What you have heard from me is similar to “the sound words which you have heard from me” in 1.13; these two expressions may in fact be parallel to each other, referring to the “teachings” (Good News Translation) or doctrines that Paul has been proclaiming and sharing with others.

Before renders a preposition that is usually translated “through” or “by,” but in the present context means “among” or “in front of,” or “in the presence of” (Good News Translation). This means that others were present when these teachings were proclaimed.

For witnesses see 1 Tim 5.19 and 1 Tim 6.12. Here the word refers to listeners who could verify that Paul did indeed speak, and that what he proclaimed was true. It is probable that these witnesses heard Paul at various times on different occasions.

For entrust see 1 Tim 1.18, where it is translated as “commit.”

For faithful see 1 Tim 1.12. Here the adjective is used to describe people who are trustworthy and dependable, hence “reliable” (Good News Translation).

The word for able occurs only here in the Pastoral Letters. It is sometimes translated “worthy,” but in the present context it denotes being competent and qualified for a particular task. A parallel word occurs in 2 Tim 1.12, for which see discussion there.

The purpose of all this is so that there would be people who could help Timothy in the ministry of teaching.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• You have heard me proclaim the teachings (or, Christian doctrine) in front of many other people. You must take these same teachings and give (or, tell) them to other competent people (or, teachers) who will then tell others about them.

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 .

Paul now turns his attention to the false teachers themselves, comparing them to two men who were opposed to Moses. Jannes and Jambres appear nowhere else in the Bible, but Jewish tradition identifies them as two of the Egyptian magicians who were Moses’ adversaries (see Exo 7.11, 22; 9.11). In much the same way that these two men opposed Moses, so the false teachers oppose the truth. Oppose is literally “to stand against,” hence “to resist,” “defied” (New Jerusalem Bible). In some languages the translation of oppose in oppose the truth will need to be different from the translation of the same word in opposed Moses as a person; for example, “obstruct the true message” or “try to keep the true message from being proclaimed.”

These men may also be expressed as “these false teachers.”

Two other negative traits of these false teachers are mentioned. First, they are people of corrupt mind; corrupt (Good News Translation “do not function”) comes from a verb that means “to cause someone to become depraved,” “to pervert,” “to cause the moral ruin of.” See further on 1 Tim 6.5, where a non-intensive form is used, yielding “depraved in mind.” Other ways to express corrupt mind are “Their minds are sick” (Contemporary English Version), “they are incapable of thinking clearly anymore.” Secondly, they are men of counterfeit faith. Counterfeit translates a word that means “not passing the test.” It is used of things (such as metals and plants) and people that fail when they are tested according to specific standards. Because they fail the test they are rejected and considered worthless and of no value. This expression is similar to that found in 1 Tim 1.19 (“made shipwreck of their faith”). Faith here is trust in Christ; counterfeit faith then can be restructured as “they really do not trust in Christ” or “they are failures as Christians” (compare Good News Translation).

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 .

Faithless is better translated in English as “unfaithful” (compare Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version), with Christ as the implicit object of the unfaithfulness. This would make clear that “unfaithful” is parallel to “deny” in the previous verse, since to disown Christ is equivalent to being unfaithful to him. So one may translate “If we are unfaithful to him” or “If we turn our backs on him.”

The second part of this verse is not what we expect it to be, considering the previous verse. So here we would have expected “he will also be unfaithful.” In fact some scholars have suggested that the meaning of he remains faithful is that Christ remains faithful to his sense of justice and will therefore pronounce judgment on those who are unfaithful to him. After all, as Good News Translation puts it, “he cannot be false to himself.” (This may be Christ or God; he is ambiguous, but since Christ is the implicit subject in the previous verses, it is logical to understand this verse in the same way.) Attractive as this explanation may be, it is more likely that the object of faithfulness here is not Christ but the believers, that is, “he remains faithful to us.” “He cannot be false to himself” then means that Christ cannot turn his back on his true nature as the Savior who remains faithful to those who trust in him. It is perhaps appropriate to ensure that this understanding is clear in the translation; for example, “If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .

This verse and the next give the reason and the ground for the solemn charge in the previous verse; this connection is made clear by the use of the connective For. It should be noted that the verbs in these two verses are in the future sense. It is very likely, however, that what is being described here is a present reality that is also valid as a description of the future, since it was common belief that, as the End draws nearer, evil will continue to multiply. Other passages where present conditions are described as future events include 1 Tim 4.1-2 and 2 Tim 3.1-5.

