1 Timothy 1:20

20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1:20 in Other Translations

20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.

20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two of them. I let them wander off to Satan to be taught a lesson or two about not blaspheming.

20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Timothy 1:20

Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander
The former of these is mentioned in ( 2 Timothy 2:17 2 Timothy 2:18 ) and that part of faith he made shipwreck of, or erred in, was the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, whereby the faith of some nominal believers was overthrown; and this was attended with the putting away of a good conscience, he seemingly before had; for his profane and vain babblings increased to more ungodliness: the latter seems to be the same with Alexander the coppersmith, who did the apostle much evil, ( 2 Timothy 4:14 ) and it may be is the same with him who was at Ephesus when the apostle was, there, ( Acts 19:33 Acts 19:34 ) and where he might be now with Hymenaeus, with whom he might agree in his erroneous opinions, and therefore are particularly mentioned, Ephesus being the place where Timothy now was. It seems by their names that they were both Greeks; Alexander is a known name among the Greeks, since the times of Alexander the great, and even became common among the Jews; (See Gill on Acts 4:6), and Hymenaeus was a name among the Grecians, from Hymen, the Heathen god of marriage: one of this name is mentioned among those said to be raised from the dead by Aesculapius ^F17; there was also a bishop of Jerusalem of this name ^F18.

Whom I have delivered to Satan;
not by excommunication, which is the act of a church, and not of a single person; but by an apostolical power he had of delivering the bodies of men into the hands of Satan, by him to be tortured and afflicted, in order to bring them to a sense of their sins, and as a chastisement and correction for them, and a token of God's displeasure at them; (See Gill on 1 Corinthians 5:5).

That they may learn not to blaspheme;
or "that being chastised", corrected, or disciplined, "they might not blaspheme", as they had before done; either by words, contradicting, reviling, and scoffing at the doctrine of the resurrection; or by their unbecoming lives and conversations, giving themselves great liberty in sinning, supposing there was no truth in that doctrine; whereby they not only blasphemed the Christian religion themselves, but caused it to be evil spoken of by others.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Apollodorus de Orig. Deor. l. 3. p. 172.
F18 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 7. c. 14. 30.

1 Timothy 1:20 In-Context

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well,

19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.

20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Timothy 2:17
• 2. 2 Timothy 4:14
• 3. 1 Corinthians 5:5