2:26a

Then: The word Then introduces the second reason why Paul said that a servant of the Lord must “gently reprove” (2:25a).

He must gently reprove those who oppose him in the hope that

Reason 1: God may grant them repentance… (2:25b)

and in the hope that

Reason 2: they will come to their senses… (2:26a)

You should try to show how 2:26a is connected to 2:25b. Some English versions use the word “and” (New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version). Other versions make the connection more explicit with the word “Then” (Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), God’s Word). The Good News Translation uses both words: “And then….”

It may be necessary to repeat the verb “will gently reprove” from 2:25a.

they will come to their senses and escape: This clause uses figurative language. It describes the next step a person who has believed wrong doctrine takes as he is restored to true faith.

The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they will come to their senses and escape is a single verb in Greek. The verb literally means “to come to one’s senses,” or “to start thinking correctly again (after being deceived).” Scholars do not agree about whether to express this using two verbs or one:

(1) Most English versions use two verbs and believe that the verb “escape” is implicit: People who oppose the true teachings of Christ are like people who have been deceived and can no longer think clearly, and they are like people who are caught in a trap. For example, Good News Translation says,

And then they will come to their senses and escape….

See also Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), God’s Word, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New American Standard Bible.

(2) Other English versions use a single verb. People who oppose the true teachings of Christ are like people who are caught in a trap. For example, the Revised Standard Version says,

and they may escape….

See also Contemporary English Version and King James Version.

It is recommended that you follow option (1) and the majority of versions and use two verbs.

This is the only place in the New Testament where this verb occurs. To “come to one’s senses” is an idiom in English, so avoid translating it literally unless you have the same idiom in your language. If not, use a word or phrase that describes someone who recovers from being unable to think clearly.

escape the snare of the devil: The word escape is not in the Greek text, but it is clearly implied in the phrase. Paul was thinking about the way an animal gets caught in a trap and cannot get free. In a similar way, the devil has tricked the person into rejecting the truth and believing what is false. It is as though that person is an animal in a trap, but the trap is one that the devil has set. However, when a person “repents” (by accepting the truth of God’s word), he becomes free from the devil’s power. He is like an animal that has escaped from a trap and he can think clearly again and be able to recognize what is true and what is false.

If your language does not have a similar figure of speech, you can say something like:

…escape from the power/control of the devil.

devil: The devil is the chief of all evil spirits. The name of the devil is Satan.

2:26b

taken them captive to his will: Satan’s purpose for capturing men and women is to make them do what he wants. Satan influences people to reject God’s true message and believe his false message.

General Comment on 2:25–26

In 2:26 Paul mentions two events, which the Greek lists in the following order: (a) people escape from Satan’s trap, and (b) Satan traps them. The Berean Standard Bible and most other English versions follow the Greek order, but the chronological order is the opposite. For that reason, in some languages it may be necessary to reorder the parts of the verse as follows:

^26bThe devil has trapped people to make them obey him. ^25aWe^(incl) must gently correct these people who are against us ^25bso that perhaps God will enable them to change their hearts/thinking ^25cand to recognize what is true, ^26aand so that they may come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap.

Paragraph 3:1–5

3:1a

But: Paul used the Greek word de again to indicate he was changing to a new theme. Use the appropriate words or forms in your language that indicate a change in the topics being talked about.

understand this: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as understand this is literally “know this.” Other ways to translate this phrase are “mark this,” “remember this,” or “realize this.”

this: The word this refers to what follows.

3:1b

In the last days: In the New Testament, the phrase In the last days can refer to either:

(a) the long period of time between Christ’s first and second coming,

(b) a shorter period of time just before Christ returns.

Here it probably refers to the long time period between the first and second comings of Christ. It is the last days in the sense that it is the final time period of this world. Paul implied that he and Timothy were already living in the last days.

The phrase the last days is used several times in the New Testament. See Acts 2:17, Hebrews 1:2, 2 Peter 3:3. If you have already translated these passages, refer to them as you translate.

terrible times will come: The phrase terrible times refers to difficult periods of time during the last days. The times will be terrible because people will behave as though there were no God. They will commit very sinful acts. These times will be terrible for Christians and for the church.

