Bible Phrasing: 1 Timothy 6:20-21

In the final two verses of the letter, Paul gives Timothy two final instructions: Guard and Avoid

1) Guard the truth of the faith

Paul appeals to Timothy one last time, beginning with the Greek interjection (ὦ). Paul's spirited appeal includes Timothy's name, meaning that, for Paul, this appeal is intensely personal and urgent. 

Paul instructs Timothy to guard the deposit entrusted to him. Paul's final statement summarizes the command he initiated back in the first chapter of the letter. The following verses are connected with key terms:

1 Timothy 6:20 --> 1 Timothy 1:18 --> 1 Timothy 1:5 --> 1 Timothy 1:3–5

In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul makes one final reference to the "deposit entrusted." παραθήκη (the deposit entrusted) is a noun whose verbal cognate (παρατίθημι) appears in 1 Timothy 1:18. 

In 1 Timothy 1:18, Paul writes:

 

Ταύτην τὴν παραγγελίαν παρατίθεμαί σοι, τέκνον Τιμόθεε, κατὰ τὰς προαγούσας ἐπὶ σὲ προφητείας, ἵνα στρατεύῃ ἐν αὐταῖς τὴν καλὴν στρατείαν, 

This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,

The demonstrative Ταύτην τὴν παραγγελίαν  ('this command') refers back to 1:5 and becomes the "content" of the deposit Paul entrusted to Timothy. So what is the command? 

In 1 Timothy 1:5, Paul describes the motivation underlying the command entrusted to Timothy. He writes: 

τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς παραγγελίας ἐστὶν ἀγάπη ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας καὶ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς καὶ πίστεως ἀνυποκρίτου,

Paul's command to Timothy is motivated by love, a pure conscience, and a sincere faith. So what is the command? 

The command Paul entrusts to Timothy is found in 1 Timothy 1:3–5: 

As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, 

So the sequence moving from the beginning to the end of the letter is as follows:

Command (1:3–4) --> Motivation for the command (1:5) -->  Entrusting the command (1:18) --> Final hand off of the deposit (6:20)

To recap, in 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul aims to remind Timothy of the important task he has before him: a task that includes instructing certain people not to teach errant doctrine and upholding the "entrusted deposit," or sound doctrine and commands that Paul establishes throughout the letter. 

If Timothy is going to guard the deposit entrusted to him, he is going to need to avoid false "knowledge." 

2) Avoid the knowledge that destroys the faith

The second appeal Paul makes to Timothy is to avoid "knowledge." Presumably, this "knowledge" contains irreverent babble and contradictions, so it is really no true knowledge at all. The reason Timothy should avoid this so-called "knowledge" is given in verse 21: for by professing it, some have swerved from the faith. 

Although γνώσεως occurs only in 6:20 in 1 Timothy, and broadly, the Pastoral Epistles, it does not minimize the important task that Timothy has to combat errant doctrine. 

Two more terms appear here at the end of the letter that appear at the beginning and at other parts of the letter. 

First, the participle ἐκτρεπόμενος in 6:20 occurs as an aorist in 1:6:

ὧν τινες ἀστοχήσαντες ἐξετράπησαν εἰς ματαιολογίαν

In 1:6, Paul highlights the observable fact that when people stray from apostolic instruction, they miss the mark (ἀστοχήσαντες) having turned aside (ἐξετράπησαν) to meaningless discourse (ματαιολογίαν). 

Interestingly, the second term that 6:20 and 1:6 share is ἀστοχέω. In 6:20 it appears as an indicative verb (ἠστόχησαν), whereas, it appears as participle (ἀστοχήσαντες) 1:6. 

Here are the two verses side-by-side for comparison:

1:6: ὧν τινες ἀστοχήσαντες ἐξετράπησαν εἰς ματαιολογίαν,

1:6: For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,

6:20–21: Ὦ Τιμόθεε, τὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον, ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλόμενοι περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἠστόχησαν.

6:20–21: O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge "-- which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. 

Paul's point can be summarized with two statements: 

1) People who miss apostolic instruction stray and turn aside to worthless discussions.

2) Timothy, turn away from "knowledge" because by professing it, some have swerved from the faith.

In the end, Paul does not want Timothy to turn out like the very people he has been instructed to rebuke! Timothy must guard the apostolic instruction and avoid any antithetical or irreverent babble that may hinder his faith. 

The letter concludes with Paul's common signature: Grace be with you.