2 Timothy 1:3

θεῷ. D2*E* and some other authorities add μου, plainly from a reminiscence of Romans 1:8.

3. χάριν ἔχω. see on 1 Timothy 1:12.

The construction is not quite clear, but it seems best to take ὑπόμνησιν λαβών of 2 Timothy 1:5 as giving the cause of the Apostle’s thankfulness, the intermediate phrases beginning ὡς� expressing the circumstances under which it is displayed. The parallel phrases in Romans 1:9; Ephesians 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; Philemon 1:4 confirm this view.

ἀπὸ προγόνων, from my forefathers, perhaps said here with a hint at the difference in Timothy’s case, whose paternal ancestors were heathen (cp. 2 Timothy 1:5). The thought, however, of his religious ancestry is referred to elsewhere by St Paul; cp. Acts 24:14, κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν λέγουσιν αἵρεσιν οὕτως λατρεύω τῷ πατρῴῳ θεῷ, and Acts 22:3.

ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει. Cp. Acts 23:1, ἐγὼ πάσῃ συνειδήσει�, and note on 1 Timothy 1:5.

ὡς�.τ.λ., as unceasing is the remembrance which I make of you in my prayers. The nearest parallel is Romans 1:10, ὡς�, but the expression (see above) is a favourite one with St Paul (cp. 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:6). It has, indeed, been pointed out[512] that some such phrase was frequently used in Greek letters of the Hellenistic period; e.g. in a letter dated 172 B.C. (Pap. Lond. XLII.) we find καὶ οἱ ἑν οἴκῳ πάντες σου διαπαντὸς μνεὶαν ποιούμενοι. St Paul adopted the customary phraseology of intimate correspondence and charged it with a deep Christian meaning.

[512] See Deissmann, Bibelstudien, p. 210.

νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας. This probably goes with ἐπιποθῶν (as R.V.) rather than with what precedes (as A.V.). Cp. however 1 Timothy 5:5 and see the note there.