Text -- 2 Timothy 3:1-9 (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.

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.