in the face of (literally or figuratively) · preposition
many
πολλῶνpollōn
G4183
(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — genitive plural masculine
witnesses
μαρτύρων.¶marturōn
G3144
a witness (literally (judicially) or figuratively (geni… · noun — genitive plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,…
1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good wa…
1 Corinthians 9:25-26 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptibl…
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Philippians 3:12-14 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am appr…
1 Timothy 6:13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confe…
Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Timothy 6:6-12
From the mention of the abuse which some put upon religion, making it to serve their secular advantages, the apostle,
I. Takes occasion to show the excellency of contentment and the evil of covetousness.
1. The excellency of contentment, Ti1 6:6-8. Some account Christianity an advantageous profession for this world. In the sense they mean this is false; yet it is undoubtedly true that, though Christianity is the worst trade, it is the best calling in the world. Those that make a trade of it, merely to serve their turn for this world, will be disappointed, and find it a sorry trade; but those that mind it as their calling, and make a business of it, will find it a gainful calling, for it has…
Fight the good fight--BIRKS thinks this Epistle was written from Corinth, where contests in the national games recurred at stated seasons, which will account for the allusion here as in Co1 9:24-26. Contrast "strifes of words" (Ti1 6:4). Compare Ti1 1:18; Ti2 4:7. The "good profession" is connected with the good fight (Psa 60:4).
lay hold on eternal life--the crown, or garland, the prize of victory, laid hold of by the winner in the "good fight" (Ti2 4:7-8; Phi 3:12-14). "Fight (literally, 'strive') with such striving earnestness as to lay hold on the prize, eternal life."
also--not in the oldest manuscripts.
professed a good profession--Greek, "didst confess THE good confession," name…
Fight the good fight of faith - "Agonize the good agony." Thou hast a contest to sustain in which thy honor, thy life, thy soul, are at stake. Live the Gospel, and defend the cause of God. Unmask hypocrites, expel the profligate, purge and build up the Church, live in the spirit of thy religion, and give thyself wholly to this work.
Lay hold on eternal life - All this is in allusion to the exercises in the public Grecian games: Fight, conquer, and seize upon the prize; carry off the crown of eternal life!
Whereunto thou art also called - The allusion to the public games is still carried on: Thou hast been called into this palaestra; thou hast been accepted as one proper to enter the lists wi…
The Church Fathers
In like manner, O blessed, consider whatever is hard in your present situation as an exercise of your powers of mind and body. You are about to enter a noble contest in which the living God acts the part of superintendent and the Holy Spirit is your trainer, a contest whose crown is eternity, whose prize is angelic nature, citizenship in heaven for ever and ever.
Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of eternal life, to which you were called, and you made the good confession before many witnesses. Fight the good fight of faith. The fight of faith, both what has been said, and the courageous one in trials. And immediately the reward of such a fight, eternal life. to which you were called. For everyone who comes to baptism is called to this. the good confession. Rather confession, it refers to that in baptism, when we confess to renounce the Devil and to join and believe in Christ. A command about purity, obedience until the end.
In another place the apostle says, "And all those who will live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Then, to help prevent people from renouncing godliness when they are persecuted, he urges them to cling to the faith. "You, therefore, continue in the things you have learned and been assured of." Just as brothers become strongly knit together when one helps another, so faith and godliness, coming from the same family, cohere together. A person who gives his attention to one of the two is strengthened by the other. Consequently, wishing Timothy to live godly to the end and to fight the battle in faith, St. Paul says, "Fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agony — Contest; wrestling; severe struggling with pain and suffering. Anguish is the reflection on evil that is already past, while agony is a struggle with evil at the time present. It is only used in the…
Eternal life — This expression occurs in the Old Testament only in Dan. 12:2 (R.V., “everlasting life”). It occurs frequently in the New Testament (Matt. 7:14; 18:8, 9; Luke 10:28; comp. 18:18). It comprises the…
Games — (1.) Of children (Zech. 8:5; Matt. 11:16). The Jewish youth were also apparently instructed in the use of the bow and the sling (Judg. 20:16; 1 Chr. 12:2). (2.) Public games, such as were common…
Call Of God, The · To man is: To eternal life — To man is: To eternal life
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Fight the good fight of faith,.... The apostle suggests to Timothy, that he had other business to do than to mind the things of this world; his life was a state of warfare; he was a soldier, and was not to entangle himself with the things of this life; he had many enemies to engage with, as Satan, and his principalities and powers; sin, and the lusts of the flesh; the world, and the men of it, and a great fight of afflictions to endure with them; as also false teachers, with, whom particularly he was to fight the good fight of faith, that so the truth of the Gospel, which they resisted, might continue with the saints. This fight is called "the fight of faith"; partly in opposition to the law…
11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
11. Tu vero, o homo Dei, haec fuge; sectare vero justitiam, pietatem, fidem, caritatem, patientiam, mansuetudinem.
12. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
12. Certa bonum certamen fidei; apprehende vitam aeternam, ad quam etiam vocatus es, et confessus bonam confessionem coram multis testibus.
13. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
13. Denuntio…
The promise of eternal life moderates the appeal of wealth (cp. 6:19). • Paul is probably referring to the time when Timothy declared his faith at baptism.
Warfare Of Saints · Called the good fight of faith — Called the good fight of faith
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
