2 Timothy 2:26

‘And they may recover themselves (or ‘return to sober thinking’ or ‘awaken from sleep’) out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him (either the devil or the Lord’s servant) unto his will.’

The object of the Lord’s servant should be to recover them out of the snare of the Devil. The word for recover means ‘sober up, awaken’. The point is that they have been in a state of stupefaction. They have been led astray and deceived by the Devil (the god of this world who has blinded their eyes lest they see the glory of Christ - 2 Corinthians 4:4), and, stumbling along, have been caught in his trap (see also 1 Timothy 3:7; 1 Timothy 6:9). The idea of the Devil as a deceiver is a common one (2 Timothy 3:13; Joh 8:44 ; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 13:14; Revelation 20:8).

‘Having been taken captive (‘taken alive’) by him (either the Devil or the Lord’s servant) unto his (either God’s or the Devil’s) will.’ The problem here is the significance of the pronouns ‘autou’ (him) and ‘ekeinou’ (his). Is the intention of the change in order to indicate two different persons? Is the ‘him’ the instrument of recovery (the Lord’s servant seen as ‘taking them alive’ as in Luke 5:10) and bringing them back to the will of God (see 2 Timothy 2:24), or is it simply indicating that they have been taken alive by the Devil in his snare so that he can lead them in his will. In this regard the restoration by the Lord’s servant of those who had gone astray would fit in well with 2 Timothy 2:19, which begins the chiasmus, and with God giving them repentance to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:25).