Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Timothy 2:7
Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
7. Consider what I say ] ‘Apply the parable’; for our Lord the Great Teacher of parables shall give thee understanding. The ms. authority requires the future indicative instead of aorist optative. The verb belonging to our substantive here ‘understanding’ is used by our Lord in Mat 13:51, after all His parables of the kingdom of heaven, ‘Have ye understood all these things?’ and the corresponding adjective in Mat 15:16 ‘And Peter answered and said unto Him, Declare unto us the parable. And He said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Consider what I say; – see the notes at 1Ti 4:15. The sense is Think of the condition of the soldier, and the principles on which he is enlisted; think of the aspirant for the crown in the Grecian games; think of the farmer, patiently toiling in the prospect of the distant harvest; and then go to your work with a similar spirit. These things are worth attention. When the minister of the gospel thinks of his hardships, of his struggles against an evil world, and of his arduous and constant discouraging toil, let him think of the soldier, of the man who struggles for this worlds honors, and of the patient farmer – AND be content. How patiently do they bear all, and yet for what inferior rewards!
And the Lord give thee understanding in all things – Enable you to see the force of these considerations, and to apply them to your own case. Such are often the discouragements of the ministry; so prone is the mind to despondency, that we need the help of the Lord to enable us to apply the most obvious considerations, and to derive support from the most plain and simple truths and promises.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ti 2:7
Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding.
Reflection aids discernment
The better rendering gives, For the Lord will give thee. This gives also a better meaning: Make the effort to reflect; for if thou do, the Lord will give thee the discernment which thou needest. (E. H. Plumptre, D. D.)
Enlightenment aids personal application of truth
De Wette and others object to this verse, that it is impossible to suppose that St. Paul would imagine Timotheus so dull of apprehension as not to comprehend such obvious metaphors. But they have missed the sense of the verse, which is not meant to enlighten the understanding of Timotheus as to the meaning of the metaphors, but as to the personal application of them. (Conybeare and Howson.)
Consideration
I. Consideration is a duty to be practised.
1. For hath not God given man a discoursive faculty? What creature but he hath understanding, the angels only excepted? Were it not vanity to have an eye, and close it? an ear, and stop it? a hand, and not move it? And is it not wickedness to bare a faculty of discourse and not employ it? And wherein better than in consideration?
2. The life of man differs little from a beast without consideration? This soundly lessons those that approve of it but never practise it. Will you hear how they excuse, clear themselves?
(1) It is a difficult duty. Grant it be so, what then? Is it to be rejected? But what hard things dost thou use for the love of this world? Take thou the like pains in this profitable action.
(2) But I want time. Wonderful! Did God ever command a duty and allow no time to effect it? What! None to consider? to confer with thy Father? Lay thy hand upon thy mouth–say no more; for, for what end is the Sabbath?
(3) I have no convenient place. Imitate David, commune with thyself in bed. But my children cry. Then with Isaac, to the field; Hannah, to the Temple; or get thee to some garden, solitary mount, as did thy Master.
(4) I cannot bring my mind to it. Is it so with thee as thou sayest? Be the more humbled for it, and make that matter of consideration. Set thou thyself about this necessary duty; it shall recompense all thy painstaking. And–
(a) Wouldst thou love God? Then consider how He hath chosen thee, redeemed thee, given thee a being in these glorious days of the gospel, conferred on thee many earthly favours. Consider the many sins He hath pardoned, prevented; the evils spiritual, corporal, He hath removed; the petitions He hath granted; and of what great things thou art assured.
(b) Is thy faith feeble? Consider the depth of Gods mercy, the firmness of His promise, the might of His power, the unchangeableness of His nature. Shall not these relieve thee?
(c) Art thou impatient? Do afflictions overlade thee? Consider the greatness of thy sins, whereby thou hast deserved far worse evils. Think, and think often, that they come from the hand of thy heavenly Father; how He hath an eye to thy weakness, that they shall not exceed thy ability; and at their departure, like an overflowing rivers rich mud, leave a blessing behind them.
(d) And what external action can, without consideration, be well discharged? Did magistrates take up their minds, exercise themselves in this duty, would it not make them resolute for the execution of their function?
(e) Can ministers preach and neglect this action?
(f) Why do men hear much, understand little, and practise nothing? It is want of consideration. The most run to Gods house, as travellers to an inn, hear the Word as some well-told tale, not knowing, like that rude company, for what end they came together.
(g) In a word, consideration will give us matter of prayer, and kindle the little spark of grace within us, put us in mind of our vow in baptism, and provoke us to perform it–yea, all our promises.
