2 Timothy 4:15

2Ti 4:15 . φυλάσσου : For this sense of φυλάσσω with a direct object, see reff. We infer that Alexander was in Timothy’s vicinity.

ἡμετέροις λόγοις : The λόγοι were expressions of doctrine common to all Christians with St. Paul; hence ἡμετέροις .

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

our words--the arguments of us Christians for our common faith. Believers have a common cause.

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 15. Of whom be thou ware also] It seems that this rabbin travelled about from place to place for the purpose of opposing the Gospel, the Jews putting him forward, as it is said, Ac 19:33.

He hath greatly withstood our words.] Has been a constant opposer of the Christian doctrines.

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

(15) Of whom be thou ware also.—This Alexander was evidently then at Ephesus. That he had been at Rome, and had given evidence against St. Paul, and had argued against the defence of the Apostle, is probable. “Our words” some understand as especially referring to St. Paul’s defence before the imperial tribunal. If we identify him with the Alexander of Act_19:33-34, then he was a Jew, one of those bitter, life-long antagonists of the Gentile Apostle who crossed his path at every step, and not improbably brought about, in the end, his death. It is an interesting suggestion which refers the connection between St. Paul and Alexander back to those days when Saul and Alexander were both reckoned as belonging to the strictest Pharisee party, determined foes to the “Nazarenes.” Saul—if we adopt this supposition—became the Apostle St. Paul of the Gentiles; Alexander remained a fanatic Jew—hence the enmity.

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

15. hath greatly withstood] The aorist should be read for the perfect, he withstood. There is apparently an antithesis intended between Alexander’s ‘works’ of mischief and the Apostle’s ‘words.’ It does not seem to be false teaching that is referred to therefore, but (we may conjecture) evil action, by stirring up opposition to St Paul’s preaching from Ephesus perhaps to Troas, scheming to bring him into trouble, finally rousing the Roman authority, which since the Roman fire no longer regarded Christianity as a religio licita, so as to bring about his arrest. There might be thus a special point in the warning given to Timothy, lest Alexander should be on his track as he set out for Rome.

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.

Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,.... Either personally appearing to him, as in Act 23:11 or by the ministry of an angel, Act 27:23 or else by granting him his gracious presence, which was what Christ had not when he was forsaken by his disciples: the presence of God or Christ is more than all friends whatever, and is often enjoyed by the believer, when they drop him; and is a bulwark against all enemies and fears of them; if God is with him, and on his side, though friends fail, and enemies rage, he has nothing to fear:

and strengthened me; inwardly with strength in his soul, with might in his inward man, unto all longsuffering with joyfulness: he was weak in himself, and could do nothing without Christ; Christ was his strength, in him it lay, and to him he looked for it; of which he often had experience, and now afresh; he strengthened him to plead his own cause, to make his defence without fear; he gave him presence of mind, boldness, courage, and intrepidity, freedom of thought and expression; and put it into his heart what he should say, and gave him a mouth and wisdom, which his adversaries could not resist. All which he takes notice of with thankfulness, admiring the divine goodness to him, and taking nothing to himself: and the end of this was,

that by me the preaching might be fully known; that is, that the doctrine of the Gospel, preached by him, might be made fully known by him; as to the author and original of it, to be of God, and not of men; and as to the matter of it, to be spiritual, and not concerning the things of the world; and as to the effects and consequences of it, to have no tendency to raise sedition and disturbances in commonwealths, but, on the contrary, promote peace and love:

and that all the Gentiles might hear; in Caesar's palace, or in the courts of judicature at Rome, and all over Rome, and from thence in other parts of the empire, what a Gospel it was that was preached by the apostle; and if not by his personal ministry, at least by his epistles he afterwards wrote in prison: however, the effect of his defence, the Lord being with him, and strengthening him, was his deliverance:

and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; from death he was threatened with, which, like a lion, gaped upon him to devour him; or from Satan the roaring lion, who desired to have had him, and sought to have intimidated him, and brought him to have denied his Lord, to have deserted his cause, and blasphemed his name; or else from Nero the Roman emperor, so called from his power and fierceness. So Tiberius is called by Marsyas, Agrippa's freeman, when he brought the news of his death to his master (g); and Ahasuerus by Esther (h); and Nero himself is called a civil beast by Apollonius Tyanaeus (i); though some think that not Nero, but Helius, whom he had appointed governor in his room, he being at this time in Greece, is here meant, before whom Paul was tried, and out of whose hands he was delivered.

