I solemnly charge you, in view of the coming judgment, to be zealous in the exercise of your ministry while the opportunity lasts, while people are willing to listen to your admonitions. Soon the craze for novelty will draw men away from sober truth to fantastic figments. Do you stand your ground. F... [ Continue Reading ]
Διαμαρτύρομαι : See on 1 Timothy 5:21. As the adjuration follows immediately on warnings against a moral degeneration which had already set in and would increase, it is appropriate that it should contain a solemn assurance of judgment to come. Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, τοῦ μέλλοντος κρίνειν : This was a promi... [ Continue Reading ]
κήρυξον : In 1 Timothy 5:21 διαμαρτ. is followed by ἵνα with the subj.; in 2 Timothy 2:14 by the inf. Here the adjuration is more impassioned; hence the abruptness; this is heightened also by the aorists. ἐπίστηθι : _Insta, Be at hand_, or _Be ready to act_. ἐπίστ. εὐκ. ἀκ. qualifies adverbially κή... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑγιαινούσης διδασκαλία : See note on 1 Timothy 1:10. ἰδίας : ἴδιος here, as constantly, has merely the force of a possessive pronoun. See on 1 Timothy 3:4. ἐπισωρεύσουσιν : _coacervabunt_ (Vulg.). “He shews the indiscriminate multitude of the teachers, as also their being elected by their disciple... [ Continue Reading ]
The ears serve as a passage through which the truth may reach the understanding and the heart. Those who starve their understanding and heart have no use for the truth, and do not, as they would say, waste hearing power on it. μύθους : See note on 1 Timothy 1:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
νῆφε : _Be sober_ (R.V.). _Sobrius esto_ ([315]). _vigila_ (Vulg.) [but Vulg. Clem. inserts _Sobrius esto_ at end of verse]. So A.V., _watch_, and Chrys. _Sober_ is certainly right in 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; but in 1Pe 1:13; 1 Peter 4:7, and perhaps 1 Peter 5:8, _to be watchful_ or... [ Continue Reading ]
The connexion from 2 Timothy 4:3 seems to be this: The dangers to the Church are pressing and instant; they can only be met by watchfulness, self-sacrifice, and devotion to duty on the part of the leaders of the Church, of whom thou art one. As for me, I have done my best. My King is calling me from... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι : See note on 1 Timothy 6:12. The following τὸν δρόμου, κ. τ. λ., makes this reference to the games hardly doubtful. τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα : _cursum consummavi_ (Vulg.). What had been a purpose (Acts 20:24) was now a retrospect. To say “My race is run,” is not to boast, but... [ Continue Reading ]
λοιπόν : _For what remains_. The R.V. renders it _besides_ in 1 Corinthians 1:16, _moreover_ in 1 Corinthians 4:2. The notion of _duration_ of future time is not in the word any more than in the French _du reste_. St. Paul means here “I have nothing more to do than to receive the crown”. λοιπόν has... [ Continue Reading ]
ταχέως : more definitely expressed in 2 Timothy 4:21, “before winter”.... [ Continue Reading ]
Come to me as speedily as you can. I am almost alone. Some of my company have forsaken me; others I have despatched on business. Bring Mark with you. I have use for him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Demas had been a loyal fellow-worker of the apostle (Philemon 1:24; Colossians 4:14). Chrys. supposes that Thessalonica was his home. It is futile to discuss the reality or the degree of his blameworthiness. Possibly he alleged a call to Thessalonica. All we know is that St. Paul singles him out amo... [ Continue Reading ]
Λουκᾶς : Nothing can be more natural than that “the beloved physician” and historian should feel that he of all men was in his place beside St. Paul when the end was to nearly approaching. The μόνος is relative to fellow-labourers in the gospel. St. Paul had many friends in Rome (2 Timothy 4:21). Μᾶ... [ Continue Reading ]
Τυχικὸν δέ, κ. τ. λ.: The δέ does not involve a comparison of Tychicus with Mark, as both εὔχρηστοι (so Ell.); but rather distinguishes the cause of Tychicus' absence from that of the others. Demas had _forsaken_ the apostle; and Crescens and Titus had _gone_, perhaps on their own initiative; Tychic... [ Continue Reading ]
I want my warm winter cloak and my books. τὸν φελόνην : The φελόνης, or φαιλόνης, by metathesis for φαινόλης, was the same as the Latin _paenula_, from which it is derived, a circular cape which fell down below the knees, with an opening for the head in the centre. (So Chrys. on Philippians 2:30; T... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ χαλκεύς : It is probable that this is the Alexander mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20, and it is possible that he may be the Jew of that name who was unwillingly prominent in the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:33-34). χαλκεύς : does not mean that he worked only in copper. The term came to be used... [ Continue Reading ]
Beware of Alexander the smith.... [ Continue Reading ]
φυλάσσου : For this sense of φυλάσσω with a direct object, see reff. We infer that Alexander was in Timothy's vicinity. ἡμετέροις λόγοις : The λόγοι were expressions of doctrine common to all Christians with St. Paul; hence ἡμετέροις.... [ Continue Reading ]
The reference in _my first defence_ seems at first sight somewhat uncertain, since 2 Timothy 4:17 states the issue of that “defence” to have been that “the message was fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles heard it”. This would agree with the circumstances of the trials before Felix and Festus, a d... [ Continue Reading ]
I have spoken of my present loneliness. Yet I have no justification for depression; for since I came to Rome I have had experience, at my preliminary trial, that God is a loyal protector when earthly friends fail. And so I have good hope that He will bring me safe through every danger to His heavenl... [ Continue Reading ]
παρέστη : _The Lord was my “patronus,” cf._ Romans 16:2. But the word is used in a purely local sense of the felt presence of a Divine Being in reff. in Acts. ἐνεδυνάμωσεν : See note on 1 Timothy 1:12. πληροφορηθῇ : _impleatur_ (Vulg.). As long as there had been no public proclamation of the gospe... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔργου πονηροῦ : The form of the clause may be modelled on the petition in the Lord's Prayer, ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ; but the addition of ἔργου proves that the deliverance spoken of is not from an external Evil Personality, but from a possible evil deed of the apostle's own doing. The expression... [ Continue Reading ]
Πρῖσκαν καὶ Ἀκύλαν : The same unusual order, the wife before the husband, is found in Romans 16:3; Acts 18:18; Acts 18:26, but not in Acts 18:2; 1 Corinthians 16:19. “Probably Prisca was of higher rank than her husband, for her name is that of a good old Roman family [the Acilian gens]. Aquila was p... [ Continue Reading ]
Final salutations.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἔραστος ἔμεινεν : The name Erastus is too common to make probable the identification of this companion of St. Paul's and the οἰκονόμος, treasurer, of Corinth, who joins in the apostle's salutation in Romans 16:23. It is not antecedently likely that a city official could travel about as a missionary.... [ Continue Reading ]
πρὸ χειμῶνος : “That thou be not detained,” sc. by storm (Chrys.). This seems less urgent than ταχέως of 2 Timothy 4:9, and we may infer that St. Paul did not expect his final trial to take place for some months. Εὔβουλος : Nothing else is known of this good man. Πούδης καὶ Λίνος καὶ Κλαυδία : Ligh... [ Continue Reading ]
μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματός σου : This expression, with ὑμῶν for σου, occurs in Galatians 6:18; Philemon 1:25; but in both those places it is “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with,” etc. Here a very close personal association between the Lord and Timothy is prayed for. Dean Bernard compares the conclus... [ Continue Reading ]