This last section of Chapter 4 has
seven [7] verses.
2 Timothy 4:16-22
16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all
men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid
to their charge.
17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and
strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be
fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear:
and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly
kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
19 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of
Onesiphorus.
20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I
left at Miletum sick.
21 Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus
greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia,
and all the brethren.
22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace
be with you. Amen.
We will begin with the Barclay commentary:
LAST WORDS AND GREETINGS
2 Timothy 4:16-22 …paraphrased
At my first defense, no one was there to stand by
me, but all forsook me. May it not be reckoned
against them! But the Lord stood beside me, and he
strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation
of the gospel was fully made so that the Gentiles
might hear it. So I was rescued from the mouth of
the lion. The Lord will rescue me from every evil,
and will save me for his heavenly kingdom. Glory be
to him for ever and ever. Amen.
Greet Prisca and Aquila [AK-wih-luh], and
the family of Onesiphorus [on'uh-SIF-uh-ruhs].
Erastus [ih-RAS-tuhs] stayed in Corinth. I
left Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs] at Miletus.
Exibulus [Ex-aw-bu-lus] sends greetings to
you, as do Pudens [POO-dinz], Linus and
Claudia, and all the brothers.
The Lord be with your spirit.
Grace be with you.
A Roman trial began with a preliminary examination
to formulate the precise charge against the
prisoner. When Paul was brought to that preliminary
examination, not one of his friends stood by him. It
was too dangerous to proclaim oneself the friend of
a man on trial for his life.
One of the curious things about this passage is the
number of reminiscences of Psalm 22. ‘Why have you
forsaken me? – all forsook me.’ ‘There is no one to
help – no one was there to stand by me.’ ‘Save me
from the mouth of the lion! – I was rescued from the
mouth of the lion.’ ‘All the ends of the earth shall
remember and turn to the Lord – that the Gentiles
might hear it.’ ‘Dominion belongs to the Lord – The
Lord will save me for his heavenly kingdom.’ It
seems certain that the words of this psalm were
running in Paul’s mind. And the lovely thing is that
this was the psalm which was in the mind of Jesus
when he hung upon his cross. As Paul faced death, he
took encouragement from the same psalm that his Lord
used in the same circumstances.
Three things brought Paul courage in that lonely
hour.
(1) Everyone had forsaken him; but the Lord
was with him. Jesus had said that he would never
leave his followers or forsake them, and that he
would be with them to the end of the world. Paul is
a witness that Jesus kept his promise. If to do the
right means to be alone, as Joan of Arc said, ‘It is
better to be alone with God.’
(2) Paul would use even a Roman court to proclaim
the message of Christ. He obeyed his own
commandment: in season and out of season, he pressed
the claims of Christ on men and women. He was so
busy thinking of the task of preaching that he
forgot the danger. Those who are immersed in the
task before them have conquered fear.
(3) He was quite certain of the ultimate rescue. He
might seem to be the victim of circumstances and a
criminal condemned by Roman justice, but Paul saw
beyond the present time and knew that his eternal
safety was assured. It is always better to be in
danger for a moment and safe for eternity than to be
safe for a moment and to jeopardize eternity.
~Barclay Commentary
Now to the other commentaries. As usual, we will
begin with the general and move to the specific. We
will begin with the Matthew Henry Main commentary.
The Matthew Henry covers verses 16-22 at this
point. We will break in where it begins on verse 20
and read through the commentary to the end of the
chapter.
II. He mentions his leaving Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]
sick at Miletum (2 Timothy 4:20), by which it
appears that though the apostles healed all manner
of diseases miraculously, for the confirmation of
their doctrine, yet they did not exert that power
upon their own friends, lest it should have looked
like a collusion.
III. He hastens Timothy to come to him before
winter (2 Timothy 4:21), because he longed to see
him, and because in the winter the journey or voyage
would be more dangerous.
IV. He sends commendations to him from Eubulus,
Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. One of
the heathen writers at this time mentions one Pudens
and his wife Claudia, and says the Claudia was a
Briton, whence some have gathered that it was this
Pudens, and that Claudia here was his wife, and that
they were eminent Christians at Rome.
