Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Timothy 4:17
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.
17. the Lord stood with me ] Again took my part.
strengthened me ] ‘Infused strength into me.’ Cf. 1Ti 1:12; Php 4:13.
the preaching might be fully known ] Lit. ‘ the message preached,’ as in Tit 1:3. The neuter form of the noun requires this. Cf. 1Co 1:21 ‘through the foolishness of the preaching,’ where R.V. has only altered ‘preaching’ into ‘the preaching.’ Accordingly A.V. may stand here. ‘Fully known’ is the same word as in 2Ti 4:5, ‘fully performed’; indeed thus was made the proclamation of the name of Christ ‘before the Gentiles and kings’ (Act 9:15) in the world’s capital, before its highest magistrates, on a supreme trial of life and death.
out of the mouth of the lion ] R.V. rightly lion. The phrase comes from Psa 22:21 and therefore has no defined limit of reference such as ‘the lion of the amphitheatre,’ or ‘Nero,’ or ‘Satan,’ though, it is true, the popular cry against the Christians later was ‘Christianos ad leonem,’ Tertull. Apol. c. 40; and the phrase used of the death of Tiberius earlier was ‘the lion is dead,’ Jos. Ant. xviii. 6. 10; and Satan going about to frighten the saint out of his ‘good confession’ is called ‘a roaring lion, 1Pe 5:8. ‘The lion’s mouth’ is each and all of these; the evil within and the evil without, ‘all adversities which may happen to the body, and all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul’ (Collect 2nd S. in Lent).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me – Though all men forsook me, yet God did not. This expresses a universal truth in regard to the faithfulness of God; see Psa 27:10; compare Job 5:17-19; Isa 14:1-2.
That by me the preaching might be fully known – The word preaching, here probably means the gospel as preached by him. The word rendered might be fully known – plerophorethe – means might obtain full credence; that is, might be fully confirmed, so that others might be assured of its truth. The apostle doubtless means that on his trial, though forsaken by all men, he was enabled to be so steadfast in his profession of the truth, and so calm in the prospect of death, that all who witnessed his trial saw that there was a reality in religion, and that the gospel was founded in truth. He had maintained as a preacher that the gospel was able to support the soul in trial, and he was now able to illustrate its power in his own case. He had proclaimed the gospel as the true system of religion, and he was now able to bear testimony to it with the prospect of approaching martyrdom.
The sentiment of this passage then is, that the truth of the gospel is made known, or that men may become fully assured of it, by the testimony which is borne to it by its friends in the near prospect of death. One of the most important means of establishing the truth of the gospel in the world has been the testimony borne to it by martyrs, and the spirit of unwavering confidence in God which they have evinced. And now, one of the most important methods of keeping up the knowledge of the value of religion in the world, and of convincing men of the truth of Christianity, is the spirit evinced by its friends when they are about to die. Men judge much, and justly, of the value of a system of religion by its power to comfort in the day of calamity, and to sustain the soul when about to enter on an untried state of being. That system is of little value to mankind which leaves us in the day of trial; that is of inestimable worth which will enable us to die with the firm hope of a brighter and better world. A Christian, having served his God faithfully in life, may, therefore, be eminently useful when he comes to die.
And that all the Gentiles might hear – Paul was at this time in Rome. His trial was before a pagan tribunal, and he was surrounded by Pagans. Rome, too, was then the center of the world, and at all times there was a great conflux of strangers there. His trial, therefore, gave him an opportunity of testifying to the truth of Christianity before Gentile rulers, and in such circumstances that the knowledge of his sufferings, and of the religion for which he suffered, might be conveyed by the strangers who witnessed it to the ends of the world. His main object in life was to make the gospel known to the Gentiles, and he had thus an opportunity of furthering that great cause, even on what he supposed might be the trial which would determine with him the question of life or death; compare the notes on Rom 1:10.
And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion – This may either mean that he was delivered from Nero, compared with a lion, or literally that he was saved from being thrown to lions in the amphitheater, as was common in Rome; see the notes on 1Co 15:32.
