2 Timothy 1:17

2Ti 1:17. Καὶ εὗρε, and found) by Divine aid. A great thing in so great a city, where not many would care for Paul a prisoner. The word, find, in 2Ti 1:18, corresponds to this expression. He found me in so great a crowd: may he find mercy in that day of the general assembly of all men. A similar allusion occurs twice, ch. 2Ti 2:9, note.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti 1:17 γενόμενος ἐν Ῥώμῃ : The reference is most likely to the apostle’s first Roman imprisonment, Eph 6:20 . Whichever it was, πολλάκις implies that it had lasted some time.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

found me--in the crowded metropolis. So in turn "may he find mercy of the Lord in that day" when the whole universe shall be assembled.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. When he was in Rome] Onesiphorus was no doubt an Asiatic, (probably an Ephesian, see below,) who had frequent business at Rome; and when he came sought out the apostle, who, it is supposed, had been confined in some close and private prison, (see the preface,) so that it was with great difficulty he could find him out. This man had entertained the apostle when he was at Ephesus, and now he sought him out at Rome. Pure love feels no loads. Here was a true friend, one that sticketh closer than a brother.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.—But, on the contrary, instead of fear—far from being ashamed—he, when he arrived in Rome, sought me out. This must have been a much more rigorous captivity than the one alluded to in the last chapter of the Acts when St. Paul dwelt in his own hired house with the soldier who guarded him. Now he was rigidly imprisoned, and the very place of his captivity was not, apparently, easily found.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently] It is the simple verb, and, according to the best mss., the positive not the comparative adverb, he sought me diligently. What ‘close confinement’ could be under the Emperor Tiberius we see from Suet. Tib. 61 (quoted by Lewin) ‘quibusdam custodiae traditis non modo studendi solatium ademptum sed etiam sermonis et colloquii usus.’ What it could be under Nero’s lieutenant Tigellinus, who succeeded Burrus as praefectus praetorii a.d. 63, we learn from Tacitus, who says of him (Hist. i. 72) ‘crudelitatem mox deinde avaritiam et virilia scelera exercuit corrupto ad omne facinus Nerone.’

Where did Onesiphorus find St Paul? Nero to screen himself had given the word for the most virulent animosity against the Christians (Tac. Ann. xv. 44). When St Paul then was brought prisoner to Rome, he must have been known as one of their chief leaders, and as such would be confined now not in any ‘hired house,’ not in any ‘guard house’ of the praetorium, or any minor state prison, such as that of Appius Claudius if it still existed, or even the ‘Stone Quarry Prison,’ lautumiae, at the furthest north-west corner of the Forum, but (we may believe) in the Carcer itself, the Tullianum or ‘Well-Dungeon,’ at the foot of the Capitol. This last with its chill vault and oozing spring was the worst, as we gather from Seneca Controv. ix. 3, where one Julius Sabinus asks to be removed from the ‘Carcer’—the Prison par excellence—to the lautumiae. See Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 80, and his fuller account of the ‘Carcer’ in Excursus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But when he was in Rome,.... Upon some business or another, where the apostle was a prisoner:

he sought me out very diligently, and found me; as there might be many prisons in Rome, he went from one to another, till he found him; and was one of those to whom Christ will say hereafter, "I was in prison and ye came unto me", Mat 25:36 or the reason of his going from place to place in quest of him was this; the apostle was not in any particular place of confinement, but had a lodging where he was kept by a soldier, and which with some difficulty Onesiphorus found out: the manner of his bonds was this; he had a long chain fastened at one end to his right arm, and at the other to the left arm of the soldier that kept him, who constantly attended him in this form, wherever he went; and it is possible that in this way he might have liberty to go about and visit his friends; and this might still make it more difficult for Onesiphorus to find him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

Ver. 17. He sought me out very diligently] σπουδαιοτερον, with vehement desire and intention of affection, not as a coward seeks after his enemy, whom he hopes he shall never find, but as Saul sought David, or as the wise men the babe of Bethlehem, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But when he was in Rome - What was the employment of Onesiphorus is not known. It may have been that he was a merchant, and had occasion to visit Rome on business. At all events, he was at pains to search out the apostle, and his attention was the more valuable because it cost him trouble to find him. It is not everyone, even among professors of religion, who in a great and splendid city would be at the trouble to search out a Christian brother, or even a minister, who was a prisoner, and endeavor to relieve his sorrows. This man, so kind to the great apostle, will be among those to whom the Saviour will say, at the final judgment, “I was in prison, and ye came unto me;” Mat 25:36.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But when he was in Rome, whither he might go upon his private occasions, and, being there,

he sought me out very diligently and found me; he made it his business to find out Paul, and rested not until he found him, either at his inn, or in the prison where he was put.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. But—Contrastive. He did not find business too pressing to attend to me, or find his Jewish or Roman friends too respectable to condescend to me, but.

Was in Rome—Drawn there by some other call, as probably business, which often drew Asiatics to Rome. Notes on Act_19:1; and on Act_18:19.

Sought—For such was the obscurity of my condition that I needed to be sought and found.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sought for sought out, A.V; diligently for very diligently, A.V and T.R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. He sought me. Not only was not ashamed, but sought him at great pains and found him.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

17. σπουδαίως. So אCD2*GP and the old Latin; the rec. text has σπουδαιότερον with D2cEKL, A reading σπουδαιοτέρως (possibly from a reminiscence of Php 2:28).

17. ἀλλὰ γενόμενος ἐν Ῥώμῃ, but when he had arrived in Rome. Cp. Act 13:5.

σπουδαίως ἐζήτησέν με καὶ εὗρεν, he diligently sought me out and found me. It was probably no easy task to find one obscure prisoner, among the large numbers in bonds at Rome for various offences.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. γενόμενος ἐν] after arriving in Rome, cf. Act 13:5. ἐζήτησε seems to imply a change from the freedom of the first imprisonment, Act 28:30.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.