Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · 2 Timothy Kapitel 2

2 Timothy 2:2. And the things that thou hast heard of me— The apostles alone had the whole scheme of the Christian revelation from our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophets, evangelists, and elders, of the Christian church, as well as other Christians, learned it from the apostles; who desired and ordered that there should be a succession of men to teach it.

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2 Timothy 2:4. No man that warreth entangleth himself, &c.— The Roman soldiers were not suffered to be tutors to any person, curators of another man's estate, proctors for other men's causes, or to undertake husbandry or merchandize.

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2 Timothy 2:5. If a man also strive for masteries,— And if a man combat in the public games, he is not crowned, unless he has observed the rules prescribed. Heylin. If, in the Grecian games, they contended according to the rules prescribed, and came off conquerors, they were honoured with a crown of parsley, laurel, or bays: in like manner, if Timothy, through thepower of grace, divested himself of the inordinate love of temporal things, and contended according to the Christian rules, he was at last, through the mercy of God, to attain an incorruptible crown of glory.

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2 Timothy 2:6. The husbandman that laboureth, &c.— Or The husbandman must first labour, to partake of the fruits. Heylin, and Bowyer.

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2 Timothy 2:7. Give thee understanding in all things.— Grant you industry in all things. Castalio. Some read, Consider what I say, for [if you do so] the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Others connect all things with the next verse;—In all things remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, &c.

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2 Timothy 2:8. According to my gospel:— That is, "The gospel which I have preached." St. Paul seems to say, My Gospel, by way of emphasis, in opposition to the false gospel delivered by Hymeneus and Philetus; who perhaps preached, That the resurrection was past: therefore the apostle calls upon Timothy, To remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead,—the true Messiah, lineally descended from David; who, like David, endured a variety of sufferings; but being raised from the dead, affords a thousand arguments to his followers to support their sufferings like him, in confident hope of the same resurrection.

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2 Timothy 2:9. Wherein— For which. Heylin and Whitby.

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2 Timothy 2:10. For the elect's sake,— By the elect, St. Paul here seems more particularly to mean the Gentile converts: for He suffered as the apostle of the Gentiles; and he often intimates, that unless he through grace had so laboured and suffered, and they persevered in holiness and piety, both he and they would have missed of salvation and eternal glory. See 1 Thessalonians 3:5.

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2 Timothy 2:11. It is a faithful saying:— Some refer these words to the concluding clause of the former verse; but it seems much more reasonable to connect them with what follows; as, generally speaking, this phrase is introductory to the weighty sentence which it is intended to confirm. Heylin reads, This is a certain truth; if we die with him, &c. Archbishop Tillotson thinks, that this was a celebrated saying among the Christians, which was derived by tradition either fromChrist, or some of his apostles: and it had so powerful a tendency to keep them steady to their holy religion, that it is no wonder it was in frequent use.

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2 Timothy 2:13. If we believe not,— If we are unfaithful,—yet he continues faithful; [as well in his threatenings as in his promises;] he cannot contradict himself. Heylin. A man may be unfaithful, by denying the Christian religion, or rejecting it; by corrupting it, or mingling another doctrine with it; or, by living unworthy of it. If we should prove unfaithful any of these ways, yet Christ is faithful, and must disown us, as being none of his disciples. The unfaithfulness here spoken of, seems to have been, denying the Christian religion in time of persecution, in order to avoid sufferin

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2 Timothy 2:14. Charging them before the Lord— There is a most awful solemnity in this charge; which plainly shews the great folly and mischief of striving about little controversies: and it would be well if all the ministers of Christ were deeply affected with a sense of this, lest what they profess to hold most sacred, be itself torn in pieces, while they are struggling about its fringes.

