2. Timotheus 1:15 Kommentar

Having (Ti2 1:13, Ti2 1:14) exhorted Timothy to hold fast, I. He mentions the apostasy of many from the doctrine of Christ, Ti2 1:15. It seems, in the best and purest ages of the church, there were those that had embraced the Christian faith, and yet afterwards revolted from it, nay, there were many such. He does not say that they had turned away from the doctrine of Christ (though it should seem they had) but they had turned away from him, they had turned their backs upon him, and disowned him in the time of his distress. And should we wonder at it, when many turned their backs on a much better than Paul? I mean the Lord Jesus Christ, Joh 6:66. II. He mentions the constancy of one that adhered to him, namely, Onesiphorus: For he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, Ti2 1:16. Observe, 1. What kindness Onesiphorus had shown to Paul: he refreshed him, he often refreshed him with his letters, and counsels, and comforts, and he was not ashamed of his chains. He was not ashamed of him, not withstanding the disgrace he was now under. He was kind to him not once or twice, but often; not only when he was at Ephesus among his own friends, but when Onesiphorus was at Rome; he took care to seek Paul out very diligently, and found him, Ti2 1:17. Observe, A good man will seek opportunities of doing good, and will not shun any that offer. At Ephesus he had ministered to him, and been very kind to him: Timothy knew it. 2. How Paul returns his kindness, Ti2 1:16-18. He that receives a prophet shall have a prophet's reward. He repays him with his prayers: The Lord give mercy to Onesiphorus. It is probable that Onesiphorus was now absent from home, and in company with Paul; Paul therefore prays that his house might be kept during his absence. Though the papists will have it that he was now dead; and, from Paul's praying for him that he might find mercy, they conclude the warrantableness of praying for the dead; but who told them that Onesiphorus was dead? And can it be safe to ground a doctrine and practice of such importance on a mere supposition and very great uncertainty? III. He prays for Onesiphorus himself, as well as for his house: That he may find mercy in that day, in the day of death and of judgment, when Christ will account all the good offices done to his poor members as done to himself. Observe, 1. The day of death and judgment is an awful day, and may be emphatically called that day. 2. We need desire no more to make us happy than to find mercy of the Lord in that day, when those that have shown no mercy will have judgment without mercy. 3. The best Christians will want mercy in that day; looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jde 1:21. 4. If you would have mercy then, you must seek for it now of the Lord. 5. It is of and from the Lord that we must have mercy; for, unless the Lord has mercy on us, in vain will be the pity and compassion of men or angels. 6. We are to seek and ask for mercy of the Lord, who is the giver and bestower of it; for the Lord Jesus Christ has satisfied justice, that mercy might be displayed. We are to come to a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need. 7. The best thing we can seek, either for ourselves or our friends, is that the Lord will grant to them that they may find mercy of the Lord in that day, when they must pass our of time into eternity, and exchange this world for the other, and appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: the Lord then grant unto all of us that we may find mercy of the Lord in that day.

In this chapter, after the inscription and salutation, the apostle expresses his great affection for Timothy, and highly commends him; exhorts him to various things relating to his office, as a preacher of the Gospel; and concludes with taking notice of the kindness shown him by Onesiphorus. The inscription and salutation are in Ti2 1:1 and then follows the preface to the epistle, in which the apostle testifies his great love to Timothy, and commends him; by declaring his thankfulness to God, that he had reason always to remember him in his prayers; by his desire to see him again, who had shed so many tears for him, that his joy might be filled; and by taking notice of his unfeigned faith, the same with that which had dwelt in his ancestors, Ti2 1:3. And then he proceeds to exhort him to the exercise and improvement of his ministerial gift; to show a fortitude of mind, and a manly spirit in the cause of Christ; and to suffer cheerfully for the sake of it, Ti2 1:6 and in order to animate and encourage him to the same, he gives a summary of the Gospel, as containing in it the great doctrines of salvation, and eternal life, according to the free grace of God through Jesus Christ, Ti2 1:9 and observes, that he himself was appointed a preacher of it to the Gentiles, Ti2 1:11 and instances in himself, as suffering for it, without being ashamed; and as having a strong confidence in Christ, as able to keep him, and what he had committed to him, Ti2 1:12 and then returns to his exhortation to Timothy to hold fast the Gospel of Christ; to which he urges him from the consideration of the nature and value of it, being a form of sound words, and that famous good thing, and of the means and manner in which he came to the knowledge of it; and chiefly from its being committed to him by the Holy Ghost, that dwelt in him; and also because of the general defection of the Asian professors from it, Ti2 1:13 but he excepts one person, Onesiphorus by name, whom he commends for his kindness to him both at Ephesus and at Rome; and therefore entreats of the Lord mercy, both for him and his house, at the great day, Ti2 1:16.

This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia,.... Either those that followed the apostle from Asia to Rome; or who came from thence thither, upon business, and were upon the spot when the apostle was in his greatest troubles, and yet all forsook him and no man stood by him; or else the churches and ministers in Asia, that is, a great number of them; for it cannot be said of every minister and church, and of all the members of churches there, what follows, be turned away from me; were ashamed of him, because of his chain, and despised him under his afflictions, and had him in abhorrence and contempt, and revolted from his doctrine; though the defection was very general, and the apostle appeals to Timothy for the truth of it, as a fact well known to him: "this thou knowest"; Timothy being at Ephesus, which was in Asia; and since there was so great an apostasy in the country where he was, the above exhortations were very seasonable, to hold fast the form of sound words, and keep the good thing committed to him; seeing so many were falling off from the truth of the Gospel: of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes: who very likely were ministers of the word, and who had shone for a while, but were now stars fallen from heaven, had erred from the faith, and were become apostates, and proved men of corrupt minds, and deceivers of the people; and it may be that these were more open and infamous than some others, or might be more known to Timothy, and therefore are particularly mentioned. They are both of them said to have been of the seventy disciples; See Gill on Luk 10:1 and afterwards followers of Simon Magus. The name of the first of these signifies a "fugitive", and such was he from the cause of Christ. Pliny (c) makes mention of a town in Asia, called Phygella, from the fugitives which built it; and the latter signifies born of Mercury; there was one of the name in Tertullian's time, against whom he wrote. (c) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 29.

It is a comparatively small thing, that certain men, like Phygellus, and Hermogenes, and Philetus, and Hymenµus, deserted His apostle: the betrayer of Christ was himself one of the apostles.

He is a thorough adulterer, both doctrinally and carnally, since he is rank indeed with the contagion of your marriage-hacks, and has also failed in cleaving to the rule of faith as much as the apostle's own Hermogenes. However, never mind the man, when it is his doctrine which I question.

What archangel's voice, (I wonder), what trump of God is now heard, except it be, forsooth, in the entertainments of the heretics? For, allowing that the word of the gospel may be called "the trump of God," since it was still calling men, yet they must at that time either be dead as to the body, that they may be able to rise again; and then how are they alive? Or else caught up into the clouds; and how then are they here? "Most miserable," no doubt, as the apostle declared them, are they "who in this life only" shall be found to have hope: they will have to be excluded while they are with premature haste seizing that which is promised after this life; erring concerning the truth, no less than Phygellus and Hermogenes. Hence it is that the Holy Ghost, in His greatness, foreseeing clearly all such interpretations as these, suggests (to the apostle), in this very epistle of his to the Thessalonians, as follows: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, there is no necessity for my writing unto you.

For the apostle likewise delivered Phygellus and Hermogenes over to Satan that by chastening they might be taught not to blaspheme. You see, then, that the devil receives more suitably power even from the servants of God; so far is he from having it by any fight of his own.

Then he describes his trials and temptations, not to depress his disciple, but to elevate him, that if he should ever fall into the same, he may not think it strange, when he looks back and remembers what things happened to his Teacher. What then says he? Since it was probable that Timothy might be apprehended, and be deserted, and be relieved by no friendly attention, or influence, or assistance, but be abandoned even by his friends and the faithful themselves, hear what he says, "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." It seems that there were then in Rome many persons from the regions of Asia. "But no one stood by me," he says, no one acknowledged me, all were alienated. And observe the philosophy of his soul. He only mentions their conduct, he does not curse them, but he praises him that showed kindness to him, and invokes a thousand blessings upon him, without any curse on them. "Of whom is Phygellus and Hermogenes."

