2 Timothy 3:1. IN THE LAST DAYS. The words imply, as do many other passages in the New Testament, the belief that the end of the world's history was not far off, that the then state of the world presented signs of its approach. So we have ‘it is the last time' in 1 John 2:18, and St. Paul's words im... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:2. COVETOUS. The alliterative emphasis is better given by _‘lovers of themselves, lovers of money_.' PROUD. Better, ‘ _haughty_.' BLASPHEMERS. The context would rather imply that the word is used in the sense of ‘ _railers_ ' or _‘revilers_.'... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:3. TRUCE-BREAKERS. Better, ‘ _implacable_,' not the persons who break a truce, but those with whom no truce can be made. FALSE ACCUSERS. Better, ‘ _slanderers_,' as in 1 Timothy 3:11. FIERCE. More definitely, ‘ _untameable_ ' or ‘ _inhuman_.' DESPISERS OF THEM THAT ARE GOOD. Better... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:4. HEADY. Better, ‘ _headlong_.' HIGH-MINDED. The same word as 1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:4, ‘ _fevered_ ' or _‘delirious with pride_.' LOVERS OF PLEASURES. Better, as contrasting more pointedly the two objects of love, Movers of _pleasure'_ in the singular.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:5. FORM. The Greek word suggests the idea of a manufactured article, the _‘fashion_ or _semblance_ ' of piety. DENYING. The Greek participle is in the perfect, _‘having denied'_ or _‘repudiated.'_ FROM SUCH TURN AWAY. The injunction implies, what is in other ways apparent, that. St.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:6. CREEP INTO HOUSES. The whole verse paints the early phase of an evil which has reappeared but too frequently in the religious history of Christendom. Every word expresses the scorn with which the apostle looked on the clandestine practices of those who thus gained influence in familie... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:7. The words describe vividly the fruitless wanderings of those who pass from system to system and teacher to teacher. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, _i.e.,_ as in 2 Timothy 2:25, the full clear knowledge that shuts out uncertainty.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:8. JANNES AND JAMBRES. The names do not appear in the Pentateuch or elsewhere in the Old Testament. They are found in the Targum or Paraphrase of Exodus 7:11; Exodus 22:11, ascribed to Jonathan, and may represent either a fragment of decorative fiction or an unwritten tradition. Accordin... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:9. THEY SHALL PROCEED NO FURTHER. Verbally there seems a contradiction between this and 2 Timothy 2:16, but the context shows that the earlier passage refers to the development of evil tendencies from their germ, and the later to their ultimate failure and decay. Heresies spread rapidly... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:10. THOU HAST FOLLOWED. Better, ‘ _thou didst follow_.' The pronoun is emphatic, and the tense points to a definite time, probably that of Timothy's early discipleship, which St. Paul had in his memory. It half suggests, too, what the English perfect almost excludes, that the apostle was... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:11. There is something at once natural and touching in the way in which the aged apostle goes back to the memories of the first missionary journey in which Timothy had known him. It is true that he did not then accompany him, but he must have known every incident of the persecutions reco... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:12. ALL THAT WILL LIVE GODLY. The Greek is emphatic, ‘ _all who purpose_,' _‘all whose will is_ ' to live godly. The general axiom is clearly intended to remind Timothy that there is no test by which a man can satisfy himself whether he lives piously, so sure as the question whether he i... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:13. Again we have an oscillation of thought, and the immediate advance of evil becomes prominent. The chasm would grow wider till the final issue. SEDUCERS. Better, ‘ _magicians_,' ‘ _sorcerers_,' with reference to Jannes and Jambres.... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:14. THOU HAST LEARNED, AND HAST BEEN ASSURED OF. As in other cases, the English perfect hides the force of the Greek. Better, _‘Thou didst learn and wast persuaded of_.' FROM WHOM. The received text gives the singular, the better MSS. the plural, The former would point to St. Paul, the... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:15. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. The Greek noun is not that usually employed in the New Testament, but answers rather to ‘sacred literature' (Acts 26:24). It is used, however, of the Old Testament books by Josephus. WHICH MAKE THEE WISE. The English is literal enough, but the Greek implies som... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:16. ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD. The Greek sentence leaves the verb to be understood, and this leaves the sentence ambiguous. ‘ _All Scripture God-inspired also profitable_.' According to the position which we assign to the omitted verb, we have (1) All Scripture is God-... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Timothy 3:17. THAT THE MAN OF GOD. This, in technical language, is the final cause of the inspiration of Scripture the reason why God has thus made it profitable. The _‘_ man of God' is used here, as before in 1 Timothy 6:11, as a half official term, as in 1 Kings 13:1; 2 Kings 6:6; 2 Kings 6:9,... [ Continue Reading ]