HOLDING FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD WHICH IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHING: antechomenon (PMPMSA) tou pistou logou kata ten didachen: (Job 2:3; 27:6; Pr 23:23; 1 Th 5:21; 2 Th 2:15; 2 Ti 1:13; Jude 1:3; Rev 2:25; 3:3, 11) (1 Ti 1:15; 4:9; 6:3; 2 Ti 2:2) (2:1; 2:7 2:8  1 Ti 1:10; 6:3 2 Ti 4:3)

with a strong grip on the truly reliable message which Christian teaching gave to him (Barclay)

He must be devoted to the trustworthy message we teach (GWT),  the steadfast word (YLT)

holding fast, yes, more than that, paying attention to the trustworthy Word in accordance with the teaching (Wuest)

He must have a strong and steadfast belief in the trustworthy message he was taught (NLT)

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught (NIV)

He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching (NRSV)

he must hold firm to the sure word as taught (RSV)

He must hold firmly to the message which can be trusted and which agrees with the doctrine (TEV)

he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of the tradition, (NJB)

clinging to the faithful word according to the doctrine taught (DNT)

cling to the faithful word with fervent devotion and unflagging diligence (MacArthur)

Paul moves from the personal qualifications discussed above to the "doctrinal qualifications" of elders and overseers, expounding a truth which is critical to the spiritual health of the body of Christ.

Adam Clarke says the overseer is to be

"conscientiously retaining, and zealously maintaining, the true Christian doctrine" (Clarke's Commentary)

Holding fast (472) (antechomai from antí = against or opposite to + écho = hold)  means literally to hold one's self against, the primary sense being to keep one's self directly opposite someone or something. It conveys the sense of cleaving to, strongly adhering to or holding firmly (in context to the faithful word).

The second meaning of antechomai in the NT is to help or assist by giving supplementary support or aid to (1Thes 5:14).

Antechomai expresses the sense of a strong attachment to someone or something. To be devoted (feeling or demonstrating loyalty and thus ardent, devout, loving). To cling to (adhere as if glued firmly to and so to hold on tightly and tenaciously).

Antechomai is used 4 times in NT (1x Mt; 1x Lu; 1x 1Thes; 1x Titus).

Matthew 6:24 (note) "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to (cleave to, holding firmly to, devoted to) one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

1Thessalonians 5:14 (note) And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help (support) the weak, be patient with all men.

Titus 1:9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

There are 16 uses of antechomai in the Septuagint (LXX) (Deut. 32:41; Neh. 4:16; Job 33:24; Prov. 3:18; 4:6; Eccl. 7:18; Isa. 48:2; 56:2, 4, 6; 57:13; Jer. 2:8; 8:2; 44:10; Dan. 10:21; Zeph. 1:6)

Proverbs 3:18 She (wisdom) is a tree of life to those who take hold (Lxx = antechomai) of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.

The Greek writer Sophocles uses this verb of a physical action to

"hold one's hand against one's head so as to shade the eyes".

Ulysees S. Grant said...

Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of our liberties; write its precepts on your hearts and practise them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look for our guide in the future.

Overseers and elders must continue to cling tenaciously and uncompromisingly to the faithful Word even in the face of opposition and the temptation to abandon it for something more "palatable" or "ear tickling" (see notes 2 Timothy 4:3; 4:4).

 He is not to be like a child

"tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" (see note Ephesians 4:14).

The leader instead must be characterized by doctrinal stability so that he is emboldened like Paul to not

"shrink from declaring... the whole purpose of God." (Acts 20:27)

Barnes says the overseer

"is to hold (the truth) fast, in opposition to one who would wrest it away, and in opposition to all false teachers, and to all systems of false philosophy. He must be a man who is firm in his belief of the doctrines of the Christian faith, and a man who can be relied on to maintain and defend those doctrines in all circumstances." (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

Paul uses the middle voice (reflexive = an action initiated by and directed back onto the subject) for antechomai  to picture the overseer holding himself face to face as it were with the Word of God because he knows it to be trustworthy and dependable, not unreliable and treacherous like the spurious teachings of those who contradict.

One way the overseer is to adhere to the Word is by not adding to

"the words of the prophecy of this book" or taking "away from the words of the book" (see notes Revelation 22:18; Revelation 22:19).