Paul was then at Rome. Many had wandered away, some for money, others for other reasons. Some of the Asian converts abandoned Paul there on account of the fear of Nero. Paul is afraid that they might be a problem to Timothy, and he wants him to be aware of them.

You know this, that all who are in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. Paul is tested not to be overcome, but to teach endurance in similar trials. For when he was arrested by Nero, his friends in Asia abandoned him. There were many in Rome from Asia who followed Paul or were otherwise faithful. But all of them distanced themselves after his arrest by Nero. that all who are in Asia. That is, those from Asia.

The Apostle points to the temptations, not in order to strike the disciple, but to more fully persuade him — so that, in the event that he himself should undergo similar temptations, he would not think that he was experiencing anything extraordinary, but would bear them calmly. After the Apostle was taken into custody by Nero, all the Asians abandoned him, that is, the people from the Asian provinces who were living in Rome.

Then when he says, you know this, he shows why it was necessary to give this admonition, both because some are slackening and some are progressing. For when a person sees some of his associates making progress and others slowing down, he strives to imitate the good ones: first, therefore, he reminds him that some are slowing up; second, that some are making progress, at the Lord gives mercy. Therefore, he tells him what to avoid to keep out of danger: he that thinks himself to stand, let him take heed, lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12). Therefore, he says, all they who are in Asia are turned away from me; on which a Gloss says: they were full of deceit; for they pretended to sympathize with the Apostle, but only to obtain information with which to slander him. Therefore, they who are turned from me are now in Asia: among them were Phigellus and Hermogenes, who were converted by James.

Paul's address to Timothy, and declaration of his affection for him, Ti2 1:1-4. His account of the piety of Timothy's mother and grandmother, and the religious education they had given their son, Ti2 1:5. He exhorts him to stir up the gift of God that is in him, and not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, Ti2 1:6-8. How God has saved them that believe; and how Christ has brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel, Ti2 1:9, Ti2 1:10. The apostle's call to preach it, and the persecutions which he had been obliged in consequence to endure, Ti2 1:11, Ti2 1:12. Timothy is exhorted to hold fast the form of sound words, Ti2 1:13, Ti2 1:14. And is informed of the apostasy of several in Asia: and particularly of Phygellus and Hermogenes, Ti2 1:15. And of the great kindness of Onesiphorus to the apostle in his imprisonment, Ti2 1:16-18.

All they which are in Asia - It seems as if the apostle must refer to the Asiatic Christians which were then at Rome, or had been lately there. Finding the apostle in disgrace, and thinking it dangerous to own him or his cause, they neither visited him, or confessed Christianity. He cannot be speaking of any general defection of the Asiatic Churches, but of those Asiatics who had professed a particular friendship for him. Phygellus and Hermogenes - These were two of the persons of whom he complains; but who they were, or what office they held, or whether they were any thing but private Christians who had for a time ministered to St. Paul in prison, and, when they found the state determined to destroy him, ceased to acknowledge him, we cannot tell.

This Epistle is the last testament and swan-like death song of Paul [BENGEL]. according to the promise of life . . . in Christ--Paul's apostleship is in order to carry into effect this promise. Compare "according to the faith . . . in hope of eternal life . . . promise," &c. (Tit 1:1-2). This "promise of life in Christ" (compare Ti2 1:10; Ti2 2:8) was needed to nerve Timothy to fortitude amidst trials, and to boldness in undertaking the journey to Rome, which would be attended with much risk (Ti2 1:8).

all they which are in Asia--Proconsular Asia; "all who are there now, when they were in Rome (not 'be' or 'are,' but) turned from me" then; were "ashamed of my chain," in contrast to ONESIPHORUS; did not stand with me but forsook me (Ti2 4:16). It is possible that the occasion of their turning from him was at his apprehension in Nicopolis, whither they had escorted him on his way to Rome, but from which they turned back to Asia. A hint to Timothy, now in Asia, not to be like them, but to imitate rather ONESIPHORUS, and to come to him (Ti2 4:21). Phygellus and Hermogenes--specified perhaps, as being persons from whom such pusillanimous conduct could least be expected; or, as being well known to Timothy, and spoken of before in conversations between him and Paul, when the latter was in Asia Minor.