¹tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).
²tn Or “sensible.”
³sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.
⁴tn Grk “that they may train” (continuing the sentence of 2:3).
⁵tn This verb, swfronivzw (swfronizw), denotes teaching in the sense of bringing people to their senses, showing what sound thinking is.
⁶tn Or “sensible.”
⁷tn Grk “domestic,” “keeping house.”
⁸tn Or “word.”
⁹tn Or “slandered.”
¹⁰tn Or “sensible.”
¹¹tn Or “put to shame.”
¹²tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.
¹³tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”
¹⁴tn Or “showing that genuine faith is productive.” At issue between these two translations is the force of ajgaqhvn (agaqhn): Is it attributive (as the text has it) or predicate (as in this note)? A number of considerations point in the direction of a predicate ajgaqhvn (e.g., separation from the noun pivstin (pistin) by the verb, the possibility that the construction is an object-complement, etc.), though is not usually seen as an option in either translations or commentaries. Cf. ExSyn 188-89, 312-13, for a discussion. Contextually, it makes an intriguing statement, for it suggests a synthetic or synonymous parallel: “‘Slaves should be wholly subject to their masters…demonstrating that all [genuine] faith is productive, with the result [ecbatic i{na] that they will completely adorn the doctrine of God.’ The point of the text, then, if this understanding is correct, is an exhortation to slaves to demonstrate that their faith is sincere and results in holy behavior. If taken this way, the text seems to support the idea that saving faith does not fail, but even results in good works” (ExSyn 312-13). The translation of ajgaqhvn as an attributive adjective, however, also makes good sense.
¹⁵tn Or “adorn,” “show the beauty of.”
¹⁶tn Grk “all men”; but ajnqrwvpoi" (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.
¹⁷tn Grk “training us” (as a continuation of the previous clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 by translating the participle paideuvousa (paideuousa) as a finite verb and supplying the pronoun “it” as subject.
¹⁸tn Grk “ungodliness.”
¹⁹tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
²⁰tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-kaiv-noun (where kaiv [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (qeov", qeos) and “savior” (swthvr, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.
²¹tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).
²²tn Or “a people who are his very own.”
²³tn Grk “for good works.”
²⁴tn Or “reproof,” “censure.” The Greek word ejlevgcw (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
²⁵tn Grk “speak these things and exhort and rebuke with all authority.”
²⁶tn Or “let anyone despise you”; or “let anyone disregard you.”