II. GODS WORD IS TO RE CONSIDERED.
1. For the Authors sake. Is it not the Book of God?
2. And is not the matter holy, just, good?
3. What admirable effects will it work? David hereby became wiser than his teachers–a man according to Gods own heart.
III. Exhortation is to be seconded with prayer,
IV. God giveth man understanding,
V. Men of much knowledge may better their understanding. Knowledge in a threefold respect may be increased–
1. In the faculty.
2. In the object.
3. In the medium of it.
VI. In all divine truths we are to have understanding. Had not Moses a pattern of the Tabernacle–to a broom, a snuffer, a curtain-ring? Shall we, then, be ignorant of any one principle in the whole frame of religion? (J. Barlow, D. D.)
On hearing the Word
I. Show in what manner we are to hear the word.
1. Consider well the matter or import of what is spoken.
2. Attend to the truth and propriety of what is delivered.
3. Consider the weight and importance of what is delivered.
4. Consider the personal concern you have in the truths delivered.
II. The motives which should induce us well to consider what we hear.
1. Think in whose Name the ministers of the gospel speak, and whose Person they represent.
2. Consider the great end they aim at in their ministrations.
3. By the Word that we hear we shall be judged at the last day. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The young invited to consider
I. I begin by calling your attention to a thought which you should never have wholly absent from your minds- namely, for what purpose has life been given you? For what other purpose than to prepare for eternity, by loving and serving your Creator now, that you may serve and enjoy Him for ever?
II. From this thought, then, which I beg you seriously to lay to heart, consider what provision God has made for your attaining this glorious end of your being.
III. And this introduces another thought of vast importance. Consider, then, what I say, as to the fitting period for making this surrender of yourselves to God. When should it be done? Our answer is, it cannot be done too early.
IV. Consider the happiness of a life thus early given to god, to be spent in His service, to end in His glory. (J. Haslegrave, M. A.)
Consideration
Consideration is the bed where the incorruptible seed is sown, and on the ground thus prepared the Sun of Righteousness doth shine, and by His warmth produces in the soul all manner of pleasant fruits. (Anthony Horneck.)
Men need instruction
A mans understanding is very much like a window. The sun-light is all of one colour; but all the light that goes through the window is not. Sometimes the audience have a scarf of yellow running over them, sometimes one of blue, and sometimes one of red, according as the window is painted. Mans reason being like a painted window, the light that goes through it and falls upon his conscience is bizarre, grotesque, wrinkled, bent, or distorted. I have known men whose understanding had in it hideous saints, crowned monsters, apocalyptic visions, and what not–things that took the colours which were painted on the window of that reason. It is very important, therefore, that men should be instructed. (H. W. Beecher.)
Gods teaching
When the Prince of Wales landed at Portsmouth, after his tour in India, I was in the crowd with my little boys; and as the Prince and his Princess and children drove past, I lifted my younger boy on my shoulder, and this enabled him to see better and further than the tallest person around us. So those whom God teaches and helps will discern better and further than those who just look out for themselves, or merely get information from others. (H. R. Burton.)
Instruction from God
When a sceptic once went to a Christian minister to have his doubts and difficulties solved, the minister asked, Have you gone and asked God, the fountain of light and the source of all wisdom, for the solution of your difficulties? On the perplexed mans replying he had not, the minister declined to try and assist him out of his perplexities till he had attended to this necessary and important duty. When we ask wisdom as well as light and instruction from God, He will give us mental and spiritual capacities, to prepare us for rightly apprehending truths; and He will also give us sufficient opportunities for gaining wisdom, and then aid and prosper us in our effort to acquire it. Wisdom is to knowledge like what the engineer is to the locomotive–a director, a controller, and a manager. Religion is the highest wisdom of all. (See Pro 4:7; Deu 32:29; Psa 90:12; Pro 2:6; Jam 1:5.) (H. R. Burton.)
Thinking of Christ
Dr. Cullis tells, in one of his reports, of an aged Christian who, lying on his death-bed in the Consumptives Home, was asked the cause of his perfect peace, in a state of such extreme weakness that he was often entirely unconscious of all around him. He replied, When I am able to think, I think of Jesus; and when I am unable to think of Him, I know He is thinking of me.
