2 Timothy

This letter is from Paul. He is an apostle of Christ Jesus, a messenger God chose and sent out, and he holds that place because God wanted it so. His apostleship is according to the promise of life that is found in Christ Jesus.

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Note"Apostle" is the Greek word apostolos, meaning one who is sent out: an authorized delegate who carries another person's commission and speaks in his name. In the New Testament it usually names a small, specific group sent by Jesus himself, which is why Paul insists his standing came from God's decision and not from any human appointment.

2I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

NoteTimothy was not Paul's biological son. A teacher in this period could call a pupil or a convert his "son," and Paul uses the word that way throughout his letters to Timothy. The greeting itself is a blend of two conventions: Greek letters normally opened with a word meaning "greetings," Jewish ones with "peace." "Grace" here means generosity freely given to someone who has no claim on it.

3I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors served him. Night and day I never stop remembering you when I pray.

3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

Note"Whom I serve from my forefathers" does not mean Paul's ancestors are doing the serving. It means the God he serves is the same God his Jewish ancestors served, so his loyalty to Christ is continuous with his family's religion rather than a break from it.

4I remember how you cried, and I want very much to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

NoteThe Greek points to a particular occasion of weeping that both men would remember, most likely their last parting. The letter never says which occasion, and no other passage identifies it.

5I keep remembering the honest, unpretended faith you have. That faith lived first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure it lives in you too.

5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

Note"Unfeigned" in 1611 meant not faked or not put on, the opposite of an actor's pretense. Acts 16 describes Timothy's mother as a Jewish believer and his father as a Greek, which is why the line of faith here runs through the women of the family.

6That is why I am reminding you to stir up into flame the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

NoteLaying hands on someone was a formal public gesture of commissioning, used in Judaism and then in the early church to set a person apart for a task and to transfer a responsibility to them. The verb behind "stir up" is a fire image: to fan embers that are still alive back into flame. It assumes the gift is present and not extinguished, only banked down.

7For the spirit God gave us is not one that makes us afraid. It is a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control.

7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Note"A sound mind" does not mean sanity or mental health. The Greek word covers self-mastery, level-headedness and the discipline to keep one's impulses in hand. The contrast is with panic, not with madness.

8So do not be ashamed to speak up about our Lord, and do not be ashamed of me, since I am in prison for him. Instead, take your share of the suffering that comes with the good news, using the strength God supplies.

8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Note"The testimony of our Lord" means the testimony given about the Lord, not evidence the Lord himself gives. "Gospel" is simply the old English for good news, translating a Greek word used for an announcement of victory or of an emperor's accession. "His prisoner" means Paul is in custody because of Christ, not that Christ is holding him.

9God saved us and called us with a holy calling. He did not do this because of anything we have done, but because of his own plan and his undeserved kindness. He gave us that kindness in Christ Jesus before time began.

9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Note"Before the world began" renders a Greek phrase that literally reads "before times eternal," that is, before the ages of history started running. It locates the decision earlier than any datable event rather than at a particular early date.

10Now he has made it plain by the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Christ broke the power of death and, through the good news, brought life and life that never ends out into the light.

10But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Note"Appearing" translates epiphaneia, a word used in the ancient world for the visible arrival of a god or the ceremonial entrance of a ruler into a city. "Abolished" translates a verb meaning to put out of action or strip of force, so the sense is that death has been disabled rather than that it no longer occurs. "Immortality" is literally deathlessness, a state not subject to dying.

11God appointed me to announce this news, to be an apostle, and to be a teacher of the Gentiles, the people who are not Jews.

11Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

Note"Preacher" here is the Greek word for a herald, the official who announced a ruler's message aloud in public. The point is delivering someone else's announcement, not delivering a sermon. Two notes on the text: the words "of the Gentiles" are missing from the oldest surviving manuscripts and appear in later ones, which is why some modern translations stop at "a teacher." "Gentiles" is the standard term for everyone who is not Jewish.

12That is why I am suffering the way I am. Even so, I am not ashamed, because I know the one I have trusted. I am sure he is able to guard what I have handed over to him, keeping it safe for that day.

12For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Note"That which I have committed unto him" uses a banking and legal term, parathēkē, meaning goods placed in another person's keeping for safe storage, which the keeper is honor bound to return intact. The Greek can be read either way: what Paul has deposited with God, or the trust God has deposited with Paul. Translators have split on it since antiquity. "Against that day" is 1611 English for "in readiness for that day," not "opposed to it," and "that day" is the expected day of Christ's return and judgment.

13Hold tightly to the pattern of sound teaching you heard from me. Keep it with the faith and love that are ours in Christ Jesus.

13Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Note"Form" translates a word for an outline, sketch or model to be copied. "Sound" translates a medical word meaning healthy or free from disease, the root of the English word hygiene, so "sound words" are teaching that is in good health rather than teaching that merely sounds sensible.

14Guard the good thing that was placed in your care. Do it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.

14That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

Note"Ghost" simply meant spirit in 1611 and carried none of its modern associations with hauntings. "That good thing which was committed unto thee" is the same banking term as in verse 12: something placed in Timothy's keeping that he is obliged to hand back undamaged.

15You already know this: everyone in the province of Asia has turned away from me. Phygellus and Hermogenes are among them.

15This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Note"Asia" is not the continent. It was a Roman province occupying the western end of what is now Turkey, with Ephesus as its leading city. The Greek can mean that the Christians of that province have abandoned Paul, or more narrowly that the people from that province who were in Rome deserted him there; the sentence does not settle which. Phygellus and Hermogenes are named nowhere else and nothing further is known about them.

16May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often gave me relief, and he was not ashamed that I was in chains.

16The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

NoteA "house" or household in this period meant everyone living under one roof: family, dependents, servants and slaves, treated as a single unit for purposes of honor and obligation. "My chain" is singular because a prisoner in Roman custody was commonly chained by one wrist to the soldier guarding him. Visiting such a prisoner was socially risky, which is what makes the lack of shame worth mentioning.

17In fact, when he came to Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.

17But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

NotePrisoners in Rome were held in scattered private houses, barracks and lockups rather than in one central jail, and there was no public register to consult. Finding a particular prisoner in the city genuinely required going door to door.

18May the Lord grant that Onesiphorus finds mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well all the ways he helped me back in Ephesus.

18The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

Note"That day" again means the day of judgment. "Ministered" translates a common verb for waiting on someone or rendering practical service, covering errands, money, food and support rather than anything ceremonial. Ephesus was the major port city of the province of Asia and the place where Timothy was working.