4:15a

Be diligent: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Be diligent means to pay attention to something and to do it earnestly, with enthusiasm and energy. It means the opposite of “neglect.” See the note on 4:14a.

these matters: Paul was referring to all the things that he had written about in 4:11–14.

4:15b

and absorbed in them: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as absorbed in them literally means “devote yourself to them” (4:13b). Paul used this expression to emphasize how important his instructions to Timothy were.

4:15c

so that: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that connects 4:15c with 4:15a–b. In 4:15c, Paul explained the reason that Timothy should obey Paul’s instruction in 4:14a–b. The reason was so that other believers would see how he was progressing spiritually.

your progress: Paul expected people to see Timothy’s progress, but he did not say what he meant by progress. Paul was probably thinking about progress in Timothy’s faith, and he probably expected Timothy to be able to use his gift better (4:14a).

© 2003 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.