Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Timothy 3:14

σὺ δὲ μένε : Both σύ and μένε are in strong contrast to the πονηροὶ ἄνθρωποι and προκόψουσιν of 2 Timothy 3:13. The exhortation is illustrated by 2 John 1:9, πᾶς ὁ προάγων, καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει. The conservatism here enjoined concerns more especially the fundamental ethical teaching common to the Old Covenant and the New. For the idiom, see note on 1 Timothy 2:15.

ἐν οἶς ἔμαθες καὶ ἐπιστώθης : ἃ, supplied out of ἐν οἶς, is the direct object of ἔμαθες, and remoter object of ἐπιστώθης.

ἐπιστώθης : The Latin versions blunder here, quae … credita sunt tibi. This would be the translation of ἐπιστεύθης. πιστόομαί τι means to have received confirmation of the truth of a thing. Bengel, rendering “fidelis et firmus es redditus,” compares Psalms 77 (78):8, οὐκ ἐπιστώθη μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτῆς, and 37, οὐδὲ ἐπιστώθησαν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ αὐτοῦ.

εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνων ἔμαθες : It has to be remembered that St. Paul is speaking of moral, not intellectual, authority. The truths for which St. Paul is contending were commended to Timothy by the sanction of the best and noblest personalities whom he had ever known or heard of. The characters of Timothy's revered parent and teachers of Eunice, Lois, the prophets, and Paul, to enumerate them in the order in which they had touched his life had been moulded in a certain school of morals. Their characters had admittedly stood the test of life. What more cogent argument could Timothy have for the truth and reasonableness of their moral teaching?

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Timothy 3:14

Old Testament

New Testament