2 Timothy 4:14

ἀποδώσει. This, the reading of אACD2*E*G &c., must certainly be preferred to the rec. ἀποδῴη of D2cKL, which appears to have come in from a reminiscence of 2 Timothy 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:18.

14. Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ χαλκεύς. See note on 1 Timothy 1:20.

πολλά μοι κακὰ ἐνεδείξατο, did me, sc. publicly, much evil. Cp. for ἐνδείκνυσθαι, 1 Timothy 1:16 &c. It would seem from the context that it was at Rome during the Apostle’s imprisonment that Alexander’s ill-will had been displayed. The warning in 2 Timothy 4:15 ὃν καὶ σὺ φυλάσσου would seem to give the reason of his being mentioned. Whether he was now at Ephesus, or whether it was in view of Timothy’s meeting him at Rome that the warning was given, we have no means of determining. St Ephraem (on 2 Corinthians 12:7) notes the curious tradition that “Alexander the coppersmith” was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”!

ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. The reading of the rec. text (see crit. note) would make this an imprecation. As it stands, it is a parenthetical quotation of the familiar words of Psalms 62 (61):12 (cp. also Proverbs 24:12), and merely amounts to the reflection ‘I leave him to God.’ St Paul quotes these words in another context at Romans 2:6.