Personal Requests and Warnings (2 Timothy 4:9–15)

It consists of: a) the summons of holy Timothy to come to him, with the reason for it (4:9–12); b) an instruction (v. 13); c) a warning (4:14–15); d) news (4:16–18); e) greetings (4:19–21); f) a blessing (v. 22).

j) The summons of holy Timothy (2 Tim. 4:9–12)

2 Tim. 4:9. Make haste to come to me soon.

He expresses the invitation briefly, in full confidence that a mere hint will suffice for holy Timothy, who always longed to remain inseparably with his father and teacher. He uses, however, words of urgency: “Make haste, soon.” Perhaps by this he wished to say: do not allow any obstacle to stop you. “Soon”—in verse 21 is replaced by the phrase: “before winter.” By this he indicated either the final limit on any delay, or his fear that winter, overtaking him on the road, might against his will detain him for a long time on the way and even expose him to extreme dangers. Holy Chrysostom says: “One may ask: why does Paul call Timothy to himself, when he had been entrusted with a Church and an entire people? The Apostle does not do this out of pride. But why, then? Because he was in extreme need, could no longer move about at his own will, lived in prison, having been confined there by Nero, and was preparing to die before long. Therefore, lest this should occur before he met with his disciple, the Apostle calls him to himself, wishing to see him before his own end and, perhaps, to hand on to him many things.”

2 Tim. 4:10. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present age, and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia; Luke alone is with me.

“He does not say: for I wish to see you before my departure from this present life, which would have grieved Timothy greatly; but rather: for I am left alone, I have no one to help me” (holy Chrysostom)—“in the work of proclaiming the Gospel” (blessed Theophylact).

“For Demas has forsaken me.” — “Demas too was one of Paul’s fellow-workers, and greatly praised; for he says: ‘Demas and Luke, my fellow-workers, greet you’ (Phlm. 1:23–24). But in the time of danger Demas, abandoning the Apostle, departed from Rome, counting separation as safety for himself” (blessed Theodoret). He did not fall away from the faith, but feared sufferings and death, and fled. “Hardships there had been before, and dangers too, but not so terrible and inescapable. And he did not stand firm.”

“Having loved this present age”—that is, having loved ease, a safe and peaceful life, he preferred to enjoy himself at home rather than suffer with me and share my present dangers. He reproaches Demas alone, yet not wishing to reproach him but to strengthen us, that we might not faint in spirit amid dangers and trials; at the same time he also wished to draw his disciple (that is, holy Timothy) more closely to himself (holy Chrysostom).

“Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”

“He does not reproach these; for Titus was one of the truly admirable men, so that Paul entrusted to him the church affairs on an island not small but very great, namely Crete” (holy Chrysostom). “These departed with his knowledge and by his arrangement; which is why he does not say of them: they have forsaken me” (Oecumenius). “They went not because they loved this present age, but on business, perhaps of preaching, or for some other need” (blessed Theophylact). “Both of them are free from that accusation, because they were sent by the Apostle himself for the work of preaching” (blessed Theodoret).

Concerning Crescens, a tradition preserved by Sophronius records that he preached in Galatia and Gaul. Having appointed his disciple Zacharias as bishop in Vienne (in Gaul), he returned to Galatia and there died as a martyr, in the reign of Trajan. He is one of the Apostles of the Seventy. His feast day is July 30. — Blessed Theodoret writes: “Crescens to Galatia.” “Thus the Apostle named Gaul; such was its name in antiquity; and even now those versed in secular learning call it by this name.”

Concerning holy Titus, see the introduction to the Epistle to him. Dalmatia was then the same region as it is today and formed part of Illyricum. The Apostle’s preaching had reached as far as Illyricum even before his first imprisonment (Rom. 15:19). Probably, during the time of his second imprisonment a need arose in the Church there for some authoritative arrangement of affairs—and holy Paul sent there holy Titus, who had already carried out a similar commission in Crete, to set things in order.

