Bible Strands
1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy, his young protégé in Ephesus, immediately after a doxology to the eternal King (v.17) and before a warning about shipwrecked faith (v.19). The moment is personal commissioning within a broader pastoral letter.
The words — παραγγέλιαν (parangelian, "charge") names the specific thing handed over, while παρατίθεμαι (paratithemai, "I commit") describes the act of entrusting it; together they frame the verse as a transfer of responsibility, not mere advice.
The thread — The same "charge" language recurs in 1 Timothy 6:20 ("guard what has been entrusted to you") and 2 Timothy 4:1 ("I charge you"), and the prophetic grounding echoes 1 Timothy 4:14, where the gift was given through prophecy.
Why it lands — The charge is anchored in prophecies already spoken over Timothy, so the reader is asked to act on a calling that precedes and outlasts their own effort. It is a demand to fight, not a suggestion to try.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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 warfare;
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders.
- 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,”
- 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:
- 2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
- Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Philippians 2:22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.
- 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
- 1 Timothy 1:11 that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
- 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.