As already mentioned, charge is the same word used in verses 3 and 5. Commit entails the idea of entrusting or handing over something to someone for implementation and preservation. Timothy is addressed here intimately as my son, or more accurately “my child” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version), since the Greek word for son is the generic word for any child. See further comments in 1 Tim. 1.2.

In accordance with may define the charge as agreeing with the prophetic utterances (so Good News Translation, Phillips) or may designate the act of committing the charge to Timothy as being in harmony with the prophetic utterances (so New English Bible, New International Version). A third possibility is to understand in accordance with as designating the content of the charge itself (so Jerusalem Bible “I ask you to remember the words once spoken over you … and taking them to heart to fight…”). The prophetic utterances are described in the past tense as pointing to Timothy; the Greek word for pointed is literally “to go ahead,” “to precede.” The sense is that these were utterances spoken by prophets about Timothy (so New Revised Standard Version “prophecies made earlier about you”), or one may translate “according to the words that prophets spoke in the past about you,” or in the case of languages that do not have one specific word for “prophets,” one may say “according to what people in the past said would happen to you.” The question of the identity of these prophets and on what occasion they spoke is a matter of debate; among the suggested possibilities are the following:

1. These are predictions of certain Christian prophets about Timothy, and these prophetic statements led Paul to choose Timothy as his companion in the work.
2. These are utterances of Christian prophets at the time of Timothy’s ordination (see 4.14).
3. These are the actual words of ordination that are uttered by the ordaining person, who in this case is most probably Paul.
4. These are orders and words of encouragement that Timothy continues to receive in the course of his ministry.

It is difficult to decide which of the above is what is intended. In a study Bible it would be appropriate to include all of these as notes. But due to the difficulty of being certain, it may be best in this case for the translation to retain the ambiguity of the text.

At any rate, Timothy is exhorted to use these prophetic utterances as weapons in the battle ahead. Inspired by them is literally “in them” or more probably “by them,” which describes these prophetic utterances as instruments or weapons both to be used (so Good News Translation) and obeyed (so New Revised Standard Version “by following them”). You may wage the good warfare is literally “you may fight the good fight” (so New Revised Standard Version). There is a play on words in the Greek, since the word for “fight” in both instances is related to the word for “soldier.” This feature may be retained in translation if the resources in the language make it possible. The expression itself (“fight the good fight”) can be treated as an idiom that means “to fight well” (so Good News Translation). But of course this is all figurative language drawn from the military world, comparing Timothy’s ministry to that of a war. In other parts of the New Testament, there are references to warfare against evil spiritual forces, and especially against Satan. In the present context this battle is against those teachers who are teaching doctrines contrary to the gospel itself, and in certain languages translators will need to make the goal of the verb “fight” explicit and say, for example, “You may fight well against those false teachers.” However, the positive aspect of the struggle may be emphasized; for example, “you may fight well for the gospel (or, for the truth of the gospel).”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• Timothy, my son (or, my child), these are the instructions that I am giving you: I ask you to remember the things that people (or, prophets) in the past said would happen to you. You must use those words like weapons in order to fight well against those false teachers (or, to fight well for the truth of the gospel).

Or:
• … in order to fight well for (or, to maintain) the truth of the gospel.

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 .