16)


Proof C (4:1-16)
Proof
D
(5:1-6:2)
Refutation
(6:3-10)
Epilogue
(6:11-21)

The thorny question of authorship of the Pastoral Epistles is outside the scope
of this study. Whether one considers these letters Pauline or not matters little in a
rhetorical study of them. However, a presupposition in this article is that 1 Timo-
thy is authentically Pauline. For discussions on the Pauline authorship of these
epistles see William Hendricksen, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, New Tes-
tament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1957), 4-33; 'Thomas D. Lea and Hayne
P. Griffin Jr., 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broad-
man, 1992), 23-40; and Philip H. Towner, 1-2 Timothy and Titus, IVP New Testa-
ment Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 30-35.
5 For these steps see C. Clifton Black II, "Keeping Up with Recent Studies XVI:
Rhetorical Criticism and Biblical Interpretation," Expository Times 100 (April
1989): 254-55; G. Walter Hansen, "Rhetorical Criticism," in Dictionary of Paul and
His Letters, 824; George A. Kennedy, New Testament Interpretation through Rhe-
torical Criticism (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1984), 33-
38; and Duane F. Watson, Invention, Arrangement, and Style: A Rhetorical Study of
Jude and 2 Peter, SBL Dissertation Series 107 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1988), 8-28.

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Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4 191

The
resumptive
de<6 in 4:1 elaborates on the subject of the false
teachers that was introduced in the proposition (a brief statement
of the argument for the entire letter) in 1:3-7. The termination of
the rhetorical unit is 4:16, since 5:1 is a partition, a restatement of
the epistolary proposition by listing the components to be dis-
cussed in the ensuing rhetorical unit.7

DETERMINE THE RHETORICAL SITUATION
The rhetorical situation is "a complex of persons, events, objects,
and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which
can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced
into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to
bring about the significant modification of the exigence."8 In 1
Timothy the exigence is the activity of those who teach different
doctrines and concern themselves with speculative myths and
genealogies.9 Timothy, Paul's emissary in Ephesus, was to in-
struct such people to desist from heresy, and at the same time he
was to counteract their influence with wholesome instruction.

DETERMINE THE OVERRIDING RHETORICAL PROBLEM
At this point in rhetorical analysis the student addresses the
species, stasis, and question of the discourse. One of three species
usually predominates in a rhetorical unit. Either the discourse is
judicial (concerned with accusation and defense), or deliberative
(dealing with persuasion or dissuasion of the audience), or epide-
ictic (featuring praise or blame). First Timothy is deliberative in
that Paul sought to persuade Timothy (and the Ephesian churches
generally10) to oppose false teaching and to conduct themselves

6 "Now" in the New Revised Standard Version is preferable to "but" in the New
American Standard Bible. (The particle is ignored completely in the New Interna-
tional Version and the Revised English Bible.) The Greek New Testament, United
Bible Societies, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), places a section break after 3:16.
7 A proposition is sometimes divided into its constituent parts (Cicero, De in-
ventione 1.22-23; Rhetorica ad Herennium 1.10.17; Quintilian, Institutio Oratio
3.9.1-5, 4.4-5; and Watson, "A Rhetorical Analysis of Philippians," 66).
8 Lloyd F. Bitzer, "The Rhetorical Situation," Philosophy and Rhetoric 1 (Winter
1968): 6.
9 For the false teaching and false teachers in 1 Timothy see 1:3-11, 19-20; 4:1-10;
and 6:3-5, 20-21; in the Pastoral Epistles generally see Martin Dibelius and Hans
Conzelmann, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles,
trans. Philip Buttoiph and Adela Yarbro, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress,
1972), 65-67; Ellis, "Pastoral Letters," 662-63; and Oskar Skarsaune, "Heresy and
the Pastoral Epistles," Themelios 20 (October 1994): 9-14.
10 The plural u[mw?n in 6:21 is to be preferred to sou? so that the phrase reads, h[
xa<rij meq ] u[mw?n (Hanson, The Pastoral Epistles, 116; and Bruce M. Metzger, A Tex-
tual Commentary on the Greek New Testament [n.p.: United Bible Societies, 1971], 644).

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192 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / April—June 1997

within the household of God in an appropriate manner. Exhorta-
tion is the decisive tone throughout the epistle.11

Stasis is the basic issue of a case, the issue on which an accu-
sation or defense hinges. In judicial rhetoric, stasis may be ei-
ther fact (whether something is), definition (what something is),
or quality (what kind something is). In epideictic and delibera-
tive discourse, quality is usually the stasis, as it is in 1 Timothy
since Paul addressed the quality of Timothy's ministry and the
quality of life within the Christian community generally. The
rhetorical question is twofold and thus is complex: How should
Timothy handle the phenomenon of false teachers (1:3–10), and
how should all believers conduct themselves in the household of
God (cf. 2:1–15; 3:14–15)?