It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare tyrants and persecutors with ravenous wild beasts; compare Psa 22:13, Psa 22:21; Jer 2:30. Nero is called a lion by Seneca, and it was usual among pagan writers to apply the term in various senses to princes and warriors; see Grotius, in loc. The common interpretation here has been, that this refers to Nero, and there is no improbability in the interpretation. Still, it is quite as natural to suppose that the punishment which had been appointed for him, or to which he would have been subjected, was to be thrown to lions, and that in some way, now unknown to us, he had been delivered from it. Paul attributes his deliverance entirely to the Lord – but what instrumental agency there may have been, he does not specify. It seems probable that it was his own defense; that he was enabled to plead his own cause with so much ability that he found favor even with the Roman emperor, and was discharged. If it had been through the help of a friend at court, it is hardly to be supposed that he would not have mentioned the name of him to whom he owed his deliverance.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. The Lord stood with me] When all human help failed, God, in a more remarkable manner, interposed; and thus the excellency plainly appeared to be of God, and not of man.
That by me the preaching might be fully known] When called on to make his defence he took occasion to preach the Gospel, and to show that the great God of heaven and earth had designed to illuminate the Gentile world with the rays of his light and glory. This must have endeared him to some, while others might consider him an opposer of their gods, and be the more incensed against him.
I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.] I escaped the imminent danger at that time. Probably he was seized in a tumultuous manner, and expected to be torn to pieces. The words or , to be rescued from the mouth or jaws of the lion, are a proverbial form of speech for deliverance from the most imminent danger. Several writers think Nero to be intended by the lion, because of his rage and oppressive cruelty. But Helius Caesarinus was at this time prefect of the city; Nero being in Greece. He was a bloody tyrant, and Nero had given him the power of life and death in his absence. The apostle may mean him, if the words be not proverbial.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me; that is, did not leave me. It is opened by the next word, and strengthened me; he gave me courage and inward ability, so as I was able to plead, and to defend my cause.
That by me the preaching might be fully known; that all men that heard me might fully know by Gods presence with me, seen in my courage, that my preaching was not from myself, or from men, but from God, the message of God by one to the sons of men.
And that all the Gentiles might hear; and that all the heathen present in the court of Rome might hear and believe.
And I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion; and I was for the present delivered out of my great danger: or possibly he calls Nero (the Roman emperor at that time) a lion for his barbarous cruelties.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. the Lordthe more becausemen deserted me.
stood with mestrongerthan “came forward with me” (Greek, 2Ti4:16).
strengthenedGreek,“put strength in me.”
by me“throughme”; through my means. One single occasion is often of thegreatest moment.
the preaching“theGospel proclamation.”
might be fully knownmightbe fully made (see on 2Ti 4:5).
that all the Gentilespresentat my trial, “might hear” the Gospel proclaimed then. Romewas the capital of the Gentile world, so that a proclamation of thetruth to the Romans was likely to go forth to the rest of the Gentileworld.
I was delivered out of themouth of the lionnamely, Satan, the roaring, devouring lion(Luk 22:31; 1Pe 5:8).I was prevented falling into his snare (2Ti 2:26;Psa 22:21; 2Pe 2:9);2Ti 4:18 agrees with thisinterpretation, “The Lord shall deliver me from everyevil work,” namely, both from evil and the evil one, as theGreek of the Lord’s Prayer expresses it. It was notdeliverance from Nero (who was called the lion) which herejoiced in, for he did not fear death (2Ti4:6-8), but deliverance from the temptation, through fear, todeny His Lord: so ALFORD.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,…. Either personally appearing to him, as in Ac 23:11 or by the ministry of an angel, Ac 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But the Lord stood by me ( ). Second aorist active of (intransitive use), “took his stand by my side.” See Ro 16:2. Clearly Jesus appeared to Paul now at this crisis and climax as he had done so many times before.
