Text -- 2 Timothy 3:1-11 (NET)

Ministry in the Last Days

3:1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 3:2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. 3:5 They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. 3:6 For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. 3:7 Such women are always seeking instruction, yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 3:8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people– who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith– also oppose the truth. 3:9 But they will not go much further, for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.

Continue in What You Have Learned

3:10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 3:11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings that happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Ti 3:1

Know this ( touto ginōske ).

See note on 1Co 11:3; Phi 1:12.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:1

In the last days ( en eschatais hēmerais ).

See note on Jam 5:3 and 1Ti 4:1.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:1

Grievous ( chalepoi ).

Hard. See Eph 5:16.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:1

Shall come ( enstēsontai ).

Future middle of enistēmi (intransitive use), old verb, to stand on or be at hand, as in 2Th 2:2.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Lovers of self ( philautoi ).

Old compound adjective (philos , autos ), here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Lovers of money ( philarguroi ).

Old compound adjective, in N.T. only here and Luk 16:14. See note on 1Ti 6:10.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Boastful ( alazones ).

Old word for empty pretender, in N.T. only here and Rom 1:30.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Haughty ( huperēphanoi ).

See also Rom 1:30 for this old word.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Railers ( blasphēmoi ).

See note on 1Ti 1:13.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Disobedient to parents ( goneusin apeitheis ).

See note on Rom 1:30.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Unthankful ( acharistoi ).

Old word, in N.T. only here and Luk 6:35.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Unholy ( anosioi ).

See note on 1Ti 1:9.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:2

Without natural affection ( astorgoi ).

See note on Rom 1:31.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:3

Implacable ( aspondoi ).

Truce-breakers. Old word, only here in N.T. though in MSS. in Rom 1:31 (from a privative and spondē , a libation).

Robertson: 2Ti 3:3

Slanderers ( diaboloi ).

See note on 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:3.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:3

Without self-control ( akrateis ).

Old word (a privative and kratos ), here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:3

Fierce ( anēmeroi ).

Old word (a privative and hēmeros , tame), only here in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:3

No lovers of good ( aphilagathoi ).

Found only here (a privative and philagathos , for which see note on Tit 1:8). See also Phi 4:8. A papyrus describes Antoninus as philagathos and has aphilokagathia .

Robertson: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors ( prodotai ).

Old word (from prodidōmi ), in N.T. only here, Luk 6:16; Act 7:52.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:4

Headstrong ( propeteis ).

Old word (from pro and piptō ), falling forward, in N.T. only here and Act 19:36.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:4

Puffed up ( tetuphōmenoi ).

Perfect passive participle of tuphoō . See note on 1Ti 3:6.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:4

Lovers of pleasure ( philēdonoi ).

Literary Koiné[28928]š word (philos , hēdonē ), only here in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:4

Lovers of God ( philotheoi ).

Old word (philos , theos ), only here in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:5

A form of godliness ( morphōsin eusebeias ).

For morphōsin , see note on Rom 2:20. The outward shape without the reality.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:5

Having denied ( ērnēmenoi ).

Perfect middle participle of arneomai (see note on Rom 2:11.).

Robertson: 2Ti 3:5

Power ( dunamin ).

See 1Co 4:20. See Rom 1:29-31 for similar description.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:5

Turn away ( apotrepou ).

Present middle (direct) imperative of apotrepō , "turn thyself away from."Old verb, only here in N.T. See 4 Maccabees 1:33.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:6

That creep ( hoi endunontes ).

Old and common verb (also enduō ) either to put on (1Th 5:8) or to enter (to slip in by insinuation, as here). See same idea in Jud 1:4 (pareiseduēsan ), 2Pe 2:1 (pareisaxousin ), Gal 2:4 (pareisēlthon and pareisaktous ). These stealthy "creepers"are pictured also in Tit 1:11.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:6

Take captive ( aichmalōtizontes ).

"Taking captive."Present active participle of aichmalōtizō , for which see note on 2Co 10:5; Rom 7:23.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:6

Silly women ( gunaikaria ).

Literally, "little women"(diminutive of gunē ), found in Diocles (comedian of 5 century b.c.) and in Epictetus. The word here is neuter (grammatical gender) plural. Used contemptuously here (only N.T. example). Ramsay suggests "society ladies."It is amazing how gullible some women are with religious charlatans who pose as exponents of "new thought."

Robertson: 2Ti 3:6

Laden with sins ( sesōreumena hamartiais ).

Perfect passive participle of sōreuō , old word from Aristotle down (from sōros , a heap) to heap up. In N.T. only here and Rom 12:20. Associative instrumental case hamartiais .

Robertson: 2Ti 3:6

Divers ( poikilais ).

Many coloured. See note on Tit 3:3. One has only to recall Schweinfurth, the false Messiah of forty odd years ago with his "heavenly harem"in Illinois and the recent infamous "House of David"in Michigan to understand how these Gnostic cults led women into licentiousness under the guise of religion or of liberty. The priestesses of Aphrodite and of Isis were illustrations ready to hand. Agomena (present passive participle) means "continually led astray or from time to time."

Robertson: 2Ti 3:7

Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ( mēdepote eis epignōsin alētheias elthein dunamena ).

Pathetic picture of these hypnotized women without intellectual power to cut through the fog of words and, though always learning scraps of things, they never come into the full knowledge (epignōsin ) of the truth in Christ. And yet they even pride themselves on belonging to the intelligentsia!

Robertson: 2Ti 3:8

Like as ( hon tropon ).

"In which manner."Adverbial accusative and incorporation of the antecedent tropon into the relative clause.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:8

Jannes and Jambres ( Iannēs kai Iambrēs ).

Traditional names of the magicians who withstood Moses ( Targum of Jonathan on Exo 7:11).

Robertson: 2Ti 3:8

Withstood ( antestēsan ).

Second aorist active (intransitive) of anthistēmi , to stand against, "they stood against"(with dative Mōusei ). Same word used of Elymas in Act 13:8 and repeated here anthistantai (present middle indicative). Paul here pictures the seducers of the gunaikaria above.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:8

Corrupted in mind ( katephtharmenoi ton noun ).

Perfect passive participle of kataphtheirō , old compound, in N.T. only here in critical text. See on 2Co 11:3; 1Ti 6:5 for diaphtheirō . The accusative noun is retained in the passive.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:8

Reprobate ( adokimoi ).

See note on 1Co 9:27; Tit 1:16. They had renounced their trust (pistin ) in Christ.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:9

They shall proceed no further ( ou prokopsousin epi pleion ).

Future active of prokoptō . See note on 2Ti 2:16.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:9

Folly ( anoia ).

Old word (from anoos , a privative and nous ), want of sense, here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:9

Evident ( ekdēlos ).

Old word (ek , dēlos , outstanding), here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:9

Theirs ( ekeinōn ).

Of Jannes and Jambres (Exo 7:12).

Robertson: 2Ti 3:10

Didst follow ( parēkolouthēsas ).

First aorist active indicative of parakoloutheō , for which see note on 1Ti 4:6. Some MSS. have perfect active parēkolouthēkas (thou hast followed). Nine associative-instrumental cases here after the verb ( teaching , didaskaliāi , Rom 12:7; conduct , agōgēi , old word here only in N.T.; purpose , prothesei , Rom 8:28; faith , pistei , 1Th 3:6; longsuffering , makrothumiāi , Col 1:11; persecutions , diōgmois , 2Th 1:4; sufferings , pathēmasin , 2Co 1:6.). The two last items belong to 2Ti 3:11.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:11

What things befell me ( hoia moi egeneto ).

Qualitative relative (hoia ) referring to actual experiences of Paul (egeneto , second aorist middle indicative of ginomai ) more fully described in 2Co 11:30-33. The Acts of the Apostles tell of his experiences in Antioch in Pisidia (Act 13:14, Act 13:45, Act 13:50), in Iconium (Act 14:1-5), in Lystra (Act 14:6-19). See also Gal 2:11.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:11

What persecutions I endured ( hoious diōgmous hupēnegka ).

Qualitative relative again with diōgmous . The verb is first aorist active indicative of hupopherō , old verb, to bear under as in 1Co 10:13.

Robertson: 2Ti 3:11

Delivered me ( me erusato ).

First aorist middle of ruomai , old verb, with ek here as in 1Th 1:10. Used again of the Lord Jesus in 2Ti 4:18.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:1

Comp. the beginning of 1 Timothy 4.

This know ( τοῦτο γίνωσκε )

The phrase N.T.o . Comp. Paul's γινώσκειν ὑμᾶς βούλομαι I would have you to know , Phi 1:12; and θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι I would you should know , 1Co 11:3.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:1

In the last days ( ἐπ ' ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις )

The phrase only here in Pastorals, Act 2:17, Jam 5:3. Similar expressions are ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ in the last season , 1Pe 1:5 : ἐπ ' ἐσχάτου τῶν χρόνων at the last of the times , 1Pe 1:20 : ἐπ ' ἐσχάτου χρόνου at the last time , Jud 1:18 : ἐπ ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν at the last of the days , 2Pe 3:3 : ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς in the latter seasons , 1Ti 4:1. The times immediately preceding Christ's second appearing are meant. Comp. Heb 1:2; Jam 5:3.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:1

Perilous times ( καιροὶ χαλεποί )

Only here and Mat 8:28. Lit. hard times: schwere Zeiten . Καιρός denotes a definite, specific season. See on Mat 12:1; see on Act 1:17.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:1

Shall come ( ἐνστήσονται )

Or will set in . Mostly in Paul. Only here in Pastorals. See on Gal 1:4.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Lovers of their own selves ( φίλαυτοι )

Better, lovers of self . N.T.o . lxx. Aristotle, De Repub . ii. 5, says: " It is not loving one's self, but loving it unduly, just as the love of possessions."

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Covetous ( φιλάργυροι )

Better, lovers of money . Only here and Luk 16:14. For the noun φιλαργυρία love of money , see on 1Ti 6:10. Love of money and covetousness are not synonymous. Covetous is πλεονέκτης ; see 1Co 5:10, 1Co 5:11; Eph 5:6. See on Rom 1:29.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Boasters ( ἀλαζόνες )

Or swaggerers . Only here and Rom 1:30. See on ἀλαζονείαις boastings , Jam 4:16.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Proud ( ὑπερήφανοι )

Or haughty . See on ὑπερηφανία pride , Mar 7:22.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Blasphemers ( βλάσφημοι )

See on 1Ti 1:13. Better, railers . See also on, βλασφημία blasphemy , Mar 7:22.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Unthankful ( ἀχάριστοι )

Only here and Luk 6:35.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:2

Unholy ( ἀνόσιοι )

Only here and 1Ti 1:9 (note).

Vincent: 2Ti 3:3

Without natural affection ( ἄστοργοι )

Only here and Rom 1:31. o lxx. See on ἀγάπη love , Gal 5:22, under στέργειν to love with a natural affection .

Vincent: 2Ti 3:3

Truce-breakers ( ἄσπονδοι )

N.T.o . o lxx. Rend. implacable . From ἀ not , and σπονδαί a treaty or truce . The meaning is, refusing to enter into treaty , irreconcilable .

Vincent: 2Ti 3:3

Incontinent ( ἀκρατεῖς )

Or intemperate , without self - control . N.T.o . Once in lxx, Pro 27:20. Ἁκρασία incontinence , Mat 23:25; 1Co 7:5; 1 Macc. 6:26; Ps. of Sol. 4:3.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:3

Fierce ( ἀνήμεροι )

Or savage . N.T.o . o lxx. Comp. ἀνελεήμονες merciless , Rom 1:31.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:3

Despisers of those that are good ( ἀφιλάγαθοι )

Better, haters of good . N.T.o . o lxx, o Class. Comp. the opposite, φιλάγαθον lover of good , Tit 1:8.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors ( προδόται )

Or betrayers . Only here, Luk 6:16; Act 7:52.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:4

Heady ( προπετεῖς )

Precipitate, reckless, headstrong in the pursuit of a bad end under the influence of passion. Only here and Act 19:36. In lxx, slack , loose , hence foolish , Pro 10:14, and dividing or parting asunder , as the lips; of one who opens his lips and speaks hastily or thoughtlessly, Pro 13:3. Comp. Sir. 9:18.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:4

High-minded ( τετυφωμένοι )

Better, besotted or clouded with pride. See on 1Ti 3:6, and comp. 1Ti 6:4.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:4

Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ( φιλήδονοι μᾶλλον ἢφιλόθεοι )

Pleasure-lovers rather than God-lovers. Both words N.T.o . o lxx.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:5

A form ( μόρφωσιν )

Only here and Rom 2:20. Μορφὴ Form (for the want of any other rendering) is the expression or embodiment of the essential and permanent being of that which is expressed Μόρφωσις , lit. forming or shaping . Yet the meaning differs in different passages. In Rom 2:20, μόρφωσις is the truthful embodiment of knowledge and truth as contained in the law of God. Here, the mere outward semblance, as distinguished from the essential reality.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:5

The power ( τὴν δύναμιν )

The practical virtue. Comp. 1Co 4:20. It is impossible to overlook the influence of Rom 1:29-31 in shaping this catalogue.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:5

Turn away ( ἀποτρέπου )

N.T.o . Comp. παραιτοῦ avoid , 2Ti 2:23; ἐκτρεπόμενος turning away , 1Ti 6:20; and ἐκκλίνετε turn away , Rom 16:17.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Of this sort ( ἐκ τούτων )

Lit. of these . The formula often in Paul.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Which creep ( οἱ ἐνδύνοντες )

N.T.o . Thrust themselves into. Comp. Jud 1:4, παρεισεδύησαν crept in privily (see note); 2Pe 2:1 (note), παρεισάξουσιν shall privily bring in ; and Gal 2:4, παρεισάκτους brought in by stealth .

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Lead captive ( αἰχμαλωτίζοντες )

Only here in Pastorals. See on captives , Luk 4:18; and see on 2Co 10:5.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Silly women ( γυναικάρια )

N.T.o . o lxx. Silly is expressed by the contemptuous diminutive. Comp. Vulg. mulierculas .

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Laden ( σεσωρευμένα )

Only here and Rom 12:20, citation. In lxx, see Judith 15:11, of loading a wagon with the property of Holofernes. It implies heaped up ; heavily laden.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Led away ( ἀγόμενα )

Away is superfluous. It is only an inference. The meaning is under the direction of . Comp. Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:6

Divers ( ποικίλαις )

In Pastorals only here and Tit 3:3. Lit. variegated , of different tints . See on manifold wisdom , Eph 3:10.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:7

Ever learning

From any one who will teach them. See on 1Ti 5:13. It is a graphic picture of a large class, by no means extinct, who are caught and led by the instructions of itinerant religious quacks.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:7

Never able ( μηδέποτε δυνάμενα )

Because they have not the right motive, and because they apply to false teachers. Ellicott thinks that there is in δυνάμενα a hint of an unsuccessful endeavor, in better moments, to attain to the truth.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:8

As ( ὃν τρόπον )

The formula occurs in the Synoptic Gospels (see Mat 23:37; Luk 13:34), and in Acts (Act 1:11; Act 7:28), but not in Paul. Jannes and Jambres. According to tradition, the names of the chiefs of the magicians who opposed Moses. Exo 7:11, Exo 7:22.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:8

Of corrupt minds ( κατεφθαρμένοι τὸν νοῦν )

Better, corrupted in mind . The verb, N.T.o . Comp. διεφθαρμένων τὸν νοῦν corrupted in mind , 1Ti 6:5.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:8

Reprobate ( ἀδόκιμοι )

In Pastorals only here and Tit 1:16. A Pauline word. See on Rom 1:28, and see on castaway , 1Co 9:27.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:9

Shall proceed ( προκόψουσιν )

See on 2Ti 2:16.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:9

Folly ( ἄνοια )

Only here and Luk 6:11 (note). The senselessness of their teaching, with an implication of its immoral character.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:9

Manifest ( ἔκδηλος )

N.T.o . lxx, 3 Macc. 3:19; 6:5.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:10

Hast fully known ( παρηκολούθησας )

Better, thou didst follow . See on 1Ti 4:6. o P.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:10

Manner of life ( ἀγωγῇ )

Or conduct . N.T.o . lxx, mostly 2nd and 3rd Macc. Often in Class., but mostly in a transitive sense, leading , conducting .

Vincent: 2Ti 3:10

Purpose ( προθέσει )

See on Act 11:23; see on Rom 9:11. In Paul, only of the divine purpose.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:10

Long-suffering, charity, patience

For long - suffering , see on Jam 5:7. For charity rend. love , and see on Gal 5:22. For patience , see on 2Pe 1:6; see on Jam 5:7.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions, afflictions ( διωγμοῖς, παθήμασιν )

Διωγμός persecution , only here in Pastorals. Occasionally in Paul. Πάθημα , only here in Pastorals. Often in Paul, usually in the sense of sufferings , but twice of sinful passions , Rom 7:5; Gal 5:24.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:11

Antioch, Iconium, Lystra

See Act 13:50; Act 14:2 ff.; Act 14:19. These cities may have been selected as illustrations because Timothy was at home in that region. See Act 16:1, Act 16:2. Antioch is mentioned by Paul, Gal 2:11. Iconium and Lystra nowhere in his letters.

Vincent: 2Ti 3:11

Delivered ( ἐρύσατο )

Often in Paul. Originally, to draw to one's self ; to draw out from peril. Paul, in Rom 11:26, applies the prophecy of Isa 59:20 to Christ, who is called a ὁ ῥυόμενος the deliverer , lxx.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:1

The time of the gospel dispensation, commencing at the time of our Lord's death, is peculiarly styled the last days.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:1

Troublesome and dangerous.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:2

Even in the church.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:2

In great numbers, and to an higher degree than ever.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:2

Only, not their neighbours, the first root of evil.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:2

The second.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:3

To their own children. Intemperate, fierce - Both too soft, and too hard.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:4

Which naturally extinguishes all love and sense of God.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:5

An appearance of godliness, but not regarding, nay, even denying and blaspheming, the inward power and reality of it. Is not this eminently fulfilled at this day?

Wesley: 2Ti 3:6

That is, mere formalists.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:7

New things. But not the truth of God.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:8

Several ancient writers speak of Jannes and Jambres, as the chief of the Egyptian magicians.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:8

Impure notions and wicked inclinations.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:8

Quite ignorant, as well as careless, of true, spiritual religion.

Wesley: 2Ti 3:9

In gaining proselytes.

JFB: 2Ti 3:1

Greek, "but."

JFB: 2Ti 3:1

Preceding Christ's second coming (2Pe 3:3; Jud 1:18). "The latter times," 1Ti 4:1, refer to a period not so remote as "the last days," namely, the long days of papal and Greek anti-Christianity.

JFB: 2Ti 3:1

Literally, "difficult times," in which it is difficult to know what is to be done: "grievous times."

JFB: 2Ti 3:1

Greek, "shall be imminent"; "shall come unexpectedly" [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

In the professing Church. Compare the catalogue, Rom 1:29, &c., where much the same sins are attributed to heathen men; it shall be a relapse into virtual heathendom, with all its beast-like propensities, whence the symbol of it is "a beast" (Rev 13:1, Rev 13:11-12, &c.; Rev 17:3, Rev 17:8, Rev 17:11).

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

Translate, "money-loving," a distinct Greek word from that for "covetous" (see on Col 3:5). The cognate Greek substantive (1Ti 6:10) is so translated, "the love of money is a (Greek, not 'the') root of all evil."

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

Empty boasters [ALFORD]; boasting of having what they have not.

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

Overweening: literally, showing themselves above their fellows.

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

Rather, "evil-speakers," revilers.

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

The character of the times is even to be gathered especially from the manners of the young [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

The obligation to gratitude is next to that of obedience to parents.

JFB: 2Ti 3:2

Irreligious [ALFORD]; inobservant of the offices of piety.

JFB: 2Ti 3:3

Rather as the Greek is translated in Rom 1:31, "implacable."

JFB: 2Ti 3:3

Slanderers (1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:3).

JFB: 2Ti 3:3

At once both soft and hard: incontinently indulging themselves, and inhuman to others.

JFB: 2Ti 3:3

"no lovers of good" [ALFORD]; the opposite of "a lover of good" (Tit 1:8).

JFB: 2Ti 3:4

Precipitate in action and in passion.

JFB: 2Ti 3:4

Literally, "puffed up" with pride, as with smoke blinding them.

JFB: 2Ti 3:4

Love of pleasure destroys the love and sense of God.

JFB: 2Ti 3:5

Outward semblance.

JFB: 2Ti 3:5

Piety.

JFB: 2Ti 3:5

Rather as Greek, "having denied," that is, renounced.

JFB: 2Ti 3:5

The living, regenerating, sanctifying influence of it.

JFB: 2Ti 3:5

Implying that some of such characters, forerunners of the last days, were already in the Church.

JFB: 2Ti 3:6

Greek, "of these," such as were described (2Ti 3:5).

JFB: 2Ti 3:6

Stealthily.

JFB: 2Ti 3:6

(Isa 1:4); applying to the "silly women" whose consciences are burdened with sins, and so are a ready prey to the false teachers who promise ease of conscience if they will follow them. A bad conscience leads easily to shipwreck of faith (1Ti 1:19).

JFB: 2Ti 3:6

Not only animal lusts, but passion for change in doctrine and manner of teaching; the running after fashionable men and fashionable tenets, drawing them in the most opposite directions [ALFORD].

JFB: 2Ti 3:7

Some new point, for mere curiosity, to the disparagement of what they seemed to know before.

JFB: 2Ti 3:7

Greek, "the perfect knowledge"; the only safeguard against further novelties. Gnosticism laid hold especially of the female sex [ESTIUS, 1.13.3]: so Roman Jesuitism.

JFB: 2Ti 3:8

Greek, "But"; it is no wonder there should be now such opponents to the truth, for their prototypes existed in ancient times [ALFORD].

JFB: 2Ti 3:8

Traditional names of the Egyptian magicians who resisted Moses (Exo 7:11, Exo 7:22), derived from "the unwritten teaching of the Jews" [THEODORET]. In a point so immaterial as the names, where Scripture had not recorded them, Paul takes the names which general opinion had assigned the magicians. EUSEBIUS [Preparation of the Gospel], quotes from NUMENIUS, "Jannes and Jambres were sacred scribes (a lower order of priests in Egypt) skilled in magic." HILLER interprets "Jannes" from the Abyssinian language a trickster, and "Jambres" a juggler" (Act 13:8).

JFB: 2Ti 3:8

"withstand," as before. They did so by trying to rival Moses' miracles. So the false teachers shall exhibit lying wonders in the last days (Mat 24:24; 2Th 2:9; Rev 13:14-15).

JFB: 2Ti 3:8

Incapable of testing the truth (Rom 1:28) [BENGEL]. ALFORD takes passively, "not abiding the test"; rejected on being tested (Jer 6:30).

JFB: 2Ti 3:9

Though for a time (2Ti 2:16) "they shall advance or proceed (English Version, 'increase') unto more ungodliness," yet there is a final limit beyond which they shall not be able to "proceed further" (Job 38:11; Rev 11:7, Rev 11:11). They themselves shall "wax worse and worse" (2Ti 3:13), but they shall at last be for ever prevented from seducing others. "Often malice proceeds deeper down, when it cannot extend itself" [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Ti 3:9

Literally, "dementation": wise though they think themselves.

JFB: 2Ti 3:9

Greek, "shall be brought forth from concealment into open day" [BENGEL], (1Co 4:5).

JFB: 2Ti 3:9

As that of those magicians was, when not only could they no longer try to rival Moses in sending boils, but the boils fell upon themselves: so as to the lice (Exo 8:18; Exo 9:11).

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

Literally, "fully followed up" and traced; namely, with a view to following me as thy pattern, so far as I follow Christ; the same Greek as in Luk 1:3, "having had perfect understanding of all things." His pious mother Eunice and grandmother Lois would recommend him to study fully Paul's Christian course as a pattern. He had not been yet the companion of Paul at the time of the apostle's persecutions in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra (Act 13:50; Act 14:5, Act 14:19), but is first mentioned as such Act 16:1-3. However, he was "a disciple" already, when introduced to us in Act 16:1-3; and as Paul calls him "my own son in the faith," he must have been converted by the apostle previously; perhaps in the visit to those parts three years before. Hence arose Timothy's knowledge of Paul's persecutions, which were the common talk of the churches in those regions about the time of his conversion. The incidental allusion to them here forms an undesigned coincidence between the history and the Epistle, indicating genuineness [PALEY, Horæ Paulinæ]. A forger of Epistles from the Acts would never allude to Timothy's knowledge of persecutions, when that knowledge is not expressly mentioned in the history, but is only arrived at by indirect inference; also the omission of Derbe here, in the Epistle, is in minute accordance with the fact that in Derbe no persecution is mentioned in the history, though Derbe and Lystra are commonly mentioned together. The reason why he mentions his persecutions before Timothy became his companion, and not those subsequent, was because Timothy was familiar with the latter as an eye-witness and Paul needed not to remind him of them, but the former Timothy had traced up by seeking the information from others, especially as the date and scene of them was the date and scene of his own conversion.

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

"teaching."

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

"conduct," "behavior."

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

The Greek is elsewhere usually used of God's "purpose." But here, as in Act 11:23, of Paul's determined "purpose of heart in cleaving unto the Lord." My set aim, or resolution, in my apostolic function, and in every action is, not my selfish gain, but the glory of God in Christ.

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

Towards my adversaries, and the false teachers; towards brethren in bearing their infirmities; towards the unconverted, and the lapsed when penitent (2Ti 4:2; 2Co 6:6; Gal 5:22; Eph 4:2; Col 3:12).

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

Love to all men.

JFB: 2Ti 3:10

"endurance"; patient continuance in well-doing amidst adversities (2Ti 3:11; Rom 2:7).

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

"sufferings."

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

Greek, "such as."

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

Of Pisidia (Act 13:14, Act 13:50-51).

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

(Act 14:1-5).

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

(Act 14:6, Act 14:19).

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

How grievous.

