Commentari biblici

INTRODUCTION

PLACE OF WRITING.--Paul, in the interval between his first and second imprisonment, after having written First Timothy from Macedonia or Corinth [BIRKS] (if we are to adopt the opinion that First Timothy was written after his first imprisonment), returned to Ephesus, as he intended, by way of Troas, where he left the books, &c. (mentioned in

2Ti 4:13),

with Carpus. From Ephesus he went to Crete for a short visit and returned, and then wrote to Titus. Next he went by Miletus to Corinth

(2Ti 4:20),

and thence to Nicopolis

(Tit 3:12),

whence he proceeded to Rome. From his prison there he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, shortly before his martyrdom. It is not certain where Timothy was at this time. Some of the internal evidences favor the view of his having been then at Ephesus; thus the salutation of Priscilla and Aquila, who generally resided there

(2Ti 4:19);

also that of the household of Onesiphorus, who is stated in

2Ti 1:16-18

to have ministered to Paul at Ephesus, a circumstance implying his residence there. Also, the Hymenæus of

2Ti 2:17

seems to be the same as the Hymenæus at Ephesus

(1Ti 1:20);

and probably "Alexander the coppersmith"

(2Ti 4:14)

is the same as the Alexander joined with Hymenæus

(1Ti 1:20),

and possibly the same as the Alexander put forward by the Jews to clear themselves, not to befriend Paul, at the riot in Ephesus

(Ac 19:33, 34).

The difficulty is, on this supposition, how to account for

2Ti 4:12, 20:

if Timothy was at Ephesus, why did he need to be told that Paul had sent Tychicus to Ephesus? or that Paul had left Trophimus, himself an Ephesian

(Ac 21:29),

sick at Miletus, which was only thirty miles from Ephesus? However, see on

2Ti 4:12;

2Ti 4:20.

Troas lay on the road to Rome from either Ephesus or Pontus, so that

2Ti 4:13

will accord with the theory of either Ephesus or any other place in the northwest of Asia Minor, being Timothy's place of sojourn at the time. Probably, he had the general superintendence of the Pauline churches in Asia Minor, in accordance with his mission combining the office of evangelist, or itinerant missionary, with that of presiding overseer. Ephesus was probably his headquarters.

TIME OF WRITING.--(1) Paul's first imprisonment, described in

Ac 28:17-31,

was much milder than that in which he was when writing Second Timothy. In the former, he had liberty to lodge in his own hired house, and to receive all comers, guarded only by a single soldier; in the latter, he was so closely confined that Onesiphorus with difficulty found him; he was chained, his friends had forsaken him, and he had narrowly escaped sentence of execution from the Roman emperor. Medieval legends represent the Mamertine prison, or Tullianum, as the scene of his incarceration with Peter. But this is irreconcilable with the fact of Onesiphorus, Linus, Pudens, &c., having access to him. He was probably under military custody, as in his former imprisonment, though of a severer kind

(2Ti 1:16-18; 2:9; 4:6-8, 16, 17).

(2) The visit to Troas

(2Ti 4:13)

can hardly have been that mentioned in

Ac 20:5-7,

the last before his first imprisonment; for, if it were, the interval between that visit and the first imprisonment would be seven or eight years, a period most unlikely for him to have allowed to pass without sending for his cloak and parchments, when they might have been of service to him in the interim. (3) Paul's leaving Trophimus sick at Miletus

(2Ti 4:20),

could not have been on the occasion mentioned in

Ac 20:15;

for, subsequent to that, Trophimus was with Paul in Jerusalem

(Ac 21:29).

(4) The words

(2Ti 4:20),

"Erastus abode at Corinth," imply that Paul had shortly before been at Corinth, where he left Erastus. But before his first imprisonment, Paul had not been at Corinth for several years; and in the interval Timothy had been with him, so that Timothy did not need at a later period to be told about that visit

(Ac 20:2, 4).

For all these reasons the imprisonment, during which he wrote Second Timothy, is shown to be his second imprisonment. Moreover,

Heb 13:23, 24,

represents the writer (who was probably Paul) as in Italy, and at liberty. So CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1.5], the disciple of Paul, explicitly states, "In the east and west, Paul as a preacher instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman empire) in righteousness, and having gone to the extremity of the west, and having borne witness before the rulers (of Rome), he so was removed from the world." This plainly implies that he fulfilled his design

(Ro 15:24-28)

of a missionary journey into Spain. The canon of the New Testament, compiled about A.D. 170 (called MURATORI'S Canon), also mentions "the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain." See ROUTH [Sacred Fragments, vol. 4, p. 1-12].

