For connects this verse with the previous one and can be interpreted as meaning either (1) that the presence of these evil people shows clearly that the last days have arrived, or (2) that the presence of these evil people is the reason for the last days being times of difficulty and stress. The second of these two interpretations seems to be the more likely one. Men is better translated “people” (Good News Translation); however, the impression must not be given that all people are evil and that everyone’s life is characterized by all the vices mentioned. One way of avoiding this problem is to say “There will be people who are….”

Lovers of self (literally “lovers of themselves”) appears only here in the New Testament. The term denotes a love that is selfish (so Good News Translation) and puts emphasis on self-importance; hence “self-centered” (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised), “utterly self-centered” (Phillips). As already indicated, it is appropriate that this vice is placed at the head of the list, since the other vices seem to stem from it.

Lovers of money denotes an attitude of loving wealth; hence “avaricious” (New Jerusalem Bible), “covetous,” “greedy” (Good News Translation), “greedy for money” (Phillips). See further on 1 Tim 6.10. In languages which have a word for “love” that can be used both for self and money, one may join these expressions by saying “People will love only themselves and money” (compare Contemporary English Version).

Proud and arrogant are synonyms. The first of these describes a person who is proud but without any basis (hence “pretentious pride”), and who continuously brags about it (hence “braggart,” “boasters” [New Revised Standard Version], “boastful” [Good News Translation], “full of big words” [Phillips]). The second describes a person who is shamelessly proud; hence arrogant, “haughty” (New American Bible, Revised), “contemptuous,” “looks down on others.”

Abusive is literally “blasphemous,” which in this context means “slanderous,” “insulting” (Good News Translation), “rude” (New Jerusalem Bible), “disrespectful.”

The next five vices in the list have the Greek letter a as a prefix, which means that the opposite meaning of the word is being emphasized. (This is similar to the English use of the prefixes un-, im-, dis-, in-, il-, and so forth.)

Being disobedient to parents is a very grave sin, especially in a situation where the family is the most important social unit in society.

Ungrateful appropriately follows disobedient to their parents, since ungrateful people don’t show any appreciation for the acts of kindness done to them by others.

For unholy see 1 Tim 1.9. Except in these two places the word appears nowhere else in the New Testament. The word here denotes failure to give due honor and respect particularly to those aspects of life that need to be treated with decency (hence “irreligious” [Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible], “no reverence” [Translator’s New Testament], “devoid of piety” [Revised English Bible], or “no place for God in their lives”).

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 .