Authorship, Commentaries. See the introduction to 1 Timothy. Of the three *Pastoral Epistles (whose authorship is often disputed), 2 Timothy is the most difficult to dispute, because of the abundance of personal notes. *Pseudepigraphic letters could also contain personal notes (e.g., Diogenes’s letter to Rhesus), but they rarely had many, whereas 2 Timothy is full of them. Pseudepigraphers had little reason to include these details. Some scholars believe that a Pauline *disciple wove together Paul’s material in this letter, but often in the disciple’s words.
Situation. For the general situation of persecution in Rome, see the introduction to 1 Peter. Assuming Pauline authorship, Paul writes 2 Timothy while imprisoned in Rome, awaiting probable execution; he wants Timothy to join him before it is too late (4:21). Paul was probably released after his imprisonment in Acts 28 (see comment on Acts 28:30) and undertook the missions presupposed in 2 Timothy; then he was rearrested, this time during Nero’s massive repression of Christians. He was most likely beheaded under Nero in A.D. 64. Second Timothy has in view this second imprisonment.
Paul’s opponents have spread in the province of Asia, and the situation has become much worse since Paul wrote 1 Timothy (2 Tim 1:15). Paul could be discouraged; like Jeremiah in the *Old Testament, his life is to end while God’s people are turned away from him, and he will not live to see the fruit of his ministry. His consolation, however, is that he has been faithful to God (4:7-8), and he exhorts Timothy to follow in his paths no matter what the cost. (That the letter was preserved almost certainly indicates that Timothy did persevere.) The letter is dominated by the themes of persecution from outside the *church and false teaching within, and Paul’s final exhortation to a young minister is to focus on the Scriptures and the sound teaching to be found in them.
Genre. In many ways, Paul’s final letter resembles the letters of moral exhortation written by philosophers to their disciples. But as a letter sent before his death, it has also been compared with Jewish tracts called “testaments,” in which a dying leader imparted his final wisdom to his sons or followers, wisdom also of value to subsequent readers. Although most testaments were pseudepigraphic and Paul may have written this letter only for Timothy, the similar situation envisioned could give 2 Timothy the force of a testament: Paul’s ultimate wisdom for young ministers.
1:1-2. Paul modifies the normal opening of letters (author, to addressees, greetings—a word related to “*grace”) in his characteristically Christian way. Both *rabbis and philosophers could call their *disciples “sons.”
1:3. Ancient letters frequently included thanksgivings to God or gods on behalf of the addressee, who was often praised in the thanksgiving. “Unceasingly” or “constantly” probably means in Paul’s regular times of prayer. Many Judeans prayed during the morning and afternoon offerings in the temple; they also said special blessings on rising in the morning and going to bed at night. Palestinian Jews reckoned days from sundown to sundown, so “night and day” is not an unnatural sequence. (One should not read too much into Paul’s sequence, of course; the same sequence occurs not only in Jewish texts like Judith and *4 Ezra but also in strictly Latin texts like Horace, *Quintilian and *Cicero. In contrast, *Josephus and usually the *Septuagint, as well as the Roman writer Martial, could say “day and night,” and the *New Testament references are not consistent.)
1:4. Expressions of longing were common in ancient letters of friendship, signifying the deepest intimacy. (This is not, as one commentator thought, a poor imitation of Rom 1:11 or other passages!) In the East, tears were an appropriate expression of sadness for troubled or long partings.
1:5. Even though fathers were responsible for their sons’ education, Judaism and Greco-Roman aristocrats wanted mothers to be knowledgeable so they could impart knowledge to their young children. (This is true even though Judaism did not provide women advanced education in the *law, and even though Greco-Roman society generally reserved advanced, i.e., *rhetorical and philosophical, training for men.) Until the age of seven a Roman boy’s mother was his main formative influence. For those with access to it, Jewish Scripture education ideally began by the age of five or six, although this education always emphasized memorization and recitation more than reading skills.