Strengthened me ( ). “Poured power into me.” See Php 4:13.
That through me the message might be fully proclaimed ( ‘ ). Final clause with and first aorist passive subjunctive of (see verse 5). Either to the rulers in Rome now or, if the first imprisonment, by his release and going to Spain.
And that all the Gentiles might hear ( ). Continuation of the purpose with the aorist active subjunctive of .
I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion ( ). First aorist passive indicative of (1Th 1:10). A proverb, but not certain what the application is whether to Nero or to Satan (1Th 2:18) or to the lion in the arena where Paul could not be sent because a Roman citizen.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Strengthened [] . See on 1Ti 1:12.
The preaching [ ] . Better, the message (par excellence), the gospel message. Usually with a defining word, as of Jonah; of Jesus Christ; my preaching; our preaching. Absolutely, as here, 1Co 1:21; Tit 1:3.
Might be fully known [] . See on verse 5. Lit. might be fulfilled; fully carried out by being proclaimed before rulers in the capital of the world. Comp. Rom 14:19; Act 23:11; Act 28:31; Phi 1:12 – 14.
Out of the mouth of the lion [ ] . Figurative expression for danger of death. Comp. 1Co 14:32. As usual, all manner of special references have been imagined : the lions of the amphitheatre; Nero; the chief accuser; the Jews; the Devil.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me” (ho de kurios moi pareste) “Yet the Lord stood (alongside) with me;” The Lord never deserts, forsakes, or betrays a friend. Never! Psa 27:10; Deu 4:31; Deu 31:6; Heb 13:5.
2) “And strengthened me” (kai enedunamosen me) “And empowered me (dynamically).” He not only stands by His own, but He also strengthens them for every trial; Mat 10:19; Act 18:9; Act 23:11; Act 27:23-24; Psa 46:1; Psa 46:7; 1Co 10:13; 2Co 12:9.
3) “That by me the preaching might be fully known” (hina di emou to kerugma plerophorethe) “In order that through me the proclamation (of the gospel) might be achieved or accomplished.”
4) “And that all the Gentiles might hear” (kai akousosin panta ta ethne) “And in order that all the nations or races might hear (the gospel);” It was to them he was called and sent, Act 9:15; Act 26:15-18; Rom 1:5; Rom 1:13-17; Rom 11:13; Eph 3:1-10.
5) “And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion” (kai errusthen ek stomatos leontos) “And I was delivered or brought out of the mouth of (Leo) the lion,” or devourer, Satan; in harmony with our model prayer, “Deliver us from evil,” the Evil One, Mat 6:13; 1Pe 5:8; 2Pe 2:9; as he delivered Daniel, Dan 6:22-24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17 But the Lord assisted me He adds this, in order to remove the scandal which he saw might arise from that base desertion of his cause. (206) Though the church at Rome had failed to perform its duty, he affirms that the gospel had suffered no loss by it, because, leaning on heavenly power, he was himself fully able to bear the whole burden, and was so far from being discouraged by the influence of that fear which seized on all, that it became only the more evident that the grace of God has no need of receiving aid from any other quarter. He does not boast of his courage, but gives thanks to the Lord; that, when reduced to extremities, he did not give way nor lose heart under so dangerous a temptation. He therefore acknowledges that he was supported by the arm of the Lord, and is satisfied with this, that the inward grace of God served for a shield to defend him against every assault. He assigns the reason —
That the proclamation might be confirmed The word “proclamation” is employed by him to denote the office of publishing the gospel among the Gentiles, which was especially assigned to him; (207) for the preaching of others did not so much resemble a proclamation, in consequence of being confined to the Jews. And with good reason does he make use of this word in many passages. It was no small confirmation of his ministry, that, when the whole world foamed with madness against him, and on the other hand, all human assistance failed him, still he remained unshaken. Thus he gave practical demonstration that his apostleship was from Christ.