INVESTIGATE THE INVENTION, ARRANGEMENT, AND STYLE
Invention.12 Invention refers to the rhetor's selection of material
(known as proof) that contributes to the convincing nature of the
case being argued. Proof can either be artificial (constructed out
of the orator's own skill or artifice), or inartificial (i.e., evidence
that is ready-made for the rhetor's purpose). Witnesses, docu-
ments, and legal precedents are examples of inartificial proof.

Proof may be one of three kinds: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos is the orator's own good reputation, credibility, and esteem
before the judge or audience. The auditors' goodwill, favorable
self-estimation, and receptivity to the case constitute positive
pathos. Throughout a discourse the rhetor seeks to establish his
own ethos and to promote both positive pathos among the audience
and negative pathos (opposition and revulsion) for opponents and
their cause.

Logos, logical argument within a discourse, is of two vari-
eties: inductive, which utilizes examples and draws a conclusion
from them, and deductive, whereby the rhetor argues a point de-
duced from premises presumed to be acceptable to an audience.
Topics are employed in both inductive and deductive argument.
Topics are the "places" (to<poi) where an orator looks for argu-
mentative material. They are the rhetorical "material" from
which proofs are composed. Topics can be either principles appli-
cable to all argumentation (e.g., argument from the greater to the
lesser) or subjects within a given body of knowledge or experi-
ence (e.g., Jesus' death and resurrection for Christians).

11 See Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 10-11.
12 Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric 1.2.1356a.1; Cicero, De inventione 1.31.51-37.67;
Cicero, Topica; Herodotus, Histories 3.2.3-5.9; Kennedy, New Testament Interpre-
tation through Rhetorical Criticism, 14-18; and Watson, Invention, Arrangement,
and Style, 14-20.

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Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4 193

Arrangement.13 The general pattern of rhetorical discourse
is variable, but the basic arrangement for judicial discourse
serves as a standard outline. A proem or exordium that seeks to
obtain the auditors' attention and goodwill precedes a narration
of the facts of the case and the proposition that sometimes features
a partition into separate headings. The proof containing the
speaker's arguments is followed by a refutation of the opponent's
views. Then an epilogue or peroration sums up the rhetor's argu-
ments and seeks to sway the emotions of the hearers toward the
orator's view.

Style.14 Style refers to the rhetor's choice of literary devices
and language that are used to package the argument. Tropes,
such as metaphor and simile, are concerns of style. So too is the
degree of force and ornament in the language of the discourse.
The rhetorical critic will be sensitive to the three kinds of style:
grand, middle, and plain. All three may be present in a dis-
course, but one usually is predominant.

The examination of invention, arrangement, and style of a
piece of rhetoric constitutes the major part of rhetorical criticism.
This article examines these three elements in 1 Timothy 4.

EVALUATE THE RHETORICAL EFFECTIVENESS15
In this step the rhetorical critic seeks to determine the effective-
ness of the rhetorical argument in the unit studied.

A CLASSICAL-RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF 1 TIMOTHY 4
NARRATION (4:1-5)
The exordium for the entire letter (1:1-2) provides the introduc-
tion of the individual sections within the proof. Hence Paul im-
mediately began the rhetorical unit of 1 Timothy 4 with narra-
tion. Pauline ethos is enhanced with the formula to> de> pneu?ma
r[htw?j le<gei ("but the Spirit explicitly says"). The apostle placed
himself within the prophetic tradition as one who knew the mind

13 See Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric 3.13.1414a.2-1414b.4; Rhetorica ad Heren-
nium 2.18.28-29.46; 3.9.16; Quintilian, Institutio Oratio 3.9.1-6; Kennedy, New Tes-
tament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism, 23-24; Burton L. Mack,
Rhetoric and the New Testament, Guides to Biblical Scholarship: New Testament
Series (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990), 41-48; and Watson, Invention, Arrangement,
and Style, 20-21.
14 Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric 3.1-12; Demetrius, On Style; Herodotus, Histo-
ries 4; Longinus, On the Sublime; Ernest W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in
the Bible Explained and Illustrated (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1898; reprint,
Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968); and Watson, Invention, Arrangement, and Style, 22-26.
15 Watson, Invention, Arrangement, and Style, 28.