V. He concludes with a prayer, that the Lord Jesus
would be with his spirit. We need no more to make us
happy than to have the Lord Jesus Christ with our
spirits; for in him all spiritual blessings are
summed up. And it is the best prayer we can put up
for our friends, that the Lord Jesus Christ may be
with their spirits, to sanctify and save them, and
at last to receive them to himself; as Stephen the
proto-martyr prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,
Acts 7:59. “Lord Jesus, receive that spirit which
thou hast been with while it was united to the body;
do not now leave it in its separate state.” Grace be
with you. Amen. This was our apostle's token in
every epistle; so he wrote. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen, 2 Thessalonians
3:17-18. And if grace be with us here to convert and
change us, to make us holy, to keep us humble, and
to enable us to persevere to the end, glory will
crown us hereafter: for the Lord is a sun, and a
shield; the Lord will give grace and glory, and no
good thing will he withhold from those that walk
uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that
trusteth in thee, Psalm 84:11-12. Now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God our
Saviour, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen. ~Matthew Henry Main.
Quoted verses:
Acts 7:59
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
2 Thessalonians 3:17-18
17 The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which
is the token in every epistle: so I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
all. Amen.
Psalm 84:11-12
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD
will give grace and glory: no good thing will he
withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth
in thee.
Now to the Matthew Henry Concise which uses much of
the same phrasing as the main commentary:
We need no more to make us happy, than to have the
Lord Jesus Christ with our spirits; for in him all
spiritual blessings are summed up. It is the best
prayer we can offer for our friends, that the Lord
Jesus Christ may be with their spirits, to sanctify
and save them, and at last to receive them to
himself. Many who believed as Paul, are now before
the throne, giving glory to their Lord: may we be
followers of them. ~Matthew Henry Concise
I want to go now to the Treasury of Scriptural
Knowledge to establish the other places in
scriptures we find the individuals Erastus and
Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs] and the town of
Miletum. At the same time, we will look at what
Bible dictionaries have on these two individuals and
the two locations mentioned in this verse.
Erastus:
Acts 19:22
So he sent into Macedonia two of them that
ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he
himself stayed in Asia for a season.
Romans 16:23
Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth
you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth
you, and Quartus a brother.
Erastus:
The "chamberlain" of the city of Corinth (Romans
16:23), and one of Paul's disciples. As treasurer of
such a city he was a public officer of great
dignity, and his conversion to the gospel was
accordingly a proof of the wonderful success of the
apostle's labours.
A companion of Paul at Ephesus, who was sent by him
along with Timothy into Macedonia (Acts 19:22).
Corinth was his usual place of abode (2 Timothy
4:20); but probably he may have been the same as the
preceding. ~Easton's Bible Dictionary
Now something from the Wikipedia:
Erastus, also known as Erastus of Paneas, is a
person in the New Testament. According to the
Epistle to the Romans, Erastus was a steward in
Corinth, a political office of high civic status.
The word is defined as "the manager of household or
of household affairs" or, in this context,
"treasurer"; [1] The King James Version uses the
translation "chamberlain", while the New
International Version uses "director of public
works". A person named Erastus is also mentioned in
the 2 Timothy and Acts, and these mentions are
usually taken to refer to the same person.
~Wikipedia
Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]:
I am pointing out these verses where we see the name
Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs] but understand there
is a whole discourse around these verses; things
that are going on in and around the church in those
days. Many of the accounts have to do with Paul
getting into trouble for preaching around the
country and trouble in the churches.
Acts 20:1-4
1 And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto
him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed
for to go into Macedonia.
2 And when he had gone over those parts, and had
given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,
3 And there abode three months. And when the Jews
laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into
Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.
4 And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater [SOP-uh-tuhr]
of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus [a'ruh-STAR-kuhs]
and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and
of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs].
Acts 21:29
(For they had seen before with him in the city
Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs] an Ephesian, whom
they supposed that Paul had brought into the
temple.)
