First Epistle to Timothy

==Date==
Modern scholars generally place its composition some time in the late 1st century or first half of the 2nd century AD, with a wide margin of uncertainty. The term [[Gnosis]] ("knowledge") itself occurs in [[1 Timothy 6:20]]. If the parallels between 1 Timothy and [[Polycarp|Polycarp's]] epistle are understood as a literary dependence by the latter on the former, as is generally accepted,<ref name="Berding1999" /> this would constitute a {{lang|la|[[Terminus post quem|terminus ante quem]]}} (cut-off date) of 130–155 AD. Likewise, there are a series of verbal agreements between [[Ignatius of Antioch|Ignatius]] and 1 Timothy which cluster around a 14 verse section in 1 Timothy 1.{{efn|Ignatius' ''Letter to the Magnesians'' chapter 11, shares the phrase "Jesus, who is our hope" with 1 Timothy 1:1. Ignatius' ''Letter to Polycarp'' chapter 3 shares the phrase "teach strange doctrines" with 1 Timothy 1:3 as a description of theological opponents. Ignatius' ''Letter to the Ephesians'' chapter 14 has the phrase "faith and love toward Christ Jesus," which parallels "faith and love which are in Christ Jesus" from 1 Timothy 1:14. This same passage of Ignatius goes on to say "the end is love," which parallels 1 Timothy 1:5, "The end of our instruction is love."}} If these parallels between Ignatius and 1 Timothy represent a literary dependence by Ignatius, this would move the date of 1 Timothy even earlier. However, [[Irenaeus]] (writing {{c.|180 AD}}) is the earliest author to clearly and unequivocally describe the [[Pastoral epistles|Pastorals]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

The earliest known writing of 1 Timothy has been found on [[Oxyrhynchus Papyrus]] 5259, designated P133, in 2017. It comes from a leaf of a codex which is dated to the 3rd century.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}