Ministry in the Last Days
1 But understand this, that in the last days difficulttn Or perhaps, “dangerous,” “fierce.” times will come.
2 For peopletn Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women. will be lovers of themselves,tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end. lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God.
5 They will maintain the outward appearancetn Or “form.”sn Outward appearance. Paul’s contrast with power in 3:5b shows that he regards this “form” to be outward, one of appearance rather than reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:19-20; 1 Thess 1:5). of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.
6 For some of these insinuate themselvestn Grk “For from these are those who sneak.” into households and captivate weak womentn Or “silly women.” who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions.
7 Such women are always seeking instruction,tn Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
8 And just as Jannes and Jambressn Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus. opposed Moses, so these people – who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faithtn Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.” – also oppose the truth.
9 But they will not go much further,tn Grk “for they will not progress any more.” for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.tn Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Continue in What You Have Learned
10 You, however,sn There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2-9. have followed my teaching, mytn The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series. way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,
11 as well as the persecutions and sufferingstn Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10. that happened to me in Antioch,map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2; JP4-E2. in Iconium, and in Lystra.sn In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13-14 for the account of these persecutions.map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2 I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all.
12 Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
13 But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,tn Grk “will advance to the worse.” deceiving others and being deceived themselves.tn Grk “deceiving and being deceived.”
14 You, however, must continuetn Grk “but you, continue,” a command. in the things you have learned and are confident about. You knowtn Grk “knowing,” giving the reasons for continuing as v. 14 calls for. who taught youtn Grk “those from whom you learned.”
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 Every scripturetn Or “All scripture.”sn There is very little difference in sense between every scripture (emphasizing the individual portions) and “all scripture” (emphasizing the composite whole). The former option is preferred, because it fits the normal use of the word “all/every” in Greek (πᾶς, pas) as well as Paul’s normal sense for the word “scripture” in the singular without the article, as here. So every scripture means “every individual portion of scripture.” is inspired by Godsn Inspired by God. Some have connected this adjective in a different way and translated it as “every inspired scripture is also useful.” But this violates the parallelism of the two adjectives in the sentence, and the arrangement of words makes clear that both should be taken as predicate adjectives: “every scripture is inspired…and useful.” and useful for teaching, for reproof,tn Or “rebuke,” “censure.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction. for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the person dedicated to Godtn Grk “the man of God,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is most likely used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women. may be capabletn This word is positioned for special emphasis; it carries the sense of “complete, competent, able to meet all demands.” and equipped for every good work.
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