In 3:2a–3:5b you will find a long list of examples of what Paul meant by the expression terrible times. Paul was not referring here to disasters such as wars, famines, and earthquakes.

terrible: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as terrible could be translated as “difficult,” “hard to bear,” or “troublesome.”

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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.

2:25a

He must gently reprove: In the Greek this is literally “with gentleness instructing.” Because the phrase “with gentleness” is before the word “instructing,” it has special emphasis. Try to reflect that emphasis in your translation.

reprove: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as reprove also means “to correct.” Most English versions translate it as “correct.”

He … him: The words He and him refers to someone/anyone who is “a servant of the Lord” in 2:24a.

2:25b

in the hope that God may grant them repentance: This is the first reason why the Lord’s servant should “gently reprove.” The second reason is in 2:26. Paul knew that if Timothy would be gentle with his opponents when he talked to them about the word of God, they might listen and realize that what they had believed was not true and that they need to change.

in the hope: The phrase in the hope is the translation of one Greek word that means “perhaps” or “maybe.” It is a word that indicates that Paul was not absolutely sure. It was possible that Timothy’s opponents would repent, but not certain.

that God may grant them: The meaning of the clause that God may grant them is “that God will make it possible for them,” “…enable them,” or “…allow them” to repent.

repentance: In this context repentance refers to a major change in what a person believes and how he behaves: That is, the person turns away from false teachings and now believes the true teachings of God. He turns away from sinful choices and now chooses to do things that please God.

As the phrase indicates, God is the one who makes repentance possible. A person cannot change himself in this way without God’s help.

2:25c

leading to a knowledge of the truth: The literal translation of this phrase from the Greek is “into acknowledgement of the truth.” This grammatical construction makes it difficult to know how this phrase is connected to 2:25b. Most translations consider a knowledge of the truth to be the result of “repentance” in 2:25b. Therefore, they translate it:

perhaps God will allow them to repent and then come to know the truth
-or-
perhaps God will enable them to repent and will lead them to know the truth.

a knowledge of the truth: This phrase means “to know or recognize the true teachings.” (See the note on this phrase in Translator’s Notes for Titus 1:1d.)

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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.

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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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

Paragraph 4:22

Paul ended his letter to Timothy with a short blessing.

4:22a

The Lord: The Lord here refers to the Lord Jesus.

be with your spirit: Another way to say be with your spirit is “be with you” or “bless you.” In Greek, your spirit is in the singular, and this shows that Paul addressed this to Timothy.

4:22b

Grace be with you all: Paul frequently ended his letters with these same words, or very similar words. (See Galatians 6:18; Philippians 4:23; Colossians 4:18 and 1 Timothy 6:21.)

Grace: As Paul did in 1:2c, here he was using Grace as a Christian blessing. It refers to God being kind and favorable toward people. Therefore avoid using a long phrase to describe grace in this context.

you all: Paul blessed Timothy personally in 4:22a. Here in 4:22b, he blessed both Timothy and the other believers at Ephesus.

General Comment on 4:22b

These words are a wish or a prayer. In some languages it may be necessary to begin this prayer with the words “I ask…” or “I pray…,” for example:

I pray that God will…be kind to you (Contemporary English Version).
-or-
I ask God to bless you.

If there is a word or phrase in your language for “bless” that means “to do good things for another person,” this may be appropriate here. If you use “bless” in your translation of this verse, you should be certain that it means: “May God help you (plur) and do good things for you (plur).”

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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.

4:21a

Make every effort to come to me before winter: Make every effort is an English phrase that translates one Greek verb. It means “to work/try hard” or “to put the most effort into it that you can.” This same verb is found in 2:15a and 4:9.

winter: Timothy would have had to travel from Ephesus to Rome by sea. In winter, a trip across the sea in a ship was dangerous because of storms. If Timothy did not travel to Rome soon after he received Paul’s letter, he might have to wait another five or six months until there was good sailing weather again.