In a similar instruction Paul commanded Timothy who appears to have been

"overseeing" the Ephesian church to "retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me." (see note 2 Timothy 1:13)

The overseer should

"examine everything carefully;" and "hold fast to that which is good" (see note 1Thessalonians 5:21)

The overseer needs to heed the wisdom of the proverb which exhorts us to

"Buy truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom and instruction and understanding." (Pr 23:23)

The overseer is to

"stand firm and hold to the traditions which (he was) taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us (Paul, et al)." (2 Th 2:15)

The overseer is to be alerted if

"anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness." (1Ti 6:3).

The overseer needs to have the attitude of Jude who wrote

"Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3)

In short, the overseer is to be a man characterized by doctrinal stability.

The LORD testifies to Satan concerning Job that

"there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause." (Job 2:3)

Later Job himself affirms that

"I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." (Job 23:12)

Job held fast to his integrity because he held fast to the trustworthy word of God and so too must overseers of God's flock.

Antechomai is used 15 times in the Septuagint (Greek of Hebrew OT). For example speaking of wisdom, Solomon writes that

"She is a tree of life to those who take hold of (antechomai) her, And happy are all who hold her fast." (Pr 3:18 )

The overseer clings with utmost confidence to the faithful word because he knows that it alone is completely trustworthy and reliable, unlike the spurious doctrines of the false teachers.

The faithful word - trustworthy, reliable, believable, dependable Word of God. There is nothing else like it in time and eternity. Hold it even when all else falls or fails for it never will beloved!

Faithful (4103) (pistos from peítho = to persuade - induce one by words to believe, have confidence) is something or someone who is worthy of faith or keeps promises and is applied to God, humans, His Word, etc

Pistos is used 67 times in the NT (Matt 24:45; 25:21, 23; Luke 12:42; 16:10-12; 19:17; John 20:27; Acts 10:45; 13:34; 16:1, 15; 1 Cor 1:9; 4:2, 17; 7:25; 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 6:15; Gal 3:9; Eph 1:1; 6:21; Col 1:2, 7; 4:7, 9; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Tim 1:12, 15; 3:1, 11; 4:3, 9-10, 12; 5:16; 6:2; 2 Tim 2:2, 11, 13; Titus 1:6, 9; 3:8; Heb 2:17; 3:2, 5; 10:23; 11:11; 1 Pet 1:21; 4:19; 5:12; 1 John 1:9; 3 John 1:5; Rev 1:5; 2:10, 13; 3:14; 17:14; 19:11; 21:5; 22:6) Pistos is translated believe(2), believer(4), believers(5), believing(1), faithful(43), Faithful(1), faithful one(1), faithfully(1), sure(1), trustworthy(7), who believe(1).

Pistos occurs some 46 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Num 12:7; Deut 7:9; 28:59; 32:4; 1 Sam 2:35; 3:20; 22:14; 25:28; 2 Sam 20:18; 23:1; 1 Kgs 11:38; Neh 9:8; 13:13; Job 12:20; 17:9; Ps 19:7; 89:28, 37; 101:6; 111:7; 145:13; Prov 2:12; 11:13, 21; 13:17; 14:5, 25; 17:6f; 20:6; 25:13; Isa 1:21, 26; 8:2; 22:23, 25; 33:16; 49:7; 55:3; Jer 42:5; Dan 2:45; 6:4; Hos 5:9; ;

Vincent gives a nice summary (expanded in the discussion that follows) of the meaning of pistos, faithful, writing that it is used

"(1), of one who shows Himself faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust (Mt 24:45). Hence, trustworthy (2Ti 2:2). Of things that can be relied upon (2Ti 2:11). (2), Confiding; trusting; a believer (Gal 3:9; Acts16:1; 2Cor 6:15; 1Ti 5:16)" (Word Studies in the New Testament)

Webster says that "Faithful" means firm in adherence to whatever one owes allegiance and implies unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted.

Pistos is used in two senses in the NT

1) An active meaning = trusting or believing

This is the less frequent usage. This sense speaks of a sinner exercising faith in the Lord Jesus. In the first NT use in this sense, Jesus "said to Thomas,

“Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." (Jn 20:27)

Paul instructs Timothy to

"let those who have believers (pistos) as their masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers (pistos) and beloved. Teach and preach these principles." (1Ti 6:2)

When pistos is used in this active sense to refer to the faith which a lost sinner must place in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved, it includes the following ideas -- the act of considering the Lord Jesus worthy of trust as to His character and motives, the act of placing confidence in His ability to do just what He says He will do, the act of entrusting the salvation of his soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus, the act of committing the work of saving his soul to the care of the Lord. This means a definite taking of one’s self out of one’s own keeping and entrusting one’s self into the keeping of the Lord Jesus. Thus Paul says

So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer (pistos). (Gal 3:9)

Using a striking contrast, Paul asks

what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2Cor 6:15)

Luke records that Paul

came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. (Acts 16:1)

Note also that with regard to believers, they are spoken of sometimes in the Active sense (as "believers") and sometimes in the Passive (as "faithful").

