2 Timothy

4:19-22

Conclusion

Final greetings, instructions and blessing, 4:19-22

In a final word, typical of his letters, Paul sends greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. He mentions the whereabouts of Erastus and Trophimus and passes on greetings from Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, presumably local believers, along with the wider Christian fellowship. Paul then concludes with a blessing.

i] Context: See 1:1-5.

ii] Background: See 1:1-5.

iii] Structure: The conclusion to Paul's letter:

iv] Interpretation:

Final personal notes: greetings, instructions, and benediction, v19-22.

Onhsiforou (oV) gen. "Onesiphorus" - [greet prisca and aquila and the house, household] of onesiphorus. The genitive is adjectival, possessive / relational. Onesiphorus has links both with Rome and Ephesus, cf., 1:16ff. This is also the case for Priscilla and Aquila, who are mentioned a number of times in Acts and in Paul's letters.

en + dat. "in" - [erastus remained] in [corinth but]. Local, expressing space. Men bearing the name Erastus and Trophimus are mentioned in Acts, cf., Acts 19:22, 20:4, 21:29. The implication is that Paul had been with Erastus at the time and that Paul continued on his journey while Erastus remained in Corinth.

asqenounta (asqenew) pres. part. "sick [in Miletus]" - [i left behind trophimus] being weak, ailing, sick [in miletus]. The participle is adverbial, best taken as causal; "because he was sick." Miletus is a port on the coast of Asia Minor some 60k south of Ephesus. The town is mentioned in Acts as the site where Paul met with the Ephesian elders before making his last journey to Jerusalem.

spoudason (spoudazw) aor. imp. "do your best" - hasten. The aorist, being punctiliar / perfective, probably indicates a specific command.

elqein (ercomai) aor. inf. "to get here" - to come. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb spoudazw, "to hasten."

pro + gen. "before" - before [winter]. Temporal use of the preposition; "before".

kai "and so do" - [euboulos greets you] and [pudens and linus and claudia and all the brothers]. Coordinative. There is no mention of these persons in the NT. Eusebius, in his history of the Christian church, states that a man with the name of Linus succeeded Peter as the second bishop of Rome.

meta + gen. "with" - [the lord] be with. The preposition expresses association; so also meq, "grace be with you." "The Lord" is presumably Christ.

tou pneumatoV (a atoV) gen. "[your] spirit" - the spirit [of ye]. "The spirit" is being used to identify a person's being, so Paul's benediction calls on Jesus to be personally present with Timothy; "may the Lord be with you" = "may the Lord hold his protecting hand over you."

hJ cariV (iV ewV) "grace" - the grace. The specified source of grace is usually Jesus Christ, but here it is just assumed. Paul reminds Timothy and his colleagues that "they are dependent on Christ's unmerited favour, forgiveness and enabling power", Knight.

meq (meta) + gen. "with" - be with. Expressing association, as NIV.

uJmwn pl. pro. "you all" - you. The NIV adds "all" to indicate a plural 2nd. person pronoun. The "you all" is very much an Americanism with most other English speakers happy to remain in the dark with a "you", having lost the singular "ye". The slang Australian addition of an "s" may help, or even "you lot"!!!! In the first part of the benediction the pronoun was singular, indicating that it was directed to Timothy. Now the pronoun is plural, directing the benediction not only to Timothy, but his ministry associates. Some suggest all believers, but the letter is primarily for the instruction of those involved in Christian ministry.

2 Timothy Introduction

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