Defense appears only here in the Pastoral Letters. This term can be used in an informal sense, referring to answers given to private accusations (compare 1 Peter 3.15; “clear yourselves” in 2 Cor 7.11); in the present context, however, it is used in a formal sense, referring to arguments to refute accusations presented before a court of law (compare Acts 19.33; 22.1; 26.1, 2, 24). The event being alluded to here is Paul’s first trial before the Emperor in Rome. Other translation models for At my first defense are “When I was first tried” or “When I first defended myself in the law court.”

Took my part: this verb in various contexts can mean “come, arrive,” “appear (in public),” or “stand by, come to the aid of (someone).” What Paul seems to be saying in this context is that no one among the Christians in Rome went with him to the trial in order to lend him support. On the contrary, they all forsook him. The clause no one took my part may also be expressed as “no one witnessed on my behalf,” or even “no one helped me” (Contemporary English Version). For deserted see comments on 2 Tim 4.10.

Charged translates a verb that literally means “to put into one’s accounts” or “to charge one’s account.” In the present context the verb is used figuratively to denote not keeping a record of this wrongdoing, with the result that the people involved are exempt from the consequences. This sense is captured in a variety of ways by various translations; for example, Good News Translation “May God not count it against them,” Jerusalem Bible “may they not be held accountable.” Some translations completely drop the figure in order to get at the meaning; for example, Phillips “God forgive them,” New English Bible “I pray that it may not be held against 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 .