The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Timothy — Section 4

I'""' .r, luure,,fu, "appointing me to the which I have deposited with him. Neither ministry; " and ii. 7. A preaoher, and. an is there the slightest diffloulty in the dilferent apoltle, antl a teaaher (IO e.lRO 1 Tim. ii. 7). applioe.tiona of the same metaphor in ver. 14 Teaoher (ll1lld..-1eC1Ao<) is one of the spiritue.1 e.nd in 1 Tim. vi. 20. For it 18 as tme that offloea enumerated in 1 Oor. xii. 28 e.nd God entrusts t.o hi■ faithful servants the Eph. iv. 11. It ie BU?ely remarkable that d~pos~t of the faith, ~ _be kept by them neither here nor elsewhere doe■ St. Paul With Jealous fidelity, e.s 1t 1e that his servants speak of e.ny ce.11 to the 1;>riesthood in a entmet to him the keeping of their souls, saoerdota.l ■ense (see Rom. L 1, 5; xv. 16; as knowing him to be faithful. 1 Oor. i. 1-.!'to,). Ver. 18.-Hold for hold fa,t, A..V.; patum Ver. 12.~ujfer auo for al.Bo suffer, A. V.; for form, A.V.; from for of, A.V. Rold v" for -theua, A.V.; him tD'h.om for (fx•). Tbia use of lx•"' in the pastore.l u,Aom, A.V.; guard for keep, A.V. l'or the Epistles ii ROmewhat peoulie.r. In 1 Tim. which tiame (ver. 6 1 note) I 11111fer also. The i. 19, lx"'" ,,-tu.,...,, "holding faith;" in iii. 6, e.poetle adds the weight of hie own ue.mple lxo"""' .,.~ µuurl/e1oi,, "holding the mysterr, to the preceding exhortation. What be wae of the faith ; " and here, " hold the pattern, ' exhorting Timothy to do he wu actue.lly eto. It eeeme to have a more active sense doing himself. without any wavering or than merely " have," and yet not to have heailation or misgiving u to the result. I the very active sense of "hold fast." It know him whom I have believed, and I am may, however, well be doubted whether lx• penuaded that he iB able to guard that here is used in even e.s strong a sense as in whioh I have oommitted Ullto him. The the other two pe.ssages, inaemuoh as here it ground of the apostle's confidence, even in follows instead of preceding the substantive the hour of extreme peril, was hie perfect (eee Alford, in loc. ). The pattern( inroTinr"'u"'); trust in the faithfnlneee of God. Thie he only here and 1 Tim. i. 16 (where see note), expresses in a met.aphor drawn from the where it manifestly means a " pattern," not common action of one person entrusting a "form." The word signifies a "sketch," another with some precious deposit, to be or" outline." St. Paul's meaning, therefore, kept for a time and restored whole e.nd un- seems to be : "For your own guide.noo in injured. All the words in the sentence a.re teaching the flock committed to you, and for part of this metaphor. The verb ,r..,,-{..-nu1<11 a pattern whioh you will try and always must be taken in the sense of " entrusting " copy, have before you tbe pattern or outline (our.I! tu fidei aliouju., o,mmitto), e.s Luke of sound words whioh you have heard of me, m. ll. So TIO""TEVeii""' .,.1, Ev11-y-y'1..,o.., "to in faith and love which ie in Christ Jesus.'' be entrusted with the gospel " (1 These. ii. Bound wordl(,),y,,.,.,.i,,.,...,,, .\6-y"'r,); see 1 Tim. 4) ; oi,cai,oµ[,.,, ,rnr1unii,,_..., "I am entrusted i 10, note. In faith and love; either hold with a dispensation" (1 Oor. iL 17; see tAe pattern in faith and love, or tDhkh 11ou Wied. xiv. 5, etc.). And so in cle.ssical h,ar,e heard in faith a,ul lofle. Greek, ,....,..,.Et,,.., .,..,,[ .,., me&nll " to entrnst Ver. 14.-Guard for keep, A..V.; through something to another" to take care of for for by, A. V. That good thing (.,.¾/., 1e11.\¾,i, you. Here, then, St. Paul says (not as in 1rap11B/ilCT/", R.T., for 1r11p111<11T118/ilCT/"); see 1 the R.V., "l know him whom I he.ve Tim. vi. 20, and note. This naturally believed.," which is quite inadmissible, but), follows the preceding verse. Faithfulness "I know whom I have trusted [i.e. in in maintaining the faith was olosely con- whom I he.Te placed confidence, and to whom nected with the maintenance of sound I have committed the keeping ofmy depositl words. and I am pe111naded that he is able to keep Ver. 15.-That are for 11,ey tDhlch are, that which I have entrusted to him ('"I" A.V.; turned for be turned, A.V.; Ph11gelu1 ,..,.,,alrfi,.T/" pDu) unto that day." The 1r11p11• for Phygellm, A.V. and T.R. Turned away e,,,nj is the thing which Paul entrusted to from (i&1rE<TTp~71u&., µE). Thie verb is used, his faithful guardian, Ollf who he knew as here, governing an accusative of the would never betray the trnat, but would rmtore it to him safe and sound at the day of Oh.riat.. What the ,r11p119iilCT/ was may be r rson or thing turned away from, in Titus H; Heh. xii. 25, as frequently in classical Greek. The use of the aoriat here is im- di1Bcmlt to e:z:preH in any one word, but it portant, as St. Paul does not mean to say oomprieed himself, his l.ife,his whole treasure, that the Churches of Asia had all forsaken his •lvation, hiB joy, his eternal happine.- him, whioh we.s not true, and whioh it would all for the sake of which he risked life and be abamd to inform Timothy of if it were true, limb in this world, content to lose sight of living u he was at Ephesus, the central oity them for a while, knowing that he should of A■ia, but e.dverte to some occasion, pro- receive them all from tl,e hands of God in bably connected with hie trial before Nero, ihe day of Christ. All thw hangs perfectly when they Bhrank from him in a cowardly together. There can be no ree.sonable doubt way. nd1'n, ol ,,, "f 'A..-lt means "the Illa& ,...,.dfiltfl" p,o11-" a7depaait "-that whole party in Alia' connected with Uae OB, 1.1-18,] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 5