His martyrdom is universally said to have occurred in Nero's reign [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 2.22; JEROME, On Illustrious Men]. Five years thus seem to have elapsed between the first imprisonment, A.D. 63

(Ac 28:17-31),

and his martyrdom, June A.D. 68, the last year of Nero's reign. He was probably arrested by the magistrates in Nicopolis

(Tit 3:12)

in Epirus, in the winter, on a double charge, first, of being one of the Christians who had conspired, it was alleged by Nero's partisans, to set fire to Rome, A.D. 64; secondly, of introducing a novel and unlawful religion. His friends all left him, except Luke: Demas from "love of this present world": the others from various causes

(2Ti 4:10, 11).

On the first charge he seems to have been acquitted. His liberation from his first imprisonment took place in A.D. 63, the year before the great fire at Rome, which Nero made the pretext for his persecution of the Christians. Every cruelty was heaped on them; some were crucified; some were arrayed in the skins of wild beasts and hunted to death by dogs; some were wrapped in pitch-robes and set on fire by night to illuminate the circus of the Vatican and gardens of Nero, while that monster mixed among the spectators in the garb of a charioteer. But now (A.D. 67 or 68) some years had elapsed since the first excitement which followed the fire. Hence, Paul, being a Roman citizen, was treated in his trial with a greater respect for the forms of the law, and hence was acquitted

(2Ti 4:17)

on the first charge of having instigated the Christians to their supposed acts of incendiarism before his last departure from Rome. Alexander the coppersmith seems to have been a witness against him

(2Ti 4:14).

Had he been condemned on the first charge, he would probably have been burnt alive, as the preceding martyrs were, for arson. His judge was the city Præfect. CLEMENT OF ROME specifies that his trial was (not before the emperor, but) "before the rulers." No advocate ventured to plead his cause, no patron appeared for him, such as under ordinary circumstances might have aided him; for instance, one of the powerful Æmilian house, under which his family possibly enjoyed clientship

(2Ti 4:16, 17),

whence he may have taken his name Paul. The place of trial was, probably, one of the great basilicas in the Forum, two of which were called the Pauline Basilicas, from L. Æmilius Paulus, who had built one and restored the other. He was remanded for the second stage of his trial. He did not expect this to come on until the following "winter"

(2Ti 4:21),

whereas it took place about midsummer; if in Nero's reign, not later than June. In the interim Luke was his only constant companion; but one friend from Asia, Onesiphorus, had diligently sought him and visited him in prison, undeterred by the danger. Linus, too, the future bishop of Rome, Pudens, the son of a senator, and Claudia, his bride, perhaps the daughter of a British king (see on

2Ti 4:21),

were among his visitors; and Tychicus, before he was sent by Paul to Ephesus

(2Ti 4:12;

perhaps bearing with him this Epistle).

OBJECT OF THE EPISTLE.--He was anxious to see his disciple Timothy, before his death, and that Timothy should bring Mark with him

(2Ti 1:4; 4:9, 11, 21).

But feeling how uncertain it was whether Timothy should arrive in time, he felt it necessary, also, to give him by letter a last warning as to the heresies, the germs of which were then being scattered in the Churches. Hence he writes a series of exhortations to faithfulness, and zeal for sound doctrine, and patience amidst trials: a charge which Timothy seems to have needed, if we are to judge from the apostle's earnestness in urging him to boldness in Christ's cause, as though Paul thought he saw in him some signs of constitutional timidity

(2Ti 2:2-8; 4:1-5; 1Ti 5:22, 23).

PAUL'S DEATH.--DIOYSIUS, bishop of Corinth (quoted in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]) about A.D. 170, is the earliest authority for the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome "about the same time" as Paul, after having labored for some time there. He calls Peter and Paul "the founders of the Corinthian and Roman Churches." The Roman presbyter, CAIUS (about A.D. 200), mentions the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom in the Vatican. But (1) Peter's work was among the Jews

(Ga 2:9),

whereas Rome was a Gentile Church

(Ro 1:13.

