2 Timothy 4:11

Λουκᾶς ἐστὶν μόνος μετʼ ἐμοῦ, only Luke is with me; i.e. Luke is the only one of his intimate friends and usual companions who is still with him. St Luke’s affection for St Paul is not like that of Demas; he remains with him to the end. During his first imprisonment he was by his side, ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁ� (Colossians 4:14; cp. Philemon 1:24), and he now appears again, faithful to the last.

Μάρκον�. Having taken up Mark, sc. on your way hither (cp. Acts 20:13 for this use of ἀναλαμβάνειν), bring him with you. There had been a time (Acts 15:38) when Paul had little confidence in Mark, because he had turned back to Jerusalem just as the difficulties of Paul’s first missionary journey became apparent (Acts 13:13). But such feelings of distrust had long since passed away. During the first Roman imprisonment we find him with St Paul at Rome (Colossians 4:10), and he was commended by that Apostle to the Church of Colossae when he should visit it. He is also found in St Peter’s company at Rome (1 Peter 5:13), and he joins in the salutation addressed to Churches in the Asiatic provinces. It is probable that at the time of writing 2 Timothy he was somewhere on the coast in the Province of Asia proper, and that thus Timothy could ‘pick him up’ on his way northward.

ἔστιν γάρ μοι εὔχρηστος εἰς διακονίαν, for he is useful to me for ministering. διακονία may be understood either of personal service to St Paul, such as a free man could offer to a captive, a young man to an old one, or else (less probably) of the ministry of the gospel in which Mark could usefully take his part. That he probably had a knowledge of Latin might make his services in either capacity specially valuable at Rome. For the adjective εὔχρηστος cp. ch. 2 Timothy 2:21.