1 Timothy 2:5

Contextual Overview

¹ First of all, I ask that you pray for all people. Ask God to bless them and give them what they need. And give thanks. ¹ First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, ¹ I exhorte therfore that above all thynges prayers supplicacions intercessions and gevynge of thankes behad for all men: ¹ I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: ¹ First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, ¹ First, I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him. ¹ I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; ¹ I exhort therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks be made for all men; ¹ First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ¹ I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

one God: Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:6, Mark 12:29-33, John 17:3, Romans 3:29, Romans 3:30, Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Galatians 3:20, Ephesians 4:6

and: Job 9:33, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:24

the man: Matthew 1:23, Luke 2:10, Luke 2:11, John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 15:45-47, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 2:6-13, Revelation 1:13

Reciprocal: Exodus 34:3 - General Leviticus 4:10 - peace offerings Leviticus 4:21 - a sin offering Leviticus 5:18 - for a trespass Leviticus 8:26 - General Leviticus 16:17 - no man Numbers 3:50 - General Numbers 4:16 - the oversight Numbers 16:48 - General Deuteronomy 18:15 - like unto me Deuteronomy 18:18 - like unto 1 Samuel 2:25 - who shall Psalms 130:7 - for with Isaiah 53:12 - he bare Jeremiah 30:13 - none Zechariah 3:9 - remove Luke 14:22 - and yet John 3:17 - but John 10:15 - and I John 16:23 - Whatsoever Acts 4:12 - is there 1 Corinthians 8:4 - there is 2 Corinthians 11:4 - preacheth Titus 1:3 - manifested James 2:19 - General 1 John 2:1 - we have

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground made Yahweh God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God caused every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree that gives life and also the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)

Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
And [in that garden] the LORD God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
And the Lord God brouyte forth of the erthe ech tre fair in siyt, and swete to ete; also he brouyte forth the tre of lijf in the middis of paradis, and the tre of kunnyng of good and of yuel.

Genesis 2:9
and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For there is one God,.... This does not so much regard the unity of God, with respect to himself, or his divine essence, though that is a truth; but does not carry in it any apparent and forcible reason why all men should be prayed for, for which it is produced; but the unity of God with respect to men, as that there is but one God, who is the Creator of all men, and who, in a providential way, is the Saviour of all men; and in a way of special grace is the one God, the one covenant God of all sorts of men, of Jews and Gentiles; for he has taken of the latter into the covenant of his grace, as well as the former, and has loved them with a special and distinguishing love, has chosen them in Christ to salvation, and has sent his Son to redeem them; and of these he calls by his grace, regenerates, sanctifies, adopts, pardons, and justifies; see Romans 3:29 and therefore all sorts of men, Gentiles as well as Jews, are to be prayed for: another argument follows,

and one Mediator between God and men; a Mediator is of more than one, and has to do with two parties; and these at variance among themselves, between whom he stands as a middle person; his business is to bring them together, and make peace between them; and such an one is Christ: the two parties are God and his elect, who in their natural state are at a distance from God, and at enmity to him, and who have broken his law, and affronted his justice; Christ stands as a middle person, a daysman between them, and lays his hands upon them both; has to do with things pertaining to the glory of God, and makes reconciliation for the sins of the people; brings them that were afar off nigh to God, and makes peace for them by the blood of his cross, by fulfilling the law, and satisfying justice for them; in consequence of this he appears for them in the court of heaven, intercedes and pleads for them, is their advocate, and sees that all covenant blessings, of which he is the Mediator, are applied unto them, and preserves their persons, which are committed to his care and charge, safe to everlasting happiness; and this Mediator is

the man Christ Jesus; not that he is a mere man, for he is truly and properly God; or that he is a Mediator only according to the human nature: it was proper indeed that he should be man, that he might have something to offer, and that he might be capable of obeying, suffering, and dying, and so of making satisfaction in the nature that had sinned; but then, had he not been God, he could not have drawn nigh to God on the behalf of men, and undertook for them, and much less have performed; nor would his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, have been available to cleanse from sin, to procure the pardon of it, justify from it, make atonement for it, or make peace with God: the reason why he is particularly mentioned as man, is, with a view to the argument in hand, praying for all men; since he who is the Mediator between God and man, has assumed a nature which is common to them all: and this Mediator is said to be one, not so much in opposition to other mediators, angels or saints departed, though it is a truth, and stands full against them, but with respect to men; there is but one Mediator between God and all sorts of men, through whom both Jews and Gentiles have an access to God, and peace with him; and therefore prayer through this Mediator should be made for all. So the Jews say of the Messiah u, that he is אל אמצעי, "a Mediator, God", a middle person between God and men. And they call him עמודא דאמצעיתא, "the Pillar of mediation" w or the middle Pillar; that is, the Mediator or Reconciler. And Philo x the Jew speaks of the word, as μεσος, a "middle" person, and standing in the middle between the dead and the living, and between God and men. The Ethiopic version here renders it, "there is one elect of God"; which is one of the characters of the Messiah, Isaiah 42:1.

u R. Albo, Sepher Ikkarim, orat 2. c. 28. w Sepher Jetzira, p. 126. x Quis rerum divin. Hares, p. 508, 509, 510.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For there is one God - This is a reason for offering prayer for all people, and for the declaration 1 Timothy 2:4 that God desires that all people should be saved. The reason is founded in the fact that he is the common Father of all the race, and that he must have the same desire for the welfare of all his children, He has made them of one blood Acts 17:26, and he must have the same interest in the happiness of all; compare Ephesians 4:6 note; Romans 3:30 note.

And one Mediator between God and men - see Galatians 3:19-20 notes; Hebrews 9:15 note. This also is given as a reason why prayer should be offered for all, and a proof that God desires their salvation. The argument is, that there is the same Mediator between God and all people. He is not the Mediator between God and a part of the human race, but between “God and men,” implying that He desired the salvation of the race. Whatever love there was in giving the Mediator at all, was love for all the race; whatever can be argued from that about the interest which God has in man, is proof of his interest in the race at large. It is proper, therefore, to pray for all. It may be remarked here that there is but one Mediator. There is not one for kings and another for their subjects; one for the rich and another for the poor; one for the master and another for the slave. All are on the same level, and the servant may feel that, in the gift of a Mediator, God regarded him with the same interest that he did his master. It may be added also that the doctrine of the Papists that the saints or the Virgin Mary may act as mediators to procure blessings for us, is false. There is but “one Mediator;” and but one is necessary. Prayer offered to the “saints,” or to the “Virgin,” is idolatry, and at the same time removes the one great Mediator from the office which he alone holds, of making intercession with God.

The man Christ Jesus - Jesus was truly and properly a man, having a perfect human body and soul, and is often called a man in the New Testament. But this does not prove that he was not also divine - anymore than his being called God (John 1:1; John 20:28; Rom 9:5; 1 John 5:20; Hebrews 1:8), proves that he was not also a man. The use of the word man here was probably designed to intimate that though he was divine, it was in his human nature that we are to consider him as discharging the office. Doddridge.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Timothy 2:5. There is one God — Who is the maker, governor, and preserver of all men, of every condition, and of every nation, and equally wills the salvation of all.

And one mediator — The word μεσιτης, mediator, signifies, literally, a middle person, one whose office it is to reconcile two parties at enmity; and hence Suidas explains it by ειρηνοποιος, a peace-maker. God was offended with the crimes of men; to restore them to his peace, Jesus Christ was incarnated; and being God and man, both God and men met in and were reconciled by him. But this reconciliation required a sacrifice on the part of the peace-maker or mediator; hence what follows.