Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Timothy 4:17

"But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might me fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." — 2 Timothy 4:17 (ASV)

But he did not lack support. Triumphantly and gratefully he cries, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” The result was that the Gentiles in Caesar’s court heard the Gospel, which thereby got wider publicity in Rome. When was Paul “delivered from the lion’s mouth”? If we accept the reference to his first imprisonment, the answer seems simple. But was he threatened to the extent implied by this vivid figure? The only alternative would be that his first trial had seemed to go well for him, with perhaps a temporary reprieve. The “lion” would then be Nero. If so, it was this same emperor who later, according to the unanimous tradition of the early church, condemned him and put him to death.