2 Timothy 1:10

φανερωθεῖσαν : See note on 1 Timothy 3:16. Bengel calls attention to the fit juxtaposition of illustria verba : φανερωθεῖσαν, ἐπιφανείας, φωτίσαντος.

διὰ τῆς ἐπιφανείας, κ. τ. λ.: See on 1 Timothy 6:14. The ἐπιφάνεια here must not be referred to the Incarnation, considered as having taken place at a particular moment in time. It includes it; the ἐπιφάνεια began then; and will be continued, becoming ever brighter and clearer, until its consummation, to which the term ἐπιφάνεια is elsewhere restricted.

καταργήσαντος : We cannot, because of the absence of an article before the participles, safely translate, when he brought to nought, rather than, who brought to nought. Abolished does not express the truth. Christians all “taste of death” as their Master did (John 8:52; Hebrews 2:9), though they do not “see” it; and they are confident that they too will be “saved out of death” (Hebrews 5:7). Death for them has lost its sting (Hebrews 2:14-15). It need not cause any difficulty that here the undoing of death is spoken of as past, whereas in 1 Corinthians 15:26; 1 Corinthians 15:54, it is “the last enemy that shall be abolished” (see Revelation 20:14). We have a parallel in John 16:11, “The prince of this world hath been judged”.

τὸν θάνατον : Alf., following Bengel, sees a special force in the art. “as if he had said Orcum illum ”.

φωτίσαντος : To be connected with διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. The Gospel is that by which the presence of Christ, the light, is apprehended. That light does not create life and incorruption: it displays them.

ζωὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν : Immortality or Incorruption defines the life more clearly.