Moreover, (2) the First Epistle of Peter

(1Pe 1:1; 5:13)

represents him as laboring in Babylon in Mesopotamia. (3) The silence concerning Peter of Paul's Epistles written in Rome, negatives the tradition of his having founded, or labored long at Rome; though it is possible he may have endured martyrdom there. His martyrdom, certainly, was not, as JEROME says, "on the same day" with that of Paul, else Paul would have mentioned Peter's being at Rome in

2Ti 4:11.

The legend says that Peter, through fear, was fleeing from Rome at early dawn by the Appian Way, when he met our Lord, and falling at His feet, asked, Lord, whither goest thou? to which the Lord replied, I go again to be crucified. The disciple returned penitent and ashamed, and was martyred. The Church of Domine quo vadis, on the Appian Way, commemorates the supposed fact. Paul, according to CAIUS (quoted in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]), suffered martyrdom on the Ostian Way. So also JEROME, who gives the date, the fourteenth year of Nero. It was common to send prisoners, whose death might attract too much notice at Rome, to some distance from the city, under a military escort, for execution; hence the soldier's sword, not the executioner's axe, was the instrument of his decapitation [OROSIUS, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, 7.7]. Paul appears, from

Php 1:12-30,

to have had his partisans even in the palace, and certainly must have exercised such an influence as would excite sympathy in his behalf, to avoid which the execution was ordered outside the city. Compare TACITUS [Histories, 4.11]. The Basilica of St. Paul, first built by Constantine, now stands outside Rome on the road to Ostia: before the Reformation it was under the protection of the kings of England, and the emblem of the order of the Garter is still to be seen among its decorations. The traditional spot of the martyrdom is the Tre Fontane, not far from the Basilica [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].

2Ti 1:1-18.

ADDRESS: THANKFUL EXPRESSION OF LOVE AND DESIRE TO SEE HIM: REMEMBRANCE OF HIS FAITH AND THAT OF HIS MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER. EXHORTATION TO STIR UP THE GIFT OF GOD IN HIM, AND NOT SHRINK FROM AFFLICTION, ENFORCED BY THE CONSIDERATION OF THE FREENESS OF GOD'S GRACE IN OUR GOSPEL CALLING, AND BY THE APOSTLE'S EXAMPLE. THE DEFECTION OF MANY: THE STEADFASTNESS OF ONESIPHORUS.

2. my dearly beloved son--In

1Ti 1:2, and Tit 1:4,

written at an earlier period than this Epistle, the expression used is in the Greek, "my genuine son." ALFORD sees in the change of expression an intimation of an altered tone as to Timothy, more of mere love, and less of confidence, as though Paul saw m him a want of firmness, whence arose the need of his stirring up afresh the faith and grace in Him

(2Ti 1:6).

But this seems to me not justified by the Greek word agapetos, which implies the attachment of reasoning and choice, on the ground of merit in the one "beloved," not of merely instinctive love. See TRENCH [Greek Synonyms of the New Testament].

3. I thank--Greek, "I feel gratitude to God."

whom I serve from my forefathers--whom I serve

(Ro 1:9)

as did my forefathers. He does not mean to put on the same footing the Jewish and Christian service of God; but simply to assert his own conscientious service of God as he had received it from his progenitors (not Abraham, Isaac, &c., whom he calls "the fathers," not "progenitors" as the Greek is here;

Ro 9:5).

The memory of those who had gone before to whom he is about to be gathered, is now, on the eve of death, pleasant to him; hence also, he calls to mind the faith of the mother and grandmother of Timothy; as he walks in the faith of his forefathers

(Ac 23:1; 24:14; 26:6, 7; 28:20),

so Timothy should persevere firmly in the faith of his parent and grandparent. Not only Paul, but the Jews who reject Christ, forsake the faith of their forefathers, who looked for Christ; when they accept Him, the hearts of the children shall only be returning to the faith of their forefathers

(Mal 4:6; Lu 1:17; Ro 11:23, 24, 28).

Probably Paul had, in his recent defense, dwelt on this topic, namely, that he was, in being a Christian, only following his hereditary faith.

that . . . I have remembrance of thee--"how unceasing I make my mention concerning thee" (compare

Phm 4).

The cause of Paul's feeling thankful is, not that he remembers Timothy unceasingly in his prayers, but for what Timothy is in faith

(2Ti 1:5)

and graces; compare

Ro 1:8, 9,

from which supply the elliptical sentence thus, "I thank God (for thee, for God is my witness) whom I serve . . . that (or how) without ceasing I have remembrance (or make mention) of thee," &c.

night and day--(See on

1Ti 5:5).

