2 Timothy 2

Christian minister, may be assimilated. 1. He is a soldier, and is bound by oath to follow and to obey the Captain of his salvation. Every soldier must keep to his post, and is not allowed to engage in any other business; nor has he time, for the Roman soldier, (who is here alluded to,) when neither fighting nor encamping, was always exercising. The foot soldiers, besides their armour, which was cumbersome and heavy, were obliged to carry three days’ provision: so that they had much labour and hardship constantly to endure. 2. He is compared to one striving for mastery in the Olympic games, where all the laws of the contest must be strictly observed, in order to secure the prize; for a man ‘‘is not crowned except he strive lawfully.”’ 3.

He is likened to the husbandman, who must first labour to cultivate his ground, to sow, and plant, and water, and weed, &c. before he can expect to be a partaker of the fruits of the earth. Paul having exhorted Timothy to endure hardships, reminds him of what himself endured—‘I suffer trouble as an evildoer,” or malefactor, even “unto bonds: I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.’”’ This he did in the expectation, that those who suffer—who are crucified, and dead with Christ,—shall also be raised and reign with him. Timothy is then exhorted and encouraged to pursue his studies and labours wisely and zealously; discouraging all strife about words, and all profane and vain babblings,”

in which the erroneous and seducing teachers took delight; and studying so to divide the word of truth, like a faithful steward, as to give to each hearer his proper share and portion. Our apostle next refers to some false and injudicious teachers, who, by allegorizing away the doctrine of the resurrection, overthrew the faith of some.” Notwithstanding this, however, he assures them that the foundation of God remained sure, having this double inscription for its seal—‘The Lord knoweth them that are his;’”’ and, ‘‘Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ The one motto pointing to the great source of our salvation on the part of God; the other, the great practical end of our religion; and it is remarkable how often St.

Paul thus connects acceptance on the part of God, and obedience on the part of man, notwithstanding many persons consider them as inconsistent and The following verse (20) connects, as we conceive, not with that immediately preceding, but with the 18th verse. The faithful ministers of Christ are vessels of gold and silver; erroneous teachers, vessels of wood and clay; but, as in a great house, vessels of all these kinds are necessary, so in the church of God, there are false teachers, as well as true; and there is a “needs be that offences come.” Timothy is, however, advised to keep himself at a distance from false and erroneous teachers, and, at the same time, to guard against those youthful passions to which his age (being only a few years over thirty) might naturally expose him; meaning, by youthful lusts or passions, ‘not sensual lusts only, (as Macknight expresses it,) but ambition, pride, love of power, rashness, and obstinacy; vices which some teachers, who are free from sensual lusts, ‘are at little pains to avoid.”

These he was not only to avoid, but to flee from; and, at the same time, in fleeing from them, he would pursue after righteousness, faith, charity, (or love,) peace, which he would find in the opposite direction—‘‘with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” And as to

Notes on the verses

Cul. Chap. ii. Ver. 3. Endure hardness.—Doddridge, **Afflictions.” Macknight, “evil.” Of the hardships which the Roman soldiers had to endure, see Josephus on the Jewish War, book iii. Chap. 5. Ver. 6. The husbandman that laboureth, &c.—Doddridge, ‘‘The husbandman must first labour, (and then) partake of the fruits.” Macknight translates to the same effect. Ver. 8. According to my gospel—i.e. the gospel which he preached. Ver. 9. An evil-doer.—Macknight and Doddridge, ‘A malefactor.” —The word of God is not bound.—On the contrary, persecution often contributes to its propagation. See Philip. i, 12, 13. Ver. 11. It is Faith’s test saying.—Compare (Romans 6:5, 8). Ver. 15. Rightly dividing the word of truth.—Some think this refers to the duty of the priests in dividing the sacrifices; others, to the husbandman dividing the furrows with his plough; but we should rather refer it to the office of a steward, part of which, in those times, was to give each of the household his **portion of meat in due season.”

(Luke 12:41). Ver. 17. Hymeneus and Philetus.—The latter is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture; but of Hymeneus, see (1 Timothy 1:20). Ver. 18. The resurrection is past already.—These appear to have been allegorical preachers, who explained the resurrection figuratively of baptism, or perhaps of regeneration, which is the resurrection of the soul; an error afterwards ascribed by Epiphanius to the Gnostics and the Marcionites, and which Macknight thinks they founded on a misinterpretation of (John 5:25). Ver. 19. Having this seal, The Lord knoweth, &c.—This is thought to be an allusion to (Numbers 16:5), ‘‘Even to-morrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him; even him whom he hath chosen,”

&c. This passage refers to the priests under the law, and it is in allusion to them, that true Christians are called ‘‘a chosen generation, a holy and royal priesthood,” 1 Peter ii. 5, 9. Doddridge says, ‘‘the expression is here used in allusion to the custom of engraving upon some stones laid in the foundation of buildings the name of the persons by whom, and the purposes for which the structure is raised.” We have no direct proof to offer; But we strongly suspect this was sometimes done by one See and we presume the seal of a prince was of that authority, that no subject dare remove a stone thus sealed. The late Mr. Taylor, in his fragments to Calmet, No. cclxvi. 5, has given a copy of a Persian seal, containing not only the name of the king, but three sentences, one of which is, ‘‘God is my sufficiency;”

another, “He that is not for Ali [Mahomet’s son-in-law] is no friend of mine.” Ver. 20. Vessels….. of earth—Are earthen ware. ‘The vessels of so different materials are intended to represent the different sorts of teachers in the Christian church—some as apostles and evangelists, gold and silver; false teachers, wood and earthen ware. ‘: Ver. 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these—That is, keep himself aloof from the false teachers and their errors, “‘he shall be a vessel unto honour,” or an honourable vessel, like those of gold or silver. A ane Ver. 23. Unlearned questions.—Macknight, “untaught questions,” questions not founded in the Scriptures, and not there resolved; but curious, idle, and unimportant. Ver.

26. Recover fhenecibes —Greek, “awake.” Elsner remarks, the original means, to awake from a deep sleep—such as be the consequence of