2 Timothy 2:9

2 Timothy 2:9. Wherein I suffer trouble. The same emphatic word as the ‘endure hardness' of 2 Timothy 2:3, the ‘be partaker of afflictions' in 2 Timothy 1:8. The way in which St. Paul dwells upon the actual chains that were the outward marks of what men thought shame is eminently characteristic. So, at the outset, he is ‘for the hope of Israel bound with this chain' (Acts 28:20), so at a later stage he is ‘an ambassador in bonds' (Ephesians 6:20).

The word of God is not bound. The words have a wide range of meaning. His hands are manacled, but his tongue is free, and with it he can still speak the word of God. Apart even from any action of his own, that word was working actively outside his prison walls. There was no ground for fear that its course was over.