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2 Timothy 1:1-2. Salutation.

2 Timothy 1:1. ἀπόστολος Χρ. Ἰησ. See note on 1 Timothy 1:1.

διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ: This formula is found also in 1 and 2 Cor. Eph. and Col. See note on 1 Timothy 1:1, where it is pointed out that while the same ἐπιταγή may be said to be issued by God the Father and God the Son, θέλημα is always used of the Father’s eternal purpose as regards the salvation of man (Romans 2:18; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:9; Colossians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:18, etc.). St. Paul believed that his own commission as an apostle was a part of God’s arrangements to this end, one of the ways in which the Will manifested itself.

κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς, κ.τ.λ.: To be connected with ἀπόστολος. His apostleship was for the accomplishment of the promise, etc. See Romans 1:5, ἐλάβομεν … ἀποστολὴν εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. For the force of κατά with acc. see Winer-Moulton, Gram. p. 502. The notion is more largely expressed in the corresponding passage of Tit. (2 Timothy 1:2), ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίον ἤν ἐπηγγείλατο … θεός. We must not suppose that there is any limitation in the reference of the expression here. The mention of “the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 2:19-20) is not intended as a consolation to Timothy (as Chrys., Bengel), nor was it even specially suggested by his own near approaching death. The preciousness of that promise is never wholly absent from the minds of Christians; though of course it comes to the surface of our consciousness at crises when death is, or seems to be, imminent.

2 Timothy 1:2. ἀγαπητῷ: On the variation here from γνησίῳ, which occurs in 1 Timothy 1:2 and Titus 1:4, see the note in the former place. 2 Timothy 1:5 (“the unfeigned faith that is in thee”) proves that St. Paul did not wish to hint that Timothy had ceased to be his γνήσιον τέκνον. Timothy is St. Paul’s τέκνον ἀγαπητόν also in 1 Corinthians 4:17. ἀγαπητός is complete in itself: it does not require the explanatory addition, ἐν πίστει, or κατὰ κοινὴν πίστιν.

χάρις, κ.τ.λ.: See note on 1 Timothy 1:2.

2 Timothy 1:3-7. I know that your weak point is deficiency in moral courage. Be braced, therefore, by the assurance that I am constantly thinking with thankfulness and prayer about your genuine and inborn faith; and by the fact that the gift of the Holy Spirit which you received at ordination was that of power and love and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:3. χάριν ἔχω: The expression of thanksgiving in the exordium of an epistle is usually prefaced by St. Paul with εὐχαριστῶ (Romans 1:8, 1 Corinthians 1:4, Php 1:3, Philemon 1:4; εὐχαριστοῦμεν Colossians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:2; οὐ παύομαι εὐχαριστῶν, Ephesians 1:16; εὐχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν, 2 Thessalonians 1:3). A comparison of these passages makes it evident that χάριν ἔχω is to be connected with ὑπόμνησιν λαβὼν, κ.τ.λ.; ὡς ἀδιάλειπτον—πληρωθῶ being a parenthetical account of St. Paul’s state of mind about his absent friend, while μεμνημένος—δακρύων is also a parenthetical clause. The thanksgiving is for the grace of God given to Timothy (cf. esp. 1 Corinthians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:3); and the expression of thankfulness is called forth whenever St. Paul calls him to mind, unceasingly in fact. The use of χάριν ἔχω in 1 Timothy 1:12 is not a parallel case to this. The phrase is quoted from the papyri by Dean Armitage Robinson, Ephesians, p. 283.

ᾧ λατρεύω ἀπὸ προγόνων κ.τ.λ.: Two thoughts are in St. Paul’s mind: (a) the inheritance of his religious consciousness from his forefathers, and (b) the continuity of the revelation of God; the same light in the New Covenant as in the Old, only far brighter.

If St. Paul had been asked, When did you first serve God? he would have answered, Even before God separated me from my mother’s womb for His service. St. Paul was conscious that he was the result of generations of God-fearing people. His inborn, natural instincts were all towards the service of God. (See Acts 22:3; Acts 24:14; Romans 11:1; 2 Corinthians 11:22; Php 3:5).

Moreover St. Paul always maintained that the Gospel was the divinely ordained sequel of Judaism; not a new religion, but the fulfilment of “the promise made of God unto our fathers” (Acts 26:6; see also Acts 23:6, Acts 24:14).

ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει: Compare the claim he makes, Acts 23:1; Acts 24:16; 1 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:10; and for the language here see note on 1 Timothy 1:5. ὡς is best rendered as (Winer-Moulton, Gram. p. 561, where Matthew 6:12, Galatians 6:10 are cited in illustration). The R.V. how (so Alf.) implies that the cause for thankfulness is the unceasing nature of St. Paul’s remembrance of Timothy; the A.V. that (quod, Vulg.) refers the cause to the remembrance itself. Romans 1:9 is not a parallel instance of ὡς.

ἀδιάλειπτον—δεήσεσίν μου: A regular epistolary formula, as is evidenced by the papyri; though no doubt in St. Paul’s case it corresponded to reality. See his use of it in reff. and Dean Armitage Robinson, Ephesians, pp. 37 sq., 275 sqq. esp. p. 279, sq. on the formula μνείαν ποιεῖσθαι, from which this passage is a remarkable variation.

νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας is connected by the R.V. with ἐπιποθῶν. In 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 3:10, the phrase unquestionably is connected with what follows. On the other hand, in 1 Timothy 5:5 it comes at the end of a clause; and in this place the A.V. connects it with ταῖς δεήσεσίν μου. This is certainly right, on the analogy of 1 Thessalonians 3:10, where see Milligan’s note. Alf. and Ell. connect it with ἀδιάλειπτον ἕχω.

ἐπιποθῶν σε ἰδεῖν: a Pauline expression. See reff. ἰδεῖν is not expressed in 2 Corinthians 9:14, Php 1:8; Php 2:26.

2 Timothy 1:4. μεμνημένος—δακρύων: Parenthetical. St. Paul’s longing was made keener by his recollection of the tears Timothy had shed at their last parting. So Chrys. fixes the occasion. We are reminded of the scene at Miletus, Acts 20:37. Bengel, comparing Acts 20:19, thinks that reference is rather made to an habitual manifestation of strong emotion. At that time, and in that society, tears were allowed as a manifestation of emotion more freely than amongst modern men of the West.

χαρᾶς πληρωθῶ: For πληρόω with a genitive, cf. Romans 15:13-14. It takes a dat., Romans 1:29, 2 Corinthians 7:4, cf. Ephesians 5:18; an acc., Php 1:11, Colossians 1:9.

2 Timothy 1:5. ὑπόμνησιν λαβών: Having been reminded. Not to be connected with the clause immediately preceding, as R.V.m. ὑπόμνησις, a reminder, i.e., an act of recollection specially excited by a particular person or thing, thus differs from ἀνάμνησις, which is self-originated (so Ammonius Grammaticus, quoted by Bengel). Ell. compares for the thought Ephesians 1:15. For this use of λαμβάνω, cf. Romans 7:8; Romans 7:11 (ἀφορμὴν λ.), Hebrews 2:3 (ἀρχὴν λ.), Hebrews 11:29; Hebrews 11:36 (πεῖραν λ.), 2 Peter 1:9 (λήθην λ.). The fact that St. Paul received this reminder of Timothy’s faith suggests that there were other aspects of his conduct—possibly as an administrator—which were not wholly satisfactory. His unfeigned faith made up for much.

ἥτις ἐνῴκησεν κ.τ.λ.: ἐνοικέω is used in Romans 8:11 and 2 Timothy 1:14 of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and in Colossians 3:16 of the Word of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 6:16, ἐνοικήσω is added in the quotation from Leviticus 26:12 to ἐνπεριπατήσω. Tisch. and W.H. read ἐνοικοῦσα for οἰκοῦσα in Romans 7:17. Timothy’s faith was hereditary as St. Paul’s was. πρῶτον does not mean that Lois was the first of her family to have faith, but that it dwelt in her, to St. Paul’s knowledge, before it dwelt in Timothy. It is to be observed that it is implied that the faith of God’s people before Christ came is not different in kind from faith after Christ has come.

μάμμῃ: an infantile equivalent in early Greek for μήτηρ, is used in later Greek for τήθη, grandmother. It occurs, e.g., in 4Ma 16:9, οὐκ ὄψομαι ὑμῶν τέκνα, οὐδὲ μάμμη κληθεῖσα μακαρισθήσομαι. See also Moulton and Milligan, Expositor, vii., vii. 561.

Λωίδι: Since Timothy’s father was a Greek, and his mother a Jewess (Acts 16:1), we may conclude that Lois was the mother of Eunice (see art. in Hastings’ D. B.).

Εὐνίκῃ: See art. in Hastings’ D. B., where Lock notes that the curious reading of cursive 25 in Acts 16:1, υἱὸς γυναικός τινος Ἰουδαίας χήρας, and the substitution of χήρας for Ἰουδαίας in Gig., fuld[306] “may embody a tradition of her widowhood”.

