1 Timothy 2:14 - Exposition

Beguiled (twice) for deceived , A.V.; hath fallen into for was in the , A.V. Beguiled ( ἠπατήθη ). The same word as is used in Genesis 3:13 , "The serpent beguiled me;" ἠπάτησέ με , LXX .. Hath fallen into transgression. Fell (not hath fallen ) is the right tense to use here in English, though the Greek perfect, it is true, contains the further idea of continuance in the fall, as in 1 Corinthians 9:22 ; 1 Corinthians 13:11 ; 1 Thessalonians 2:1 ; 2 Peter 2:20 . So also Matthew 1:22 ; Matthew 19:8 ; Matthew 21:4 ; Matthew 25:6 ; Mark 5:33 ; John 1:3 ; 2 Corinthians 1:19 ; and elsewhere, γέγονε is best rendered by the past (not the perfect) tense. It has frequently the notion of transition into a certain condition (see Romans 6:5 ; Romans 7:13 ; 1 Corinthians 9:22 ; 1 Corinthians 13:11 ; 2 Corinthians 5:17 ; 2 Corinthians 12:11 ; Galatians 4:16 , etc.). Bishop Ellicott gives the passages in which γίγνομαι is followed, as here, by ἐν ( Luke 22:44 ; Acts 22:17 ; 2 Corinthians 3:7 ; 1 Thessalonians 2:5 ), "denoting entrance into, and continuance in, any given state." As regards the apostle's statement, Adam was not beguiled , we must understand it as based merely upon the text in Genesis to which he refers, in which Eve (not Adam) says, ̔Ο ὄφις ἠπάτησε με, "The serpent beguiled me." Just as in Galatians 3:16 he reasons from σπέρματι being in the singular number, and as the writer to the Hebrews 7:3 reasons from the silence of Genesis 14:1-24 . regarding the parentage of Melchizedek. Huther ( in loc .) says that this mode of reasoning is peculiar to allegorical interpretation.