2 Timothy 3:1-16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Timothy must not think it strange if there were in the church bad men; for the net of the gospel was to enclose both good fish and bad, Matt. 13:47, 48. Jesus Christ had foretold (Matt. 24:1-51) that there would come seducers, and therefore we must not be offended at it, nor think the worse of religion or the church for it. Even in gold ore there will be dross, and a great deal of chaff among the wheat when it lies on the floor. I. Timothy must know that in the last days (2 Tim. 3:1), in... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Here the apostle, to confirm Timothy in that way wherein he walked, I. Sets before him his own example, which Timothy had been an eye-witness of, having long attended Paul (2 Tim. 3:10): Thou hast fully known my doctrine. The more fully we know the doctrine of Christ and the apostles, the more closely we shall cleave to it; the reason why many sit loose to it is because they do not fully know it. Christ's apostles had no enemies but those who did not know them, or not know them fully; those... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:1

3:1 You must realize this--that in the last days difficult times will set in. The early Church lived in an age when the time was waxing late; they expected the Second Coming at any moment. Christianity was cradled in Judaism and very naturally thought largely in Jewish terms and pictures. Jewish thought had one basic conception. The Jews divided all time into this present age and the age to come. This present age was altogether evil; and the age to come would be the golden age of God. In... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

3:2-5 For men will live a life that is centred in self; they will be lovers of money, braggarts, arrogant, lovers of insult, disobedient to their parents, thankless, regardless even of the ultimate decencies of life, without human affection, implacable in hatred, revelling in slander, ungovernable in their passions, savage, not knowing what the love of good is, treacherous, headlong in word and action, inflated with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will maintain the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

In these terrible days men would be braggarts and arrogant. In Greek writings these two words often went together; and they are both picturesque. Braggart has an interesting derivation. It is the word alazon ( Greek #213 ) and was derived from the ale, which means a wandering about. Originally the alazon ( Greek #213 ) was a wandering quack. Plutarch uses the word to describe a quack doctor. The alazon ( Greek #213 ) was a mountebank who wandered the country with medicines and... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

These twin qualities of the braggart and the arrogant man inevitably result in love of insult (blasphemia, Greek #988 ). Blasphemia is the word which is transliterated into English as blasphemy. In English we usually associate it with insult against God, but in Greek it means insult against man and God alike. Pride always begets insult. It begets disregard of God, thinking that it does not need him and that it knows better than he. It begets a contempt of men which can issue in hurting... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

In these terrible days men will be slanderers. The Greek for slanderer is diabolos ( Greek #1228 ) which is precisely the English word devil. The devil is the patron saint of all slanderers and of all slanderers he is chief. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It is one thing to start an evil and untrue report on its... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

In these last terrible days men will come to have no love for good things or good persons (aphilagathos, Greek #865 ). There can come a time in a man's life when the company of good people and the presence of good things is simply an embarrassment. He who feeds his mind on cheap literature can in the end find nothing in the great masterpieces. His mental palate loses its taste. A man has sunk far when he finds even the presence of good people something which he would only wish to avoid. ... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:6-7

3:6-7 For from among these there come those who enter into houses, and take captive foolish women, laden with sins and driven by varied desires, ready to listen to any teacher but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. The Christian emancipation of women inevitably brought its problems. We have already seen how secluded the life of the respectable Greek woman was, how she was brought up under the strictest supervision, how she was not allowed "to see anything, to hear anything, or... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Timothy 3:8-9

3:8-9 In the same way as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men whose minds are corrupt, and whose faith is counterfeit. But they will not get much further, for their folly will be as clear to all as that of those ancient impostors. In the days between the Old and the New Testaments many Jewish books were written which expanded the Old Testament stories. In certain of these books Jannes and Jambres figured largely. These were the names given to the court... read more

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