For time see 1 Tim 2.6. In some languages one cannot talk about time “coming.” In such cases the clause the time is coming may be expressed as “it will happen that” or “there will be a day when.” Endure translates a verb that means “to accept,” “to receive” something as valid or true, to listen willingly to something. The negative is expressed in various ways: New Revised Standard Version “will not put up with,” Jerusalem Bible “far from being content with,” Good News Translation “will not listen to…,” Phillips “will not tolerate.” For sound doctrine see 1 Tim 1.10.

The expression itching ears (or “ears that tickle”) occurs only here in the New Testament and is used as a figure for curiosity (so New American Bible, Revised “insatiable curiosity”). Unfortunately, what they will be curious about is not sound doctrine but interesting and spicy pieces of information that “tickle” their ears. Perhaps what is being referred to here are the speculative teachings mentioned in 1 Tim 1.3-7. Translators need to look for an idiom in the receptor language that has the same meaning as the Greek idiom “ears that tickle,” or the English itching ears. One should not, however, translate itching ears literally if it does not carry the meaning of “insatiable curiosity” in the receptor language.

Because of this desire for such information, these people will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings. Accumulate occurs only here in the whole New Testament; the meaning of the verb is “to heap up,” “to gather,” or to increase significantly the number of something; hence accumulate, “collect more and more” (Good News Translation), “gather a crowd” (New English Bible).

To suit their own likings is literally “according to their own desires.” For “desires”see 1 Tim 6.9. It is possible to restructure this part of the verse to relate “their own desires” with itching ears, which is what Good News Translation has done (compare New International Version “teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear,” or Contemporary English Version “what they are itching to hear”).

For teachers see 1 Tim 2.7 and 2 Tim 1.11.

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 .

The subject of this verse is still “grace” that was mentioned in the last part of the previous verse. This grace that was given before the beginning of time has now been made known by means of the Incarnation, that is, the coming of Jesus Christ on earth. Has manifested is an aorist passive participle and is better rendered “has been revealed” (Good News Translation, also New Revised Standard Version; see also discussion on “manifested in the flesh” in 1 Tim 3.16). Appearing is literally epifaneia “epiphany,” which in religious language refers to the manifestation of any divine being. In 1 Tim 6.14 it refers to Christ’s second coming; here it refers to Christ’s initial or first appearance. That Christ came to show the world God’s love and favor for all peoples is a predominant idea especially in the New Testament letters. For Savior see 1 Tim 1.1, where the term is used for God. In other parts of the New Testament, the more commonly used expression is “Savior Jesus Christ” and not “Savior Christ Jesus”; in fact, this form of the expression occurs only here in the whole New Testament. As in similar cases, it may be necessary in some languages to reorder the expression to fit the more commonly used ordering, especially if the unusual expression sounds quite unnatural in the receptor language.

An alternative model for this first sentence is the following: “But now our [inclusive] Savior, Jesus Christ, has come (or, appeared) and shown us his kindness.” But in certain languages this structure will be too stylistically heavy. In such cases one may restructure and say “But now Jesus Christ has come and shown his kindness to us. He is our [inclusive] Savior.”

Two functions of Christ Jesus are mentioned, obviously for the purpose of encouraging Timothy and strengthening his resolve to witness to and suffer for the gospel. First of all, Christ abolished death. Abolished translates the aorist participle of a verb that is frequently used in the earlier letters of Paul and means “to bring to nothing,” “to make void,” but in the present context must include the stronger sense of “to destroy” (New International Version; compare Good News Translation “ended the power of death”). And of course it can also be expressed as “defeated death” or “stopped death from having any more power over us.” Secondly, having defeated death Christ brought life and immortality to light. The Greek is literally “brightened (or, illuminated) life and immortality.” Brought to light translates an aorist participle of a verb that means “to shed light,” “to illumine,” “to enlighten,” “to brighten.” Here it is used in a figurative rather than a literal sense: to show clearly, as a light would show everything up in a dark place. So one may also translate “has showed us through the Good News what immortal life really is.”

Immortality is literally “incorruptibility,” that is, not subject to decay as a result of death. See further on 1 Tim 1.17. For life see 1 Tim 1.16 and 2.2. Life and immortality may be understood separately (as most translations), or else the expression may be taken as a hendiadys, with immortality qualifying life, hence “immortal life” (compare Good News Translation; so also Phillips “life that is eternal”).

The instrument by which life and immortality are brought to light is the gospel, or the Good News of what God has done in Jesus Christ. For further discussion of gospel see 1 Tim 1.11. In one sense the Good News is about Jesus Christ; in another sense it was Jesus Christ who brought the good news, and it was through this good news that life and immortality (or immortal life) have been shown clearly to the world. An alternative translation model for this final sentence is “He has caused death to have no more power over us, and through the Good News which he proclaimed, he has shown us what immortal life really is.”