The “faith” of Timothy’s mother and grandmother was Jewish (Jewish Christian by the time Paul met them—Acts 16:1). Jewish fathers were primarily responsible for their sons’ instruction in the law, but Timothy’s father was a *Gentile (Acts 16:1, 3). Those without a living religious father also learned from grandmothers if they were still living (cf. Tobit 1:8).
Most education included corporal discipline, but some ancient education experts stressed instead encouraging the child, making him or her feel successful, provoking competition and making learning enjoyable (Quintilian). Ancient writers differed on whether public instructors or home schooling was better, provided the former held classes small enough to permit private instruction.
1:6. Laying on of hands was used for ordination (see comment on 1 Tim 4:14). The image of “rekindling” (NRSV) a fire is possible in this verse (cf. Jer 20:9), although the word for “kindle” (NASB) had been extended metaphorically so often by this period that it is not clear that its fire nuance would always be in hearers’ minds.
1:7. Although *Essene texts and some other early Jewish sources sometimes linked evil behaviors with pervasive evil spirits, in Greek “spirit of” often meant simply “attitude of.” The exhortation not to be afraid was one of the most prominent biblical assurances from God (e.g., Gen 26:24; Jer 1:8) and was a customary expression of assurance from others as well (Gen 43:23). Although Timothy may have been “timid,” one should not therefore assume that this was his unique problem, as some interpreters have (cf. Acts 18:9; 1 Cor 2:3).
Timothy is to maintain his ground (1:3-7), joining Paul in suffering for the *gospel entrusted to them.
1:8. *Disciples were called to follow in their teachers’ steps. Paul’s suffering here entails especially his imprisonment and impending execution.
1:9-11. The language of “calling” is especially *Old Testament and Jewish, that of “appearing” and “immortality” especially Greek (though long before already adopted by *Diaspora Jews), and “*Savior” was both. That Paul is equally conversant in both worlds is not surprising; most Diaspora and many Palestinian Jews generally saw no contradiction between fidelity to the Old Testament and speaking the language of their culture.
1:12-14. The “entrusted deposit” (1:12, 14) was originally a monetary image, although other writers had also applied it to teaching; one was responsible to safeguard or multiply any money given one for safekeeping. Jewish teachers felt that they were passing on a sacred deposit to their disciples, who were expected to pass it on to others in turn (cf. 2:2).
Paul briefly addresses the opposition that Timothy and he face in Asia, where Timothy ministers.
1:15. “Asia” refers to the Roman province of western Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the most prominent city (cf. 1 Tim 1:3). In context, “all” excludes at least the household of 1:16-18; in accordance with the flexibility of common language in antiquity, it means “most.” Although many Jewish teachers predicted widespread apostasy for the end time or even felt that it characterized their own generation, they lamented it. This is hardly the sort of detail a later pseudepigrapher writing in Paul’s name would have made up about the end of his ministry. (Later *hagiographers sometimes described the rejection of their heroes, but the narrative was normally accompanied by a description of the awful judgment that befell the apostates who rejected them.)
1:16. Chains and imprisonment were normally matters of shame, and people were often embarrassed to be associated with those so stigmatized. “Onesimus” (Philem 10) could be a contraction for Onesiphorus, but the person Paul describes here does not sound like a recently freed slave. Because Paul speaks of a whole “household” of believers, the Onesiphorus to whom he refers may have had slaves and other dependents. “Refresh” is the language of hospitality, which included housing travelers; Onesiphorus must have had a large home and housed Paul whenever he came to Ephesus. He is a good example to Timothy of one not “ashamed” (1:8, 12; 2:15).
1:17. Very many people in the first century traveled to Rome; Onesiphorus, as a well-to-do *patron benefactor in the prominent Asian city of Ephesus, would naturally be able to do so. “Finding” Paul would mainly be a matter of finding local Christians who could tell him where to find Paul, whether during his earlier detention (Acts 28:30) or the more severe current one. If the latter is in view, Paul might have gotten his news about Asia (1:15) from Onesiphorus.
