146
dSeerTim. 14. 4 Παραγγέλλω σοι} " ἐνώπιον " τοῦ 2 "Θεοῦ τοῦ *LwoyovodrTos ὅ
τα. a Be eSeerTim. τὰ πάντα καὶ Χριστοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ
τἀ 1 Sam. ii. a 6, Luke xvii. 33, Acts vii. 19.
1 Om. σοι ΝΕ, 17 [g, praectpio {ὲδί t contestor]).
4 τοῦ "μαρτυρήσαντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου
g John v. 32, i John v. 10, with acc. ’
20m. τοῦ Ν.
380 ADFGP, 17, 31, four others; ζωοποιοῦντος NKL.
4So ADKLP, 17, 31, 37, many others, d, vg., go., syrhcl, armcodd; Ἴησ. Χριστ. Ν ΕΕ, more than five cursives, f, g, syrpesh, sah., boh., armed.
7, shows this: “ Before the baptism let him that baptizeth and him that is bap- tized fast, and any others also who are able”. Also Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 61, ἡμῶν συνευχομένων καὶ συννηστευόντων αὐτοῖς. These passages explain “the many witnesses”? of Timothy’s good confession. It is not so natural to refer the good confession toa crisis of persecu- tion, or to his ordination. The epithet καλήν here and in the following verse does not characterise the particular act of confession made by Timothy or by Christ, but refers to the class of confes- sion, its import, as Ell. says.
Ver. 13. παραγγέλλω σοι: St. Paul passes in thought from the past epoch in Timothy’s life, with its human witnesses, among whom was the apostle himself, to the present probation of Timothy, St. Paul far away; and he feels impelled to remind his lieutenant that there are Wit- nesses of his conduct whose real though unseen presence is an encouragement as well as a check. See on v. 21.
ζωογονοῦντος: This word has the sense preserve alive,as R.V.m. Seereff. A good example from Ο.Τ. is τ Sam. ii. 6, Κύριος θανατοῖ καὶ ζωογονεῖ. The word has here a special appropriateness. Ti- mothy is stimulated to exhibit moral courage by an assurance that he is in the hands of One whose protective power is universal, and by the example of One who, as Man, put that protective power to a successful test, and was “ saved out of death” (Heb. v. 7).
τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν must have the same reference here as in the preceding
‘verse. We have seen that in the case of Timothy, it means his baptismal profes- sion of faith in God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Inthe case of Jesus Himself it is best understood of His habitual sense of His heavenly Father’s presence and protection, which found its supreme ex- pression on the Cross (Luke xxiv. 46). μαρτυρήσαντος: Although Jesus, as Man, and His followers make the same ὁμολογία, yet their respective relations to it are different. paprupéw indicates a
power of origination and authentication which ὁμολογέω does not. The utter- ances and acts of Jesus, as Man, are human; yet He spoke and acted as no other man ever did. Matt. xvii. 27 (‘‘ That take, and give unto them for me and thee,” not “for us”) and John xx. 17 (“lascend unto my Father and your Father,’ etc. not our Father or our God) illustrate very well this difference be- tween Jesus and His brethren in relations which they share alike. This is why St. Paul does not here use ὁμολογέω ὁμολογίαν of Christ, but employs instead. the unusual µαρτυρέω ὁμολογίαν. Jesus is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, Rev. i. 5, 6 µαρτ. ὁ πιστ. καὶ ἀληθινός, Rev. iii. 14. Ben- gel suggests that the two verbs indicate the attitudes of the bystanders in each
‘case: ‘‘confessus est, Cum assensione testium: testatus est, non assentiente Pilato”. The Vulg. treats thy καλ.
ὅμολ. as an acc. of closer specification, qui testimonium reddidit sub Pontio Pilato, bonam confessionem.
ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πειλάτου: With the ex- planation of the ὁμολογία of Jesus which has just been given, it would be natural to render this, with the Vulg., under Pontius Pilate; and this view is fa- voured by the change from ἐνώπιον; ver. 12, to ἐπί, and by the likelihood that this is a fragment of acreed. Yet the render- ing before Pontius Pilate (Chrys., etc.), is not inconsistent with the notion that the ὁμολογία in one sense was made all dur- ing our Lords ministry; for undoubtedly from one point of view it was when Jesus’ life was hanging in the balance, depend- ing on the decision of Pontius Pilate, that His trust in the protective love of His Father was most tried. His calm repose of soul on the assurance of God’s wise and good disposition of events is well illustrated by His words as recorded in John xix. 11, “Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above”. Until it has been been proved that the Fourth Gospel is not a record of facts, it is reasonable to suppose that St. Paul and his contem-