{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-2342","native_reference":{"book_number":620,"chapter_from":1,"chapter_to":1,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":1,"verse_to":1},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: What is the reason of his writing this second Epistle to Timothy? He had said, \"I hope to come unto thee shortly\" (1 Tim. iii. 14), and as this had not taken place, instead of coming to him, he consoles him by a letter, when he was grieving perhaps for his absence, and oppressed by the cares of the government, which he had now taken in hand. For even great men, when they are placed at the helm, and are charged with the direction of the Church, feel the strangeness of their position, and are overwhelmed, as it were, by the waves of business. This was particularly the case when the Gospel was first preached, when the ground was everywhere unturned, and all was opposition and hostility. There were, besides, heresies commencing from the Jewish teachers, as he has shown in his former Epistle. Nor does he only comfort him by letters, he invites him to come to him: \"Do thy diligence,\" he says, \"to come shortly unto me,\" and, \"when thou comest, bring with thee the books, but especially the parchments.\" (2 Tim. iv. 9 and 2 Tim. iv. 13.) And he seems to have written this Epistle when his end was approaching. For he says, \"I am now ready to be offered up\"; and again, \"At my first answer no man stood with me.\" (2 Tim. iv. 6 and 2 Tim. iv.16) To set all this right, he both offers consolation from his own trials, and also says, \"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.\" Thus at the very commencement he raises up his mind. Tell me not, he says, of the dangers here. These obtain for us eternal life, where there is no peril, where grief and mourning flee away. For He hath not made us Apostles only that we might encounter dangers, but that we might even suffer and die. And as it would not be a consolation to recount to him his own troubles, but rather an increase of his grief, he begins immediately with offering comfort, saying, \"According to the promise of life which is in Jesus Christ.\" But if it is a \"promise,\" seek it not here. For, \"hope that is seen is not hope.\" (Rom. viii. 24.)<br/><i>— Homily on 2 Timothy 1</i></p><p><b>John Damascene</b>: He wrote to him while he was hindered and bound in Rome. And therefore he urged him for a second letter. He begins by praising the student, that he is a slave to Christ who dwells above.</p><p><b>Oecumenius</b>: HYPOTHESIS ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY</p><p>Paul sends this from Rome. The pretext of the Epistle is this: Since those who had accompanied Paul on his journey left him, the Apostle, wishing Timothy to come to him, writes the Epistle. And first, he shows that he remembers Timothy's devotion and the faith of his ancestors. Then he states that those from Asia, namely Phygelus and Hermogenes, have turned away from him, seeing his chains. But he bears witness to the greatest zeal only in Onesiphorus, and he received him when he came to Rome and stayed with him. Paul commands Timothy to avoid foolish disputes, because from them arise quarrels. For Hymenaeus and Philetus also turned aside in this way, departing from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened, and they overturn some people; therefore, Paul rather encourages Timothy to pay attention to himself and to the teaching, and to know that in the last times there will be men lovers of themselves, and of pleasures rather than of God, and foreseeing these things, to safeguard the people lest anyone be deceived by them. And having urged him much concerning morals and the accuracy of the teaching, and indicating that the time of his departure is at hand and that he is about to be offered as a drink offering and to bear witness, he instructed him to come to him quickly, bringing the cloak and the books. Paul warns Timothy about Alexander the coppersmith and to be on guard, as he indicated many things to him, and thus he concludes the Epistle.</p><p>What then does the Second Epistle to Timothy say? In the first, Paul said, \"I hope to come to you soon.\" He was not able to go. For he was already held captive by Nero. Therefore, knowing this, instead of his presence, he sent letters, at once comforting him regarding his not coming, and at the same time encouraging Timothy, who was thus entrusted with the care of the Church.</p><p>Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus.</p><p>I am an apostle, Paul says, appointed to the promised life which is in Christ Jesus, that is, to be given through Christ Jesus in the future.</p><p>according to the promise of life. Paul said, Let us not recall present dangers: let life proceed according to these promises. Therefore, since it is promised, he says, seek it there. From the prologue, he comforts Timothy in his own trials.</p><p>— [THEODORET] \"The Lord God,\" Paul says, \"appointed me as an apostle, along with Christ, so that I might proclaim to men the promised eternal life.\" [end of the excerpt by Theodoret] —1<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"b33a12aa5d41e0481c451b650f5610c91b8848f139478992afa1e93918644118","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":2342,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"e889aecb41032e79b9ebc424be59875681e894e3948d2a83bd8e3b89522a4546","translator":null,"work":null}