2 Timothy 3

2 Timothy 3:1

1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

2 map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

2 Timothy 3:2

3 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

4 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A F G I 0278 Ï lat sy sa) have ἡμῶν (Jhmwn) after πατρός (patros), reading “God our Father,” in apparent emulation of Paul’s almost universal style. The omission of the pronoun (the reading of B D P 0111vid 33 1739 1881 pc) seems to be the original wording of this salutation. As well, the intrinsic evidence also supports the shorter reading: If 2 Thessalonians is authentic, it was one of Paul’s earliest letters, and, if so, his stereotyped salutation was still in embryonic form (see discussion at 1 Thessalonians 1:1). NA27 places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

2 Timothy 3:3

5 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

6 tn Grk “as is worthy.”

2 Timothy 3:5

7 tn Grk “so that you may be made worthy.” The passive infinitive καταξιωθῆναι (kataxiwqhnai) has been translated as an active construction in English for stylistic reasons.

2 Timothy 3:6

8 tn Grk “if in fact/since,” as a continuation of the preceding.

2 Timothy 3:7

9 tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”

10 tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.

2 Timothy 3:8

11 tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

12 sn An allusion to Jeremiah 10:25, possibly also to Psalms 79:6 and Isaiah 66:15.

2 Timothy 3:9

13 tn Grk “who,” describing the people mentioned in v. 8. A new sentence was started here in the translation by replacing the relative pronoun with a personal pronoun.

14 tn Or “power,” or “might.” The construction can also be translated as an attributed genitive: “from his glorious strength” (cf. TEV “glorious might”; CEV “glorious strength”; NLT “glorious power”).

sn An allusion to Isaiah 2:10, 19, 21.

2 Timothy 3:10

15 tn Or “marveled at.”

16 tn Grk “because our testimony to you was believed.”

2 Timothy 3:11

17 tn Or “your calling.”

2 Timothy 3:12

18 tn Or “by means of.”

2 Timothy 3:14

1 tn Or perhaps “return” (cf. CEV).

2 tn Grk “our gathering with him.”

3 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

2 Timothy 3:15

4 tn Or “quickly, soon.”

5 tn Grk “as through us.”

2 Timothy 3:16

6 tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

7 tc Most mss (A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy) read ἁμαρτίας (Jamartia", “of sin”) here, but several important mss (א B 0278 6 81 1739 1881 al co) read ἀνομίας (anomia", “of lawlessness”). Although external support for ἁμαρτίας is broader, the generally earlier and better witnesses are on the side of ἀνομίας. Internally, since ἁμαρτία (Jamartia, “sin”) occurs nearly ten times as often as ἀνομία (anomia, “lawlessness”) in the corpus Paulinum, scribes would be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. At the same time, the mention of ἀνομία in v. 7 and ὁἄνομος (Jo anomo", “the lawless one”) in v. 8, both of which look back to v. 3, may have prompted scribes to change the text toward ἀνομίας. The internal evidence is thus fairly evenly balanced. Although a decision is difficult, ἀνομίας has slightly greater probability of authenticity than ἁμαρτίας.

8 tn Or “the one destined for destruction.”

2 Timothy 3:17

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