‏ 2 Timothy 3:1-9

CHAPTER 3

2Ti 3:1-17. Coming Evil Days: Signs of Evil Already: Contrast in the Doctrine and Life of Paul, Which Timothy Should Follow in Accordance with His Early Training in Scripture.

1. also--Greek, "but."

last days--preceding Christ's second coming (2Pe 3:3; Jude 18). "The latter times," 1Ti 4:1, refer to a period not so remote as "the last days," namely, the long days of papal and Greek anti-Christianity.

perilous--literally, "difficult times," in which it is difficult to know what is to be done: "grievous times."

shall come--Greek, "shall be imminent"; "shall come unexpectedly" [Bengel].

2. men--in the professing Church. Compare the catalogue, Ro 1:29, &c., where much the same sins are attributed to heathen men; it shall be a relapse into virtual heathendom, with all its beast-like propensities, whence the symbol of it is "a beast" (Re 13:1, 11, 12, &c.; 17:3, 8, 11).

covetous--Translate, "money-loving," a distinct Greek word from that for "covetous" (see on Col 3:5). The cognate Greek substantive (1Ti 6:10) is so translated, "the love of money is a (Greek, not 'the') root of all evil."

boasters--empty boasters [Alford]; boasting of having what they have not.

proud--overweening: literally, showing themselves above their fellows.

blasphemous--rather, "evil-speakers," revilers.

disobedient to parents--The character of the times is even to be gathered especially from the manners of the young [Bengel].

unthankful--The obligation to gratitude is next to that of obedience to parents.

unholy--irreligious [Alford]; inobservant of the offices of piety.

3. truce-breakers--rather as the Greek is translated in Ro 1:31, "implacable."

false accusers--slanderers (1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:3).

incontinent, fierce--at once both soft and hard: incontinently indulging themselves, and inhuman to others.

despisers, &c.--"no lovers of good" [Alford]; the opposite of "a lover of good" (Tit 1:8).

4. heady--precipitate in action and in passion.

high-minded--literally, "puffed up" with pride, as with smoke blinding them.

lovers of pleasure ... God--Love of pleasure destroys the love and sense of God.

5. form--outward semblance.

godliness--piety.

denying--rather as Greek, "having denied," that is, renounced.

the power--the living, regenerating, sanctifying influence of it.

turn away--implying that some of such characters, forerunners of the last days, were already in the Church.

6. of this sort--Greek, "of these," such as were described (2Ti 3:5).

creep into--stealthily.

laden with sins--(Is 1:4); applying to the "silly women" whose consciences are burdened with sins, and so are a ready prey to the false teachers who promise ease of conscience if they will follow them. A bad conscience leads easily to shipwreck of faith (1Ti 1:19).

divers lusts--not only animal lusts, but passion for change in doctrine and manner of teaching; the running after fashionable men and fashionable tenets, drawing them in the most opposite directions [Alford].

7. Ever learning--some new point, for mere curiosity, to the disparagement of what they seemed to know before.

the knowledge--Greek, "the perfect knowledge"; the only safeguard against further novelties. Gnosticism laid hold especially of the female sex [Estius, 1.13.3]: so Roman Jesuitism.

8. Now--Greek, "But"; it is no wonder there should be now such opponents to the truth, for their prototypes existed in ancient times [Alford].

Jannes ... Jambres--traditional names of the Egyptian magicians who resisted Moses (Ex 7:11, 22), derived from "the unwritten teaching of the Jews" [Theodoret]. In a point so immaterial as the names, where Scripture had not recorded them, Paul takes the names which general opinion had assigned the magicians. Eusebius [Preparation of the Gospel], quotes from Numenius, "Jannes and Jambres were sacred scribes (a lower order of priests in Egypt) skilled in magic." Hiller interprets "Jannes" from the Abyssinian language a trickster, and "Jambres" a juggler" (Ac 13:8).

resist--"withstand," as before. They did so by trying to rival Moses' miracles. So the false teachers shall exhibit lying wonders in the last days (Mt 24:24; 2Th 2:9; Re 13:14, 15).

reprobate--incapable of testing the truth (Ro 1:28) [Bengel]. Alford takes passively, "not abiding the test"; rejected on being tested (Jr 6:30).

9. they shall proceed no further--Though for a time (2Ti 2:16) "they shall advance or proceed (English Version, 'increase') unto more ungodliness," yet there is a final limit beyond which they shall not be able to "proceed further" (Job 38:11; Re 11:7, 11). They themselves shall "wax worse and worse" (2Ti 3:13), but they shall at last be for ever prevented from seducing others. "Often malice proceeds deeper down, when it cannot extend itself" [Bengel].

their folly--literally, "dementation": wise though they think themselves.

shall be manifest--Greek, "shall be brought forth from concealment into open day" [Bengel], (1Co 4:5).

as theirs ... was--as that of those magicians was, when not only could they no longer try to rival Moses in sending boils, but the boils fell upon themselves: so as to the lice (Ex 8:18; 9:11).