1 Timothy 6:20

Keep that which is committed to thy trust. Literally, “guard the deposit.” In the papyri the Greek phrase is used of a bank’s responsibility for the protection of monetary deposits. Paul knew that the purity of the gospel message would depend upon the faithfulness of the next generation of workers, represented by young Timothy.

Avoiding profane and vain babblings. That is, turning away from secular, empty talk. One way to preserve the purity and power of the gospel is to shun trivial subjects and to use one’s time for teaching truth, not for discussing irrelevancies. Paul thus ends his letter by summarizing the theme begun in ch. 1:3–7.

Oppositions. Gr. antitheseis, from which our English word “antithesis” is derived.

Science. Gr. gnōsis, “knowledge.” It is generally believed that Paul here alludes to teachings of the kind later set forth in a more fully developed form by the Gnostics (see Vol. VI, pp. 54–58).

Falsely so called. Gr. pseudōnumos, “falsely named,” from which we derive our English word “pseudonym.” Paul refers to those self-authorized teachers in the church who contended that higher “knowledge” consists of hidden meanings in “fables and endless genealogies” (ch. 1:4). The involved, allegorical teachings of such teachers can rightly be called counterfeit “knowledge.”