2 Timothy 2

2 thou hast heard. Particularly when he was set apart to the ministry (cp. 1 Tim. i. 18), in the presence and with the sanction of “many witnesses.”

3 endure hardness. Rather, “suffer hardship with me.”

4. No man that warreth. More precisely, as R.V., “No soldier on service”: ep. Luke iii. 4.

5 strive for masteries. Lit., “contend for a prize,” i.e., in the games.

lawfully. According to the rules of the public games.

6. The husbandman that laboureth, etc. It is the husbandman who labours (not the idle one) that has the first right to the fruits.

11 if we be dead with Him. Properly, “if we died with Him”; giving ourselves up to “die daily” (1 Cor. xv. 31).

13 if we believe not, etc. Rather, “if we be faithless, He remains faithful,” and will fulfil His word. These words have more than once comforted those who, in times of mental or bodily trouble, thought that God had forsaken them.

15 rightly dividing. Lit., “cutting straight.” Some understand this metaphor to be that of a ploughman cutting a straight furrow (so Bishop Moule); others take it to refer to the cutting of cloth. But the essential thought is the same, that the Christian preacher or teacher should be faithful and straightforward in his treatment and application of the Divine word.

17 a canker. Lit., “a gangrene,” a mortification spreading itself.

18 saying that the resurrection is past already. It seems that these false teachers admitted the future life of the soul, but denied the resurrection of the body, and insisted that the moral renovation of believers in Christ (see Rom. vi. 3-5) was the only resurrection to be expected. They thus assailed “the foundation” of the Christian faith: see 1 Cor. xv., and notes.

19 the foundation of God standeth sure. Rather, “God’s firm foundation standeth.” Some men’s faith may be overthrown (18); but the truth still stands as the firm basis of the church, bearing two inscriptions, which are the seal of God’s authority: the first being a consolatory assurance that the Lord knows His people (see Psa. i. 6, and note); and the second a warning against all ungodliness. The first declares God’s sovereignty, the second His people’s responsibility.

20. But in a great house, etc. The thought of “the foundation” suggests that of “the house.” While the security of the spiritual edifice is pledged, it must be remembered that, as in a house there are vessels of a baser kind, so in the visible church there will be persons and things unworthy of it.

21 from these. From “evil men and seducers,” represented by vessels “to dishonour” (20); the kind of persons indicated in ver. 16 and the last clause of ver. 20.

22. Flee also youthful lusts. Timothy was yet in the prime of life (see 1 Tim. iv. 12).

24 must not strive. Must not be quarrelsome in the way in which he maintains the truth.

26 recover themselves. Or, “return to soberness”; with the idea of escape understood. “Wake up and escape” (Wace). The French version has: “Et qu’ils reviendront à eux-mêmes, en se dégageant des pièges du diable.”

who are taken captive by him at (“for,” or “unto”) His will. Him and His here represent two different Greek pronouns. The probable meaning is: “having been taken captive by him (i.e., by the servant of the Lord, ver. 24) for His will (i.e., the will of God): see R.V., and marg. “Self-yielded, with a strange new joy, to the hands of his loving emancipator; blessing him, and rejoicing to become with him the ennobled vassal of the will of God” (Moule in Devotional Commentary)