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CORNERSTONEBIBLICALCOMMENTARY

General EditorPhilip W. ComfortD. Litt. et Phil., University of South Africa;Tyndale House Publishers;Coastal Carolina University.Consulting Editor, Old TestamentTremper Longman IIIPhD, Yale University;Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College.Consulting Editor, New TestamentGrant R. OsbornePhD, University of Aberdeen;Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.Associate EditorsJason DriesbachMA, Biblical Exegesis and Linguistics, Dallas Theological Seminary;Tyndale House Publishers.Mark R. NortonMA, Theological Studies, Wheaton Graduate School;Tyndale House Publishers.James A. SwansonMSM, Multnomah Biblical Seminary;MTh, University of South Africa;Tyndale House Publishers.

CORNERSTONEBIBLICALCOMMENTARY1 TimothyLinda Belleville2 Timothy, TitusJon C. LaansmaHebrewsJ. Ramsey MichaelsGENERAL EDITORPhilip W. Comfortfeaturing the text of theNEW LIVING TRANSLATIONTYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS, INC. CAROL STREAM, ILLINOIS

Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Volume 17Visit Tyndale’s exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com1 Timothy copyright 2009 by Linda Belleville. All rights reserved.2 Timothy copyright 2009 by Jon C. Laansma. All rights reserved.Titus copyright 2009 by Jon C. Laansma. All rights reserved.Hebrews copyright 2009 by J. Ramsey Michaels. All rights reserved.Designed by Luke Daab and Timothy R. Botts.Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.All rights reserved.TYNDALE, New Living Translation, NLT, Tyndale’s quill logo, and the New LivingTranslation logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataCornerstone biblical commentary.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN-13: 978-0-8423-8345-5 (hc : alk. paper)ISBN-10: 0-8423-8345-X (hc : alk. paper)1. Bible—Commentaries. I. Belleville, Linda. II. Laansma, Jon C.III. Michaels, J. Ramsey.Printed in the United States of America15 14 13 12 11 10 09765432 1

CONTENTSContributors to Volume 17viGeneral Editor’s PrefaceviiAbbreviationsixTransliteration and Numbering Systemxiii1 & 2 TIMOTHY1TITUS221HEBREWS303

CONTRIBUTORS TO V O L U M E 1 71 Timothy: Linda BellevilleBM, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester;MA, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School;PhD, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto;Professor New Testament at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana.2 Timothy, Titus: Jon C. LaansmaBRE, Grand Rapids Baptist College;MDiv, Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary;PhD, University of Aberdeen;Associate Professor of Ancient Languages and New Testament at Wheaton College.Hebrews: J. Ramsey MichaelsAB, Princeton University;BD, Grace Theological Seminary;ThM, Westminster Theological Seminary;ThD, Harvard University;Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.

G E N E R A LE D I T O R ’ SP R E F A C EThe Cornerstone Biblical Commentary is based on the second edition of the NewLiving Translation (2007). Nearly 100 scholars from various church backgrounds and from several countries (United States, Canada, England, andAustralia) participated in the creation of the NLT. Many of these same scholarsare contributors to this commentary series. All the commentators, whetherparticipants in the NLT or not, believe that the Bible is God’s inspired word andhave a desire to make God’s word clear and accessible to his people.This Bible commentary is the natural extension of our vision for the NewLiving Translation, which we believe is both exegetically accurate and idiomatically powerful. The NLT attempts to communicate God’s inspired word in alucid English translation of the original languages so that English readers canunderstand and appreciate the thought of the original writers. In the same way,the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary aims at helping teachers, pastors, students,and laypeople understand every thought contained in the Bible. As such, thecommentary focuses first on the words of Scripture, then on the theologicaltruths of Scripture—inasmuch as the words express the truths.The commentary itself has been structured in such a way as to help readers getat the meaning of Scripture, passage by passage, through the entire Bible. EachBible book is prefaced by a substantial book introduction that gives generalhistorical background important for understanding. Then the reader is takenthrough the Bible text, passage by passage, starting with the New Living Translation text printed in full. This is followed by a section called “Notes,” wherein thecommentator helps the reader understand the Hebrew or Greek behind theEnglish of the NLT, interacts with other scholars on important interpretiveissues, and points the reader to significant textual and contextual matters. The“Notes” are followed by the “Commentary,” wherein each scholar presents alucid interpretation of the passage, giving special attention to context and majortheological themes.The commentators represent a wide spectrum of theological positions withinthe evangelical community. We believe this is good because it reflects the richvariety in Christ’s church. All the commentators uphold the authority of God’sword and believe it is essential to heed the old adage: “Wholly apply yourself tothe Scriptures and apply them wholly to you.” May this commentary help youknow the truths of Scripture, and may this knowledge help you “grow in yourknowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (2 Pet 1:2, NLT).PHILIP W. COMFORTGENERAL EDITOR

