2 Timothy 4:17-18

4:17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message ¹  would be fully proclaimed ²  for all the Gentiles to hear. And so I was delivered from the lion’s mouth! 4:18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely ³  into his heavenly kingdom. To him ⁴  be glory for ever and ever! ⁵  Amen.

2 Timothy 4:22

4:22 The Lord ⁶  be with your spirit. Grace be with you. ⁷ 

[4:17]  ¹ tn Or “the preaching.”

[4:17]  ² tn Grk “might be completely fulfilled.”

[4:18]  ³ tn Grk “save me.”

[4:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “to whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “unto the ages of the ages,” an emphatic way of speaking about eternity in Greek.

[4:22]  ⁶ tc The reading ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”) is well supported by א* F G 33 1739 1881 sa, but predictable expansions on the text have occurred at this point: A 104 614 pc read ὁ κύριος ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo kurio" Ihsou", “the Lord Jesus”), while א² C D Ψ Ï sy bo have ὁ κύριος ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός (Jo kurio" Ihsou" Cristo", “the Lord Jesus Christ”). As B. M. Metzger notes, although in a late book such as 2 Timothy, one might expect the fuller title for the Lord, accidental omission of nomina sacra is rare (TCGNT 582). The shorter reading is thus preferred on both external and internal grounds.

[4:22]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses (א² D Ψ Ï lat sy) conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, there are several excellent witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א* A C F G 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa) that lack the particle, rendering the omission the preferred reading.