the problem of the pastoral epistles 165
1. The verb σπουδάζω is found twice in Paul (cf. Gal 2:10; 1 Thess 2:17)
and once in Ephesians (4:3), but in Titus 3:12–15 it is used as an aorist
imperative. In this form it is found only in 2 Timothy (2:15; 4:9, 21).51
2. In 1 Tim 4:6 the phrase τῆς καλῆς διδασκαλίας ᾗ παρηκολούθηκας is used.
The noun διδασκαλία is not akin to Paul, but he used it primarily as a
nomen actionis (cf. Rom 7:7; 15:4). In the PE, however, it is frequently
used in combination with “following” language (cf. 1 Tim 4:1, 6:3; 2 Tim
4:3; Tit 1:9, 2:7).52
3. The use of διαμαρτύρομαι in 2 Tim 4:1 is not un-Pauline (cf. 1 Thess 4:6),
but in combination with ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ it is only found in 1 Timothy
(5:21) and 2 Timothy (2:14).53
4. In 2 Tim 4:6–8 ἐπιφάνεια does not denote the Lord’s expected return
(cf. 2 Thess 2:8?), but is best understood as “helping intervention” (cf.
1 Tim 4:14; Titus 2:13). Also, the use of καλός as in ὁ καλὸς ἀγών is found
six more times in the PE (1 Tim 1:18, 4:6, 6:12 [2x], 13; 2 Tim 1:14) but
not in Paul.54
5. The verb ἀπολείπω as used in II Timothy 4:13, 20 is not attested else-
where in Paul, but is found only in Titus 1:5.55
Reconsidering the evidence, Cook concludes that “[t]he intermediate
ground occupied by the defenders of the fragment hypothesis proves to
be rather a no man’s land not suited for habitation.”56
Despite these counter-considerations, Harrison’s fragment theory was
recently defended and enhanced by James Miller. To him the PE “bear
all the marks of composite documents” and “read like an anthology of
traditions”.57 Unlike Harrison, Miller discerns a string of genuine Pauline
notes in each of the PE: (1) 1 Tim 1:1–7, 18–20, 3:14–15, 6:20–21; (2) 2 Tim
1:1–2, (3–5?), 15–18, 4:6–8, (9, 10–18, 19–21?), 22a (22b?); and (3) Titus 1:1–5,
3:9–11, 12–15, 15c. These three notes were initially “read by the recipients,
who then handed them over to the scribes responsible for preserving the
community’s sacred writings. Over the course of transmission, the notes
were expanded by the addition of other sacred community traditions; the
51 Cf. D. Cook, “The Pastoral Fragments Reconsidered,” JTS 35 (1984): 124–25.
52 Cook, “Pastoral Fragments,” 127–28.
53 Cook, “Pastoral Fragments,” 128.
54 Cf. D. Cook, “2 Timothy IV.6–8 and the Epistle to the Philippians,” JTS 33 (1982):
168–71.
55 Cook, “Pastoral Fragments,” 129.
56 Cook, “Pastoral Fragments,” 131.
57 J. D. Miller, The Pastoral Letters as Composite Documents (SNTSMS 93; Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997), 18, 138.