1:18. Because Paul greets Onesiphorus’s “household” in 4:19, some writers have argued that Onesiphorus is dead and that Paul here prays for his posthumous salvation (although the context makes it clear that Onesiphorus was already a Christian). Judaism often spoke of departed heroes as “of blessed memory,” and some later tomb inscriptions eulogized the righteous dead with “May he [or she] be remembered for good.” Posthumous acts of *atonement were sometimes offered for the dead, but prayers for the “salvation” of the dead in the strict sense seem to be either minimal or altogether lacking in first-century Judaism. Further, it is not clear that Onesiphorus is dead; Paul looks ahead to the day of judgment for himself as well (1:12; 4:8). Paul could speak of someone’s “household,” including the individual, while the person was still alive (e.g., 1 Cor 16:15, 17).
2:1-2. Pharisaism strongly emphasized the passing on of sacred traditions; second-century *rabbis stressed the passing on of traditions from one generation to the next, noting that the process had begun long before them. This passing on of tradition was also the practice of Greek philosophical schools, although they usually emphasized the views of the founder more than those of immediate predecessors.
2:3-4. Philosophers emphasized the total commitment involved in being a true philosopher. They also compared their task to that of soldiers and athletes fighting a war or running a race. Soldiers were not even allowed to marry during their term of service (although some had unofficial concubines while they were stationed somewhere) and were to be strictly devoted to their service for over twenty years; probably over half usually survived to retire.
2:5. Philosophers often compared their task to that of athletes, whose intense discipline and preparation were proverbial. Athletes were pledged by oath to ten months of such preparation preceding their participation in the Olympic games. The winner’s prize was a garland; see comment on 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.
2:6. As in 2:4 (pleasing the enlister) and 2:5 (receiving the prize), the emphasis here is on both hard work and future reward; one who labored for God would be rewarded in the day of God’s judgment. (Some commentators have suggested that in 2:4-6 Paul wants ministers to be supported only by their congregations, as some philosophers were supported by *patrons, and never to work on the side; but this view would be surprising given Paul’s explicitly contrary position in 1 Cor 9, where he allows both forms of support.)
2:7. Authors occasionally exhorted readers to “consider” (KJV, NASB) and hence understand (cf. Mt 24:15; Rev 13:18).
2:8. Appealing to examples was one of the main hortatory methods of ancient parenesis (moral exhortation); Paul here appeals to the example of Jesus, who endured much but received eternal glory (cf. 2:10-12).
2:9-10. Paul uses himself as an example. Ancient philosophers and moral writers commonly used examples in moral exhortation (cf. 2:8).
2:11-13. Although God’s character is immutable, his dealings with people respond to their response to him (2 Chron 15:2; Ps 18:25-27). The faithfulness of God to his covenant is not suspended by the breach of that covenant by the unfaithful; but those individuals who break his covenant withdraw from the covenant’s protection (see comment on Rom 3:3).
The Ephesian Christians must observe “these things,” which are what Paul mentions in 2:3-13 as summarized in 2:11-13. They must persevere, avoiding the false teachings rampant in Ephesus (2:14-23), and when possible correcting those involved in serious error (2:24-26).
2:14. Many professional speakers gave nitpicky attention to irrelevant twists and turns of phrase; some philosophers believed that one could do no better than examine the logic of words; many Jewish teachers, seeking to be faithful to the letter of the *law, did the same (emphasizing even the slightest variations in spelling or possible revocalizations). But others criticized this method (see comment on 1 Tim 1:6).
2:15. To the images of soldier, athlete and farmer (2:4-6), Paul now adds the general one of a worker. Jewish readers would have understood an exhortation to be diligent in representing “the word of truth” rightly as an exhortation to study God’s law, where his word was found (cf. Ps 119:43). Although Paul presupposes such investigation of Scripture (3:14-17), his emphasis here is on accurate representation of the *gospel in contrast to the empty words of 2:14 and 16.
2:16. See comment on 2:14.
