CHAPTER IV Ver. 1. _I solemnly charge thee before God, and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge living and dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom._ (On the διαμαρτύρομαι, see at 1 Timothy 5:21. Here, as there, the correct reading is undoubtedly, “before God and Christ Jesus” the received text ins... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 2. Here follow, in a series of imperative sentences, the several things which Timothy was taken bound to do; the imperatives all in the aorist, as noted by Ellicott, indicating rapidity of action, or the vivid nature of the address (Winer, _Gr_. § 43, 3, _a_). _Preach the word_ the word of God... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 3. The earnestness and fidelity thus recommended, with all possible gentleness and patient industry in the application, is now enforced by a reference to the foreseen tendencies of the future: _For there shall be a time when they will not endure the healthy instruction_ (or doctrine namely, of... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 4. And so is it also in regard to the further statement concerning the errorists in question made in this verse: _and they will turn away their ears_ (lit. their hearing) _from the truth, but be turned aside to fables._ We can scarcely believe, with Ellicott, that this indicates as the result “... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 5. _But watch thou in all things; endure hardship; do the work of an evangelist; fully perform thy ministry._ It is as much as to say: Whatever others may do, and whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear, _this_ is what _thou_ must do. First, watch, νῆφε, or be sober, _in all things.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 6. The course of active, faithful, devoted labour in the work of the ministry thus enjoined upon Timothy is now enforced by a reference to the apostle's own case, his approaching departure from the field, coupled with a brief retrospect of the manner in which he had fulfilled his calling, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 7. _I have fought the good fight_ or more exactly, as at 1 Timothy 6:12, though one is unwilling to alter such familiar words, _I have maintained the good contest_ τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι referring to the contest for the mastery in the public games; and the perfect tense having here its full... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 8. _Henceforth_ (λοιπὸν, _quod reliquum est_, Beza) _there is laid up_ (or aside, ἀπόκειταί, reserved) _for me the crown of righteousness;_ not _a_ crown merely, but _the_ crown that which is associated with righteousness, either as its proper object or its destined possession. A return is made... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 9. From here to the end of the chapter a few notices are given by the apostle of his own condition and prospects, also of some of his companions in the gospel, with the free expression of his feelings and desires in respect to them. _Do thy endeavour to come to me quickly._ An earnest desire ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 10. The reason follows why he would have Timothy to make such haste to come to him: he now peculiarly needed his sympathy and support. _For Demas forsook me, having loved this present world_ ἀγαπήσας, the participle as expressive of the cause = because he loved, or, through his love of, the pre... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 11. _Luke alone is with me_ the beloved physician, as he is called in Colossians 4:14; there also, and in Philemon 1:24, coupled with Demas in salutations but now different in the relations they now occupy! All the names mentioned in the passage of Philemon referred to again recur here, except... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 12. _But Tychicus I sent to Ephesus_ not and I did so, for in the δὲ there is plainly a certain adversative meaning, though it may be regarded as of the slighter kind. If connected with what immediately precedes, it may have respect to a thought not unlikely to arise in the mind of Timothy when... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 13. _The cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially the parchments._ It would seem from this that Timothy was still somewhere in Asia Minor; if he had indeed left Ephesus, he could not have been very far from it, as Troas lay on his way. The kind... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 14. _Alexander the coppersmith_ (or, simply _smith_; for latterly χαλκεὺς came to signify a worker in metals of any sort, and particularly in iron, as being the most frequently used) _did me much evil_ ἐνεδείξατο, exhibited it, but which is all one with doing it. _Where_ he did it, however, is... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 15. _Of whom be thou also on thy guard, for he exceedingly withstood our words._ That is, he made himself extremely obnoxious as an opponent of the gospel testified and pleaded for by St. Paul; had shown a bitter and determined spirit of resistance, so that Timothy could have no hope of winning... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 16. The apostle now comes to speak of his own case in its judicial aspects: _In my first defence, no one stood forward with me, but all forsook me._ What is meant here by his first defence can only be understood of his first appearance before a tribunal at Rome to answer to the charge recently... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 17. Though alone in one sense, however, the apostle was far from being alone in another: he had better and nobler defences than, human advocates or intercessors could provide: _But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me_ ἐνεδυνάμωσέν με, replenished me with might; that is, inspired him with... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 18. From the past the apostle turns to the future, giving expression in this respect also to his filial confidence: _The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me safe to His heavenly kingdom._ The _and_ (καὶ) with which in the received text this utterance of faith and hope is... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 19. Salute Prisca and Aquila with whom the apostle maintained a long, very endearing, and intimate fellowship (Acts 18:1; Romans 16:3-4, etc.) and the household of Onesiphorus. See at 2 Timothy 1:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 20. _Erastus abode at Corinth, but Trophimus I left_ _behind at Miletus sick._ It was shown in the Introduction that these notices could not refer to anything recorded in the history of the Acts, and that they must be understood of later, and indeed quite recent events. On his last visit to Asi... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 21. _Do thy endeavour to come before winter_ that is, while still the sea was open for navigation, according to the usages of the time; at the approach of winter, vessels were for the most part laid up till the return of spring (Acts 27:9-10). _Ex die tertio Iduum Novembris, usque in diem sextu... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 22. _The Lord be with thy spirit._ (This is the shortest and probably the correct reading, that of א, F, G; some authorities add Jesus after Lord, and others Jesus Christ.) _Grace be with you._... [ Continue Reading ]