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 .

The expression the Lord’s servant appears only here in the New Testament, although “servant of Jesus Christ” appears in many of the New Testament letters (for example, Rom 1.1; James 1.1; 2 Peter 1.1; Jude 1), and in Titus 1.1 Paul calls himself “a servant of God.” In some languages “God’s servant” will be a good model. Some suggest that the Lord’s servant is used here in a technical sense to refer to those in the ministry, in contrast to the laity. The term of course is used of Timothy but has a wider application to include other church leaders as well. In that case it will be possible to translate this first phrase as “God’s servants must not…” and continue using the plural pronoun through verse 25.

As is common in lists found in these letters, there is mention of at least one negative trait to be avoided and several traits to be emulated. The negative trait in this case is quarrelsome, for which see previous verse; the Lord’s servant thus contrasts in behavior with those who quarrel in verse 23. This could of course be understood to mean that Timothy should not confront the false teachers at all, a misunderstanding that is corrected by the positive traits. In kindly to every one the false teachers are included. Kindly translates a word that occurs only here in the New Testament and primarily means “gentle” in the sense of not being harsh or cruel, hence “kind.” An apt teacher translates one Greek word that is also one of the qualities of a bishop (see 1 Tim 3.2). Forbearing translates a word that occurs nowhere else in the New Testament and characterizes someone who is able to endure any difficulty without complaining, hence “patient.” One should note that Good News Translation makes patience a quality of teaching, hence “a good and patient teacher.” This is possible, but of course it is also possible to list patience as a separate virtue; for example, “and they must be good teachers and very patient” (Contemporary English Version).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• God’s servants must not quarrel with other people. Instead they should be kind toward everyone. They should also be good teachers and very patient.

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 .

Alexander the coppersmith is only mentioned here in the New Testament. The word coppersmith is used to describe people who work not only with copper but with metals in general, hence “metalworker” (Good News Translation) is a more appropriate translation. In 1 Tim 1.20 Paul names Alexander as one of those whose faith has been wrecked; it is possible that the two Alexanders are the same person, although there is no way of being sure. The abruptness with which Alexander is introduced is rather strange; could it be, as suggested by some scholars, that there is somehow an association between him and the coat and books mentioned in the previous verse? Nor can we be certain as to Alexander’s location; he could be in Ephesus where presumably Timothy was, but he could also be in Rome, in which case Paul’s statement “Beware of him yourself” in the next verse is a forewarning to Timothy when he gets to Rome. A further problem is Paul’s statement that Alexander did him great harm (literally “much evil”; see 1 Tim 6.10). One possibility suggested is that the phrase did me great harm can be interpreted to mean that Alexander provided the authorities information that was used against Paul and led to his arrest. Timothy is therefore being warned that Alexander might do the same thing to him. This suggestion is quite attractive but at best speculative. In the end we have to be honest and admit that we know very little about this Alexander and his relationship to Paul. Other ways to express this clause are “caused me all sorts of trouble” or “hurt me in many ways.”

Because of what Alexander has done, the Lord will pay him back. Lord once again is ambiguous, referring either to God or more likely to Jesus Christ. For requite (New Revised Standard Version “pay back”) see “make some return” in 1 Tim 5.4; the same Greek verb is translated “award” in verse 8 in this chapter. The verb can be taken in either a positive or a negative sense. In the present context, however, the accent is on the negative and includes the elements of judgment together with the appropriate punishment, and in certain languages the more natural translation will be “the Lord will punish him.” Good News Translation‘s “reward” in many languages will be too positive. For deeds see 1 Tim 2.10; it is translated “task” in 1 Tim 3.1.

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 .

In this verse and the next three verses, the Christian in general, and the church worker in particular, is compared to three different types of people engaged in different kinds of human activity. First of all the Christian is compared to a soldier who fights in a battle. In much the same way that a soldier patiently endures the hardships in the battlefield, so Christians must also endure the hardships that come their way as a result of their faithfulness to the Christian way of life as exemplified by Jesus Christ himself.

Share in suffering translates the imperative form of a verb that means “to suffer together,” “to undergo the same kind of suffering that others are experiencing.” Here Timothy is being exhorted to have a part in the sufferings being experienced by the Christians in general and by Paul in particular because of their faith.

The word for soldier appears only here in the Pastoral Letters. The word literally refers to a warrior but is often used in the New Testament in a metaphorical sense.

In some languages this verse will need to be restructured as follows:
• As a loyal (or, good) soldier of Christ Jesus, you must endure the same kind of suffering that others are experiencing.

Or:
• You are a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus. So you must….

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 .