2:17. The image of spiritual or moral gangrene also occurred to some other authors; gangrene’s basic characteristic is that it spreads and poisons the whole body, ultimately killing it if it is not removed. Hymenaeus and probably Philetus had been officially cut off (1 Tim 1:20) but still retained a pervasive influence and probably a significant following. Then, as today, it was easy for almost any speaker to get a hearing, because only a few were skilled enough in the Scriptures to discern truth from error for themselves, rather than being dependent on others’ teachings. In antiquity the difficulty was greater in the sense that most people could not read and copies of the Scriptures were scarce and expensive, being copied by hand.
2:18. A future *resurrection of the body did not appeal to Greek thought, although the proleptic spiritual resurrection that believers experienced in *Christ was far more amenable to Greek tastes. Some false teachers like Hymenaeus and Philetus had apparently “demythologized” the gospel to make it more palatable to their culture (cf. 1 Cor 15:12; 2 Thess 2:2).
2:19. Although some stones might be removed, a foundation or cornerstone would remain secure. Seals were often used to attest the witnesses of a document or that merchandise had not been tampered with; here the seal is the inscription on a cornerstone, inscribed by the owner or builder.
2:20-21. Paul shifts to another image. When used figuratively in ancient literature, “vessels” (KJV, NASB) usually meant people (or their bodies as containers of their souls, a meaning that would be irrelevant here). Expensive vessels were reserved for special purposes like banquets; the cheapest vessels were expendable and in Jewish circles would be shattered if rendered impure.
One could interpret “purifies himself from these things” (NASB) in two ways. On the one hand, Paul may distinguish here the righteous from the wicked (as in Rom 9:22-23); but the righteous, like vessels reserved for honor, had to be separated from the vessels for dishonor in the same house (see comment on 2:17-18). On the other hand, one normally purified important vessels from dirt or, in the religious sense, from defilement (such as the false teachers’ talk—2:16). (Paul may intend both senses; under some conditions of Jewish law, a pure vessel brought into contact with something impure, including an impure vessel, had to be purified again.)
2:22. Moralists often exhorted readers to “flee” from vices. Certain passions were associated especially with “youth” (a category that could still include Timothy; see comment on 1 Tim 4:12). Many in antiquity indulged and excused young men’s passions; by contrast, Paul respects Timothy’s ability for self-control.
2:23. On debates over trifling points, see comment on 2:14.
2:24. Jewish teachers and philosophers like the *Stoics also advised patience in instructing others; in contrast, some moralists, like the *Cynics, verbally abused passersby with their “wisdom.” Philosophers typically derided the unlearned (cf. 2:23; “ignorant”—NASB, GNT; “stupid”—NIV) in wisdom who were unwilling to seek knowledge.
2:25-26. Judaism emphasized correcting another person humbly and privately before giving public reproof, in the hope of restoring that person to the right way.
Ancient Jewish sources (except perhaps the most Hellenized, such as Philo) generally characterized the end time as one of turmoil, apostasy, and increased sin and oppression. This view was widespread despite a common expectation that all Israel would return to greater standards of holiness, ushering in the end and the restoration of Israel; others (see the *Dead Sea Scrolls) believed that only the righteous Israelites would remain after these judgments. Like most Jewish writers, Paul does not anticipate a complete renewal of righteousness in the world until the day of God.
3:1. In “last days” (cf. Is 2:2; Mic 4:1; Dan 2:28; 10:14) Paul includes the time in which he is living (cf. 1 Tim 4:1); he no doubt alludes here to the Jewish idea that came to be called the messianic woes, a period of great suffering preceding the end of the age (for end-time suffering, see, e.g., 4Q162 2.1 in the *Dead Sea Scrolls; for sin and evil, e.g., 4Q390 f1.8; *1 Enoch 91:7; *4 Ezra 14:16-18; *Sibylline Oracles 5.74; for apostasy, e.g., Testaments of Dan 5:4; Issachar 6:1, 6; 7:3; and Naphtali 4:1). (The length of this period varied nearly as widely as those Jewish texts that speculated on it; it was not fixed in Jewish tradition.)
