The word for ashamed occurs only in this chapter in the Pastoral Letters, although the nominal form “shame” occurs in Titus 2.8. “Shame” is a negative feeling about oneself because of one’s involvement in an activity that is considered unacceptable by the society to which the person belongs. This negative feeling is also sometimes caused by one’s relationship to a person whose behavior is considered unacceptable by society. Usually such a feeling results in withdrawal from the unacceptable person, or at least denial of relationship to that person, and denial of any involvement in the unacceptable activity. It is of course very easy for Timothy to be ashamed of being associated with Paul, who at that time was a prisoner, or of witnessing for the Lord, since obviously this was an unpopular thing in a non-Christian and hostile environment. It is possible that ashamed is related to “timidity” in verse 7, in which case “shame” will also have the component of “fear.” If this is the case, then a valid restructuring is “Don’t be afraid.” Or better still, the negative statement can be turned into a positive one; for example, “Be bold,” “Be brave.” Ashamed in certain languages, however, is often expressed as “losing face.” So Do not be ashamed … of me his prisoner may be expressed as “Don’t let yourself lose face because I am a prisoner (or, am in prison)” or “Nor should you be afraid of losing face because I am in prison.”
These restructurings, however, may create problems when they are related to the second half of the verse, since it would not make sense to say that Timothy should be afraid of Paul. However, what is probably meant here is that Timothy should not be ashamed or afraid of being identified as a colleague of Paul; positively Timothy should be brave in making known his relationship to Paul.
Testifying to our Lord is literally “testimony (or, witness) of our Lord,” where “testimony” is the event of speaking and “Lord” is the content of the event, hence “witnessing for our Lord.” For “testimony” see 1 Tim 2.6. The act of witnessing here is primarily in terms of words, although proper conduct is of course not excluded. Other ways of rendering this phrase are “telling people what you know about our [inclusive] Lord” or “sharing with people what you know about….”
Lord here is once again ambiguous and can refer either to God or to Christ; the context seems to favor the latter, since Paul talks about being Christ’s prisoner and not as God’s prisoner (see, for example, Eph 3.1; Philemon 1). To do away with this ambiguity, in certain languages it will be helpful to express our Lord as “Jesus our [inclusive] Lord .” For Lord see 1 Tim 1.1.
The word for prisoner appears only here in the Pastoral Letters. His refers to the Lord, whom we have identified as Christ. The expression his prisoner does not mean that Paul is imprisoned by Christ either in a physical or spiritual sense, but that Paul is a prisoner for the sake of Christ, that is, a prisoner because of being a follower of and a witness for Christ. In other words Paul has been put in prison because of his activities as a follower of Christ (compare Good News Translation, also Contemporary English Version “I am in jail for serving him”). In some languages prisoner will be expressed in a way similar to the English “I am in prison (or, jail).” But in cultures where there are no prisons, and criminals are turned over to their families or relatives to watch over, one may translate the phrase of me his prisoner in a way similar to the following: “of me whom the Roman authorities have bound up as if I were a criminal because I am serving him [our Lord].”
Share in suffering translates a verb that occurs only here in the whole New Testament. It means to undergo the same kind of suffering that others have experienced. In the present context Paul is exhorting Timothy to suffer for the gospel in the same way as Paul, and it will be helpful to make this clear in translation by saying something like “join with me in suffering” or “share with me….”
For gospel, see 1 Tim 1.11.
In the power of God is literally “according to the power of God.” The word order of the Greek could suggest that “according to the power of God” is connected with the gospel, giving the sense “the gospel that is according to the power of God.” A closer look at the text, however, suggests that “according to the power of God” should be connected rather with sharing in the sufferings for the gospel, which gives the sense “share in the sufferings for the gospel in accordance (or, through) the power that God gives you” (so Good News Translation “take your part in suffering for the Good News, as God gives you the strength for it”). In the power of God may also be rendered as “use the power that comes from God” or “use the power that God gives you.” In some languages it will be helpful to place this clause before share in suffering and say “You should use the power that comes from God and join with me…” (similar to Contemporary English Version).
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• For this reason do not be afraid to tell other people what you know about our [inclusive] Lord, nor should you be afraid of losing face because I am in prison for believing in him [our Lord]. Instead you should use the power that God gives you and join with me in my suffering.
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 .