So marks the connection between this section and the preceding one. What in effect Paul is saying to Timothy is that, if he wants to be a special vessel that is dedicated to God, then he must heed what Paul is about to tell him.

This verse is very similar to 1 Tim 6.11, as can be seen by the comparison below: (see comparison|fig:Table_2TI2-22.htm)

Shun may be also rendered as “Avoid” (Good News Translation), “Run from,” “Keep away from” (Contemporary English Version), “Refrain from.”

The expression youthful passions appears only here, although the word for passions occurs several times (see, for example, 1 Tim 6.9 [“desires”]; 2 Tim 3.6 [“impulses”]; 2 Tim 4.3 [“likings”]; Titus 2.12; 3.3), with primary focus on sexual desires. Here Paul focuses on desires and impulses that are characteristic of youth, since Timothy is a young man (see 1 Tim 4.12).

For aim at see 1 Tim 6.11.

For righteousness see 1 Tim 6.11.

For faith see further on 1 Tim 1.2; 1.4.

For love see further on 1 Tim 1.5; 1.14; 2.15.

For peace see 1 Tim 1.2.

Contemporary English Version‘s translation of the first part of this verse is a good model for some translators: “Run from temptations that capture young people. Always do the right thing. Be faithful, loving, and easy to get along with.”

Along with signals the application of these admonitions to a wider group. Those who call upon the Lord is an expression that probably refers to Christians in general (see Rom 10.13), although it may also be interpreted in a nontechnical sense as a reference to prayer, hence “those who pray to the Lord.” It is possible in Greek for along with those to be connected with peace (hence “peace with those,” compare New English Bible “peace with all who invoke the Lord”). It is more likely, though, that the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is closer to the intention of the text, which means that along with those signals the application of these admonitions to a much bigger group.

For a pure heart see 1 Tim 1.5. It is possible to begin a new sentence with the words along with; for example, “You must do this along with all those who pray to (or, worship) the Lord with pure hearts.”

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 .