Theodore of Mopsuestia

In his own words on 2 Timothy

• 2 Timothy 1:10

  The gospel is ancient in the will of the Giver, even if new in the chain of events. God has demonstrated his eternal will in Christ.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 1:12

  The "deposit" is the pledge of the Spirit given to Paul that he may be preserved.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 2:8

  Some were teaching that it was merely the "assumed body" which came from the seed of David. Paul taught this to combat Simon's Docetic heresy, by which the resurrection is emptied of meaning.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 2:15

  Paul's intent here is to urge Timothy to teach with a correct purpose, so that the word is not undermined.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 2:18

  The heretical teaching about the resurrection is that it happens in the process of natural procreation, by which our children succeed us.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 2:20

  Here the house is the church, where different persons are not at all equal, yet each serves his or her use.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 3:8

  A great deal of foolishness has been written about how Paul could have known the names of these two men who resisted Moses. Particularly absurd is the notion that he had access to some information or writing now lost to us.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 3:9

  The growth that the heretics enjoy will only be in numbers, not in depth or substance.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 3:15

  Paul here lays out four reasons why Timothy ought to be steadfast, if he will recall them: first, because of the teacher from whom he learned; second, the time when he learned it; third, the source from which the teaching came; and finally, the sublime purpose for which he learned it.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 3:16

  The usefulness of Scripture lies in its detailing of what one ought to do, either to convict sinners or to clarify what correction is necessary for penitents or to teach what can bring persons to righteousness.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:2

  Every occasion constitutes an opportune time for preaching.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:2

  "Reprove" applies to those who persist in their sin, that they might be led to understand it as sin. "Rebuke" is aimed at those actually engaging in sin. "Exhort" is directed to those who might be led back to their former state after penitence.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:6

  Paul does not say libor but delibor, that is, enduring death in the confession of Christ as a libation of wine is poured out on behalf of honoring God.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:10

  He calls "Galatia" what we now call Gaul; for so all of the older peoples called this place, as anyone can recognize from many sources, especially from the Jewish history written by Josephus. For those people who are now called Galatians are so designated in the old narratives that trace their movement from those regions to various places.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:13

  Paul makes a distinction here between the parchment volumina, which are in the form of scrolls, and the regular libros, which are in book or codex form.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY

• 2 Timothy 4:13

  The view that this paenula is some other kind of book, rather than just a garment, is ridiculous.

  COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY