Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 2:20

ἐν μεγάλῃ δὲ οἰκίᾳ. But, it must be remembered, although the Church is holy, that in a great house &c. The δέ introduces the answer to a possible objection to the suitability of such watchwords for the visible Church. In a great house there are vessels of every kind. The lesson is the same as that in the Parable of the Draw Net (Matthew 13:47 ff.); it is noteworthy that this is the only place where St Paul directly expresses the thought of the Church embracing evil members as well as good.

οὐκ ἔστιν μόνον κ.τ.λ., there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some unto honour and some unto dishonour. We have already the idea of vessels ‘for honour’ and ‘for dishonour,’ i.e. for dignified and for ignoble or petty uses, in Romans 9:21. “To the former class belonged the table, to the latter the footstool, according to Diod. Sic. XVII. 66,” is the interesting observation of Field (Ot. Norvic. III. 130). St Paul’s thought however is not merely of a difference in use between the different vessels, for all service may be ‘honourable’ in itself, but of the sorrowful fact that some are destined εἰς�, as unworthy of being εἰς τιμήν; cp. Wis 15:7.

St Paul has the adjective ὀστράκινος again in 2 Corinthians 4:7; cp. Leviticus 6:28.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 2:20

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