Paul begins chapter 4 with Now (Greek de), which can be taken with the meaning “However.” What it means is that, while it is true that the church is the bulwark of truth, and that this truth has been made known, yet there are those who will undermine this truth and advocate some other position.
The Spirit is clearly the Holy Spirit (see also 3.16 for comments on Spirit). The word translated expressly denotes clarity and explicitness. This means that this message from the Spirit is not difficult to understand but is clear and easily understood. Translations try to capture this meaning; for example, Revised English Bible “explicitly,” Good News Translation “clearly,” Phillips “specifically.” The text does not say how and when the Spirit has done this. It is suggested by some commentators that what is referred to here is the Old Testament, particularly those parts that contain predictions about apostasy; it should be noted, however, that the formula expressly says is never used in the letters of Paul to refer to the Old Testament. Accordingly some others suggest that this has reference to the prophetic tradition in general, and to Paul in particular. In the Bible the Spirit is spoken of as the source of prophecy and of the prophet’s power to see events before they happen. That this includes Paul is indicated by the use of the present tense says. But since it is difficult and in fact impossible to determine when and how this information was given, it is perhaps best to stick to the text as it is, which is what most translations have done.
There is a similar problem with in later times. Does it refer to the future or to the present, that is, the time of the writing of this letter? Some take it as equivalent to the expression “in the last days,” which means that what is referred to is the whole time between the resurrection of Jesus and his second coming. The general understanding in the New Testament is that Christians are living in the last days. And these last days will be characterized by tribulations and apostasy. If translators understand this to be the meaning of in later times, one may also express this phrase as “in these last days” or “in the days before the end time.”
Others, however, understand the expression to refer specifically to what was happening during the time of the writing of the letter. The conditions being described here were the activities of the false teachers already mentioned in the first chapter. The use of the future tense here is due to a feature of prophetic utterances, where things that are going on in the present are described as occurring in the future. This of course does not rule out the occurrence of similar events in the future, which means that, although this prophetic utterance has a present reference, it could still have a future fulfillment. If the translator follows this second interpretation, other ways to express this are “in these latter times” or “in these later days.”
It should be further noted that times comes from the Greek word kairos (significant time, important segment of time) and not chronos (chronological, temporal time). All in all, it seems that the second interpretation of in later times is the more likely one. However, the prophetic style can be retained in the translation, in which case the resulting translation will resemble the first option.
The interpretation of some people will of course be determined by the way that a person interprets the phrase in later times. If the latter expression is understood as future, then some people will be the victims of false teachers and false prophets that will arise at a later time. If, however, the latter expression is understood as referring to conditions already existing in the Christian community which Timothy is serving, then the people referred to as some are the victims of the false teachers mentioned in the letter itself; namely, “in these latter days some people will….”
These people will depart from the faith. Faith here is either Christian doctrine or the Christian faith as a religious movement. For discussion see 1.2 and 3.9. As in those two passages it is more likely that Christian doctrine (or, teachings) is meant here in 4.1, too. Depart comes from a Greek verb from which is derived the word “apostasy” and which literally means “to stand off from.” It refers primarily to the act of turning away from what is accepted by the community as true belief, hence “abandon” (Good News Translation), “turn from” (Contemporary English Version), “renounce” (New Revised Standard Version), “desert” (New Jerusalem Bible), “forsake” (Revised English Bible). An alternative translation model for depart from the faith is “stop believing in (or, renounce) the Christian teachings.”
The cause of their apostasy is that they “will obey” deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Giving heed translates a participle that means “pay attention to” (New Revised Standard Version), both in terms of mental assent (for example, Revised English Bible “surrender their minds”) and of action (hence Good News Translation “obey … follow”). Deceitful comes from a word that means “erroneous,” “wrong,” “misleading,” hence Good News Translation “lying.” These spirits are contrasted with the Spirit, who is the source of true teaching. See 3.16 for a discussion of “Spirit” and “spirits.”
The two expressions deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons are obviously related, but the relationship is not all that clear. Ways of defining their relationship are as follows:
(1) The spirits and demons may be taken as parallel and as referring to evil spirits. The whole expression can then be restructured as “the teachings of deceitful demonic (or, evil) spirits,” or “deceitful demonic spirits and their doctrines,” or even “deceitful evil spirits and their demonic doctrines.”
(2) The spirits may refer to the false teachers, and their teachings are described as doctrines of demons. In this sense the spirits are identical with the liars in verse 2. No translation has chosen this alternative, however.
(3) The spirits may refer to evil spirits, while doctrines of demons can be taken as human teachings that are inspired by demonic forces. The translation that comes closest to this position is Revised English Bible: “subversive spirits and demon-inspired doctrines.” It is recommended by this Handbook that translators follow this interpretation.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• God’s Spirit clearly says (or, states) that in these last days some people will stop believing the Christian teachings; they will instead obey false teachings inspired by lying evil (or, dirty) spirits (or, demons).
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .