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 .

Paul predicts that these people will not triumph, because their folly will be exposed, and the members of the Christian community will see them for what they really are.

They will not get very far is literally “they will not advance much,” with “advance” being used in a figurative sense to mean “to make progress” (compare New Revised Standard Version “they will not make much progress,” Revised English Bible “their successes will be short-lived”). For further comments on this kind of “progress,” see discussion about “more and more ungodliness” in 2 Tim 2.16. Other ways of expressing this are “Their success will only last for a short time,” or even “Their foolishness (or, stupidity) will only help them for a short time.” The reason for their short-lived success is because, like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to all. Folly denotes lack of understanding; hence “senselessness,” “stupidity” (compare Good News Translation “every one will see how stupid they are”). Plain translates a word that means “easily known,” “clearly evident,” “quite obvious.” This word occurs only here in the whole New Testament.

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 .