(g) Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 7. sect. 10. (h) Apocryph.

"Give me eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion: turn his heart to hate him that fighteth against us, that there may be an end of him, and of all that are likeminded to him:'' (Esther 14:13)

(i) Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 4. c. 12.

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

15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

Ver. 15. He hath greatly resisted our words] Or, our preachings, not our persons only. This was a foul fault. See 1Th 4:8; Exo 16:8.

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.

Of whom be thou ware also - It would seem from this that Alexander was still a public teacher, and that his discourses were plausible and artful. The best and the wisest of men need to be on their guard against the efforts of the advocates of error.

For he hath greatly withstood our words - Margin, “preachings.” The Greek is, “words;” but the reference is doubtless to the public teachings of Paul. This verse makes it clear that it was no private wrong that Paul referred to, but the injury which he was doing to the cause of truth as a professed public teacher.

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

15. Be thou ware—Do thou beware. The words imply treachery in Alexander, perhaps the use and perversion of facts, documents, or doctrines confidentially intrusted to him. This disclosure of his treason may preserve Timothy from a similar betrayal.

Withstood our words—Our doctrines; the doctrines of the gospel; which, as appears by 2Ti_4:17, Paul boldly stated and maintained in his defence at his arraignment.

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

Withstood for hath withstood, A.V Of whom be thou ware (o (n fulassou). This is the proper construction in classical Greek, the accusative of the person or thing, after fulassomai. But it is only found Act_21:25. Inssesqe Luk_12:15 the equally correct phrase, Fula) ajpo thv pleonexiav, is used. The inference from this caution to Timothy is that Alexander had left Rome and returned to his native Ephesus. The Jews were always on the move. He greatly withstood our words (ajntesth). For an exactly similar use, see Act_13:8, where Elymas "withstood" Paul and Barnabas; and, 2Ti_3:8, where Jannes and Jambres "withstood" Moses. In this case we may be sure that Paul, in pleading for his life, did not omit to preach the gospel to his Gentile audience. Alexander tried to refute his words, not without effect. The apostle says our words" (not my words perhaps to associate with himself those other Christians who were with him. It certainly cannot mean "yours and mine," as Timothy was not with him when the "words" were spoken.

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

Ver. 15. Of whom be thou also on thy guard, for he exceedingly withstood our words. That is, he made himself extremely obnoxious as an opponent of the gospel testified and pleaded for by St. Paul; had shown a bitter and determined spirit of resistance, so that Timothy could have no hope of winning him over, and should only beware of falling into his hands.

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. Of whom be thou ware. This seems to indicate that Alexander was at Ephesus still.

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.

15. ἀντέστη. So א*ACD2*G 17. The rec. ἀνθέστηκε is supported by אcD2cEKLP &c.

15. λίαν γὰρ ἀντέστη τοῖς ἡμετέροις λόγοις, for he greatly withstood our words. The aorist (see crit. note) shews that the reference is to a definite act or acts of hostility, rather than to a long-continued attitude of ill-will, and thus it is not improbable that the ἡμέτεροι λόγοι which Alexander opposed were part of Paul’s ἀπολογία, when on his trial. Another explanation is that the ‘words’ were ‘the words of the Gospel,’ which St Paul preached. But this is not really inconsistent with the other hypothesis, for St Paul’s ἀπολογία amounted to a κήρυγμα τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (cp. 2Ti 4:17).

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.

15. τοῖς ἡμετέροις λόγοις] possibly “our arguments” with reference to some part of the trial at Rome; or more likely “our words,” “our preaching”: this opposition might be an element in the βλασφημεῖν of I 1:20. This suits better ἡμετέροις (not ἐμοῖς), cf. Tit 3:14; and for the plural, cf. 1:13, I 4:6, 6:3.

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

Greatly withstood [λιαν αντεστη] . Comp. chapter 2Ti 3:8, and Gal 2:11. This may refer to the occurrences at Ephesus (Act 19:33), or to Alexander 's attitude during Paul 's trial. The former is more probable. Lian greatly, not in Paul, except in the compound uJperlian, 2Co 11:5; 2Co 12:11. Only here in Pastorals. Mostly in Synoptic Gospels.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.