Remembrance of Christ
There is no Christianity where there is no loving remembrance of Christ. If your contact with Him has not made Him your friend, whom you can by no possibility forget, you have missed the best result of your introduction to Him. It makes one think meanly of the chief butler that such a personality as Josephs had not more deeply impressed him–that everything he heard and saw among the courtiers did not make him say to himself: There is a friend of mine in the prison hard by, that for beauty, wisdom, and vivacity would more than match the finest of you all. And it says very little for us if we can have known anything of Christ without seeing that in Him we have what is nowhere else, and without finding that He has become the necessity of our life, to whom we turn at every point. (Marcus Dods, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Consider what I say] Apply my metaphors and similitudes in a proper manner.
And the Lord give thee understanding] But instead of , may he give, ACDEFG, several others, besides versions and fathers, have he will give. Consider thou properly, and God will give thee a proper understanding of all things that concern thy own peace, and the peace and prosperity of his Church. Think as well as read.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Consider what I say; weigh these things with thyself in thy own thoughts.
And the Lord give thee understanding in all things; but thou wilt not effectually understand them without a Divine influence, opening thy mind to a comprehension of them, and thy heart to a reception of all these things, and all other things which it is reasonable for thee to know and understand.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Consider the force of theillustrations I have given from the soldier, the contender in thegames, and the husbandmen, as applying to thyself in thy ministry.
and the Lord give, c.Theoldest manuscripts read, “for the Lord will givethee understanding.” Thou canst understand my meaning so aspersonally to apply it to thyself for the Lord will give theeunderstanding when thou seekest it from Him “in all things.”Not intellectual perception, but personal appropriation of the truthsmetaphorically expressed, was what he needed to be given him by theLord.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Consider what I say,…. The advice given by the apostle to Timothy, to be strong in the grace of Christ; to commit the doctrines of the Gospel to faithful and able men; and to endure hardness for the sake of it: as also the characters which he bore as a soldier, a runner in a race, or a wrestler, and an husbandman; and therefore must not expect ease and rest, but war, difficulties, toil, and labour; and likewise under what titles Christ was to be regarded; as his General, and Captain of salvation, that commanded him; as the righteous Judge, that held the prize and crown for which he was running; and the chief Shepherd, who would reward all his labours; and moreover, the glorious reward of grace itself, he might expect, as eternal life, when he had fought the good fight the crown of righteousness, when he had finished his course, or run his race; and a crown of glory that fades not away, when the chief Shepherd should appear: and by putting him upon the consideration of these things, he suggests, that they were matters of moment and importance, and would be of great use to him in assisting and encouraging his faith, amidst all trials and exercises; and whereas they were expressed in figurative terms, taken from the soldier, the runner in a race, and the husbandman, they might not at first view be so easy to be understood; and therefore he would have him think of them, and meditate upon them, and weigh them in his mind; as well as he would not have him take things upon trust from him, but examine them whether they were right or not; though he doubted not but that they would be found to be agreeable to the standard of truth: wherefore he prays as follows,
and the Lord give thee understanding in all things; in all the above things, and in all others; in all the doctrines and mysteries of grace, and in all the rules of conduct in life. No man has of himself an understanding in spiritual things; this is the gift of God; and where it is given there is need of an increase of it, and always of such a prayer for it. The Alexandrian copy, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, read, “the Lord will give thee”, c, and so the words are a promise, an encouragement to Timothy, to consider well of these things for he might assure himself, that, in so doing, God would give him more understanding in them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Consider (). Present active imperative of , old verb, to put your mind () on. See Eph 3:4 and like command in 1Co 10:15.
Understanding (). “Comprehension” (from , to send together, to grasp). See Col 1:9; Col 2:2. This is a blessed promise that calls for application.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Consider [] . Better, understand.
And the Lord give thee understanding [ ] . More correctly, for the Lord shall give. 134 For sunesin understanding, see on Mr 12:33; Luk 2:47; Col 1:9.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Consider what I say” (noei ho lego) “Consider what things I say. Use the illustration, apply the parable for practical, tedious going on in labors and toil, Gal 6:9.
2) “And the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (dosei gar soi ho kurios sunesin en pasin) “For the Lord will give thee understanding in all things,” Pro 2:7. The Lord the Great Teacher will give thee understanding or comprehension, Pro 1:21-22; Jas 1:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7 Understand what I say (163) He added this, not on account of the obscurity of the comparisons which he has set forth, but that Timothy himself might ponder, how much more excellent is the warfare under the direction of Christ, and how much more abundant the reward; for, when we have studied it incessantly, we scarcely arrive at a full knowledge of it.
The Lord give thee understanding in all things The prayer, which now follows, is added by way of correction. Because our minds do not easily rise to that “incorruptible crown” (1Co 9:25) of the life to come, (164) Paul betakes himself to God, to “give understanding” to Timothy. And hence we infer, that not less are we taught in vain, if the Lord do not open our understandings, than the commandments would be given in vain, if he did not impart strength to perform them. For who could have taught better than Paul? And yet, in order that he may teach with any advantage, he prays that God may train his disciple.