He now describes the manner of the confirmation, that all the Gentiles might hear that the Lord had so powerfully assisted him; for from this event they might infer that both their own calling and that of Paul were from the Lord.
And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. By the word “lion,” many suppose that he means Nero. For my part, I rather think that he makes use of this expression to denote danger in general; as if he had said, “out of a blazing fire,” or “out of the jaws of death.” He means that it was not without wonderful assistance from God, that he escaped, the danger being so great that but for this he must have been immediately swallowed up.
(206) “ De ce que plusieurs L’avoyent ainsi lachement abandonne en la defense de sa cause.” — “From many having so basely deserted them in the defense of his cause.”
(207) “ Le mot Grec signifie proprement une publication et proclamation qui se fait solennellement et comme a son de trompe.” — “The Greek word properly denotes a publication or proclamation which is made solemnly, and, as it were, with the sound of a trumpet.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.Though men deserted him, yet Oneeven his Lord (Christ), who could do more for him than any friend, or advocate, or protector of earthstood by him, and strengthened him by giving him courage and readiness.
That by me the preaching might be fully known.More accurately rendered, might be fully performed: impleatur, as the Vulgate gives it. The strength and courage which the felt presence of his Lord gave him, enabled him on that occasion, when alone, friendless, accused of a hateful crime before the highest earthly tribunal in the capital city of the world, to plead not only for himself but for that great cause with which he was identified. He spoke possibly for the last time publicly [we know nothing of the final trial, when he was condemned] the glad tidings of which he was the chosen herald to the Gentile world. It is probable that this great trial took place in the Forum, in one of the Pauline Basilicasso called after L. milius Paulus. It is certain it was in the presence of a crowded audience. St. Paul evidently intimates this when he tells us how he spoke that all the Gentiles might hear. This was apparently the culminating point of St. Pauls laboursthe last stone of the laborious edifice of his lifes work. Had the courage of the Apostle of the Gentiles failed him on this most momentous occasion, the spirit of the sorely-tried Church of Rome had surely sunk, and that marvellous and rapid progress of the gospel in the Westwhich, in a little more than a hundred years, would make its influence felt in well-nigh every city and village of the empirehad been arrested.
And that all the Gentiles might hear.Here alluding primarily to the crowded audience which had listened on this solemn occasion to St. Pauls Apologia pro Christo; but there is another and deeper reference to those uncounted peoples in the isles of the Gentiles, who, by St. Pauls work and words, would come to the saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.
And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.Expositors have, in all ages, dwelt much on the question, Who was to be understood under the figure of the lion? The fathers mostly believe the Emperor Nero was here alluded to. Others have suggested that St. Paul was referring to the lions of the amphitheatre, from whom, at all events for the time, he had been delivered. It is, however, best to understand the expression as a figurative expression for extreme danger. His Master on that dread occasion stood by him, and gave him strength and wisdom over man to speak the words of life, and delivered him for the moment out of the imminent peril threatening him, allowing him, not only to speak his Masters words there, but also thus to write this solemn farewell charge to Timothy and the Church. That such figurative language was not unusual, compare the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, iii.:8, in which writing the prisoner describes his journey from Syria to Rome as one long fight with wild beasts, and speaks of himself as bound to ten leopards, thus designating his soldier guards.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. The Lord stood with me An advocate and coadjutor, better than any man. The charge against Paul probably was the introduction of a new religion, unknown to his ancestors. Rome permitted every conquered people to adhere, each, to its own national faith; but inflicted death on innovators and inventors of new faiths. See note, Act 26:1. Paul maintained that his faith was no new invention, but the true historical continuity and development of old Hebraism. And here we can see how Alexander, who had, we suppose, been both Jew and Christian, might be able to withstand St. Paul’s words, by maintaining that Christianity was a contradiction of the old faith. This would draw Paul out to a full statement of Christianity. And thereby we can see, first, how the Lord, standing by him, would be a powerful inspirer and confirmer in unfolding the glorious truths of the gospel; and, second, how Paul can jubilantly boast that all the Gentiles would hear his plea for Christ. The trial was probably held in one of the large basilicas, and attended by a vast crowd of Romans.
