εὐσεβῶς of course qualifies ζῇν, as in Tit. ii. 12. There isa similar extension of thought, from self to all, in iv. 8.
Ver. 13. πονηροὶ δὲ: The antithesis seems to be between the apparent dis- comfiture of those who wish to live in Christ (their persecution being after all almost a means conditional to their at. taining their desire), and the paradoxical success of evil men; they advance in- deed ; but only in degradation ; proficient in peius (Vulg.). See notes on ver. g and ii. 16.
γόητες, impostors (R.V.), seductores, exactly expresses the term. γοητεία occurs 2 Macc. xii. 24, where it means trickery.
πλανώμενοι: cf. Tit. iii. 3. Those who deceive others impair, in so doing, their sense of the distinction between truth and falsehood, and thus weaken their power of resistance to self-deceit, and to imposition by others.
προκόψουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον: See on ver. 9.
Ver. 14. σὺ δὲ μένε: Both σύ and μένε are in strong contrast to the πονηροὶ
174.
ο Ecclus. (), 2 , > Ἀ , , r [ιά ο (2), γράμματα οἶδας τὰ δυνάµενά σε * σοφίσαι 2 Μαςο. 2 τ x μα ὃς (), 3 πίστεως "τῆς “ἐν * Χριστῷ "Ἰησοῦ. Mace. (1), 4 Macc.
(1), Luke (5), Acts vii. 19, 1 Pet. ii. ο. r Ps, xviii. (xix.) 7, civ. (cv.) 22, cxviii. (cxix.) 98.
Rom. i. 16, x. I, 10, 2 Cor. vii. 10, Heb. ix. 28, xi. 7.
p 1 Cor. ix. 13 only, Ν.Τ.
11.
εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνων] ἔμαθες, 15. καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ βρέφους 7? iepa
"εἰς "σωτηρίαν διὰ 16. πᾶσα γραφὴ “θεόπνευστος 4 John vii. 15, Acts xxvi. 24.
s Phil. 1. το, 2 Thess. ii. 13, 1 Pet. 1. 5, ii. 2, cf. t xr Tim. iii. 13. u Here only, not LXX.
1So NAC*FerGP, 17, one other, d, e, g; τίνος CcDKL, f, vg., go., boh., syrr.,
arm
ἄνθρωποι and προκόψουσιν of ver. 13. The exhortation is illustrated by 2 John 9, πᾶς ὃ προάγων, καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει. The conservatism here enjoined concerns more especially the fundamental ethical teaching common to the Old Covenant and the New. For the idiom, see note on i Tim. ii. 15.
ἐν οἷς ἔμαθες καὶ ἐπιστώθης: ἃ, sup- plied out of ἐν οἷς, is the direct object of ἔμαθες, and remoter object of ἐπιστώθης.
ἐπιστώθης: The Latin versions blun- der here, quae . . . credita sunt tibt. This would be the translation of ἐπιστ- evOns. πιστόομαί τι means {ο have re- ceived confirmation of the truth of a thing. Bengel, rendering ‘fidelis et firmus es redditus,’’ compares Ps. Ixxvii. (Ixxvill.) 8, οὐκ ἐπιστώθη μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτῆς, and 37, οὐδὲ ἐπισ- τώθησαν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ αὐτοῦ.
εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνων ἔμαθες : It has to be remembered that St. Paul is speaking of moral, not intellectual, authority. The truths for which St. Paul is contending were commended to Timothy by the sanction of the best and noblest person- alities whom he had ever known or heard of. The characters of Timothy’s revered parent and teachers—of Eunice, Lois, the prophets, and Paul, to enumerate them in the order in which they had touched his life—had been moulded ina certain school of morals. Their charac- ters had admittedly stood the test of life. What more cogent argument could Tim- othy have for the truth and reasonable- ness of their moral teaching ?
Ver. 15. καὶ ὅτι : dependent on εἰδώς. For the change of construction, von Soden compares Rom. ix. 22, 23; 1 Cor. xiv. 5. Timothy’s knowledge of things divine was derived not merely from persons, but from sacred writings; and, perhaps, as Theophylact notes, the two points are emphasised: (a) that the persons were of no ordinary merit, and (b) that his know- ledge of Scripture was conterminous with
. Scripture.
2Ins. τὰ AC*DcKLP; om. τὰ ΟΡ ἜΘ, 17, arm.
the whole of his conscious existence. He could not recall a period when he had not known sacred writings. This is the force of the hyperbolic ἀπὸ βρέφους.