1 Timothy 3:16
ContextNETBible | And we all agree, 1 our religion contains amazing revelation: 2 He 3 was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, 4 seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. |
XREF | Ps 68:17,18; Isa 7:14; Isa 9:6; Isa 50:5-7; Jer 23:5,6; Mic 5:2; Mt 1:23; Mt 3:16; Mt 4:11; Mt 13:11; Mt 28:2; Mr 1:13; Mr 16:5; Mr 16:19; Lu 2:10-14; Lu 2:32; Lu 22:43; Lu 24:4; Lu 24:51; Joh 1:1,2,14; Joh 1:32,33; Joh 6:62; Joh 13:3; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:8,9; Joh 16:28; Joh 17:5; Joh 20:12; Ac 1:1-9,19; Ac 1:10,11; Ac 2:32-36; Ac 10:34; Ac 13:46-48; Ac 14:27; Ac 20:28; Ro 1:3,4; Ro 8:3; Ro 9:5; Ro 10:12,18; Ro 16:25; 1Co 2:7; 1Co 15:47; Ga 2:8; Ga 4:4; Eph 1:9; Eph 3:3-9; Eph 3:5-8; Eph 3:10; Eph 4:8-10; Eph 6:19; Php 2:6-8; Col 1:6,23; Col 1:16-18; Col 1:27; Col 2:2; 2Th 2:7; 1Ti 3:9; Heb 1:3; Heb 2:9-13; Heb 7:7; Heb 8:1; Heb 12:2; 1Pe 1:12; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 3:22; 1Jo 1:2; 1Jo 3:5; 1Jo 5:6-8; Re 1:17,18; Re 7:9; Re 17:5,7 |
NET © Notes |
1 tn Grk “confessedly, admittedly, most certainly.” 2 tn Grk “great is the mystery of [our] religion,” or “great is the mystery of godliness.” The word “mystery” denotes a secret previously hidden in God, but now revealed and made widely known (cf. Rom 16:25; 1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; 6:19; Col 1:26-27; 4:3). “Religion” (εὐσέβεια, eusebeia) is a word used frequently in the pastorals with a range of meanings: (1) a certain attitude toward God – “devotion, reverence”; (2) the conduct that befits that attitude – “godliness, piety”; and (3) the whole system of belief and approach to God that forms the basis for such attitude and conduct – “religion, creed.” See BDAG 412-13 s.v.; 2 Tim 3:5; 4 Macc 9:6-7, 29-30; 15:1-3; 17:7. So the following creedal statements are illustrations of the great truths that the church is charged with protecting (v. 15). 3 tc The Byzantine text along with a few other witnesses (אc Ac C2 D2 Ψ [88 pc] 1739 1881 Ï vgms) read θεός (qeos, “God”) for ὅς (Jos, “who”). Most significant among these witnesses is 1739; the second correctors of some of the other tn Grk “who.” sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre. 4 tn Or “in spirit.” |