(163) “ Enten ce que je di, of, Considere.” — “Understand what I say, or, Consider what I say.
(164) “ De la vie eternelle.” — “Of eternal life.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.The older authorities read here will give; also instead of and the Lord, the translation should be, for the Lord. Thus the sentence should run: for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things. Some difficulty has been found in explaining exactly why, when we look at the foregoing words, Timothy should be so specially charged to consider St. Pauls words here, and why the declaration respecting understanding in all things was made in this particular place. Theophylact suggested because the preceding exhortations were in the form of metaphors, he spake all things in an enigmatical form: but surely these metaphors were the reverse of obscure, and did not seem to need for their comprehension any special enlightenment; if then we refer the words of this verse exclusively to what precedes, it will be best to understand the charge of St. Paul, Consider what I say, &c., as directing Timothys attention to the personal application of each of the pictures, or metaphors. It seems, however, that the words Consider, &c., while referring to what he had said, belong also to the far weightier words he was about to write in the next sentence (2Ti. 2:8). He is in this chapter exhorting Timothy to be strong in the faith in the face of many troubles. He has instanced to him earthly examples to show how success, even here, depends on enduring perseverance, and is now passing on to set before him other and far higher inducements for him to be strong; and between the first set of arguments and the second he bids him Consider what I say (part has been said, but yet other and deeper things are to follow). God will five him power to grasp their meaning in all their depth.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Consider A cautionary hint, not based upon the difficulty of interpreting the above figures, but upon the weightiness of the meaning they embrace. Hence they are to be revolved in the highest region of mind, and transformed into permanent principle of action.
Understanding The highest intuitive penetration, the deepest spiritual insight, in all things of divine truth and ministerial management.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.’
Now let Timothy consider (think over, understand) all that Paul has said, opening himself to the Lord’s guidance, for the Lord’s promise is that through the Scriptures He will give us understanding of all that is required (2Ti 3:14-15; compare 1Co 2:11-16).
As we look at these three examples they remind us of how we should be living. Note for example how none of the people mentioned would have been put off by the rain or bad weather. The soldier would still have dug in or continued marching, the athlete would have continued with his training or his race, the farmer or vinedresser would have continued with his work. They would not even have hesitated or thought about it. Nor would they have expected others to show them favours. They would have known that they bore the responsibility for success themselves, and would have buckled down to the task. They would also have put all their efforts into accomplishing what they were seeking to achieve, going forward, training, disciplining themselves, labouring, for their eye was on the goal, the soldier’s on winning the war and on his marshal’s baton, the athlete’s on the tape and the laurel crown, the farmer’s on the coming harvest. These things would have taken up all their thoughts. How much more then should we be like this, who look not at the things which are temporal, but at the things which are eternal (2Co 4:18)
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ti 2:7. Give thee understanding in all things. Grant you industry in all things. Castalio. Some read, Consider what I say, for [if you do so] the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Others connect all things with the next verse;In all things remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ti 2:7 . As he has been expressing his exhortations in figurative gnomes, Paul thus continues: , ] which does not refer immediately to the thoughts expressed, as Heydenreich, Matthies, and others think, but to the form of expression. It does not mean, therefore: “lay these exhortations to heart,” but: “mark or understand what I say” (de Wette); comp. Mat 24:15 ; Eph 3:4 ; Eph 3:20 ; so, too, Hofmann, only that he for no sufficient reason refers the words merely to the last sentence. Plitt is of opinion that the apostle is intending thereby to give a quite general warning against misconceptions; but this would be an arbitrary disturbance of the connection of ideas.
To this exhortation Paul confidently adds that God will not fail to bestow on Timothy understanding in this and all other points; here, as elsewhere, is a particle of explanation.
belongs to this verse, and not, as Sam. Battier thinks, to the following one.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2245
CONSIDERATION ENFORCED
2Ti 2:7. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
HERE we behold a parent addressing his beloved son: here we behold an Apostle addressing the whole Church of God. In like manner would I now, with an union of parental love and apostolic authority, address you, my brethren: and I pray you to consider what I say: and may the Lord give you understanding in all things! The points to which I would draw your attention are,
I.
The things proposed for Timothys consideration
Of course, we must look to the preceding context, to see what the Apostle had been saying. He had been urging Timothy to a performance of his ministerial duties: and to ministers the subject primarily belongs. But the duties are also of general import: and we may all consider ourselves as included under the different images that are here set before us:
1.
