2 Timothy 3:16

καί. This is omitted by the Bohairic, the Peshito, and some MSS. of the Latin Vulgate; but the authority for its insertion is overwhelming.

ἐλεγμόν. So אACG; ἔλεγχον, the reading of the rec. text, is found in the later uncials and in most other authorities. ἐλεγμός and ἔλεγχος are confused in like manner in Psalms of Solomon 10:1 (see the variants in Ryle and James’ edn.).

16. πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος κ.τ.λ. We have to fix the meaning of γραφή here, before we examine the construction. Is it simply equivalent to ‘writing’ or does it mean ‘Scripture,’ in the special sense in which that word was applied in the Apostolic age to the O.T. as a whole or to passages from it? Despite the absence of the article, the latter meaning seems determined, not only by the context, but by the usage of the word throughout the N.T. In all the passages (some fifty) in which the word occurs (in four without the article, viz. John 19:37 ἑτέρα γραφή; Romans 1:2 γραφαὶ ἅγιαι; Romans 16:26 γραφαὶ προφητικαί; 2 Peter 1:20 πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς) it is invariably applied to the O.T., and we therefore must apply it thus in the verse before us. The next point is the true rendering of πᾶσα γραφή. The absence of the article assures us that we must render ‘every Scripture’ and not (with the A.V.) ‘all Scripture’; the thought is not of the O.T. regarded as an organic whole, but of every individual ‘Scripture’ therein.

We come then to the construction of the sentence, the primary question being, Is θεόπνευστος an epithet attached to the subject γραφή, or is it a predicate? The A.V. and some modern interpreters (Calvin, de Wette, &c.) take it in the latter way, and there is no grammatical objection to the translation “Every Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable &c.,” the καὶ being simply copulative. But to introduce at this point a direct statement of the θεοπνευστία of the O.T., which is not here questioned, seems quite irrelevant to the context. 2 Timothy 3:16 is strictly parallel to 2 Timothy 3:15; the ἱερὰ γράμματα are able to make wise unto salvation; [for] every Scripture inspired by God is profitable also for &c., καί having an ascensive force (cp. 1 Timothy 4:4). It is the profitableness of the O.T. which St Paul would press upon Timothy, not its inspiration, of which he had been assured from his youth. It is better, therefore, to follow the interpretation of Origen, the Vulgate and Syriac Versions, Luther &c. (also adopted in the older English translations of Wiclif, Tyndale, Coverdale and Cranmer, and in our R.V.), and to render every Scripture inspired by God is profitable also for teaching &c.

θεόπνευστος does not occur again in LXX. or N.T., but is a common Greek word; it is well rendered by the Vulgate divinitus inspirata, its meaning being passive, inspired by God, not active. It supplies no theory as to the manner or measure of inspiration, but felicitously sums up the truth expressed in 2 Peter 1:21, ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἑλάλησαν�.

καὶ ὠφέλιμος. See the critical note, and cp. 1 Timothy 4:8.

πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, for teaching, sc. for teaching him who reads it. It is the instruction which it gives to the individual Christian, not the help that it affords to him whose office it is to teach others, that is here in question. For διδασκαλία see on 1 Timothy 1:10.

πρὸς ἐλεγμόν, for reproof, or confutation; cp. John 16:8. The word does not occur again in N.T.; see critical note. Keble expresses the main idea well:

“Eye of God’s word! where’er we turn
Ever upon us! thy keen gaze
Can all the depths of sin discern,
Unravel every bosom’s maze[521].”

[521] Christian Year, St Bartholomew’s Day.

πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, for correction, sc. in reference to conduct. Like ἐλεγμός, this is ἅπ. λεγ. in N.T. but is a LXX. word.

πρὸς παιδίαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, for discipline which is in righteousness, δικαιοσύνη (see on 1 Timothy 6:11) being the atmosphere in which the discipline is exercised.