2 Timothy 2:26

andthat they may recover themselves Omit -that," the verb depending on -if perchance." The verb -recover themselves" is literally -return to soberness." Constructed with the preposition -out of" it has the pregnant force very frequent in Greek -become sober and escape out of." Cf. Winer, Gr. § 66, 2, p. 547. The simple verb occurs ch. 2 Timothy 4:5 -be sober"; another compound in 1 Corinthians 15:34 -awake out of" drunkenness -righteously." This compound is only here in N.T.

the snare of the devil Has occurred 1 Timothy 3:7, where, as here, it is the snare laid by the devil, a state of proud self-will morally and intellectually, the very opposite to a state of obedience to God's will.

who are taken captive by him at his will The A.V. rendering is a mere enlargement of the idea of -snare," requires the aorist part. and refers the two different pronouns to the devil. But (1) St Paul's use of the perfect passive participle, held captive, is very strongly in favour of a reference to the final stateof -recovery," not to the previous state of -entanglement." The final clause in 2 Timothy 2:21, where this participle ends the sentence, expresses the final state of -the vessel unto honour." The final clause in 2 Timothy 3:5 where the false teachers are described, has the same participle to shew their permanent rejection of vital godliness. The final clause in 2 Timothy 3:17, where the man of God is described, is ended in the same weighty form, -for every good work in a state of perfect preparedness." Hence the force of the perfect participle (as distinguished from the aorist) required here is -that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, continuing in the state of willing captivity into which they have been brought," -held willing captives."

(2) St Paul's use of the first pronoun here, rendered -by him," is strongly in favour of a reference to the -servant of the Lord." A certain person or thing is in his mind as his chief subject; and he refers to him or it after an interval, short or long, merely with this pronoun. Cf. 1 Timothy 4:16, -continue in them" the words of the faith and of the good doctrine; Titus 3:1, -Put them in mind" the aged men and women, the younger men and servants of ch. 2; 2 Timothy 2:17, -their word will eat" -those who strive about words," 2 Timothy 2:14.

(3) St Paul's use of the preposition -unto" for -into a state of," -into conformity with" is strongly in favour of the last clause being intended to express the resulting state and condition; cf. -unto honour," -unto every good work," 2 Timothy 2:21; -unto full knowledge," 2 Timothy 2:25.

Render, therefore, held willing captives henceforth by their deliverer (the servant of the Lord) to do the will of God. So substantially the R.V. The participle is from a verb to -capture alive." Cf. Luke 5:10 the only other N.T. passage where the word occurs, and see Farrar's note, -The word seems to imply the contrast between the fish that lay there glittering in deadheaps, and men who should be captured not for death (James 1:14) but for life." Both places refer to the evangelising work of the ministry.