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194 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA/ April June 1997

of God and whose writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit to ad-
dress, in this case, the subject of false teachers. The urgency of
Paul's prophetic utterance is intensified by the present active in-
dicative le<gei.
The
construction
e]n u[ste<roij kairoi?j a]posth<sontai< tinej
("in later times some will fall away") further lends a prophetic
dimension to Paul's ethos. The future tense may refer here to
something already present, thereby informing the hearers that
Paul was indeed a prophet warned by the Spirit. As Knight ex-
plains, "the NT community used futuristic sounding language to
describe the present age. . . . Therefore, Paul is speaking about a
present phenomenon using emphatic future language character-
istic of prophecy."16

Serving as the object of le<gei is the o!ti clause. Within that
clause is the construction pneu<masin pla<noij kai> didaskali<aij
daimoni<wn ("deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons"), which is
an example of accumulation, an amassing of words identical in
meaning.17 Here each synonymous noun is modified by an ad-
jective that, in combination with it, forms an alliteration.18 The
accumulation creates negative pathos among the hearers toward
the apostates.

In verse 2 the apostates are aligned with demons, are hypo-
critical, and are said to be kekausthriasme<nwn th>n i]di<an
sunei<dhsin ("seared in their own conscience"). The perfect pas-
sive participle for "seared" refers, as a metaphor,19 to the searing
or cauterization of a hot iron to the point of moral insensitivity (as
suggested in the New Revised Standard Version) and not to the
branding of the hearers with Satan's mark like the branding of
fugitive slaves (as suggested in the Revised English Bible).20 The
former meaning is consistent with what Paul had already said
about Hymenaeus and Alexander, men who rejected a good con-
science (1:19-20).21

16 Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 189.
17 Quintilian, Institutio Oratio 8.4.26–27; cf. Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.40.52–
41.53; and Watson, Invention, Arrangement, and Style, 27.
18 See A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of
Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman, 1934), 1201.
19 A metaphor "occurs when a word applying to one thing is transferred to an-
other, because the similarity seems to justify this transference" (Rhetorica ad
Herennium 4.34.45).
20 Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 189.
21 Apparently Paul delivered these men to Satan only after they had rejected a
good conscience (1:19–20). The consignment to the devil did not brand their con-
science (4:2)—it only recognized the fact that their conscience was already seared.

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Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4 195


In the narration Paul explained the nature of the false teach-
ing at issue in 1 Timothy. The heretics forbade marriage and ad-
vocated abstaining from certain foods (v. 3). The construction
kwluo<ntwn gamei?n, a]pe<xesqai brwma<twn (lit. "forbidding to
marry, to abstain from foods") features a zeugma, a figure in
which one verb serves two objects, whereas the verb actually suits
only one.22 The New American Standard Bible overcomes the el-
lipsis with the translation, "men who forbid marriage and advo-
cate abstaining from foods."

Paul elsewhere disputed Christian ascetics who forbade sex-
ual intercourse within marriage (1 Cor. 7:1-7) and who advo-
cated prohibitions against certain foods (Rom. 14:1-6; 1 Cor. 8:1-
13; 10:14-33). In 1 Timothy, Paul argued (consistently with those
passages) when he maintained against the false teachers, that
foods are created by God and that sexual relations23 within mar-
riage24 are designed by Him, all to be accepted with thanksgiving
by believers who know the truth. The error of the false teachers is
that by forbidding God's good gifts to the community they had de-
nied God as Creator and the created order as His good work. Such
a denial marked one as a heretic in Judaism.25 Believers, who
know the truth, are to share in what God has created (1 Tim. 4:3b).

The reason believers should thankfully receive God's cre-
ation is stated in verse 4. The word o!ti ("for" or "because") intro-
duces the conclusion of an enthymeme, a syllogism with part of it
suppressed.26 The syllogism behind the enthymeme may be stated