JFB: 2Ti 3:11

(2Ti 4:17; Psa 34:17; 2Co 1:10). An encouragement to Timothy not to fear persecutions.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:1

In the last days - This often means the days of the Messiah, and is sometimes extended in its signification to the destruction of Jerusalem, as this was properly the last days of the Jewish state. But the phrase may mean any future time, whether near or distant.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

For men shall be - The description in this and the following verses the Papists apply to the Protestants; the Protestants in their turn apply it to the Papists; Schoettgen to the Jews; and others to heretics in general. There have been both teachers and people in every age of the Church, and in every age of the world, to whom these words may be most legitimately applied. Both Catholics and Protestants have been lovers of their own selves, etc.; but it is probable that the apostle had some particular age in view, in which there should appear some very essential corruption of Christianity

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Lovers of their own selves - Φιλαυτοι· Selfish, studious of their own interest, and regardless of the welfare of all mankind

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Covetous - Φιλαργυροι· Lovers of money, because of the influence which riches can procure

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Boasters - Αλαζονες· Vain glorious: self-assuming; valuing themselves beyond all others

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Proud - Ὑπερηφανοι· Airy, light, trifling persons; those who love to make a show - who are all outside; from ὑπερ, above, and φαινω, to show

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Blasphemers - Βλασφημοι· Those who speak impiously of God and sacred things, and injuriously of men

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Disobedient to parents - Γονευσιν απειθεις· Headstrong children, whom their parents cannot persuade

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Unthankful - Αχαριστοι· Persons without grace, or gracefulness; who think they have a right to the services of all men, yet feel no obligation, and consequently no gratitude

Clarke: 2Ti 3:2

Unholy - Ανοσιοι· Without piety; having no heart reverence for God.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

Without natural affection - Αστοργοι· Without that affection which parents bear to their young, and which the young bear to their parents. An affection which is common to every class of animals; consequently, men without it are worse than brutes

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

Truce-breakers - Ασπονδοι· From α, negative, and σπονδη, a libation, because in making treaties libations both of blood and wine were poured out. The word means those who are bound by no promise, held by no engagement, obliged by no oath; persons who readily promise any thing, because they never intend to perform

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

False accusers - Διαβολοι· Devils; but properly enough rendered false accusers, for this is a principal work of the devil. Slanderers; striving ever to ruin the characters of others

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

Incontinent - Ακρατεις· From α, negative, and κρατος, power. Those who, having sinned away their power of self-government, want strength to govern their appetites; especially those who are slaves to uncleanness

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

Fierce - Ανημεροι· From α, negative, and ἡμερος, mild or gentle. Wild, impetuous, whatever is contrary to pliability and gentleness

Clarke: 2Ti 3:3

Despisers of those that are good - Αφιλαγαθοι· Not lovers of good men. Here is a remarkable advantage of the Greek over the English tongue, one word of the former expressing five or six of the latter. Those who do not love the good must be radically bad themselves.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors - Προδοται· From προ, before, and διδωμι, to deliver up. Those who deliver up to an enemy the person who has put his life in their hands; such as the Scots of 1648, who delivered up into the hands of his enemies their unfortunate countryman and king, Charles the First; a stain which no lapse of ages can wipe out

Clarke: 2Ti 3:4

Heady - Προπετεις· From προ, forwards, and πιπτω, to fall; headstrong, precipitate, rash, inconsiderate

Clarke: 2Ti 3:4

High-minded - Τετυφωμενοι· From τυφος, smoke; the frivolously aspiring; those who are full of themselves, and empty of all good

Clarke: 2Ti 3:4

Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God - This is nervously and beautifully expressed in the Greek, φιληδονοι μαλλον η φιλοθεοι lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; i.e. pleasure, sensual gratification, is their god; and this they love and serve; God they do not.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness - The original word μορφωσις signifies a draught, sketch, or summary, and will apply well to those who have all their religion in their creed, confession of faith, catechism, bodies of divinity, etc., while destitute of the life of God in their souls; and are not only destitute of this life, but deny that such life or power is here to be experienced or known. They have religion in their creed, but none in their hearts. And perhaps to their summary they add a decent round of religious observances. From such turn away - not only do not imitate them, but have no kind of fellowship with them; they are a dangerous people, and but seldom suspected, because their outside is fair.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:6

For of this sort are they - He here refers to false teachers and their insinuating manners, practising upon weak women, who, seeing in them such a semblance of piety, entertain them with great eagerness, and at last become partakers with them in their impurities. Among the Jews there are remarkable cases of this kind on record, and not a few of them among the full fed monks of the Romish Church. But in what sect or party have not such teachers been occasionally found? yet neither Judaism, Protestantism, nor Roman Catholicism makes any provision for such men.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:7

Ever learning - From their false teachers, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, because that teaching never leads to the truth; for, although there was a form of godliness, which gave them a sort of authority to teach, yet, as they denied the power of godliness, they never could bring their votaries to the knowledge of the saving power of Christianity

There are many professors of Christianity still who answer the above description. They hear, repeatedly hear, it may be, good sermons; but, as they seldom meditate on what they hear, they derive little profit from the ordinances of God. They have no more grace now than they had several years ago, though hearing all the while, and perhaps not wickedly departing from the Lord. They do not meditate, they do not think, they do not reduce what they hear to practice; therefore, even under the preaching of an apostle, they could not become wise to salvation.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:8

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses - This refers to the history of the Egyptian magicians, given in Exodus 7 (see on Exo 7:11 (note) and Exo 7:12 (note)), and particularly the concluding observations at the end of that chapter, (note) where several things are said concerning these two men

Clarke: 2Ti 3:8

Men of corrupt minds - It appears as if the apostle were referring still to some Judaizing teachers who were perverting the Church with their doctrines, and loudly calling in question the authority and doctrine of the apostle

Clarke: 2Ti 3:8

Reprobate concerning the faith - Αδοκιμοι· Undiscerning or untried; they are base metal, unstamped; and should not pass current, because not standard. This metaphor is frequent in the sacred writings.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:9

But they shall proceed no farther - Such teaching and teachers shall never be able ultimately to prevail against the truth; for the foundation of God standeth sure

Clarke: 2Ti 3:9

Their folly shall be manifest - As the Scriptures, which are the only rule of morals and doctrine, shall ever be preserved; so, sooner or later, all false doctrines shall be tried by them: and the folly of men, setting up their wisdom against the wisdom of God, must become manifest to all. False doctrine cannot prevail long where the sacred Scriptures are read and studied. Error prevails only where the book of God is withheld from the people. The religion that fears the Bible is not the religion of God. Is Popery or Protestantism this religion?

Clarke: 2Ti 3:10

Thou hast fully known my doctrine - And having long had the opportunity of knowing me, the doctrine I preached, my conduct founded on these doctrines, the object I have in view by my preaching, my fidelity to God and to my trust, my long-suffering with those who walked disorderly, and opposed themselves to the truth, and did what they could to lessen my authority and render it suspected, my love to them and to the world in general, and my patience in all my adversities; thou art capable of judging between me and the false teachers, and canst easily discern the difference between their doctrines, conduct, motives, temper, spirit, etc., and mine.

Clarke: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions - which came unto me at Antioch - The Antioch mentioned here was Antioch in Pisidia, to which place Paul and Barnabas came in their first apostolic progress, and where Paul delivered that memorable discourse which is preserved in the 13th chapter of Acts, Acts 13:16-43. In this city, it is said, the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts; but they shook of the dust of their feet against them, and came to Iconium, Act 13:50, Act 13:51. Here there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers, to treat them despitefully, and to stone them, and they fled unto Lystra and Derbe; and there came thither certain Jews, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. The historian informs us that his life was miraculously restored, and that he departed thence, and came to Derbe, and afterwards returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they had lately been so grievously persecuted. See Act 14:5, Act 14:6, Act 14:19-21. These are the persecutions, etc., to which the apostle alludes; and we find that he mentions them here precisely in the same order in which, according to the relation of St. Luke, they occurred. Now it is said here that Timothy fully knew all these things; and we may naturally suppose they could not be unknown to him, when it is evident he was either a native of, or resided in, those parts; for when the apostle, sometime after the above, visited Derbe and Lystra, behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium; Act 16:1, Act 16:2. As these things happened in his own neighborhood, Timothy must have known them; for a person who had such a religious education as he had could not be unacquainted with these persecutions, especially as we may believe that his mother and grandmother had been converts to Christianity at that time. See several useful remarks in Dr. Paley’ s Horae Paulinae, on these circumstances, page 312.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:1

1.But know this By this prediction he intended still more to sharpen his diligence; for, when matters go on to our wish, we become more careless; but necessity urges us keenly. Paul, therefore informs him, that the Church will be subject to terrible diseases, which will require in the pastors uncommon fidelity, diligence, watchfulness, prudence, and unwearied constancy; as if he enjoined Timothy to prepare for arduous and deeply anxious contests which awaited him. And hence we learn, that, so far from giving way, or being terrified, on account of any difficulties whatsoever, we ought, on the contrary. to arouse our hearts for resistance.

In the last days Under “the last days,” he includes the universal condition of the Christian Church. Nor does he compare his own age with ours, but, on the contrary, informs Timothy what will be the future condition of the kingdom of Christ; for many imagined some sort of condition that would be absolutely peaceful, and free from any annoyance. ¹⁸² In short, he means that there will not be, even under the gospel, such a state of perfection, that all vices shall be banished, and virtues of every kind shall flourish; and that therefore the pastors of the Christian Church will have quite as much to do with wicked and ungodly men as the prophets and godly priests had in ancient times. Hence it follows, that there is no time for idleness or for repose.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:2

2.For men will be It is proper to remark, first, in what he makes the hardship of those “dangerous” or “troublesome” times to consist; not in war, nor in famine, nor in diseases, nor in any calamities or inconveniences to which the body is incident, but in the wicked and depraved actions of men. And, indeed, nothing is so distressingly painful to godly men, and to those who truly fear God, as to behold such corruptions of morals; for, as there is nothing which they value more highly than the glory of God, so they cannot but suffer grievous anguish when it is attacked or despised.

Secondly, it ought to be remarked, who are the persons of whom he speaks. They whom he briefly describes are not external enemies, who openly assail the name of Christ, but domestics, who wish to be reckoned among the members of the Church; for God wishes to try his Church to such an extent as to carry within her bosom such plagues, though she abhors to entertain them. So then, if in the present day many whom we justly abhor are mingled within us, let us learn to groan patiently under that burden, when we are informed that this is the lot of the Christian Church.

Next, it is wonderful that those persons, whom Paul pronounces to be guilty of so many and so aggravated acts of wickedness, can keep up the appearance of piety, as he also declares. But daily experience shows that we ought not to regard this as so wonderful; for such is the amazing audacity and wickedness of hypocrites, that, even in excusing the grossest crimes, they are excessively impudent, after having once learned falsely to shelter themselves under the name of God. In ancient times, how many crimes abounded in the life of the Pharisees? And yet, as if they had been pure from every stain, they enjoyed a reputation of eminent holiness.

Even in the present day, although the lewdness of the Popish clergy is such that it stinks in the nostrils of the whole world, still, in spite of their wickedness, they do not cease to arrogate proudly to themselves all the rights and titles of saints. Accordingly, when Paul says that hypocrites, though they are chargeable with the grossest vices, nevertheless deceive under a mask of piety, this ought not to appear strange, when we have examples before our eyes. And, indeed, the world deserves to be deceived by those wicked scoundrels, when it either despises or cannot endure true holiness. Besides, Paul enumerates those vices which are not visible at first sight, and which are even the ordinary attendants of pretended holiness. Is there a hypocrite who is not proud, who is not a lover of himself, who is not a despiser of others, who is not fierce and cruel, who is not treacherous? But all these are concealed from the eyes of men. ¹⁸³

To spend time in explaining every word would be superfluous; for the words do not need exposition. Only let my readers observe thatφιλαυτία, self-love, which is put first, may be regarded as the source from which flow all the vices that follow afterwards. He who loveth himself claims a superiority in everything, despises all others, is cruel, indulges in covetousness, treachery, anger, rebellion against parents, neglect of what is good, and such like. As it was the design of Paul to brand false prophets with such marks, that they might be seen and known by all; it is our duty to open our eyes, that we may see those who are pointed out with the finger.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:5

5.From those turn away. This exhortation sufficiently shows that Paul does not speak of a distant posterity, nor foretell what would happen many ages afterwards; but that, by pointing out present evils, he applies to his own age what he had said about “the last times;” for how could Timothy “turn away” from those who were not to arise till many centuries afterwards? So then, from the very beginning of the gospel, the Church must have begun to be affected by such corruptions.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:6

6.Of those are they who creep into families You would say, that here Paul intentionally draws a lively picture of the order of monks. But without saying a single word about monks, those marks by which Paul distinguishes false and pretended teachers are sufficiently clear; creeping into houses, snares for catching silly women, mean flattery, imposing upon people by various superstitions. These marks it is proper to observe carefully, if we wish to distinguish between useless drones and faithful ministers of Christ. These former are here marked by so black a coal, that it is of no use for them to shuffle. To “creep into families” means to enter stealthily, or to seek an entrance by cunning methods.

And lead captive silly women laden with sins Now, he speaks of “women” rather than men, because the former are more liable to be led astray in this manner. He says that they “are led captive,” because false prophets of this sort, through various tricks, gain their ear, partly by prying curiously into all their affairs, and partly by flattery. And this is what he immediately adds, “laden with sins;” for, if they had not been bound by the chain of a bad conscience, they would not have allowed themselves to be led away, in every possible manner, at the will of others.

By various sinful desires I consider “sinful desires” to denote generally those foolish and light desires by which women, who do not seek God sincerely, and yet wish to be reckoned religious and holy, are carried away. There is no end of the methods adopted by them, when, departing from a good conscience, they are constantly assuming new masks. Chrysostom is more disposed to refer it to disgraceful and immodest desires; but, when I examine the context, I prefer the former exposition; for it immediately follows —

Calvin: 2Ti 3:7

7.Always learning, while yet they never can come to the knowledge of the truth That fluctuation between various desires, of which he now speaks, is when, having nothing solid in themselves, they are tossed about in all directions. They “learn,” he says, as people do who are under the influence of curiosity, and with a restless mind, but in such a manner as never to arrive at any certainty or truth. It is ill-conducted study, and widely different from knowledge. And yet such persons think themselves prodigiously wise; but what they know is nothing, so long as they do not hold the truth, which is the foundation of all knowledge.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:8

8.And as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses This comparison confirms what I have already said about the “last times”, for he means that the same thing happens to us under the gospel, which the Church experienced almost from her very commencement, or at least since the law was published. In like manner the Psalmist also speaks largely about the unceasing battles of the Church.

“Often did they fight against me from my youth, now let Israel say. The wicked ploughed upon my back, they made long their furrows.” (Psa 129:1)

Paul reminds us, that we need not wonder if adversaries rise up against Christ to oppose his gospel, since Moses likewise had those who contended with him; for these examples drawn from a remote antiquity yield us strong consolation.

It is generally believed; that the two who are mentioned, “Jannes and Jambres,” were magicians put forward by Pharaoh. But from what source Paul learned their names is doubtful, except that it is probable, that many things relating to those histories were handed down, the memory of which God never permitted to perish. It is also possible that in Paul’s time there were commentaries on the prophets that gave more fully those narratives which Moses touches very briefly. However that may be, it is not at random that he calls them by their names. The reason why there were two of them may be conjectured to have been this, that, because the Lord had raised up for his people two leaders, Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh determined to place against them the like number of magicians.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:9

9.But they shall not proceed further He encourages Timothy for the contest, by the confident hope of victory; for, although false teachers give him annoyance, he promises that they shall be, within a short time, disgracefully ruined. ¹⁸⁴ Yet the event does not agree with this promise; and the Apostle appears to make a totally different declaration, a little afterwards, when he says that they will grow worse and worse. Nor is there any force in the explanation given by Chrysostom, that they will grow worse every day, but will do no injury to any person; for he expressly adds, “deceived and deceiving;” and, indeed, the truth of this is proved by experience. It is more correct to say, that he looked at them in various aspects; for the affirmation, that they will not make progress, is not universal; but he only means, that the Lord will discover their madness to many whom they had, at first, deceived by their enchantments.

For their folly shall be manifest to all When he says, to all, it is by a figure of speech, in which the whole is taken for a part. And, indeed, they who are most successful in deceiving do, at first, make great boasting, and obtain loud applause; and, in short, it appears as if nothing were beyond their power. But speedily their tricks vanish into air; for the Lord opens the eyes of many, so that they begin to see what was concealed from them for a time. Yet never is the “folly” of false prophets discovered to such an extent as to be known to all. Besides, no sooner is one error driven away than new errors continually spring up.

Both admonitions are therefore necessary. That godly teachers may not despair, as if it were in vain for them to make war against error, they must be instructed about the prosperous success which the Lord will give to his doctrine. But that they may not think, on the other hand, that they are discharged from future service, after one or two battles, they must be reminded that there will always be new occasion for fighting. But on this second point we shall speak afterwards; at present, let it suffice us, that he holds out to Timothy the sure hope of a successful issue, that he may be time more encouraged to fight, And he confirms this by the example which he had quoted; for, as the truth of God prevailed against the tricks of the magicians, so he promises that the doctrine of the gospel shall be victorious against every kind of errors that may be invented.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:10

10.But thou hast followed ¹⁸⁵ In order to urge Timothy, he employs this argument also, that he is not an ignorant and untaught soldier, because Paul carried him through a long course of training. Nor does he speak of doctrine only; for those things which he likewise enumerates add much weight, and he gives to us, in this sentence, a very lively picture of a good teacher, as one who does not, by words only, train and instruct his disciples, but, so to speak, opens his very breast to them, that they may know, that whatever he teaches, he teaches sincerely. This is what is implied in the word purpose He likewise adds other proofs of sincere and unfeigned affection, such as faith, mildness, love, patience Such were the early instructions which had been imparted to Timothy in the school of Paul. Yet he does not merely bring to remembrance what he had learned from him, but bears testimony to his former life, that in this manner he may urge him to perseverance; for he praises him as an imitator of his own virtues; as if he had said, “Thou hast been long accustomed to follow my instructions; I ask nothing more than that thou shouldst go on as thou hast begun.” It is his wish, however; that the example of his “faith, love, and patience” should be constantly before the eyes of Timothy; and for that reason he dwells chiefly on his persecutions, which were best known to him.

Calvin: 2Ti 3:11

11.But out of them all the Lord delivered me It is a consolation which mitigates the bitterness of afflictions, that they always have a happy and joyful end. If it be objected, that the success of which he boasts is not always visible, I acknowledge that this is true, so far as relates to the feeling of the flesh; for Paul had not yet been delivered. But when God sometimes delivers us, he testifies, in this manner, that he is present with us, and will always be present; for from the feeling, or actual knowledge, of present aid, our confidence ought to be extended to the future. The meaning, therefore, is as if he had said, “Thou hast known by experience that God hath never forsaken me, so that thou hast no right to hesitate to follow my example.”

Defender: 2Ti 3:1

The "last days" were obviously still far in the future from Paul's perspective.

Defender: 2Ti 3:1

"Perilous" could also be translated as "fierce" or "furious." It is used only one other time, in connection with the demoniacs in the country of the Gergesenes, describing them as "exceeding fierce" (Mat 8:28). The world will become increasingly violent and dangerous as the end approaches."

Defender: 2Ti 3:2

This catalog of characteristics of the dangerous last days begins with what is, essentially, a definition of modern humanists - "lovers of their own selves." The entire list seems peculiarly descriptive of the emphases and attributes of modern evolutionary humanism. Furthermore, these characteristics seem to be a duplication of ancient pantheistic paganism, as outlined in Rom 1:29-31, except that the characteristics listed here in Paul's letter to Timothy seem to be developing within the framework of the professing church rather than the pagan world. In other words, there will be little distinction between the secular world and the religious world in the last days. Note, in particular, the cult of self-love, now being strongly promoted by secular psychologists and increasingly prominent even in counseling methods used in modern evangelical churches, as the answer to all psychological and sociological problems.

Defender: 2Ti 3:2

Covetousness is idolatry, the worship of the money god, mammon (Luk 16:9). The Greek word here used for "covetous" means "money-loving" (philarguros, "lover of silver") See also 1Ti 6:10 and Eph 5:5.

Defender: 2Ti 3:2

Humanistic pride - whether of riches, intellect, physical strength, beauty, position or anything else - is the sin of the devil (1Ti 3:6), eventually leading to self-worship as well as self-love."

Defender: 2Ti 3:3

The implication is that their "affection" is "unnatural." (Rom 1:26, Rom 1:27). Evidently, a great and dangerous increase of perverse sexual behavior will characterize the last days.

Defender: 2Ti 3:3

Translated "implacable" in Rom 1:31. The etymology of the word suggests people who refuse to make or honor treaties or agreements.

Defender: 2Ti 3:3

The Greek for "false accusers" is diabolos, meaning "slanderers" or "devils." Satan himself is the diabolos, the devil, the false "accuser of our brethren" (Rev 12:10), and there are, today, a multitude of people slandering Bible-believing Christians, doing the specific work of the devil.

Defender: 2Ti 3:3

The Greek for "incontinent" (akrates) means "without strength," in context, powerless to do right."

Defender: 2Ti 3:4

This word was used of Judas (Luk 6:16), who betrayed Christ, suggesting that the latter-day church harbors many Christ-betrayers.

Defender: 2Ti 3:4

The word means puffed up.

Defender: 2Ti 3:4

One need only compare the number of pleasure-seekers on the Lord's Day to the number of people in church."

Defender: 2Ti 3:5

These last-day humanists will have a pseudo-religion but will deny its power, its supernatural aspects (creation, miracles, second coming, heaven, hell, regeneration). This description would apply specifically to religious humanists, to the liberal theologians who dominate the mainline denominations, to modernists, and to most New Age cultists (see notes on 2Pe 3:3-6)."

Defender: 2Ti 3:6

The Greek word for "silly women" is the diminutive of the word for wife or woman. The concept is that of a pseudo-woman, a woman who minimizes her feminine nature, seeking to be something she was not created by God to be. The word only occurs here."

Defender: 2Ti 3:7

This is the precise emphasis of modern intellectual educators. They say there is no absolute truth. They also contend we must continually be searching for truth but can never really find ultimate truth and should never make such a claim."

Defender: 2Ti 3:8

The names of these Egyptian magicians are not given in the Biblical account (Exo 7:11) but are the traditional names handed down in extra-Biblical accounts. The book of Jasher says that Jannes and Jambres were sons of the false prophet Balaam.

Defender: 2Ti 3:8

The reason why the latter-day religious humanists and liberals can never "come to the knowledge of the truth" (2Ti 3:7) is simply because they, like Pharaoh's wise men, "resist the truth" when they hear it, thus acquiring a "reprobate mind" (Rom 1:28)."

TSK: 2Ti 3:1

in : 2Ti 4:3; Gen 49:1; Isa 2:2; Jer 48:47, Jer 49:39; Eze 38:16; Dan 10:14; Hos 3:5; Mic 4:1; 1Ti 4:1; 2Pe 3:3; 1Jo 2:18; Jud 1:17

perilous : Dan 7:8, Dan 7:20-25, Dan 8:8-14, Dan 11:36-45, Dan 12:1, Dan 12:7, Dan 12:11; 2Th 2:3-12; 1Ti 4:1-3; Rev. 8:1-17:18

TSK: 2Ti 3:2

lovers : 2Ti 3:4; Rom 15:1-3; 2Co 5:15; Phi 2:21; Jam 2:8

covetous : Luk 12:15; Rom 1:29; Col 3:5; 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:15; Jud 1:11, Jud 1:16; Rev 18:12, Rev 18:13

boasters : Psa 10:3, Psa 49:6, Psa 52:1; Isa 10:15; Act 5:36; Rom 1:29-31, Rom 11:18; 2Th 2:4; Jam 4:16; 2Pe 2:18; Jud 1:16

proud : Pro 6:17; 1Ti 6:4; Jam 4:6; 1Pe 5:5

blasphemers : Dan 7:25, Dan 11:36; 1Ti 1:20; 2Pe 2:12; Jud 1:10; Rev 13:1, Rev 13:5, Rev 13:6, Rev 16:9, Rev 16:11, Rev 16:21

disobedient : Mat 15:6; Mar 7:11, Mar 7:12; Rom 1:30

TSK: 2Ti 3:3

natural : Mat 10:21; Rom 1:31

trucebreakers : 2Sa 21:1-3; Psa 15:4; Eze 17:15-19; Rom 1:31 *Gr.

false accusers : or, make-bates, Mat 4:1; Joh 6:70; 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:3, All in Gr

incontinent : 1Co 7:5, 1Co 7:9; 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:19, 2Pe 3:3; Jud 1:16, Jud 1:18

fierce : Gen 49:7; Dan 8:23; Rev 13:15, Rev 13:17, Rev 16:6, Rev 17:6

despisers : Psa 22:6; Isa 53:3, Isa 60:14; Luk 10:16, Luk 16:14; 1Th 4:8; Jam 2:6

TSK: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors : 2Pe 2:10-22; Jud 1:8, Jud 1:9

highminded : Rom 11:20; 1Ti 6:17

lovers of God : Rom 16:18; Phi 3:18, Phi 3:19; 1Ti 5:6; 2Pe 2:13, 2Pe 2:15; Jud 1:4, Jud 1:19

TSK: 2Ti 3:5

a form : Isa 29:13, Isa 48:1, Isa 48:2, Isa 58:1-3; Eze 33:30-32; Mat 7:15, Mat 23:27, Mat 23:28; Rom 2:20-24; 1Ti 5:8; Tit 1:16

from : 2Ti 2:16, 2Ti 2:23; Rom 16:17, Rom 16:18; Eph 4:14; 2Th 3:6, 2Th 3:14; 1Ti 6:5; Tit 3:10; 2Jo 1:10-12

TSK: 2Ti 3:6

of this : Mat 23:14; Tit 1:11; Jud 1:4

laden : Psa 38:4; Isa 1:4; Mat 11:28

led : 1Co 12:2; 2Pe 3:17

divers : Mar 4:19; 1Ti 6:9; Tit 3:3; 2Pe 2:18; Jud 1:16, Jud 1:18

TSK: 2Ti 3:7

learning : 2Ti 4:3, 2Ti 4:4; Deu 29:4; Pro 14:6; Isa 30:10,Isa 30:11; Eze 14:4-10; Mat 13:11; Joh 3:20,Joh 3:21, Joh 5:44, Joh 12:42, Joh 12:43; 1Co 3:1-4; Eph 4:14; Heb 5:11

never : 1Ti 2:4

the knowledge : 2Ti 2:25

TSK: 2Ti 3:8

as : Exo 7:11, Exo 7:22, Exo 8:7, Exo 8:18

resist : 2Ti 4:15; 1Ki 22:22-24; Jer. 28:1-17; Act 13:8-11, Act 15:24; Gal 1:7-9, Gal 2:4, Gal 2:5; Eph 4:14; 2Th 2:9-11; Tit 1:10; 2Pe 2:1-3; 1Jo 2:18, 1Jo 4:1; Rev 2:6, Rev 2:14, Rev 2:15, Rev 2:20

men : Act 8:21, Act 8:22; Rom 1:28, Rom 16:18; 2Co 11:13-15; 1Ti 1:19, 1Ti 4:2, 1Ti 6:5; Tit 1:16; 2Pe 2:14; Jud 1:18, Jud 1:19

reprobate : or, of no judgment, 2Co 13:5, 2Co 13:6

TSK: 2Ti 3:9

their : 2Ti 3:8; Exo 7:12, Exo 8:18, Exo 8:19, Exo 9:11; 1Ki 22:25; Psa 76:10; Jer 28:15-17; Jer 29:21-23, Jer 29:31, Jer 29:32, Jer 37:19; Act 13:11, Act 19:15-17

TSK: 2Ti 3:10

thou hast fully known : or, thou hast been a diligent follower of, Luk 1:3; Phi 2:22; 1Ti 4:6 *Gr.

my : 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17, 2Ti 4:3; Act 2:42; Rom 16:17; Eph 4:14; 1Ti 1:3, 1Ti 4:12, 1Ti 4:13; Tit 2:7; Heb 13:9; 2Jo 1:9, 2Jo 1:10

manner : Act 20:18, Act 26:4; 1Th 1:5; 2Pe 3:11

purpose : Dan 1:8; Act 11:23; 2Co 1:17

faith : 2Ti 2:22; 2Co 6:4-10; 1Ti 4:12, 1Ti 6:11; 2Pe 1:5-7

TSK: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions : Act 9:16, Act 20:19, Act 20:23, Act 20:24; Rom 8:35-37; 1Co 4:9-11; 2Co 1:8-10, 2Co 4:8-11; 2Co 11:23-28; Heb 10:33-34

at Antioch : Act 13:45, Act 13:50,Act 13:51, Act 14:2, Act 14:5, Act 14:6, Act 14:19-21

but : 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:17, 2Ti 4:18; Gen 48:16; 2Sa 22:1, 2Sa 22:49; Job 5:19, Job 5:20; Psa 34:19, Psa 37:40; Psa 91:2-6, Psa 91:14; Isa 41:10,Isa 41:14, Isa 43:2; Jer 1:19; Dan 6:27; Act 9:23-25; Act 21:32, Act 21:33, Act 23:10,Act 23:12-24, Act 25:3, Act 25:4, Act 26:17, Act 26:22; 2Co 1:10; 2Pe 2:9

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Ti 3:1

This know also - The "object"of this reference to the perilous times which were to occur, was evidently to show the necessity of using every precaution to preserve the purity of the church, from the fact that such sad scenes were to open upon it. The apostle had dwelt upon this subject in his First Epistle to Timothy 2 Tim. 4, but its importance leads him to advert to it again.

In the last days - Under the gospel dispensation; some time in that period during which the affairs of the world will be closed up; see the 1Ti 4:1 note, and Heb 1:2 note.

