{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"2TI","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"2 Timothy","commonName":"2 Timothy","introduction":"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.\n\nTIME 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].\n\nHis 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).\n\nOBJECT 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).\n\nPAUL'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]. \n\n\n\nNext: 2 Timothy Chapter 1\n\n","order":55,"numberOfChapters":4,"sha256":"d5a4abe17050173434b3cd338faf720094aa0d873fca4158da6eb7c0e75c7208","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/2TI/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"2TI","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":4,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/2TI/4.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"2TI","chapter":4},"totalNumberOfVerses":79},"chapter":{"number":4,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Preach--literally, \"proclaim as a herald.\" The term for the discourses in the synagogue was daraschoth; the corresponding Greek term (implying dialectial style, dialogue, and discussion, Act 17:2, Act 17:18; Act 18:4, Act 18:19) is applied in Acts to discourses in the Christian Church. JUSTIN MARTYR [Apology, 2], describes the order of public worship, \"On Sunday all meet and the writings of the apostles and prophets are read; then the president delivers a discourse; after this all stand up and pray; then there is offered bread and wine and water; the president likewise prays and gives thanks, and the people solemnly assent, saying, Amen.\" The bishops and presbyters had the right and duty to preach, but they sometimes called on deacons, and even laymen, to preach. EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 6.19]; in this the Church imitated the synagogue (Luk 4:17-22; Act 13:15-16). \n\nbe instant--that is, urgent, earnest, in the whole work of the ministry. \n\nin season, out of season--that is, at all seasons; whether they regard your speaking as seasonable or unseasonable. \"Just as the fountains, though none may draw from them, still flow on; and the rivers, though none drink of them, still run; so must we do all on our part in speaking, though none give heed to us\" [CHRYSOSTOM, Homily, 30, vol. 5., p. 221]. I think with CHRYSOSTOM, there is included also the idea of times whether seasonable or unseasonable to Timothy himself; not merely when convenient, but when inconvenient to thee, night as well as day (Act 20:31), in danger as well as in safety, in prison and when doomed to death as well as when at large, not only in church, but everywhere and on all occasions, whenever and wherever the Lord's work requires it. \n\nreprove--\"convict,\" \"confute.\" \n\nwith, &c.--Greek, \"IN (the element in which the exhortation ought to have place) all long-suffering (Ti2 2:24-25; Ti2 3:10) and teaching\"; compare Ti2 2:24, \"apt to teach.\" The Greek for \"doctrine\" here is didache, but in Ti2 3:16, didascalia. \"Didascalia\" is what one receives; \"didache\" is what is communicated [TITTMANN].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["they--professing Christians. \n\nsound doctrine--Greek, \"the sound (see on Ti1 1:10) doctrine (didascalias)\" or \"teaching,\" namely, of the Gospel. Presently follows the concrete, \"teachers.\" \n\nafter their own lusts--Instead of regarding the will of God they dislike being interrupted in their lusts by true teachers. \n\nheap--one on another: an indiscriminate mass of false teachers. Variety delights itching ears. \"He who despises sound teaching, leaves sound teachers; they seek instructors like themselves\" [BENGEL]. It is the corruption of the people in the first instance, that creates priestcraft (Exo 32:1). \n\nto themselves--such as will suit their depraved tastes; populus vult decipi, et decipiatur--\"the people wish to be deceived, so let them be deceived.\" \"Like priest, like people\" (Kg1 12:31; Hos 4:9). \n\nitching--like to hear teachers who give them mere pleasure (Act 17:19-21), and do not offend by truths grating to their ears. They, as it were, tickle with pleasure the levity of the multitude [CICERO], who come as to a theater to hear what will delight their ears, not to learn [SENECA, Epistles, 10.8] what will do them good. \"Itch in the ear is as bad in any other part of the body, and perhaps worse\" [SOUTH].