The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Timothy — Section 41

thou, etc. Do not like these juggling heretics, In, A.V. Every Boriptnre, etc. There Rre /,low11 nbout hy ovcry wi11d of ,Ioctrine, and two Wfl)'S of construing this importa.nt pa•- alwnys seoking some now thing, but abide aagc: (A) As in the A. V., in which e,&,,v,v- in lhe old truths which thou host learnt crTos i• part of the predicate co11pled by from thy ohildhoo,I. Ha.at been assured of ical with the following w,p,A,µ.os; (B) "" in ( br1crTw671s); only here in tho New Testa- the R.V., where 6,d,rv,vcr'l'o• is pa.rt of tho ment, but found in 2 Mace. vii. 24 and subject (as ,rav (p-yov .i-ycz6ov, "every good l Kings i. 36. In classicol Greek it has the work," 2 Cor. ix. 8, and elsewhere); and the same sense as her" (omong others), "to be following 1eczl is ascensive, and to be rendered made sure of 11, thing." Of whom thou ha.at "is also." Commentators are pretty equally lHrned them{,rczp4Tlvos lµ.czOu, or, according divided, though the older ones (as Origen, to 11,nother reading of nearly equal authority, Jerome (V nlge.te), the versions) most! y ,rczpi1 Tlvoiv). If Tlvos is the right re11,ding, adopt {B). In favour of (A), however, it it must refer eilher to God or to St. Paul. may be said (1) that such a sentence e.s [n favour of its r,.ferring to Go,l is the ex- that which arises from (B) necesae.rily im- pression in the Prophet l8Biah commented plies that there are some -ypcz,Pczl which are upon by our Lm·d in John vi. 45, where "''Pa not 8eO,rveuO"T01, just as nav lp...,ov d.--ya80v Tou IlczTpds 11,nswers to ,rczp4 Tlvos; the pro- implies that there a.re some works whicb mise ooncerning the Comforter, "He shall a.re not good: ,racrcz •vAo-yicz 11'V<vµ.a.TU(1J (Eph. tench you all things" (John xiv. 26, etc.); i. 3), that there 11,re some blessings which 1rnd the very similar re11,soning of St. John, a.re not spiritual: ,rav ip-yov ,rov71pov (2 Tim. when he is exhorting his" little children" to iv. 18), that there a.re some works which stand fast in the f,Lith, in spite of those that a.re not evil; and so on. But e.s -ypcz,p,,f is seduced them: " Let th11,t therefore u.bide in invariably used in the New Testament for you which yeh11,ve he11,rd from the beginning;" "81'ripture," and not for any profane writing: for" the anointing whioh ye b11,ve received it is not in accordance with biblical language of him, 11,bideth in you, 11,nd ye m·ed not to say, "every inspired Scripture," because that 11,ny m11,u tea.eh you: but as the s11,me every Scripture is inspired_ (2) The sen- anointing teacheth you of all things, ... 11,nd tence, taken according to {B), is e.n ex- even 11,s it bath tnught you, abide in him" tremely awkward, and, 11,s Alford admits, {I Johu ii. ?.4-28); und other similu.r pas- harsh construction, not supported in its sag,·s. There would obviously be great entirety by one sin'!le parallel usage in fol'ce in reminding Timothy that he had the whole New Testament. (3) The sen- received the gospel under the immedi11,te tence, taken e.ccordiug to (A), is a perfectly teaching of the Holy Spirit, 11,nd thot it simple one, and is exa,cily parallel with would be a shameful thing for him to turn l Tim. iv. 4, niiv KTLcrµa 8,ou 1<cz,\ov, ,cczl aside under the influence of those impostors. oi:B,v d,rd!3A71Tov, "Every creature of God If Tlvos does not refer to God, it must refer is good, e.ud nothing to be refused." (4) to St. Paul. If, on the other hand, Tlvwv is It is in perfect harmony with the context. the true reading (which is less probable), it Having in the preceding verse stated the must refer to Lois and Eunice, which seems excellence of the sacred writings, he accounts rather feeble. for that excellence by referring to their Ver. 15.-Babe for child, A.V.; ,acred origin and source. They 11,re inspired of writings for Holy Scriptures, A. V. And that God, and hence their wide use and great from a babe, etc. Another consideration power. (5) This interpretation is supported urged as a reason for standi11g fast. He by high authority : Chrysostow, Gregory was no novice in the Scriptures. His mother of Nyssa, etc., among the ancients (Alford): 11,nd grandmother had been cal'eful to imbue o.nd Bengel, Wiesinger, De ,v ette,eto., 11,mong him with that sacred literature which should moderu. 'l'he 11,dvocaks of (B), 11,s Bishop make him wise uuto su.lve:tion through faith Ellicott, Dean Al ford, etc., spea.k very in Jesus Christ, from his very earliest yeBl'S, doubtfully. With regard to the rendering Surely he would not throw a.way such e. of ,rncra. -ypcz,P,j, no doubt, strict gramm .. r, in precious advantage. The a11,ored writings ( TA the absence of the article, favours the render- i,pli -ypr/.µ.µ.czTcz): literally, 1lhe holy letters, or ing in the R.V., "every Scripture," rather learning. An ordinarily e<lucnted cl,ild learns than that of the A.V., "11,ll Scripture." But -yp&µµ.czTcz (John vii. 15), iu contra.distinction Alford's r<'mark on Ma.tt. i. 20 applies with to the uneducated, who are a.-ypaµ.µa.To1 (Acts full force hcrtl : " When a word or 11,n ex- iv. 18). But Timothy had lee.rot TU 1,pa pression ea.me to bear a. technical oonven- -ypcf.µµ.czTCZ, whose excellence is described in tiono.l meaning, it was also common to use the next verse. it without the article, e.s if it were a. proper Ver. 16.-.l!'very Scripture inspired of God name, e.g. e,ds, vdµ.os, vibs Ehou," etc. There- ia also profitable for all Scripture is given by fore, just e.s ,racra. 'l,po<Tdll.vµ.a. (Matt. ii. 3) inspiration of God, and is pr,ifitable, A. V.: means •• all Jerusnlem," not "every Jeru- teachiflg for dcrtrin6, A. V. ; which ia in for 8Ble1u," •so here .....".. -ypcz</nl means " all  THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMO1'HY. [OR. m, 1-17,