2 Timothy 1:5

1:5 I recall ¹  your sincere faith ²  that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure ³  is in you.

2 Timothy 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to further the promise ⁵  of life in Christ Jesus,

2 Timothy 2:18

2:18 They have strayed from the truth ⁶  by saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and they are undermining some people’s faith.

2 Timothy 2:2

2:2 And entrust what you heard me say ⁷  in the presence of many others as witnesses ⁸  to faithful people ⁹  who will be competent ¹⁰  to teach others as well.

2 Timothy 1:3

Thanksgiving and Charge to Timothy

1:3 I am thankful to God, whom I have served with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, ¹¹  when I remember you in my prayers as I do constantly night and day. ¹² 

Psalms 71:17

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ¹³  your amazing deeds.

Proverbs 8:17

8:17 I love ¹⁴  those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

Proverbs 22:6

22:6 Train ¹⁵  a child ¹⁶  in the way that he should go, ¹⁷ 

and when he is old he will not turn from it. ¹⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Fear God Now Because Old Age and Death Come Quickly

12:1 So remember ¹⁹  your Creator in the days of your youth –

before ²⁰  the difficult ²¹  days come,

and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

Luke 1:15

1:15 for he will be great in the sight of ²²  the Lord. He ²³  must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. ²⁴ 

Luke 2:40

2:40 And the child grew and became strong, ²⁵  filled with wisdom, ²⁶  and the favor ²⁷  of God ²⁸  was upon him.

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “recalling” (as a continuation of the preceding clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:5]  ² tn Grk “the sincere faith in you.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Or “convinced.”

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “for the promise…” or possibly “in accordance with the promise…”

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “have deviated concerning the truth.”

[2:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “what you heard from me” (cf. 1:13).

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “through many witnesses.” The “through” is used here to show attendant circumstances: “accompanied by,” “in the presence of.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “faithful men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is generic, referring to both men and women.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “able” (see Paul’s use of this word in regard to ministry in 2 Cor 2:16; 3:5-6).

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from my ancestors.”

[1:3]  ¹² tn Or “as I do constantly. By night and day I long to see you…”

[71:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[8:17]  ¹⁴ sn In contrast to the word for “hate” (שָׂנֵא, shaneh) the verb “love” (אָהֵב, ’ahev) includes within it the idea of choosing spontaneously. So in this line loving and seeking point up the means of finding wisdom.

[22:6]  ¹⁵ tn The verb חָנַךְ (khanakh) means “to train up; to dedicate” (BDB 335 s.v.; HALOT 334 s.v. חנך). The verb is used elsewhere to refer to dedicating a house (Deut 20:5; 1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Chr 7:5). The related noun חֲנֻכָה (khanukhah) means “dedication; consecration” (BDB 335 s.v.; HALOT 334 s.v.), and is used in reference to the dedication or consecration of altars (Num 7:10; 2 Chr 7:9), the temple (Ps 30:1), and town walls (Neh 12:27). The related adjective חָנִיךְ (khanikh) describes “trained, tried, experienced” men (BDB 335 s.v.; Gen 14:14). In the related cognate languages the verb has similar meanings: Aramaic “to train,” Ethiopic “to initiate,” and Arabic IV “to learn; to make experienced” (HALOT 334 s.v.). This proverb pictures a child who is dedicated by parents to the Lord and morally trained to follow him. On the other hand, a popular expositional approach suggests that it means “to motivate.” This view is based on a cognate Arabic root II which (among many other things) refers to the practice of rubbing the palate of a newborn child with date juice or olive oil to motivate the child to suck. While this makes an interesting sermon illustration, it is highly unlikely that this concept was behind this Hebrew verb. The Arabic meaning is late and secondary – the Arabic term did not have this meaning until nearly a millennium after this proverb was written.

[22:6]  ¹⁶ tn The term נַעַר (na’ar) is traditionally translated “child” here (so almost all English versions), but might mean “youth.” The noun can refer to a broad range of ages (see BDB 654-55 s.v.; HALOT 707 s.v.): infant (Exod 2:6), weaned child (1 Sam 1:24), young child (Jer 1:6), lad (Gen 22:12), adolescent (Gen 37:2), or young man of marriageable age (Gen 34:19). The context focuses on the child’s young, formative years. The Talmud says this would be up to the age of twenty-four.

[22:6]  ¹⁷ tn The expression in Hebrew is עַל־פִּי דַּרְכּוֹ (’al-pi darko), which can be rendered “according to his way”; NEB “Start a boy on the right road.” The expression “his way” is “the way he should go”; it reflects the point the book of Proverbs is making that there is a standard of life to which he must attain. Saadia, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 882-942, first suggested that this could mean the child should be trained according to his inclination or bent of mind. This may have some merit in practice, but it is not likely what the proverb had in mind. In the book of Proverbs there are only two ways that a person can go, the way of the wise or righteousness, and the way of the fool. One takes training, and the other does not. Ralbag, in fact, offered a satirical interpretation: “Train a child according to his evil inclinations (let him have his will) and he will continue in his evil way throughout life” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 234). C. H. Toy says the expression means “in accordance with the manner of life to which he is destined (Proverbs [ICC], 415). W. McKane says, “There is only one right way – the way of life – and the educational discipline which directs young men along this way is uniform” (Proverbs [OTL], 564). This phrase does not describe the concept perpetuated by a modern psychological interpretation of the verse: Train a child according to his personality trait.

[22:6]  ¹⁸ sn The expected consequence of such training is that it will last throughout life. The sages were confident of the character-forming quality of their training. However, proverbs are not universal truths. One can anticipate positive results from careful child-training – but there may be an occasional exception.

[12:1]  ¹⁹ tn The imperative זְכֹר (zekhor, “Remember!”) is a figurative expression (metonymy of association) for obeying God and acknowledging his lordship over one’s life (e.g., Num 15:40; Deut 8:18; Pss 42:6-7; 63:6-8; 78:42; 103:18; 106:7; 119:52, 55; Jer 51:50; Ezek 20:43; Jonah 2:7; Mal 4:4). The exhortation to fear God and obey his commands in 12:13-14 spells out what it means to “remember” God.

[12:1]  ²⁰ tn The temporal adjective עַד (’ad, “before”) appears three times in 12:1-7 (vv. 1b, 2a, 6a). Likewise, the temporal preposition בְּ (bet, “when”) is repeated (vv. 3a, 4b). These seven verses comprise one long sentence in Hebrew: The main clause is 12:1a (“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth”), while 12:1b-7 consists of five subordinate temporal clauses (“before…before…when…when…before…”).

[12:1]  ²¹ tn The adjective רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) does not refer here to ethical evil, but to physical difficulty, injury, pain, deprivation and suffering (e.g., Deut 31:17, 21; 32:23; 1 Sam 10:19; Neh 1:3; 2:17; Pss 34:20; 40:13; 88:4; 107:26; Eccl 11:10; Jer 2:27; Lam 3:38); see HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4.b; BDB 949 s.v. רָעָה 2.

[1:15]  ²² tn Grk “before.”

[1:15]  ²³ tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

[1:15]  ²⁴ tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.

[2:40]  ²⁵ tc Most mss (A Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï) read πνεύματι (pneumati, “in spirit”) after “became strong,” but this looks like an assimilation to Luke 1:80. The better witnesses (א B D L N W pc lat co) lack the word.

[2:40]  ²⁶ sn With the description grew and became strong, filled with wisdom Luke emphasizes the humanity of Jesus and his growth toward maturity.

[2:40]  ²⁷ tn Or “grace.”

[2:40]  ²⁸ sn On the phrase the favor of God see Luke 1:66.