As soldiers
[In soldiers are required energy and devotion; such energy as will bear them up under all difficulties; and such devotion, as supersedes every other engagement, and determines them fully to approve themselves to the commander under whom they fight. Now, my beloved brethren, to this character all of us, both ministers and people, are to be conformed. We are all engaged to fight the good fight of faith, and to war a good warfare, under the Captain of our salvation. For every one of us is armour provided, even the whole armour of God; which we are to put on, and by means of which we are to withstand all our enemies. But in this warfare we must, of necessity, meet with great trials, yea, and must sustain many afflictions. For, where is there a Christian who has not his cross to bear, whilst following his Lord? A soldier, by his very profession, expects to encounter difficulties: and his mind is made up to bear whatever evils he may meet with in the discharge of his duty: and precisely thus must we, having once girded on the sword, be prepared for privations, exertions, conflicts; and we must never think of rest, till all our enemies are bruised under our feet.
As for other occupations, the soldier feels that he has no time for them. He cannot alienate his time and attention from the duties of his calling. The concerns of agriculture and commerce he leaves to others: and he concentrates all his energies in the more immediate duties of his profession; having no wish, no desire, but to approve himself faithful to his commander and his king. Thus, my brethren, it must be with us: with ministers in a more especial manner; because for them, by divine appointment, is a provision made, in order that they may be able to give themselves wholly and exclusively to the service of the sanctuary: and it is greatly to be regretted, that, in our Church, the provision made is so small as to render a compliance with Gods appointment in this respect, in many instances, impracticable. But I hesitate not to say, that for a minister to entangle himself in the affairs of this life beyond what is necessary, is not the way to please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier. And the same would I say, to a certain degree, respecting Christians in general. They have, it is true, and must have, their temporal employments, to which it is their duty to pay very diligent attention. But yet these must all be subordinated to the higher duties of religion: they must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and disregard the meat that perisheth, in comparison of that which endureth to everlasting life. Every man must perform his duties in social and domestic life: but we must be without carefulness: and, whilst our heads and our hands are occupied with earthly pursuits, our affections must be altogether set upon things above. To please our God must be, at all times and under all circumstances, our one concern.]
2.
As wrestlers
[The Apostle often takes his illustrations from the Grecian games. Here he compares us with wrestlers, who, however much they might exert themselves, were not crowned, unless they conformed exactly to the rules which were prescribed to the contending parties. Now we, both ministers and people, are called to wrestle, not with flesh and blood only, but with all the principalities and powers of hell: and we have laid down for us, in the inspired volume, rules, to which we must rigidly adhere in all our conflicts. It is not sufficient that we put forth all our strength: we must put it forth in Gods appointed way. For instance: Are we assaulted with evil? We must not render evil for evil, but rather do good to them that hate us; and must persevere in this contest even to the end; not being overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good. Our blessed Lord has set us an example, under every species of conflict and of suffering: and we are to follow his steps. St. Paul, also, is a pattern which we should follow. He was a man of like passions with us: and therefore we may hope, that the grace which wrought so powerfully in him will work effectually in us also; and enable us to be followers of him, as he was of Christ. A soldier never thinks of following his own mind or will in any thing. He looks to the orders issued by his commander; and to them he strictly adheres. Thus also must we, having not so much as a thought or wish to follow our own will, but a full determination to conform, in every particular act, and in the whole state and habit of our mind, to the revealed will of God. In a word, we must strive lawfully, and in the precise way that God has marked out for us: and it is in that way alone that we can hope to have the crown of victory accorded to us.]
3.
As husbandmen
[We all know that the husbandman prosecutes his labours with a patient expectation of a distant, but rich reward. He does not expect the seed to produce a harvest the instant that it has been sown. He looks for many changes of the weather; and passes through many alternations of hope and fear; but he is sustained, through all, by a humble hope, that, in the end, God will give to him the fruit of his labours. Thus also must we, both ministers and people, go on in the work assigned to us; and, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honour and immortality. We must not be discouraged because events do not turn out according to our wish or expectation. We must wait the Lords leisure; and let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. He that believeth, must not make haste. Every vision is for an appointed time: and if it tarry, we must wait for it, assured, that it shall come in due season, and not tarry one instant beyond it. God had promised to Abraham to bring his posterity out of Egypt, at the distance of four hundred and thirty years: and had they been kept there one day longer, his promise would utterly have failed. But that self-same day that the period was completed, he brought them forth. So, however long we may have to wait for a successful issue of our labours, we must never faint or be weary in well-doing; but must proceed with cheerfulness, assured, that in due season we shall reap, and our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.]
