Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 2:22

τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων. Lachmann prefixes πάντων with ACG g (G omits τῶν), the Sahidic and Harclean versions; it is not found in אD2EKLP, the Bohairic, the Peshito, or the Old Latin for the most part, and probably crept into the text through a reminiscence of 1 Corinthians 1:2.

22. FLEE YOUTHFUL LUSTS: FOLLOW PEACE

22. τὰς δὲ νεωτερικὰς ἐπιθυμίας φεῦγε, but flee youthful lusts. The injunction may seem inapposite, as addressed to one who presided over the important Christian community at Ephesus, but it is quite intelligible when we remember that we have here the words of an old man writing to one of his disciples. To St Paul, Timothy would always be ‘young,’ and exposed to the dangers of youth. The ἐπιθυμίαι which Timothy is to guard against (juvenilia desideria of the Vulgate) would include all the passions and desires of a young and vigorous man. See further on 1 Timothy 4:12. The adjective νεωτερικός does not occur elsewhere in the N.T.

δίωκε δὲ δικαιοσύνην κ.τ.λ. See the note on 1 Timothy 6:11, where a similar injunction was affectionately given. Here, as there, righteousness, faith, love, are recommended to him; and St Paul now adds εἰρήνην μετὰ τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων τὸν κύριον κ.τ.λ. If Timothy is to ‘purge himself’ from the society of the ‘false teachers,’ he is not, on the other hand, to forget the duty of promoting “peace and love among all Christian people, and especially among them … committed to [his] charge[518].” The clause μετὰ τῶν ἐπικαλ. τὸν κύρ. is to be taken in close connexion with εἰρὴνην; cp. Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14. τὸν κύριον is here, of course, Christ; cp. Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 1:2. See critical note.

[518] See the Ordering of Priests in the Anglican Ordinal.

ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας. See note on 1 Timothy 1:5.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Timothy 2:22

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