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["The ear brooks not what is opposed to the man's lusts. \n\nturned--Greek, \"turned aside\" (Ti1 1:6). It is a righteous retribution, that when men turn away from the truth, they should be turned to fables (Jer 2:19). \n\nfables-- (Ti1 1:4).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["I am no longer here to withstand these things; be thou a worthy successor of me, no longer depending on me for counsel, but thine own master, and swimming without the corks [CALVIN]; follow my steps, inherit their result, and the honor of their end [ALFORD]. \n\nwatch thou--literally, \"with the wakefulness of one sober.\" \n\nin all things--on all occasions and under all circumstances (Tit 2:7). \n\nendure affliction--suffer hardships [ALFORD]. \n\nevangelist--a missionary bishop preacher, and teacher. \n\nmake full proof of--fulfil in all its requirements, leaving nothing undone (Act 12:25; Rom 15:19; Col 4:17).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Greek, \"For I am already being offered\"; literally, as a libation; appropriate to the shedding of his blood. Every sacrifice began with an initiatory libation on the victim's head (compare Note, see on Phi 2:17). A motive to stimulate Timothy to faithfulness--the departure and final blessedness of Paul; it is the end that crowns the work [BENGEL]. As the time of his departure was indicated to Peter, so to Paul (Pe2 1:14). \n\nmy departure--literally, \"loosing anchor\" (see on Phi 1:23). Dissolution.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["\"I have striven the good strife\"; the Greek is not restricted to a fight, but includes any competitive contest, for example, that of the racecourse (Ti1 6:12 [ALFORD]; Co1 9:24, &c.; Heb 12:1-2). \n\nkept the faith--the Christian faith committed to me as a believer and an apostle (compare Ti2 1:14; Rev 2:10; Rev 3:10).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["a crown--rather as Greek, \"the crown.\" The \"henceforth\" marks the decisive moment; he looks to his state in a threefold aspect: (1) The past \"I have fought\"; (2) The immediate present; \"there is laid up for me.\" (3) The future \"the Lord will give in that day\" [BENGEL]. \n\ncrown--a crown, or garland, used to be bestowed at the Greek national games on the successful competitor in wrestling, running, &c. (compare Pe1 5:4; Rev 2:10). \n\nof righteousness--The reward is in recognition of righteousness wrought in Paul by God's Spirit; the crown is prepared for the righteous; but it is a crown which consists in righteousness. Righteousness will be its own reward (Rev 22:11). Compare Exo 39:30. A man is justified gratuitously by the merits of Christ through faith; and when he is so justified God accepts his works and honors them with a reward which is not their due, but is given of grace. \"So great is God's goodness to men that He wills that their works should be merits, though they are merely His own gifts\" [POPE CELESTINE I., Epistles, 12]. \n\ngive--Greek, \"shall award\" in righteous requital as \"Judge\" (Act 17:31; Co2 5:10; Th2 1:6-7). \n\nin that day--not until His appearing (Ti2 1:12). The partakers of the first resurrection may receive a crown also at the last day, and obtain in that general assembly of all men, a new award of praise. The favorable sentence passed on the \"brethren\" of the Judge, who sit with Him on His throne, is in Mat 25:40, taken for granted as already awarded, when that affecting those who benefited them is being passed [BENGEL]. The former, the elect Church who reign with Christ in the millennium, are fewer than the latter. The righteous heavenly Judge stands in contrast to the unrighteous earthly judges who condemned Paul. \n\nme--individual appropriation. Greek, \"not only to me.\" \n\nthem that love--Greek, \"have loved, and do love\"; habitual love and desire for Christ's appearing, which presupposes faith (compare Heb 9:28). Compare the sad contrast, Ti2 4:10, \"having loved this present world.\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["(Ti2 4:21; Ti2 1:4, Ti2 1:8.) Timothy is asked to come to be a comfort to Paul, and also to be strengthened by Paul, for carrying on the Gospel work after Paul's decease.