22 F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and Robert W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Tes-
tament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1961), § 479.2; and Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 190.
23 This is an example of metonymy, a figure by which an object is called not by its
own name, but by something associated with it (Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.32.43).
Here "marriage" is a euphemistic metonymy for marital sexual relations.
24 The relative clause a} o[ qeo>j e@ktisen ("which God created," 1 Tim. 4:3c) has as
its antecedent, not just the proximate brwma<twn, but also gamei?n. Knight concedes
the reference to gamei?n as directly or indirectly possible (The Pastoral Epistles,
190). If the relative clause does refer to marriage as well as foods, then kti<zw ("to
create") is another example of a zeugma (see n. 22): the verb suits brw<mata, but ex-
tends to gamei?n (a word such as "designed" or "ordained" linked with gamei?n is un-
expressed). God did not create marriage and the sexual relations within it in the
sense that He created tangible foods, but in His creation of male and female His
design is that conjugal relations should be enjoyed by believers. A possible transla-
tion of verse 3c that considers the zeugma places a full stop before the relative
clause and continues, "God designed marriage, and He created foods, so that they
all might be received with gratitude."
25 Skarsaune, "Heresy and the Pastoral Epistles," 10–11, 13.
26 Artistotle, The Art of Rhetoric 1.2.1357a.13–14; 2.22–26; 3.17.1418a.6–1418b.17;
Quintilian, Institutio Oratio 5.10.1–3, 14.1–24, 26; Kennedy, New Testament Inter-
pretation through Rhetorical Criticism, 16–17; and Watson, Invention, Arrange-
ment, and Style, 17–19.

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196 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / April-June 1997

as follows:
Premise A: Everything created by God is good and nothing is to


be rejected when it is received with thanksgiving.
Premise B: Marriage and foods are created by God.
Conclusion: Marriage and foods are good and to be received with


thanksgiving and not rejected (by those who believe
and
know
the
truth).


The enthymeme of verses 3c-4 is itself substantiated by an-
other enthymeme whose presence is evinced by ga<r in verse 5.27
This underlying syllogism is the following:
Premise A: Whatever one receives is sanctified by God's Word
and
prayer.
Premise B: God's creations are received by the Word of God and
prayer.
Conclusion: God's creations are sanctified by the Word of God
and
prayer.

"The Word of God and prayer" (lo<gou qeou? kai> e]nteu<cewj)
may refer to the divine pronouncement on the goodness of things
He has fashioned (Gen. 1:31) and thankful prayer by those who
receive them.28 One would normally expect to find enthymemes
in the proof of the discourse. Paul, however, used them in the
narration itself to dispense with heresy. His primary focus was
on Timothy's character and activity in the face of false doctrine.

"A GOOD SERVANT OF CHRIST JESUS": AN EXPOLITIO (4:6-10)
Proposition, reason, and contrary (4:6-7a). The arrangement of
proposition and proof in 1 Timothy 4 follows that of an expolitio,29
a refinement of a topic by one's comments on it. Paul followed one
of many possible variations of arrangement. In 4:6-10 a theme or
proposition is expressed with a subjoined reason. Following this
are a contrary, a restatement of the theme, a comparison, an ex-
ample, and a conclusion. Such a refinement can be quite ornate,
accompanied with numerous figures of diction and thought,30

27 The conjunctives ga<r and o!ti are common indicators of an enthymeme
(Kennedy, New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism, 16).
28 Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 192. The noun e@ntucij suggests a prayer of
thanksgiving in 1 Timothy 4:5, synonymous with eu]xaristi<a in verses 3-4 (Walter
Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the
New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed., rev. F. Wilbur Ging-
rich and Frederick W. Danker [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979], 268).
Hanson's reading of eucharistic language in verse 5 is anachronistic, imposing the
thinking of second and subsequent centuries on the text (The Pastoral Epistles,
88-89).
29 Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.42.54-44.57.
30 Ibid., 4.43.56-44.56.

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Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4 197


Grammatically verse 6 is a conditional construction with the
conditional participle tau?ta u[potiqe<menoj31 ("pointing out these
things") serving as the protasis, and kalo>j e@s^ dia<konoj Xristou?
]Ihsou? ("you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus") standing as
the apodosis. The force of verse 6, however, is imperatival since
the imperatival sentence in verse 7a, introduced by an adversa-
tive de<, stands as a direct antithesis32 to verse 6. The proposition of
the expolitio lies here: "be a good servant33 of Christ Jesus."

In verse 6 e]ntrefo<menoj, a causal participle may be translated
"since you are nourished." Timothy was to be a good servant of
Christ who put good instruction before the believers. He had been
nourished on wholesome doctrine and thus was capable of being
such a servant. The causal-participial construction constitutes
both the reason for the proposition ("be a good servant since you
are nourished") and the guarantee of its successful execution by
Timothy ("you will be a good servant since you are nourished").

By means of an opposite or contrary statement in verse 7a,
Paul made the conditional construction in the first half of verse 6
more emphatic. To be "a good servant" of Christ Jesus, Timothy
must avoid "worldly fables fit only for old women." The words
bebhlouj ("profane") and graw<deij ("fables") are highly emotive.
The former term has already appeared as a negative description
of the false teachers (1:8-11),34 whereas the latter word (an ephi-
thet commonly used in philosophic abuse during the first cen-
tury35) assesses the doctrines of the false teachers as no better than
the idle chatter, gossip, and tales told by old women. Both expres-
sions evoke negative pathos in the audience toward the heretics.
The imperatival verse 7a carries the proposition by expressing it
conversely.

