Paul wrote 1 Timothy. Paul was from the city of Tarsus. He had been known as Saul in his early life. Before becoming a Christian, Paul was a Pharisee. He persecuted Christians. After he became a Christian, he traveled several times throughout the Roman Empire telling people about Jesus.
Paul had left Timothy in the city of Ephesus to help the believers there. Paul wrote this letter to instruct Timothy about various matters. The topics he addressed included church worship, qualifications for church leaders, and warnings against false teachers. This letter shows how Paul was training Timothy to be a leader among the churches.
Translators may choose to call this book by its traditional title, "1 Timothy" or "First Timothy." Or they may choose a clearer title, such as "Paul's First Letter to Timothy." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names]])
Discipleship is the process of making people to be disciples of Christ. The goal of discipleship is to encourage other Christians to be more like Christ. This letter gives many instructions about how a leader should train a less mature Christian. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/disciple]])
In this book, the word "I" refers to Paul. Also, the word "you" is almost always singular and refers to Timothy. The exception to this is 6:21. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you]])
Paul meant to express the idea of a very close union with Christ and the believers. Please see the introduction to the Book of Romans for more details about this kind of expression.
* "Withdraw from such things." (6:5) Some older versions read this way, but the ULB, UDB, and most other modern versions do not. The best ancient copies do not include this phrase.
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