Perilous times shall come - Times of danger, of persecution, and of trial. On the general meaning of this passage, and the general characteristics of those times, the reader may consult the 2Th 2:1-12 notes, and 1Ti 4:1-3 notes. There can be no doubt that in all these passages the apostle refers to the same events.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:2

For men shall be lovers of their own selves - It shall be one of the characteristics of those times that men shall be eminently selfish - evidently under the garb of religion; 2Ti 3:5. The word here used - φίλαυτος philautos - does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means a lover of oneself, "selfish."Such a love of self as to lead us to secure our salvation, is proper. But this interferes with the rights and happiness of no other persons. The selfishness which is condemned, is that regard to our own interests which interferes with the rights and comforts of others; which makes self the central and leading object of living; and which tramples on all that would interfere with that. As such, it is a base, and hateful, and narrow passion; but it has been so common in the world that no one can doubt the correctness of the prophecy of the apostle that it would exist "in the last times."

Covetous - Greek, Lovers of silver; i. e., of money; Luk 6:14; see the notes at 1Ti 6:20.

Boasters - see the notes at Rom 1:30.

Proud - see the notes at Rom 1:30.

Blasphemers - see the notes at Mat 9:3.

Disobedient to parents - see the notes at Rom 1:30.

Unthankful - see Luk 6:35. The word here used occurs in the New Testament only in these two places. Ingratitude has always been regarded as one of the worst of crimes. It is said here that it would characterize that wicked age of which the apostle speaks, and its prevalence would, as it always does, indicate a decline of religion. Religion makes us grateful to every benefactor - to God, and to man.

Unholy - see the notes at 1Ti 1:9.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:3

Without natural affection - see the notes at Rom 1:31.

Trucebreakers - The same word in Rom 1:31, is rendered "implacable;"see the notes at that verse. It properly means "without treaty;"that is, those who are averse to any treaty or compact. It may thus refer to those who are unwilling to enter into any agreement; that is, either those who are unwilling to be reconciled to others when there is a variance - implacable; or those who disregard treaties or agreements. In either case, this marks a very corrupt condition of society. Nothing would be more indicative of the lowest state of degradation, than that in which all compacts and agreements were utterly disregarded.

False accusers - Margin, "makebates."The word "makebate"means one who excites contentions and quarrels. Webster. The Greek here is διάβολοι diaboloi - "devils"- the primitive meaning of which is, "calumniator, slanderer, accuser;"compare the notes at 1Ti 3:11, where the word is rendered "slanderers."

Incontinent - 1Co 7:5. Literally, "without strength;"that is, without strength to resist the solicitations of passion, or who readily yield to it.

Fierce - The Greek word used here - ἀνήμερος anēmeros - does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means "ungentle, harsh, severe,"and is the opposite of gentleness and mildness. Religion produces gentleness; the want of it makes men rough, harsh, cruel; compare the notes at 2Ti 2:24.

Despisers of those that are good - In Tit 1:8, it is said of a bishop that he must be "a lover of good men."This, in every condition of life, is a virtue, and hence, the opposite of it is here set down as one of the characteristics of that evil age of which the apostle speaks.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors - This word is used in the New Testament only here and in Luk 6:16; Act 7:52. It means any one who betrays - whether it be a friend or his country. Treason has been in all ages regarded as one of the worst crimes that man can commit.

Heady - The same word in Act 19:36, is rendered rashly. It occurs only there and in this place in the New Testament. It properly means "falling forwards; prone, inclined, ready to do anything; then precipitate, headlong, rash."It is opposed to that which is deliberate and calm, and here means that men would be ready to do anything without deliberation, or concern for the consequences. They would engage in enterprises which would only disturb society, or prove their own ruin.

High-minded - Literally, "puffed up;"compare the notes at 1Ti 3:6, where the same word is rendered "lifted up with pride."The meaning is, that they would be inflated with pride or self-conceit.

Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God - That is, of sensual pleasures, or vain amusements. This has been, and is, the characteristic of a great part of the world, and has often distinguished even many who profess religion. Of a large portion of mankind it may be said that this is their characteristic, that they live for pleasure; they have no serious pursuits; they brook no restraints which interfere with their amusements, and they greatly prefer the pleasures to be found in the gay assembly, in the ball-room, or in the place of low dissipation, to the friendship of their Creator.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness - That is, they profess religion, or are in connection with the church. This shows that the apostle referred to some great corruption in the church; and there can be little doubt that he had his eye on the same great apostasy to which he refers in 2 Thes. 2:, and 1 Tim. 4: All these things to which he refers here have been practiced and tolerated in that apostate church, while no body of men, at any time, have been more zealous in maintaining "a form of godliness;"that is, in keeping up the forms of religion.

But denying the power thereof - Opposing the real power of religion; not allowing it to exert any influence in their lives. It imposes no restraint on their passions and carnal propensities, but in all respects, except in the form of religion, they live as if they had None. This has been common in the world. The most regular and bigoted adherence to the forms of religion furnishes no evidence in itself that there is any true piety at heart, or that true religion has any actual control over the soul. It is much easier for people to observe the forms of religion than it is to bring the heart under its controlling influence.

From such turn away - Have no contact with them as if they were Christians; show no countenance to their religion; do not associate with them; compare 2Jo 1:10-11; see the notes at 2Co 6:17.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:6

For of this sort are they which creep into houses - Who go slyly and insidiously into families. They are not open and manly in endeavoring to propagate their views, but they endeavor by their address to ingratiate themselves first with weak women, and through them to influence men; compare Tit 1:11. The word translated "creep into,"is rendered by Doddridge, "insinuate themselves;"by Bloomfield, "wind their way into,"in the manner of serpents; by Bretschneider, "deceitfully enter;"by Robinson and Passow,"go in, enter in."It is not certain that the idea of deceit or cunning is contained in this "word,"yet the whole complexion of the passage implies that they made their way by art and deceitful tricks.

And lead captive silly women - One of the tricks always played by the advocates of error, and one of the ways by which they seek to promote their purposes. Satan began his work of temptation with Eve rather than with Adam, and the advocates of error usually follow his example. There are always weak-minded women enough in any community to give an opportunity of practicing these arts, and often the aims of the impostor and deceiver can be best secured by appealing to them. Such women are easily flattered; they are charmed by the graceful manners of religious instructors; they lend a willing ear to anything that has the appearance of religion, and their hearts are open to anything that promises to advance the welfare of the world. At the same time, they are just such persons as the propagators of error can rely upon. They have leisure; they have wealth; they are busy; they move about in society, and by their activity they obtain an influence to which they are by no means entitled by their piety or talents. There are, indeed, very many women in the world who cannot be so easily led away as men; but it cannot be denied also that there are those who are just adapted to the purposes of such as seek to spread plausible error. The word rendered "silly women,"means properly "little women,"and then "weak women."

Laden with sins - With so many sins that they seem to be "burdened"with them. The idea is, that they are under the influence of sinful desires and propensities, and hence, are better adapted to the purposes of deceivers.

Led away with divers lusts - With various kinds of passions or desires - ἐπιθυμίας epithumias - such as pride, vanity, the love of novelty, or a susceptibility to flattery, so as to make them an easy prey to deceivers.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:7

Ever learning - That is, these "silly women;"for so the Greek demands. The idea is, that they seeM to be disciples. They put themselves wholly under the care of these professedly religious teachers, but they never acquire the true knowledge of the way of salvation.

And never able to come to the knowledge of the truth - They may learn many things, but the true nature of religion they do not learn. There are many such persons in the world, who, whatever attention they may pay to religion, never understand its nature. Many obtain much speculative acquaintance with the "doctrines"of Christianity, but never become savingly acquainted with the system; many study the constitution and government of the church, but remain strangers to practical piety; many become familiar with the various philosophical theories of religion, but never become truly acquainted with what religion is; and many embrace visionary theories, who never show that they are influenced by the spirit of the gospel. Nothing is more common than for persons to be very busy and active in religion, and even to "learn"many things about it, who still remain strangers to the saving power of the gospel.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:8

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses - The names of these two men are not elsewhere mentioned in the Bible. They are supposed to have been two of the magicians who resisted Moses (Exo 7:11, et al.), and who opposed their miracles to those of Moses and Aaron. It is not certain where the apostle obtained their names; but they are frequently mentioned by the Hebrew writers, and also by other writers; so that there can be no reasonable doubt that their names were correctly handed down by tradition. Nothing is more probable than that the names of the more distinguished magicians who attempted to imitate the miracles of Moses, would be preserved by tradition; and though they are not mentioned by Moses himself, and the Jews have told many ridiculous stories respecting them, yet this should not lead us to doubt the truth of the tradition respecting their names. A full collection of the Jewish statements in regard to them may be found in Wetstein, in loc.

They are also mentioned by Pliny, Nat. Hist. 30:7; and by Numenius, the philosopher, as quoted by Eusebius, 9:8, and Origen, against Celsus, p. 199. See Wetstein. By the rabbinical writers, they are sometimes mentioned as Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Egypt, and sometimes as the sons of Balaam. The more common account is, that they were the princes of the Egyptian magicians. One of the Jewish rabbins represents them as having been convinced by the miracles of Moses, and as having become converts to the Hebrew religion. There is no reason to doubt that these were in fact the leading men who opposed Moses in Egypt, by attempting to work counter-miracles. The point of the remark of the apostle here, is, that they resisted Moses by attempting to imitate his miracles, thus neutralizing the evidence that he was sent from God. In like manner, the persons here referred to, opposed the progress of the gospel by setting up a similar claim to that of the apostles; by pretending to have as much authority as they had; and by thus neutralizing the claims of the true religion, and leading off weak-minded persons from the truth. This is often the most dangerous kind of opposition that is made to religion.

Men of corrupt minds; - compare the notes at 1Ti 6:5.

Reprobate concerning the faith - So far as the Christian faith is concerned. On the word rendered "reprobate,"see the Rom 1:28 note; 1Co 9:27 note, rendered "cast-away;"2Co 13:5 note. The margin here is, "of no judgment."The meaning is, that in respect to the Christian faith, or the doctrines of religion, their views could not be approved, and they were not to be regarded as true teachers of religion.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:9

But they shall proceed no further - There is a certain point beyond which they will not be allowed to go. Their folly will become manifest, and the world will understand it. The apostle does not say how far these false teachers would be allowed to go, but that they would not be suffered always to prosper and prevail. They might be plausible at first, and lead many astray; they might, by art and cunning, cover up the real character of their system; but there would be a fair development of it, and it would be seen to be folly. The apostle here may be understood as declaring a general truth in regard to error. It often is so plausible at first, that it seems to be true. It wins the hearts of many persons, and leads them astray. It flatters them personally, or it flatters them with the hope of a better state of things in the church and the world. But the time will always come when men will see the folly of it. Error will advance only to a certain point, when it will be "seen"to be falsehood and folly, and when the world will arise and cast it off. In some cases, this point may be slower in being reached than in others; but there "is"a point, beyond which error will not go. At the reformation under Luther, that point had been reached, when the teachings of the great apostasy were seen to be "folly,"and when the awakened intellect of the world would allow it to "proceed no farther,"and aroused itself and threw it off. In the workings of society, as well as by the direct appointment of God, there is a point beyond which error cannot prevail; and hence, there is a certainty that truth will finally triumph.

For their folly shall be manifest unto all men - The world will see and understand what they are, and what they teach. By smooth sophistry, and cunning arts, they will not be able always to deceive mankind.

As their’ s also was - That of Jannes and Jambres. That is, it became manifest to all that they could not compete with Moses and Aaron; that their claims to the power of working miracles were the mere arts of magicians, and that they had set up pretensions which they could not sustain; compare Exo 8:18-19. In regard to the time to which the apostle referred in this description, it has already been observed (see the notes at 2Ti 3:1), that it was probably to that great apostasy of the "latter days,"which he has described in 2 Thes. 2: and 1 Tim. 4: But there seems to be no reason to doubt that he had his eye immediately on some persons who had appeared then, and who had evinced some of the traits which would characterize the great apostasy, and whose conduct showed that the great "falling away"had already commenced. In 2Th 2:7, he says that the "mystery of iniquity"was already at work, or was even then manifesting itself; and there can be no doubt that the apostle saw that there had then commenced what he knew would yet grow up into the great defection from the truth. In some persons, at that time, who had the form of godliness, but who denied its power; who made use of insinuating arts to proselyte the weak and the credulous; who endeavor to imitate the true apostles, perhaps by attempting to work miracles, as Jannes and Jambres did, he saw the "germ"of what was yet to grow up into so gigantic a system of iniquity as to overshadow the world. Yet he consoled Timothy with the assurance that there was a point beyond which the system of error would not be allowed to go, but where its folly must be seen, and where it would be arrested.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:10

But thou hast fully known my doctrine ... - Margin, "been a diligent follower of."The margin is more in accordance with the usual meaning of the Greek word, which means, properly, to accompany side by side; to follow closely; to trace out; to examine Luk 1:3, and to conform to. The meaning here, however, seems to be, that Timothy had an opportunity to follow out; i. e., to examine closely the manner of life of the apostle Paul. He had been so long his companion, that he had had the fullest opportunity of knowing how he had lived and taught, and how he had borne persecutions. The object of this reference to his own life and sufferings is evidently to encourage Timothy to bear persecutions and trials in the same manner; compare 2Ti 3:14. He saw, in the events which began already to develope themselves, that trials must be expected; he knew that all who would live holy lives must suffer persecution; and hence, he sought to prepare the mind of Timothy for the proper endurance of trials, by a reference to his own case. The word "doctrine,"here, refers to his "teaching,"or manner of giving instruction. It does not refer, as the word now does, to the opinions which he held; see the notes at 1Ti 4:16. In regard to the opportunities which Timothy had for knowing the manner of Paul’ s life, see the introduction to the Epistle, and Paley, Hor. Paul. , "in loc."Timothy had been the companion of Paul during a considerable portion of the time after his conversion. The "persecutions"referred to here 2Ti 3:11 are those which occurred in the vicinity of Timothy’ s native place, and which he would have had a particular opportunity of being acquainted with. This circumstance, and the fact that Paul did not refer to other persecutions in more remote places, is one of the "undesigned coincidences,"of which Paley has made so much in his incomparable little work - Horae Paulinae.

Manner of life - Literally, "leading, guidance;"then, the method in which one is led - his manner of life; compare the notes at 1Th 2:1.

Purpose - Plans, or designs.

Faith - Perhaps fidelity, or faithfulness.

Long-suffering - With the evil passions of others, and their efforts to injure him. See the word explained in the notes at 1Co 13:4.

Charity - see the notes at 1 Cor. 13.

Patience - "A calm temper, which suffers evils without murmuring or discontent."Webster.

Barnes: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions - On the meaning of this word, see the notes at Mat 5:10.

Afflictions - Trials of other kinds than those which arose from persecutions. The apostle met them everywhere; compare the notes at Act 20:23.

Which came unto me at Antioch - The Antioch here referred to is not the place of that name in Syria (see the notes at Act 11:19); but a city of the same name in Pisidia, in Asia Minor; notes, Act 13:14. Paul there suffered persecution from the Jews; Act 13:45.

At Iconium; - notes, Act 13:50. On the persecution there, see the notes at Act 14:3-6.

At Lystra; - Act 14:6. At this place, Paul was stoned; notes, Act 14:19. Timothy was a native of either Derbe or Lystra, cities near to each other, and was doubtless there at the time of this occurrence; Act 16:1.

But out of them all the Lord delivered me - See the history in the places referred to in the Acts .

Poole: 2Ti 3:1

2Ti 3:1-5 The apostle foretelleth the evil characters that

should appear in the last days.

2Ti 3:6-9 He describeth the enemies of the truth,

2Ti 3:10-13 propoundeth unto Timothy his own example,

2Ti 3:14-17 and exhorteth him to abide in the doctrine he had

learned, commending unto him the manifold use of the

Holy Scriptures.

We met with this term,

last days 1Ti 4:1 , and

there said that the Scripture by that term understands all the time

from Christ’ s ascension to the end of the world. We meet with the

term, Gen 49:1 Isa 2:2 Mic 4:1 Act 2:17 Heb 1:2 Jam 5:3 2Pe 3:3 .

Of these days some are later than others, but it appears by Act 2:17

Heb 1:2 , that that whole period of time is so called.

Perilous times shall come in the Greek it is, difficult times,

that is, times when it will be difficult for Christians to keep their

lives or estates, or any happy station in the world, with a good

conscience, by reason of the plenty of ill men that should live in

those times, and make them so difficult.

Poole: 2Ti 3:2

For men shall be lovers of their own selves that is, the generality of men shall be persons that will neither love God nor men, in comparison with themselves; charity, which seeketh not her own, shall wax cold, men shall be wholly for themselves.

Covetous lovers of silver immoderately, so as they will get it any way, and when they have it will be as sordidly tenacious of it.

Boasters vaunting of themselves, vain-glorious, boasting of what they have not.

Proud lifted up in an opinion of themselves.

Blasphemers speaking evil of God and men.

Disobedient to parents stubborn and rebellious against those that bare them.

Unthankful both to God and men, for kindnesses received from either.

Unholy profane and impure.

Poole: 2Ti 3:3

Without natural affection having no kindness for such as nature obligeth them to love and honour.

Truce-breakers men that will be held by no bonds or leagues. Or rather, implacable; so we translate the same Greek word, Rom 1:31 ; men so full of malice that they will admit no terms or covenants of peace.

False accusers Greek, devils, venting their malice by informing against and accusing others, without any regard to truth.

Incontinent intemperate, drunkards, gluttons, unclean persons, &c.

Fierce men without any gentleness, cruel.

Despisers of those that are good men that have no kindness for any good men, haters of them.

Poole: 2Ti 3:4

Traitorsprodotai signifies the betraying of any trust, or a falsehood to any person to whom we are obliged. It is in Scripture applied to Judas, Luk 6:16 , and to the Jews that crucified Christ, Act 7:52 . The verb whence it derives is by authors applied to persons, places, and causes: it signifies that in the latter times there should be a general falsehood amongst men; see Mat 10:21 ; falsehood towards their superiors, their relation, profession, &c.

Heady rash, inconsiderate.

High-minded blown up as bladders with an opinion of their own deserts.

Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God voluptuous men, not using what God hath given them with a moderate satisfaction and delight in them, but contrary to God’ s commandments, and thereby showing that they have more love for the gratification of their sensitive appetite than the pleasing of God.

Poole: 2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness: a form here is the same with a mask, or vizor, or appearance, an accidental form, opposed to substance and reality. It signifieth that in the latter times there should be many such as owned themselves Christians, and pretended to a right way of worshipping God, to be the church, the only church of God.

But denying the power thereof but in practice, though not in words, denying all substantial godliness, which lieth not in assuming the empty name of Christians, and making a profession, but lies in truth, righteousness, love and peace, self-denial, mortifying our members; it being a thing attended with life and power, a man being no more a Christian than he acts and lives like a Christian.

From such turn away from such kind of professors as were before described, the apostle willeth Timothy to turn away, both as to having any church fellowship or communion, or any intimacy of converse with them.

Poole: 2Ti 3:6

For of this sort are they which creep into houses who do not only privily enter in at the doors of houses, but pierce into the secrets of them, making it their business to pry into all families,

and lead captive silly women and take their advantages upon women, (the weaker sex), and not the wisest of them, but gunaikaria , the diminutive word, is used to vilify; the little despicable women, of no judgment in sound religion, whom they by their tongues and pleasing errors make their captives.

Laden with sins nor do they deal with the most pious and honest women, but such as are laden with the guilt of much sin;

led away with divers lusts and who, being possessed of divers sinful inclinations, not only lusts of the flesh, but any other, such as pride, &c., are easily led away; lust always smoothing the way for such errors as will be principles to justify it against the reflections of conscience. Their vices, rather than sex, made them easily seduced.

Poole: 2Ti 3:7

Women that pretend to be ever learning the truth, but cannot obtain of their lusts a leave to acknowledge the truth in their practice. The word is epignwsin , which rather signifies a practical acknowledgment than a notional knowledge.

Poole: 2Ti 3:8

Concerning this resistance of Moses by Jannes and Jambres the Holy Scripture saith nothing but in this text. It is said by interpreters, that they were two brethren, the chief of Pharaoh’ s magicians, who opposed Moses in the miracles he wrought, Exo 7:11 , whose names might be known in Paul’ s time by tradition, or the public writings of the Jews.

So do these also resist the truth so will corrupt teachers under the gospel resist the truth of the gospel published by Christ’ s ministers.

Men of corrupt minds men whose hearts are corrupted with sordid lusts.

Reprobate concerning the faithadokimoi of no sound judgment as to the doctrine of faith, or not approved of God, or good men, as to their sentiments about our faith.

Poole: 2Ti 3:9

But they shall proceed no further God will preserve those in his church that are sincere; though they may captivate a few poor, ignorant women, they shall have no great success.

For their folly shall be made manifest unto all men for God will in his providence so order it, that their folly or madness shall appear to all, and their party shall decline. The Divine Providence, that governs all things by the invincible light of truth, discovers and confounds the most specious and subtle seducers in his own time. And this prediction of the apostle was exactly fulfilled with respect to those primitive seducers. As theirs also was; as God by his providence laid open Jannes and Jambres.

Poole: 2Ti 3:10

But thou hast fully known my doctrine: our translation here seemeth a little strange, for the Greek is: Thou hast diligently followed me in doctrine, eu de parhkolouyhdav mou th didaskalia that is: Thou wert in my company, thou wert a follower of me, and so must know what doctrine I preached; what

manner of life I lived what my

purpose whole scope and design, was; what

faith I taught and professed; what

long-suffering I used, both towards my malicious adversaries and my weaker brethren; what

charity or love I showed towards all men, whether friends or foes; what

patience I showed in bearing injuries.

Poole: 2Ti 3:11

What persecutions for the preaching of the gospel I was under; what

afflictions I met with at Antioch in Pisidia, Act 13:14,45,50 ; at Iconium whither he went from Pisidia; of the afflictions he met with there also, read Act 14:1-28 .

At Lystra; what persecutions I endured: the apostle went from Iconium to Lystra, Act 14:6 , there also he was persecuted, Act 14:19 . Now it seemeth that in all these motions Timothy was in Paul’ s company and a follower of him, so as he was a witness to all; which assureth us that though we first read of Timothy. Act 16:3 , when he was circumcised, yet Paul knew him before.

But out of them all the Lord delivered me yet God delivered Paul from all these, and that Timothy, being all that time in company with Paul, knew; from whence the apostle would have him take courage, exercise patience under suffering for such preaching and such living, being assured that God would deliver him also, preaching the same truth, and living the same holy life, though he met with the same troubles, persecutions, and afflictions.

PBC: 2Ti 3:5

See Philpot: THE POWER AND THE FORM

Haydock: 2Ti 3:1

Know. Do not be troubled at the many evils, persecutions, and heresies, which rise up against the Church. There have ever existed such since the Church was first established, and such ever will exist. Did not Jannes and Mambres rise up against Moses? (Calmet) See 1 Timothy iv. 1.; 2 Peter iii. 3.; Jude 18. ---

That in the last days. It only signifies hereafter. And the advice St. Paul give to Timothy, (ver. 5.) now these avoid; shews that some of those false teachers should come in St. Timothy's days. We may observe that few agree exactly in translating or expounding the sense of so many Greek or Latin words, which express the vices of such heretics; but the difference is so small, that it need not be taken notice of. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Ti 3:2

St. Cyprian, expounding these words, says: "Let not faithful man, who keepeth in mind our Lord's and apostle's admonition, marvel, if he see in latter times proud and stubborn men, enemies of God's priests, go out of the Church to attack the same, since both our Lord and his apostle have predicted that such things would be."

Haydock: 2Ti 3:5

Having an appearance indeed of piety, in some things, as we may see heretics affect to be thought more exact than the Catholics in some things, by which the devil more easily deceives souls, but denying by their lives the power, virtue, and force of piety. (Witham) ---

These avoid. St. Paul having in the preceding verses described the vices and enormities which were to reign in the world in the latter days, here warns Timothy, that already people given to such extravagancies were in the world, and that consequently in regard to Timothy, those days were already come. (St. John Chrysostom, Theophylactus, &c.) ---

How many crimes are covered with the cloak of knowledge, and the exterior of piety, and what mischief arises to religion from such base and hypocritical conduct: it cannot be too severely attacked, as we see in Christ's comportment towards the Pharisees.

Haydock: 2Ti 3:6

Of this sort, &c. Here St. Paul gives a true description of heretics, and evil men; such as they have existed in every age. For there never existed a time, either under the Old or New Testaments, in which such have not appeared. Even in the apostle's time, we behold heresies and disorders in the Church. We see them increase rapidly after their decease. Simon, the magician, seems to have been dead when St. Paul wrote this epistle, which was but a short time before his martyrdom. But he had left a great number of disciples behind him, known by the numerous sects, the Gnostics, the Simonians, the Encratians, &c. &c. into which, after the death of their master, they were split. (Calmet) ---

Who creep [1] into houses and lead captive silly [2] women, &c. That is the custom of almost all heretics. See St. Jerome to Ctesiphon, tom. iv. part 2. p. 477. Nov. edit. where he brings a number of instances, from Simon Magus to his time. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Qui penetrant, Greek: endunontes.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Mulierculas, Greek: gunaikaria: nunquam pervenientes, Greek: medapote dunamena, which agrees with Greek: gunaikaria.

====================

Haydock: 2Ti 3:7

Never attaining to the knowledge of the truth. These words, in construction, agree with the aforesaid women. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Ti 3:8

Jannes and Mambres. The names of the magicians, who in Egypt, resisted Moses, says St. John Chrysostom, and though not mentioned in the Scriptures, their names might be known by tradition. (Witham) ---

Since the Old Testament does not mention these magicians of Pharao, who opposed Moses, it seems probable that St. Paul either learnt their names by a particular revelation, as St. John Chrysostom, Theophylactus, and Tirinus think, or by some tradition of the Jews, agreeably to the opinions of Theodoret, Grotius, Estius, &c. Others think he might have found their names in some ancient histories, which have not reached our time; or perhaps from the apocryaphal book of Jannes and Mambres, mentioned by Origen and Ambrosiaster. Certain it is, that in St. Paul's time the name of these two famous magicians were very well known; this it is by no means necessary in this instance to have recourse to a particular inspiration. The Orientals say that were many magicians who opposed Moses. Among others, they mention Sabous and Gadous, who came from Thebias; Graath and Mospha, from some other country. They wished, as they inform us, to imitate the miracle by which Moses turned his rod into a serpent, by throwing their canes on the ground, and ropes filled with quicksilver. These ropes began to move a little, one twisting with another, on account of the heat of the earth warmed by the sun. But the rod of Moses in a moment broke them to pieces. (Calmet) ---

These magicians are called by different names. The Greek has Jannes and Jambres. Some ancient writers, Jannes and Mambres; as St. Cyprian, Optatus, (chap. 7.) Born. &c. The Jews call that Joanne, or Johanna, whom the Greeks name Jannes; and that called by the Jews Jambres, the Greeks name Mambres. The Hebrews would have them to be the sons of Balaam, the soothsayer, and the masters of Moses in the sciences of the Egyptians. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ti 3:9

But they shall proceed no farther. How doth this agree with ver. 13. where it is said, that seducers shall grow worse and worse? or with what he said in the last chapter, (ver. 17.) that their talk spreadeth like a cancer? We may answer, that the heretics became worse, and seduced very many in all ages, but the providence of God always put a stop to their progress, so that they could never prevail against the Church, as they hoped and proposed to do. (Witham) ---

St. Paul shews what will be the fate of all heresies; and the annals of the Church prove good his words, that they will appear to flourish for a time, and then will die away and be forgotten.