3:2. Other ancient moralists also used “vice lists” (cf. Rom 1:28-32). “Lovers of self” (i.e., self-seeking people) were condemned by philosophers such as Musonius Rufus (a *Stoic), *Epictetus and Philo; the moralist *Plutarch warned readers to avoid even the appearance of self-love. (In today’s terms this would refer to narcissism, not appropriate self-esteem.) Love and obedience toward parents was one of the most central virtues of antiquity (see comment on Eph 6:1-3). Many deemed ingratitude the greatest offense against benefactors (see comment on Rom 1:21).
3:3-4. *Philo and other philosophers, especially Stoics, repeatedly condemned “love of pleasure”; among philosophers, only the *Epicureans sought pleasure (which they defined as the absence of pain or disturbance), and they were not nearly as influential as their Stoic competitors. *Philo even subsumed a long list of vices under the title “lovers of pleasure” and opposed pleasure to virtue.
3:5. Both Jewish religion and Greek philosophy condemned those who pretended devotion but whose hearts or lives did not match their professed devotion. For Paul, religion without God’s power transforming the heart was useless.
3:6. Because women were usually less educated, they were more susceptible than men to false teaching (see comment on 1 Tim 2:11-12). Women’s penchant for switching religions was ridiculed by satirists like *Juvenal and offended conservative Romans. Women reportedly converted to Christianity, Judaism, and the cults of Isis, Serapis and other deities far more readily than men; and in the second century A.D. women were attracted to many heretical movements. Because they were less educated in traditional religion and had less social standing to lose, they more quickly changed religiously, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. (With regard to Judaism, they also lacked the male disincentive of the pain of male circumcision.)
The false teachers had to get into the homes because they had less access to the women in public (due to married women’s partial segregation in Greek society). After they had gained access to a household, their male or female convert within the household could supply financial and other help to them. The women who owned their own homes were most often widows, so widows may have often been targeted (1 Tim 5:13) to gain access to homes where the false teachers could establish or influence congregations. Greek and Roman men often thought of women as easily swayed by passion and emotion; many may have been, because of their lack of education and cultural reinforcement. But Paul here addresses particular, not all, women.
3:7. Philosophers stressed that change came through knowing the truth, and that this knowledge came through learning from them. These women were learning, but they were learning falsehood designed to play on their passions; Paul says that *repentance, not mere learning, frees those thus taken captive (2:25-26).
3:8. Paul here employs Jewish tradition not found in the *Old Testament. In a widespread Jewish tradition (various elements appear in *Pseudo-Philo, the *Dead Sea Scrolls, *rabbis, etc.), Jannes and his brother Jambres were Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses in Exodus 7:11. Even pagan accounts (Pliny the Elder and *Apuleius) record them as magicians of Moses’ time (presumably dependent on Jewish tradition). Because Paul’s opponents appeal to Jewish myths (1 Tim 1:4; 2 Tim 4:4; Tit 1:14), Paul cites such stories to fill in the names for these characters.
3:9. “Progress” (NASB, NRSV) could be a technical term for advancement in learning a particular school of teaching, but here it probably refers simply to advancement of the opponents’ movement. Jannes and Jambres ultimately could not match all Moses’ signs (in Exodus and in most later Jewish accounts); God would also eventually expose this false movement (1 Tim 5:24).
3:10. *Disciples of philosophers were to follow and emulate their teachers’ words and lives. Some other ancient moralists also naturally used “but you” for moral contrasts (cf. also 3:14; 4:5; 1 Tim 6:11; Diogenes, Epistles 12; *Jubilees 22:19). Timothy’s knowledge of Paul’s sufferings in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra (Acts 13:50–14:19) apparently dates to his family’s initial exposure to the Christian message, before he began traveling with Paul (16:1-3).
3:11. See comment on Acts 13–14. Timothy was from this area of Asia Minor (Acts 16:1).
3:12. Many Jewish people expected repression from the pagans, especially in the end time, but Paul virtually promises persecution to every Christian truly living in a holy way (cf. Jn 15:20, etc.).
3:13. Paul here shares the view of much of early Judaism that the end time would be characterized by evil, with sinners proceeding from sin to sin unchecked (for the language cf. Jer 9:3). They would ultimately be stopped only by God’s final wrath (cf. Gen 6:11-13). The Greek term here rendered “impostors” or “seducers” (KJV) was often used as a pejorative title for harmful or fake magicians (cf. 3:8).