Now then attend, I pray you, to,
II.
The injunction given him in relation to them,
First, says the Apostle,
1.
Consider what I say
[No good can be hoped for, even from apostolic instructions, if they be not duly and attentively considered. Now then let all of you consider, How vast and arduous are your duties. In the preceding context you have seen how all the offices of a soldier, a wrestler, and a husbandman, are combined in you: and, in fact, there is not any office sustained by any man on earth, from the king upon the throne to the meanest slave, that is not concentrated in you. You are called a royal priesthood: and if you, every one of you, are kings and priests unto God, you may well suppose that every subordinate employment must find its counterpart in you. Conceive, then, all the diversified occupations of all the human race to devolve on you, so far at least as to have their respective energies required at your hands; and then you will form some notion of the duties to which you are called.
But consider, also, how great and indispensable are your obligations to fulfil them. Ministers, doubtless, are bound by the most solemn ties to fulfil their ministry; not only because they have been most solemnly called to this office, and have pledged themselves to the performance of it, but because the souls of their people will be required at their hands. But every Christian, in his baptism, has consecrated himself to God: and every one, inasmuch as he professes to have been bought with a price, acknowledges himself bound to glorify God with his body and his spirit, which are his. Now then, consider this. Consider what that price is with which you have been redeemed, even with the precious blood of your incarnate God; and is there any service which you will account too arduous to engage in, or any suffering too heavy to endure, for the honour of his name? It was well said by St. Paul, I beseech you by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, as your reasonable service: and truly this is your reasonable service, that, as the burnt-offerings were wholly consumed upon the altar in sacrifice to God, so should every faculty of your souls be wholly and exclusively devoted to your God.
Yet one thing more I beg you to consider; and that is, How rich is the recompence that awaits you. Look at the husbandman toiling at his work in the midst of winter; what a hopeless task does he, in appearance, perform! but look at his fields in the time of harvest, and you will say he is richly compensated. Thus will a minister find all his labours and sufferings abundantly repaid, when he shall bring before his Lord those whom he has begotten by the Gospel; saying, Here am I, and the children thou hast given me. And how richly will every Christian be recompensed, when he shall hear, from the lips of his adored Lord, those glorious words, Come, ye blessed children of my Father! inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Go, survey the glory and blessedness of heaven; and then say, my brethren, whether any thing can be too much for us either to do or suffer, in the prospect of such a recompence. Would you but consider these things as you ought, you would think that all the labours of the most devoted soldier, all the exertions of the most strenuous wrestler, and all the patience of the most laborious husbandman, are but faint representations of what may well be required at your hands.]
2.
Seek of God an experimental acquaintance with them
[Truly it is God alone that can bring you to such a state as this. He alone can enable you to discern even the necessity of if, and much less its excellency. The unenlightened man would account such a life as this foolishness; and a person aspiring after it would be condemned as a weak enthusiast, that was righteous over much. To long for it, as the perfection of your nature, and as a heaven upon earth, is a feeling which no man on earth can possess, till he is born again, and renewed in the spirit of his mind by the Spirit of the living God. It is altogether a new creation in the soul of man.
Moreover, God alone can guide you in such a path as this. Whether a person be a minister or a private Christian, he shall find, that, in this high and heavenly course, there are situations wherein no human wisdom could guide him aright. There is a film over the eyes of man which obstructs his sight, and a bias in his heart that perverts his judgment. Never, till God has opened the eyes of our understanding, shall we see our way. When God has given us a single eye, our whole body will be full of light; but till then, the light that is in us will be all darkness. See the situations and circumstances to which St. Paul was often reduced; and think how an unenlightened man would have acted in his place: and you will soon see that, however man may devise his way, God alone can direct his steps.
Once more:It is God alone that can uphold us in the discharge of such duties. Recall to mind all that has been set forth under the images to which my text refers; and then say, Who is sufficient for these things? Who can support the soul, so as that neither the world with all its temptations, nor the flesh with all its corruptions, nor the devil with all his wiles, shall be able to divert it from the path of duty, or to obstruct its progress in the heavenly lifewho can do this but God alone? I say then, look to God to give you these high attainments, and to fulfil in you all the good pleasure of his goodness. Limit not either his power or his grace; but open your mouth wide, and he will fill it.
I conclude with repeating the injunction in my text: Consider what I say; and the Lord will give you understanding in all things.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
Ver. 7. Consider what I say ] Apply to thyself these forementioned similes, and so buckle close to thy business.
