The Letters to Timothy and Titus (The New International Commentary on the New Testament | NICNT)

by Philip H. Towner

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2006

Overview

The most accessible, most broadly pitched full-length commentary on Timothy and Titus, this NICNT volume explores Paul’s three letters to Timothy and Titus within their historical, religious, and cultural settings.

In his introduction, Towner sets out the rationale for his historical approach, questions certain assumptions of recent critical scholarship, and establishes the uniqueness and individuality of each letter. Significantly, Towner’s work displays unprecedented interaction with four recent major commentaries on these Pauline letters. Centered on an outstanding translation of the Greek text and including thorough footnotes, bibliographical citations, and indexes, Towner’s commentary on Timothy and Titus is sure to become a standard reference for busy pastors, students, and scholars.

Key Features

• Verse-by-verse commentary
• In-depth discussion of textual and critical matters
• Introduction to the authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology of the Letters to Timothy and Titus

Contents

Top Highlights

“Paying attention to the broad introduction to this topic, the text has often been understood to lay down for the church a broad commission to pray for all people and for government leaders without really stipulating what direction such prayer ought to take. But the real concern, as close attention to the argument will show, is for the prayer that supports the church’s universal mission to the world. That is, Paul urges Timothy to instruct the Ephesian church to reengage in an activity it had apparently been neglecting—prayer in support of Paul’s own mandate to take the gospel to the whole world.” (Pages 162–163)

“The whole of the data strongly confirms its function of describing, in one term, authentic Christian existence as the interplay of the knowledge of God (variously expressed) and its observable outworking in behavior that is appropriate to that knowledge.” (Page 174)

“What remains to be seen is whether this instruction to wives was corrective, preventative, or universal.” (Page 216)

“Rather than understand the four terms as descriptive of a systematic liturgy of prayer, the thought is one of completeness—every dimension and action of prayer being focused on the need at hand.” (Page 166)

“First, they are the only Pauline letters addressed to individual coworkers rather than to churches. Second, their subject matter distinguishes them from other Pauline letters, though this criterion must be applied carefully, for it applies to any individual Pauline letter in relation to another. Third, at the linguistic and conceptual levels there appear to be both significant points of dissimilarity and similarity when compared to the earlier Pauline letters.” (Page 1)

Endorsements

Few if any scholars could be more qualified to give birth to this volume. Towner’s newest work fills an important gap—an up-to-date, exegetically solid, mid-range commentary on the English text, fully informed by the Greek and wholly abreast of current scholarship. Rejecting the unproven theory of non-Pauline authorship and ably highlighting the individual distinctives of each letter, often obscured by the homogenizing label “Pastoral Epistles,” Towner has produced what may wind up being the most useful commentary among the broadest range of English-language readers for many years to come

—Craig L. Blomberg, professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary

When reading this commentary, I felt as if I were sitting in a room listening to Paul and his associates explain the Gospel in ever fresh ways for a new day. Phil Towner’s readable, exciting exposition of these wonderful letters will usher many into a new age of studies on the Pastorals.

—Scot McKnight, professor of religious studies, North Park University

The mature work of a scholar who has had a love affair with the letters to Timothy and Titus over a quarter century, this is arguably the finest and most useful commentary based on the English text of the letters (with adequate discussion of matters Greek in the footnotes). Student and preacher alike will treasure this user-friendly treatment for its careful summarizing of essential data and also for its numerous shafts of fresh light from a scholar who knows all the contemporary discussion but is not beholden to any authority except that of the text itself.

—I. Howard Marshall, emeritus professor of New Testament exegesis, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

Product Details

• Title: The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Letters to Timothy and Titus
• Author: Philip H. Towner
• Series: The New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT)
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 934

About Philip H. Towner

Philip H. Towner is dean of Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship at the American Bible Society in New York, New York.