2 Timothy 1:2 - Exposition

Beloved child for dearly beloved son, A.V.; peace for and peace, A.V. My beloved child. In 1 Timothy 1:2 (as in Titus 1:4 ) it is "my true child," or "my own son," A.V. The idea broached by some commentators, that this variation in expression marks some change in St. Paul's confidence in Timothy, seems utterly unfounded. The exhortations to boldness and courage which follow were the natural results of the danger in which St. Paul's own life was, and the depression of spirits caused by the desertion of many friends ( 2 Timothy 4:10-16 ). St. Paul, too, knew that the time was close at hand when Timothy, still young, would no longer have him to lean upon and look up to, and therefore would prepare him for it; and possibly he may have seen some symptoms of weakness in Timothy's character, which made him anxious, as appears, indeed, in the course of this Epistle. Grace , etc. (so 1 Timothy 1:2 ; Titus 1:4 , A.V.; 2 John 1:3 ). Jude has "mercy, peace, and love." The salutation in Ephesians 1:2 is "grace and peace," as also in Romans 1:7 ; 1 Corinthians 1:3 , and elsewhere in St. Paul's Epistles, and in Revelation 1:4 .