1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
NOTES:
1:1–2 For the formula of address and greeting, see note on
Rom 1:1–7.
1:1 The promise of life in Christ Jesus: that God grants
through union with Christ in faith and love; cf. Col 3:4; 1 Tm 4:8.
1:3 As my ancestors did: this emphasizes the continuity of
Judaism and Christianity; for a similar view, see Rom 9:3–5; Phil 3:4–6.
1:4–5 Purportedly written from prison in Rome (2 Tm 1:8, 17;
4:6–8) shortly before the writer’s death, the letter recalls the earlier
sorrowful parting from Timothy, commending him for his faith and expressing the
longing to see him again.
1:6 The gift of God: the grace resulting from the conferral
of an ecclesiastical office. The imposition of my hands: see note on 1 Tm 4:14.
1:8 Do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord: i.e.,
of preaching and suffering for the sake of the gospel.
1:9–10 Redemption from sin and the call to holiness of life
are not won by personal deeds but are freely and graciously bestowed according
to God’s eternal plan; cf. Eph 1:4.
1:11 Teacher: the overwhelming majority of manuscripts and
Fathers read “teacher of the nations,” undoubtedly a harmonization with 1 Tm
2:7.
1:12 He is able to guard…until that day: the intervening
words can also be translated “what I have entrusted to him” (i.e., the fruit of
his ministry) as well as “what has been entrusted to me” (i.e., the faith). The
same difficult term occurs in 2 Tm 1:14, where it is modified by the adjective
“rich” and used without a possessive.
1:15 Keen disappointment is expressed, here and later (2 Tm
4:16), that the Christians of the province of Asia, especially Phygelus and
Hermogenes, should have abandoned the writer and done nothing to defend his
case in court.
1:16–18 The family of Onesiphorus because he…of my chains:
Onesiphorus seems to have died before this letter was written. His family is
mentioned twice (here and in 2 Tm 4:19), though it was Onesiphorus himself who
was helpful to Paul in prison and rendered much service to the community of
Ephesus. Because the apostle complains of abandonment by all in Asia during his
second imprisonment and trial, the assistance of Onesiphorus seems to have been
given to Paul during his first Roman imprisonment (A.D. 61–63).
1:18 Lord…Lord: the first “Lord” here seems to refer to
Christ, the second “Lord” to the Father.
BACK TO:
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment