Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 1 Timothy · About this commentary
Prayers for All, and for Kings
1 Timothy 2:1-4
1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men, · WEB
The first instruction to the congregation is prayer for everyone, and the reason given reaches past the congregation's own comfort.
First of all marks priority rather than sequence. In a letter written to restore order, the first thing asked is not discipline, doctrine or appointments. It is prayer.
Four words are stacked in verse 1 — petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings — and the letter does not distinguish them. The accumulation is the point, and so is the object: for all men, stated before any category is named.
Verse 2 then names the hardest category. Kings and all in authority — written to congregations with no political standing and, before long, real reason to fear the people being prayed for. Thanksgiving was included in verse 1, and it is not withdrawn here.
The stated purpose sounds modest: a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. It is easy to read that as self-interest, and verses 3 and 4 correct it. Such prayer is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved.
That is the real ground. The quiet life is not the goal but the condition, and what it is a condition for is stated in the next clause — coming to full knowledge of the truth. A congregation praying for a hostile magistrate is praying in line with a desire God is said to have toward him too.
The scope is unqualified, and the letter states it again two verses later as a ransom for all 1 Timothy 2:6.
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