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Demas--once a \"fellow laborer\" of Paul, along with Mark and Luke (Col 4:14; Plm 1:24). His motive for forsaking Paul seems to have been love of worldly ease, safety, and comforts at home, and disinclination to brave danger with Paul (Mat 13:20-22). CHRYSOSTOM implies that Thessalonica was his home. \n\nGalatia--One oldest manuscript supports the reading \"Gaul.\" But most oldest manuscripts, &c., \"Galatia.\" \n\nTitus--He must have therefore left Crete after \"setting in order\" the affairs of the churches there (Tit 1:5). \n\nDalmatia--part of the Roman province of Illyricum on the coast of the Adriatic. Paul had written to him (Tit 3:12) to come to him in the winter to Nicopolis (in Epirus), intending in the spring to preach the Gospel in the adjoining province of Dalmatia. Titus seems to have gone thither to carry out the apostle's intention, the execution of which was interrupted by his arrest. Whether he went of his own accord, as is likely, or was sent by Paul, which the expression \"is departed\" hardly accords with, cannot be positively decided. Paul here speaks only of his personal attendants having forsaken him; he had still friends among the Roman Christians who visited him (Ti2 4:21), though they had been afraid to stand by him at his trial (Ti2 4:16).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["Take--Greek, \"take up\" on thy journey (Act 20:13-14). John Mark was probably in, or near, Colosse, as in the Epistle to the Colossians (Col 4:10), written two years before this, he is mentioned as about to visit them. Timothy was now absent from Ephesus and somewhere in the interior of Asia Minor; hence he would be sure to fall in with Mark on his journey. \n\nhe is profitable to me for the ministry--Mark had been under a cloud for having forsaken Paul at a critical moment in his missionary tour with Barnabas (Act 15:37-40; Act 13:5, Act 13:13). Timothy had subsequently occupied the same post in relation to Paul as Mark once held. Hence Paul, appropriately here, wipes out the past censure by high praise of Mark and guards against Timothy's making self-complacent comparisons between himself and Mark, as though he were superior to the latter (compare Plm 1:24). Demas apostatizes. Mark returns to the right way, and is no longer unprofitable, but is profitable for the Gospel ministry (Plm 1:11).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["And--Greek, \"But.\" Thou art to come to me, but Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus to supply thy place (if thou so willest it) in presiding over the Church there in thy absence (compare Tit 3:12). It is possible Tychicus was the bearer of this Epistle, though the omission of \"to thee\" is rather against this view.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["cloak . . . I left--probably obliged to leave it in a hurried departure from Troas. \n\nCarpus--a faithful friend to have been entrusted with so precious deposits. The mention of his \"cloak,\" so far from being unworthy of inspiration, is one of those graphic touches which sheds a flood of light on the last scene of Paul's life, on the confines of two worlds; in this wanting a cloak to cover him from the winter cold, in that covered with the righteousness of saints, \"clothed upon with his house from heaven\" [GAUSSEN]. So the inner vesture and outer garment of Jesus, Paul's master, are suggestive of most instructive thought (Joh 19:2). \n\nbooks--He was anxious respecting these that he might transmit them to the faithful, so that they might have the teaching of his writings when he should be gone. \n\nespecially the parchments--containing perhaps some of his inspired Epistles themselves.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["Alexander the coppersmith--or \"smith\" in general. Perhaps the same as the Alexander (see on Ti1 1:20) at Ephesus. Excommunicated then he subsequently was restored, and now vented his personal malice because of his excommunication in accusing Paul before the Roman judges, whether of incendiarism or of introducing a new religion. See my Introduction. He may have been the Alexander put forward by the Jews in the tumult at Ephesus (Act 19:33-34). \n\nreward--The oldest manuscripts read, \"shall reward,\" or \"requite him.\" Personal revenge certainly did not influence the apostle (Ti2 4:16, end).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["our words--the arguments of us Christians for our common faith. Believers have a common cause.