Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Timothy 3:4

"traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;" — 2 Timothy 3:4 (ASV)

In these three verses we find a list of no fewer than eighteen vices that will characterize people in the last days. These conditions have always existed in some measure but they have become more marked in recent decades.

People will be selfish and greedy (cf. 1 Timothy 6:10), and they will be “boasters” or braggarts. They will also be “proud” (lit., “showing oneself above others”; GK 5662). Originally used in a good sense in Greek literature for truly superior persons, this word soon took on the bad connotation that it always has in the NT; a person with this characteristic treats others with contempt.

“Abusive” (GK 1061) means slanderous. And it may well be questioned whether children and young people were ever more “disobedient to their parents” than they are today.

“Ungrateful” (GK 940; cf. Lk 6:35) is the opposite of being thankful.

“Unholy” (GK 495; cf. 1 Timothy 1:9) describes the person who has no fellowship with God and so is living a merely “secular” life.

“Without love” (GK 845; cf. Romans 1:31) means “without family affection.”

“Unforgiving” (GK 836) originally indicated one who was irreconcilable.

“Slanderous” is diaboloi (GK 1333). This usually occurs in the NT as word meaning “the devil.” But the adjective connotes “prone to slander” or “accusing falsely.”

“Without self-control” (GK 203) has a wide sense, but it is especially applicable to no control regarding bodily lusts. It describes the weak person who is easily led into sin.

“Brutal” means one who is savage and fierce.

“Not lovers of the good” (GK 920) is a word that is found nowhere else in the ancient Greek literature.

“Treacherous” is a noun meaning “traitor” or “betrayer”; it is used for Judas Iscariot .

“Rash” describes one who is reckless.

On “conceited,” see comments on 1 Timothy 3:6; 6:4.

“Lovers of pleasure [GK 5798] rather than lovers of God [GK 5806]” is a play on two similar Greek words. They describe those who put self in the place of God as the center of their affections.