2 Timothy 2:15 - Exposition

Give diligence to present for study to show, A.V.; handling aright for rightly dividing, A.V. Give diligence. The A.V. "study," if we give it its proper force, as in the Latin studeo, studium, studiosus, expresses the sense of σπούδασον exactly. Zeal, earnest desire, effort, and haste, are all implied in it. To present thyself ( παραστῆσαι , to present); as in Luke 2:22 ; Acts 1:3 ; Acts 9:41 . In 1 Corinthians 8:8 it has the sense of "to commend," nearly the same as δόκιμον παραστῆσαι . The rendering, to show thyself, of the A.V. is a very good one, and is preserved in the R.V. of Acts 1:3 . Approved ( δόκιμον ; Romans 16:10 ; 1 Corinthians 11:19 , etc.); one that has been tried and tested and found to be sterling; properly of metals. This, with the two following qualifications, "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed," and "one that rightly handles the Word of truth," is the character which Timothy is exhorted to appear in before God. The dative τῷ θεῷ is governed by παραστῆσαι , not by δόκιμον . A workman ( ἐργάτην ). How natural is such a figure in the mouth of Paul, who wrought at his trade with Aquila and Priscilla ( Acts 18:3 ), and was working night and day at Thessalonica, that he might earn his own living! That needeth not to be ashamed ( ἀνεπαισχυντον ) ; not found anywhere else, either in the New Testament or in the LXX ., or in classical Greek. Bengel hits the right force of the word when he renders it "non pudefactum," only that by the common use of the passive participial form (compare ἀνεξιχνίαστος ἀνεξερεύνητος ἀναρίβμητος , etc.), it means further "that cannot be put to shame." The workman whose work is skimped is put to shame when, upon its being tested, it is found to be bad, dishonest work; the workman whose work, like himself, is δόκιμος , honest, conscientious, good work, and moreover sound and skilful work, never has been, and never can be, put to shame. St. Paul shows how to secure its being good work, viz. by its being done for the eye of God. Handling aright the Word of truth ( ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας ) . The verb ὀρθοτομεῖν occurs only here in the New Testament. In the LXX ., in Proverbs 3:6 , it stands for "he shall direct [or 'make straight'] thy paths;" and so in Proverbs 11:5 . The idea is the same as that in Hebrews 12:13 , "Make straight paths for your feet ( τροχιὰς ὀρθὰς ποιήσατε )." But this does not at all suit the context. We must look, therefore, at the etymology of the word. ̓Ορθοτόμεω must mean "to cut straight," and, as the apostle is speaking of a good workman, he must be thinking of some work in which the workman's skill consists in cutting straight: why not his own trade, in which it was all-important to cut the pieces straight that were afterwards to be joined to each other (see ὀρθότομος and ὀρθοτομία ) ? Hence, by an easy metaphor, "divide rightly," or "handle rightly, the Word of truth," preserving the true measure of the different portions of Divine truth.