Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Timothy 6:17

"Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;" — 1 Timothy 6:17 (ASV)

Comfort your hearts . . . —“Comfort,” in reference to the “unending comfort” of 2 Thessalonians 2:16; and “stablish,” in reference to the “good hope in grace.” The “heart” needs comfort as the seat of emotions. In every good word and work (it should be, work and word) means in the maintenance of every good doctrine (as opposed to the false teaching which had spread about the Advent, and to the lies of the Apostasy), and in the performance of every good practice (as opposed to the lawlessness of the Apostasy, and to the disorderly conduct of which the next chapter treats: for here, as in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, the prayer forms an introduction of the next subject).

The singular number of the verbs “comfort” and “stablish” (which, of course, does not appear in the English), may perhaps be explained as in 1 Thessalonians 3:12, where see Note, though it is not necessary to understand it so, since the intervening relative (in the Greek, participial) clauses have turned the whole attention to the Father, who may be considered exclusively as the grammatical subject of the verbs. It would, however, have been painful to orthodox ears; however justifiable doctrinally, to have used a plural verb. It is by these little incidental touches, still more than by express doctrinal statements, that we learn what was the real belief of the Apostles concerning the Divinity of Christ; and we may say the same with regard to many other great doctrines.

2 Thessalonians 3

Charge them that are rich.—Paul had traced the error of the false teachers—against whose work and influence he had so earnestly warned Timothy—to covetousness, to an unholy love of money; he then spoke of this unhappy covetousness—this greed of gain, this wish to be rich—as the root of every evil. From this fatal snare he warned the “man of God” to flee, urging him to take courage in the high service to which he was dedicated, and to be fearless of all consequences, because he served the King of kings.

But in the congregations of Ephesus there were many, owing to birth or to other circumstances, already rich and powerful, already in possession of gold and rank, in varied degrees. Before closing the letter to the chief pastor, Timothy, he must add a word of encouragement and also of special warning to these. Above all things, he wanted to ensure there was no mistake about his meaning: the wish to be rich was a sure root of error and of evil, but being rich was a very different thing. This class was surrounded, indeed, with special perils, but still, even “as rich” they might serve God faithfully. So in his charge to them, he commands them not to strip themselves of their wealth, but to use it wisely and generously.

In this world.—The Greek word rendered “world” signifies, in its literal sense, age, and includes the period which closes with the second coming of the Lord. Now, as St. Paul had just made a reference to the probable speedy coming of the Lord in judgment in Timothy’s lifetime, the words “the rich in this world” have a special significance. Very fleeting indeed will be those riches of which their possessors were so foolishly proud (be not highminded, St. Paul urges); these riches were a possession always terminable with life—possibly, let them bear in mind, much sooner.

Nor trust in uncertain riches.—The literal translation of the Greek here is more forcible—“nor trust in the uncertainty of riches.” Uncertainty—because:

1. The very duration of life, even for a day, is uncertain.
2. The numberless accidents of life—in war, for instance, and commerce—are perpetually reminding us of the shifting nature of these earthly possessions.

But in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.—The Greek word rendered “living” does not occur in the more ancient authorities. Its removal from the text in no way alters the sense of the passage. The rich should set their affections and place their trust, not in these uncertain riches, but in God, the bestower of them, who also wills that His creatures should find pleasure in these His gifts—given to us to enjoy.

This is another of the many sayings of the old man St. Paul, in which he urges the people of God that their kind Master in heaven not only allows them reasonable pleasures and gratifications, but even He Himself abundantly provides these for them.

The salutation.—At this point St. Paul takes the pen out of his secretary’s hand and adds the closing words himself. The actual salutation does not begin until the benediction of the 18th verse, to which this 17th is intended to attract attention.

Which.—Namely, the autograph addition of a salutation, or valedictory prayer, not the special words in which it was expressed.

The token.—Rather, a token—a mark, that is, by which to tell an authentic Epistle of his from those forged letters with which false brethren had troubled the Thessalonian Church (2 Thessalonians 2:2). At first sight, it seems to us too audacious for anyone to have conceived the thought of writing a letter under the name of St. Paul; but, on the other hand, we must recollect several points.

1. St. Paul’s genuine First Epistle, in spite of its claim to inspiration (1 Thessalonians 4:15), could not yet have acquired in the eyes of the Thessalonians the sanctity it wears for us; they had no notion of such a thing as Holy Scriptures, and even if they had, St. Paul was a familiar figure, a mechanic who had just left them, not yet invested with the heroic halo.
2. Such literary forgeries were not uncommon in that age, and scarcely considered reprehensible, unless they were framed to inculcate with authority some heretical teaching. Apocryphal Gospels soon after abounded, under false titles, and works ascribed to St. Clement and other great Church teachers.
3. There need not always have been a direct intention to deceive the readers as to the authorship, but the renowned name acted as a tempting advertisement for the work, and the theories thus put forth hit their mark; whether the real authorship was discovered or not mattered little in comparison. Such points must be borne in mind before we accept as genuine any of the early Christian writings.

In every epistle.—That is, naturally, “in every Epistle which I write.” It cannot be narrowly restricted to mean, “in every Epistle which I will in the future write to you Thessalonians,” though that is, of course, the practical significance. Nor does it imply a formed design of writing other Epistles to other churches.

It seems necessary to suppose that St. Paul had already made a practice of concluding Letters with his autograph, though only one Letter of his is now extant of an earlier date than our present Epistle. There is no reason whatever to suppose that all the Letters St. Paul ever wrote have been preserved to us (see Dr. Lightfoot’s Philippians, p. 136 and following), any more than all the sayings and acts of Jesus Christ (John 21:25); and even when he wrote his First Epistle to Thessalonica, he had seen the necessity of giving careful directions about his Letters (1 Thessalonians 5:27) and of rousing his correspondents to a reasonable scepticism (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

The same solicitude reappears in 1 Corinthians 16:21 and Galatians 6:11. And the rule which St. Paul had already made, he always observed, as far as we can test; for all his extant Epistles, as Bishop Wordsworth points out on 1 Thessalonians 5:28, contain his “salutation” at the end.

So I write.—“Such is my handwriting.” It need not mean that the Thessalonians were previously unacquainted with his hand; he only calls their attention closely to it. The great bold handwriting would not easily be mistaken.