Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Timothy 1:3

"I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications, night and day" — 2 Timothy 1:3 (ASV)

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.