παραθήκη

From the study of 2 Timothy 1:12

Range of meaning

A deposit: money, goods or documents handed over to a trusted person (a friend, a banker, a temple) for safekeeping, to be returned intact on demand. It is a legal-commercial term. The related verb paratithēmi means 'to entrust, commit to someone's keeping' (Luke 23:46; Acts 14:23; 20:32; 1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:2).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, NASB, NIV and NLT all say 'what I have entrusted/committed to him', which fixes the direction (Paul → God). ESV puts 'what has been entrusted to me' in its text (God → Paul) and gives the other option in a footnote. The Greek says only 'my deposit', so both renderings add a direction the text leaves open.

How it drifted

Since the KJV, English-speaking readers have mostly met this line as 'what I have committed unto him', and hymns and devotional use took it to mean 'my soul' or 'my life'. The legal sense of a deposit that must be returned on a set day, and the link to 1:14, became hard to see.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), Leviticus 6:2–4 (5:21–23 LXX) treats denying a neighbour's deposit (parathēkē) as a sin needing restitution and a guilt offering. 2 Maccabees 3:10–15 describes deposits of widows and orphans held in the Jerusalem temple treasury, which the priests plead must be kept safe for those who entrusted them. Philo (Special Laws 4.30–38) discusses the sacred obligation of deposits. Greek literature treats betraying a deposit as gross impiety; Herodotus 6.86 tells of Glaucus, punished by the gods just for considering keeping one. Within the Pastoral Letters: 1 Timothy 6:20 ('guard the deposit') and 2 Timothy 1:14 ('guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit') clearly mean the gospel teaching entrusted to the church's leaders.

From the study of 1 Timothy 6:20

Range of meaning

Something placed beside someone (para + tithēmi, 'to set beside') for safekeeping. It was a technical term in Greek law and commerce: money, valuables or documents left with a trusted person or institution, who had to return exactly what was handed over. Failing to return a deposit was treated as a serious breach of trust and also as an offence against the gods.

Against the English

KJV 'that which is committed to thy trust', BSB/WEB 'what has been entrusted', YLT 'the thing entrusted' and ESV 'the deposit' all catch the idea of trust. 'Deposit' keeps the legal and financial picture best. The looser renderings lose the sense that the thing is someone else's property and the keeper will have to account for it.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Leviticus 5:21–23 (6:2–4 in English Bibles) makes lying about a deposit a sin against the LORD that requires restitution and a guilt offering. 2 Maccabees 3:10–15 describes deposits held in the Jerusalem temple for widows and orphans, and the priests' horror when Heliodorus tried to seize them. Herodotus 6.86 tells of Glaucus, who even thought about keeping a deposit and brought ruin on his family. Josephus (Antiquities 4.285–287) and Philo (Special Laws 4.30–38) both treat the faithful return of a deposit as something sacred. Papyri use the word for ordinary deposit contracts. In the New Testament it occurs only here and in 2 Timothy 1:12, 14.

From the study of 2 Timothy 1:14

Range of meaning

Something placed beside or with another person for safekeeping: a deposit or trust. In legal and commercial Greek it is the standard term for goods, money or documents left with a trustee (for example, by someone going on a journey), who is bound to keep them safe and return exactly what was given, without using them for himself. More loosely it can mean any sacred trust or charge committed to someone.

Against the English

'Deposit' (ESV, NIV) keeps the legal picture but can sound like a bank account or a down payment. 'Treasure' (BSB, NASB) and 'precious truth' (NLT) bring out the value but lose the point that it belongs to someone else and must be handed back intact. 'That good thing which was committed unto thee' (KJV) keeps the entrusting but turns the noun into a vague 'thing'.

How it drifted

Modern English has no single everyday word for 'something held in trust for another'. Translators therefore choose between the legal word (deposit) and the value word (treasure), and each gives up half the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament (LXX) uses παραθήκη in the deposit laws of Exod 22:7, 10 (Hebrew numbering; 22:6, 9 LXX) and Lev 5:21–23 (6:2–4 English). There, whoever loses or keeps for himself a neighbour's deposit owes restitution. In 2 Macc 3:10–15 the Jerusalem temple holds deposits for widows and orphans, and the priests call on God, 'who gave the law about deposits', to keep them safe. Herodotus 6.86 tells of Glaucus, who was ruined for thinking about cheating on a deposit, which shows how sacred the obligation was felt to be. Philo (Special Laws 4.30–38) treats the deposit as a sacred trust. Papyri use the compound παρακαταθήκη for deposits of money and goods. In the New Testament the word appears only in the Pastoral Letters: 1 Tim 6:20 ('O Timothy, guard the deposit'), 2 Tim 1:12, and here.