This verse concludes the sentence that began at verse 24; some translations begin a new sentence here in order to be faithful to the formal and stylistic requirements of the receptor language.

The theme of what could happen to the opponents is continued here. If indeed they repent and come to know the true gospel message, they will perhaps escape from the snare of the devil. These three items, repent, know, and escape, seem to be in sequence, suggesting a process, and all three constitute the purpose of the correcting and disciplining ministry of Timothy (verse 25a). And they may escape may also be expressed as “and in this way they…,” where “this way” points back to their repentance.

Escape translates a verb that appears only here in the New Testament and that means “to become sober” or “to come to one’s senses.” Most modern translations reflect this understanding (in addition to Good News Translation, also New International Version, Translator’s New Testament “they will come to their senses and get away from him,” New American Bible, Revised “they may return to their senses out of the devil’s snare”). In this context the one verb implies both the ideas of coming to one’s senses and of escape as well.

The last part of this verse has presented problems of interpretation that have translation implications as well. New Revised Standard Version presents a literal translation of the Greek as follows: “having been held captive by him to do his will.” The problem is determining the antecedents of “him” in “by him” and “his” in “to do his will.” The matter is complicated somewhat by the Greek text, in which two words are used for the same pronoun, the first word being simply rendered as “him” and the second one as “that one” (hence “that one’s will”). There have been several suggested solutions to this problem, among which are: (1) “having been held captive by the devil (now, or from henceforth) to do God’s will”; (2) “having been held captive by the Lord’s servant, in order to do the Lord’s will”; (3) “having been held captive by the devil in order to do the devil’s will.” This third option is the choice of most translations. Perhaps it is possible to do justice to the second pronoun by taking it as emphatic; for example, “that dreaded devil’s will.” See 1.20 for comments on the devil, or Satan.

One notes finally that, in terms of chronological sequence, the Greek text is in reverse order, since being entrapped obviously comes before being rescued. It may be necessary in some languages to reorder the various parts of this verse, depending of course on the requirements of the language and the expectations of the intended audience. One translation that has done this is Translator’s New Testament:
• The devil may have caught them alive in his snare and made them do whatever he wants. But perhaps God will help them to repent and know the truth, so that they will come to their senses and get away from him.

Another possible reordering of the sentences in verses 25b and 26 is:
• The devil has trapped these people and makes them obey him. But God will cause them to turn away from their evil ways and come to know the truth, so that they may come to their senses and escape from the devil.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .