The Pastoral Epistles

New International Greek Testament Commentary

by George W. Knight III

This is a thorough, full- scale English commentary on the Greek text of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. While author George W. Knight gives careful attention to the comments of previous interpreters of the text, both ancient and modern, his emphasis is on exegesis of the Greek text itself and on the flow of the argument in each of these three epistles. Besides providing a detailed look at the meanings and interrelationships of the Greek words as they appear in each context, Knight's commentary includes an introduction that treats at length the question of authorship (he argues for Pauline authorship and proposes, on the basis of stylistic features, that Luke might have been the amanuensis for the Pastoral Epistles), the historical background of these letters, and the personalities and circumstances of the recipients. Knight also provides two special the first gathers together the information in the Pastorals and elsewhere in the New Testament on early church offices and leaders; the other excursus examines the motivations for conduct in Titus 2:1-10 with a view to their applicability to present-day situations.

Genres: New Testament, Theology, Christian, Reference, Biblical Studies

548 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2013

About the author

George W. Knight III is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He is a theologian, author, preacher, churchman, and adjunct professor of New Testament at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina. He holds a B.D. Westminster Theological Seminary, 1956; Th.M Westminster Theological Seminary, 1957; Th.D. Free University of Amsterdam, 1968.

Reviews

[Peter Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this commentary. It is designed to help you work through the Greek text. Knight does a great job with that. It is not filled with application. But there are some good sections where he expands on the meaning of particular passages. However, it is more designed for the exegesis phase than the sermon manuscript phase. I found Knight to be a good and helpful guide through the Pastoral Epistles. The only thing I wish the commentary had was his own translation of the text at the beginning of each section. You can pick up his translation as you read. But it would have been nice if it was in one large chunk.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great commentary

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025: Indispensable, again.

2011-2016: Comprehensively exegetical (and thus fairly lengthy), working knowledge of Greek required, frequent interaction with other scholars, little attention paid to illustration or contemporary applications. Excellent.

(Read 2 Timothy in 2011, Titus in 2013, 1 Timothy in 2016, 2 Timothy again in 2025).

[Shaun Marksbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed.

[Thaddeus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent volume in the NIGTC set!!! I started reading this commentary in my devotional study of the pastoral epistles together with 2 other commentaries - but ended up ditching the other two because of the comparable superiority of this one. Knight's insights and comments are helpful and illuminating. His use of the original languages also is very helpful - going beyond mere word studies to in depth grammatical analysis and comparison and evaluation of different views and interpretations on the passages which show his reasoning and process toward his conclusions.
Interaction with textual critical issues is decent but not thorough - so pastors would find it more than sufficient discussion, but scholars wanting to dig into textual critical issues of the Greek text would have to look in other places to supplement - but I thought it was a great balance.

I'd highly recommend this volume to anyone studying the pastoral letters. The engagement with controversial issues is worth it alone, and the insights into the text were helpful on a devotional level and would be excellent for preaching prep as well! I'm thoroughly enjoying the NIGTC set!

[Jess Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

En soit un bon commentaire mais il n'a pas de force particulière le mettant au-dessus des autres.

Ainsi sur la compréhension de la logique générale des épîtres Fee reste le meilleur et niveau décryptage du grec et approfondissement (par exemple les excursus) Mounce creuse beaucoup plus.

[Matt Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good! I highly recommend this commentary for anyone acquainted with Greek.

[Matthew Bonzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful exposition. However, sometimes I wanted more.

[Nick Roark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Luke]

Just read the Titus section. OK. The chapel at the St. Louis Seminary is the chapel of Sts. Timothy and Titus. Titus is depicted as an older man. Where do they get that? Titus isn't in our lectionary much and I can see why. Commentary mostly referred to 1 Timothy.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great commentary on the Pastorals. Slightly technical, but not so much that it's unreadable. Wish that Eerdmans had footnoted the inline references earlier in this series, but otherwise a great commentary.