4. desiring--Greek, "with yearning as for one much missed."

mindful of thy tears--not only at our parting

(Ac 20:37),

but also often when under pious feelings.

that I may be filled with joy--to be joined with "desiring to see thee"

(Ro 1:11, 12; 15:32).

5. When I call to remembrance--This increased his "desire to see" Timothy. The oldest manuscripts read, "When I called to remembrance"; implying that some recent incident (perhaps the contrasted cowardice of the hypocrite Demas, who forsook him) had reminded him of the sincerity of Timothy's faith.

faith that is in thee--ALFORD translates, "that was in thee." He remembers Timothy's faith in the past as a fact; its present existence in him is only matter of his confident persuasion or hope.

which--Greek, "such as."

dwelt--"made its dwelling" or abode

(Joh 14:23).

The past tense implies they were now dead.

first--before it dwelt in thee. She was the furthest back of the progenitors of Timothy whom Paul knew.

mother Eunice--a believing Jewess; but his father was a Greek, that is, a heathen

(Ac 16:1).

The faith of the one parent sanctified the child

(2Ti 3:15; 1Co 7:14).

She was probably converted at Paul's first visit to Lystra

(Ac 14:6).

It is an undesigned coincidence, and so a mark of truth, that in

Ac 16:1

the belief of the mother alone is mentioned, just as here praise is bestowed on the faith of the mother, while no notice is taken of the father [PALEY, Horæ Paulinæ].

and--Greek, "but," that is, notwithstanding appearances [ALFORD].

persuaded that--it dwells, or it shall dwell "in thee also." The mention of the faith of his mother and grandmother is designed as an incentive to stir up his faith.

6. Wherefore--Greek, "For which cause," namely, because thou hast inherited, didst once possess, and I trust ("am persuaded") still dost possess, such unfeigned faith [ALFORD].

stir up--literally, "rekindle," "revive the spark of"; the opposite of "quench" or "extinguish"

(1Th 5:19).

Paul does not doubt the existence of real faith in Timothy, but he desires it to be put into active exercise. Timothy seems to have become somewhat remiss from being so long without Paul

(2Ti 2:22).

gift of God--the spiritual grace received for his ministerial office, either at his original ordination, or at his consecration to the particular office of superintending the Ephesian Church (see on

1Ti 4:14),

imparting fearlessness, power, love, and a sound mind

(2Ti 1:7).

by the putting on of my hands--In

1Ti 4:14,

it is "with [not by] the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." The apostle was chief in the ordination, and to him "BY" is applied. The presbytery were his assistants; so "with," implying merely accompaniment, is said of them. Paul was the instrument in Timothy's ordination and reception of the grace then conferred; the presbyters were the concurrent participants in the act of ordination; so the Greek, "dia" and "meta." So in ordinations by a bishop in our days, he does the principal act; they join in laying on hands with him.

7. For, &c.--implying that Timothy needed the exhortation "to stir up the gift of God in him," being constitutionally "timid": "For God did not give us (so the Greek, namely, at our ordination or consecration) the spirit of fear." The spirit which He gave us, was not the spirit of timidity (literally, "cowardice," which is weakness), but of "power" (exhibited in a fearless "testimony" for Christ,

2Ti 1:8).

"Power is the invariable accompaniment of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Lu 24:49; Ac 1:8;

compare

Ac 6:6,

"full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," with

2Ti 1:8,

"full of faith and power." Fear is the result of "the spirit of bondage"

(Ro 8:15).

Fear within exaggerates the causes of fear without. "The spirit of power" is the spirit of man dwelt in by the Spirit of God imparting power; this power "casteth out fear" from ourselves, and stimulates us to try to cast it out of others

(1Jo 4:18).

love--which moves the believer while "speaking the truth" with power, when giving his testimony for Christ

(2Ti 1:8),

at the same time to do so "in love"

(Eph 4:15).

a sound mind--The Greek, is rather, "the bringing of men to a sound mind" [WAHL]. BENGEL supports English Version, "a sound mind," or "sober-mindedness"; a duty to which a young man like Timothy especially needed to be exhorted

(2Ti 2:22; 1Ti 4:12; Tit 2:4, 6).

So Paul urges him, in

2Ti 2:4,

to give up worldly entanglements, which as thorns

(Lu 8:14)

choke the word. These three gifts are preferable to any miraculous powers whatever.