2 Timothy 1:1–4:22

tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

tn Grk “for the promise …” or possibly “in accordance with the promise …”

tn Grk “from my ancestors.”

tn Or “as I do constantly. By night and day I long to see you …”

tn Grk “longing to see you, remembering your tears” (as a continuation of the preceding clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn Grk “recalling” (as a continuation of the preceding clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn Grk “the sincere faith in you.”

tn Or “convinced.”

tn Grk “that is in you.”

tn Or “a spirit,” denoting the human personality under the Spirit’s influence as in 1 Cor 4:21; Gal 6:1; 1 Pet 3:4. But the reference to the Holy Spirit at the end of this section (1:14) makes it likely that it begins this way also, so that the Holy Spirit is the referent.

tn Grk “the testimony of our Lord.”

tn Or “according to.”

tn Grk “suffer hardship together,” implying “join with me in suffering.”

tn More literally, “who saved us,” as a description of God in v. 8. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn Or “according to,” or “by.”

tn Grk “before eternal times.”

tn Grk “having broken … and having brought …” (describing Christ). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here (and at the beginning of v. 11) in the translation.

tn Grk “for which.”

tc Most mss (א2 C D F G Ψ 1739 1881 𝔐 latt sy co) have ἐθνῶν (ethnōn, “of the Gentiles”) after “teacher.” The shorter reading has poorer external credentials (א* A I 1175 pc), but is preferred because ἐθνῶν probably represents a gloss added by copyists familiar with 1 Tim 2:7. There is no easy explanation for the omission of the word if it were original here.

tn Grk “suffer these things.”

tn Or “in whom I have believed.”

sn What has been entrusted to me (Grk “my entrustment,” meaning either (1) “what I have entrusted to him” [his life, destiny, etc.] or (2) “what he has entrusted to me” [the truth of the gospel]). The parallel with v. 14 and use of similar words in the pastorals (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 2:2) argue for the latter sense.

sn That day is a reference to the day when Paul would stand before Christ to give account for his service (cf. 2 Tim 1:18; 1 Cor 3:13; 2 Cor 5:9–10).

tn Or “pattern.”

tn Grk “in faith and love in Christ Jesus.”

sn With the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This describes the manner in which Timothy must hold to the standard (similar to Paul’s call for him to give attention to his life and his teaching in 1 Tim 4:11–16).

sn That good thing (Grk “the good deposit”) refers to the truth of the gospel committed to Timothy (cf. 1 Tim 6:20).

tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

tn Grk “my chain.”

map For location see JP4-A1.

sn That day is a reference to the day when Onesiphorus (v. 16) stands before Christ to give account for his service (cf. v. 12; 1 Cor 3:13; 2 Cor 5:9–10).

tn Grk “all the ways he served in Ephesus.”

map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

tn Grk “what you heard from me” (cf. 1:13).

tn Grk “through many witnesses.” The “through” is used here to show attendant circumstances: “accompanied by,” “in the presence of.”

tn Grk “faithful men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) is generic, referring to both men and women.

tn Or “able” (see Paul’s use of this word in regard to ministry in 2 Cor 2:16; 3:5–6).

tn Grk “suffer hardship together,” implying “join with me and others in suffering” (cf. 1:8).

tn Grk “that he may please.”

tn Grk “will not be crowned,” speaking of the wreath awarded to the victor.

sn According to the rules (Grk “lawfully, by law”) referring to the rules of competition. In the ancient world these included requirements for training as well as rules for the competition itself.

tn The Greek word here usually means “for,” but is used in this verse for a milder continuation of thought.

tn Grk “in all things.”

tn Grk “of David’s seed” (an idiom for physical descent).

tn Grk “according to my gospel.”

tn Or “chains,” “bonds.”

tn Or “word.”

tn Or “chained,” “bound.”

tn Grk “the elect.”

tn Grk “with eternal glory.”

sn This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the following citation. See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; Titus 3:8 for other occurrences of this phrase.

sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188–89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

tn Grk “died together … will live together … will reign together,” without “him” stated explicitly. But “him” is implied by the parallel ideas in Rom 6:8; 8:17 and by the reference to Christ in vv. 12b–13.

tn Or “renounce,” “disown,” “repudiate.” It is important to note that the object of Christ’s denial is “us.” The text does not contain an implied object complement (“he will deny us [x]”), which would mean that Christ was withholding something from us (for example, “The owner denied his pets water”), since the verb ἀρνέομαι (arneomai) is not one of the category of verbs that normally occurs in these constructions (see ExSyn 182–89).

tn Grk “if we renounce,” but the “him” is implied by the parallel clauses.

sn If we are unfaithful … he cannot deny himself. This could be (1) a word of warning (The Lord will exact punishment; he cannot deny his holiness) or (2) a word of hope (Because of who he is, he remains faithful to us despite our lapses). The latter is more likely, since Paul consistently cites God’s faithfulness as a reassurance, not as a warning (cf. especially Rom 3:3; also 1 Cor 1:9; 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3).

tn Grk “remind of these things,” implying “them” or “people” as the object.

