4:14a

Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me: Paul wanted to warn Timothy about a man whose name was Alexander. He had harmed Paul in some way. This is the only place he is mentioned, so scholars assume that he must have been someone from Ephesus. Luke mentioned a man called Alexander in Acts 19:33–34, and Paul mentioned a man who had this same name in 1 Timothy 1:20. However it was probably a common name at that time. So this Alexander in 4:14 probably was not the same person as those other men named Alexander.

coppersmith: A coppersmith was someone who made things out of copper, iron, or other metals. The Greek word is literally “coppersmith.” However, coppersmiths at that time worked not only with copper but also with other metals, so metalworker is another way that this Greek word can be translated.

great harm to me: The harm that Alexander did to Paul was that he opposed Paul’s work. It does not refer to harming him physically. (See 4:15b.)

4:14b

The Lord: The Lord in this context probably refers to Christ.

will repay him according to his deeds: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as repay also means “reward.” (See Good News Translation.) Here, however, it has a negative sense meaning “to judge” or “to punish.”

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.