“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;” – apostle James (James 1:19, NASB)

Here’s a brief post regarding the Greek Word ‘Malista’ which is translated into English to mean “especially”.

Please consider the Verses below where this Greek Word (‘Malista’) occurs in each of the Quoted Verses to ‘understand Its Correct Meaning’ as we let Usage in Scripture Alone to determine Its Meaning (as ‘Let Scripture interpret Scripture’, where we may use linguistics whenever ‘no’ Scriptural explanation exists only):

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,” (Titus 1:10, NASB)

“When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13, NASB)

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17, NASB)

Each of the quoted Verse is Written by apostle Paul & please note that every one of them are Factual Statements (and not a parable, figure of speech or colloquial speech of any type – and so, such linguistic claims do NOT hold here).

There are two possible cases as follows:

(1) Especially means ONLY

Now let’s replace the ‘especially’ found in Verses above with the Word ONLY and you may decide to believe this if you think it makes ‘sense’ to you:

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of all men, ONLY of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, ONLY those of the circumcision,” (Titus 1:10, NASB)

“When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, ONLY the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13, NASB)

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, ONLY those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17, NASB)

If the word especially or ‘Malista’ meant ONLY, then the latter three Verses would imply the following absurd meanings:

Titus 1:10 —> ONLY those of the circumcision are rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers.

2 Timothy 4:13 —-> ONLY the parchments is to be brought from among the cloak and the books.

Timothy 5:17 —> ONLY those who work hard at preaching and teaching among the ‘elders’ are worthy of ‘double honour’. Too bad for your charity-working elders then.

Can you see how incompetent such a linguistic claim is?

(2) Especially means A SPECIAL SUBSET IS

Let’s consider the Verses likewise with this REPLACEMENT as follows:

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of all men, A SPECIAL SUBSET IS of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, A SPECIAL SUBSET IS those of the circumcision,” (Titus 1:10, NASB)

“When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, A SPECIAL SUBSET IS the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13, NASB)

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, A SPECIAL SUBSET IS those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17, NASB)

Conclusion

The Verse in 1 Timothy 4:10 refers to God Saving ALL Men eventually (as opposed to believers only) —> but believers are more ‘special’ (e.g. believers only are Saved with ‘no’ afterlife Judgment as mentioned John 5:24) and will get greater rewards (Matthew 5:19).

In fact, the “LIVING God as Saviour of ALL Men” 1 Timothy 4:10 can be understood with the phrase God “Will have ALL men to be SAVED” (in 1 Timothy 2:4, KJV) itself where the ‘Verb-Will-Have’ is Translated Correctly in this translation making it Irrefutable as it is WRITTEN.

“I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” – apostle John (1 John 2:21, NASB)

“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;” – apostle Paul (Ephesians 4:14, NASB)

P/S: Other strange explanations

Example: What if ‘all men’ in 1 Timothy 4:10 refers to ‘all types of men’ in the sense of ‘all races’ where only believers from among these are saved?

Then let’s replace ‘especially’ with their ‘claim’ as follows (and you can do any other substitution likewise to see their absurd claims so clearly; the irony is, some with a PHD, sad indeed):

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of ALL TYPES OF MEN, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of ALL RACES, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

or

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of ALL BELIEVERS FROM ALL TYPES OF MEN, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the Living God, who is the Savior of ALL BELIEVING RACES, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10, NASB)

It’s obvious.