Restatement and Comparison (4:7b-8). The contrary, set off
by de> in verse 7a, is itself contrasted by another antithesis in
verse 7b: gumnaze de> seauto>n pro>j eu]se<beian ("discipline your-
self for the purpose of godliness"). As a restatement this com-
mand elaborates on verse 6; it explains that a good servant of

31 The present middle participle is conditional (as in Goodspeed, the NIV, and the
NRSV).
32 Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.15.21, 45.58.
33 The word dia<konoj could mean "deacon" here in 4:6, as it does in 3:8-12, but it
likely has the more general notion of "servant, one who waits at tables."
34 The string of substantives in 1:9-10 is an instance of attenuation (negative am-
plification by accumulation) in which all the aspects and topics of a subject are
amassed, thus giving force to the argument. See Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.40.,52-
41.53; and Quintilian, Institutio Oratio 8.4.26-28.
35 Hanson, The Pastoral Epistles, 90.

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198 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / April—June 1997

Christ Jesus is one who exercises himself in godliness. Therefore
one who presents sound teaching to fellow believers, being
"nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine" one
has received, and who exercises himself in godliness is a good
Christian servant.
The
word
gumna<zw means "to exercise naked, to train" but it
also has figurative applications as in the training of one's mental
or spiritual powers (cf. Heb. 5:14; 12:11), which is its meaning
here.36 The life of piety is similar to athletic training. Hence gum-
na<zw, a comparison within the expolitio, is a metaphor emphasiz-
ing the effort necessary to acquire and progress in godliness.
"Godliness"
(eu]se<beia), mentioned eight times in 1 Timothy
(2:2; 3:16; 4:7–8; 6:3, 5–6, 11), refers to "the right attitude to God
and to the holiness, the majesty and the love of God."37 Paul
maintained in 4:7 that eu]se<beia is something for which one must
strive.38
The
conjunction
ga>r in verse 8 is continuative, not en-
thymematic. It serves to extend the comparison (begun in verse
7b) of a good Christian servant's conduct with an athlete's con-
duct. Paul used the rhetorical topic of arguing from the lesser to
the greater39 when he affirmed the value of godliness over physi-
cal exercise (v. 8). Godliness has benefit for the present and the
future, whereas physical exercise is useful only for the present
age. The value of eu]se<beia is a convincing proof in Paul's argu-
ment for Timothy to be a good servant of Christ.

Conclusion (4:9-10). In verse 9 Paul wrote, pisto>j o[ lo<goj
kai> pa<shj a]podoxh?j a@cioj ("It is a trustworthy statement deserv-
ing full acceptance"). What he was referring to is widely de-
bated. The formula could refer to the preceding discussion or part
of it.40 However, o[ lo<goj could point to elements of verse 10.41 The

36 Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
and Other Early Christian Literature, 167.
37 William Barclay, New Testament Words (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964),
113.
38 Ibid. This is not to deny that eu]se<beia is the gift of God as well (2 Pet. 1:3).
39 Quintilian, Institutio Oratio 5.10.87, 92; and Heinrich Lausberg, Handbuch der
literarischen Rhetorik: Eine Grundlegung der Literaturwissenschaft, 2 vols.
(Munich: Hueber, 1960), §397.
40 Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, 201-2. Marvin L. Reid maintains that
"syntactically, 1 Tim. 4:9 legitimizes the admonition in verse eight" and thus has a
backward emphasis ("An Exegesis of 1 Timothy 4:6-16," Faith and Mission 9 [Fall
1991]: 53).
41 This is suggested in the New English Bible, the New International Version,
and the Revised English Bible.

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Document Outline

• Title Page
• Five Steps in Rhetorical Analysis
• Determin the Rhetorical Unit
• Determine the Rhetorical Situation
• Determine the Overriding Rhetorical Problem
• Investigate the Invention, Arragnement, and Style
• Evaluate the Rhetorical Effectiveness
• Classical-Rhetorical Analysis of 1 Timothy4 Narration (4:1-5)
• "A Good Servant of Christ Jesus": An Expolitio (4:6-10)
• Epilogue (4:11-16)
• Summary and Evaluation of Paul's Rhetorical Effectiveness
• Pastoral Considerations
• End

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