[306]uld. Cod. Fuldensis

πέπεισμαι: The other examples of St. Paul’s use of this word (see reff.) give no support to the notion of Thdrt. (followed by Alf.) that πέπεισμαι here has the force of our I am sure, I am certain, when we wish to hint gently that we desire reassurance on the point about which we express our certainty. In all the places in which St. Paul uses πέπεισμαι he is anxious to leave no doubt as to his own certitude. Nevertheless, in this case, it was quite possible for him to be perfectly certain that unfeigned faith animated Timothy, and at the same time to have misgivings (2 Timothy 1:7) as to Timothy’s moral courage in dealing with men. We supply ἐνοικεῖ after σοί.

2 Timothy 1:6. διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν: not so much “because I am persuaded of thine unfeigned faith” (Theoph., Thdrt.), as, “because this faith does of a surety dwell in thee”. We are most fruitfully stimulated to noble action, not when we know other people think well of us, but when their good opinion makes us recognise the gifts to us of God’s grace. Faith, as well as salvation, is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8. Except in this phrase (see reff. and Acts 28:20), αἰτία is not found elsewhere in Paul. It is common in Matt., Mark, John, and Acts.

ἀναζωπυρεῖν: In both places cited in reff.—the only occurrences in the Greek Bible—the verb is intransitive: his, or their, spirit revived. Chrys. well compares with the image suggested by ἀναζωπυρεῖν (“stir into flame,”) “quench not the Spirit,” 1 Thessalonians 5:19, where by “the Spirit” is meant His charismatic manifestations of every kind. It is interesting to note in this connexion that ἀναζωπυρεῖν φαντασίας is opposed to σβεννύναι in M. Antoninus, vii. 2 (quoted by Wetstein).

τὸ χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ: This expression refers to the salvation of the soul by God’s grace, in Romans 6:23; Romans 11:29. The narrower signification, as here, of a gift given to us to use to God’s glory is χάρισμα ἐκ θεοῦ, 1 Corinthians 7:7, or more usually simply χάρισμα. The particular nature of the gift must be determined by the context. In this case it was a charisma that was exercised in a spirit not of fearfulness We can scarcely be wrong, then, if we suppose the charisma of administration and rule to be in St. Paul’s mind rather than “the work of an evangelist” (ch. 2 Timothy 4:5). So Chrys., “for presiding over the Church, for the working of miracles, and for every service”.

διὰ τῆς ἐπιθέσεως—μου: See note on 1 Timothy 4:14, where it is pointed out that we have no right to assume that hands were laid on Timothy once only. Thus Acts 9:17; Acts 13:3 are two such occasions in St. Paul’s spiritual life. There may have been others.

2 Timothy 1:7. οὐ γὰρ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν: The γάρ connects this statement with the exhortation preceding in such a way as to suggest that God’s gift “to us” of a spirit of power is in the same order of being as the charisma imparted to Timothy by the laying on of St. Paul’s hands. The question is, then, To whom is reference made in ἡμῖν? We can only reply, The Christian Society, represented by the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. (The aor. ἔδωκεν points to a definite occasion). Then it was that the Church began to receive the power, δύναμις, which had been promised (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) by the Lord, and realised by the apostles collectively (Acts 4:33; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 1 Corinthians 5:4), and individually (Acts 6:8; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Whatever special charismata are bestowed on the ministers of the Church at ordination, they are a part of the general stream of the Pentecostal gift which is always being poured out by the ascended Lord.

πνεῦμα δειλίας: It is simplest to take πνεῦμα here as a comprehensive equivalent to χάρισμα, as in 1 Corinthians 14:12, ζηλωταί ἐστε πνευμάτων. God did not infuse into us fearfulness, etc. The gen. after πνεῦμα, in this and similar cases, Romans 8:15 (δουλείας, υἱοθεσίας), Romans 11:8 (κατανύξεως), 1 Corinthians 4:21, Galatians 6:1 (πραΰτητος), 2 Corinthians 4:13 (πίστεως), Ephesians 1:17 (σοφίας, κ.τ.λ.), expresses the prominent idea, the term πνεῦμα adds the notion that the quality spoken of is not self-originated. The personal Holy Spirit is not meant unless the context names Him unambiguously, as in Ephesians 1:13.

δειλία: fearfulness, timidity, timor. This is the right word here, as δουλείας is the right word in Romans 8:15. It is curious that in Leviticus 26:36, where B has δουλείαν A &c. have δειλίαν. See apparat. crit. There was an element of δειλία in Timothy’s natural disposition which must have been prejudicial to his efficiency as a Church ruler. For that position is needed (a) force of character, which if not natural may be inspired by consciousness of a divine appointment, (b) love, which is not softness, and (c) self-discipline, which is opposed to all easy self-indulgence which issues in laxity of administration. σωφρονισμοῦ: sobrietatis. Better active, as R.V., discipline, first of self, then of others. See Blass, Grammar, p. 61.