tn Grk “solemnly charging.” The participle διαμαρτυρόμενος (diamarturomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

tc ‡ Most witnesses (A D Ψ 048 1739 1881 𝔐 sy) have κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) instead of θεοῦ (theou, “God”) here, while a few have Χριστοῦ (Christou, “Christ”; 206 {429 1758}). θεοῦ, however, is well supported by א C F G I 614 629 630 1175 al. Internally, the Pastorals never elsewhere use the expression ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enōpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), but consistently use ἐνώπιον θεοῦ (“before God”; cf. 1 Tim 2:3; 5:4, 21; 6:13; 2 Tim 4:1). But this fact could be argued both ways: The author’s style may be in view, or scribes may have adjusted the wording to conform it to the Pastorals’ universal expression. Further, only twice in the NT (Jas 4:10 [v.l. θεοῦ]; Rev 11:4 [v.l. θεοῦ]) is the expression ἐνώπιον κυρίου found. That such an expression is not found in the corpus Paulinum seems to be sufficient impetus for scribes to change the wording here. Thus, although the external evidence is somewhat on the side of θεοῦ, the internal evidence is on the side of κυρίου. A decision is difficult, but κυρίου is the preferred reading.

tn Grk “[it is] beneficial for nothing, for the ruin of those who listen.”

sn Accurately is a figure of speech that literally means something like “cutting a straight road.” In regard to the message of truth, it means “correctly handling” or “imparting it without deviation.”

sn Profane chatter was apparently a characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus (cf. 1 Tim 1:3–4; 4:7; 6:20).

tn Grk “they [who engage in it] will progress even more in ungodliness.”

tn Or “eat away.”

tn Grk “of whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this last clause has been made a new sentence in the translation.

tn Grk “have deviated concerning the truth.”

sn A quotation from Num 16:5.

tn Grk “names the name of the Lord.”

tn Grk “a great house.”

tn Grk “for dishonor,” probably referring to vessels used for refuse or excrement.

tn Grk “from these,” alluding to the errors and deeds of the false teachers described in vv. 14–19.

tn Grk “and peace, with those.”

sn In company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart alludes to the value of the community of believers for the development of Christian virtues.

tn Or “uninstructed,” “silly.”

tn Or “fights,” although this could suggest weapons and blows, whereas in the present context this is not the primary focus. Although “quarrel” is frequently used here (NAB, NIV, NRSV) it may be understood to refer to a relatively minor disagreement.

tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “ ‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times … in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

tn Grk “must not fight” or “must not quarrel.” The Greek verb is related to the noun translated “infighting” in v. 23.

sn Correcting is the word for “child-training” or “discipline.” It is often positive (training, educating) but here denotes the negative side (correcting, disciplining).

tn Grk “repentance unto knowledge of the truth.”

tn Grk “having been captured by him.”

tn Grk “for that one’s will,” referring to the devil, but with a different pronoun than in the previous phrase “by him.” Some have construed “for his will” with the earlier verb and referred the pronoun to God: “come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap (though they have been captured by him) in order to do His will.” In Classical Greek the shift in pronouns would suggest this, but in Koine Greek this change is not significant. The more natural sense is a reference to the devil’s will.

tn Or perhaps, “dangerous,” “fierce.”

tn Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women.

tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.

tn Or “form.”

sn Outward appearance. Paul’s contrast with power in 3:5b shows that he regards this “form” to be outward, one of appearance rather than reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:19–20; 1 Thess 1:5).

tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.

tn Grk “For from these are those who sneak.”

tn Or “silly women.”

tn Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

sn Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus.

tn Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.”

tn Grk “for they will not progress any more.”

tn Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2–9.

tn The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series.

tn Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10.

map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2; JP4-E2.

sn In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13–14 for the account of these persecutions.

map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2

tn Grk “will advance to the worse.”

tn Grk “deceiving and being deceived.”

tn Grk “but you, continue,” a command.

tn Grk “knowing,” giving the reasons for continuing as v. 14 calls for.

tn Grk “those from whom you learned.”

tn Or “All scripture.”

sn There is very little difference in sense between every scripture (emphasizing the individual portions) and “all scripture” (emphasizing the composite whole). The former option is preferred, because it fits the normal use of the word “all/every” in Greek (πᾶς, pas) as well as Paul’s normal sense for the word “scripture” in the singular without the article, as here. So every scripture means “every individual portion of scripture.”

sn Inspired by God. Some have connected this adjective in a different way and translated it as “every inspired scripture is also useful.” But this violates the parallelism of the two adjectives in the sentence, and the arrangement of words makes clear that both should be taken as predicate adjectives: “every scripture is inspired … and useful.”

tn Or “rebuke,” “censure.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

tn Grk “the man of God,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is most likely used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

tn This word is positioned for special emphasis; it carries the sense of “complete, competent, able to meet all demands.”

tn Or “the word.”

tn Or “be persistent.”

tn Grk “in season, out of season.”

tn Or “encourage.”

tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people in that future time) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Grk “in accord with.”

tn Grk “having an itching in regard to hearing,” “having itching ears.”

sn These myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and Titus 1:14.

tn Or “sober,” “temperate.”

tn Grk “of my departure.”

sn The expression I have competed well (Grk “I have competed the good competition”) uses words that may refer to a race or to a boxing or wrestling match: “run the good race” or “fight the good fight.” The similar phrase in 1 Tim 1:18 uses a military picture and is more literally “war the good warfare.”

tn Grk “all who have loved.”

tn Grk “having loved.”

map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

tn Grk “useful.”

tn Or “in serving me.”

map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

tn Grk “showed me much evil.”

sn An allusion to Ps 28:4.

tn Grk “against whom,” as a continuation of the previous clause. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn Or “the preaching.”

tn Grk “might be completely fulfilled.”

tn Grk “save me.”

tn Grk “to whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn Grk “unto the ages of the ages,” an emphatic way of speaking about eternity in Greek.

tn Grk “greet.”

sn On Prisca and Aquila see also Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3–4; 1 Cor 16:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. The author of Acts uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.