“Luke alone is with me.” “He was inseparably with holy Paul, wrote the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, was industrious, inquisitive, and steadfast. Of him the Apostle says in another Epistle: ‘whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the churches’ (2 Cor. 8:18)” (holy Chrysostom). He was with holy Paul also during the first imprisonment (Col. 4:14; Phlm. 1:24). Certainly he was with him throughout the entire time between those imprisonments as well.

2 Tim. 4:11. Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for the ministry.

Holy Mark was with the Apostle in Rome during the first imprisonment, and after it, during the visitation of the churches, was probably left by him somewhere—perhaps in one of the Macedonian or Achaean churches that lay on the road from Ephesus to Rome. Or perhaps he was still in Colossae, to which holy Paul had enjoined, in his Epistle to them, to receive him when he came. He could have remained there until this time.

“For he is useful to me for the ministry.” What ministry? “He does not require him for his own comfort, but for service to the Gospel. For even in chains he did not cease to preach. And Timothy also he calls to himself not for his personal needs, but for the proclamation of the Gospel, so that no disturbance should arise among the faithful at the occasion of his death, and that his many disciples, being present, might calm the agitation and console those who mourned his passing; for among those who had believed in Rome there were doubtless men of great standing” (holy Chrysostom).

2 Tim. 4:12. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

The difficulty in understanding this passage is resolved if we allow that “I have sent” stands in place of “I am sending”; “I have sent” is said in the sense of: I have firmly decided to send—as though: count him as already sent. This is mentioned as a further explanation that he is alone in Rome with holy Luke. Tychicus was sent with the present Epistle and was to remain in Ephesus in place of holy Timothy, to oversee things and report at once if anything decisive should happen. This arrangement was communicated verbally; it is not mentioned in the Epistle, so as not to offend the Ephesians by suggesting that they could not be left alone, as though they were unstable and unreliable. That the Apostle did not write “to you” should not be regarded as an objection to our supposition. By saying “to Ephesus” he obviously also said “to you.” Nor should one suppose that holy Timothy was not in Ephesus at that time.

k) The commission (2 Tim. 4:13)

2 Tim. 4:13. The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, when you come, bring it, and the books, especially the parchments.

The cloak (phelonion) was an outer garment that varied in material according to the season but was uniform in shape, providing protection from dust, rain, damp, and cold. Setting out for Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3) and Achaia, the Apostle on this occasion also passed through Troas and left there with Carpus the excess burden, intending to return soon, as he had planned (1 Tim. 3:14). But circumstances turned out such that, instead of Ephesus, he had to depart for Rome as a prisoner. The cloak proved to be needed, and he instructs that it be brought. Carpus is not mentioned further in Scripture. If this is the same person commemorated on May 26, then tradition (Hippolytus) relates of him that he was a disciple and companion of holy Paul, preached the word of God in Crete, where he also met holy Dionysius the Areopagite, and in Thrace; he died and was buried in Beroea of Thrace. He is of the Seventy.

“When you come, bring it.” The road for holy Timothy lay or was intended to be the same, through Troas. Books in those days were of papyrus or parchment. The latter, as more costly, were doubtless equally so in content. These might be the Bible, some theological treatises of Gamaliel, the Gospels already in use—those of Matthew, Mark, Luke—and perhaps also the Epistles of holy Paul himself and of other Apostles. With whom were these books? Perhaps with the same Carpus, having been left together with the cloak for the sake of lightening the load, with the expectation of returning soon to collect them. “The divine Scriptures in antiquity were kept in scrolls of dressed hides; and thus the Jews keep them even to this day” (blessed Theodoret). “Why were books necessary for one who was preparing to depart to God? They were very much needed, so that he might hand them on to the faithful, that they might have them in place of his teaching. All the faithful at that time doubtless felt a great loss, especially those who were present at his end and enjoyed the sight of his face. — And the cloak he requests so as not to need to take one from another. See how much he cared about this (about not taking from others); elsewhere too he expressed this, when he said to the Ephesian presbyters: ‘these hands of mine have ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me’ (Acts 20:34–35)” (holy Chrysostom).