Notice this from the Easton's Bible Dictionary:
Trophimus:
A foster-child, an Ephesian who accompanied Paul
during a part of his third missionary journey (Acts
20:4 ; 21:29). He was with Paul in Jerusalem, and
the Jews, supposing that the apostle had brought him
with him into the temple, raised a tumult which
resulted in Paul's imprisonment. In writing to
Timothy, the apostle says, "Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]
have I left at Miletum sick" (2 Timothy 4:20). This
must refer to some event not noticed in the Acts.
~Easton's Bible Dictionary
From Wikipedia:
Cause of Apostle Paul's Arrest
He [Trophimus] was the innocent cause of Paul
being assaulted in the courts of the temple by the
Jewish mob, and then of his being arrested and
imprisoned by the Romans. The occasion of this
outrage was that the Jews supposed that Paul had
"brought Greeks also into the temple, and....defiled
this holy place" (Acts 21:28). The modicum of fact
lying at the root of this false accusation was that
they had seen Paul and Trophimus in each other's
company in the city. On this slender basis "they
supposed" that Paul had brought Trophimus past the
barrier or middle wall of partition (Ephesians
2:14), beyond which no Gentile was allowed to
penetrate, on pain of death. ~Wikipedia
Now the town of Miletum:
Miletum [Miletus]:
Acts 20:15
And we sailed thence, and came the next day over
against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos,
and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came
to Miletus.
Acts 20:17
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the
elders of the church.
From Easton's:
Miletus
(Miletum, 2 Timothy 4:20 ), a seaport town and the
ancient capital of Ionia, about 36 miles south of
Ephesus. On his voyage from Greece to Syria, Paul
touched at this port, and delivered that noble and
pathetic [affecting or moving the feelings]
address to the elders of Ephesus recorded in Acts
20:15-35 . The site of Miletus is now some 10 miles
from the coast. ~Easton's Bible Dictionary
From Wikipedia:
Roman period
The New Testament mentions Miletus as the site where
the Apostle Paul in AD 57 met with the elders of the
church of Ephesus near the close of his Third
Missionary Journey, as recorded in Acts of the
Apostles (Acts 20:15–38). Miletus is also the city
where Paul left Trophimus, one of his travelling
companions, to recover from an illness (2 Timothy
4:20). Because this cannot be the same visit as Acts
20 (in which Trophimus accompanied Paul all the
way to Jerusalem, according to Acts 21:29), Paul
must have made at least one additional visit to
Miletus, perhaps as late as AD 65 or 66. Paul's
previous successful three-year ministry in nearby
Ephesus resulted in the evangelization of the entire
province of Asia (see Acts 19:10, 20; 1 Corinthians
16:9). It is safe to assume that at least by the
time of the apostle's second visit to Miletus, a
fledgling Christian community was established in
Miletus. ~Wikipedia
Sick:
Philippians 2:26-27
26 For he longed after you all, and was full of
heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had
been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God
had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me
also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Ye had heard that he had been sick - “In this
passage,” says Dr. Paley, “no intimation is given
that the recovery of Epaphroditus [ee-paf-roh-DI-tuhs]
was miraculous, it is plainly spoken of as a natural
event. This instance, together with that in the
Second Epistle to Timothy, Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]
have I left at Miletum sick, affords a proof that
the power of performing cures, and, by parity of
reason, of working other miracles, was a power which
only visited the apostles occasionally, and did not
at all depend upon their own will. Paul undoubtedly
would have healed Epaphroditus [ee-paf-roh-DI-tuhs]
if he could; nor would he have left Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]
at Miletum sick, had the power of working cures
awaited his disposal. Had this epistle been a
forgery, forgery on this occasion would not have
spared a miracle; much less would it have introduced
Paul professing the utmost anxiety for the safety of
his friend, yet acknowledging himself unable to help
him, which he does almost expressly in the case of
Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs], Him have I left
sick; and virtually in the passage before us, in
which he felicitates himself on the recovery of
Epaphroditus [ee-paf-roh-DI-tuhs] in terms
which almost exclude the supposition of any
supernatural means being used to effect it. This is
a reverse which nothing but truth would have
imposed.” ~Wikipedia
Now to the specific commentaries:
We can easily see that the verse is in two parts:
1] Erastus abode at Corinth.
2] But Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
1]
Erastus abode at Corinth.
