2 Timothy 1:1

ἀπόστολος Χρ. Ἰησ. See note on 1 Timothy 1:1.

διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ : This formula is found also in 1 and 2 Cor. Eph. and Col. See note on 1 Timothy 1:1, where it is pointed out that while the same ἐπιταγή may be said to be issued by God the Father and God the Son, θέλημα is always used of the Father's eternal purpose as regards the salvation of man (Romans 2:18; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:9; Colossians 4:12; 1Th 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:18, etc.). St. Paul believed that his own commission as an apostle was a part of God's arrangements to this end, one of the ways in which the Will manifested itself.

κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς, κ. τ. λ.: To be connected with ἀπόστολος. His apostleship was for the accomplishment of the promise, etc. See Romans 1:5, ἐλάβομεν … ἀποστολὴν εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. For the force of κατά with acc. see Winer-Moulton, Gram. p. 502. The notion is more largely expressed in the corresponding passage of Tit. (2 Timothy 1:2), ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίον ἤν ἐπηγγείλατο … θεός. We must not suppose that there is any limitation in the reference of the expression here. The mention of “the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 2:19-20) is not intended as a consolation to Timothy (as Chrys., Bengel), nor was it even specially suggested by his own near approaching death. The preciousness of that promise is never wholly absent from the minds of Christians; though of course it comes to the surface of our consciousness at crises when death is, or seems to be, imminent.