And the Lord give thee ] Unless God open Hagar’s eyes, she cannot see the fountain that is hard by. Rebecca cooks the venison, but Isaac only blesseth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] Understand ( “ ist die innerlich tiefe, sittlich ernste Verstandesthtigkeit .” Beck, Biblische Seelenlehre, p. 56. It is the preparatory step to , id. ib. note, and p. 59, which is “ ein den Zusammenhang mit seinen Grunden und Folgen begreifendes Erkennen ”) what I say ( . . , , , Chrys.: so also Thdrt., all.: not as Calv., who denies the above, “hoc non addidit propter similitudinum obscuritatem, sed ut ipse suggereret Timotheo quanto prstantior sit sub Christi auspiciis militia, et quanto amplior merces:” this would not agree with ): for the Lord (Christ) shall give thee thorough understanding (on , see citation from Beck above) in all things (i.e. thou art well able to penetrate the meaning and bearing of what I say: for thou art not left to thyself, but hast the wisdom which is of Christ to guide thee. There is perhaps a slight intimation that he might apply to this fountain of wisdom more than he did: ‘the Lord, if thou seekest it from Him’).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Ti 2:7 . : Intellige quae dico (Vulg.), Grasp the meaning , cautionary and encouraging, of these three similes. Cf. “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say” (1Co 10:15 ), and the use of the verb in 1Ti 1:7 .
, . . .: If you have not sufficient wisdom to follow my argument, “ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally” (Jas 1:5 ).
: These words form rather the conclusion of the preceding paragraph than the beginning of a new one. St. Paul in pressing home his lesson, passes from figures of speech to the great concrete example of suffering followed by glory. And as he has, immediately before, been laying stress on the certainty of reward, he gives a prominent place to . Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, “Himself man” (1Ti 2:5 ), is the ideal soldier, athlete, and field-labourer; yet One who can be an example to us. It is not the resurrection as a doctrinal fact (A.V.) that St. Paul has in mind, but the resurrection as a personal experience of Jesus Christ, the reward He received, His being “crowned with glory and honour, because of the suffering of death” (Heb 2:9 ). It is not (Act 17:18 ), but , the perfect (as in 1Co 15:4 ; 1Co 15:12-14 ; 1Co 15:16-17 ; 1Co 15:20 ) preserving the notion of the permanent significance of that personal experience of Jesus. In the other passage, Rom 1:3 , in which St. Paul distinctly alludes to our Lord’s human ancestry, the phrase has a directly historical and polemical intention, as expressing and emphasising the human nature of Christ in antithesis to His Divinity. Here . . merely expresses the fact of His humanity. We cannot affirm with certainty that the phrase has the Messianic import that Son of David has in the Gospels.
: The Gospel preached by me . See reff., and . (Gal 1:11 ; 1Co 15:1 ), which of course is identical in substance with . (1Ti 1:11 ). The verity both of Christ’s humanity and of His resurrection was emphasised in the Gospel preached by St. Paul. This is brought out by the punctuation of R.V.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Lord. App-98.
give. The texts read shall give”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] Understand ( ist die innerlich tiefe, sittlich ernste Verstandesthtigkeit. Beck, Biblische Seelenlehre, p. 56. It is the preparatory step to ,-id. ib. note, and p. 59,-which is ein den Zusammenhang mit seinen Grunden und Folgen begreifendes Erkennen) what I say ( . . , , , Chrys.: so also Thdrt., all.: not as Calv., who denies the above, hoc non addidit propter similitudinum obscuritatem, sed ut ipse suggereret Timotheo quanto prstantior sit sub Christi auspiciis militia, et quanto amplior merces: this would not agree with ): for the Lord (Christ) shall give thee thorough understanding (on , see citation from Beck above) in all things (i.e. thou art well able to penetrate the meaning and bearing of what I say: for thou art not left to thyself, but hast the wisdom which is of Christ to guide thee. There is perhaps a slight intimation that he might apply to this fountain of wisdom more than he did:-the Lord, if thou seekest it from Him).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Ti 2:7. ) attend to, consider, what I say: , understanding, is of the divine gift; , to consider, is the part of a well-minded man. Paul says this, if you compare 2Ti 2:6 with 2Ti 2:5. If the husbandman (Timothy) hath (or shall have) laboured, then first he ought (he is entitled) to partake of the fruits (in which the resurrection of Christ abounds, 2Ti 2:8; 2Ti 2:11-12); but if this were the whole meaning of Paul, he would have said, . Therefore from this seventh verse we may gather that a thought rather different is involved in this expression, which amounts to this:-Paul trained the mind of Timothy, 2Ti 1:6; therefore fruits are chiefly due to him from Timothy. In this view, Paul does not openly require, as is necessary in addressing dull men, but by amphibology and enigma, that Timothy should ingenuously acknowledge and perform the duty; and this he does by three comparisons taken from the employment of the soldier, the wrestler, the husbandman.- , for may the Lord give to thee) The meaning is, He will give; there is thus a connection between consider and for; but affection adds the modus or [see Append. on Modalis Sermo. Here the imperative mood expresses the feeling].- , the Lord) Christ.- , in all things) He had already given him understanding in many things: this being taken for granted, Paul says, May He give it in all things.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Ti 2:7
Consider what I say;-[Think of the condition of the soldier, and of the principles on which he is enlisted; think of the aspirant for the crown in the Grecian games; think of the fanner patiently toiling in the prospect of the distant harvest; and then go to work with a similar spirit. These things are worth attention. When the Christian thinks of his hardships, of his struggles against the evil world, of his arduous and discouraging toil, let him think of the soldier, of the man who struggles for the worlds honors, and the patient farmer and be content. How patiently they bear all, and yet for inferior rewards.]