Erastus abode at Corinth - He was treasurer of that
city, as we learn from Romans 16:23. The apostle had
sent him and Timothy on a mission to Macedonia, Acts
19:22, whence it is probable he returned to Corinth,
and there became finally settled. ~Adam Clarke
Erastus abode at Corinth - This was his home, where
he filled an important office. It would seem that
when Paul went to Rome, there was some expectation
that he would accompany him, but that reasons had
occurred for his remaining in Corinth. His doing so
is referred to without blame. ~Barnes Notes
2]
But Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick - Even the
apostles could not work miracles when they pleased;
that power was but rarely given, and that for very
special purposes. Trophimus [TROF-uh-muhs]
was an Ephesian. ~Adam Clarke
Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick - Probably he
designed to accompany him to Rome, as he had been
often with him in his journeys. ~Barnes Notes
Let us now go to the Biblical Illustrator for a
couple of things.
Use of sickness ...this from a true life
account
Hannah More made the following entry in her journal
(Jan. 21, 1798): “Many temptations this week
to vanity. My picture asked for two publications.
Dedications—flattery without end. God be praised, I
was not flattered, but tired—twenty-four hours’
headache makes me see the vanity of all this.”
~Biblical Illustrator
Note: Do we see what Hannah is saying? She is
saying that sickness has a purpose. This is
abundantly true in the life of a firstfruit. Every
episode of sickness has a purpose for the simple
reason that God knows you are sick. Sickness has a
way of taking us to all kinds of spiritual
interface. Sickness drives us to our knees, to
prayer, to meditation, self-examination, resolve and
it takes us in sure direction. It takes us into the
Word of God and before the very throne of Almighty
God. It immerses us into the doctrine of healing,
which is the most extensive and complex of all our
doctrines for it touches virtually every aspect of
the greater Plan of God for mankind and this
Universe.
Notice some quotes about the positive aspects of
sickness:
"Health is not valued till sickness comes."
"Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries
of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without
this comfort, be insupportable."
“You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but
you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those
situations.”
“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or
unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.
Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I
have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy
in it.”
"When you squeeze an orange you get orange juice
because that's what's inside. The very same
principle is true about you. When someone [or
something] squeezes you--puts pressure on
you--what comes out is what's inside. And if you
don't like what's inside, you can change it by
changing your thoughts.
Note: This is a quote that speaks directly to
the life of the Christian.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts
shall be established.
Proverbs 21:5a
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to
plenteousness...
Also from the Biblical Illustrator:
Trophimus sick.
Unaccomplished aims
How many broken-down servants of God are there
today, Christian men and women, who have proved
their sincerity, who do prove their sincerity, but
whose thin hand can do little or nothing in raising
the stones of the shrine they so passionately desire
to build? As in the busiest thoroughfares of great
cities we behold wistful faces looking down from
hospital windows, longing to share in the strong
life of the streets; so are there frail, broken-down
watchers of the work of God who long to share the
toil and sacrifice of God’s workmen. ~Biblical
Illustrator
Note: I venture to conclude that this is a
thought of virtually every servant of God who has
been severely sick or who now are not with us. I am
thinking of Garner Ted Armstrong just a day or two
before it died watching the news from his hospital
bed. He had an immediate response to a news story he
was viewing about China. "I have to write a
commentary on this one right away and get it posted
on our website." Despite sickness or even impending
death, servants of God have their focus on the Work.
Herbert W. Armstrong kept repeating from his
deathbed, "keep doing the Work."
Today would have been the 36th wedding anniversary
to my beloved wife, Joan. She was the heart of the
newly established Web Site Office back in 2002. I
remember sitting next to her bed in the hospital
saying all those things that a husband ought to say
to his wife, just in case she actually died. Neither
of us knew that in less than 12 hours, she would be
dead. When she perceived all those things I was
saying to her, she looked me directly in the eye and
proclaimed, "You know I am coming home don't you; we
have a lot of work to do."
None of us will ever be done doing the Work of God.
If we ultimately die, we die, and this too is in the
able hands of God, but as we lay there sick or
dying, our focus will be on what's next in the Work
of God.
Paul, Timothy, Erastus and Trophimus all had their
focus on the Work of God and this is the lesson of
verse 20. |