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2 Timothy 2:15. Rightly dividing the word of truth.— The Vulgate, no doubt, has given in general the true sense of this expression, by rendering it, Recte tractantem verbum veritatis, "rightly handling the word of truth:" but it is not so easy to determine, whence in particular the metaphorical word 'Ορθοτομουντα, cutting aright, or straight, is taken. Some suppose it alludes to the cutting up and dividing the sacrifices by the Levitical priests; others, to the dividing and dispensing food at a table, or to the distribution made by a steward, in delivering out to each person under his care such things, as his office and their necessities required. Compare Luke 12:42. Price refers it to the exact cutting, or polishing of stone or marble: Chrysostom, Theophylact, and OEcumenius explain it of cutting off all superfluous and useless matter in preaching God's word, (as curriers do, in skins that they are preparing for use; compare 2 Timothy 2:16.) but Theodoret thinks it is a metaphor taken from husbandmen. "We commend (says he,) even those husbandmen who cut straight furrows: so, that preacher is worthy of praise, who follows the rule of the divine oracles." And to this last interpretation I must confess myself most inclined,—because our blessed Lord himself illustrates the duty of a minister of his gospel by a similar allusion, Luke 9:62.—because St. Paul had just before called Timothy Εργατην ; which, though applied to other workmen, properly signifies a husbandman; — and also because the word ορθοτομειν in the LXX. signifies to cut, or make straight, in the only two passages of that version where it occurs; namely, Proverbs 3:6; Proverbs 11:5. To all which we may add, that, though it may be doubted whether the verb ορθοτομειν be ever in the Greek writers applied to husbandmen's ploughing, yet in Theocritus, Idyll. x. l. 2 we have the term ογμον αγειν ορθον, — to draw, or make a straight furrow.

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2 Timothy 2:19. Nevertheless, the foundation, &c.— The word עיקר, oiker, which originally signifies a foundation, has sometimes been applied by the Hebrews to an article of faith; sometimes to a covenant, bill of contract, bond or obligation. St. Paul has more than once used Greek words in the same latitude with the Hebrew, as he seems to have done here. Indeed Grotius, who took the word θεμελιος for "the foundation of a building," interprets it, "the seal of all inscription upon the foundation stone," and refers to Zechariah 3:9; Zechariah 4:10. Upon which Archbishop Tillotson has very justly observed, that in the words of this text the apostle declares to us the terms of the covenant between God and man; for the word θεμελιος, which is here translated foundation, according to the usual signification, is likewise (as learned men have observed) sometimes used for an instrument of contract, whereby two parties obliged themselves mutually to each other: and this notion of the word agrees very well with what follows, concerning the seal affixed to it, which is very suitable to a covenant, but not at all to a foundation. It is true, indeed, as Grotius has observed, there used antiently to be inscriptions on foundation stones; and the word σφραγις, which we render a seal,—may likewise signify an inscription;—and then the sense will be very current, thus: The foundation of God standeth sure, having this inscription. But it is to be considered, that, though the word σφραγις may signify an inscription, yet it is only an inscription upon a seal; which has no relation to a foundation, but is very proper to a covenant, or mutual obligation; and accordingly, the seal affixed to this instrument or covenant between God and man, is, in allusion to the custom of those countries, said to have an inscription on both sides; on GOD's part there is this impress or inscription, The Lord knoweth them that are his; that is, "God will own and rewardthose that are faithful to him:" and on our part,—Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. See 1 Timothy 6:19. Numbers 16:5.

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2 Timothy 2:21. If a man therefore purge himself from these, &c.— The meaning seems to be, that Timothy and other Christians were carefully to avoid the faults of the Judaizers, keeping themselves pure and clean from their corrupt doctrines and practices, and exerting themselves to promote the true Gospel of Christ; and then, instead of being vessels merely useful in some capacity, they would be vessels unto honour, fitted for the use of the master of the family, the greatest and most honourable person there. God is the great Master of this large house, 2Ti 2:20 and good men are like the consecrated vessels in the temple, fitted for his use and service.

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2 Timothy 2:22. Flee also youthful lusts:— "Flee from all occasions of exciting or gratifying the passions of youth; whether, on the one hand, the love of sensual pleasure; or, on the other, rashness, contention, pride, and vainglory; to which young persons are peculiarlyobnoxious." These are youthful passions,of the imminent danger of which, some heady young men, who may value themselves for their freedom from other scandals, seem to think but little; yet it is plain from the opposition between this and the latter part of theverse, that they were particularly in St. Paul's mind, when he gave this caution.

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