Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Timothy 3:17

"That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." — 2 Timothy 3:17 (ASV)

“All Scripture is God-breathed.” The adjective used here is theopneustos (GK 2535), which is a combination of two other Greek words: theos (“God”; GK 2536) and pneo (“breathe”; GK 4463). This is one of the greatest texts in the NT describing the inspiration or the “God-breathed” aspect of the Bible.

Another outstanding passage is 2 Peter 1:21, which describes how divine inspiration took place (see comments on that verse).

Inspired Scripture is “useful” or “profitable” in various areas: “teaching” (GK 1436) us Christian truths; “rebuking” (GK 1791) or convicting us of sin; “correcting” (GK 2061) us where we have gone wrong; “training” (GK 4082) us in how to live both inwardly and outwardly in righteous living. The purpose of all this is so that Christians will be completely ready to meet the demands of discipleship.