Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 1:7

δειλίας. So all the principal manuscripts; some cursives have δουλείας from a reminiscence of Romans 8:15. See note in loc.

7. οὐ γὰρ ἔδωκεν κ.τ.λ. For God did not give us, i.e. [not all Christians but] you and me, Paul and Timothy, when we were set apart for His service by prayer and the imposition of hands.

πνεῦμα δειλίας, the spirit of cowardice. The word δειλία does not occur again in the N.T., but it is common in the LXX. as in all Greek. πνεῦμα does not stand for the natural human temper, but (as generally in St Paul; cp. Romans 8:15; 2 Corinthians 4:13; Ephesians 1:17) for the human spirit supernaturally affected by the Divine. Of the gifts of the Holy Spirit cowardice is not one; a Christian man, a Christian minister, has no right to be a coward, for God has given him the spirit of power. Cp. Isaiah 11:2.

ἀλλὰ δυνάμεως καὶ�, but of power and love and discipline. These three graces are specially named, as specially needed for one in Timothy’s circumstances; power to fulfil his arduous tasks, love to suffer gladly all opposition—being ready to believe that for the most part it springs from ignorance—discipline, to correct and warn the wayward and careless. Cp. for δύναμις, Romans 15:13, ἐν δυνάμει πνεύματος ἁγίου; and again, St Paul’s own preaching was ἐν� (1 Corinthians 2:4). For ἀγάπη cp. Romans 15:30 &c. σωφρονισμός is a ἅπ. λεγ. in the Greek Bible, but σωφροσύνη and its cognates are favourite words in the Pastorals; see on 1 Timothy 2:9.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 1:7

Old Testament

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