New American Bible
2002 11 11
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Chapter 1
1
1 2 Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
2
to Timothy, my dear child: grace, mercy, and
peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3
I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a
clear conscienceas my ancestors did, 3 as I remember you
constantly in my prayers, night and day.
4
4 I yearn to see you again, recalling your
tears, so that I may be filled with joy,
5
as I recall your sincere faith that first lived
in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident
lives also in you.
6
For this reason, I remind you to stir into
flame the gift of God 5 that you have through the imposition
of my hands.
7
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
8
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our
Lord, 6 nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your
share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.
9
7 He saved us and called us to a holy life, not
according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed
on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10
but now made manifest through the appearance of
our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel,
11
8 for which I was appointed preacher and apostle
and teacher.
12
9 On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed, for I know him in whom I have believed and am confident
that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
13
Take as your norm the sound words that you
heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
14
Guard this rich trust with the help of the holy
Spirit that dwells within us.
15
10 You know that everyone in Asia deserted me,
including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16
11 May the Lord grant mercy to the family of
Onesiphorus because he often gave me new heart and was not ashamed of my
chains.
17
But when he came to Rome, he promptly searched
for me and found me.
18
May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the
Lord 12 on that day. And you know very well the services he
rendered in Ephesus.
1 [1-2] For the formula of address
and greeting, see the note on ⇒ Romans 1:1-7.
2 [1] The promise of life in Christ
Jesus: that God grants through union with Christ in faith and love; cf
⇒ Col 3:4; ⇒ 1 Tim 4:8.
3 [3] As my ancestors did: this
emphasizes the continuity of Judaism and Christianity; for a similar view, see
⇒ Romans 9:3-5; ⇒ Philippians
3:4-6.
4 [4-5] Purportedly written from
prison in Rome (⇒ 2 Tim 1:8,
⇒ 17; ⇒ 4:6-8) shortly
before the writer's death, the letter recalls the earlier sorrowful parting
from Timothy, commending him for his faith and expressing the longing to see
him again.
5 [6] The gift of God: the grace
resulting from the conferral of an ecclesiastical office. The imposition of my
hands: see the note on ⇒ 1 Tim 4:14.
6 [8] Do not be ashamed of your
testimony to our Lord: i.e., of preaching and suffering for the sake of the
gospel.
7 [9-10] Redemption from sin and the
call to holiness of life are not won by personal deeds but are freely and
graciously bestowed according to God's eternal plan; cf ⇒ Eph
1:4.
8 [11] Teacher: the overwhelming majority
of manuscripts and Fathers read "teacher of the nations," undoubtedly
a harmonization with ⇒ 1 Tim 2:7.
9 [12] He is able to guard . . .
until that day: the intervening words can also be translated "what I have
entrusted to him" (i.e., the fruit of his ministry) as well as "what
has been entrusted to me" (i.e., the faith). The same difficult term
occurs in ⇒ 2 Tim 1:14, where it is modified by the
adjective "rich" and used without a possessive.
10 [15] Keen disappointment is
expressed, here and later (⇒ 2 Tim 4:16), that the
Christians of the province of Asia, specially Phygelus and Hermogenes, should
have abandoned the writer and done nothing to defend his case in court.
11 [16-18] The family of Onesiphorus
because he . . . of my chains: Onesiphorus seems to have died before this
letter was written. His family is mentioned twice (here and in
⇒ 2 Tim 4:19), though it was Onesiphorus himself
who was helpful to Paul in prison and rendered much service to the community of
Ephesus. Because the apostle complains of abandonment by all in Asia during his
second imprisonment and trial, the assistance of Onesiphorus seems to have been
given to Paul during his first Roman imprisonment (A.D. 61-63).
12 [18] Lord . . . Lord: the first "Lord" here seems to
refer to Christ, the second "Lord" to the Father.
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