A B B R E V I A T I O N SGENERAL ABBREVIATIONSb.BabylonianGemarabar.baraitac.circa, around,approximatelycf.confer, comparech, chs chapter, chapterscontra in contrast toDSSDead Sea Scrollsed.edition, editore.g.exempli gratia, forexampleet al.et alli, and othersfem.femininefffollowing (verses,pages)fl.flourishedGr.GreekHeb.ibid.i.e.in em, in the sameplaceid est, the samein loco, in the placecitedliterallySeptuagintMajority oretic Textno dateneuternumberNTOLOSOTp., pp.pl.Qrev.sg.t.TRv., vv.vid.viz.vol.y.New TestamentOld LatinOld SyriacOld Testamentpage, pagespluralQuelle (“Sayings”as Gospel source)revisionsingularToseftaTextus Receptusverse, versesvidetur, it seemsvidelicet, namelyvolumeJerusalem GemaraABBREVIATIONS FOR BIBLE TRANSLATIONSASVCEVESVGWHCSBJBKJVNABNASBAmerican StandardVersionContemporaryEnglish VersionEnglish StandardVersionGod’s WordHolman ChristianStandard BibleJerusalem BibleKing James VersionNew American BibleNew AmericanStandard BibleNCVNEBNETNIVNIrVNJBNJPSNew CenturyVersionNew English BibleThe NET BibleNew InternationalVersionNew InternationalReader’s VersionNew JerusalemBibleThe New JewishPublication ew King JamesVersionNew RevisedStandard VersionNew LivingTranslationRevised EnglishBibleRevised StandardVersionToday’s EnglishVersionThe Living BibleABBREVIATIONS FOR DICTIONARIES, LEXICONS,COLLECTIONS OF TEXTS, ORIGINAL LANGUAGE EDITIONSABD Anchor Bible Dictionary(6 vols., Freedman) [1992]ANEP The Ancient NearEast in Pictures (Pritchard)[1965]ANET Ancient Near EasternTexts Relating to the OldTestament (Pritchard)[1969]BAGD Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament and OtherEarly Christian Literature,2nd ed. (Bauer, Arndt,Gingrich, Danker) [1979]BDAG Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament and OtherEarly Christian Literature, 3rded. (Bauer, Danker, Arndt,Gingrich) [2000]BDB A Hebrew and EnglishLexicon of the Old Testament(Brown, Driver, Briggs)[1907]BDF A Greek Grammar of theNew Testament and OtherEarly Christian Literature(Blass, Debrunner, Funk)[1961]

ABBREVIATIONSxBHS Biblia HebraicaStuttgartensia (Elliger andRudolph) [1983]CAD Assyrian Dictionary ofthe Oriental Institute of theUniversity of Chicago [1956]COS The Context of Scripture(3 vols., Hallo and Younger)[1997–2002]DBI Dictionary of BiblicalImagery (Ryken, Wilhoit,Longman) [1998]DBT Dictionary of BiblicalTheology (2nd ed.,Leon-Dufour) [1972]DCH Dictionary of ClassicalHebrew (5 vols., D. Clines)[2000]DLNTD Dictionary of the LaterNew Testament and ItsDevelopment (R. Martin,P. Davids) [1997]DJD Discoveries in the JudeanDesert [1955–]DJG Dictionary of Jesusand the Gospels (Green,McKnight, Marshall) [1992]DOTP Dictionary of the OldTestament: Pentateuch(T. Alexander, D. W. Baker)[2003]DPL Dictionary of Paul andHis Letters (Hawthorne,Martin, Reid) [1993]DTIB Dictionary of TheologicalInterpretation of the Bible(Vanhoozer) [2005]EDNT Exegetical Dictionary ofthe New Testament (3 vols.,H. Balz, G. Schneider. ET)[1990–1993]HALOT The Hebrew andAramaic Lexicon of the OldTestament (L. Koehler,W. Baumgartner, J. Stamm;trans. M. Richardson)[1994–1999]IBD Illustrated Bible Dictionary(3 vols., Douglas, Wiseman)[1980]IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionaryof the Bible (4 vols., Buttrick)[1962]ISBE International StandardBible Encyclopedia (4 vols.,Bromiley) [1979–1988]KBL Lexicon in VeterisTestamenti libros (Koehler,Baumgartner) [1958]LCL Loeb Classical LibraryL&N Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament: Based onSemantic Domains (Louwand Nida) [1989]LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon(9th ed., Liddell, Scott,Jones) [1996]MM The Vocabulary of theGreek New Testament(Moulton and Milligan)[1930; 1997]NA26 Novum TestamentumGraece (26th ed., NestleAland) [1979]NA27 Novum TestamentumGraece (27th ed., NestleAland) [1993]NBD New Bible Dictionary(2nd ed., Douglas, Hillyer)[1982]NIDB New InternationalDictionary of the Bible(Douglas, Tenney) [1987]NIDBA New InternationalDictionary of BiblicalArchaeology (Blaiklock andHarrison) [1983]NIDNTT New InternationalDictionary of New TestamentTheology (4 vols., C. Brown)[1975–1985]NIDOTTE New InternationalDictionary of Old TestamentTheology and Exegesis (5 vols.,W. A. VanGemeren) [1997]PGM Papyri graecae magicae:Die griechischenZauberpapyri. (Preisendanz)[1928]PG Patrologia Graecae (J. P.Migne) [1857–1886]TBD Tyndale Bible Dictionary(Elwell, Comfort) [2001]TDNT Theological Dictionaryof the New Testament(10 vols., Kittel, Friedrich;trans. Bromiley) [1964–1976]TDOT Theological Dictionaryof the Old Testament (8 vols.,Botterweck, Ringgren; trans.Willis, Bromiley, Green)[1974–]TLNT Theological Lexicon of theNew Testament (3 vols.,C. Spicq) [1994]TLOT Theological Lexicon ofthe Old Testament (3 vols.,E. Jenni) [1997]TWOT Theological Wordbookof the Old Testament (2 vols.,Harris, Archer) [1980]UBS3 United Bible Societies’Greek New Testament(3rd ed., Metzger et al.)[1975]UBS4 United Bible Societies’Greek New Testament(4th corrected ed., Metzgeret al.) [1993]WH The New Testament in theOriginal Greek (Westcott andHort) [1882]ABBREVIATIONS FOR BOOKS OF THE BIBLEOld sDeutJoshJudgRuthDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Sam2 Sam1 Kgs2 Kgs1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings