1 Timothy 1:20

Contextual Overview

¹⁸Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, ¹⁸ Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, ¹⁸ This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, ¹⁸This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, ¹⁸Listen to me, my son. I'm going to give you some advice. What was spoken over you so long ago wasn't a lie. Use what was said as your strength and your shield in the battle to come. ¹⁸ This order I give to you, Timothy my son, in harmony with the words of the prophets about you, so that by them you may be strong, fighting the good fight, ¹⁸ This charge, [my] child Timotheus, I commit to thee, according to the prophecies as to thee preceding, in order that thou mightest war by them the good warfare, ¹⁸ Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle, ¹⁸ This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare; ¹⁸ This charge I commit to thee, son Timotheus, according to the prophecies which went before concerning thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Hymenaeus: 2 Timothy 2:17

Alexander: Acts 19:33, 2 Timothy 2:14, 2 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:15

I have: Matthew 18:17, 1 Corinthians 5:4, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 2 Corinthians 10:6, 2 Corinthians 13:10

that: 1 Corinthians 11:32, 2 Thessalonians 3:15, Revelation 3:19

blaspheme: Acts 13:45, 2 Timothy 3:2, Revelation 13:1, Revelation 13:5, Revelation 13:6

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:3 - pronounce Leviticus 14:41 - into an unclean place Ezekiel 31:11 - delivered John 20:23 - General Acts 20:30 - of your 2 Corinthians 1:12 - our rejoicing 2 Corinthians 1:23 - that 2 Corinthians 2:17 - which 2 Corinthians 13:8 - General Galatians 1:8 - though Galatians 5:10 - bear Colossians 3:8 - blasphemy 1 Timothy 5:20 - that others 2 Timothy 2:26 - at Titus 3:11 - is subverted

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and set the diuision betwene the waters which [were] vnder the firmament, and the waters that [were] aboue the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and departide the watris that weren vndur the firmament fro these watris that weren on the firmament; and it was don so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament; and diuided the waters, which were vnder the firmament, from the waters, which were aboue the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander,.... The former of these is mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:17 and that part of faith he made shipwreck of, or erred in, was the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, whereby the faith of some nominal believers was overthrown; and this was attended with the putting away of a good conscience, he seemingly before had; for his profane and vain babblings increased to more ungodliness: the latter seems to be the same with Alexander the coppersmith, who did the apostle much evil, 2 Timothy 4:14 and it may be is the same with him who was at Ephesus when the apostle was, there, Acts 19:33 and where he might be now with Hymenaeus, with whom he might agree in his erroneous opinions, and therefore are particularly mentioned, Ephesus being the place where Timothy now was. It seems by their names that they were both Greeks; Alexander is a known name among the Greeks, since the times of Alexander the great, and even became common among the Jews;

Acts 19:33- :, and Hymenaeus was a name among the Grecians, from Hymen, the Heathen god of marriage: one of this name is mentioned among those said to be raised from the dead by Aesculapius q; there was also a bishop of Jerusalem of this name r.

Whom I have delivered to Satan; not by excommunication, which is the act of a church, and not of a single person; but by an apostolical power he had of delivering the bodies of men into the hands of Satan, by him to be tortured and afflicted, in order to bring them to a sense of their sins, and as a chastisement and correction for them, and a token of God's displeasure at them; Acts 19:33- :.

That they may learn not to blaspheme; or "that being chastised", corrected, or disciplined, "they might not blaspheme", as they had before done; either by words, contradicting, reviling, and scoffing at the doctrine of the resurrection; or by their unbecoming lives and conversations, giving themselves great liberty in sinning, supposing there was no truth in that doctrine; whereby they not only blasphemed the Christian religion themselves, but caused it to be evil spoken of by others.

q Apollodorus de Orig. Deor. l. 3. p. 172. r Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 7. c. 14. 30.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander - Hymeneus is nowhere else mentioned in the New Testament, except in 2 Timothy 2:17, where he is mentioned in connection with Philetus as a very dangerous man. An Alexander is mentioned in Acts 19:33, which some have supposed to be the same as the one referred to here. It is not certain, however, that the same person is intended; see the notes on that verse. In 2 Timothy 4:14, Alexander the coppersmith is mentioned as one who had done the apostle “much evil,” and there can be little doubt that he is the same person who is referred to here. One of the doctrines which Hymeneus held was, that the “resurrection was past already” 2 Timothy 2:18; but what doctrine Alexander held is unknown, It is not improbable, as he is mentioned here in connection with Hymeneus, that he maintained the same opinion, and in addition to that he appears to have been guilty of some personal injury to the apostle. Both also were guilty of blasphemy.

Whom I have delivered unto Satan - On the meaning of this expression, see the notes on 1 Corinthians 5:5.

That they may learn not to blaspheme - It cannot be supposed that Satan would undertake to teach them not to blaspheme, or that Paul put them under him as an instructor on that subject. The instructions of Satan tend rather to teach his followers to blaspheme, and none in his school fail to be apt scholars. The meaning here is, that Paul excommunicated them, and not improbably brought upon them, by giving them over to Satan, some physical maladies, that they might be reformed; compare notes on 1 Corinthians 5:5. It is not entirely clear what is meant by blaspheme in this place; compare notes on 1 Timothy 1:13. It cannot be supposed that they were open and bold blasphemers, for such could not have maintained a place in the church, but rather that they held doctrines which the apostle regarded as amounting to blasphemy; that is, doctrines which were in fact a reproach on the divine character. There are many doctrines held by people which are in fact a reflection on the divine character, and which amount to the same thing as blasphemy. A blasphemer openly expresses views of the divine character which are a reproach to God; an errorist expresses the same thing in another way - by teaching as true about God that which represents him in a false light, and, to suppose which, in fact, is a reproach. The spirit with which this is done in the two cases may be different; the thing itself may be the same. Let us be careful that we hold no views about God which are reproachful to him, and which, though we do not express it in words, may lead us to blaspheme him in our hearts.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Timothy 1:20. Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander — Who had the faith but thrust it away; who had a good conscience through believing, but made shipwreck of it. Hence we find that all this was not only possible, but did actually take place, though some have endeavoured to maintain the contrary; who, confounding eternity with a state of probation, have supposed that if a man once enter into the grace of God in this life, he must necessarily continue in it to all eternity. Thousands of texts and thousands of facts refute this doctrine.

Delivered unto Satan — For the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. See what is noted on 1 Corinthians 5:5; what this sort of punishment was no man now living knows. There is nothing of the kind referred to in the Jewish writings. It seems to have been something done by mere apostolical authority, under the direction of the Spirit of God.

Hymeneus, it appears, denied the resurrection, see 2 Timothy 2:17-18; but whether this Alexander be the same with Alexander the coppersmith, 2 Timothy 4:14, or the Alexander, Acts 19:33, cannot be determined. Probably, he was the same with the coppersmith. Whether they were brought back to the acknowledgment of the truth does not appear. From what is said in the second epistle the case seems extremely doubtful. Let him who most assuredly standeth, take heed lest he fall.

He that is self-confident is already half fallen. He who professes to believe that God will absolutely keep him from falling finally, and neglects watching unto prayer, is not in a safer state. He who lives by the moment, walks in the light, and maintains his communion with God, is in no danger of apostasy.