It is possible that This refers to the second half of verse 2; grammatically this would be the logical conclusion, since This would refer to what immediately precedes. The sense then will be “It is good that we live quiet and peaceful lives, characterized by devotion to God and respect for others.” It is more likely, however, that in the light of verse 4, This refers back to verse 1, that is, to the offering of prayers for all people. The sense then is: it is right to pray for all people, because God desires all people to be saved. It may be necessary for this relationship to be made clear in the translation, as, for example, Revised English Bible “Such prayer is right, and approved by God our Saviour” or “Praying for all people like this is right, and God our Savior approves of it.”

Praying for all people then is described as good and as acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. There are many words for “good” in the Greek; the word used here can mean “beautiful,” “valuable,” “important,” “morally good,” but more probably it has the sense of “fitting,” “right” (Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version); in other words, it is the proper and right thing to do. The word for acceptable describes a thing or an action that is pleasing to someone, hence “approved” (Revised English Bible), “pleasing” (Translator’s New Testament [Translator’s New Testament]). In the sight of is literally “before,” which in this context marks a participant’s viewpoint or reaction to a particular event, hence “in the opinion of,” “in the judgment of.” Many translations restructure the biblical expression in order to make their rendering clearer and more natural; for example, “it pleases God” (Good News Translation), “approved by God” (Revised English Bible), “pleasing to God” (Translator’s New Testament). One can also say “God is very happy (or, pleased) with this.” For God our Savior see 1.1 and comments.

Verse 4 can be understood as a general desire of God or as a reason why praying for all people is pleasing to God. In this latter case the sense will be that God wants us to pray for all people precisely because he is willing and desirous to save them all. It is possible, then, for verse 4 to be translated “because he [God] desires everyone to be saved” or, in languages that do not use the passive voice, one may translate “because he desires to save (or, free) all people from sin” or “because he desires that everyone receive salvation.”

Desires is the Greek verb that means “to wish,” “to want,” and most translations take it with this meaning. The verb can also mean “to have as one’s purpose,” and some translations take this meaning; for example, Phillips “for his purpose is that….” As in 2.1, men translates the generic word for “people,” so all men is better understood as “all people,” hence “everyone” (Good News Translation), “all” (Revised English Bible). For saved see 1.15. Knowledge of the truth (Good News Translation “to know the truth”) is used only in the Pastorals (see 1 Tim 4.3; 2 Tim 3.7; Titus 1.1). Truth is used in the Pastorals as a technical term to refer to (a) the Christian faith as a system of belief, (b) an organized body of Christian teaching or doctrine, or (c) the total content of the gospel. All three are possible in this context. However, we should consider the background of the Pastorals, particularly the problem of false teachers and the danger of heretical teaching. In that case the first two alternatives seem to fit the context much better. The word for knowledge is a compound word in the Greek. Some commentators suggest that the compound word (epignōsis) is being used as a technical term for the intellectual acceptance of the Christian faith, contrasted with the simple word (gnōsis) that refers to ordinary knowledge. There is, however, no general acceptance of this idea, and it does seem that the simple and compound words are sometimes used interchangeably.

One other thing that needs to be noted is the relation between being saved and knowing the truth. In terms of temporal sequence the latter comes first, since knowing the truth can be interpreted as a way by which people experience salvation. It may therefore be necessary in translation to reverse the order of the two phrases, hence “to come to the knowledge of the truth and to be saved,” “to come to the knowledge of the teachings about Christ and receive salvation,” or “to accept the teachings about Christ and to become free from their sins.”

Alternative translation models for verses 3-4 are:
• Praying for all people in this way is right (or, the right thing to do) and is acceptable to God our [inclusive] Savior. He wants all people to be saved and know the truth.

Or:
• It is good for you to pray for all people in this way, and God our [inclusive] Savior, the one who frees us from our sins, is very happy when you do this. He wants all people to receive salvation and accept the teachings about Christ.

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 .