2 Timothychapter 3
17 verses · BSB2 Timothy book hub →
Speaks with:Jude 1×42 Peter 3×2Romans 1×22 Timothy 2×22 Timothy 4×21 Timothy 4×2
Summary
Chapter summary
This know, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. JFB reads the chapter as Scripture's testimony to its own sufficiency.
Context
Epistle · Paul — 2 Timothy overview
- A. 1–9 Perilous Times: A Form of Godliness Without Power
- B. 10–13 Everyone Who Lives Godly Will Be Persecuted
- C. 14–17 From Childhood You Have Known the Sacred Writings
The outline
A.Perilous Times: A Form of Godliness Without Powervv. 1 to 9
Read vv. 1 to 9 →B.Everyone Who Lives Godly Will Be Persecutedvv. 10 to 13
Read vv. 10 to 13 →C.From Childhood You Have Known the Sacred Writingsvv. 14 to 17
Read vv. 14 to 17 →
The world behind this chapter
2 Timothy 3The history
The picture of teachers creeping into houses and capturing weak women is a picture of how house churches actually worked. Meetings happened in homes, the women of the household were present all day while the men were out at trade, and a persuasive visitor with religious credentials had access no stranger would get today.
Jannes and Jambres are not named in Exodus. Jewish tradition supplied the names of Pharaoh's magicians, and they appear in Jewish writings of the period, including texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paul is using a tradition his readers knew — the point is the pattern of men who could copy the signs but not the truth.
'All Scripture' meant something physical. A congregation owned scrolls, not a book; a full set of the Hebrew Scriptures was a small library that cost more than most members earned in a year, copied by hand and read aloud in the meeting.
The word behind 'God-breathed' says the writings came out of God, and the four uses that follow — teaching, rebuking, correcting, training — describe a workshop, not a shelf.
What it meant to them
For hearers who thought persecution meant something had gone wrong, verse 12 is flat: everyone who wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. It is the weather, not a verdict.
And the safeguard offered is not a new revelation but the writings Timothy had known since childhood, taught to him at home before he ever met Paul.
Sources cited
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
- Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 2 Timothy 3. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.