Paul wished Timothy to come to him in prison without fear ; and he was about to deliver up to him before his decease the lamp (torch-light)1 of the evangelical office, ch. iv. 5, 6. This epistle is the testament and last words [" cygnea cantio," swan- like death-song] of Paul. It was written long after the first Epistle to Timothy, and yet the tone of both is very much alike. — xar sKayyt/.iav, according to the promise) Paul subserves the fulfilment of this promise in the discharge of his office. So xarb, according to, in accordance with, John ii. 6 : comp. on the particle and on the truth itself, Tit. i. 1, 2. — £w5jg, of life) prepared both for me and thee and the elect. This is the secret spring of the power, which he exhibits in exhorting Timothy, ver. 10 ; ii. 8. [In fact the journey whick he wishes to le undertaken ly Timothy did not seem to le without risk of life. — Ar. g.]
2. 'AyacTTjr&D, dearly beloved) An appropriate epithet ; for the strongest declaration of love follows. In the first epistle he had written, my genuine [yv«j<rfy] : that is compensated for here in ver. 5 [by the expression, rr^ & <roi awzoxpirov <riorew$, the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which corresponds to it].
3. xdpiv s;/w, 1 feel thankful) Drawing very near to his mar tyrdom, still he gives thanks. Paul feels thankful to God for the faith bestowed on Timothy, ver. 5. Therefore from ug
as [not that, as Engl. Vers.] without .ceasing., to y^pac, might I e filed with joy, is put as a parenthesis, to explain those things which follow, vv6/j,vr,giv >.a//,/3avwi/, calling to (or rather, receiving a) remembrance, etc. : for wg, even as, inasmuch as, is an explanatory particle. — f t.arptvu, ichom I serve) Rom. i. 9, note. — d-~o Kpoyovuv, from the [our] [not my, as Engl. Vers.] forefathers) Paul means the forefathers ; not Abraham, etc., whom he calls rovg crar^ac, tJie fathers [Kom. ix. 5], never Kpoyovov;, forefathers or ancestors, but the immediate progenitors ; and signifies their long continuance in the true religion all along from an earlier age
1 Alluding to the ancient torch-races of the hetftTrotbvjQopot, in which the torch was handed by the runners from hand to hand. — ED.
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of mankind, whether Paul's ancestors were themselves godly men, which is highly probable, or not ; for he does not add, my. The memory of those who have gone before, and to whom he is being [i.e. about to be] gathered, delights him, now that he is pre pared to die. He even calls to remembrance Timothy's grand mother and mother, ver. 5. This epistle especially has some thing of the ripeness of old age, mild and good-natured [con ciliatory].
4. 'E4tMrod£n <fs /defy earnestly desiring to seethee) He begins his invitation to Timothy at first gradually. — f^sf^v^vog aou ruv dauipvuv) remembering thy tears) He seems not merely to speak of the former tears of Timothy shed at bidding Paul farewell (for tears are usually elicited at parting, comp. Acts xx. 37), but of his habitual tears under the influence of pious feeling. In this respect also he had him like-minded [Phil. ii. 20] with himself: Acts xx. 19, note. Tears, the flower of the heart, indicate either the greatest hypocrisy or the utmost sincerity. Turning tears into ridicule is a proof of the depravity of our age. — /W, in order that) Construe with !8sTv} to see thee [not with
5. 'Tffo/xvjjo'/v Xa/£,/3ai/wi/, receiving a remembrance) [a reminis cence reminding me] Some external occasion, or a message from Timothy, had brought his faith to Paul's remembrance [not as Engl. Vers. " When I call to remembrance"]. Ammonius says, " ava/j,vr)fftg is, when a man comes to the remembrance of things past — IvfavwiS) when they are suggested to him by another [whether person, or thing].1 — cr/Vrsw;, of faith) Among all the virtues of Timothy, faith is most to the purpose which Paul has in view. — svu/^ffe, dwelt in) This word conveys the idea of con tinuance [had its fixed dwelling in]. — Kp&rov) first, perhaps be fore the birth of Timothy. So far the remembrance of Paul reaches. What the condition of the parents of Lois was, is not mentioned. — papf&fo grandmother) The remembrance of the dead is pleasant to intimate friends, especially to those whose death is at hand, and to the posterity of the dead. — wrp}, mother) She had married a Greek. — Evvsixy, Eunice) That name is found in