This verse is the most problematic in this section, as we shall soon see. Neglect translates a verb that means to overlook, to forget, to be unconcerned, to fail to use. The positive equivalent of the negative expression Do not neglect is “attend to” at the beginning of verse 13 and the two positive imperatives in verse 15, “practice” and “devote yourself.” Another way of expressing Do not neglect is “You must continually use.”

Gift is a word that can be used in general for any gift, but it refers in a specific way to spiritual gifts or gifts from the Holy Spirit (so Good News Translation “spiritual gift”). Another way of rendering this is “gift (or, ability) which comes from the Holy Spirit.” The gift you have is literally “the gift that is in you” (so Good News Translation; once again, Good News Bible is more literal than Revised Standard Version). While the gift is not specified, the context suggests that it has something to do with Timothy’s role as a minister and church leader. Two alternatives are possible: either to understand gift as the Holy Spirit, since it was the belief at that time that the Holy Spirit was received at the time of the laying on of hands; or a particular gift or talent from the Holy Spirit that makes Timothy effective in his duties of exhortation and teaching. If a translator understands that the gift was the Holy Spirit, one may render the gift you have as “the Holy Spirit which is in you”; but if a translator follows the second interpretation, one may translate “gift (or, talent) which comes from the Holy Spirit” or “… which the Holy Spirit gave you.” All in all, though, the second interpretation is the more likely one.

For prophetic utterance see 1.18. In fact 1.18 is parallel in content to the present verse, since both seem to refer to the time when Timothy was commissioned for his task in the church.

The practice of laying hands on people was common in the early church for several functions, among which are: (1) healing (see, for example, Mark 8.23); (2) bestowing a blessing (see, for example, Mark 10.16); (3) making it possible for people to receive the Holy Spirit (see, for example, Acts 8.17); and (4) setting people apart for certain functions (see, for example, Acts 13.3). This last function is in focus in the present context. In the history of the church, the laying on of hands has become an important part of the rite of ordination, that is, of setting apart certain people for specific church offices. It is not altogether certain, however, whether in the present context the formal ordination of Timothy is meant or, less formally, his commissioning to a certain task. This is complicated by the fact that, while various church offices are discussed in the letter, nowhere is Timothy’s particular office mentioned, nor his relationship to the church officers that are mentioned.

At any rate it was through prophetic utterance that the spiritual gift was bestowed on Timothy at the time that the elders laid their hands on him. The relationship of these three events (the prophetic utterance, the receiving of the spiritual gift, and the laying on of hands) is not at all clear. The text seems to suggest that the laying on of hands was not the means by which the spiritual gift was bestowed; it was only an action that accompanied the bestowing of the gift. Since these prophetic utterances occurred at Timothy’s ordination, it is very likely then that these were uttered by Christian prophets who were present at that time; some of them may even have been elders themselves.

There also seems to be a discrepancy between the information in this verse and that found in 2 Tim 1.6: in the former it was the elders who laid their hands on Timothy, whereas in the latter it was Paul himself. It is of course possible to reconcile the two verses by assuming that Paul was the main commissioning official and was himself a member of the group of elders.

Elders is literally the “presbytery,” a term that suggests a certain grouping of the elders, hence council of elders. That there were many elders in the church at that time is beyond doubt, but the existence of a formal organization of elders during such an early stage of the church has been questioned by some scholars. There is no problem, however, of an informal grouping or gathering of elders in order to participate in an important function. Some translations in fact drop the idea of a council of elders and simply concentrate on the idea of the elders coming together (so Phillips “the assembled elders”; Good News Translation has simply “elders”).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• You must keep on using the talent (or, ability) which was given (or, the Holy spirit gave) to you when people spoke about what would happen to you in the future and the church leaders laid their hands on you.

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 .