for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things.-Enable Timothy to see the force of these considerations and to apply them to his case. Such are after the discouragements of the Christian. So prone are we to despondency that we need the help of the Lord to enable us to apply these most obvious considerations and to derive support from the plain and simple truths and promises.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Consider: Deu 4:39, Deu 32:29, Psa 64:9, Pro 24:32, Isa 1:3, Isa 5:12, Luk 9:44, Phi 4:8, 1Ti 4:15, Heb 3:1, Heb 7:4, Heb 12:3, Heb 13:7
and: Gen 41:38, Gen 41:39, Exo 36:1, Exo 36:2, Num 27:16, Num 27:17, 1Ch 22:12, 1Ch 29:19, 2Ch 1:8-12, Psa 119:73, Psa 119:125, Psa 119:144, Psa 143:8, Psa 143:9, Pro 2:3-6, Isa 28:26, Dan 1:17, Luk 21:15, Luk 24:45, Joh 14:26, Joh 16:13, Act 7:10, 1Co 12:8, Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18, Col 1:9, Jam 1:5, Jam 3:15, Jam 3:17, 1Jo 5:20
Reciprocal: Ezr 8:16 – men of understanding 1Ti 4:12 – no
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ti 2:7. The Lord gives things in various ways; sometimes direct and sometimes through the agency of an other. In the present case, He will give Timothy understanding of the proper application of his duties by considering what Paul says to him. Consider is defined by Thayer, “to think upon, heed, ponder, consider.” The simplest statement may convey no proper meaning to one if he treats it with indifference. For this reason Timothy was also told to “give attendance” to reading, etc. (1Ti 4:13). The ancient Israelites failed to know what they could have known, because they did not “consider” what the Lord said unto them. “Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider” (Isa 1:3). Furthermore, Paul named a large number of important subjects, then exhorted the brethren to “think on these things” (Php 4:8).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Ti 2:7. Consider what I say. St. Paul contents himself with suggesting the analogies of the two previous verses, and leaves it to Timothys reflection to see their bearing on himself.
And the Lord give thee. The better reading gives for the Lord will give thee. This gives also a better meaning: Make the effort to reflect, for if thou do, the Lord will give thee the discernment which thou needest.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
2:7 “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.”
Consider what Paul says – God will give you understanding! Might we apply this in the following manner? When we read the word (what Paul says) and consider it – then God will give us understanding.
He gives understanding of the Word and how it applies to our lives. A related passage to this is 1Jn 2:27 “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
The Spirit is our teacher if we allow Him that privilege. He can guide us into all truth as we walk with Him.
Now, this understanding may not be like someone pouring water into your ear it may require some study on our part. It might take some further reading of the Word. It might take some digging into commentaries to find what other passages might assist in our understanding of things. The point is that God will give us the knowledge we need when we are in the Word.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
2:7 {5} Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
(5) All these things cannot be understood, and much less practised, unless we ask of God and he gives us understanding.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul encouraged Timothy to meditate on what he had just written knowing that the Lord (probably Jesus, cf. 2Ti 2:8) would help him see the wisdom of his words. Paul’s illustrations yield many practical lessons as one meditates on them.
"The apprehension of spiritual truth is not primarily a matter of mental acumen but of spiritual teachableness." [Note: Hiebert, pp. 57-8.]