Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Timothy 4:1

"I charge [thee] in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:" — 2 Timothy 4:1 (ASV)

I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.—The parchment, or papyrus, in St. Paul's prison room on which, probably, Luke (2 Timothy 4:11), the faithful friend, was writing to the Apostle’s dictation, was nearly full. What still had to be said to the chief presbyter of the Church of Ephesus had to be brief. But St. Paul intended the last words to be introduced by a most impressive preface. So before he sums up his directions and exhortations, he appeals to him in these stately and solemn words.

The Greek word rendered “I charge (you),” is more accurately translated as I solemnly charge (you). This charge is made before those divine witnesses, the Eternal Father and the Blessed Son, who are present with me in this Roman prison and equally present with you in your study or church in Asia.

Who shall judge the quick and the dead.—These words must have sounded with remarkable power in the ears of men like Timothy and must have impressed them with an intense feeling of responsibility. The Apostle, in his divine wisdom, was charging these teachers of the Church to be faithful and zealous in their work, reminding them of the ever-present thought that they—whether alive on the day of the Lord’s Coming or, if they had already tasted death, raised from the dead incorruptible (Compare 1 Thessalonians 4:17)—must stand before the Judge and give an account of their stewardship.

On that awe-inspiring morning, every man and woman must render, before the Judge who knows all and sees all, a strict account of the deeds done in the body.

Looking forward to the judgment morning must surely be a spur to any faint-hearted, dispirited servant of the Lord who is disposed to temporize or reluctant to face the dangers that threaten a faithful discharge of duties.

At his appearing and his kingdom.—The older authorities here—instead of the preposition “at”—read “and.” The rendering then would be: “I charge you in the sight of God and Jesus Christ, who will judge quick and dead (I charge you) by His appearing (epiphany) and by His kingdom,” the construction in Greek being the usual accusative of adjuration, as in Mark 5:7 and Acts 19:13. So, too, Deuteronomy 4:26 (LXX): “I solemnly charge you today by heaven and earth.”

The passage, by this restoration of the ancient and, at first sight, more difficult reading, gains immeasurably in strength and power, as we shall see. “By his appearing,” or by His manifestation or epiphany, refers, of course, to the Lord’s coming a second time to judge the earth in the glory of the Father with His angels (Matthew 16:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

“And by His kingdom:” His kingdom, that kingdom is meant here which, in the words of the Nicene Creed, “shall have no end.”

This glorious sovereignty of Christ is to succeed what Pearson (Creed, Article VI, p. 529, Chevallier’s edition) calls “the modificated eternity of His mediatorship,” which will end when all His enemies will have been subdued, and He will have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.

The “kingdom” spoken of here is to commence at Christ’s glorious epiphany or manifestation, when “the kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

Timothy was adjured by “the appearing” of Christ, when he would have to stand before Him and be judged; he was also adjured by “His kingdom,” in which glorious state Timothy hoped to share, for was it not promised that His own should reign with Him? (2 Timothy 2:12).

There seems to be something in this solemn, ringing adjuration that reminds us of “a faithful saying.” The germs, at least, of one of the ancient creeds are apparent here, where allusion is made to God (the Father) and to Jesus Christ, the judge of quick and dead, to His coming again with glory, and then to His kingdom.