Paragraph 1:8–12
This is the first paragraph in which Paul gave Timothy some specific examples/instructions about how he should use his gift mentioned in 1:6a. In this paragraph Paul told Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel, but to be prepared to suffer for being a follower of Christ.
1:8a
So: The Greek conjunction oun, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as So, connects 1:7 and 1:8. (This is a grounds (1:7)—exhortation (1:8)—relationship.) Another way to show this is:
1:7Since God did not give us a spirit of fear…1:8therefore do not be ashamed/afraid to testify about our Lord.
do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord: Paul implied here that, because Timothy was timid or fearful, he might be reluctant to tell other people the good news about Jesus Christ. Therefore, Paul told him to speak boldly about Jesus.
of the testimony: Another way to say this is “to witness,” “to share,” or “to tell.”
1:8b
or of me, His prisoner: Apparently Paul thought that Timothy might be ashamed to admit that he knew Paul because Paul was in prison. Prisoners were normally people who had committed crimes, so most people were ashamed of a friend or relative who was in prison.
His prisoner: The word His refers to Christ. Paul meant that the Roman authorities had put him in prison because he was serving Christ. Be careful that when you translate His prisoner that your translation does not imply that Christ was keeping Paul in prison. Here is one way to translate this:
Do not be ashamed of being my friend, although I am a prisoner because I serve Christ.
1:8c
Instead: The Greek conjunction alla, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as Instead, indicates a strong contrast between 1:8a–b and 1:8c. Some other ways to show this contrast are “Rather” or But.”
join me in suffering: This is the translation of one Greek verb. It means “to suffer like someone else has suffered” or “to share another person’s hardships.”
Paul knew that he would continue to suffer because he preached to people about Jesus Christ. So he urged Timothy to follow his example, to be willing to suffer for Christ, and to endure the evil things that people would do to him because he was preaching this good news.
for the gospel: Some others ways to say this phrase are:
for the sake of the gospel
-or-
on behalf of the gospel
-or-
for telling people the gospel
gospel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gospel literally means “good news.” However, in the New Testament the word gospel does not mean just any kind of good news. It specifically means “the good news that God has made a way to save sinful human beings through Jesus.”
Some ways to translate gospel are:
good news
-or-
good message
-or-
God’s message
-or-
God’s good news
-or-
message from God
-or-
message of/about Jesus
by the power of God: The phrase by the power of God indicates how Timothy could endure suffering for preaching the gospel. He could endure suffering “through” or “by means of” the power that God would give him. God had given Paul strength to endure suffering, and God would also give Timothy strength to endure suffering.
In some languages, it may be best to put this phrase by the power of God before the phrase about suffering. This is what the NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), and Contemporary English Version do. The New Living Translation (2004 Revision) has:
With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the proclamation of the good news.
© 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.