Gill: 2Ti 3:1

This know also,.... That not only men of bad principles and practices are in the churches now, as before described in the preceding chapter, but that in succeeding ages there would be worse men, if possible, and the times would be still worse; this the apostle had, and delivered by a spirit of prophecy, and informed Timothy, and others of it, that he and they might be prepared for such events, and fortified against them:

that in the last days perilous times shall come; "or hard" and difficult times to live in; not by reason of the outward calamities, as badness of trade, scarcity of provisions, the ravages of the sword, &c. but by reason of the wickedness of men, and that not of the profane world, but of professors of religion; for they are the persons afterwards described, who will make the times they live in difficult to others, to live soberly, righteously, and godly; the days will be evil, because of these evil men: or they will be "troublesome" times, very afflicting and distressing to pious minds; as the places and times, and men and customs of them were to Lot, David, Isaiah, and others: and also "dangerous" ones to the souls of men; who will be beguiled by their fair speeches, and specious pretences, to follow their pernicious ways, which will bring destruction upon them; their doctrines will eat as a gangrene, and their evil communications will corrupt good manners, before observed. And these times will be "in the last days" of the apostolic age, and onward to the end of the world: the Jews generally understand by this phrase, when used in the Old Testament, the days of the Messiah; and which are the last days of the world, in comparison of the times before the law, from Adam to Moses, and under the law, from thence to Christ; and even in the times of the apostles, at least towards the close of them, great numbers of men rose up under the Christian name, to whom the following characters well agree, as the Gnostics, and others; and who paved the way for the man of sin, the Romish antichrist, whose priests and votaries are here likewise described to the life: so that these last days may take in the general defection and apostasy of the church of Rome, as well as those times, which followed the apostles, and those which will usher in the second coming of Christ. The Ethiopic version renders it, "in the latter days will come an evil, or bad year".

Gill: 2Ti 3:2

For men shall be lovers of their own selves,.... Not in a good sense, as men may be, and as such are who love their neighbours as themselves, and do that to others they would have done to themselves; and who take all prudent and lawful care to preserve the life and health of their bodies, and seek in a right way the salvation of their immortal souls: but in a bad sense, as such may be said to be, who only love themselves; their love to God, and Christ, and to the saints, being only in pretence, not in reality; and who do all they do in a religious way, from a principle of self-love, and to selfish and mercenary ends; either to gain glory and applause from men, or to merit something for themselves at the hands of God, without any view to the glory of God, the honour and interest of Christ, and the good of others; and ascribe all they have and do to themselves, to their industry, diligence, power, free will, worth, and merit, and not to the grace of God: and this character may be seen in the principles and practices of the church of Rome, in their doctrines of merit and free will, in works of supererogation &c. "Coveteous"; lovers of silver, greedy of filthy lucre, doing nothing but for money; everyone looking for his gain from his quarter; making merchandise of the souls of men; and which are reckoned among the wares of Babylon, the Romish antichrist, Rev 18:13. "No penny, no pater noster".

Boasters; of their wealth and riches, of their honour and grandeur; I sit a queen, &c. Rev 18:7, of their numbers, of their holiness, of the infallibility of their popes, of their having the true knowledge, and certain sense of the Scriptures, and of having all power in heaven and in earth.

Proud; as have been the popes of Rome; exalting themselves above all that is called God, above all princes, kings, and emperors of the earth; deposing one, excommunicating another, treading upon their necks, obliging them to hold their stirrups while they mounted their horses; the pride of the popes, cardinals, priests, and the whole clergy of the church of Rome, is notorious.

Blasphemers; of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ; sitting in the temple as God, as antichrist does, showing himself that he is God; assuming that to himself which belongs to God only, which is to forgive sin; calling himself Christ's vicar on earth; taking upon him to enact new laws, and to dispense with the laws of God, and Christ; and has a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies against God, his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, 2Th 2:4.

Disobedient to parents: as many of the votaries of the antichristian church have been; who have withdrew themselves from under the care of their parents, and their fortunes too out of their hands, when they have been in their power; and have shut themselves up in cloisters, monasteries, and nunneries, without the leave and consent, or knowledge of their parents.

Unthankful: to God, for what is enjoyed by them, ascribing all to themselves, and to their merit and good works; and to men, to the princes of the earth, by whom they were first raised to, and supported in their dignity; as the popes of Rome were by the Roman emperors, and whom they in return tyrannized over, and dethroned at pleasure.

Unholy; notwithstanding his holiness the pope at the head of them their holy father, and holy mother church, and holy priests, and holy orders they talk of; yet are without the fear of God, or any regard to him, living most unholy lives and conversations, Dan 11:37.

Gill: 2Ti 3:3

Without natural affection,.... To parents, or children, or wife; parents thrusting their children into religious houses, cloisters, &c. against their wills; children leaving their parents without their knowledge or consent; married bishops and priests being obliged to quit their wives, and declare their children spurious; with many other such unnatural actions.

Trucebreakers; or covenant breakers; stirring up princes to break through their treaties and covenants with one another; dissolving the allegiance of subjects to their sovereigns, and moving them to rebellion against them; loosing the marriage bond between husband and wife; making void all oaths, contracts, and agreements, among men, which stand in the way of their designs; teaching that no faith is to be kept with heretics.

False accusers; or devils, being like Satan, the accuser of the brethren, charging all that depart from their communion with schism and heresy.

Incontinent; though they pretend to the gift of continency, yet give themselves up to all lasciviousness, and work all uncleanness with greediness; or "intemperate" in eating and drinking, indulging themselves in rioting and drunkenness: "she hath lived deliciously", Rev 18:7.

Fierce; like beasts of prey; such was Rome Pagan, in the times of the ten persecutions; and such has been Rome Papal, exercising the greatest cruelties and barbarities on the saints, being drunk with their blood.

Despisers of those that are good; or without love to good; both to good works, to which they are reprobate, notwithstanding all their pretensions to them, and bluster about them; and to good men, whom they hate.

Gill: 2Ti 3:4

Traitors,.... To their princes and sovereigns, whose deaths they have contrived and compassed, and whom they have assassinated and murdered; and have been betrayers of the secrets of persons, which they have come at by auricular confession to them; and of their best and nearest friends, to preserve and secure themselves.

Heady; rash, daring, bold, and impudent, fit to say and do any thing, though ever so vile and wicked.

High, minded; puffed and swelled up with a vain conceit of themselves, and speaking great swelling words of vanity;

lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; lovers of sinful pleasures, or the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, and not God; serving divers lusts and pleasures, and not God; making a god of their belly; sensual idolaters, delighting themselves in their carnal lusts, and not in the service of God.

Gill: 2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness,.... Either a mere external show of religion, pretending great piety and holiness, being outwardly righteous before men, having the mask and visor of godliness; or else a plan of doctrine, a form of sound words, a scheme of truths, which men may have without partaking of the grace of God; and which, with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, the church of Rome has; or else the Scriptures of truth, which the members of that church have, and profess to hold to, maintain and preserve; and which contains doctrines according to godliness, and tend to a godly life and godly edification:

but denying the power thereof; though in words they profess religion and godliness, the fear of God, and the pure worship of him, yet in works they deny all; and though they may have a set of notions in their heads, yet they feel nothing of the power of them on their hearts; and are strangers to experimental religion, and powerful godliness: or though they profess the Scriptures to be the word of God, yet they deny the use, the power, and efficacy of them; they deny the use of them to the laity, and affirm that they are not a sufficient rule of faith and practice, without their unwritten traditions; and that they are not able to make men wise, or give them a true knowledge of what is to be believed and done, without them; and that the sense of them is not to be understood by private men, but depends upon the infallible judgment of the church or pope:

from such turn away; have no fellowship with them, depart from their communion, withdraw from them, and come out from among them: this passage sufficiently justifies the reformed churches in their separation from the church of Rome.

Gill: 2Ti 3:6

For of this sort are they which creep into houses,.... Privily and unawares, in a clandestine manner, and insinuate themselves into families, by fawning and flattering, and under specious pretences to knowledge and virtue. The Syriac version uses a word, from whence comes חולדא, "Chulda", which signifies "a weasel"; suggesting, that their entrance into houses was like to the way of that creature, which is sometimes covered, and sometimes open: there was also a gate of the temple, which was called "Huldah"; whether there is any allusion in the word to that, may be inquired ^k.

And lead captive silly women; the coming of antichrist is after the working of Satan; as Satan attacked the woman, and not the man, and beguiled Eve and not Adam, so these his instruments and emissaries, work themselves into the affections of the weaker vessel, and into the weaker sort of women, as the diminutive word here used signifies; and gain upon them, instil their principles into them, attach them to their interests, captivate them to them, and lead them as they please:

laden with sins; covered with them, full of them, and so ready to receive any set of principles that would encourage them to continue in them; or else were pressed down with a sense of them, their consciences being awakened, and they under some concern on account of them, and so fit persons for such deceivers to gain upon, by pretending to great sanctity and religion, and by providing them with pardons and indulgences, and putting them upon penance, &c. though the former sense seems most agreeable, and is confirmed by what follows,

led away with divers lusts. The Alexandrian copy adds, "and pleasures"; that is, sinful ones; though this may be understood, not of unclean lusts, but of the itch and desire after new teachers, and new doctrines, and practices, which prevail in weak women, and by which they are governed and led away.

Gill: 2Ti 3:7

Ever learning,.... Some new notion and practice or another: and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; partly because of the teachers, which they heap up to themselves, who are unapt to teach, are blind and ignorant guides, and know not the truth, but are enemies to it, and resist it; and partly because of themselves, the sins they are laden, and the lusts they are led away with, which hinder them from coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Gill: 2Ti 3:8

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses,.... These were not Jews, who rose up and opposed Moses, as Dathan and Abiram did, as some have thought; but Egyptian magicians, the chief of those that Pharaoh sent for, when Moses and Aaron came before him, and wrought miracles; and who did in like manner by their enchantments, Exo 7:11 upon which place the Targum of Jonathan has these words:

"and Pharaoh called the wise men and the magicians; and Janis and Jambres, the magicians of the Egyptians, did so by the enchantments of their divinations.''

And the same paraphrase on Exo 1:15 calls them by the same names; and this shows from whence the apostle had these names, which are not mentioned in any place in the Old Testament; namely, from the traditions and records of the Jews, with which he was well acquainted: there is no need to say he had this account by divine revelation, for some of the Heathens had knowledge of this story some such way. Numenius; the philosopher, speaks of Jannes and Jambres as Egyptian scribes, and famous for their skill in the magic art; and who opposed themselves to Moses when the Jews were driven out of Egypt ^l. Pliny also makes mention of Janme and Jotape as magicians; though he wrongly calls them Jews, and places Moses with them ^m, as Jannes likewise is by Apuleius ⁿ. It is commonly said by the Jews ^o, that these were the two sons of Balaam, and they are said to be the chief of the magicians of Egypt ^p; the latter of these is called in the Vulgate Latin version Mambres; and in some Jewish writers his name is Mamre ^q by whom also the former is called Jochane or John; and indeed Joannes, Jannes, and John, are the same name; and R. Gedaliah ^r says, that their names in other languages are John and Ambrose, which is not unlikely. Mention is made of the sons of Jambri in the Apocrypha:

"But the children of Jambri came out of Medaba, and took John, and all that he had, and went their way with it.'' (1 Maccabees 9:36)

whom Josephus ^s calls the sons of Amaraeus. These are said to be the persons that told Pharaoh, that a child should be born among the Israelites, by whom the whole land of Egypt should be destroyed, and which was the reason of Pharaoh's giving such a charge to the Hebrew midwives ^t; also the making of the golden calf is ascribed to them ^u; for, according to the Jews, they afterwards became proselytes; but these things are not to be depended on: however, certain it is, that they withstood Moses by their enchantments, and hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that, for a while, he would not let the children of Israel go. Now between these magicians, and the Papists before described, there is a very great agreement; as these men were Egyptians, so the Papists may be called, since Rome is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, Rev 11:8 as the one were, so the other are idolaters, who worshipped devils, idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, Rev 9:20 and both sorcerers, using the magic art; Rev 9:21 and they both pretended to miracles; though what they did were no other than lying wonders, 2Th 2:9 and both agreed to keep the people of God in bondage, as much, and as long as they could: and particularly, as the magicians of Egypt withstood Moses,

so do these also resist the truth; the truth of one God, by their worshipping of images; and of one Mediator, by making use of angels, and saints departed, to intercede with God for them; and of justification by the righteousness of Christ, by introducing the doctrine of works, of merit, and supererogation; and of pardon and cleansing by the blood of Christ, and atonement by his sacrifice, by their pardons, indulgences, penance, purgatory, and the sacrifice of the Mass; yea, they resist the Scriptures of truth, not allowing them to be a sufficient rule without their unwritten traditions, and even Christ, who is truth itself, in all his offices, prophetic, priestly, and kingly.

Men of corrupt minds, of bad principles, holding antichristian tenets, derogatory to the grace of God, and glory of Christ; giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; like Jannes and Jambres, who were given to magic arts, and were under the influence of Satan:

reprobate concerning the faith; men of no judgment in the doctrine of faith; who have not their senses exercised to discern good and evil, to try things that differ, and approve the more excellent, but call good evil, and evil good: or as those who are disobedient and wicked in their lives, are said to be to every good work reprobate, Tit 1:16 so these are said to be reprobate to the faith; that is, to have no liking of it, or value for it, but despise it, hate it, and reject it; and upon that account, as they are like reprobate silver, whom God has rejected, they ought to be rejected by men.

Gill: 2Ti 3:9

But they shall proceed no further,.... They may proceed to more ungodliness, and wax worse and worse in error; but they shall proceed no further than the magicians of Egypt, who did lying wonders, hardened Pharaoh's heart, and deceived him and the Egyptians; but could not destroy the Israelites, nor hinder their departure out of Egypt, when their time was come: so these wicked men do false miracles, harden the popes of Rome, and deceive the nations subject to them; but they cannot deceive the elect of God, nor destroy the church of God, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail; nor could they hinder the reformation, or the departure of the Lord's people out of Babylon.

For their folly should be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was; as the folly of Jannes and Jambres was, when Aaron's rod devoured theirs; and when they could not produce lice, but was obliged to own to Pharaoh, that that plague was the finger of God; and when they could not stand before Moses, because of the boils that were upon them, Exo 7:12. And so the Arabic version renders it, "as is manifest the folly, or madness of these two"; and it is notorious in how many instances the frauds, impostures, tricks, and villanies of the church of Rome, and its votaries, have been detected and exposed; which have been the means of hindering them from proceeding any further than they have. The Alexandrian copy reads, "their understanding"; that which they pretended to have of divine things.

Gill: 2Ti 3:10

But thou hast fully known my doctrine,.... This, with what follows, is said in opposition to the characters, principles, and practices of the above wicked men, and for the imitation and encouragement of Timothy, and of others, whether ministers or private believers: the apostle calls the doctrine he delivered, "my doctrine": not because he was the author of it, or that it was a scheme of principles formed and contrived by him; but because it was the doctrine which he had received from God, which was given him to preach, and which he did preach purely and faithfully; otherwise it was the doctrine of Christ, and the same with that which was preached by the rest of the apostles; and which was the doctrine of the Scriptures, and was according to godliness; and as preached by him, was all of a piece, and without any adulteration, or mixture, and was open and manifest, and well known to Timothy, and others; for he used no hidden things of dishonesty, nor did he conceal his principles, or keep back anything that was profitable. And as well known was his

manner of life; both his civil life, how he spent his time, not in ease and idleness, but oftentimes in labour with his own hands; nor did he live in a sensual and voluptuous manner, but frequently was in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness; and likewise his religious life, and conversation, not only in the church, which was spent in the ministry of the word, and ordinances; but in the world, which, by the grace of God, was in simplicity and godly sincerity, in a very just, holy, and unblamable manner: his life was agreeable to his doctrine, and ornamental to his profession: and even the secrets of his mind, his views, his aims and ends in all he did, which are signified by his

purpose, were open and manifest; and which were not to obtain glory and applause from men, nor to gather wealth and riches for himself; but that God might be glorified in the salvation of men; that Christ might be magnified both in his life and death; that his Gospel might be spread, his kingdom be enlarged, and that many souls might be converted and brought to the knowledge of him; and hence he became all things to all, that he might gain some. And as the doctrine of

faith, embraced, professed, and preached by him, was well known, so no less conspicuous was the grace of faith in him, with respect to his interest in God's everlasting love, in salvation by Jesus Christ, and in eternal glory and happiness; of which be had a full assurance, and which remained constant and firm in him to the end. Unless rather his faithfulness in the discharge of his ministerial work should be here designed, for which he was very remarkable; as also for his

longsuffering both towards those that were without, the open enemies and persecutors of the Gospel, and towards them that were within, the brethren, whose infirmities he bore; and also for the success of the Gospel as the husbandman has long patience, and waits long for the former and latter rain to which is added

charity; which suffers long, and is kind; and may include his love to God, to Christ, and to the souls of men; which was very great, and particularly to his countrymen, the Jews, and also to the Gentiles; and especially to the churches he was more immediately concerned with, and even to all the saints: this is left out in the Alexandrian copy: it follows,

patience; in bearing all indignities, reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; by which he was not in the least moved, but persevered with, great courage and constancy to the end.

Gill: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch,.... In Pisidia; where the Jews that contradicted and blasphemed his doctrine, and envied his success, stirred up the chief of the city, both men and women, against him, and Barnabas; who persecuted them and expelled them out, of their coasts, Act 13:45 and also at Iconium; where both Jews and Gentiles made an assault upon them, to use them ill, and stone them, Act 14:5 and likewise at Lystra; where the apostle was stoned, and drawn out of the city, and left for dead, Act 14:19. And these instances are the rather mentioned because they were done in those parts, where Timothy had lived, Act 16:1 and so knew the truth of these things, not only from the apostle's mouth, but from the testimonies of others; and perhaps he might have been a witness to some of them himself;

what persecutions I endured: not only in the above places, but elsewhere; see a detail of them in 2Co 11:23,

but out of them all the Lord delivered me; see 2Co 1:10 2Ti 4:17, this he says to the glory of the grace and power of God, to whom he ascribes all his deliverances; and for the encouragement of Timothy, and other saints, under sufferings, who may hope and believe that the Lord will deliver them in his own time and way, Psa 34:19.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:1

¹ tn Or perhaps, “dangerous,” “fierce.”

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:2

¹ tn Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women.

² tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:5

¹ tn Or “form.”

sn Outward appearance. Paul’s contrast with power in 3:5b shows that he regards this “form” to be outward, one of appearance rather than reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:19-20; 1 Thess 1:5).

² tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:6

¹ tn Grk “For from these are those who sneak.”

² tn Or “silly women.”

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:7

¹ tn Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:8

¹ sn Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus.

² tn Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.”

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:9

¹ tn Grk “for they will not progress any more.”

² tn Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:10

¹ sn There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2-9.

² tn The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series.

NET Notes: 2Ti 3:11

¹ tn Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10.

² map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.

³ sn In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13-14 for the account of these persecutions.

map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:1

This ^{( 1 )} know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

^{( 1 )} The seventh admonition: we may not hope for a Church in this world without corruption: but there will be rather great abundance of most wicked men even in the very bosom of the Church, who will nonetheless make a show and countenance of great holiness, and charity.

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:2

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, ^{( a )} unholy,

^{( a )} Who make no account, either of right or honesty.

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: ^{( 2 )} from such turn away.

^{( 2 )} We must not tarry with those men who resist the truth not from simple ignorance, but from a perverse mind, (which thing appears by their fruits which he graphically displays here); rather, we must turn away from them.

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:9

^{( 3 )} But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all [men], as theirs also was.

^{( 3 )} He adds a comfort: the Lord will at length take off all their masks.

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:10

^{( 4 )} But thou hast ^{( b )} fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

^{( 4 )} So that we are not deceived by such hypocrites, we must set before us the virtues of the holy servants of God, and we must not be afraid of persecution which they suffered willingly, and which always follows true godliness. But we must especially hold fast the doctrine of the apostles, the sum of which is this, that we are saved through faith in Christ Jesus.

^{( b )} You thoroughly know not only what I taught and did, but also how I thought and was inclined.

Geneva Bible: 2Ti 3:11

Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at ^{( c )} Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of [them] all the Lord delivered me.

^{( c )} Which is in Pisidia.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Ti 3:1-17

1 He advertises him of the times to come;

6 describes the enemies of the truth;

10 propounds unto him his own example;

16 and commends the holy scriptures;

Maclaren: 2Ti 3:5

Form And Power

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.'--2 Tim. 3:5.

IN this, his last letter and legacy, the Apostle Paul is much occupied with the anticipation of coming evils. It is most natural that the faithful watchman, knowing that the hour of relieving guard was very near at hand, should eagerly scan the horizon in quest of the enemies that might approach when he was no longer there to deal with them. Old men are apt to take a gloomy view of coming days, but the frequent references to the corruptions of the Church which occur in this letter are a great deal more than an old man's pessimism. They were warnings, which were amply vindicated by the history of the post-apostolic age of the Church, which was the seed-bed of all manner of corruptions, and they point to permanent dangers, the warning against which is as needful for us as for any period.

The Apostle draws here' a very dark picture of the corrupt forms of Christianity, the advent of which he tremblingly anticipated. I do not mean to enter at all upon the dark catalogue of the vices which he enumerates, except to point out that its beginning and the middle and the end are very significant. It begins with lovers of self'--that is the root of all forms of sin. In the centre there stands lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God'; and at the end, summing up the whole, are the words of our text, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.'

I do not suppose that these words need much explanation. Godliness,' in the New Testament, means not only the disposition which we call piety, but the conduct which flows from it, and which we may call practical religion. The form or outward appearance of that we all understand. But what is the denying the power thereof?' It does not consist in words, but in deeds. In these latter epistles We find denying' frequently used as equivalent to abjuring, renouncing, casting off. For instance, in a passage singularly and antithetically parallel to that of my text, we read denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,' which simply means throwing off their dominion. And in like manner the denial here is no verbal rejection of the principles of the gospel, which would be inconsistent with the notion of still retaining the form of godliness; but it is the practical renunciation of the power, which is inherent in all true godliness, of moulding the life and character--the practical renunciation of that oven whilst preserving a superficial, unreal appearance of being subject to it.

This, then, being the explanation, and the rough outline of the state of things which the Apostle contemplates as hurrying onwards to corrupt the Church after his departure, let us look at some of the thoughts connected with it.

I. Observe The Sad Frequency Of Such A Condition.

Wherever any great cause or principle is first launched into the world, it evokes earnest enthusiasm, and brings men to heroisms of consecration and service. And so when Christianity was first launched, there was less likelihood of its attracting to itself men who were not in earnest, and who were mere formalists. But even in the Apostolic Church there were an Ananias and a Sapphira, a Simon Magus, and a Demas. As years go on, and primitive enthusiasms die out, and the cause which was once all freshly radiant and manifestly heaven-born becomes an earthly institution, there is a growing tendency to gather round it superficial, half-and-half adherents. Whatsoever is respectable, and whatsoever is venerable, and whatsoever is customary will be sure to have attached to it a mass of loose and nominal adherents; and the gospel has had its full share of such.

I was talking not very long ago to a leading man belonging to another denomination than my own; and he quietly, as a matter of course said, Our communicants are so many hundred thousands. I reckon that a quarter of them, or thereabouts, are truly spiritual men!' and he seemed to think that nobody would question the correctness of the calculation and the proportion. Why, Christendom' is largely a mass of pagans masquerading as Christians.

And every church has its full share of such people; loose adherents, clogs upon all movement, who bring down the average of warmth like the great icebergs that float in the Atlantic and lower the temperature of the summer all over Europe. They make consecration eccentric'; they make consistent, out-and-out Christian living odd,' unlike the ordinary thing,' and they pull down the spirituality of the Church almost to the level of the world. Every communion of so-called Christian men has its full share of these. The same thing applies to us, and every Church of God on the face of the earth has a little core of earnest Christians, who live the life, and a great envelope and surrounding of men who, as my text says, have the form of godliness, and practically deny the power thereof. Widespread, and all but universal, this condition of things is. And so let each of us say, Lord! Is it I?'

II. Think, Next, Of The Underground Working Of This Evil.

These people about whom Paul is speaking in my text were, I suppose, mostly, though by no means exclusively, conscious pretenders to what they did not possess. But the number of hypocrites, in the full sense of the word, is amazingly small, and the men whom you would brand as most distinctly so, if you came to talk to them, would amaze you to find how entirely ignorant they were of the fact that they were dramatising and pretending to piety, and that there was next to no reality of it in them. A very little bit of gold, beaten out very thin, will cover over, with a semblance of value, an enormous area. And men beat out the little modicum of sincerity that they have so very thin that it covers, and gives a deceptive appearance of brilliancy and solidity to an enormous amount of windy flatulence and mere pretence. Hypocrites, in the rude, vulgar sense of the word, are, I was going to say, as rare as, but I will say a great deal rarer than, thoroughgoing and intensely earnest and sincere Christians. These men, the precursors of Gnostic heresies and a hundred others, had no notion that their picture was like this, and if they had been shown Paul's grim catalogue they would have said, Oh! a gross caricature, and not the least like me.' And that is what a great many other men do as well.

But it is an unconscious hypocrisy, an unconscious sliding away from the basis of reality on to the slippery basis of pretence and appearance that I want to say a word or two about. The worse a man is, the less he knows it. The more completely a professing Christian has lost his hold of the substance and is clinging only to the form, the less does he suspect that this indictment has any application to him. The very sign and symptom of spiritual degeneracy and corruption is unconsciousness, as the great champion of Israel, when his locks were cropped in Delilah's lap, went out to exercise his mighty limbs as at other times, and knew not, till he vainly tried feats which their ebbing strength was no longer equal to perform, that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. The more completely a man's limbs are frost-bitten the more comfortable and warm they are, and the less does he know it. If a man says, Your text has no sort of application to me,' he thereby shows that it has a very close application to him.

I need say little about the reasons for this unconsciousness. We are all accustomed to take very lenient views, when we take any at all, of our own character; and the tendency of all conduct is to pull down conscience to the level of conduct, and to vindicate that conduct by biassed decisions of a partial conscience. And so I have no doubt that there are people thinking how well my words fit some other man from whom there has, without there knowing it, ebbed away, by slow, sad drops, almost all the lifeblood of their Christianity, like some great tree that stands in the woods, fair to appearance, with solid bole and widespread leafage, and expanded branches, and yet the heart is out of it; and when the tempest comes and it falls, everybody can look into the hollow trunk and see that for years it has been rotten.

Brethren, the underground enemies of our Christian earnestness are far more dangerous than the apparent and manifest antagonists; and there are many men amongst us who would repel with indignation a manifest assault against their godliness, who yield without resistance, and almost without consciousness, to the sly seductions of unsuspected evil. The arrow that flies in darkness is more deadly than the pesthence that wasteth at noonday.

III. Further, Notice The Ever-Operating Causes That Produce This Condition.

I suppose that one, at any rate, of the main examples of this form' was participation in the simple worship of the primitive Church. And although the phrase by no means refers merely to acts of worship, still that is one of the main fields in which this evil is manifest. Many of us substitute outward connection with the Church for inward union with Jesus Christ. All external forms have a tendency to assert themselves, and to detain in themselves, instead of helping to rise above themselves, our poor sense-rldden natures. How many of us are there whose religion consists very largely in coming to this place, standing up when other people sing, seeming to unite in prayer and praise, perhaps participating in the sacred rites of the Church; but having most of their religion safely locked up in their pews along with their hymn-books when they leave the chapel, and waiting for them quietly, without troubling them, until next Sunday! We need outward forms of worship. It is a sign of our weakness that we do, but they are so full of danger that one sometimes wishes that they could be broken up and made fluent, and, at least for a time, that something else could be substituted for them.

Seeing that the purest and the simplest of forms may become like a dirty window, an obscuring medium which shuts out instead of lets in the light, it seems to me that the Churches are wisest which admit least of the dangerous element into their external worship, and try to have as little of form as may keep the spirit. I know that simple forms may be abused quite as much as elaborate ones. I know that a Quakers' meetinghouse is often quite as much a house of formal and not of real communion as a Roman Catholic cathedral. Let us remember how full of dangers they all, and always are. And let us be very sure that we do not substitute church membership, coming to church or chapel, going to prayer-meeting, teaching in Sunday-schools, reading devout books, and the like, for inward submission to the power.

