End of 1 Timothy and beginning of 2 Timothy in Sinaiticus

The Second Epistle to Timothy is one of the three pastoral epistles traditionally attributed to

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

.. Addressed to

Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

, a fellow missionary, it is traditionally considered to be the last epistle Paul wrote before his death. The original language is

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. While the Pastorals are attributed to Paul, they differ from his other letters. Since the early 19th century, scholars have increasingly viewed them as the work of an unknown follower of Paul's teachings. This perspective arises from the fact that the Pastorals do not focus on Paul's typical themes, such as believers' unity with Christ, and they present a church

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...

that is more organized and defined than what existed during Paul's lifetime. Nonetheless, a number of scholars still defend the traditional authorship of 2 Timothy.

Authorship

Some modern critical scholars argue that 2 Timothy, as well as the other two so-called "pastoral letters" (

1 Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the pastoral epistles, along with Second Timothy and Titus. The letter, traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul, consists m ...

and

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...

), were not written by Paul but by an anonymous author, sometime between 90 and 140 AD. Some scholars refer to the assumedly pseudonymous author as "the Pastor". The language and ideas of 2 Timothy are notably different from the other two pastoral epistles yet similar to the later

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ext ...

, especially the ones he wrote in captivity. This has led some scholars to conclude that the author of 2 Timothy is a different person from that of 1 Timothy and Titus.

Raymond E. Brown Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was a specialist on the hypothetical Johannine community, which he speculated contributed to the authorship of the Gosp ...

proposed that this letter was written by a follower of Paul who had knowledge of Paul's last days. Most scholars, both those arguing for and against its authenticity, are of the opinion that 2 Timothy belongs to a pseudepigraphic genre known as the ''testamentary genre'' or ''farewell discourse'', the 'testament' genre contains two main elements: ethical warnings to be followed after the death of the writer and revelations of the future. The significant fact about the 'testament' genre was not in its markers but in its nature; it is argued that a piece of 'testament' literature is meant to "be a completely transparent fiction".

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (born 10 April 1935, Cork City, Ireland – died 11 November 2013, Jerusalem) was an Irish Dominican priest, a leading authority on St. Paul, and a Professor of New Testament at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, a posi ...

, however, argued that 2 Timothy was written by Paul and that the other two pastoral epistles were written by someone else using it as a model.

Oldest surviving manuscripts

The original manuscript of this book is lost, as are about two centuries of the earliest copies. The text of surviving manuscripts varies. The oldest manuscripts containing some or all of the text of this book include: *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(AD 330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(c. 450) *

Codex Freerianus Codex Freerianus, designated by I or 016 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1041 ( von Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Pauline Epistles'', is a 5th-century manuscript in an uncial hand on vellum in Greek. It is named afte ...

(c. 450) *

Codex Claromontanus Codex Claromontanus, symbolized by Dp, D2 or 06 (in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1026 (Biblical manuscript#Von Soden, von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written in an ...

(c. 550) *

Codex Coislinianus Codex Coislinianus designated by Hp or 015 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1022 ( Soden), was named also as ''Codex Euthalianus''. It is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Pauline epistles, dated palaeographically to the 6th century. The ...

(c. 550)

Content

According to the letter, Paul urges

not to have a "spirit of timidity" and not to "be ashamed to testify about our Lord" (1:7–8). He also entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (cf. '' Philippians'' 2:22). He was anticipating that "the time of his departure was at hand" (4:6), and he exhorts his "son Timothy" to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combating them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution (1:6–15), and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office (4:1–5), with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead. This letter contains one of Paul's

Christological In Christianity, Christology is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would be in the freeing of ...

hymns in 2:11–13: or Paul is depicted in the letter, which may have been written after his death, as anticipating his being put to death and realities beyond in his valedictory found in 2 Timothy 4:6–8: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Portions of 2 Timothy parallel the

Epistle to the Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Saint Timothy, Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to ...

, also believed to have been written (with Timothy's help) near the time of Paul's death. Based on the traditional view that 2 Timothy was Paul's final epistle, chapter 4 talks (v. 10) about how

Demas Demas (; probably a short form of '' Demetrios'') was a man mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament of the Bible, and appears to have been involved for a time in his ministry. Demas is mentioned in three of the Pauline epistles: *In ...

, formerly considered a "fellow worker", had deserted him for

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...

, "having loved this present world". In sharp contrast to his dispute with Barnabas over Mark (Acts 15:37–40), which resulted in the two parting ways, Paul now considered Mark to be "profitable to the ministry" (v. 11). Chapter 4 also features the only biblical mention of Linus (v. 21), who in Catholic tradition is listed as Peter's immediate successor as

Bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

. In the epistle, Paul asks Timothy to bring his coat and books to him next time he sees him. 2 Timothy 2:14-16 contains a number of commands addressed to Paul's co-worker (in the second person) about how one to teach or relate to those in disputes pertaining heresy. The teaching of Paul was regarded authoritative by

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

and anti-Gnostic groups alike in the second century, but this epistle stands out firmly and becomes a basis for anti-Gnostic positions.

Notes

References

External links