2 Timothy 1:8. μὴ οὖν ἐπαισχυνθῇς: The Saying of Jesus (Mark 8:38 = Luke 9:26) was probably in St. Paul’s mind. He alludes to it again, 2 Timothy 2:12. The aor. subj. with μὴ forbids the supposition that Timothy had actually done what St. Paul warns him against doing (Winer-Moulton, Grammar, p. 628, and J. H. Moulton, Grammar, vol. i. p. 122 sq.). See note on 1 Timothy 4:14. Personal appeals are a feature of this epistle cf. 2 Timothy 1:13, 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:14, 2 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 4:5.

τὸ μαρτύριον τ. Κυρίου: Testimony borne by our Lord, His words, His ethical and spiritual teaching, by which Christianity has influenced the ideals and practice of society. The gen. after μαρτύριον is best taken as subjective. See 1 Corinthians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:10.

τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν: See note on 1 Timothy 1:14.

ἐμὲ τὸν δέσμιον αὐτοῦ: This does not mean one made prisoner by the Lord, but one who belongs to the Lord and is a prisoner for His sake. There is nothing figurative about δέσμιος. St. Paul calls himself ὁ δέσμ. τ. Χρ. Ἰησ. in Ephesians 3:1, δέσμ. Χρ. Ἰησ. Philemon 1:1; Philemon 1:9. The idea is more clearly expressed in ὁ δέσμ. ἐν Κυρίῳ Ephesians 4:1. He is a prisoner; he is also “in Christ”. The expression also suggests the thought that his earthly imprisonment is ordered by the Lord, not by man. The present captivity is alluded to again in 2 Timothy 1:16 and 2 Timothy 2:9. It is not the same figure as in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “God which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ” as His captives. See Lightfoot on Colossians 2:15.

συνκακοπάθησον τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ: Join us [the Lord and me] in our sufferings for the Gospel’s sake. More than once in this epistle St. Paul declares that he is suffering (πάσχω, 2 Timothy 1:12; κακοπαθῶ, 2 Timothy 2:9). He has said, “Be not ashamed … of me”; but he has just coupled the testimony of the Lord with his own; and further on (2 Timothy 2:8) Jesus Christ is noted as the great illustration of the law, “No cross, no crown”. See note there. It is best then to give a wider reference than μοι to the συν in συνκακοπάθ. The R.V., Suffer hardship with the gospel is needlessly harsh. The dat. τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ is the dativus commodi.

κατὰ δύναμιν θεοῦ must be connected with συνκακοπάθ.; and this suggests that the power of God here means power given by God, as in 2 Corinthians 6:7, 1 Peter 1:5, “the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20), the assured possession of which would brace Timothy to suffer hardship. Alf. and Ell., following Bengel, take it subjectively: the power of God displayed in our salvation (as in Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 2:5; 2 Corinthians 13:4). But St. Paul could scarcely exhort Timothy to display a degree of fortitude comparable to God’s active power. The next verse, τοῦ σώσαντος, κ.τ.λ., is not a detailed description of God’s power to save, but a recalling of the fact that Timothy had actually experienced God’s saving grace in the past. This consideration would stimulate Timothy to play the man.

2 Timothy 1:8 to 2 Timothy 2:2. The leading thoughts in this section are (a) the Day of reward and judgment which is surely coming (2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 1:18), (b) the unreasonableness therefore of cowardly shame (2 Timothy 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 1:16), and (c) the necessity that Timothy should guard the deposit and hand it on (2 Timothy 1:14 to 2 Timothy 2:2).

Be not ashamed, therefore, of the Gospel to which our Lord was not ashamed to testify; nor be ashamed of me, who am in prison because of testimony borne to Him and it. Share our sufferings in the strength given by God, whose power is displayed in the Gospel of life of which I was appointed a preacher. This is the direct cause of my present lot; but I am not ashamed; for I know the power of Him to whom I have committed myself in trust. Do you imitate His faithfulness: guard the deposit committed to you. I am not asking you to do more than some others have done. You know Onesiphorus and his work as well as I do. When all turned their backs on me, he was not ashamed to make inquiries for me; and, finding me in prison, he constantly cheered me by his visits. May God bless him and his! Do you, then, welcome the strengthening grace of Christ, and provide for a succession of faithful teachers to preserve intact the sacred deposit of the faith.