Another cause always operating is the tendency which all action of every kind has to escape from the dominion of its first motives, and to become merely mechanical and habitual. Habit is a most precious ally of goodness, but habitual goodness tends to become involuntary and mechanical goodness, and so to cease to be goodness at all. And the more that we can, in each given case, make each individual act of godliness, whether it be in worship or in practical life, the result of a fresh approach to the one central and legitimate impulse of the Christian life, the better it will be for ourselves. All great causes, as I was saying a moment or two ago, tend to pass from the dominion of impulse into that of use and wont and mere routine, and our religion and practical godliness in daily life is apt to do that, as well as all our other actions.

And then, still further, there is the constant operation of earth and sense and daily duties and pressing cares, which war against the reality and completeness of our submission to the power of godliness. Grains of sand, microscopically minute in the aggregate, bury the temples and the images of the gods in the Nile Valley. The multitude of small cares and duties which are blown upon us by every wind have the effect of withdrawing us, unless we are continually watchful, from that one foundation of all, the love of Jesus Christ felt in our daily lives. Unless we perpetually tighten our hold, it will loosen, by very weariness of the muscles. Unless the boat be firmly anchored it will be drifted down the stream. Unless we take care, our Christian life and earnestness will ooze out at our finger-tips, and we shall never know that it is gone. The world, our own weakness, our very tasks and duties, the pressure of circumstances, the sway of our senses, and the very habit of doing right--all of these may tend to make us mechanical and format participators in the religious life, and unconscious hypocrites.

IV. So, Lastly, Let Me Point You To The Discipline Which May Avert This Evil.

First and foremost, I would say, let us cherish a clear and continual recognition of the reality of the danger Forewarned is forearmed. He that will take counsel of his own weakness, and be taught by God's Word how unreliable he himself is, and how strong the forces are which tend to throw his religion all to the surface, will thereby be, if not insured against the danger, at least made a great deal more competent to deal with it. Blessed is the man that feareth always,' and that knows how likely he is to go wrong unless he carefully seeks to keep himself right.

Rigid, habitual self-inspection, in the light of God's Word, is an all-important help to prevent this sliding of our Christian life into superficiality. If what I was saying about the unconsciousness of decline be at all true, then most eloquently and impressively does it say to us all, Watch! for we know not what may be going on underground unless fie have a continual carefulness of inspection.' We should watch our own characters, the movement of our spiritual nature, and the effect and operation of our habits and of our participation in outward forms of Christianity; we should watch these as carefully as men in the tropics look into their beds and their clothing before they put them on, or get into them, for snakes and scorpions. In a country which is only preserved by the dykes from being swallowed up by the sea, the minutest inspection of the rampart is the condition of security, and if there be a hole big enough for a mouse to creep through, the water will come in and make a gap wide enough to drown a province in a little while. And so, brethren, seeing that we have such dangers round about us, and that the most formidable of them all are powers that work in the dark, let us be very sure that our eyes have searched, as well as we can, the inmost corners of our lives, and that no lurking vermin lie beneath the unturned up stones.

And then, lastly, and as that without which all else is vain, let us make continual and earnest and contrite efforts day by day to renew and deepen our personal communion with Jesus Christ. He is the source of the power which godliness operates in our lives, and the closer we keep to Him the more it will flood our hearts and make us real, out-and-out Christians, and not shallow and self-deceived pretenders.

The tree that had nothing but leaves upon it hid its absence of fruit by its abundance of foliage. The Master came, as He comes to you and to me, seeking fruit, and if He finds it not He will perpetuate the barrenness by His blasting word, No fruit grow upon thee henceforward for ever.'

MHCC: 2Ti 3:1-9

Even in gospel times there would be perilous times; on account of persecution from without, still more on account of corruptions within. Men love to gratify their own lusts, more than to please God and do their duty. When every man is eager for what he can get, and anxious to keep what he has, this makes men dangerous to one another. When men do not fear God, they will not regard man. When children are disobedient to their parents, that makes the times perilous. Men are unholy and without the fear of God, because unthankful for the mercies of God. We abuse God's gifts, if we make them the food and fuel of our lusts. Times are perilous also, when parents are without natural affection to children. And when men have no rule over their own spirits, but despise that which is good and to be honoured. God is to be loved above all; but a carnal mind, full of enmity against him, prefers any thing before him, especially carnal pleasure. A form of godliness is very different from the power; from such as are found to be hypocrites, real Christians must withdraw. Such persons have been found within the outward church, in every place, and at all times. There ever have been artful men, who, by pretences and flatteries, creep into the favour and confidence of those who are too easy of belief, ignorant, and fanciful. All must be ever learning to know the Lord; but these follow every new notion, yet never seek the truth as it is in Jesus. Like the Egyptian magicians, these were men of corrupt minds, prejudiced against the truth, and found to be quite without faith. Yet though the spirit of error may be let loose for a time, Satan can deceive the nations and the churches no further, and no longer, than God will permit.

MHCC: 2Ti 3:10-13

The more fully we know the doctrine of Christ, as taught by the apostles, the more closely we shall cleave to it. When we know the afflictions of believers only in part, they tempt us to decline the cause for which they suffer. A form of godliness, a profession of Christian faith without a godly life, often is allowed to pass, while open profession of the truth as it is in Jesus, and resolute attention to the duties of godliness, stir up the scorn and enmity of the world. As good men, by the grace of God, grow better, so bad men, through the craft of Satan, and the power of their own corruptions, grow worse. The way of sin is down-hill; such go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Those who deceive others, deceive themselves, as they will find at last, to their cost. The history of the outward church, awfully shows that the apostle spake this as he was moved by the Holy Ghost.

Matthew Henry: 2Ti 3:1-9

Timothy must not think it strange if there were in the church bad men; for the net of the gospel was to enclose both good fish and bad, Mat 13:47, Mat 13:48. Jesus Christ had foretold (Mt. 24) that there would come seducers, and therefore we must not be offended at it, nor think the worse of religion or the church for it. Even in gold ore there will be dross, and a great deal of chaff among the wheat when it lies on the floor.

I. Timothy must know that in the last days (2Ti 3:1), in gospel times, there would come perilous times. Though gospel times were times of reformation in many respects, let him know that even in gospel times there would be perilous times; not so much on account of persecution from without as on account of corruptions within. These would be difficult times, wherein it would be difficult for a man to keep a good conscience. He does not say, "Perilous times shall come, for both Jews and Gentiles shall be combined to root out Christianity;"but "perilous times shall come, for such as have the form of godliness (2Ti 3:5) shall be corrupt and wicked, and do a great deal of damage to the church."Two traitors within the garrison may do more hurt to it than two thousand besiegers without. Perilous times shall come, for men shall be wicked. Note, 1. Sin makes the times perilous. When there is a general corruption of manners, and of the tempers of men, this makes the times dangerous to live in; for it is hard to keep our integrity in the midst of general corruption. 2. The coming of perilous times is an evidence of the truth of scripture-predictions; if the event in this respect did not answer to the prophecy, we might be tempted to question the divinity of the Bible. 3. We are all concerned to know this, to believe and consider it, that we may not be surprised when we see the times perilous: This know also.

II. Paul tells Timothy what would be the occasion of making these times perilous, or what shall be the marks and signs whereby these times may be known, 2Ti 3:2, etc. 1. Self-love will make the times perilous. Who is there who does not love himself? But this is meant of an irregular sinful self-love. Men love their carnal selves better than their spiritual selves. Men love to gratify their own lusts, and make provision for them, more than to please God and do their duty. Instead of Christian charity, which takes care for the good of others, they will mind themselves only, and prefer their own gratification before the church's edification. 2. Covetousness. Observe, Self-love brings in a long train of sins and mischiefs. When men are lovers of themselves, no good can be expected from them, as all good may be expected from those who love God with all their hearts. When covetousness generally prevails, when every man is for what he can get and for keeping what he has, this makes men dangerous to one another, and obliges every man to stand on his guard against his neighbour. 3. Pride and vain-glory. The times are perilous when men, being proud of themselves, are boasters and blasphemers, boasters before men whom they despise and look upon with scorn, and blasphemers of God and of his name. When men do not fear God they will not regard man, and so vice versâ. 4. When children are disobedient to their parents, and break through the obligations which they lie under to them both in duty and gratitude, and frequently in interest, having their dependence upon them and their expectation from them, they make the times perilous; for what wickedness will those stick at who will be abusive to their own parents and rebel against them? 5. Unthankfulness and unholiness make the times perilous, and these two commonly go together. What is the reason that men are unholy and without the fear of God, but that they are unthankful for the mercies of God? Ingratitude and impiety go together; for call a man ungrateful, and you can call him by no worse name. Unthankful, and impure, defiled with fleshly lusts, which is an instance of great ingratitude to that God who has provided so well for the support of the body; we abuse his gifts, if we make them the food and fuel of our lusts. 6. The times are perilous when men will not be held by the bonds either of nature or common honesty, when they are without natural affection, and truce-breakers, 2Ti 3:3. There is a natural affection due to all. Wherever there is the human nature, there should be humanity towards those of the same nature, but especially between relations. Times are perilous when children are disobedient to their parents (2Ti 3:2) and when parents are without natural affection to their children, 2Ti 3:3. See what a corruption of nature sin is, how it deprives men even of that which nature has implanted in them for the support of their own kind; for the natural affection of parents to their children is that which contributes very much to the keeping up of mankind upon the earth. And those who will not be bound by natural affection, no marvel that they will not be bound by the most solemn leagues and covenants. They are truce-breakers, that make no conscience of the engagements they have laid themselves under. 7. The times are perilous when men are false accusers one of another, diaboloi - devils one to another, having no regard to the good name of others, or to the religious obligations of an oath, but thinking themselves at liberty to say and do what they please, Psa 12:4. 8. When men have no government of themselves and their own appetites: not of their own appetites, for they are incontinent; not of their own passions, for they are fierce; when they have no rule over their own spirits, and therefore are like a city that is broken down, and has no walls; they are soon fired, upon the least provocation. 9. When that which is good and ought to be honoured is generally despised and looked upon with contempt. It is the pride of persecutors that they look with contempt upon good people, though they are more excellent than their neighbours. 10. When men are generally treacherous, wilful, and haughty, the times are perilous (2Ti 3:4) - when men are traitors, heady, high-minded. Our Saviour has foretold that the brother shall betray the brother to death and the father the child (Mat 10:21), and those are the worst sort of traitors: those who delivered up their Bibles to persecutors were called traditores , for they betrayed the trust committed to them. When men are petulant and puffed up, behaving scornfully to all about them, and when this temper generally prevails, then the times are perilous. 11. When men are generally lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. When there are more epicures than true Christians, then the times are bad indeed. God is to be loved above all. That is a carnal mind, and is full of enmity against him, which prefers any thing before him, especially such a sordid thing as carnal pleasure is. 12. When, notwithstanding all this, they have the form of godliness (2Ti 3:5), are called by the Christian name, baptized into the Christian faith, and make a show of religion; but, how plausible soever their form of godliness is, they deny the power of it. When they take upon them the form which should and would bring along with it the power thereof, they will put asunder what God hath joined together: they will assume the form of godliness, to take away their reproach; but they will not submit to the power of it, to take away their sin. Observe here, (1.) Men may be very bad and wicked under a profession of religion; they may be lovers of themselves, etc., yet have a form of godliness. (2.) A form of godliness is a very different thing from the power of it; men may have the one and be wholly destitute of the other; yea, they deny it, at least practically in their lives. (3.) From such good Christians must withdraw themselves.

III. Here Paul warns Timothy to take heed of certain seducers, not only that he might not be drawn away by them himself, but that he might arm those who were under his charge against their seduction. 1. He shows how industrious they were to make proselytes (2Ti 3:6): they applied themselves to particular persons, visited them in their houses, not daring to appear openly; for those that do evil hate the light, Joh 3:20. They were not forced into houses, as good Christians often were by persecution; but they of choice crept into houses, to insinuate themselves into the affections and good opinion of people, and so to draw them over to their party. And see what sort of people those were that they gained, and made proselytes of; they were such as were weak, silly women; and such as were wicked, laden with sins, and led away with divers lusts. A foolish head and a filthy heart make persons, especially women, an easy prey to seducers. 2. He shows how far they were from coming to the knowledge of the truth, though they pretended to be ever learning, 2Ti 3:7. In one sense we must all be ever learning, that is, growing in knowledge, following on to know the Lord, pressing forward; but these were sceptics, giddy and unstable, who were forward to imbibe every new notion, under pretence of advancement in knowledge, but never came to a right understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus. 3. He foretels the certain stop that should be put to their progress (2Ti 3:8, 2Ti 3:9), comparing them to the Egyptian magicians who withstood Moses, and who are here named, Jannes and Jambres; though the names are not to be met with in the story of the Old Testament, yet they are found in some old Jewish writers. When Moses came with a divine command to fetch Israel out of Egypt, these magicians opposed him. Thus those heretics resisted the truth and like them were men of corrupt minds, men who had their understandings perverted, biassed and prejudiced against the truth, and reprobate concerning the faith, or very far from being true Christians; but they shall proceed no further, or not much further, as some read it. Observe, (1.) Seducers seek for corners, and love obscurity; for they are afraid to appear in public, and therefore creep into houses. Further, They attack those who are the least able to defend themselves, silly and wicked women. (2.) Seducers in all ages are much alike. Their characters are the same - namely, Men of corrupt minds, etc.; their conduct is much the same - they resist the truth, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses; and they will be alike in their disappointment. (3.) Those who resist the truth are guilty of folly, yea, of egregious folly; for magna est veritas, et praevalebit - Great is the truth, and shall prevail. (4.) Though the spirit of error may be let loose for a time, God has it in a chain. Satan can deceive the nations and the churches no further and no longer than God will permit him: Their folly shall be manifest, it shall appear that they are imposters, and every man shall abandon them.

Matthew Henry: 2Ti 3:10-17

Here the apostle, to confirm Timothy in that way wherein he walked,

I. Sets before him his own example, which Timothy had been an eye-witness of, having long attended Paul (2Ti 3:10): Thou hast fully known my doctrine. The more fully we know the doctrine of Christ and the apostles, the more closely we shall cleave to it; the reason why many sit loose to it is because they do not fully know it. Christ's apostles had no enemies but those who did not know them, or not know them fully; those who knew them best loved and honoured them the most. Now what is it that Timothy had so fully known in Paul? 1. The doctrine that he preached. Paul kept back nothing from his hearers, but declared to them the whole counsel of God (Act 20:27), so that if it were not their own fault they might fully know it. Timothy had a great advantage in being trained up under such a tutor, and being apprised of the doctrine he preached. 2. He had fully known his conversation: Thou hast fully know my doctrine, and manner of life; his manner of life was of a piece with his doctrine, and did not contradict it. He did not pull down by his living what he built up by his preaching. Those ministers are likely to do good, and leave lasting fruits of their labours, whose manner of life agrees with their doctrine; as, on the contrary, those cannot expect to profit the people at all that preach well and live ill. 3. Timothy fully knew what was the great thing that Paul had in view, both in his preaching and in his conversation: "Thou hast known my purpose, what I drive at, how far it is from any worldly, carnal, secular design, and how sincerely I aim at the glory of God and the good of the souls of men."4. Timothy fully knew Paul's good character, which he might gather from his doctrine, manner of life, and purpose; for he gave proofs of his faith (that is, of his integrity and fidelity, or his faith in Christ, his faith concerning another world, by which Paul lived), his long-suffering towards the churches to which he preached and over which he presided, his charity towards all men, and his patience. These were graces that Paul was eminent for, and Timothy knew it. 5. He knew that he had suffered ill for doing well (2Ti 3:11): "Thou hast fully known the persecutions and afflictions that came unto me "(he mentions those only which happened to him while Timothy was with him, at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra ); "and therefore let it be no surprise to thee if thou suffer hard things, it is no more than I have endured before."6. He knew what care God had taken of him: Notwithstanding out of them all the Lord delivered me; as he never failed his cause, so his God never failed him. Thou hast fully known my afflictions. When we know the afflictions of good people but in part, they are a temptation to us to decline that cause which they suffer for; when we know only the hardships they undergo for Christ, we may be ready to say, "We will renounce that cause that is likely to cost us so dear in the owning of it;"but when we fully know the afflictions, not only how they suffer, but how they are supported and comforted under their sufferings, then, instead of being discouraged, we shall be animated by them, especially considering that we are told before that we must count upon such things (2Ti 3:12): All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution: not always alike; at that time those who professed the faith of Christ were more exposed to persecution than at other times; but at all times, more or less, those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. They must expect to be despised, and that their religion will stand in the way of their preferment; those who will live godly must expect it, especially those who will live godly in Christ Jesus, that is, according to the strict rules of the Christian religion, those who will wear the livery and bear the name of the crucified Redeemer. All who will show their religion in their conversation, who will not only be godly, but live godly, let them expect persecution, especially when they are resolute in it. Observe, (1.) The apostle's life was very exemplary for three things: for his doctrine, which was according to the will of God; for his life, which was agreeable to his doctrine; and for his persecutions and sufferings. (2.) Though his life was a life of great usefulness, yet it was a life of great sufferings; and none, I believe, came nearer to their great Master for eminent services and great sufferings than Paul: he suffered almost in every place; the Holy Ghost witnessed that bonds and afflictions did abide him, Act 20:23. Here he mentions his persecutions and afflictions at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, besides what he suffered elsewhere. (3.) The apostle mentions the Lord's delivering him out of them all, for Timothy's and our encouragement under sufferings. (4.) We have the practice and treatment of true Christians: they live godly in Jesus Christ - this is their practice; and they shall suffer persecution - this is the usage they must expect in this world.

II. He warns Timothy of the fatal end of seducers, as a reason why he should stick closely to the truth as it is in Jesus: But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, etc., 2Ti 3:13. Observe, As good men, by the grace of God, grow better and better, so bad men, through the subtlety of Satan and the power of their own corruptions, grow worse and worse. The way of sin is down-hill; for such proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Those who deceive others do but deceive themselves; those who draw others into error run themselves into more and more mistakes, and they will find it so at last, to their cost.

III. He directs him to keep close to a good education, and particularly to what he had learned out of the holy scriptures (2Ti 3:14, 2Ti 3:15): Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. Note, It is not enough to learn that which is good, but we must continue in it, and persevere in it unto the end. Then are we Christ's disciples indeed, Joh 8:31. We should not be any more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, Eph 4:14. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines; for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, Heb 13:9. And for this reason we should continue in the things we have learned from the holy scriptures; not that we ought to continue in any errors and mistakes which we may have been led into, in the time of our childhood and youth (for these, upon an impartial enquiry and full conviction, we should forsake); but this makes nothing against our continuing in those things which the holy scriptures plainly assert, and which he that runs may read. If Timothy would adhere to the truth as he had been taught it, this would arm him against the snares and insinuations of seducers. Observe, Timothy must continue in the things which he had learned and had been assured of.

1. It is a great happiness to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed (Luk 1:4); not only to know what the truths are, but to know that they are of undoubted certainty. What we have learned we must labour to be more and more assured of, that, being grounded in the truth, we may be guarded against error, for certainty in religion is of great importance and advantage: Knowing, (1.) "That thou hast had good teachers. Consider of whom thou hast learned them; not of evil men and seducers, but good men, who had themselves experienced the power of the truths they taught thee, and been ready to suffer for them, and thereby would give the fullest evidence of their belief of these truths."(2.) "Knowing especially the firm foundation upon which thou hast built, namely, that of the scripture (2Ti 3:15): That from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures. "

2. Those who would acquaint themselves with the things of God, and be assured of them, must know the holy scriptures, for these are the summary of divine revelation.

3. It is a great happiness to know the holy scriptures from our childhood; and children should betimes get the knowledge of the scriptures. The age of children is the learning age; and those who would get true learning must get it out of the scriptures.

4. The scriptures we are to know are the holy scriptures; they come from the holy God, were delivered by holy men, contain holy precepts, treat of holy things, and were designed to make us holy and to lead us in the way of holiness to happiness; being called the holy scriptures, they are by this distinguished from profane writings of all sorts, and from those that only treat morality, and common justice and honesty, but do not meddle with holiness. If we would know the holy scriptures, we must read and search them daily, as the noble Bereans did, Act 17:11. They must not lie by us neglected, and seldom or never looked into. Now here observe,

(1.) What is the excellency of the scripture. It is given by inspiration of God (2Ti 3:16), and therefore is his word. It is a divine revelation, which we may depend upon as infallibly true. The same Spirit that breathed reason into us breathes revelation among us: For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men spoke as they were moved or carried forth by the Holy Ghost, 2Pe 1:21. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but what they received of the Lord that they delivered unto us. That the scripture was given by inspiration of God appears from the majesty of its style, - from the truth, purity, and sublimity, of the doctrines contained in it, - from the harmony of its several parts, - from its power and efficacy on the minds of multitudes that converse with it, - from the accomplishment of many prophecies relating to things beyond all human foresight, - and from the uncontrollable miracles that were wrought in proof of its divine original: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will, Heb 2:4.

(2.) What use it will be of to us. [1.] It is able to make us wise to salvation; that is, it is a sure guide in our way to eternal life. Note, Those are wise indeed who are wise to salvation. The scriptures are able to make us truly wise, wise for our souls and another world. "To make thee wise to salvation through faith. "Observe, The scriptures will make us wise to salvation, if they be mixed with faith, and not otherwise, Heb 4:2. For, if we do not believe their truth and goodness, they will do us no good. [2.] It is profitable to us for all the purposes of the Christian life, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It answers all the ends of divine revelation. It instructs us in that which is true, reproves us for that which is amiss, directs us in that which is good. It is of use to all, for we all need to be instructed, corrected, and reproved: it is of special use to ministers, who are to give instruction, correction, and reproof; and whence can they fetch it better than from the scripture? [3.] That the man of God may be perfect, 2Ti 3:17. The Christian, the minister, is the man of God. That which finishes a man of God in this world is the scripture. By it we are thoroughly furnished for every good work. There is that in the scripture which suits every case. Whatever duty we have to do, whatever service is required from us, we may find enough in the scriptures to furnish us for it.

(3.) On the whole we here see, [1.] That the scripture has various uses, and answers divers ends and purposes: It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction of all errors in judgment and practice, and for instruction in righteousness. [2.] The scripture is a perfect rule of faith and practice, and was designed for the man of God, the minister as well as the Christian who is devoted to God, for it is profitable for doctrine, etc. [3.] If we consult the scripture, which was given by inspiration of God, and follow its directions, we shall be made men of God, perfect, and thoroughly furnished to every good work. [4.] There is no occasion for the writings of the philosopher, nor for rabbinical fables, nor popish legends, nor unwritten traditions, to make us perfect men of God, since the scripture answers all these ends and purposes. O that we may love our Bibles more, and keep closer to them than ever! and then shall we find the benefit and advantage designed thereby, and shall at last attain the happiness therein promised and assured to us.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:1

The early Church lived in an age when the time was waxing late; they expected the Second Coming at any moment. Christianity was cradled in Judaism and very naturally thought largely in Jewish terms and pictures. Jewish thought had one basic conception. The Jews divided all time into this present age and the age to come. This present age was altogether evil; and the age to come would be the golden age of God. In between there was The Day of the Lord, a day when God would personally intervene and shatter the world in order to remake it. That Day of the Lord was to be preceded by a time of terror, when evil would gather itself for its final assault and the world would be shaken to its moral and physical foundations. It is in terms of these last days that Paul is thinking in this passage.

He says that in them difficult times would set in. Difficult is the Greek word chalepos (5467). It is the normal Greek word for difficult, but it has certain usage's which explain its meaning here. It is used in Mat 8:28to describe the two Gergesene demoniacs who met Jesus among the tombs. They were violent and dangerous. It is used in Plutarch to describe what we would call an ugly wound. It is used by ancient writers on astrology to describe what we would call a threatening conjunction of the heavenly bodies. There is the idea of menace and of danger in this word. In the last days there would come times which would menace the very existence of the Christian Church and of goodness itself, a kind of last tremendous assault of evil before its final defeat.

In the Jewish pictures of these last terrible times we get exactly the same kind of picture as we get here. There would come a kind of terrible flowering of evil, when the moral foundations seemed to be shaken. In the Testament of Issachar, one of the books written between the Old and the New Testaments, we get a picture like this:

"Know ye, therefore, my children, that in the last times

Your sons will forsake singleness

And will cleave unto insatiable desire;

And leaving guilelessness, will draw near to malice;

And forsaking the commandments of the Lord,

They will cleave unto Beliar.

And leaving husbandry,

They will follow after their own wicked devices,

And they shall be dispersed among the Gentiles,

And shall serve their enemies."

(Testament of Issachar, 6: 1-2).

In 2Baruch we get an even more vivid picture of the moral chaos of these last times:

"And honour shall be turned into shame,

And strength humiliated into contempt,

And probity destroyed,

And beauty shall become ugliness ...

And envy shall rise in those who had not thought ought of

themselves,

And passion shall seize him that is peaceful,

And many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many;

And they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood,

And in the end they shall perish together with them." (2Baruch 27).

In this picture which Paul draws he is thinking in terms familiar to the Jews. There was to be a final show-down with the forces of evil.

Nowadays we have to restate these old pictures in modern terms. They were never meant to be anything else but visions; we do violence to Jewish and to early Christian thought if we take them with a crude literalness. But they do enshrine the permanent truth that some time there must come the consummation when evil meets God in head-on collision and there comes the final triumph of God.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:2-5

Here is one of the most terrible pictures in the New Testament of what a godless world would be like, with the terrible qualities of godlessness set out in a ghastly series. Let us look at them one by one.

It is no accident that the first of these qualities will be a life that is centred in self. The adjective used is philautos (5367), which means self-loving. Love of self is the basic sin, from which all others flow. The moment a man makes his own will the centre of life, divine and human relationships are destroyed, obedience to God and charity to men both become impossible. The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement but the obliteration of self.

Men would become lovers of money (philarguros, 5366). We must remember that Timothy's work lay in Ephesus, perhaps the greatest market in the ancient world. In those days trade tended to flow down river valleys; Ephesus was at the mouth of the River Cayster, and commanded the trade of one of the richest hinterlands in all Asia Minor. At Ephesus some of the greatest roads in the world met. There was the great trade route from the Euphrates valley which came by way of Colosse and Laodicea and poured the wealth of the east into the lap of Ephesus. There was the road from north Asia Minor and from Galatia which came in via Sardis. There was the road from the south which centred the trade of the Maeander valley in Ephesus. Ephesus was called "The Treasure-house of the ancient world," "The Vanity Fair of Asia Minor." It has been pointed out that the writer of Revelation may well have been thinking of Ephesus when he wrote that haunting passage which describes the merchandise of men: "The cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls" (Rev 18:12-13). Ephesus was the town of a prosperous, materialistic civilization; it was the kind of town where a man could so easily lose his soul.

There is peril when men assess prosperity by material things. It is to be remembered that a man may lose his soul far more easily in prosperity than in adversity; and he is on the way to losing his soul when he assesses the value of life by the number of things which he possesses.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:2-5

In these terrible days men would be braggarts and arrogant. In Greek writings these two words often went together; and they are both picturesque.

Braggart has an interesting derivation. It is the word alazon (213) and was derived from the ale, which means a wandering about. Originally the alazon (213) was a wandering quack. Plutarch uses the word to describe a quack doctor. The alazon (213) was a mountebank who wandered the country with medicines and spells and methods of exorcism which, he claimed, were panaceas for all diseases. We can still see this kind of man in fairs and market-places shouting the virtues of a patent medicine which will act like magic. Then the word went on to widen its meaning until it meant any braggart.

The Greek moralists wrote much about this word. The Platonic Definitions defined the corresponding noun (alazoneia, 212) as: "The claim to good things which a man does not really possess." Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, 7: 2) defined the alazon (213) as "the man who pretends to creditable qualities that he does not possess, or possesses in a lesser degree than he makes out." Xenophon tells us how Cyrus, the Persian king, defined the alazon (213): "The name alazon (213) seems to apply to those who pretend that they are richer than they are or braver than they are, and to those who promise to do what they cannot do, and that, too, when it is evident that they do this only for the sake of getting something or making some gain" (Xenophon: Cyropoedia, 2, 2, 12). Xenophon in the Memorabilia tells how Socrates utterly condemned such impostors. Socrates skid that they were to be found in every walk of life but were worst of all in politics. "Much the greatest rogue of all is the man who has gulled his city into the belief that he is fit to direct it."

