Paragraph 4:11–16

In this paragraph Paul told Timothy how to convince people to accept his teaching, even though he was young. He told Timothy to be a good example for the other believers (4:12b). He told him to read the Scriptures to people and to teach them (4:13b). He also told Timothy to use the gift that God had given him (4:14a). This gift was the ability that God had given him to teach and to lead other people. Paul also told Timothy to keep progressing spiritually (4:15c), and to persevere (4:16b). (Adapted from Stott, pages 120–125.)

4:11

these things: Paul was referring to the things that he had been writing about, especially in the previous paragraph (4:6–10).

General Comment on 4:11

People teach something and then command people to obey it. Therefore, in some languages it may be more logical to reverse the order of the verbs in this verse. You could say:

Teach the believers all these things that I have written and command them to obey them.

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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.