1 Timothy 4:2 - Exposition

Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies for speaking lies in hypocrisy, A.V.; branded in their own conscience as with for having their conscience seared with, A.V. Through the hypocrisy of men , etc. The construction is rather obscure, as the most obvious way of construing is that of the A.V., where ψευδόλογων must agree with δαιμονίων . But then the clause, "having their conscience seared with a hot iron," does not suit "devils." It is therefore, perhaps, best to translate the clause as the R.V. does, and to explain, with Bishop Ellicott, that the preposition ἐν , which precedes ὑποκρίσει , defines the instrument by which they were led to give heed to seducing spirits, viz. the hypocritical preterites of the men who spake lies, and whose consciences were seared. If ψευδολόγων agrees with δαιμονίων , we must conceive that St. Paul passes insensibly from "the devils" to the false teachers who spake as they taught them. In the Gospels, the speech of the devils, and of those possessed by devils, is often interchanged, as e.g. Luke 4:33 , Luke 4:34 , Luke 4:41 ; Mark 1:23 , Mark 1:24 . Men that speak lies ( ψευδολόγω ); only found here in the New Testament, but occasionally in classical Greek. Branded ( κεκαυτηριασμένων ); here only in the New Testament, but used in Greek medical and other writers for "to brand," or "cauterize;" καυτήρ and καυτήριον , a branding-iron. The application of the image is somewhat uncertain. If the idea is that of "a brand," a mark burnt in upon the forehead of a slave or criminal, then the meaning is that these men have their own infamy stamped upon their own consciences. It is not patent only to others, but to themselves also. But if the metaphor is from the cauterizing a wound, as the A.V. takes it, then the idea is that these men's consciences are become as insensible to the touch as the skin that has been cauterized is. The metaphor, in this case, is somewhat similar to that of πωρόω πώρωσις . The latter interpretation seems to suit the general context best, and the medical use of the term, which St. Paul might have learnt from Luke. The emphasis of τῆς ἰδίας , "their own conscience," implies that they were not merely deceivers of others, but were self-deceived.