Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Timothy 1:3

χάριν ἔχω : The expression of thanksgiving in the exordium of an epistle is usually prefaced by St. Paul with εὐχαριστῶ (Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Philippians 1:3; Philemon 1:4; εὐχαριστοῦμεν Colossians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; οὐ παύομαι εὐχαριστῶν, Ephesians 1:16; εὐχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν, 2 Thessalonians 1:3). A comparison of these passages makes it evident that χάριν ἔχω is to be connected with ὑπόμνησιν λαβὼν, κ. τ. λ.; ὡς ἀδιάλειπτον πληρωθῶ being a parenthetical account of St. Paul's state of mind about his absent friend, while μεμνημένος δακρύων is also a parenthetical clause. The thanksgiving is for the grace of God given to Timothy (cf. esp. 1Co 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:3); and the expression of thankfulness is called forth whenever St. Paul calls him to mind, unceasingly in fact. The use of χάριν ἔχω in 1 Timothy 1:12 is not a parallel case to this. The phrase is quoted from the papyri by Dean Armitage Robinson, Ephesians, p. 283.

ᾧ λατρεύω ἀπὸ προγόνων κ. τ. λ.: Two thoughts are in St. Paul's mind: (a) the inheritance of his religious consciousness from his forefathers, and (b) the continuity of the revelation of God; the same light in the New Covenant as in the Old, only far brighter.

If St. Paul had been asked, When did you first serve God? he would have answered, Even before God separated me from my mother's womb for His service. St. Paul was conscious that he was the result of generations of God-fearing people. His inborn, natural instincts were all towards the service of God. (See Acts 22:3; Acts 24:14; Romans 11:1; 2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:5).

Moreover St. Paul always maintained that the Gospel was the divinely ordained sequel of Judaism; not a new religion, but the fulfilment of “the promise made of God unto our fathers” (Acts 26:6; see also Acts 23:6; Acts 24:14).

ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει : Compare the claim he makes, Acts 23:1; Acts 24:16; 1 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:10; and for the language here see note on 1 Timothy 1:5. ὡς is best rendered as (Winer-Moulton, Gram. p. 561, where Matthew 6:12; Galatians 6:10 are cited in illustration). The R.V. how (so Alf.) implies that the cause for thankfulness is the unceasing nature of St. Paul's remembrance of Timothy; the A.V. that (quod, Vulg.) refers the cause to the remembrance itself. Romans 1:9 is not a parallel instance of ὡς.

ἀδιάλειπτον δεήσεσίν μου : A regular epistolary formula, as is evidenced by the papyri; though no doubt in St. Paul's case it corresponded to reality. See his use of it in reff. and Dean Armitage Robinson, Ephesians, pp. 37 sq., 275 sqq. esp. p. 279, sq. on the formula μνείαν ποιεῖσθαι, from which this passage is a remarkable variation.

νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας is connected by the R.V. with ἐπιποθῶν. In 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 3:10, the phrase unquestionably is connected with what follows. On the other hand, in 1 Timothy 5:5 it comes at the end of a clause; and in this place the A.V. connects it with ταῖς δεήσεσίν μου. This is certainly right, on the analogy of 1 Thessalonians 3:10, where see Milligan's note. Alf. and Ell. connect it with ἀδιάλειπτον ἕχω.

ἐπιποθῶν σε ἰδεῖν : a Pauline expression. See reff. ἰδεῖν is not expressed in 2 Corinthians 9:14; Philippians 1:8; Philippians 2:26.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Timothy 1:3

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