The world is full of these braggarts to this day; the clever know-all's who deceive people into thinking that they are wise, the politicians who claim that their parties have a program which will bring in the Utopia and that they alone are born to be leaders of men, the people who crowd the advertisement columns with claims to give beauty, knowledge or health by their system, the people in the Church who have a kind of ostentatious goodness.

Closely allied with the braggart, but--as we shall see--even worse, is the man who is arrogant. The word is huperephanos (5244). It is derived from two Greek words which mean to show oneself above. The man who is huperephanos (5244), said Theophrastus, has a kind of contempt for everyone except himself. He is the man who is guilty of the "sin of the high heart." He is the man whom God resists, for it is repeatedly said in scripture, that God receives the humble but resists the man who is proud, huperephanos (5244) (Jam 4:6; 1Pe 5:5; Pro 3:24). Theophylact called this kind of pride akropolis (compare 206 and 4172) kakon (2556), the citadel of evils.

The difference between the braggart and the man who is arrogant is this. The braggart is a swaggering creature, who tries to bluster his way into power and eminence. No one can possibly mistake him. But the sin of the man who is arrogant is in his heart. He might even seem to be humble; but in his secret heart there is contempt for everyone else. He nourishes an all-consuming, all-pervading pride; and in his heart there is a little altar where he bows down before himself.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:2-5

These twin qualities of the braggart and the arrogant man inevitably result in love of insult (blasphemia, 988). Blasphemia is the word which is transliterated into English as blasphemy. In English we usually associate it with insult against God, but in Greek it means insult against man and God alike. Pride always begets insult. It begets disregard of God, thinking that it does not need him and that it knows better than he. It begets a contempt of men which can issue in hurting actions and in wounding words. The Jewish Rabbis ranked high in the list of sins what they called the sin of insult. The insult which comes from anger is bad but it is forgivable, for it is launched in the heat of the moment; but the cold insult which comes from arrogant pride is an ugly and an unforgivable thing.

Men will be disobedient to their parents. The ancient world set duty to parents very high. The oldest Greek laws disfranchised the man who struck his parents; to strike a father was in Roman law as bad as murder; in the Jewish law honour for father and mother comes high in the list of the Ten Commandments. It is the sign of a supremely decadent civilization when youth loses all respect for age and fails to recognize the unpayable debt and the basic duty it owes to those who gave it life.

Men will be thankless (acharistos, 884). They will refuse to recognize the debt they owe both to God and to men. The strange characteristic of ingratitude is that it is the most hurting of all sins because it is the blindest. Lear's words remain true:

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

To have a thankless child!"

It is the sign of a man of honour that he pays his debts; and for every man there is a debt to God and there are debts to his fellow-men, which he must remember and repay.

Men will refuse to recognize even the ultimate decencies of life. The Greek word is that men will become anosios (462). Anosios does not so much mean that men will break the written laws; it means that they will offend against the unwritten laws which are part and parcel of the essence of life. To the Greek it was anosios (462) to refuse burial to the dead; it was anosios (462) for a brother to marry a sister, or a son a mother. The man who is anosios (462) offends against the fundamental decencies of life. Such offence can and does happen yet. The man who is mastered by his lower passions will gratify them in the most shameless way, as the streets of any great city will show when the night is late. The man who has exhausted the normal pleasures of life and still unsated, will seek his thrill in pleasures which are abnormal.

Men will be without human affection (astorgos, 794). Storge is the word used especially of family love, the love of child for parent and parent for child. If there is no human affection, the family cannot exist. In the terrible times men will be so set on self that even the closest ties will be nothing to them.

Men will be implacable in their hatreds (aspondos, 786). Sponde is the word for a truce or an agreement. Aspondos (786) can mean two things. It can mean that a man is so bitter in his hatred that he will never come to terms with the man with whom he has quarrelled. Or it can mean that a man is so dishonourable that he breaks the terms of the agreement he has made. In either case the word describes a certain harshness of mind which separates a man from his fellow-men in unrelenting bitterness. It may be that, since we are only human, we cannot live entirely without differences with our fellow-men, but to perpetuate these differences is one of the worst--and also one of the commonest--of all sins. When we are tempted to do so, we should hear again the voice of our blessed Lord saying on the Cross: "Father, forgive them."

Barclay: 2Ti 3:2-5

In these terrible days men will be slanderers. The Greek for slanderer is diabolos (1228) which is precisely the English word devil. The devil is the patron saint of all slanderers and of all slanderers he is chief. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It is one thing to start an evil and untrue report on its malicious way; it is entirely another thing to stop it. As Shakespeare had it:

"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls:

Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;

'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands:

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him

And makes me poor indeed."

Many men and women, who would never dream of stealing, think nothing--even find pleasure--in passing on a story which ruins someone else's good name, without even trying to find out whether or not it is true. There is slander enough in many a church to make the recording angel weep as he records it.

Men will be ungovernable in their desires (akrates, 193). The Greek verb kratein (2902) means to control. A man can reach a stage when, so far from controlling it, he can become a slave to some habit or desire. That is the inevitable way to ruin, for no man can master anything unless he first masters himself.

Men will be savage. The word is anemeros (434) and would be more fittingly applied to a wild beast than to a human being. It denotes a savagery which has neither sensitiveness nor sympathy. Men can be savage in rebuke and savage in pitiless action. Even a dog may be sorry when he has hurt his master, but there are people who, in their treatment of others, can be lost to human sympathy and feeling.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:2-5

In these last terrible days men will come to have no love for good things or good persons (aphilagathos, 865). There can come a time in a man's life when the company of good people and the presence of good things is simply an embarrassment. He who feeds his mind on cheap literature can in the end find nothing in the great masterpieces. His mental palate loses its taste. A man has sunk far when he finds even the presence of good people something which he would only wish to avoid.

Men will be treacherous. The Greek word (prodotes, 4273) means nothing less than a traitor. We must remember that this was written just at the beginning of the years of persecution, when it was becoming a crime to be a Christian. At this particular time in the ordinary matters of politics one of the curses of Rome was the existence of informers (delatores, compare 1213). Things were so bad that Tacitus could say: "He who had no foe was betrayed by his friend." There were those who would revenge themselves on an enemy by informing against him. What Paul is thinking of here is more than faithlessness in friendship--although that in all truth is wounding enough--he is thinking of those who to pay back an old score would inform against the Christians to the Roman government.

Men would be headlong in words and action. The word is propetes (4312), precipitate. It describes the man who is swept on by passion and impulse to such an extent that he is totally unable to think sensibly. Far more harm is done from want of thought than almost anything else. Many and many a time we would be saved from hurting ourselves and from wounding other people, if we would only stop to think.

Men will be inflated with conceit (tetuphomenos, 5187). The word is almost exactly the English swelled-headed. They will be inflated with a sense of their own importance. There are still Church dignitaries whose main thought is their own dignity; but the Christian is the follower of him who was meek and lowly in heart.

They will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Here we come back to where we started; such men place their own wishes in the centre of life. They worship self instead of God.

The final condemnation of these people is that they retain the outward form of religion but deny its power. That is to say, they go through all the correct movements and maintain all the external forms of religion; but they know nothing of Christianity as a dynamic power which changes the lives of men. It is said that, after hearing an evangelical sermon, Lord Melbourne once remarked: "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade the sphere of private life." It may well be that the greatest handicap to Christianity is not the scarlet sinner but the sleek devotee of an unimpeachable orthodoxy and a dignified convention, who is horrified when it is suggested that real religion is a dynamic power which changes a man's personal life.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:6-7

The Christian emancipation of women inevitably brought its problems. We have already seen how secluded the life of the respectable Greek woman was, how she was brought up under the strictest supervision, how she was not allowed "to see anything, to hear anything, or to ask any questions," how she never appeared, even on a shopping expedition, alone on the streets, how she was never allowed even to appear at a public meeting. Christianity changed all that and a new set of problems arose. It was only to be expected that certain women would not know how to use their new liberty. There were false teachers who were quick to take advantage of that.

Irenaeus draws a vivid picture of the methods of just such a teacher in his day. True, he is telling of something which happened later than this, but the wretched story would be the same (Irenaeus: Against Heresies, 1, 13, 3). There was a certain heretic called Marcus who dealt in magic. "He devotes himself specially to women, and those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth." He tells such women that by his spells and incantations he can enable them to prophesy. The woman protests that she has never done so and cannot do so. He says: "Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy." The woman, thrilled to the heart, does so and is deluded into thinking that she can prophesy. "She then makes the effort to reward Marcus, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him." The technique would be the same in the days of Timothy as it was in the later days of Irenaeus.

There would be two ways in which these heretics in the days of Timothy could exert an evil influence. We must remember that they were Gnostics and that the basic principle of Gnosticism was that spirit was altogether good and matter altogether evil. We have already seen that that teaching issued in one of two things. The Gnostic heretics taught, either that, since matter is altogether evil, a rigid asceticism must be practiced and all the things of the body as far as possible eliminated, or that it does not matter what we do with the body and its desires can be indulged in to the limit because they do not matter. The Gnostic insinuators would teach these doctrines to impressionable women. The result would often be either that the woman broke off married relationships with her husband in order to live the ascetic life, or that she gave the lower instincts full play and abandoned herself to promiscuous relationships. In either case home and family life were destroyed.

It is still possible for a teacher to gain an undue and unhealthy influence over others, especially when they are impressionable.

It is Paul's charge that such people are "willing to learn from anyone, and yet never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." E. F. Brown has pointed out the danger of what he calls "intellectual curiosity without moral earnestness." There is a type of person who is eager to discuss every new theory, who is always to be found deeply involved in the latest fashionable religious movement, but who is quite unwilling to accept the day-to-day discipline--even drudgery--of living the Christian life. No amount of intellectual curiosity can ever take the place of moral earnestness. We are not meant to titillate our minds with the latest intellectual crazes; we are meant to purify and strengthen ourselves in the moral battle to live the Christian life.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:8-9

In the days between the Old and the New Testaments many Jewish books were written which expanded the Old Testament stories. In certain of these books Jannes and Jambres figured largely. These were the names given to the court magicians of Pharaoh who opposed Moses and Aaron, when Moses was leading the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. At first these magicians were able to match the wonders which Moses and Aaron did, but in the end they were defeated and discredited. In the Old Testament they are not named, but they are referred to in Exo 7:11; Exo 8:7; Exo 9:11.

A whole collection of stories gathered round their names. They were said to be the two servants who accompanied Balaam when he was disobedient to God (Num 22:22); they were said to have been part of the great mixed multitude who accompanied the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exo 12:38); some said that they perished at the crossing of the Red Sea; other stories said that it was Jannes and Jambres who were behind the making of the golden calf and that they perished among those who were killed for that sin (Exo 32:28); still other stories said that in the end they became proselytes to Judaism. Amidst all the stories one fact stands out--Jannes and Jambres became legendary figures typifying all those who opposed the purposes of God and the work of his true leaders.

The Christian leader will never lack his opponents. There will always be those who have their own twisted ideas of the Christian faith, and who wish to win others to their mistaken beliefs. But of one thing Paul was sure--the days of the deceivers were numbered. Their falsity would be demonstrated and they would receive their appropriate reward.

The history of the Christian Church teaches us that falsity cannot live. It may flourish for a time, but when it is exposed to the light of truth it is bound to shrivel and die. There is only one test for falsity--"You will know them by their fruits." The best way to overcome and to banish the false is to live in such a way that the loveliness and the graciousness of the truth is plain for all to see. The defeat of error depends not on skill in controversy but in the demonstration in life of the more excellent way.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:10-13

Paul contrasts the conduct of Timothy, his loyal disciple, with the conduct of the heretics who were doing their utmost to wreck the Church. The word we have translated to be a disciple includes so much that is beyond translation in any single English word. It is the Greek parakolouthein (3877) and literally means to follow alongside; but it is used with a magnificent width of meaning. It means to follow a person physically, to stick by him through thick and thin. It means to follow a person mentally, to attend diligently to his teaching and fully to understand the meaning of what he says. It means to follow a person spiritually, not only to understand what he says, but also to carry out his ideas and be the kind of person he wishes us to be. Parakolouthein (3877) is indeed the word for the disciple, for it includes the unwavering loyalty of the true comrade, the full understanding of the true scholar and the complete obedience of the dedicated servant.

Paul goes on to list the things in which Timothy has been his disciple; and the interest of that list is that it consists of the strands out of which the life and work of an apostle are woven. In it we find the duties, the qualities and the experiences of an apostle.

First, there are the duties of an apostle. There is teaching. No man can teach what he does not know, and therefore before a man can teach Christ to others he must know him himself. When Carlyle's father was discussing the kind of minister his parish needed, he said: "What this parish needs is a man who knows Christ other than at secondhand." Real teaching is always born of real experience. There is training. The Christian life does not consist only in knowing something; it consists even more in being something. The task of the apostle is not only to tell men the truth; it is also to help them do it. The true leader gives training in living.

Second, there are the qualities of the apostle. First and foremost he has an aim in life. Two men were talking of a great satirist who had been filled with moral earnestness. "He kicked the world about," said one, "as if it had been a football." "True," said the other, "but he kicked it to a goal." As individuals, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what is our aim in life? As teachers we should sometimes ask ourselves: what am I trying to do with these people whom I teach? Once Agesilaus, the Sparta king, was asked, "What shall we teach our boys?" His answer was: "That which will be most useful to them when they are men." Is it knowledge, or is it life, that we are trying to transmit?

As members of the Church, we should sometimes ask ourselves, what are we trying to do in it? It is not enough to be satisfied when a church is humming like a dynamo and every night in the week has its own crowded organization. We should be asking: what, if any, is the unifying purpose which binds all this activity together? In all life there is nothing so creative of really productive effort as a clear consciousness of a purpose.

Paul goes on to other qualities of an apostle. There is faith, complete belief that God's commands are binding and that his promises are true. There is patience. The word here is makrothumia (3115); and makrothumia, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patience with people. It is the ability not to lose patience when people are foolish, not to grow irritable when they seem unteachable. It is the ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness, the ingratitude of men and still to remain gracious, and still to toil on. There is love. This is God's attitude to men. It is the attitude which bears with everything men can do and refuses to be either angry or embittered, and which will never seek anything but their highest good. To love men is to forgive them and care for them as God forgave and cares--and it is only he who can enable us to do that.

Barclay: 2Ti 3:10-13

Paul completes the story of the things in which Timothy has shared, and must share, with him, by speaking of the experiences of an apostle; and he prefaces that list of experiences by setting down the quality of endurance. The Greek is hupomone (5281), which means not a passive sitting down and bearing things but a triumphant facing of them so that even out of evil there can come good. It describes, not the spirit which accepts life, but the spirit which masters it.

And that quality of conquering endurance is necessary, because persecution is an essential part of the experience of an apostle. Paul cites three instances when he had to suffer for Christ. He was driven from Antioch in Pisidia (Act 13:50); he had to flee from Iconium to avoid lynching (Act 14:5-6); in Lystra he was stoned and left for dead (Act 14:19). It is true that these things happened before the young Timothy had definitely entered on the Christian way, but they all happened in the district of which he was a native; and he may well have been an eyewitness of them. It may well be a proof of Timothy's courage and consecration that he had seen very clearly what could happen to an apostle and had yet not hesitated to cast in his lot with Paul.

It is Paul's conviction that the real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution. When trouble fell on the Thessalonians, Paul wrote to them: "When we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and as you know" (1Th 3:4). It is as if he said to them: "You have been well warned." He returned after the first missionary journey to visit the Churches he had founded, "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Act 14:22). The Kingdom had its price. And Jesus himself had said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Mat 5:10). If anyone proposes to accept a set of standards quite different from the world's, he is bound to encounter trouble. If anyone proposes to introduce into his life a loyalty which surpasses all earthly loyalties, there are bound to be clashes. And that is precisely what Christianity demands that a man should do.

Persecution and hardships will come, but of two things Paul is sure.

He is sure that God will rescue the man who puts his faith in him. He is sure that in the long run it is better to suffer with God and the right than to prosper with men and the wrong. Certain of the temporary persecution, he is equally certain of the ultimate glory.

He is sure that the ungodly man will go from bad to worse and that there is literally no future for the man who refuses to accept the way of God.

Constable: 2Ti 3:1-13

A. Characteristics of the last days 3:1-13

Paul instructed Timothy concerning what God had revealed would take place in the last days. He did so to help him realize that he faced no unknown situation in Ephesus and to enable him to combat it intelligently.

Constable: 2Ti 3:1-7

1. Evidences of faithlessness 3:1-7

3:1 Paul had given Timothy some instruction concerning the apostasy of the last days in his first epistle (4:1-3). Now he gave much more. The "last days" refers to the days preceding the Lord's return for His own (i.e., the Rapture).⁶⁰ They are "last" not because they are few but because they are the final days of the present age. In another sense the entire inter-advent age constitutes the last days (cf. Heb. 1:2).⁶¹ Timothy was already in the last days, but they would continue and grow worse. These times would be "difficult" for all, especially faithful Christians. A list of 19 specific characteristics of these days follows (cf. Rom. 1:29-31).

3:2 People would be (1) self-centered and narcissistic (Gr. philautoi), (2) lovers of money (philargyroi, cf. 1 Tim. 3:3, 8), (3) boastful of their own importance (alazones), and (4) proud, arrogant in attitude (hyperephanoi). They would be (5) abusive toward others (blasphemoi), (6) unresponsive to parental discipline, (7) ungrateful, unthankful, unappreciative (acharistoi), and (8) impure, unholy (anosioi).

3:3 Furthermore, they would be (9) heartless, callous, hateful (astorgoi), (10) unforgiving (aspondoi) and consequently irreconcilable, and (11) slanderous of others (diaboloi), speaking with malicious gossip. They would be (12) lacking in self-control (akrateis), (13) brutal, brutish, uncivilized (anemeroi), and (14) antagonistic toward whatever is good (aphilagathoi).

3:4 They would also be (15) disposed toward betrayal, treacherous (prodotai), and (16) headstrong, reckless (propeteis). They would be (17) conceited (tetyphomenoi), puffed up with pride, wrapped in a mist of self-delusion, and (18) devoted to personal pleasure (philedonoi) rather than to God (philotheoi).⁶²

Notice that Paul wrote this list of 18 characteristics in a somewhat chiastic arrangement. His list begins and ends with two groups of two words expressing a misdirection of love. Then come two groups with three terms each that focus on pride and hostility toward others. Then come two groups, five words followed by three words, all of which begin with a in the Greek text that negate some good quality that God's common grace affords. These eight words--the first one is in a two-word phrase--depict people who are devoid of the most basic characteristics of human life. The center of the chiasm is the word diaboloi, meaning slanderers, devilish people (cf. 2:26; 1 Tim. 3:11; Titus 2:3).⁶³

3:5 Finally they would (19) make a pretense of being religious but deny the source of true spiritual power (i.e., God's Word). This last characteristic makes clear that those individuals described in verses 2-4 would even claim to be Christians (i.e., false teachers and their followers). Timothy was to avoid association with people who demonstrated these characteristics except, of course, for purposes of evangelism and instruction.

"Self-love is the basic shortcoming mentioned in the list of vices in 3:2-5. This vice leads to action in vv. 6-9 that is deceitful, determined to dominate, stubborn, and rejected by God."⁶⁴

3:6-7 Paul evidently had the false teachers in Ephesus in view in these verses, though what he wrote here applies to all false teachers. Teachers manifesting some of the characteristics he just enumerated made a practice of gaining entrance into households in which the wives were spiritually weak (lit. little). He described these women further as dominated by various sins, responsive to their sinful desires, and seemingly ever learning but never really able to comprehend the truth of God. They cannot learn the truth because what they are learning is falsehood. The false teachers captivated such women with their teaching. Women were probably more susceptible to the influence of false teachers than men because in Paul's culture women occupied a lower status in society.⁶⁵ They did not usually have as much education as their husbands. Another explanation is that they had more time on their hands with which they could dabble in various theories.

"It is the immaturity and thus the weakness of these childish women' that make them susceptible to the false teachers. Paul does not use the term to derogate women but to describe a situation involving particular women. That he uses a diminutive form shows that he is not intending to describe women in general."⁶⁶

Constable: 2Ti 3:8-13

2. Negative and positive illustrations 3:8-13

3:8-9 Paul used the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in the plagues (Exod. 7:11; 9:11) to illustrate the fate of these false teachers. Jewish oral or written tradition preserved their names even though the Old Testament did not.⁶⁷ As these magicians, the false teachers opposed God's revealed truth, possessed corrupt minds, and were outside the fold of the faithful. They would proceed only so far as their Egyptian predecessors did. Their foolishness would become common knowledge when their power would prove inadequate.

3:10-11 Timothy's past character and conduct stood in stark contrast to that of the false teachers. He had fully followed Paul's ministry (teaching, conduct, and purpose) and his life (faith, patience, love, and perseverance). The fact that God had delivered Paul from all his persecutions would have encouraged Timothy to continue following the apostle's example.

"The Lord ever rescues his people, frequently from death, sometimes by means of death. Either way, nothing ever separates them from his love (Rom. 8:38, 39)."⁶⁸

3:12-13 Timothy needed to realize, as all Christians do, especially those to whom "prosperity theology" appeals, that when a person determines to live a godly life he or she will suffer persecution. With his or her commitment to follow Christ faithfully the Christian sets the course of his or her life directly opposite to the course of the world system. Confrontation and conflict become inevitable (cf. Matt. 10:22-23; Luke 21:12; John 15:20; Acts 14:22; 1 Thess. 3:4).

The wickedness of evil people and charlatans will increase as time passes. They will not only deceive others, but their sins and other deceivers will deceive them increasingly too. Such is the perversity of sin.

This statement does not contradict what Paul said in verse 9. In verse 13 he meant that evil becomes more intensive as time goes on. In verse 9 he meant that the teaching of evil does not necessarily become more extensive and capture a wider audience as evil becomes worse.⁶⁹

College: 2Ti 3:1-17

2 TIMOTHY 3

C. THE CHARACTER OF THE LAST DAYS (3:1-9)

¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷ always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth - men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

In this section, Paul shifts his focus from Timothy and his response to the false teachers to the relationship between the false teachers and "the last days." Only in v. 5 does Paul specifically give instructions to Timothy.

3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

Paul now reminds Timothy of the common Christian conviction that "last days" would be characterized by "terrible" (literally "hard" or "difficult") times. "The last days" is used elsewhere in the NT to refer to the Messianic age from Jesus' coming until the final consummation at the end of time (cf. Acts 2:17; Jas 5:3; 2 Pet 3:3; Heb 1:2). The language and concept really represents an OT idea (cf. Joel 3:1; Isa 2:2). It does not, as some suggest, represent an assumption that the end of time is near. For example, in 1 John 2:18 the phrase "the last hour" is used of the author's own day. The future tense "will be" indicates certainty, and describes the same period of time as seen in 1 Tim 4:1.

3:2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,

In vv. 2-4 Paul lists the characteristics of evil people living "in the last days." Five of the eighteen words occur only here in the NT, two more occur elsewhere only in the Pastoral Epistles, and three more are found only here and in Paul's similar list in Rom 1:29-31. These "people will be lovers of themselves" (in Titus 1:7 "not self-willed" is an important qualification for overseers), "lovers of money" (a trait of false teachers in 1 Tim 6:5-10, see especially v. 10; cf. 1 Tim 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7, 11).

boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,

"Boastful" and "proud" (two words which also appear together in Rom 1:30) emphasize arrogant and haughty attitudes and actions characteristic of the false teachers (cf. 1 Tim 1:7; 6:4). Such people will be "abusive" (a word usually rendered "blasphemers" or "slanderers"; cf. 1 Tim 1:13; 6:4; Titus 3:2), and "disobedient to their parents" (cf. Rom 1:30).

ungrateful, unholy, 3:3 without love, unforgiving,

The next four words in the list all begin with the Greek letter alpha , equivalent to the English prefix "un-." People of "the last days" will be "ungrateful" (Fee and Knight suggest this word coming after "disobedient to their parents" may indicate that they lack appreciation for what their parents have done), and "unholy" (or "irreverent"), "without love" (a[storgoi , astorgoi ; "without natural and/or expected affection"; cf. Rom 1:31) and "unforgiving" ("those who refuse to be reconciled").

slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,

The list of alpha privative words is broken with the word "slanderous" (diavboloi , diaboloi ; cf. 1 Tim 3:11; Titus 2:5). Paul then resumes his list with three more "un-" words: "without self-control" (in Titus 1:8 and 1 Tim 3:3 elders/overseers must be self-controlled), "brutal" (although the word is not used in Titus 1:7, the requirement for elders is clearly that they not be brutal), and "not lovers of the good" (in Titus 1:8 elders are to be the opposite).

3:4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -

The next two words have the same Greek prefix ( pro -) and seem to function together: "treacherous" (prodovtai , prodotai , perhaps "readiness to betray"; a word used of Judas Iscariot in Luke 6:16) and "rash" (or "reckless" [propetei'" , propeteis ], "a man who . . stops at nothing to gain his ends"). These people will also be "conceited" (see 1 Tim 3:6; 6:4 where the same word is used). Paul closes his list in a way similar to the way he began it, with two words that use the same Greek prefix "lovers." In the last days people will be "lovers of pleasure" (only here in the NT; cf. Paul's description of the pre-Christian life of those at Crete in Titus 3:3) "rather than lovers of God" (also only here in the NT; a word which may summarize what Jesus, citing the OT, deemed the first commandment; cf. Matt 22:37-38; Mark 12:28-30; Luke 10:27-28).

3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Paul concludes the description of the people of the last days by saying that they have "a form of godliness" (eujsevbeia , eusebeia ; the word used in the Pastoral Epistles for true religion; cf. 1 Tim 2:2; 3:16; 4:7, 8; 6:3, 5-6, 11; Titus 1:1) but "deny its power." These people will have all the outward characteristics one would expect of a religious person: asceticism, lots of religious discussions, etc. They are, however, really irreligious because they deny "its power," i.e., the gospel and the changed life it demands.

Have nothing to do with them.

Paul's instructions for Timothy to "have nothing to do with" such persons indicates that for Paul Timothy was indeed living "in the last days." Paul is in reality repeating the command he had given Timothy in 2:16.

3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women,

In this verse Paul again indicates that the time described in vv. 2-5 is Timothy's own day by his use of present tense verbs. These people of v. 2 "are the kind" (literally "of such people" referring to vv. 2-5) "who worm their way into" (i.e., "enter through false pretenses") "homes" (literally "the homes"). Fee has suggested that the "into the homes" may indicate the homes about which Timothy already knows, and that it is likely that these were homes among some "well-heeled" younger widows where it would have been easier for the false teachers to spread their propaganda. These false teachers "gain control" (aijcmalwtivzw , aichmalôtizô , literally "capture"; cf. Luke 21:24 where the word is used literally) "over weak-willed women" (literally "little women" indicating "childish women"). As Knight has noted, "Paul does not use the term 'weak-willed women' to derogate women but to describe a situation involving particular women. That he uses the diminutive form shows that he is not intending to describe women in general."

who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,

Paul goes on to explain why these women are to be deemed "weak-willed." They "are loaded down" (a perfect participle which literally means "have been overburdened") "with sins." The perfect tense indicates that these women are currently overburdened. It can either indicate that they are currently engaged in these sins and are burdened by them or that they are burdened by their past sins (cf. NEB "burdened with a sinful past"). The latter is more likely. These women "are swayed" (literally "are continually being led") "by all kinds of evil desires." Fee proposes that, if these desires are seen to have sexual overtones and if these women are sexually involved with some of the false teachers, this would shed additional light on texts in 1 Timothy like 1Tim 2:9-10; 3:2; 5:2, 6, 11-15, 22. He does, however, admit "that there is a degree of speculation involved in this suggestion." While his suggestion is interesting, it is very speculative and Paul's language would likely have been more specific if they were engaged in sexual immorality.