The New Testament concept of faith includes three main elements, mutually connected and requisite, though according to circumstances sometimes one and sometimes another may be more prominent

(1) a fully convinced acknowledgement of the revelation of grace; (2) a self-surrendering fellowship (adhesion); and (3) a fully assured and unswerving trust (and with this at the same time hope) in the God of salvation or in Christ. (Modified from Cremer)

2) A passive meaning = trustworthy or faithful.

Here the basic idea is that of trustworthiness. In this sense pistos describes God, Christ, servants, His Word as faithful, reliable, worthy of belief or trust,  , , dependable.

Marvin Vincent adds that pistos used of God describes Him as

True to his own nature and promises; keeping faith with Himself and with man.

Paul writes that even

if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself. (see note 2 Timothy 2:13)

Pistos in this passive sense is used of one who shows Himself faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust

Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Mt 24:45.

Hence, pistos describes the one who is trustworthy

And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. see note 2 Timothy 2:2). 

Of the Word of God (which is the sense pistos is used in Titus 1:9) that can be relied upon

"It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." 1Ti 3:1

"It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him." - see note 2 Timothy 2:11

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1:9)

In the papyri, we find the following illustrations of the use of pistos -- "Whom no one would trust even if they were willing to work" = confidence in the person’s character and motives. "I have trusted no one to take it to her" = confidence in the ability of another to perform a certain task.

The Septuagint (Greek of the Hebrew OT) uses pistos 42 times, the first occurrence describing God's testimony about Moses declaring

"Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household." (Nu 12:7)

Moses in turn records the following of God writing

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments." (Dt 7:9)

Notice the seal of assurance stamped upon God's covenant. It is backed up by His faithful character.

In addition there are three uses of pistos in the Septuagint which parallel the truth in Titus 1:9 ("the faithful word"), two of these uses in Psalms and the other in Daniel in reference to one of the most foundational prophecies ever recorded in Daniel 2:

Psalm 19:7 "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the LORD is sure (Translated in Septuagint with pistos - "faithful"), making wise the simple." (Comment: Spurgeon  comments that "God’s witness in his Word is so sure that we may draw solid comfort from it both for time and eternity, and so sure that no attacks made upon it, however fierce or subtle, can ever weaken its force. What a blessing that in a world of uncertainties we have something sure to rest upon! We hasten from the quicksands of human speculations to the solid ground of divine revelation." - see Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 111:7 "The works of His hands are truth and justice. All His precepts are sure (Translated in Septuagint with pistos - "faithful")."

Spurgeon (his commentary) writes "All that he has appointed or decreed shall surely stand, and his precepts which he has proclaimed shall be found worthy of our obedience, for surely they are founded in justice and are meant for our lasting good. He is no fickle despot, commanding one thing one day and another another, but His commands remain absolutely unaltered, their necessity equally unquestionable, their excellence permanently proven, and their reward eternally secure. Take the word commandments to relate either to his decrees or his precepts, and we have in each case an important sense; but it seems more in accordance with the connection to take the first sense and consider the words to refer to the ordinances, appointments, or decrees of the great King."

Whatever the mighty Lord decrees,
Shall stand for ever sure.
The settled purpose of his heart
To ages shall endure.

Daniel 2:45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy."

In short, God's Holy Word is trustworthy, dependable, reliable and sure because God Himself is faithful (1Cor 1:9, 1Thessalonians 5:24 [note]) and cannot lie (Titus 1:2 [note], Nu 23:19). Because God's Word is faithful, those who teach and preach the Word must also be faithful or trustworthy (1Cor 4:2, cf Num 12:7) and "entrust it to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (see note 2 Timothy 2:2).

The same combination of "faithful" (pistos) and "logos" translated here as "faithful word" is found five other times in the pastoral epistles and each of these other occurrences is translated "trustworthy statement" (1Tim 1:15, 3:1, 4:9, see notes 2 Timothy 2:11, Titus 3:8).