3:14-15. “Sacred writings” (NASB, NRSV) was also used for pagan religious writings (e.g., in the cult of Isis) but is attested in Greek-speaking Jewish sources as a name for the Bible that then existed, what we call the *Old Testament. Although there were different ways of counting the books, it appears from the listing in *Josephus (Against Apion 1.8, 39-40) and subsequent listings that these Scriptures correspond to our Old Testament *canon. The most common recensions of the *Septuagint also appear to have included what we usually call the *Apocrypha; although neither the *rabbis nor Josephus seems to have accepted this material as part of the Bible per se, it was undoubtedly widely read and probably often drawn on.
At least in pious Palestinian Jewish homes with access to sufficient resources, boys were normally taught the “sacred writings” from around the age of five; teaching Scriptures to the children was commanded in the Old Testament (Deut 6:7; cf., e.g., Ps 71:17; 78:5-7). Other peoples often expressed amazement at how well instructed Jewish children were in their ancestral traditions.
3:16-17. The belief in the inspiration of *prophecy and (usually in a somewhat different sense) poetry and music was widespread in Mediterranean antiquity. This belief was naturally applied to books of prophecy, and most of the Old Testament was attributed to prophets. Paul’s claim for Scripture’s inspiration matches Old Testament designations for the *law and divine prophecies as “God’s word.” Like Paul, Judaism virtually universally accepted the Old Testament as God’s Word.
Listing examples of “every good work” (3:17), Paul employs standard terms from ancient education (3:16); “training” especially characterized Greek education (the *LXX often used the term for discipline). Reproof was especially important in Judaism, where it had to be done privately and gently first. The proper authority, source and content for any of these works was Scripture. On “man of God” (in Timothy’s case; more generally, “person of God”), see comment on 1 Timothy 6:11.
After reminding Timothy of the source of his authority, the Scriptures (in his day, the *Old Testament; see 3:14-17; cf. 1 Tim 4:13), Paul tells him to engage in the ministry for which the Scriptures are profitable (3:16–4:2).
4:1. An oath sworn by a deity or deities was considered especially binding and dangerous to break; in the same way, a charge witnessed by a deity or deities (originally something like putting someone under oath) was sacred and inviolable. A broken oath would be avenged by the god whose name was violated; for Jewish people and Christians, the ultimate judgment was in the coming day of the Lord.
4:2. As virtually always in Paul, “the word” here stands for the message about Jesus, which was the divine message, as the Law and the Prophets were (3:16). Greco-Roman moralists often discussed the “appropriate” time for speech, especially frank speech; Paul says that Timothy should announce his message whether or not people are willing to listen (4:3). Although Paul adapts Greco-Roman philosophical language, the idea is also a pervasive Old Testament one; prophets had to continue speaking regardless of opposition (Ex 6:9-13; Jer 6:11; 20:8-9).
4:3. Demagogues who told people what they wanted to hear were common among politicians, public speakers and philosophers in Greco-Roman society, and false prophets in the Old Testament (prophets who told people what they wanted to hear were usually false; cf. Jer 6:14; 8:11; Ezek 13:10, 16; Mic 3:5; see also comment on Lk 6:26). “Desiring to have one’s ears tickled” means desiring to hear only what one enjoys; *Lucian describes in these terms people who like to listen to slander.
4:4-5. The term translated “myths” was usually used derogatorily for false stories; see comment on 1 Timothy 1:4.
4:6. On one’s life being poured out as a libation, or drink-offering, see comment on Philippians 2:17. (Some Jewish texts, especially *4 Maccabees, even assign atoning—hence in some sense sacrificial—value to the deaths of martyrs; but it is not clear that this idea is present in this image.)