3:7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

Paul says that the women are "always learning" (apparently always anxious to learn something new like those in Athens who "spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas," Acts 17:21) "but never able to acknowledge the truth" (cf. 1 Tim 2:4).

3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth - men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

The false teachers who are leading these women astray are like "Jannes and Jambres [who] opposed Moses." Although these two men are not mentioned by name in the OT, the reference is to Pharaoh's magicians who used sorcery to oppose Moses (Exod 7:11-12, 22; 8:7). Their names begin to appear in Jewish writings from the intertestamental period. These men in Ephesus, like Jannes and Jambres, stand in opposition to "the truth"; they are "men of depraved minds" (cf. 1 Tim 6:5), "who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected" (ajdovkimoi , adokimoi ; the opposite of "approved" in 2:15). Paul's use of the article "the" with both "truth" and "faith" indicates that he is using both words as equivalent to "the gospel."

3:9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Despite their efforts and their "badness," "they will not get" ("progress") "very far." The reason Paul gives is that "their folly will be clear to everyone." Jannes and Jambres were not successful in their stand against Moses. These people will not be successful as they "oppose the truth." The truth and the gospel will be victorious.

D. FURTHER EXHORTATIONS FOR TIMOTHY TO ENDURE (3:10-17)

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings - what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul's instructions to Timothy in this section are simple. He is to continue in what he has learned from and observed in Paul. He must recall what he learned from Paul, think about what he has seen in Paul's life, and pay attention to Scripture.

3:10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,

This new section begins with an emphatic "you, however" (suΙ dev , su de ; cf. 2:1; 3:14; 4:5). Timothy, in contrast to the false teachers who really do not know what matters, has experience that should make him different. He knows "all about [Paul's] teaching" (i.e., his gospel), his "way of life" (only here in the NT; literally "leading"; cf. 1 Tim 4:12 for the concept), his "purpose" ("aim" or "resolve"), "faith" (cf. 1 Tim 4:12; 6:11; 2 Tim 2:22), "patience" (makroqumiva , makrothymia ; literally "longsuffering" with others; see discussion at 1 Tim 1:16; cf. 2 Tim 4:2), "love" (ajgavph , agapç ; cf. 1 Tim 1:5; 4:12; 6:11; Titus 2:2; 2 Tim 2:22), "endurance" (uJpomonhv , hypomonç ; "steadfastness" in a situation; cf. 1 Tim 6:11; Titus 2:2)

3:11 persecutions, sufferings - what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

The virtues of Paul's way of life (v. 10) were accompanied by "persecutions" (diwgmoi'" , diôgmois ) and "sufferings" (paqhvmasin , pathçmasin ). Although Timothy had not personally seen the hardships Paul endured at Antioch (Acts 13:48-52) or Iconium (Acts 14:1-7), he had undoubtedly heard from Paul and others about those experiences. Timothy may have personally observed the things that happened to Paul at Lystra (Acts 14:8-20; 16:1-2) since Lystra was Timothy's hometown. From all these "persecutions [and] sufferings, the Lord [had] rescued" Paul. Fee ponders why Paul did not mention the persecution at other locations, especially Philippi (Acts 16:19-34) and Ephesus (2 Cor 1:1-11) and Rome (Phil 1:1, 12-18). Fee conjectures that it is Paul's aim to call Timothy to loyalty so he picks those times closest to Timothy's conversion.

3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Paul reminds Timothy that the persecutions he had endured were not unique to him. "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life" (eujsebw'" , eusebôs ; see the discussion at 1 Tim 2:2) "in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." For Paul life is clearly to be located "in Christ Jesus" (cf. 1 Tim 1:14; 2 Tim 1:2).

3:13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

At this point Paul again turns to the false teachers. Although believers will suffer, "evil men" (see the description in vv. 2-5) and "impostors" (govhte" , gôetes , literally something like "enchanters"; perhaps "charlatans") "will go from" (literally "progress"; cf. 1 Tim 4:15; 2 Tim 2:16; 3:9) "bad to worse." Their sins will lead them even deeper into a sinful lifestyle, "deceiving and being deceived" (cf. Titus 1:10; 3:3).

3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

Again Paul contrasts his wishes for Timothy with the practice and lives of the false teachers ("but as for you"). Timothy must "continue in what [he has] learned [and has] become convinced of," undoubtedly a reference to the gospel he had learned and in which he had put his faith. After all, Timothy knew the character and life of those from whom he had learned the gospel. Although "those from whom you learned it" may be a possible reference to the "many witnesses" of 2:2, here it probably is a reference to Paul (cf. vv. 10-11) and to Timothy's mother and grandmother.

3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

From his infancy Timothy had been taught "the holy Scriptures" (obviously a reference to the OT). In addition to knowing the character of those who taught him, Timothy also has "known the holy Scriptures" and their character. They "are able to make" the believer "wise" (a contrast to the "depraved minds" of the false teachers in v. 9) resulting in "salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." It is perhaps worth noting, as does Fee, that "salvation lies not in the Scriptures themselves, but only as they are properly understood to point to Christ. Always for Paul salvation is through faith in Christ Jesus."

3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed

Having reminded Timothy of his knowledge of Scripture and indicated its connection with salvation, Paul concludes his appeal by discussing the origin of Scripture and its import for Timothy's ministry. V. 16 is a sentence "which commentators have found bafflingly ambiguous." The first difficulty rests in the fact that, because Paul uses the singular word for "Scripture," there has been some debate about the translation of the word "all" (pa'sa , pasa ). Is Paul saying that "all Scripture" or "every" Scripture is of divine origin? Knight states, "In final analysis there is no essential difference in meaning." Since Paul will go on to say that "Scripture is" useful in many ways, it seems likely that he is using the word in a collective sense and that the correct translation is "all Scripture."

The second problem has to do with whether one understands "God-breathed" (qeovpneusto" , theopneustos ) as a predicate adjective or as an attributive adjective. The first "is" in v. 16 does not represent a Greek word in the original but rather has been supplied by the NIV translators. The first part of the verse can be rendered either "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful" (KJV, NASB, RSV, TEV, NIV, NRSV), or "all God-breathed Scripture is also useful" (ASV, NEB). Because of the placement of the adjective and Paul's general argument, the rendering of the NIV is likely correct.

A third issue is the meaning of "God-breathed" ( theopneustos ). If the verbal adjective is understood in a passive sense, "all Scripture" is the product of God's breath or Spirit, the result of God's action. If understood in an active sense, "all Scripture" is filled with and exudes the breath or Spirit of God. Warfield has effectively argued that the adjective should be understood in a passive sense, the first option.

and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

Paul's first affirmation that "all Scripture is God-breathed" leads to an affirmation of the usefulness of Scripture, particularly for Timothy's ministry and his dealings with the false teachers at Ephesus. Scripture "is useful for teaching" (Timothy's primary task; cf. 1 Tim 4:6, 13, 16; 6:3), "rebuking" (ejlegmov" , elegmos ; only here in the NT; in the LXX "convicting" one engaged in error), "correcting" (ejpanovrqwsi" , epanorthôsis ; also only here in the NT; "setting straight") and "training" (paideiva , paideia ; cf. 2:25; Titus 2:12) "in righteousness" (here "uprightness" or "right conduct").

3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In this verse Paul gives the purpose or perhaps the result of this proper use of Scripture: "so that the man of God" (here the more general word for man, oJ tou' qeou' a[nqrwpo" , ho tou theou anthrôpos , therefore "person of God" or as the NRSV rendering "everyone who belongs to God"; cf. 1 Tim 6:11) "may be thoroughly equipped" (a[rtio" , artios , "able to meet all the demands," BAGD) for every good work (cf. 2:21; Titus 1:16; 3:1).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: 2Ti 3:1

For more signs of the end times , see 2Pe 3:3 .

Evidence: 2Ti 3:5

" The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell." General William Booth

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

Second Timothy

From Rome Probably Early Autumn of 67 or Spring of 68

JFB: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

PLACE OF WRITING.--Paul, in the interval between his first and second imprisonment, after having written First Timothy from Macedonia or Corinth [BIRKS] (if we are to adopt the opinion that First Timothy was written after his first imprisonment), returned to Ephesus, as he intended, by way of Troas, where he left the books, &c. (mentioned in 2Ti 4:13), with Carpus. From Ephesus he went to Crete for a short visit and returned, and then wrote to Titus. Next he went by Miletus to Corinth (2Ti 4:20), and thence to Nicopolis (Tit 3:12), whence he proceeded to Rome. From his prison there he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, shortly before his martyrdom. It is not certain where Timothy was at this time. Some of the internal evidences favor the view of his having been then at Ephesus; thus the salutation of Priscilla and Aquila, who generally resided there (2Ti 4:19); also that of the household of Onesiphorus, who is stated in 2Ti 1:16-18 to have ministered to Paul at Ephesus, a circumstance implying his residence there. Also, the Hymenæus of 2Ti 2:17 seems to be the same as the Hymenæus at Ephesus (1Ti 1:20); and probably "Alexander the coppersmith" (2Ti 4:14) is the same as the Alexander joined with Hymenæus (1Ti 1:20), and possibly the same as the Alexander put forward by the Jews to clear themselves, not to befriend Paul, at the riot in Ephesus (Act 19:33-34). The difficulty is, on this supposition, how to account for 2Ti 4:12, 2Ti 4:20 : if Timothy was at Ephesus, why did he need to be told that Paul had sent Tychicus to Ephesus? or that Paul had left Trophimus, himself an Ephesian (Act 21:29), sick at Miletus, which was only thirty miles from Ephesus? However, see on 2Ti 4:12; 2Ti 4:20. Troas lay on the road to Rome from either Ephesus or Pontus, so that 2Ti 4:13 will accord with the theory of either Ephesus or any other place in the northwest of Asia Minor, being Timothy's place of sojourn at the time. Probably, he had the general superintendence of the Pauline churches in Asia Minor, in accordance with his mission combining the office of evangelist, or itinerant missionary, with that of presiding overseer. Ephesus was probably his headquarters.

TIME OF WRITING.--(1) Paul's first imprisonment, described in Act 28:17-31, was much milder than that in which he was when writing Second Timothy. In the former, he had liberty to lodge in his own hired house, and to receive all comers, guarded only by a single soldier; in the latter, he was so closely confined that Onesiphorus with difficulty found him; he was chained, his friends had forsaken him, and he had narrowly escaped sentence of execution from the Roman emperor. Medieval legends represent the Mamertine prison, or Tullianum, as the scene of his incarceration with Peter. But this is irreconcilable with the fact of Onesiphorus, Linus, Pudens, &c., having access to him. He was probably under military custody, as in his former imprisonment, though of a severer kind (2Ti 1:16-18; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:6-8, 2Ti 4:16-17). (2) The visit to Troas (2Ti 4:13) can hardly have been that mentioned in Act 20:5-7, the last before his first imprisonment; for, if it were, the interval between that visit and the first imprisonment would be seven or eight years, a period most unlikely for him to have allowed to pass without sending for his cloak and parchments, when they might have been of service to him in the interim. (3) Paul's leaving Trophimus sick at Miletus (2Ti 4:20), could not have been on the occasion mentioned in Act 20:15; for, subsequent to that, Trophimus was with Paul in Jerusalem (Act 21:29). (4) The words (2Ti 4:20), "Erastus abode at Corinth," imply that Paul had shortly before been at Corinth, where he left Erastus. But before his first imprisonment, Paul had not been at Corinth for several years; and in the interval Timothy had been with him, so that Timothy did not need at a later period to be told about that visit (Act 20:2, Act 20:4). For all these reasons the imprisonment, during which he wrote Second Timothy, is shown to be his second imprisonment. Moreover, Heb 13:23-24, represents the writer (who was probably Paul) as in Italy, and at liberty. So CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1.5], the disciple of Paul, explicitly states, "In the east and west, Paul as a preacher instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman empire) in righteousness, and having gone to the extremity of the west, and having borne witness before the rulers (of Rome), he so was removed from the world." This plainly implies that he fulfilled his design (Rom 15:24-28) of a missionary journey into Spain. The canon of the New Testament, compiled about A.D. 170 (called MURATORI'S Canon), also mentions "the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain." See ROUTH [Sacred Fragments, vol. 4, p. 1-12].

His martyrdom is universally said to have occurred in Nero's reign [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 2.22; JEROME, On Illustrious Men]. Five years thus seem to have elapsed between the first imprisonment, A.D. 63 (Act 28:17-31), and his martyrdom, June A.D. 68, the last year of Nero's reign. He was probably arrested by the magistrates in Nicopolis (Tit 3:12) in Epirus, in the winter, on a double charge, first, of being one of the Christians who had conspired, it was alleged by Nero's partisans, to set fire to Rome, A.D. 64; secondly, of introducing a novel and unlawful religion. His friends all left him, except Luke: Demas from "love of this present world": the others from various causes (2Ti 4:10-11). On the first charge he seems to have been acquitted. His liberation from his first imprisonment took place in A.D. 63, the year before the great fire at Rome, which Nero made the pretext for his persecution of the Christians. Every cruelty was heaped on them; some were crucified; some were arrayed in the skins of wild beasts and hunted to death by dogs; some were wrapped in pitch-robes and set on fire by night to illuminate the circus of the Vatican and gardens of Nero, while that monster mixed among the spectators in the garb of a charioteer. But now (A.D. 67 or 68) some years had elapsed since the first excitement which followed the fire. Hence, Paul, being a Roman citizen, was treated in his trial with a greater respect for the forms of the law, and hence was acquitted (2Ti 4:17) on the first charge of having instigated the Christians to their supposed acts of incendiarism before his last departure from Rome. Alexander the coppersmith seems to have been a witness against him (2Ti 4:14). Had he been condemned on the first charge, he would probably have been burnt alive, as the preceding martyrs were, for arson. His judge was the city Præfect. CLEMENT OF ROME specifies that his trial was (not before the emperor, but) "before the rulers." No advocate ventured to plead his cause, no patron appeared for him, such as under ordinary circumstances might have aided him; for instance, one of the powerful Æmilian house, under which his family possibly enjoyed clientship (2Ti 4:16-17), whence he may have taken his name Paul. The place of trial was, probably, one of the great basilicas in the Forum, two of which were called the Pauline Basilicas, from L. Æmilius Paulus, who had built one and restored the other. He was remanded for the second stage of his trial. He did not expect this to come on until the following "winter" (2Ti 4:21), whereas it took place about midsummer; if in Nero's reign, not later than June. In the interim Luke was his only constant companion; but one friend from Asia, Onesiphorus, had diligently sought him and visited him in prison, undeterred by the danger. Linus, too, the future bishop of Rome, Pudens, the son of a senator, and Claudia, his bride, perhaps the daughter of a British king (see on 2Ti 4:21), were among his visitors; and Tychicus, before he was sent by Paul to Ephesus (2Ti 4:12; perhaps bearing with him this Epistle).

OBJECT OF THE EPISTLE.--He was anxious to see his disciple Timothy, before his death, and that Timothy should bring Mark with him (2Ti 1:4; 2Ti 4:9, 2Ti 4:11, 2Ti 4:21). But feeling how uncertain it was whether Timothy should arrive in time, he felt it necessary, also, to give him by letter a last warning as to the heresies, the germs of which were then being scattered in the Churches. Hence he writes a series of exhortations to faithfulness, and zeal for sound doctrine, and patience amidst trials: a charge which Timothy seems to have needed, if we are to judge from the apostle's earnestness in urging him to boldness in Christ's cause, as though Paul thought he saw in him some signs of constitutional timidity (2Ti 2:2-8; 2Ti 4:1-5; 1Ti 5:22-23).

PAUL'S DEATH.--DIOYSIUS, bishop of Corinth (quoted in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]) about A.D. 170, is the earliest authority for the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome "about the same time" as Paul, after having labored for some time there. He calls Peter and Paul "the founders of the Corinthian and Roman Churches." The Roman presbyter, CAIUS (about A.D. 200), mentions the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom in the Vatican. But (1) Peter's work was among the Jews (Gal 2:9), whereas Rome was a Gentile Church (Rom 1:13. Moreover, (2) the First Epistle of Peter (1Pe 1:1; 1Pe 5:13) represents him as laboring in Babylon in Mesopotamia. (3) The silence concerning Peter of Paul's Epistles written in Rome, negatives the tradition of his having founded, or labored long at Rome; though it is possible he may have endured martyrdom there. His martyrdom, certainly, was not, as JEROME says, "on the same day" with that of Paul, else Paul would have mentioned Peter's being at Rome in 2Ti 4:11. The legend says that Peter, through fear, was fleeing from Rome at early dawn by the Appian Way, when he met our Lord, and falling at His feet, asked, Lord, whither goest thou? to which the Lord replied, I go again to be crucified. The disciple returned penitent and ashamed, and was martyred. The Church of Domine quo vadis, on the Appian Way, commemorates the supposed fact. Paul, according to CAIUS (quoted in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]), suffered martyrdom on the Ostian Way. So also JEROME, who gives the date, the fourteenth year of Nero. It was common to send prisoners, whose death might attract too much notice at Rome, to some distance from the city, under a military escort, for execution; hence the soldier's sword, not the executioner's axe, was the instrument of his decapitation [OROSIUS, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, 7.7]. Paul appears, from Phi. 1:12-30, to have had his partisans even in the palace, and certainly must have exercised such an influence as would excite sympathy in his behalf, to avoid which the execution was ordered outside the city. Compare TACITUS [Histories, 4.11]. The Basilica of St. Paul, first built by Constantine, now stands outside Rome on the road to Ostia: before the Reformation it was under the protection of the kings of England, and the emblem of the order of the Garter is still to be seen among its decorations. The traditional spot of the martyrdom is the Tre Fontane, not far from the Basilica [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].

JFB: 2 Timothy (Outline)

• EXHORTATIONS; TO FAITHFULNESS AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF CHRIST; ERRORS TO BE SHUNNED; THE LORD'S SURE FOUNDATION; THE RIGHT SPIRIT FOR A SERVANT OF CHRIST. (2Ti. 2:1-26)
• COMING EVIL DAYS: SIGNS OF EVIL ALREADY: CONTRAST IN THE DOCTRINE AND LIFE OF PAUL, WHICH TIMOTHY SHOULD FOLLOW IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS EARLY TRAINING IN SCRIPTURE. (2Ti. 3:1-17)
• SOLEMN CHARGE TO TIMOTHY TO DO HIS DUTY ZEALOUSLY, FOR TIMES OF APOSTASY ARE AT HAND, AND THE APOSTLE IS NEAR HIS TRIUMPHANT END: REQUESTS HIM TO COME AND BRING MARK WITH HIM TO ROME, AS LUKE ALONE IS WITH HIM, THE OTHERS HAVING GONE: ALSO HIS CLOAK AND PARCHMENTS: WARNS HIM AGAINST ALEXANDER: TELLS WHAT BEFELL HIM AT HIS FIRST DEFENSE: GREETINGS: BENEDICTION. (2Ti. 4:1-22)

TSK: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ti 3:1, He advertises him of the times to come; 2Ti 3:6, describes the enemies of the truth; 2Ti 3:10, propounds unto him his own example; 2Ti 3:16, and commends the holy scriptures;

Poole: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

TIMOTHY CHAPTER 3

MHCC: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

The first design of this epistle seems to have been, to apprize Timothy of what had occurred during the imprisonment of the apostle, and to request him to come to Rome. But being uncertain whether he should be suffered to live to see him, Paul gives a variety of advices and encouragements, for the faithful discharge of his ministerial duties. As this was a private epistle written to St. Paul's most intimate friend, under the miseries of imprisonment, and in the near prospect of death, it shows the temper and character of the apostle, and contains convincing proofs that he sincerely believed the doctrines he preached.

MHCC: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Ti 3:1-9) The apostle foretells the rise of dangerous enemies to the gospel.

(2Ti 3:10-13) Proposes his own example to Timothy.

(2Ti 3:14-17) And exhorts him to continue in the doctrine he had learned from the Holy Scriptures.

Matthew Henry: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy

This second epistle Paul wrote to Timothy from Rome, when he was a prisoner there and in danger of his life; this is evident from these words, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand, 2Ti 4:6. It appears that his removal out of this world, in his own apprehension, was not far off, especially considering the rage and malice of his persecutors; and that he had been brought before the emperor Nero, which he calls his first answer, when no man stood with him, but all men forsook him, 2Ti 4:16. And interpreters agree that this was the last epistle he wrote. Where Timothy now was is not certain. The scope of this epistle somewhat differs from that of the former, not so much relating to his office as an evangelist as to his personal conduct and behaviour.

Matthew Henry: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

I. The apostle forewarns Timothy what the last days would be, with the reasons thereof (2Ti 3:1-9). II. Prescribes various remedies against them (2Ti 3:10 to the end), particularly his own example (" But thou hast fully known my doctrine," etc.) and the knowledge of the holy scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, and will be the best antidote against the corruptions of the times we live in. In this chapter Paul tells Timothy how bad others would be, and therefore how good he should be; and this use we should make of the badness of others, thereby to engage us to hold our own integrity so much the firmer.

Barclay: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation. He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS

Personal Letters

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have always been regarded as forming a separate group of letters, different from the other letters of Paul. The most obvious difference is that they, along with the little letter to Philemon, are written to persons, whereas all other Pauline letters are written to Churches. The Muratorian Canon, which was the earliest official list of New Testament books, says that they were written "from personal feeling and affection." They are private rather than public letters.

Ecclesiastical Letters

But it very soon began to be seen that, though these are personal and private letters, they have a significance and a relevance far beyond the immediate. In 1Ti_3:15 their aim is set down. They are written to Timothy "that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God." So, then, it came to be seen that these letters have not only a personal significance, but also what one might call an ecclesiastical significance. The Muratorian Canon says of them that, though they are personal letters written out of personal affection, "they are still hallowed in the respect of the Catholic Church, and in the arrangement of ecclesiastical discipline." Tertullian said that Paul wrote "two letters to Timothy and one to Titus, which were composed concerning the state of the Church (de ecclesiastico statu)." It is not then surprising that the first name given to them was Pontifical Letters, that is, written by the pontifex, the priest, the controller of the Church.

Pastoral Letters

Bit by bit they came to acquire the name by which they are still known--The Pastoral Epistles. In writing of I Timothy Thomas Aquinas, as long ago as 1274, said, "This letter is as it were a pastoral rule which the Apostle delivered to Timothy." In his introduction to the second letter, he writes, "In the first letter he gives Timothy instructions concerning ecclesiastical order; in this second letter he deals with a pastoral care which should be so great that it will even accept martyrdom for the sake of the care of the flock." But this title, The Pastoral Epistles, really became affixed to these letters in 1726 when a great scholar, Paul Anton by name, gave a series of famous lectures on them under that title.

These letters then deal with the care and organization of the flock of God; they tell men how to behave within the household of God; they give instructions as to how Godhouse should be administered, as to what kind of people the leaders and pastors of the Church should be, and as to how the threats which endanger the purity of Christian faith and life should be dealt with.

The Growing Church

The supreme interest of these letters is that we get in them a picture of the infant Church. In those early days it was an island in a sea of paganism. The people in it were only one remove from their heathen origin. It would have been so easy for them to relapse into the pagan standards from which they had come; the tarnishing atmosphere was all around. It is most significant that missionaries tell us that of all letters the Pastoral Epistles speak most directly to the situation of the younger Churches. The situation with which they deal is being re-enacted in India, in Africa, in China every day. They can never lose their interest because in them we see, as nowhere else, the problems which continually beset the growing Church.

The Ecclesiastical Background Of The Pastorals

From the beginning these letters have presented problems to New Testament scholars. There are many who have felt that, as they stand, they cannot have come directly from the hand and pen of Paul. That this is no new feeling may be seen from the fact that Marcion, who, although he was a heretic, was the first man to draw up a list of New Testament books, did not include them among Paulletters. Let us then see what makes people doubt their direct Pauline authorship.

In them we are confronted with the picture of a Church with a fairly highly developed ecclesiastical organization. There are elders (1Ti_5:17-19 ; Tit_1:5-6 ); there are bishops, superintendents or overseers (1Ti_3:1-7 ; Tit_1:7-16 ); there are deacons (1Ti_3:8-13 ). From 1Ti_5:17-18 we learn that by that time elders were even salaried officials. The elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of a double pay and the Church is urged to remember that the labourer is worthy of his hire. There is at least the beginning of the order of widows who became so prominent later on in the early Church (1Ti_5:3-16 ). There is clearly here a quite elaborate structure within the Church, too elaborate some would claim for the early days in which Paul lived and worked.

The Days Of Creeds

It is even claimed that in these letters we can see the days of creeds emerging. The word faith changed its meaning. In the earliest days it is always faith in a person; it is the most intimate possible personal connection of love and trust and obedience with Jesus Christ. In later days it became faith in a creed; it became the acceptance of certain doctrines. It is said that in the Pastoral Epistles we can see this change emerging.

In the later days men will come who will depart from the faith and give heed to doctrines of devils (1Ti_4:1 ). A good servant of Jesus Christ must be nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine (1Ti_4:6 ). The heretics are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (2Ti_3:8 ). The duty of Titus is to rebuke men that they may be sound in the faith (Tit_1:13 ).

This comes out very particularly in an expression peculiar to the Pastorals. Timothy is urged to keep hold of "the truth that has been entrusted to you" (2Ti_1:14 ). The word for that has been entrusted is paratheke (G3866). Paratheke means a deposit which has been entrusted to a banker or someone else for safe-keeping. It is essentially something which must be handed back or handed on absolutely unchanged. That is to say the stress is on orthodoxy. Instead of being a close, personal relationship to Jesus Christ, as it was in the thrilling and throbbing days of the early Church, faith has become the acceptance of a creed. It is even held that in the Pastorals we have echoes of the earliest creeds.

"God was manifested in the flesh;

Vindicated in the Spirit;

Seen by angels;

Preached among the nations;

Believed on in the world;

Taken up in glory" (1Ti_3:16 ).

That indeed sounds like the fragment of a creed to be recited.

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from

David, as preached in my gospel" (2Ti_2:8 ).

That sounds like a reminder of a sentence from an accepted creed.

Within the Pastorals there undoubtedly are indications that the day of insistence on acceptance of a creed has begun, and that the days of the first thrilling personal discovery of Christ are beginning to fade.

A Dangerous Heresy

It is clear that in the forefront of the situation against which the Pastoral Epistles were written there was a dangerous heresy which was threatening the welfare of the Christian Church. If we can distinguish the various characteristic features of that heresy, we may be able to go on to identify it.

It was characterized by speculative intellectualism. It produced questions (1Ti_1:4 ); those involved in it doted about questions (1Ti_6:4 ); it dealt in foolish and unlearned questions (2Ti_2:23 ); its foolish questions are to be avoided (Tit_3:9 ). The word used in each case for questions is ekzetesis (compare G1567 and G2214), which means speculative discussion. This heresy was obviously one which was a play-ground of the intellectuals, or rather the pseudo-intellectuals of the Church.

It was characterized by pride. The heretic is proud, although in reality he knows nothing (1Ti_6:4 ). There are indications that these intellectuals set themselves on a plane above the ordinary Christian; in fact they may well have said that complete salvation was outside the grasp of the ordinary man and open only to them. At times the Pastoral Epistles stress the word all in a most significant way. The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men (Tit_2:11 ). It is Godwill that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1Ti_2:4 ). The intellectuals tried to make the greatest blessings of Christianity the exclusive possession of a chosen few; and in contradistinction the true faith stresses the all-embracing love of God.

There were within that heresy two opposite tendencies. There was a tendency to asceticism. The heretics tried to lay down special food laws, forgetting that everything God has made is good (1Ti_4:4-5 ). They listed many things as impure, forgetting that to the pure all things are pure (Tit_1:15 ). It is not impossible that they regarded sex as something unclean and belittled marriage, and even tried to persuade those who were married to renounce it, for in Tit_2:4 the simple duties of the married life are stressed as being binding on the Christian.

