2 Timothy 4:1. I CHARGE THEE THEREFORE. As the apostle is conscious that he is drawing near the end of his letter, he passes, as in 1 Timothy 5:21, into a more solemn strain of exhortation. Better, ‘ _I adjure.'_ AT HIS APPEARING AND HIS KINGDOM. A better supported reading gives ‘ _by_ His appeari... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:2. PREACH THE WORD. Better, ‘ _proclaim_,' do a herald's work. The entreaty or command connects itself with what had just been said as to the right use of Scripture. Not that ‘the word of God' is identified with Scripture, but that the one gives the right training and the best appliances... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:3. THE TIME SHALL COME. Better, ‘ _there shall be a season_.' The Greek is the same word as ‘in season, out of season,' and gives the reason for that command. Make the most of any season, whether good or bad, now, for before long you will find none willing to listen. SOUND DOCTRINE. Be... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:4. UNTO FABLES. The Greek has the article, which, though it cannot well be given in English, implies that _the ‘_ fables' will be such as have been named before.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:5. WATCH THOU. There is a special emphasis on the pronoun. ‘ _Thou_, whatever others may do, shouldst watch.' ENDURE AFFLICTIONS. The same word as in 2 Timothy 2:9. DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST. It is probable that the word was the formal designation of Timothy's usual work, as it wa... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:6. FOR I AM READY TO BE OFFERED. There is a pathetic tenderness in the reason thus given. ‘Do thy work thoroughly, for mine is all but over.' The Greek is, however, even more emphatic, ‘ _I am being offered._ My life is being poured out as a libation.' That which in Philippians 2:17 was... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:7. I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. The Greek is wider in its range, and takes in every kind of contest _‘I have striven a good strife'_ would perhaps be nearer. The words that follow show that St. Paul, as in 1 Corinthians 9:24, is thinking specially of the Greek games. I HAVE KEPT THE F... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:8. A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Better, ‘ _the_ crown.' The force of the genitive may be either that perfect righteousness constitutes the crown, as ‘glory' in 1 Peter 5:4, and ‘life' in James 1:12; or else, and perhaps preferably, that it is the crown belonging to righteousness. In any cas... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:10. The letter comes to a close. The exhortation ends, and with a singular naturalness St. Paul passes to a condensed summary of news. DEMAS. From the manner in which his name is joined with Luke's in Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:24, and from the mention of Thessalonica, it is probable t... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:11. LUKE ONLY IS WITH ME. Aristarchus, who is joined with Demas, Luke, and Mark in Colossians 4:10-14; Philemon 1:24, remains unaccounted for. Mark, it would seem, had been left with Timothy at Ephesus, having probably travelled thither in company with St. Paul. It is pleasant to note in... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:12. TYCHICUS HAVE I SENT. Better , ‘ _I sent_.' In Ephesians 6:21, we find Tychicus mentioned as the bearer of the Epistle to that Church. What St. Paul says may refer to that journey, but it is also probable that Tychicus had returned to him in Rome, and then been sent once more to Ephe... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:13. CLOAK. The meaning of the Greek word is doubtful. It may be a Greek form φελόνης of the Latin _pænula,_ and in that case ‘cloak,' a thick travelling wrapper, is a good equivalent for it. The word seems, however, to have been one of those technical terms that depend on fashion (like ε... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:14. ALEXANDER THE COPPERSMITH. Possibly identical with the man of the same name in Acts 19:33, and with the false teacher of 1 Timothy 1:20. Enmity against St. Paul is a common element in all three cases. As a coppersmith, there may have been a trade connexion with the craftsmen employed... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:15. HE GREATLY WITHSTOOD OUR WORDS. The words point to some discussion ending (if we assume identity with 1 Timothy 1:20) in St. Paul's delivering him to Satan.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:16. AT MY FIRST ANSWER. The words point to a formal defence or ‘apology' before some tribunal, probably at a first hearing of his cause in his second Roman imprisonment. NO ONE STOOD WITH ME. The Greek word is more or less technical. No one was with him as an advocate. He could not pay... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:17. THE LORD STOOD BY ME. The words may imply only, as they would with us, the consciousness of help and comfort coming as from a Divine friend; but, looking to such records as those of the visions of Acts 18:9; Acts 23:11, it is at least possible that they may point to a more immediate... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:18. SHALL DELIVER ME FROM EVERY EVIL WORK. That thought, deliverance from evil, whether within or without, is more precious to the apostle than any deliverance from danger. The words in the Greek remind one so strongly of the clause ‘Deliver us from evil' in the Lord's Prayer, that we ma... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:19. AQUILA AND PRISCILLA. Partly, perhaps, from their trade as tentmakers, partly from their work as Christian preachers, their life was one of constant change, first at Rome and then at Corinth (Acts 18:2), then at Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19; Acts 18:26; 1 Corinthians 16:19), then at Rome a... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:20. ERASTUS. Probably the same as the steward or chamberlain of Corinth mentioned in Romans 16:23, or possibly also, as the messenger sent into Macedonia from Ephesus (Acts 19:22). TROPHISMUS, One of St. Paul's companions on the last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4), and described as a... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:21. BEFORE WINTER. The special reason for the urgency was, of course, that after October or November, the navigation of the Mediterranean was suspended, as we see in Acts 27:9; Acts 27:12. The prospect of the winter was doubtless connected also with the wish for the cloak left at Troas.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 4:22. The only point to be noted is the union of the personal and the general prayers for blessing: THE LORD BE WITH _THY_ SPIRIT. GRACE BE WITH _YOU._... [ Continue Reading ]