Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 154:614 (Apr 1997)
Article: Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4
Author: Barth Campbell

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BSac 154:614 (Apr 97) p. 189

Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4

Barth Campbell

[Barth Campbell is a Bible teacher in Modesto, California.]

Many writers view 1 Timothy as an assemblage of instructions by Paul that have no logical plan. Hanson, for example, says, “The Pastorals are made up of a miscellaneous collection of material. They have no unifying theme; there is no development of thought.”1

Yet other Pauline literature, when examined in light of Greco-Roman rhetorical principles, shows evidence of skillful discursive artistry,2 even where (in the case of Philippians) any

BSac 154:614 (Apr 97) p. 190

argumentative design has been denied.3 This article proposes that 1 Timothy demonstrates rhetorical design in the classical mode, with the discussion focused on 1 Timothy 4.4

Five Steps in Rhetorical Analysis

Determine the Rhetorical Unit

5 A classical-rhetorical analysis of a New Testament book begins with the definition of the rhetorical unit. A discernible beginning, middle, and end delineate the rhetorical unit, which may be an entire discourse or a segment within it. First Timothy is obviously a rhetorical unit—it is a communication framed by an introductory salutation (1–2) and by a concluding charge and benediction (6:20–21). Chapter 4 constitutes a smaller rhetorical unit within the larger unit.

BSac 154:614 (Apr 97) p. 191

The resumptive δέ6 in 4:1 elaborates on the subject of the false teachers that was introduced in the proposition (a brief statement of the argument for the entire letter) in 1:3–7. The termination of the rhetorical unit is 4:16, since 5:1 is a partition, a restatement of the epistolary proposition by listing the components to be discussed in the ensuing rhetorical unit.7

Determine the Rhetorical Situation

The rhetorical situation is “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially...

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