If there is no cold season in your area, you could translate winter as “the time when there are many storms.”

4:21b

Eubulus sends you greetings, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia: The people that Paul named in this list were in Rome and knew that Paul was sending a letter to Timothy. They each wanted Timothy to know that they were thinking about him and desiring that all would be well with him. Claudia was a woman. The other three were men.

4:21c

all the brothers: The word brothers here means “the believers” and probably includes both men and women. In your translation, you can say “all the other believers” or “all the brothers and sisters.”

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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.

4:20a

Erastus has remained at Corinth: Erastus is the name of a Christian man whom Timothy knew. On one of Paul’s missionary trips, Timothy and Erastus had been his companions (Acts 19:22).

4:20b

Trophimus I left sick in Miletus: Trophimus was probably the same person that Luke mentioned in Acts 21:29. In that verse, Luke said that Trophimus was with Paul in Jerusalem on Paul’s last visit there. Trophimus’ home was in Ephesus, so Timothy probably knew him.

Miletus: Miletus was a town on the coast of the Roman province of Asia. It was not far from Ephesus. Apparently Erastus and Trophimus had both been with Paul on a recent trip, and Trophimus had been with Paul until they arrived in Miletus.

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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.

Section 4:19–22

Paul sent greetings to the believers in Ephesus

Paragraph 4:19–21

4:19a

Greet Prisca and Aquila: Priscilla and Aquila were the names of a Christian woman and her husband who were friends of Paul. (See Acts 18:1–3.) Paul had mentioned them before in other letters. Apparently at the time Paul wrote this letter to Timothy in Ephesus, they were there, too.

Greet: Paul asked Timothy to tell Priscilla and Aquila that Paul was thinking about them and wished them well.

Prisca: The Greek word here for the woman’s name is literally “Prisca.” It refers to the same woman whose name is given as Priscilla in Acts 18:1–3.

(1) Many modern versions translate it as Priscilla here also, to avoid confusion. (See New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Century Version, Contemporary English Version.)

(2) Several versions translate it literally as “Prisca.” (See Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, Revised English Bible.)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) and translate it as Priscilla.

4:19b

the household of Onesiphorus: Onesiphorus is the name of a Christian man. He had proved that he was a faithful friend to Paul. Paul also asked Timothy to greet all those who lived in Onesiphorus’ house.

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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.

4:18a

And the Lord will rescue me: The Lord had rescued Paul in the past (4:17). Therefore, Paul was convinced that the Lord would deliver him in the future. However, since Paul fully expected to die soon (4:6), he believed that the Lord would deliver him in a spiritual sense, not a physical one. He was not saying that the Lord would protect him from persecution or other hard experiences.

the Lord: As in 4:17a, the word Lord here probably refers to Christ.

4:18b

from every evil action: The term every evil action refers to all the evil deeds that Satan or evil people would do to Paul. They wanted him to become discouraged, lose his faith, or sin, and to stop preaching about Jesus Christ.

4:18c

and bring me safely: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translated as bring me safely is literally “will save.” Only the Revised Standard Version tries to translate this literally. It is recommended that you follow the model of the Berean Standard Bible and the majority of other English versions.

His heavenly kingdom: This term refers to heaven, where Christ is with God the Father and where Christ will rule over everyone who believes in him.

4:18d

To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen: As Paul tells Timothy about all that God has already done, and all that he will do in watching over Paul’s life, he switches to praising the Lord. This phrase is also found in the last part of 1 Timothy 1:17.

Him: The pronoun Him refers to the Lord Jesus.

the glory: In this verse glory refers to the praise, honor, and worship that people give to Christ.

Amen: The word Amen means “We^(incl) agree with this” or “May it be this way!” “Amen” is borrowed from Hebrew. It is often used at the end of praises and prayers.

If people in your area say Amen at the end of prayers, or use another word or phrase that has this type of meaning, you should use the same word here.

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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.