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["At my first answer--that is, \"defense\" in court, at my first public examination. Timothy knew nothing of this, it is plain, till Paul now informs him. But during his former imprisonment at Rome, Timothy was with him (Phi 1:1, Phi 1:7). This must have been, therefore, a second imprisonment. He must have been set free before the persecution in A.D. 64, when the Christians were accused of causing the conflagration in Rome; for, had he been a prisoner then, he certainly would not have been spared. The tradition [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 2.251] that he was finally beheaded, accords with his not having been put to death in the persecution, A.D. 64, when burning to death was the mode by which the Christians were executed, but subsequently to it. His \"first\" trial in his second imprisonment seems to have been on the charge of complicity in the conflagration; his absence from Rome may have been the ground of his acquittal on that charge; his final condemnation was probably on the charge of introducing a new and unlawful religion into Rome. \n\nstood with me--Greek, \"came forward with me\" [ALFORD] as a friend and advocate. \n\nmay it not be laid to their charge--The position of \"their,\" in the Greek, is emphatic. \"May it not be laid to THEIR charge,\" for they were intimidated; their drawing back from me was not from bad disposition so much as from fear; it is sure to be laid to the charge of those who intimidated them. Still Paul, like Stephen, would doubtless have offered the same prayer for his persecutors themselves (Act 7:60).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["the Lord--the more because men deserted me. \n\nstood with me--stronger than \"came forward with me\" (Greek, Ti2 4:16). \n\nstrengthened--Greek, \"put strength in me.\" \n\nby me--\"through me\"; through my means. One single occasion is often of the greatest moment. \n\nthe preaching--\"the Gospel proclamation.\" \n\nmight be fully known--might be fully made (see on Ti2 4:5). \n\nthat all the Gentiles--present at my trial, \"might hear\" the Gospel proclaimed then. Rome was the capital of the Gentile world, so that a proclamation of the truth to the Romans was likely to go forth to the rest of the Gentile world. \n\nI was delivered out of the mouth of the lion--namely, Satan, the roaring, devouring lion (Luk 22:31; Pe1 5:8). I was prevented falling into his snare (Ti2 2:26; Psa 22:21; Pe2 2:9); Ti2 4:18 agrees with this interpretation, \"The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work,\" namely, both from evil and the evil one, as the Greek of the Lord's Prayer expresses it. It was not deliverance from Nero (who was called the lion) which he rejoiced in, for he did not fear death (Ti2 4:6-8), but deliverance from the temptation, through fear, to deny His Lord: so ALFORD.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["And the Lord shall, &c.--Hope draws its conclusions from the past to the future [BENGEL]. \n\nwill preserve me--literally, \"will save\" (Psa 22:21), \"will bring me safe to.\" Jesus is the Lord and the Deliverer (Phi 3:20; Th1 1:10): He saves from evil; He gives good things. \n\nheavenly kingdom--Greek, \"His kingdom which is a heavenly one.\" \n\nto whom, &c.--Greek, \"to whom be the glory unto the ages of ages.\" The very hope produces a doxology: how much greater will be the doxology which the actual enjoyment shall produce! [BENGEL].\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["Prisca and Aquila-- (Act 18:2-3; Rom 16:3-4; Co1 16:19, written from Ephesus, where therefore Aquila and Priscilla must then have been). \n\nhousehold of Onesiphorus--If he were dead at the time, the \"household\" would not have been called \"the household of Onesiphorus.\" He was probably absent (see on Ti2 1:16).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["In order to depict his desertion, he informs Timothy that Erastus, one of his usual companions (Act 19:22, possibly the same Erastus as in Rom 16:23, though how he could leave his official duties for missionary journeys is not clear), stayed behind at Corinth, his native place, or usual residence, of which city he was \"chamberlain,\" or city steward and treasurer (Rom 16:23); and Trophimus he left behind at Miletus sick. (On his former history, see on Act 20:4; Act 21:29). This verse is irreconcilable with the imprisonment from which he writes being the first: for he did not pass by Corinth or Miletus on his way to Rome when about to be imprisoned for the first time. As Miletus was near Ephesus, there is a presumption that Timothy was not at Ephesus when Paul wrote, or he would not need to inform Timothy of Trophimus lying sick in his immediate neighborhood. However, Trophimus may not have been still at Miletus at the time when Paul wrote, though he had left him there on his way to Rome. Prisca and Aquila were most likely to be at Ephesus (Ti2 4:19), and he desires Timothy to salute them: so also Onesiphorus' household (Ti2 1:18). Paul had not the power of healing at will (Act 19:12), but as the Lord allowed him.