4:7. Paul’s first image is the athletic contest; moralists commonly borrowed this image to describe struggles on behalf of virtue (see comment on 1 Tim 6:12). “Completed the course” refers to a race, again popular athletic imagery (cf. 2 Tim 4:8). “Keeping faith” was a Greek expression for loyalty, similar to a Hebrew expression meaning remaining faithful to the covenant, or in some cases, guarding the true faith (thus “the faith” here).
4:8. The image of the “crown” refers to the wreath given to victors in Greek races (4:7).
Some friends had proved faithless, others Paul had needed to send away; but God had proved faithful all along (4:17-18).
4:9. See comment on 4:21. It was important for close friends to come by and visit a dying person a final time, and this principle applied above all else to a son, even an adopted or surrogate son (1:2). (Sons normally also buried their fathers, but the officials might be reticent to hand Paul’s body over to Timothy.) It was important to Paul that especially Timothy be with him before he died; compare, for example, those friends who spent Socrates’s final moments with him.
4:10. Most of Judaism contrasted this present evil age (Gal 1:4) with the *age to come, often insisting that those who valued this age too much would have no part in the next one. The persecutions Paul had faced earlier in Thessalonica had probably diminished; in any case it had an established *church. Apparently Demas (probably an abbreviation for Demetrius, but the name that Paul always uses for him) expected to find less suffering there than he would have faced had he remained with Paul the prisoner.
The motives of Crescens (a Latin name) and Titus are not criticized. “Galatia” probably means the Galatia in Asia Minor to which Paul addressed his letter “to the Galatians.” (With some church fathers it is possible, though much less likely in view of Paul’s usage elsewhere, that it refers to the land of the Gauls to the north, in what is now France, which was the original “Galatia.” If so, this would be the only explicit reference to non-Mediterranean Europe in the *New Testament.) Titus had gone to Dalmatia, which was near Nicopolis, where Paul had arranged to meet him earlier (Tit 3:12). If Timothy came over land to see Paul (2 Tim 4:13), he would probably pass through at least Thessalonica and Dalmatia (the latter on the Adriatic coast), and Paul gives him advance notice that he would find some of his former companions in this area.
4:11. Although “Mark” was a common name, among the limited number of close associates of Paul it almost certainly refers to John Mark of Acts, as in Colossians 4:10. Others besides Luke were with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:21), but Luke was the only traveling companion he and Timothy had shared; he was probably also the only one in Rome specifically to be with Paul.
4:12. Tychicus is bearer of the letter (cf. 1 Tim 1:3), a mutual traveling companion of Paul and Timothy (Acts 20:4; Col 4:7). Because the only Roman mail service was by imperial envoys for government use, personal mail had to be carried by travelers.
4:13. Prisoners’ friends could supply their needs, but only if permitted by prison officials and guards, who sometimes demanded bribes. The sort of cloak mentioned was like a blanket with a hole for one’s head; the ease with which it could be donned probably made it popular with travelers. It was useful only in cold or rainy weather; Paul had apparently left it at Troas when it was becoming warm and had not been able to return for it. Now, imprisoned, Paul is cold and anticipates the approach of winter soon after Timothy’s arrival (cf. 4:21). (Some commentators have suggested that the term refers here not to a coat but to a wrapping for books; although this meaning is possible, most of the purported evidence for it derives from comments on this verse!)
Some commentators have suggested that the “parchments” refer to certificates (e.g., to prove Paul’s citizenship), but it is not clear that certificates took this form in this period. The term was, however, already in use for codices (collections of papyrus sheets with a cover, as opposed to scrolls), a form of book already in existence but popularized by Christians. They were originally used for notebooks, account ledgers and other nonliterary purposes; Christians quickly popularized them, using them for the Scriptures. Some suggest that Paul might have notebooks for Scripture study in view; the other “books” could be papyrus scrolls, the most common form of writing in this period.
Paul apparently expects Timothy to journey northward to Troas, from which he would cross over to Macedonia and take the main Roman road through Thessalonica and to Dalmatia, sailing thence to Italy (though cf. 4:21).
4:14-15. Many coppersmiths lived in the eastern Mediterranean, but working with copper produced so much noise that Alexander, unlike Paul the leatherworker, could not have engaged in much discussion at work. He thus could not have gained much of a following until his workday was ended (unless he was a former coppersmith now living off his false teaching).
