2 Timothy

What This Book Is

The most personal of the letters attributed to Paul, written from prison near the end of his life, urging a younger colleague to hold on and hand on.

Overview

The tone here is different from the first letter to Timothy. This one reads like a farewell.

Paul is in prison, and he says that everyone in Asia has turned away from him, naming names. At his first defence no one came to support him. He asks Timothy to come before winter, to bring his cloak, and to bring the books and especially the parchments. Those small practical requests do more to make him a real person than any theological passage could.

Against that background he urges Timothy to keep going. Fan into flame the gift within you. God did not give a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self control. Do not be ashamed. Share in suffering. He uses three pictures for perseverance: a soldier who does not get entangled in civilian affairs, an athlete who competes by the rules, and a hard working farmer who gets the first share of the crop.

The theme of handing on runs through it. What Timothy heard from Paul he is to entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also, which is four generations of transmission in a single sentence.

Chapter 3 contains the passage on Scripture: all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be equipped for every good work.

Near the end he writes that he has fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith, which is as good a summary of a life as anyone could hope for.

Structure

• Chapter 1: Do not be ashamedA gift to be rekindled, and a spirit of power rather than fear.
• Chapter 2: Hand it onEntrust it to faithful people; the soldier, athlete, and farmer.
• Chapter 3: Hard times and ScriptureDifficult days described, and Scripture as equipment.
• Chapter 4: FarewellPreach the word, come before winter, and I have finished the race.

Themes

Why It Matters

2 Timothy is the letter people read when they are tired, ageing, or wondering whether their work will outlast them. Its answer is to keep entrusting what you have to the next person. It is also unusually vulnerable, admitting loneliness and abandonment without dressing them up. The passage on Scripture in chapter 3 is the New Testament's most direct statement about the usefulness of the written word.

How to Read It

• Read chapter 4:9-18 and notice how ordinary and lonely the requests are.
• Read 2:2 and ask who you are handing what you know to.
• Read 3:16-17 with attention to what Scripture is said to be for.
• Read 4:7 when you are wondering whether the effort is worth continuing.

Key Verse

Did You Know?

• Paul asks Timothy to bring his cloak, his books, and especially the parchments, one of the most human details in the New Testament.
• The chain of transmission in 2:2 involves four generations of teachers in a single verse.
• This is traditionally regarded as the last surviving letter Paul wrote.

Where to Start Reading