In the Revelation John records some of God's final words on His word: "And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words (logos) are faithful and true.” (see note Revelation 21:5)  God always speaks truth ( “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" Jn 17:17) One of the seven angels said to John "These words (logos) are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place." (see note Revelation 22:6)

God's Word will surely come to pass. Therefore, it behooves the overseer to be diligent to cling to this precious trustworthy Word as he leads the flock into all truth and counters all lies and liars with the Word of Truth

Word (3056) (logos from légō = to speak with words; English = logic, logical) means something said and describes a communication whereby the mind finds expression in words. Although Lógos is most often translated word which Webster defines as "something that is said, a statement, an utterance", the Greek understanding of lógos is somewhat more complex.

In the Greek mind and as used by secular and philosophical Greek writers, lógos did not mean merely the name of an object but was an expression of the thought behind that object's name. Let me illustrate this somewhat subtle nuance in the meaning of lógos with an example from the Septuagint (LXX) (Greek of the Hebrew OT) in which lógos is used in the well known phrase the Ten Commandments.

The Septuagint translates this phrase using the word lógos as “the ten (deka) words (logoi)” (Ex 34:28), this phrase giving us the familiar term Decalogue. Clearly each of the "Ten Commandments" is not just words but words which express a thought or concept behind those words.

This then is the essence of the meaning of lógos and so it should not be surprising that depending on the context lógos is translated with words such as "saying, instruction, message, news, preaching, question, statement, teaching, etc". This understanding of lógos also helps understand John's repeated usage of this Greek word as a synonym for the second Person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ (see discussion below).

Lógos then is a general term for speaking, but always used for speaking with rational content. Lógos is a word uttered by the human voice which embodies an underlying concept or idea. When one has spoken the sum total of their thoughts concerning something, they have given to their hearer a total concept of that thing. Thus the word lógos conveys the idea of “a total concept” of anything. Lógos means the word or outward form by which the inward thought is expressed and made known. It can also refer to the inward thought or reason itself. Note then that lógos does not refer merely to a part of speech but to a concept or idea. In other words, in classical Greek, lógos never meant just a word in the grammatical sense as the mere name of a thing, but rather the thing referred to, the material, not the formal part. In fact, the Greek language has 3 other words (rhema, onoma, epos) which designate a word in its grammatical sense. Lógos refers to the total expression whereas rhema (see word study) for example is used of a part of speech in a sentence. In other words rhema, emphasizes the parts rather than the whole.

Cremer explains that lógos is used of the living, spoken word,

the word not in its outward form, but with reference to the thought connected with the form,… in short, not the word of language, but of conversation, of discourse; not the word as a part of speech, but the word as part of what is uttered.

Although not every lexicographer would agree with Vincent's assessment of the origin of lógos, his comments are very interesting and worth noting. He explains that

lógos is from the root "leg-", appearing in lego, the primitive meaning of which is to lay: then, to pick out, gather, pick up: hence to gather or put words together, and so, to speak. Hence lógos is, first of all, a collecting or collection both of things in the mind, and of words by which they are expressed. It therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself. (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament: Vol. 2, Page 1-25)

Barclay adds that

the Greek term for word is lógos; but lógos does not only mean word; it also means reason. For John, and for all the great thinkers who made use of this idea, these two meanings were always closely intertwined. Whenever they used lógos the twin ideas of the Word of God and the Reason of God were in their minds. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

As alluded to earlier lógos is translated with multiple English words in the NASB, as shown by the following compilation with the parentheses indicating the number of occurrences -- account(7), accounting(2), accounts(2), answer(1), appearance(1), complaint(1), exhortation (1), have to do(1), instruction(1), length (1), matter(4), matters(1), message(10), news(3), preaching(1), question(2), reason(2), reasonable(1), remark(1), report(1), said(1), say(1), saying(4), sayings(1), speaker(1), speech(10), statement(18), story(1), talk(1), teaching(2), thing(2), things(1), utterance(2), what he says(1), what (1), word(179), words(61).

The following discussion will not deal with all of these nuances of lógos.

For more discussion and specific uses of the individual words by which logos is translated click Vine's main lexicon entry "Word" and you might also check his less in depth discussions at cause, communication, do, doctrine, fame, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, reckoning, rumor, saying, shew, speech, talk<