Alexander may be the false teacher of 1 Timothy 1:19-20, although this name was common. The term Paul uses for “did me harm” was sometimes used of delatores, “accusers”; it is not clear whether Paul also refers to Alexander as the one who betrayed him to the Roman authorities. Paul was probably not arrested in Ephesus, because he had spent the preceding winter in Nicopolis; he may have been on his way to Rome and simply arrived in time for Nero’s persecution (Tit 3:12; cf. 2 Tim 4:10). Paul had earlier faced conflict with many metalworkers in Ephesus (Acts 19:24-29).
The psalmist often prayed for God to vindicate him and repay his enemies (e.g., Ps 17:13-14; 35:1-8, 26; 55:15; 69:22-28). Grammatically, Paul here makes a prediction (future tense) rather than a prayer for vengeance (cf. Ps 52:5; 55:23; 63:9-10; 73:17-20; etc.); nevertheless, his point is that God will put things right on behalf of his servants in the end.
4:16. Here Paul probably refers not to the detention of Acts 28:30-31, which presumably ended favorably, but to a more recent hearing after his rearrest. This would have been a preliminary hearing, a prima actio, before a Roman magistrate (in practice, probably not the emperor himself).
4:17-18. Paul may allude to David’s or Daniel’s exploits of faith in the *Old Testament (1 Sam 17:37; Dan 6:27; cf. 1 Maccabees 2:60); Daniel was sent to the lions by the decree of a king, albeit a reluctant one. The image of a lion in ancient literature is one of supreme strength, appropriately applied here to Nero’s court. Under Nero’s persecution in which Paul died, some Christians were literally fed to beasts in the arena, but Paul uses “lion” metaphorically, as often in the Old Testament (e.g., Ps 7:2; 10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 21). The term translated “delivered” meant earthly rescue and safety (v. 17) but was also applied to ultimate salvation (v. 18). Prayers seemed natural in ancient letters, because ancient life was permeated by religious belief and practice.
4:19. Letters often closed with greetings. Aquila and Priscilla, who had left Ephesus (Acts 18:24-26) for Rome (Rom 16:3), had returned to the work in Ephesus—probably recently, because Paul did not comment on their help in 1:16-18 (contrast also 1 Tim 2:11-12 with Priscilla’s ministry in Acts 18:26); only Paul’s traveling companions, probably mainly single men, are mentioned in 4:10-12 and 20. Persecution in Rome may have invited their relocation. On the household of Onesiphorus, see comment on 1:16-18.
4:20. Letters customarily mentioned news about friends, who included these former traveling companions of Timothy (Acts 19:22; 20:4). For how Trophimus’s illness might have been viewed, see comment on Philippians 2:25-30.
4:21. The seas were closed down to traffic in winter; shipping was completely closed down from around November 10 to as late as March 10, but the periods from about September 15 to November 10 and March 11 to May 26 were potentially risky periods as well. Some ships took the risks, even in winter, for the sake of profits, but finding passage in winter would be very difficult. Timothy thus could not sail from Ephesus in winter, but even if he took the overland route north of Greece, as Paul seems to expect (4:13), he would still need to sail across the Adriatic, which would also be difficult. If Timothy delayed, he would not be able to come until spring—and Paul might not still be alive then. If Paul sent this letter by Tychicus in summer, Timothy would have little time to set matters in order and come to him.
“Pudens,” “Linus” and “Claudia” are Latin names. Jewish people could have Latin names (“Claudia” would fit a slave woman freed during Claudius’s reign); about half of Roman Jews had Latin names. That three out of the four names are Latin might suggest that Christianity was making inroads into new sectors of Roman society. If they are church leaders (although only these are named, Paul appends “all the brethren” as a distinct group), the woman’s name is significant. Second-century tradition declares that Linus succeeded Peter as the second bishop of Rome.
4:22. The final “you” is plural in Greek; Paul’s final greeting includes Timothy’s fellow servants in Ephesus (4:19).