But this heresy also issued in immorality. The heretics even invaded private houses and led away weak and foolish women in evil desires (2Ti_3:6 ). They professed to know God, but denied him by their deeds (Tit_1:16 ). They were out to impose upon people and to make money out of their false teaching. To them gain was godliness (1Ti_6:5 ); they taught and deceived for base gain (Tit_1:11 ).

On the one hand this heresy issued in an unchristian asceticism, and on the other it produced an equally unchristian immorality.

It was characterized, too, by words and tales and genealogies. It was full of godless chatter and useless controversies (1Ti_6:20 ). It produced endless genealogies (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_3:9 ). It produced myths and fables (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_1:14 ).

It was at least in some way and to some extent tied up with Jewish legalism. Amongst its devotees were those of the circumcision (Tit_1:10 ). The aim of the heretics was to be teachers of the law (1Ti_1:7 ). It pressed on men Jewish fables and the commandments of men (Tit_1:14 ).

Finally, these heretics denied the resurrection of the body. They said that any resurrection that a man was going to experience had been experienced already (2Ti_2:18 ). This is probably a reference to those who held that the only resurrection the Christian experienced was a spiritual one when he died with Christ and rose again with him in the experience of baptism (Rom_6:4 ).

The Beginnings Of Gnosticism

Is there any heresy which fits all this material? There is, and its name is Gnosticism. The basic thought of Gnosticism was that all matter is essentially evil and spirit alone is good. That basic belief had certain consequences.

The Gnostic believed that matter is as eternal as God; and that when God created the world he had to use this essentially evil matter. That meant that to them God could not be the direct creator of the world. In order to touch this flawed matter he had to send out a series of emanations--they called them aeons--each one more and more distant from himself until at last there came an emanation or aeon so distant that it could deal with matter and create the world. Between man and God there stretched a series of these emanations, each with his name and genealogy. So Gnosticism literally had endless fables and endless genealogies. If a man was ever to get to God, he must, as it were, ascend this ladder of emanations; and to do that he needed a very special kind of knowledge including all kinds of passwords to get him past each stage. Only a person of the highest intellectual calibre could hope to acquire this knowledge and know these passwords and so get to God.

Further, if matter was altogether evil, the body was altogether evil. From that, two opposite possible consequences sprang. Either the body must be held down so that a rigorous asceticism resulted, in which the needs of the body were as far as possible eliminated and its instincts, especially the sex instinct, as far as possible destroyed; or it could be held that, since it was evil, it did not matter what was done with the body and its instincts and desires could be given full rein. The Gnostic therefore became either an ascetic or a man to whom morality had ceased to have any relevance at all.

Still further, if the body was evil, clearly there could be no such thing as its resurrection. It was not the resurrection of the body but its destruction to which the Gnostic looked forward.

All this fits accurately the situation of the Pastoral Epistles. In Gnosticism we see the intellectualism, the intellectual arrogance, the fables and the genealogies, the asceticism and the immorality, the refusal to contemplate the possibility of a bodily resurrection, which were part and parcel of the heresy against which the Pastoral Epistles were written.

One element in the heresy has not yet been fitted into place--the Judaism and the legalism of which the Pastoral Epistles speak. That too finds its place. Sometimes Gnosticism and Judaism joined hands. We have already said that the Gnostics insisted that to climb the ladder to God a very special knowledge was necessary; and that some of them insisted that for the good life a strict asceticism was essential. It was the claim of certain of the Jews that it was precisely the Jewish law and the Jewish food regulations which provided that special knowledge and necessary asceticism; and so there were times when Judaism and Gnosticism went hand in hand.

It is quite clear that the heresy at the back of the Pastoral Epistles was Gnosticism. Some have used that fact to try to prove that Paul could have had nothing to do with the writing of them, because, they say, Gnosticism did not emerge until much later than Paul. It is quite true that the great formal systems of Gnosticism, connected with such names as Valentinus and Basilides, did not arise until the second century; but these great figures only systematized what was already there. The basic ideas of Gnosticism were there in the atmosphere which surrounded the early Church, even in the days of Paul. It is easy to see their attraction, and also to see that, if they had been allowed to flourish unchecked, they could have turned Christianity into a speculative philosophy and wrecked it. In facing Gnosticism, the Church was facing one of the gravest dangers which ever threatened the Christian faith.

The Language Of The Pastorals

The most impressive argument against the direct Pauline origin of the Pastorals is a fact which is quite clear in the Greek but not so clear in any English translation. The total number of words in the Pastoral Epistles is 902, of which 54 are proper names; and of these 902 words, no fewer than 306 never occur in any other of Paulletters. That is to say more than a third of the words in the Pastoral Epistles are totally absent from Paulother letters. In fact 175 words in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the New Testament at all; although it is only fair to say that there are 50 words in the Pastoral Epistles which occur in Paulother letters and nowhere else in the New Testament.

Further, when the other letters of Paul and the Pastorals say the same thing they say it in different ways, using different words and different turns of speech to express the same idea.

Again, many of Paulfavourite words are absent entirely from the Pastoral Epistles. The words for the cross (stauros, G4716) and to crucify (stauroun, G4717) occur 27 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Eleutheria (G1657) and the kindred words which have to do with freedom occur 29 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Huios (G5207), "son," and huiothesia (G5206), "adoption," occur 46 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals.

Moreover, Greek has many more of those little words called particles and enclitics than English has. Sometimes they indicate little more than a tone of voice; every Greek sentence is joined to its predecessor by one of them; and they are often virtually untranslatable. Of these particles and enclitics there are 112 which Paul uses altogether 932 times in his other letters that never occur in the Pastorals.

There is clearly something which has to be explained here. The vocabulary and the style make it hard to believe that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles in the same sense as he wrote his other letters.

PaulActivities In The Pastorals

But perhaps the most obvious difficulty of the Pastorals is that they show Paul engaged in activities for which there is no room in his life as we know it from the book of Acts. He has clearly conducted a mission in Crete (Tit_1:5 ). And he proposes to spend a winter in Nicopolis, which is in Epirus (Tit_3:12 ). In Paullife as we know it that particular mission and that particular winter just cannot be fitted in. But it may well be that just here we have stumbled on the solution to the problem.

Was Paul Released From His Roman Imprisonment?

Let us sum up. We have seen that the Church organization of the Pastorals is more elaborate than in any other Pauline letter. We have seen that the stress on orthodoxy sounds like second or third generation Christianity, when the thrill of the new discovery is wearing off and the Church is on the way to becoming an institution. We have seen that Paul is depicted as carrying out a mission or missions which cannot be fitted into the scheme of his life as we have it in Acts. But Acts leaves it quite uncertain what happened to Paul in Rome. It ends by telling us that he lived for two whole years in a kind of semi-captivity, preaching the gospel without hindrance (Act_28:30-31 ). But it does not tell us how that captivity ended, whether in Paulrelease or his execution. It is true that the general assumption is that it ended in his condemnation and death; but there is a by no means negligible stream of tradition which tells that it ended in his release, his liberty for two or three further years, his reimprisonment and his final execution about the year A.D. 67.

Let us look at this question, for it is of the greatest interest.

First, it is clear that when Paul was in prison in Rome, he did not regard release as impossible; in fact, it looks as if he expected it. When he wrote to the Philippians, he said that he was sending Timothy to them, and goes on, "And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also" (Phi_2:24 ). When he wrote to Philemon, sending back the runaway Onesimus, he says, "At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you" (Phm_1:22 ). Clearly he was prepared for release, whether or not it ever came.

Second, let us remember a plan that was very dear to Paulheart. Before he went to Jerusalem on that journey on which he was arrested, he wrote to the Church at Rome, and in that letter he is planning a visit to Spain. "I hope to see you in passing," he writes, "as I go to Spain." "I shall go on by way of you," he writes, "to Spain" (Rom_15:24 , Rom_15:28 ). Was that visit ever paid?

Clement of Rome, when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about A.D. 90, said of Paul that he preached the gospel in the East and in the West; that he instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman Empire) in righteousness; and that he went to the extremity (terma, the terminus) of the West, before his martyrdom. What did Clement mean by the extremity of the West? There are many who argue that he meant nothing more than Rome. Now it is true that someone writing away in the East in Asia Minor would probably think of Rome as the extremity, of the West. But Clement was writing from Rome; and it is difficult to see that for anyone in Rome the extremity of the West could be anything else but Spain. It certainly seems that Clement believed that Paul reached Spain.

The greatest of all the early Church historians was Eusebius. In his account of Paullife he writes: "Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close at this point, after stating that Paul had spent two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large, and preached the word of God without constraint. Thus, after he had made his defence, it is said that the Apostle was sent again on the ministry of preaching, and that on coming to the same city a second time he suffered martyrdom" (Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, 2.22.2). Eusebius has nothing to say about Spain, but he did know the story that Paul had been released from his first Roman imprisonment.

The Muratorian Canon, that first list of New Testament books, describes Lukescheme in writing Acts: "Luke related to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-witness, as also, in a separate place, he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter (he probably refers to Luk_22:31-32 ); but omits the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain."

In the fifth century, two of the great Christian fathers are definite about this journey. Chrysostom in his sermon on 2Ti_4:20 says: "Saint Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain." Jerome in his Catalogue of Writers says that Paul "was dismissed by Nero that he might preach Christgospel in the West."

Beyond doubt a stream of tradition held that Paul journeyed to Spain.

This is a matter on which we will have to come to our own decision. The one thing which makes us doubt the historicity of that tradition is that in Spain itself there is not and never was any tradition that Paul had worked and preached there, no stories about him, no places connected with his name. It would be indeed strange if the memory of such a visit had become totally obliterated. It could well be that the whole story of Paulrelease and journey to the west arose simply as a deduction from his expressed intention to visit Spain (Rom 15 ). Most New Testament scholars do not think that Paul was released from his imprisonment; the general consensus of opinion is that his only release was by death.

Paul And The Pastoral Epistles

What then shall we say of Paulconnection with these letters? If we can accept the tradition of his release, and of his return to preaching and teaching, and of his death as late as A.D. 67, we might well believe that as they stand they came from his hand. But, if we cannot believe that--and the evidence is on the whole against it--are we to say that they have no connection with Paul at all?

We must remember that the ancient world did not think of these things as we do. It would see nothing wrong in issuing a letter under the name of a great teacher, if it was sure that the letter said the things which that teacher would say under the same circumstances. To the ancient world it was natural and seemly that a disciple should write in his mastername. No one would have seen anything wrong in one of Pauldisciples meeting a new and threatening situation with a letter under Paulname. To regard that as forgery is to misunderstand the mind of the ancient world. Are we then to swing completely to the other extreme and say that some disciple of his issued these letters in Paulname years after he was dead, and at a time when the Church was much more highly organized than ever it was during his lifetime?

As we see it, the answer is no. It is incredible that any disciple would put into Paulmouth a claim to be the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:15 ); his tendency would be to stress Paulholiness, not to talk about his sin. It is incredible that anyone writing in the name of Paul would give Timothy the homely advice to drink a little wine for the sake of his health (1Ti_5:23 ). The whole of 2Tim 4 is so personal and so full of intimate, loving details that no one but Paul could have written it.

Wherein lies the solution? It may well be that something like this happened. It is quite obvious that many letters of Paul went lost. Apart from his great public letters, he must have had a continuous private correspondence; and of that we possess only the little letter to Philemon. It may well be that in the later days there were some fragments of Paulcorrespondence in the possession of some Christian teacher. This teacher saw the Church of his day and his locality in Ephesus threatened on every side. It was threatened with heresy from without and from within. It was threatened with a fall away from its own high standards of purity and truth. The quality of its members and the standard of its office-bearers were degenerating. He had in his possession little letters of Paul which said exactly the things that should be said, but, as they stood, they were too short and too fragmentary to publish. So he amplified them and made them supremely relevant to the contemporary situation and sent them out to the Church.

In the Pastoral Epistles we are still hearing the voice of Paul, and often hearing it speak with a unique personal intimacy; but we think that the form of the letters is due to a Christian teacher who summoned the help of Paul when the Church of the day needed the guidance which only he could give.

FURTHER READING

Timothy

D. Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (TC; E)

W. Lock, The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Pastoral Epistles (MC; E)

E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Times Of Terror (2Ti_3:1)

The Qualities Of Godlessness (2Ti_3:2-5)

The Qualities Of Godlessness (2Ti_3:2-5 Continued)

The Qualities Of Godlessness (2Ti_3:2-5 Continued)

The Qualities Of Godlessness (2Ti_3:2-5 Continued)

The Qualities Of Godlessness (2Ti_3:2-5 Continued)

Seduction In The Name Of Religion (2Ti_3:6-7)

The Opponents Of God (2Ti_3:8-9)

The Duties And The Qualities Of An Apostle (2Ti_3:10-13)

The Experiences Of An Apostle (2Ti_3:10-13 Continued)

The Value Of Scripture (2Ti_3:14-17)

Constable: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical Background

Assuming Paul visited Nicapolis as he planned (Titus 3:12), he went from there to Rome evidently indirectly. His visit to Troas (2 Tim. 4:13) probably took place shortly before he wrote 2 Timothy. It may be that Paul's arrest required his leaving his cloak, books, and parchments there, but that is only speculation. In any case Paul ended up in Rome as a prisoner again (2:9). He had already had his initial hearing and was awaiting trial when he wrote this epistle (4:16). He believed that the Roman authorities would find him guilty and execute him soon (4:6).

Timothy seems to have remained at Ephesus for some time following his reception of Paul's first epistle to him and then, presumably, Paul's personal visit of him there (1 Tim. 3:14). He was evidently in Ephesus when Paul wrote this epistle (2 Tim. 1:16-18; 4:14 cf. 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 4:19).

Ever since Rome had burned in July of 64 A.D. and Nero had blamed the Christians it had become dangerous to be a Christian. It was also dangerous to have contact with leaders of the church such as Paul.¹ Consequently many believers, including some of Paul's coworkers, had chosen to seek a much lower profile and become less aggressive in their ministries. Timothy faced temptation to do the same. Paul wrote this epistle to urge him to remain faithful to his calling and loyal to his father in the faith. Timothy needed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Paul and the other believers and to continue to "preach the Word" as he had done.

Paul probably wrote 2 Timothy in the fall of 67 A.D. There are two reasons for this date. According to early church tradition Paul suffered execution shortly before Nero committed suicide in June of 68 A.D. Second, Paul penned this last of his canonical epistles fairly near the time of his execution though before the winter of 67-68 A.D. (4:21).

Message²

Paul had previously written to Timothy explaining that the local church is a supporting pedestal for God's truth (1 Tim. 3:15). He had said that the purpose of the local church is the proclamation of God's truth in the world. He had also said that the purpose of church leaders is the exposition of God's truth in the church. Conditions facing the church had worsened considerably since he had written 1 Timothy. Characteristics of the last days were becoming increasingly obvious (2 Tim. 3:1-7). Godlessness and worldliness were invading the church. If the church failed to fulfill its purpose, God's truth would cease to go out into the world. The church would fail if its leaders failed to expound God's truth to the saints in the church. Consequently Paul wrote this letter to encourage Timothy to fulfill his responsibility as a leader in the church. This epistle, therefore, is particularly for church leaders and deals mainly with their duties.

This epistle reveals the true minister of Jesus Christ. It reveals his resources, his methods, and his most important work. Of course every Christian is a true minister of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:12).

The essential resources of the Christian minister are God's gifts and God's grace.

A person can become a minister of God's truth only when the Head of the church bestows a gift on him or her through the Holy Spirit. This is the primary qualification for ministry (1:6). Some leaders have great gifts, others have lesser gifts, but all have at least one gift (1 Pet. 4:10). These gifts are abilities for service that God gives us.

Grace is also necessary. Grace refers to all God's resources that are available to us through Christ. God works through the gifts He has given us. Grace is His power at work to accomplish what is supernatural. His grace brings force to our public ministries and godliness into our personal lives. Its ultimate purpose is to bring everything about us into harmony with God's character (2:1; 2 Cor. 12:9).

The methods of the Christian minister are construction and demonstration.

The leader of God's people must aim at the development of holy character and conduct in the lives of those under his or her care. He or she seeks to build up the saints so they can fulfill their function. Second Timothy 3:16-17 gives the process. This takes place through authoritative instruction, correction, restoration, and patient guidance.

Second, the minister must also demonstrate in his or her own life what godliness and righteousness are. He or she must give people an example they can follow as well as information they can believe (1:8; 2:22-23).

The most important work of the minister is also two-fold. He must know the Scriptures and proclaim the Scriptures.

Knowledge of the whole counsel of God is essential (3:14-15). We must know the Word because that is what God uses to build up His people. We must also know it because it is through our mastery of the Word that God masters us and changes our lives into the examples we need to be.

While proclaiming the Word is not the totality of pastoral ministry, it is without question its most important public function (4:1-2).

Paul's great appeal in this letter is to "fulfill your ministry" (4:5).

Concerning his resources the minister must stir up his or her gift (1:6) to fulfill his or her ministry. We must rekindle our gifts from time to time. They tend to diminish if we do not use them, as any other unused ability tends to diminish. We are in danger of growing cold. We need to keep using and seeking to improve our gifts.

We have a second responsibility concerning our resources. We must draw strength from God's grace (2:1). To do this we must make use of the means of grace: prayer, the devotional reading of the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, and meditation on the cross.

Concerning methods Paul appealed to give diligence to our work of construction (2:15). The approval of God requires zeal in ministry, not half-hearted or sloppy service. In our culture many people are willing to do just enough to get by.

Our work of demonstrating an example for the church requires that we flee some things and pursue others (2:22). Our inner lives affect our ability to demonstrate the truth perhaps more than our ability to proclaim the truth.

We fulfill our responsibility to know the Scriptures when we abide in them (3:14). We must not neglect much less abandon them day by day. We need to read, memorize, and meditate on the Word frequently and regularly.

We fulfill our responsibility to proclaim the Scriptures when we are instant in season and out of season (4:2). There is no "season" for heralding God's truth. We should be ready to do it always.

These are Paul's revelations of the secrets of success in ministry.

Let me make a few applications of the message of this epistle.

First, let us consider some applications to the church.

It is the proclamation of God's truth both in the church and in the world that will keep the church solid and secure. The Word of God is its most important resource. The church must preach the Word!

Second, the church must give attention to both correct thinking and correct acting. Correct thinking is basic to correct behavior. The church must practice and preach godliness. The Word is indispensable to both objectives. Churches that emphasize the proclamation of the Word are most effective on both these fronts. This is the main reason evangelical churches usually grow.

Third, the church must fully know the Word and faithfully proclaim the Word. This is its great work in the world. Do not turn aside to lesser goals.

Finally, let us consider three applications for individual ministers, church leaders.

First, the Lord will guard the lives of those who guard His Word (1:12, 14). There is no safer place to be than doing God's will.

Second, God has given the Scriptures to us in trust, to pass along so that others will benefit from them (2:2). We have an obligation to do this (1 Cor. 9:16).

Third, we have a responsibility to be faithful to our trust. Paul said this was true in this letter for three reasons. Christ will return soon. There is growing apostasy in the church. Furthermore there are always gaps opening in the ranks of the church's leadership by death (Paul) and defection (Demas, et al.). 2 Timothy emphasizes faithfulness.

There is constant turnover in the leadership of the church. Nevertheless the proclamation of the Word by the church's leaders must continue to have priority for the church to fulfill its function in the world. This is the message statement.

Constable: 2 Timothy (Outline)

Outline

I. Salutation 1:1-2

II. Thanksgiving for faithful fellow workers 1:3-18

A. Timothy's past faithfulness 1:3-7

B. Charges to remain loyal 1:8-14

1. Exhortation to be courageous 1:8-12

2. Exhortation to guard the gospel 1:13-14

C. Examples of faithful and unfaithful service 1:15-18

III. Exhortations to persevere 2:1-26

A. Charge to endure hardship 2:1-13

1. Timothy's duty 2:1-7

2. The examples of Jesus and Paul 2:8-10

3. A popular saying 2:11-13

B. Charge to remain faithful 2:14-26

1. Faithfulness in public ministry 2:14-18

2. Faithfulness in personal life 2:19-21

3. Summary applications 2:22-26

IV. Directions concerning the last days 3:1-4:8

A. Characteristics of the last days 3:1-13

1. Evidences of faithlessness 3:1-7

2. Negative and positive illustrations 3:8-13

B. Conduct in the last days 3:14-4:5

1. Adherence to the truth 3:14-17

2. Proclamation of the truth 4:1-5

C. Paul's role in the last days 4:6-8

V. Concluding personal instructions and information 4:9-22

A. Fellow workers and an opponent 4:9-15

B. Paul's preliminary hearing in court 4:16-18

C. Additional greetings and instructions 4:19-21

D. Benediction 4:22

Constable: 2 Timothy

2 Timothy

Bibliography

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_____. "2 Timothy." In Ephesians-Philemon. Vol. 11 of Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO TIMOTHY.

INTRODUCTION.

The main subject and design of this epistle is much the same as the former; in it the apostle again instructs and admonishes Timothy in what belonged to his office, and also warns him to shun the conversation of those who erred from the truth, describing at the same time their character. He tells him of his approaching death, and desires him to come speedily to him. It appears from this circumstance, that he wrote this second epistle in the time of his last imprisonment at Rome, and not long before his martyrdom. See Eusebius, St. Jerome, and others cited by Tillemont, and by P. Mauduit, (Diss. xi.) where this historical fact is discussed at large. (Challoner, Witham)

====================

Gill: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 TIMOTHY

That this epistle was written to Timothy, while he was at Ephesus, where the apostle in his former epistle had desired him to stay, is evident from his making mention of some persons in it, who were Ephesians; as Onesiphorus, whom he commends, and Alexander the coppersmith, of whom he complains: and that this epistle was written by the apostle, when he was at Rome, is no less evident; for he expressly calls himself a prisoner, 2Ti 1:8 and speaks of being then in trouble, and in bonds, 2Ti 2:9 and the persons that send their salutations in it to Timothy were Romans, 2Ti 4:21 but at what time it was written is not so certain: it seems by 2Ti 4:7 that it was but a little time before his martyrdom; though those words may only signify, that he was now very much on the decline of life, was now grown an old man, and in continual expectation of death, and was in a constant readiness for it, come when it would; having faithfully discharged his duty, and his warfare being as good as accomplished, and his race almost run out; for he afterwards presses Timothy to come to him, and that before winter; and desires him to bring with him his cloak, books, and parchments, which one would think he would have little occasion for, if just upon his martyrdom: besides, he says he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, that by him the preaching of the Gospel might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and expresses his confidence, that he should be again delivered, 2Ti 4:9. And it looks as if this epistle was written before the epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, since it appears that Timothy did come to him at Rome; as here desired, and is joined with the apostle in those epistles. Some, therefore, have placed this epistle in the year 58, or 59, about the fourth or fifth of Nero's reign. The design of it is to stir up Timothy to the faithful and diligent discharge of his duty, as a minister of the Gospel; to abide constantly by the truths of it, and to animate him to suffer patiently, cheerfully, and courageously for the sake of it; and to warn him against false teachers, and their errors, who were already risen, and would afterwards arise, and be followed by such who had itching ears, and could not bear sound doctrine; but this should be no discouragement to him in the prosecution of his work; and lastly to desire his presence with him at Rome, being now destitute of his several assistants.

Gill: 2 Timothy 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 TIMOTHY 3

In this chapter the apostle delivers out a prophecy of the last days, showing how perilous the times will be, describing the persons that will live in them, and what will be their end; and in opposition to these men, proposes himself an example in doctrine and sufferings; and encourages Timothy to persevere, and highly commends the sacred writings. The prophecy begins 2Ti 3:1 the description it gives of hypocrites, formal professors, and false teachers, that should rise up in the last days, and perilous times spoken of, is in 2Ti 3:2. And these are compared to the magicians of Egypt for the corruption of their minds, the badness of their principles, and their opposition to truth, and for their exit, and the issue of things; they will be stopped in their progress, and their folly exposed, 2Ti 3:8 and as the reverse of these men, the apostle gives an account of his own doctrine, conversation, and sufferings; which he proposes to Timothy for imitation, as being well known to him, and as also the common state of all godly persons in this life, being a suffering one, 2Ti 3:10 nor can it be expected that it should be otherwise, since false teachers, who are wicked and deceitful men, grow worse and worse, 2Ti 3:13. And then the apostle exhorts Timothy to abide by, and continue in the doctrines of the Gospel, from the assurance he had of the truth of them, from the consideration of his having learned them of the apostle, and especially from their agreement with the holy Scriptures, which he had knowledge of from a child, 2Ti 3:14 which Scriptures are commended, partly from the useful effect of them, making men wise unto salvation; and chiefly from the author of them, being by the inspiration of God; and also from the profitableness of them, both for doctrine and manners, and especially to furnish a Gospel minister for the work he is called unto, 2Ti 3:15.

College: 2 Timothy (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

DATE AND PLACE OF ORIGIN

In 2 Timothy Paul finds himself in a Roman prison. Onesiphorus had searched for Paul and found him in Rome (1:16-17). Paul instructed Timothy to get Mark and bring him as he came (4:11). This indicates a time in Rome other than the imprisonment related at the end of Acts since both Timothy and Mark were with Paul when he wrote Colossians (Col 1:1; 4:10; Phlm 24). Paul had recently been in Asia Minor and left his cloak at Troas (4:13), stayed with Erastus at Corinth, and left Trophimus sick at Miletus (4:20).

Though Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea for two years before being sent on to Rome (Acts 24:27), it is unlikely that he was writing from Caesarea since Trophimus and Timothy were both with him in Jerusalem when he was arrested. It seems more likely that Paul was released from the imprisonment at the end of Acts, was involved in missionary activities, and then was subsequently arrested once again (probably in Troas). 2 Timothy would then have been written during that second Roman imprisonment. Paul describes his situation in terms that indicate that he is in prison facing the prospects of a speedy execution.

The date of 2 Timothy depends largely upon one's view of the authorship of the book, the place of origin of the book, and Eusebius' date of the martyrdom of Paul. Those who deny Pauline authorship of the book class it with the other Pastoral Epistles and date it in the second century. Since Eusebius dates the martyrdom of Paul in A.D. 67, those who hold to Pauline authorship normally date the book in 66 or 67.

DESTINATION AND AUDIENCE

It appears from several references in 2 Timothy (2 Tim 1:18; 2:17; 4:9, 12, 14, 19; cf. 1 Tim 1:20; Acts 18:18-19, 24-26; 19:33-34) that Timothy is in Ephesus as Paul writes this book as he was when Paul wrote 1 Timothy (1 Tim 1:3). Again, as in 1 Timothy, while the book bears many personal notes intended for Timothy, Paul desires for this book to be read by the whole church.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF 2 TIMOTHY

The central message of 2 Timothy is Paul's desire for Timothy to suffer with him and endure hardship for the gospel. Timothy is to stand assured that God will provide him with strength (1:6-14; 2:1-13; 3:12; 4:5). Timothy is also urged to hold on to the apostolic message (1:13-14), to pass it on to others who can in turn share it with others (2:2), and to be careful to deal with it and the message of the Old Testament correctly (2:15; 3:10-17). Put simply, Timothy must fulfill his ministry (4:1-5); Paul is passing on the mantle to his young co-worker.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Timothy (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. SALUTATION - 1:1-2

II. THANKSGIVING - 1:3-5

III. PAUL'S APPEAL FOR ENDURANCE IN FACING SUFFERING - 1:6-2:13

A. An Appeal for Loyalty in Facing Hardship - 1:6-14

B. Examples of the Disloyal and the Loyal - 1:15-18

C. Illustrations for Effective Ministry when Facing Hardship - 2:1-7

D. The Basis of Effective Ministry when Facing Hardship - 2:8-13

IV. FALSE TEACHERS AND SOUND DOCTRINES - 2:14-4:8

A. Dealing with False Teachers - 2:14-19

B. Preparing for Noble Work - 2:20-26

C. The Character of the Last Days - 3:1-9

D. Further Exhortations for Timothy to Endure - 3:10-17

E. A Final Charge to Timothy - 4:1-8

V. PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS - 4:9-18

VI. FINAL SALUTATIONS - 4:19-22

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV