Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Timothy 1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.—As in the Epistles to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, and Colossians, he ascribes his apostleship to the sovereign will and election of God. Apart from any merit or work of his own, God chose him for the office. He neither aspired to it nor wished for it. The reference to the Almighty will in this Epistle is singularly in harmony with the spirit of calm resignation which breathes through it. It was that sovereign will which chose him as an Apostle, which guided him all through that eventful life of his, and which brought him to the prison of the Cæsar, where, face to face with death, he wrote this last letter to his friend and disciple Timothy.

According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.—The Greek word rendered “according to” should here be translated “for the promise of life.” This preposition here denotes the object or intention of his appointment as apostle, which was to make known, to publish abroad, the promise of eternal life. Almost the first words of an Epistle, written evidently under the expectation of death, dwell upon the promise of life—the life which knows no ending—the life in Christ. The central point of all Evangelical preaching was the true, blessed life eternal, that life which, in the person of the Redeemer, was revealed to man, and which, through the Redeemer, is offered to the sinner.

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son.—More accurately, (my) beloved son. The words used in the address of the First Epistle were my own son (γνησίῳ τέκνῳ). The change in the words was probably due to St. Paul’s feeling that, in spite of his earnest request for Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, these lines were in reality his farewell to his trusted friend and more than son, thus the loving word.

Grace, mercy, and peace . . .—See Notes on 1 Timothy 1:2.

I thank God.—The exact reference of these words of thankfulness on the part of St. Paul has been the subject of much argument. Although the sense is a little obscured by the long parenthesis that intervenes, it seems clear that St. Paul’s expression of thankfulness was for his remembrance of the unfeigned faith of Timothy and Lois and Eunice (see 2 Timothy 1:5).

The whole passage might be written as follows: “I thank God, whom I serve with the devotion of my forefathers with a pure conscience (as it happens that I have you uppermost in my thought and prayers night and day, longing to see you, being mindful of your tears, so that I may be filled with joy), when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice,” and so on.

Whom I serve from my forefathers.—That is, with the devotion and love I have inherited as a sacred family tradition. St. Paul was here referring, not to the great forefathers of the Jewish race—Abraham, Isaac, and the patriarchs—but to the members of his own family, who, he states, were religious, faithful persons. Van Oosterzee strangely concludes: “Dass Paulus diese historische kontinuität der wahren Gottesverehrung in seinem geschlecht um so höher schätzt, da er selbst stirbt, ohne kinder zu hinterlassen!”

With pure conscience.—Literally, in pure conscience. The spiritual sphere in which St. Paul, as a Jew first, then as a Christian, served God. (See Notes on 1 Timothy 1:5.)

That without ceasing I have remembrance of you.—Better rendered, as unceasing is the remembrance which . . . This long parenthetical sentence leads up to the point for which St. Paul was so deeply thankful to God, namely, the true faith of Timothy himself. These unstudied words tell us something of the inner life of such a one as St. Paul, how ceaselessly, unweariedly he prayed, night as well as day. The object, too, of those constant prayers of St. Paul was not St. Paul but Timothy.

Greatly desiring to see thee.—In view of that violent death which, at this time a close prisoner, he saw was imminent, the memory, too, of the tears of his friend made him long all the more earnestly to see him once again on earth.

Being mindful of thy tears.—Shed probably by Timothy when his aged master had last taken leave of him. It is likely that the clouds of danger which were gathering thickly around St. Paul towards the close of his career had oppressed the brave-hearted Apostle with a foreboding of coming evil, and had invested the last parting with Timothy with circumstances of unusual solemnity.

St. Paul had affected others besides Timothy with the same great love, so that tears were shed by strong men when he bade them farewell. (See the account of the leave-taking of the Ephesian elders at Miletus, Acts 20:37–38—“And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.”)

There is no necessity for Hofmann’s singular, but rather far-fetched, theory here that the tears were simply an expression for Timothy’s intense sorrow at hearing of the Apostle’s arrest and close imprisonment, which sorrow St. Paul was informed of by letter. The tears, according to Hofmann, were those “welche Timotheus brieflich geweint hat.”

That I may be filled with joy.—When he meets Timothy again.

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee.—It is for the “unfeigned faith” which he was confident still dwelt in his dearest and best-loved companion, whom he had entrusted with the care of the Ephesian church, that he thanked God. (See 2 Timothy 1:3.)

It is more than probable that some special instance of this unfeigned faith on the part of the chief pastor of Ephesus had come to the Apostle’s knowledge, and cheered his great loving heart while he languished in prison.

Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice . . .—We know that during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1–3), St. Paul came into contact with this pious family at Lystra. It has been suggested that Lois, Eunice, and Timothy were relatives of St. Paul; hence his intimacy with the family and his knowledge of their faith, and hence, too, perhaps, his devoted and unbroken friendship for Timothy.

We are told (Acts 16:1) that this Eunice was a Jewess, married to a Greek. Lystra is no great distance from Tarsus, from where St. Paul came. This supposition is just possible, but it is only an ingenious thought, as there is no data to support it.

Regarding the names, Lois is the same as the more familiar Lais; Eunice is an equivalent of the Latin Victoria.