This section of Chapter 4 has seven verses:
2 Timothy 4:9-15
9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this
present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;
Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him
with thee: for he is profitable to me for the
ministry.
12 And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when
thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but
especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the
Lord reward him according to his works:
15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly
withstood our words.
We will begin with the Barclay commentary:
A ROLL OF HONOUR AND DISHONOUR
2 Timothy 4: 9-15
…paraphrased
Do
your best to come and see me soon. Demas has
deserted me, because he loved this present
world, and has gone to Thessalonica.
Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to
Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Take Mark
and bring him with you, for he is very
useful in service. I have sent Tychicus to
Ephesus. When you come, bring with you the
cloak which I left behind at Troas at
Carpus’ house, and bring the books,
especially the parchments. Alexander, the
coppersmith, did me a great deal of harm.
The Lord will reward him according to his
deeds. You yourself must be on your guard
against him, for he hotly opposed our words. |
PAUL draws up a roll of honour and of dishonour of
his friends. Some are only names to us; of some, as
we read the Acts of the Apostles as well as the
Epistles, we get the occasional revealing glimpse.
If we are allowed to use our imagination, we can
reconstruct some of the stories. ~Barclay
commentary
Now to the rest of the commentaries. We will begin
with the general and go to the specific.
First the Matthew Henry breaking into the commentary
on verses 9-15 where it begins discussing verse 13:
Paul orders Timothy to come to him, bids him as he
came through Troas to bring with him thence those
things which he had left behind him there (2 Timothy
4:13), the cloak he had left there, which, it may
be, Paul had the more occasion for in a cold prison.
It is probable that it was the habit Paul usually
wore, a plain dress. Some read it, the roll of
parchment I left at Troas; others, the desk that I
left. Paul was guided by divine inspiration, and yet
he would have his books with him. Whereas he had
exhorted Timothy to give attendance to reading, so
he did himself, though he was now ready to be
offered. As long as we live, we must be still
learning. But especially the parchments, which some
think were the originals of his epistles; others
think they were the skins of which he made his
tents, whereby he obtained a livelihood, working
with his own hands. ~Matthew Henry Main
Now the Matthew Henry Concise:
The love of this world, is often the cause of
turning back from the truths and ways of Jesus
Christ. Paul was guided by Divine inspiration, yet
he would have his books. As long as we live, we must
still learn. The apostles did not neglect human
means, in seeking the necessaries of life, or their
own instruction. Let us thank the Divine goodness in
having given us so many writings of wise and pious
men in all ages; and let us seek that by reading
them our profiting may appear to all. ~Matthew
Henry Concise.
Now something from the Biblical Illustrator:
Paul—his cloak and his books
I. Let us look at this memorable cloak which Paul
left with Carpus at Troas. Troas was a principal
seaport-town of Asia Minor. Very likely the apostle
Paul was seized at Troas on the second occasion of
his being taken before the Roman emperor. The
soldiers usually appropriated to themselves any
extra garment in the possession of an arrested
person, such things being considered as the
perquisites of those who made the arrest. The
apostle may have been forewarned of his seizure, and
therefore prudently committed his few books and his
outer garment, which made up all his household
stuff, to the care of a certain honest man named
Carpus. Although Troas was full six hundred miles’
journey from Rome, yet the apostle Paul is too poor
to purchase a garment, and so directs Timothy, as he
is coming that way, to bring his cloak. He needs it
much, for the sharp winter is coming on, and the
dungeon is very, very chilly.
1. Let us perceive here with admiration, the
complete self-sacrifice of the apostle Paul for the
Lord’s sake. Remember what the apostle once was. He
was great, famous, and wealthy. Ah! how he emptied
himself, and to what extremity of destitution was he
willing to bring himself for Christ’s name sake. The
Saviour must die in absolute nakedness, and the
apostle is made something like Him as he sits
shivering in the cold.
2. We learn how utterly forsaken the apostle was by
his friends. If he had not a cloak of his own, could
not some of them lend him one? No; he is so utterly
left, that although he is ready to die of ague in
the dungeon, not a soul will lend or give him a
cloak. What patience does this teach to those
similarly situated I In your greatest trials do you
find your fewest friends? Have those who once loved
and respected you fallen asleep in Jesus? And have
others turned out to be hypocritical and untrue?
“Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and
strengthened me.” So now, when man deserts you, God
will be your Friend.
3. Our text shows the apostle’s independence of
mind. Why did not he borrow a cloak? Why did not he
beg one? That is not the apostle’s taste at all. He
has a cloak, and though it is six hundred miles
away, he will wait until it comes. A Christian man
would do well to remember that it is never to his
honour, though it is not always to his dishonour, to
beg.
4. We see here, how very little the apostles thought
of how they were dressed. Paul wants enough to keep
him warm; he asks no more. When good Bishop Hooper
was led out to be burnt, he had been long in prison,
and his clothes were so gone from him, that he
borrowed an old scholar’s gown, full of rags and
holes, that he might put it on, and went limping
with pains of sciatica and rheumatism to the stake.
We read of Jerome of Prague, that he lay in a damp,
cold dungeon, and was refused anything to cover him
in his nakedness and cold. Every saint is an image
of Christ, but a poor saint is His express image,
for Christ was poor. So, if you are brought to such
a pitch with regard to poverty, that you scarcely
know how to provide things decent by way of raiment,
do not be dispirited; but say, “My Master suffered
the same, and so did the apostle Paul”; and so take
heart, and be of good cheer.