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["before winter--when a voyage, according to ancient usages of navigation, would be out of the question: also, Paul would need his \"cloak\" against the winter (Ti2 4:13). \n\nPudens . . . Claudia--afterwards husband and wife (according to MARTIAL [Epigrams, 4.13; 11.54]), he a Roman knight, she a Briton, surnamed Rufina. TACITUS [On Agriculture, 14], mentions that territories in southeast Britain were given to a British king; Cogidunus, in reward for his fidelity to Rome, A.D. 52, while Claudius was emperor. In 1772 a marble was dug up at Chichester, mentioning Cogidunus with the surname Claudius, added from his patron, the emperor's name; and Pudens in connection with Cogidunus, doubtless his father-in-law. His daughter would be Claudia, who seems to have been sent to Rome for education, as a pledge of the father's fidelity. Here she was under the protection of Pomponia, wife of Aulus Plautius, conqueror of Britain. Pomponia was accused of foreign superstitions, A.D. 57 [TACITUS, Annals, 3.32], probably Christianity. She probably was the instrument of converting Claudia, who took the name Rufina from her, that being a cognomen of the Pomponian gens (compare Rom 16:13, Rufus, a Christian). Pudens in MARTIAL and in the Chichester inscription, appears as a pagan; but perhaps he or his friends concealed his Christianity through fear. Tradition represents Timothy, a son of Pudens, as taking part in converting the Britons. \n\nLinus--put third; therefore not at this time yet, as he was afterwards, bishop. His name being here inserted between Pudens and Claudia, implies the two were not yet married. \"Eubulus\" is identified by some with Aristobulus, who, with his converts, is said to have been among the first evangelists of Britain. Paul himself, says CLEMENT, \"visited the farthest west [perhaps Britain, certainly Spain], and was martyred under the rulers at Rome,\" who were Nero's vicegerents in his absence from the city.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["Grace be with you--plural in oldest manuscripts, \"with YOU,\" that is, thee and the members of the Ephesian and neighboring churches.\n\n\n\n\n\nNext: Titus Introduction\n\n"]}],"introduction":"SOLEMN CHARGE TO TIMOTHY TO DO HIS DUTY ZEALOUSLY, FOR TIMES OF APOSTASY ARE AT HAND, AND THE APOSTLE IS NEAR HIS TRIUMPHANT END: REQUESTS HIM TO COME AND BRING MARK WITH HIM TO ROME, AS LUKE ALONE IS WITH HIM, THE OTHERS HAVING GONE: ALSO HIS CLOAK AND PARCHMENTS: WARNS HIM AGAINST ALEXANDER: TELLS WHAT BEFELL HIM AT HIS FIRST DEFENSE: GREETINGS: BENEDICTION. (2Ti. 4:1-22)\n\ncharge--Greek, \"adjure.\" \n\ntherefore--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. \n\nthe Lord Jesus Christ--The oldest manuscripts read simply, \"Christ Jesus.\" \n\nshall judge--His commission from God is mentioned, Act 10:42; his resolution to do so, Pe1 4:5; the execution of his commission, here. \n\nat his appearing--The oldest manuscripts read, \"and\" for \"at\"; then translate, \"(I charge thee before God . . . ) and by His appearing.\" \n\nand his kingdom--to be set at His appearing, when we hope to reign with Him. His kingdom is real now, but not visible. It shall then be both real and visible (Luk 22:18, Luk 22:30; Rev 1:7; Rev 11:15; Rev 19:6). Now he reigns in the midst of His enemies expecting till they shall be overthrown (Psa 110:2; Heb 10:13). Then He shall reign with His adversaries prostrate.\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/2TI/4.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"2TI","chapter":4},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/TIT/1.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"TIT","chapter":1},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/2TI/3.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"2TI","chapter":3},"numberOfVerses":21}