Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Timothy 3

This know also.—Better rendered, But know this. The Apostle had warned Timothy (2 Timothy 2:3–13) not to allow fear of oncoming peril and trouble to paralyse his efforts in the Master’s cause, for the Lord’s true servant should never lose heart, and then had proceeded (2 Timothy 2:14–26) to detail how his efforts were to be directed, showing him how his teaching should stand in contrast with that of the false teachers. St. Paul now (2 Timothy 3:1), having told him that although there was no reason to fear, yet warns him that grave dangers to the Church would surely arise, and that God’s servants, like Timothy, must be prepared to combat.

In the last days.—The majority of commentators have referred “the last days” here spoken of to the period immediately preceding the second coming of the Lord—a day and an hour somewhere in the future but hidden, not merely from all people, but from the angels, and even from the Son (Mark 13:32).

It seems, however, more in accordance with such passages as 1 John 2:18: Little children, it is the last time—where the present, and not an uncertain future is alluded to—to understand “the last days” as that period, probably of very long duration, extending from the days of the first coming of Messiah—in which time St. Paul lived—to the second coming of Christ in judgment.

The Jewish Rabbis of the days of St. Paul were in the habit of speaking of two great periods of the world’s history: “this age” and “the age to come.” The former of these, “this age,” included all periods up to Messiah’s advent; the latter, “the age to come,” included all periods subsequent to the appearance of Messiah.

We find the same idea embodied later in the Talmud (treatise “Sanhedrin”), where it is mentioned that the duration of the world is 6,000 years: 2,000 years of waste or chaos, 2,000 years under the Law, and 2,000 years for the days of Messiah. This last period, “the days of Messiah,” is often alluded to by the Hebrew prophets under the expression “in the last days”—literally, in the end of days (Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1).

The words of 2 Timothy 3:5, from such turn away, would certainly require a strained interpretation if we are to suppose that “the last days” referred to a time immediately preceding the end—or, in other words, the last period of the Christian era.

The sad catalogue of vices is, alas, one with which all ages of the Church of Christ have been too well acquainted. The Christian teacher has no need to look forward to a future time of deeper iniquity, when those who will deserve the dreary titles of this passage will be found in the Church of the living God. The Church of his own age will supply him with examples of many such, for In a great house ... are there not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood, and earth, and some to honour and some to dishonour.

For men shall be lovers of their own selves.—Hofmann and others have attempted to portion out these vices into groups.

But any such effort seems artificial.

A certain connection seems to exist to some extent; but when pressed to preserve the groups, a strained meaning has to be given to some of the terms.

It seems, therefore, best simply to understand the catalogue as representing the various more prominent vices that appeared on the surface of Christian society and threatened the very existence of the Church, even in those early times when Timothy ruled over the congregations of Christians at Ephesus.

Hofmann, however, divides the catalogue contained in 2 Timothy 3:2–4 into three groups, consisting of five, six, and seven terms, respectively.

Lovers of their own selves.—Selfishness fittingly stands at the head of the dreary list. It is the true root of all sin.

Covetous.—More accurately rendered, lovers of money. This “love of money” has been aptly termed “the daughter of selfishness.”

Boasters.—These are those who arrogate to themselves honour that does not fairly belong to them.

Proud.—These are those who contemptuously look down on others beneath them, either in social position or wealth, or perhaps in natural gifts.

The Latin, ostentatio, represents the vice that affects the first of these classes—“the boasters”; and superbia, that which affects the second class—“the proud.”

Blasphemers.—The two vices just mentioned refer to a man’s conduct toward his brother man; this alludes to his behaviour toward his God. The pride with which he looks down on his fellows develops into insolence in thought, if not in word, toward his God: and this is termed blasphemy.

Disobedient to parents.—The blasphemer of the Father who is in heaven is only too likely to train up little ones who, in their turn, will display disobedience to and disrespect for their earthly parents.

The home life of the man who chooses not to know God in his heart will too easily reflect his evil thoughts and senseless pride.

Unthankful.—Or, ungrateful. The children who begin life with disobedience to their parents, with rare exceptions, are ungrateful to all others who may show them kindness in their life journey.

Unholy.—Unholy through their lack of inward purity. (See 1 Timothy 1:9.)

Without natural affection.—Careless and regardless of the welfare of those connected with them by ties of blood.

Trucebreakers.—Better rendered, implacable.

False-accusers.—Or, slanderers. (See 1 Timothy 3:11.)

Incontinent.—Having no control over the passions.

Fierce.—Inhuman, savage, or merciless.

Despisers of those that are good.—Better rendered, no lovers of good—that is, hostile to every good thought and work.

Traitors.—Or, betrayers, probably, as it has been suggested, of their Christian brothers. (Compare to Luke 6:16, where this epithet is used of Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor; and also Acts 7:52, where Stephen, in his Sanhedrin speech, uses this term “betrayers” of the Jews, of whom—the Just One—you have been now the betrayers. In these days of Timothy, and for many a long year, to inform against the believers in Jesus of Nazareth, to give information of their places of meeting in times of persecution, was often a profitable though a despicable work.

Heady.—Better rendered, headstrong in words, or thoughts, or actions.

Highminded.—Better translated, blinded by pride. (See 1 Timothy 3:6.)

Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.—Men who would make any sacrifice to procure a fleeting pleasure, and who would give nothing up in order to honor the eternal but invisible God. Need the ministers of the Lord wait for the last period preceding the return of Messiah for judgment—when a still more awful iniquity shall reign—for examples of these short-sighted mortals? The sorrowful catalogue began with “love of self,” that unhappy vice which excludes all love for others; it closes with that “love of pleasure” which shuts out all love of God.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.—Keeping up a show of observing the outward forms of religion, but renouncing its power and its influence over the heart and the life; showing openly that they neither acknowledged its guidance nor wished to do so. These, by claiming the title of Christians, wearing before men the uniform of Christ, but by their lives dishonoring His name, caused the gravest injury to the holy Christian cause.

Another dreary catalogue of vices Saint Paul gives in the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 1:29 and following verses); but in that passage he paints the sins of Paganism. Here he describes the characteristics of a new Paganism, which went under the name of Christianity.

From such turn away.—These, daring to assume the sacred name, no doubt with the thought of claiming its glorious promises, without one effort to please the Master or to do honor to His name—these were to be openly shunned by such as Timothy. No half measures were to be adopted towards these, who tried to deceive their neighbors and possibly deceived themselves.

The pagan was to be courteously treated, for in God’s good time the glory of the Lord might shine, too, on those now sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. The heretic, seduced by false men from the school of the Apostles, where the life as well as the doctrine of Jesus was taught, was to be gently instructed. Perhaps God would lead him home once more.

But these, who, while pretending to belong to Jesus, lived the degraded life of the heathen, were to be shunned. No communion, no friendly intercourse was possible between the hypocrite and the Christian.

The command here is so definite—from these turn away—that any theory which would relegate the vices just enumerated to a distant future would require, as stated above, that a strained and unnatural meaning should be given to this positive direction to Timothy. The plain and obvious meaning of the passage is: men committing the sins alluded to lived then in the Church over which Timothy presided; they were to be avoided by the chief presbyter and his brethren.