1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;

4 Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy;

5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelled first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you also.

6 Why I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.

7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

8 Be not you therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be you partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

9 Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.

13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

14 That good thing which was committed to you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us.

15 This you know, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

16 The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, you know very well.

Introductory Salutation ( 2Ti 1:1 f.) and Thanksgiving ( 2Ti 1:3-5). For the official form of salutation cf. 1Ti 1:1 f.*

Moved by affectionate remembrance, Paul, thanks God for some recent reminder of Timothy's faith, a faith witnessed earlier in his mother and grandmother.

2Ti 1:2. mercy: 1Ti 1:2 *.

2Ti 1:3. The ground of thanksgiving is 2 Ti 1:5 (contrast AV and RV), and the true rendering: I thank God. since my remembrance. is unceasing. that I have been reminded.

2Ti 1:4. tears at their last separation. faith: not Jewish (Zahn), but as the sequence of thought demands, Christian. Eunice: Act 16:1.

2Ti 1:6 to 2 Ti 2:13. Appeal to Timothy for Courage in Face of Difficulties.

(a) 2Ti 1:6-11. Direct Appeal, based on Timothy's Ordination Gift. The false teachers have created a situation demanding courageous treatment. Timothy has not failed (the Greek tense in 2 Ti 1:8 implies do not begin to be ashamed), but he plainly needs enheartening. Paul appeals for strong action on three grounds. The first is the character implied in Timothy's ordination gift. The spirit of power, love, and self-discipline therein conveyed should suffice (a) to save him from becoming ashamed of his testimony, and (b) to enable him to take his share in suffering hardships for the gospel's sake, with a strength of which God's power is the measure. This power, guaranteed to Timothy in his ordination, is no less than that which wrought for our salvation and high calling. It depends, moreover, not upon our own deeds but upon God's eternal purpose, and its magnitude is witnessed in the Incarnation and the Resurrection.

2Ti 1:6. the gift, etc.: 1Ti 4:14 *.

2Ti 1:9. who saved: 1Ti 1:1 *. not. works: a characteristically Pauline passage (cf. Tit 3:5).

2Ti 1:10. abolished: rather, brought to naught.

(b) 2Ti 1:12-14. An Appeal to Paul's own Example. The second ground of Paul's appeal is his own example. He too, being an apostle, suffers hardship. But he is not ashamed (cf. 2 Ti 1:8). For the safeguarding of the truth committed to him he relies on God's power. Timothy must do the same. He has in Paul's own words a pattern of sound teaching. Let him guard his trust, relying, like Paul, not on his own strength, but on the indwelling spirit.

2Ti 1:12. that which, etc.: rather as mg. i.e. the true doctrine ( 1Ti 1:10 *), the antidote to error.

2Ti 1:13. sound: 1Ti 1:10 *.

(c) 2Ti 1:15-18. A Personal Appeal. The apostle's earlier disappointments form the third ground of appeal. All his Asian friends perhaps by withholding help in his captivity had proved disloyal. Timothy must not add further sorrow by failing him now. A parenthesis ( 2Ti 1:16-18) recognises one honourable exception in Asia. Onesiphorus, according to tradition Paul's host at Iconium, had visited his Roman prison and repeated well-known earlier kindnesses. For his household now, and for Onesiphorus (who was perhaps dead) at the last, Paul craves God's mercy.

2Ti 1:15. Phygelus, Hermogenes: of these men nothing certain is recorded.