2 Timothy Commentary

Back in a Roman prison, Paul realized that he had reached the end of his race. His life, modeled on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was nearing its conclusion, so Paul commissioned his delegate Timothy to carry on his work. When Paul died at the hands of the Romans, this letter essentially became his epitaph (see 4:7-8), and through it, he empowered the church to carry on in his absence. The mission of the Good News would continue.

Setting

Following Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-19), his work as an apostle extended from Jerusalem in the east to as far west as Italy (Acts 28:30-31; Rom 15:19), including considerable time in Asia Minor, and especially Ephesus (Acts 19:1–20:1; 20:31). This period ended when Paul was arrested in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-36), detained in Caesarea (Acts 23:23–26:32), and imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28:16-31). Paul was eventually released, and he engaged in further ministry. He wrote 1 Timothy and Titus during this time. He was then arrested and imprisoned in Rome a second time (1:8, 16-17; 2:9).

This letter, written from prison in Rome, came during the concluding episode of Paul’s life (see 4:6-18). It was written to Timothy, Paul’s faithful coworker and delegate. Timothy was in the province of Asia at that time, probably in Ephesus (4:13, 19). Paul was asking him to come to Rome as soon as possible. Suffering and persecution were likely for Timothy, too, if he came.

Summary

After the traditional salutation (1:1-2), thanksgiving, and prayer (1:3-4), Paul charges Timothy to suffer with him for the Good News (1:5-18). The resources for doing so include Timothy’s spiritual heritage and the Good News itself, as illustrated by Paul’s life and by both good and bad examples.

Paul then charges Timothy again (2:1-13) to be strong and to endure suffering along with him. Again, Timothy’s obedience is to be motivated by reflection on the Good News and on Paul’s example. Paul then instructs Timothy on conducting his ministry among the false teachers (2:14-26).

The perspective then broadens to set Timothy’s task in the context of the last days (3:1–4:8). These days will be difficult, but God will deal with troublemakers just as he has in the past. Timothy is to stay on track with the faith he has inherited and remain rooted in the Scriptures. He is to carry out his ministry with a sense of urgency in light of his hope and the increasing resistance of his listeners. He is not to be afraid of suffering for the Lord, and he is to consider Paul’s work as completed. Timothy must step into the gap and continue to follow the example of Paul.

The letter closes with an appeal for Timothy to come to Rome as soon as possible (4:9-18). Paul gives greetings, news, and a final urging for Timothy to make his journey to Rome before winter (4:19-21). Then Paul closes with a blessing (4:22).

Date of Writing

It is possible that 2 Timothy was written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28:1-31). The evidence, however, gives stronger support to a later date, during a second imprisonment in Rome that resulted in Paul’s death (see 1 Timothy Book Introduction, “Date of Writing”).

Occasion of Writing

We do not know the details of Paul’s second arrest. Perhaps Alexander (4:14-15), a heretic whom Paul had disciplined earlier (1 Tim 1:20), had a hand in the arrest (see 2 Tim 4:16-18). It might have occurred in Asia Minor (see 1:15); if so, Paul’s heretical opponents—the false teachers discussed in 1 Timothy and Titus—were not just making idle threats. The struggle in which Paul and Timothy were engaged (2 Tim 2:3; 4:7; see also 1 Tim 1:18; 6:12) was not simply metaphorical or spiritual. The directions on prayer for civil authorities (1 Tim 2:1-7; cp. Titus 3:1) may be understood as relating to wider problems created for the churches by false teachers, problems that resulted in Paul’s final arrest and execution for the Good News. The false teachers were still on the prowl (2 Tim 2:14–3:9; 4:14-15). Paul viewed his ministry as being completed and knew that his death was imminent (4:6-8), so he was encouraging Timothy to carry on the work. It is possible that a visit to Paul in Rome would have included some sort of formal commissioning of Timothy.

Meaning and Message

The apostle Paul had not only proclaimed the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; he had personally enacted it. The Good News gives rise to a way of life that takes up the cross and follows Jesus in the life-giving power of his resurrection. Paul had modeled his life after Christ’s, and now his death was at hand. God’s work will be completed right up to the day of Christ’s return (1:12), and the continuing responsibility of God’s servants is great. Paul passed the torch to Timothy and challenged him to carry his work forward.

As with Timothy, all who take up the cross and follow Jesus are charged to complete the ministry that God has given them, through the life-giving power of Christ’s resurrection.

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, Ti2 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, Ti2 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.

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 Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 (Ti2 4:19); also that of the household of Onesiphorus, who is stated in Ti2 1:16-18 to have ministered to Paul at Ephesus, a circumstance implying his residence there. Also, the HymenÃ&brvbrus of Ti2 2:17 seems to be the same as the HymenÃ&brvbrus at Ephesus (Ti1 1:20); and probably "Alexander the coppersmith" (Ti2 4:14) is the same as the Alexander joined with HymenÃ&brvbrus (Ti1 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 Ti2 4:12, Ti2 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 Ti2 4:12; Ti2 4:20. Troas lay on the road to Rome from either Ephesus or Pontus, so that Ti2 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 (Ti2 1:16-18; Ti2 2:9; Ti2 4:6-8, Ti2 4:16-17). (2) The visit to Troas (Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 (Ti2 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 PrÃ&brvbrfect. 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 (Ti2 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" (Ti2 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 Ti2 4:21), were among his visitors; and Tychicus, before he was sent by Paul to Ephesus (Ti2 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 (Ti2 1:4; Ti2 4:9, Ti2 4:11, Ti2 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 (Ti2 2:2-8; Ti2 4:1-5; Ti1 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 (Pe1 1:1; Pe1 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 Ti2 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].

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