Paragraph 2:8–13

Paul continued his letter by reminding Timothy to endure suffering. He reminded Timothy that Jesus suffered and that Paul himself was suffering.

2:8a

Remember: The form of the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Remember contains the meaning of doing something continually. So, in this context, it means, “to continue to think about.” God’s Word expresses this clearly:

Always think about Jesus Christ.

Paul was not implying that Timothy might forget Jesus or facts about him. He wanted to remind Timothy to think about Jesus Christ continually.

Jesus Christ: This is one of the few places in Paul’s letters to Timothy that the order of the names is Jesus Christ instead of Christ Jesus. It is recommended that you keep the same order as in the Greek and the Berean Standard Bible. See the discussion on the order in 1:1a.

2:8b

raised from the dead: This is a passive clause. In some languages, it may be necessary to say, “whom God raised from the dead” or “whom God caused to live again.”

2:8c

descended from David: One of Jesus’ ancestors was King David. It was especially important to the Jews that Jesus was a descendant of David, because they knew that the Messiah would be a “descendant (son) of David.”

General Comment on 2:8b–c

In some languages, it may be necessary to reverse the order of 2:8b and 2:8c so that they are in chronological order. This would read as:

^8cHe was descended from David and ^8bhe was raised from the dead.

2:8d

as proclaimed by my gospel: The phrase my gospel refers to the message that Paul preached about Jesus. By using the phrase my gospel Paul did not mean that the gospel belonged to him or that it originated from him. In some languages, it may be necessary to say “this is the message that I preached.”

General Comment on 2:8

The second theme of this letter is that Timothy should faithfully preach the true message about Jesus Christ and not allow other teachings to contradict it or to take its place. In the congregation in Ephesus, some who said they were believers were trying to teach a different message. (See 2:14–18.)

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.