A Quiet and Tranquil Life… (I Timothy 2:1-2) 200608
Parakalw/ ou=n prw/ton pa,ntwn poiei/sqai deh,seij proseuca.j evnteu,xeij euvcaristi,aj u`pe.r pa,ntwn avnqrw,pwn( 2 u`pe.r basile,wn kai. pa,ntwn tw/n evn u`peroch/| o;ntwn( i[na h;remon kai. h`su,cion bi,on dia,gwmen evn pa,sh| euvsebei,a| kai. semno,thtiÅ
I urge, therefore first of all, to make supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that a quiet and tranquil life we may live, in all godliness and reverence.
This is one of the fastest and quickest translations I have ever made thus far as I began working on First Timothy in Greek. I think it is because the verses here are pretty straight forward in its meaning and many words used have the same meaning but of different nuances. Especially for the word “prayers”: deh,seij proseuca.j evnteu,xeij euvcaristi,aj
In the NT we find seven different Greek nouns used for prayer. Four of them occur in this verse.
The first is deeseis (deh,seij), which is found nineteen times. Translated here as "requests" (KJV, "supplications"), it basically carries the idea of desire or need. All true prayer begins in a sense of need and involves a deep desire, although it should never stop there. God wants us to bring our "requests" to him, and he always has a listening ear.
The second word is proseuche (proseuca.j). It is the most general word for prayer, occurring thirty-seven times. Regularly translated as "prayer," it always signifies praying to God. It is used for both private and public prayers. The context suggests that here Paul had the latter in mind, although the former is certainly not excluded.
The third word, enteuxis(evnteu,xeij), is found in the NT only in 1 Timothy (here and in 4:5). Translated here as "intercession," it seems to be used there in a more general way for prayer. The Greek word was used in the sense of "conversation" and then of "petition."
Perhaps it suggests the idea that prayer should be a conversation with God.
Trench (p. 190) says that it implies "free familiar prayer, such as boldly draws near to God." Origen, the greatest Bible scholar of the early church, taught that the fundamental idea of enteuxis was boldness of access to God’s presence.
This, again, is one aspect of successful, satisfying prayer. We must come to God with full confidence and enter into close communion with him in a conversational atmosphere if we wish to experience depth and richness in our prayer life. And only he who really communes with God in private can edify others in his public prayers.
The fourth word is eucharistia (euvcaristi,aj), from which we get "eucharist." The Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, should always be a time of "thanksgiving." And "giving of thanks" (KJV) should be a part of all our praying. Thanking God for what he has done for us in the past strengthens our faith to believe that he will meet our needs in the future. Trench observes that this is the one aspect of prayer that will continue throughout eternity, where it will be "larger, deeper, fuller than here" (p. 191), because there the redeemed will know how much they owe their Lord. (Taken from Earle, Ralph. “A. Prayer (2:1-7)” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Volume 11. 357. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1978.)
I am not too sure if I should theologize these four different words and attitudes of prayers. But I think the commentator, Ralph Earle, has given us sufficient explanation of the differences of these four different Greek words of prayer. In my opinion, Paul is only throwing out some possibilities of how we can approach God in prayer, but the goal of it is “so that a quiet and tranquil life we may live, in all godliness and reverence” (v2).
The prayer is for all men, kings and all who are in authority (v1b-2a). because these are the people who will have an influence or impact the way we live our life. I like to read the newspaper every morning when I am having my breakfast. I read about how different government’s decision has either made the lives of its citizen better or cause even more distress. We may think that only a statement from the prime minister or president will have impact, but an escape of a prisoner also have a great impact in our daily living and activities. The next few days I will be spending with my Boys and Girls Brigade’s children. In the course of planning the program, we are limited by the fact that we cannot bring our children to the forested areas because of Mas Selamat. I appreciate that the Ministry of Education takes precaution of this. The point is that our camp planning is affected by a fugitive.
We pray, so that we may live a quiet and tranquil life. What is a quiet and tranquil life? Is it a live which we do not talk and communicate? Is it a life whereby we live simply with the nature, by the stream and firewood? Is it a life which we do not interact or bother about one another? I think the answer is what Paul has put it as “in godliness and reverence”.
How to live in godliness and reverence? As I meditate upon these two words, I cannot help but to think of God. I think what Paul wants is for us to live according to what God wants. Godly living is living with God in mind, always wanting to honor and give glory to His name. And as we live with godliness in mind, we will and should naturally have a sense of reverence for God. Reverence is not equated as fear or holy fear. This Greek word for this may be better to be translated as honestly. It means we need to be totally and completely honest with God. We can hide from man but not from God. We can pretend to live a “godly life”, but without an “honest heart”.
I am stuck as I ponder on this truth. I may appear to be a “godly man” because I am theologically trained and can read some Greek, but I know that I am not completely honest with God, though I know that I cannot hide away from God. I have some issues which I that I have to deal with, but I pretend that they are not there and refuse to confront them. I know that I am not pleasing God with some of my thoughts, words and even actions, but I pretend that God will forgive me without really coming to a full repentance. Because I know that hurts.
Maybe there are also some issues God is prompting you about to be honest and deal with it honestly. God wants us to live a godly life with integrity and honesty. I pray that whoever read this will be convicted of God’s truth and His dealing in their lives. I have to go to my knees now to ask for forgiveness and get right with God, and I invite you to do so if you there is something that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to deal with it. So that we may live a quiet and tranquil life, not externally; but internally with God and with our souls.
HHS…
Abel…