5. Paul’s cloak at Troas shows me how mighty the
apostle was to resist temptation. “I do not see
that,” you say. The apostle had the gift of
miracles. Our Saviour, though able to work miracles,
never wrought anything like a miracle on His own
account; nor did His apostles. Miraculous gifts were
entrusted to them with gospel ends and purposes, for
the good of others, and for the promotion of the
truth; but never for themselves.
II. We will look at his books. We do not know what
the books were about, and we can only form some
guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few
books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the
cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.
1. Even an apostle must read. He is inspired, and
yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least
for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had
seen the Lord, and yes he wants books! He had had a
wider experience than most men, and yet he wants
books! He had been caught up into the third heaven,
and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man
to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the
major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants
books! The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says
to every preacher, “Give thyself unto reading.” The
man who never reads will never be read; he who never
quotes will never be quoted, lie who will not use
the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he
has no brains of his own.
2. Paul herein is a picture of industry. He is in
prison; he cannot preach: what will he do? As he
cannot preach, he will read. As we read of the
fishermen of old and their boats. The fishermen were
gone out of them. What were they doing? Mending
their nets. So if Providence has laid you upon a
sick bed, and you cannot teach your class—if you
cannot be working for God in public, mend your nets
by reading. If one occupation is taken from you,
take another, and let the books of the apostle read
you a lesson of industry.
III. We now want to have an interview with the
apostle Paul himself, for we may learn much from
him. The poor old man, without his cloak, wraps his
ragged garment about him. Sometimes you see him
kneeling down to pray, and then he dips his pen into
the ink, and writes to his dear son Timothy. No
companion, except Luke, who occasionally comes in
for a short time. Now, how shall we find the old
man? What sort of temper will he be in?
1. We find him full of confidence in the religion
which has cost him so much.
2. But he is not only confident. You will notice
that this grand old man is having communion with
Jesus Christ in his sufferings.
3. Triumphant.
4. In expectation of a crown. ~The Biblical
Illustrator
Here is another item from the Biblical Illustrator
A good book a
lasting companion
Truths which it has taken years to glean are therein
at once freely but carefully communicated. We enjoy
communion with the mind, though not with the person
of the writer. Thus the humblest man may surround
himself by the wisest and best spirits of past and
present ages. No one can be solitary who possesses a
book; he owns a friend that will instruct him in
moments of leisure or of necessity. It is only
necessary to turn over the leaves, and the fountain
at once gives forth its streams. You may seek costly
furniture for your homes, fanciful ornaments for
your mantelpieces, and rich carpets for your floors;
but, after the absolute necessaries for a home give
me books as at once the cheapest, and certainly the
most useful and abiding embellishments. ~The
Biblical Illustrator
Now to the specific commentaries
This verse is broken out in four parts:
1] The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus.
2] When thou comest, bring with thee.
3] And the books.
4] But especially the parchments.
1]
The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus.
The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus - About
the word here rendered a "cloak", interpreters are
not agreed: some take it for a garment, and about
this they differ; some would have it to be a
dignified robe, such as the Roman consuls and
senators of Rome wore; which is not likely, this
being not suitable to the apostle's character,
state, and circumstances. Others take it to be a
courser and meaner garment, wore in cold and rainy
weather, to preserve from the [inclemencies—severe,
rough, stormy] of it; and winter now coming on,
2 Timothy 4:21 the apostle sends for it; which he
perhaps had left at Troas in the summer season, as
he came: but others take it to be a kind of desk or
scrutoire
[skroo-twahr-writing
desk] ,
to put papers in, or a chest for books, a book
press; and so the Syriac [seer-ee-ak]
version renders it; and which agrees with what
follows. Jerom understands it of a book itself, of
the Hebrew volume of the Pentateuch [pen-tuh-took].
Troas, where this cloak, or book press, or book was,
was a city in Asia Minor, that stood upon, or near
the same place where old Troy stood, and from whence
it seems to have had its name, and lay in Timothy's
way from Ephesus to Rome; See Gill on Acts 16:8,
Acts 20:7 and as for Carpus, he was Paul's host when
he was at Troas. Some make him to be first bishop of
Laodicea, and then of Crete; he is reckoned among
the seventy disciples, and is said to be bishop of
Berytus in Thrace; See Gill on Luke 10:1. ~John
Gill
Quoted verses:
2 Timothy 4:21 [see
Lesson]
Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus
greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia,
and all the brethren.
Acts 16:8
And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
Acts 20:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow;
and continued his speech until midnight.
Luke 10:1
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy
also, and sent them two and two before his face into
every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2]
When thou comest, bring with thee.
When thou comest, bring with thee - he would have
him call for it at Troas as he came by, and bring it
with him: ~John Gill
3]
And the books.
And the books - that were in it, or were there,
besides the Hebrew Pentateuch: the apostle was a
great reader of books, of various sorts, both
Gentile and Jewish, as appears by his citations out
of the Heathen poets, and his acquaintance with
Jewish records, Acts 17:28. And though he was now
grown old, and near his exit, yet was mindful and
careful of his books, and desirous of having them to
read; and herein set an example to Timothy and
others, and enforced the exhortation he gave him, 1
Timothy 4:13. ~John Gill
Quoted verses:
Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as
certain also of your own poets have said, For we are
also his offspring.
1 Timothy 4:13 [see
Lesson]
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine.
4]
But especially the parchments.
But especially the parchments: which might contain
his own writings he had a mind to revise before his
death, and commit into the hands of proper persons;
or some observations which he had made in his
travels, concerning persons and things; though it is
most likely that these were the books of the Old
Testament, which were written on parchments, and
rolled up together; and hence they are called the
volume of the book; and these the apostle had a
special regard for, that whatever was neglected, he
desired that these might not, but be carefully
brought unto him. ~John Gill |