Paul once again returns to the athletic metaphor, this time concentrating on the prize of victory. This verse begins with Henceforth, which has the sense of “from this very moment” (compare New Revised Standard Version “From now on,” Good News Translation “And now”).

Laid up comes from the verb that means “to store up,” “to reserve,” “to set aside,” “to preserve,” “to keep.” The implicit agent is God, and what he has laid up for Paul is the crown of righteousness. The crown of course is a symbol of victory. It was a practice in ancient times to bestow a crown of leaves or flowers to victors in athletic competitions. The crown of righteousness can be interpreted in two ways: (1) the prize of victory that is awarded for a righteous life, and (2) the prize of victory that consists of righteousness itself (compare Good News Translation “the victory prize of being put right with God”). While both are possible, the first option seems to be more appropriate, since it finds support in similar passages in the New Testament (for example, James 1.12; 1 Peter 5.4). Another way of translating this part of this verse, then, is “And now there is waiting for me the victory prize (or, crown of victory), because I have lived a life which is pleasing to God.” Righteousness here describes a life that is lived in a right relationship with God, together with its moral and ethical qualities.

The Lord clearly refers to Jesus Christ, since he is identified as the righteous judge (see 4.1), and his second coming is alluded to (his appearing). For righteous see 1 Tim 1.9 (where the word is translated “just”). The idea here is that Christ will be just and fair in pronouncing sentences of innocent or guilty and in assigning appropriate awards and punishments. For Day see 2 Tim 1.12.

But it is not only Paul who will receive the prize; in fact all who have loved his appearing will receive the crown of righteousness. For appearing see 2 Tim. 4.1 and 1 Tim 6.14. Loved in this context includes eager and earnest longing, setting one’s heart on something, looking forward to something with reverence and love (so Revised English Bible “all who have set their hearts,” New Jerusalem Bible “who have longed for,” Translator’s New Testament “who have set their hearts on”). There seems to be a problem in the expression as it stands, in that while Christ’s appearing is a future event, all who have loved seems to mark it as an event that has already taken place. A likely explanation of this is that Paul is writing from the standpoint of the day of Jesus’ appearing, and at that point all who have loved his appearing will receive the same prize as Paul.

One way of translating the second half of the verse is:
• “The Lord (or, Our Lord Jesus Christ), who is the righteous judge, will give it [the victory crown] to me on that Day. But it is not only to me that he will give this prize, but to everyone who is waiting for him to return.”

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 .