l) The warning (2 Tim. 4:14–15)

2 Tim. 4:14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

This Alexander is not the same one who calmed the crowd during the riot against holy Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19). That one was a man of letters and indifferent to the interests of the coppersmith trade. More likely this one was a companion of Demetrius the silversmith, who had his own workshop making copper goods, χαλκευς. He may also not be the same as the one mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:20; though it would be more plausible that he is, despite the trade of coppersmith. But determining this is of little importance. Nor does it matter much where he showed his opposition and wickedness toward the Apostle—in Rome or in Ephesus—or whether the Apostle’s words are a recollection of a past event or refer to something present, to what happened in Rome. In the latter case one must suppose that Alexander came from Ephesus to Rome, either on his own or at the instigation of the Ephesian community, to accuse holy Paul, and was prepared to return to Ephesus again. Such a supposition seems unnecessary. Holy Paul was taken to Rome not at all on account of Ephesian complaints, but for his preaching everywhere. There is therefore no reason to have this Alexander following after him and then going back. It is simpler to picture him as remaining fixed in Ephesus, while being very active only in opposing the Gospel and the holy Apostles. Holy Paul had suffered evil from him during his last stay in Ephesus, and now reminds holy Timothy of him so that he might be on his guard. This is a warning, not a piece of news. Blessed Theodoret writes: “It is in no way surprising that a coppersmith stirred up riots against the Apostle and brought him into danger; for it is characteristic of those who live by the labour of their hands to rouse the people against what deprives them of work. So too the silversmith Demetrius armed the whole of Ephesus against Paul.” And holy Chrysostom says that “here the Apostle recalls the trial not merely to reproach or condemn the person he mentions, but to inspire his disciple to strive and dispose him to bear trials with courage. Even if those who bring trials upon us are of no account, even if they are base and ignoble, one must, he says, endure everything with courage.”

“He did me much harm”—“he caused me intense sufferings more than once” (holy Chrysostom). “He made me suffer greatly and in various ways. It is indeed usual that people of no standing and of low condition, when they begin to do evil, spare no one at all, caring nothing for the opinion of society” (blessed Theophylact).

“The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” The Apostle speaks calmly, without passionate emotion. Therefore it resembles more a prophecy than a wish for revenge. Blessed Theophylact writes that αποδωη stands in place of αποδωσει; and holy Chrysostom actually reads αποδωσει. Blessed Theodoret writes: “This is a prophecy, not a curse (and he reads αποδωη), and the Apostle said this to console blessed Timothy and to teach him not to be discouraged by the successive assaults of adversaries.” But the optative form should raise no difficulty. For a wish that obstacles to the success of the Gospel be removed is approved by moral sense. The Apostle speaks in this spirit: “he says this not because saints rejoice in the punishment of evil men, but because the matter concerned the preaching and the weaker among the faithful had need of such consolation: this will not pass unpunished for him” (holy Chrysostom). It is proper to the saints to enter into the designs of God and, in the feeling of God’s righteousness, to voice the wish that those who oppose God may receive what they have merited—as we find in the Psalms and the Prophets.

2 Tim. 4:15. Guard yourself also against him, for he has greatly opposed our words.

“Guard yourself.” “He did not say: cause him grief, punish him, drive him away, though by the grace of God he could have done so; he does none of these things and does not arm his disciple against him, but enjoins only to keep away from him, leaving punishment to God” (holy Chrysostom).

“For he has greatly opposed our words.” “That is, the words of the preaching” (Oecumenius)—“the proclamation of the Gospel” (blessed Theophylact). “He wages war against the Gospel and works against it” (holy Chrysostom). He opposes it both in word and in deed.