Mouth of the lion Nero, as all the old writers used to say. Yet it is probable that Nero was at this time absent from Rome. Hence, different commentators have each suggested a different lion. Whitby and others name Helius, the administrator in Nero’s absence; Wieseler, the Jewish prosecutor; others, the lions of the amphitheatre. Huther and Fairbairn take lion’s mouth as a single metaphorical phrase to express danger and death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.’
But the Lord had proved more than sufficient for Paul. He had stood by him. He had been with him and had strengthened him, and Paul had thus been able to witness boldly to the gathered Gentiles, fully proclaiming the Christian message in front of them all. This was in fact one way by which Jesus had said that God would reach prominent Gentiles, ‘yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles’ (Mat 9:18. Compare also Mar 13:9; Mar 13:11; Luk 12:11-12). There may in ‘all the Gentiles might hear’ be a reflection of these words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew, as he points out how the Lord’s words were fulfilled in the reaching of the Gentiles by testifying before their leaders. Furthermore the transcripts of trials might well often have become public knowledge, and the trial of so prominent man as Paul had become might well have become a talking point on a wide scale. Or it may simply be that the preliminary hearing was open to all and well attended.
On the other hand it may be that ‘that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear’ reflects his feeling that now, by his testimony before these Gentiles in Rome, he has capped off and fulfilled his ministry as the Apostle to the Gentiles (see Rom 1:5 where ‘all the Gentiles’ is also used). He had proclaimed the message of the Gospel throughout the empire, and now he was proclaiming it at its centre. It had thus been fully proclaimed. Now ‘all the Gentiles’ had heard (compare the thought in Rom 1:8).
‘And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.’ Being ‘delivered out of the mouth of the lion’ may have become a popular way among Christians of describing rescue from adversity, taking into account Psa 22:21 and on the basis of what had happened to Daniel (compare Dan 6:16-24). Alternatively the thought here may have been of the Devil seen popularly as a roaring lion (compare 1Pe 5:8). Or it may have been an indirect way of referring to Nero. Paul would hardly wish to mention him by name in case his letter was intercepted.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ti 4:17. Might be fully known, , might be carried on with confidence. It was a glorious testimony to the honour of Christianity, that the apostle couldthuscourageouslymaintainit, when all his friends forsook him, and his enemies were so fiercely raging against him. By the lion, the apostle (according to many commentators) means the emperor Nero; whom, it is remarkable, Seneca calls by the same name. But, since Clement says that he suffered martyrdom under the governors, (see on 2Ti 4:16.) some think it more probable, that by the lion the apostle intended Helius; who was, if possible, more savage than his master, and whom Nero had at this time left with an absolute authority in Rome during his absence in Greece. The sacred Scriptures frequently represent idolatrous, bigotted, and cruel princes, under this image. Comp. Amo 5:19. Jer 2:30. Joe 1:6. Nah 2:12. The apostle may allude here to the circumstance in Dan 6:22. See Psa 35:17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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.
Ver. 17. The Lord stood ] God is never so sweet and so seasonable to his saints as in the day of their deepest distress. He loves to help those that are forsaken of their hopes.
The preaching might be fully known ] Or, soundly proved to be a divine ordinance, by my constancy and contempt of death.
Out of the mouth, of the lion ] Nero, who first orientem fidem Romae cruentavit, as Tertullian speaketh, put Christians to death, and made a bloody decree, that whosoever confessed himself a Christian should, without any more ado, be put to death as a convicted enemy of mankind. Tertullian calleth him Dedicator damnationis Christianorum, The dedicator of the condemnation of Christians.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ti 4:17 . : The Lord was my “patronus,” cf. Rom 16:2 . But the word is used in a purely local sense of the felt presence of a Divine Being in reff. in Acts.
: See note on 1Ti 1:12 .
: impleatur (Vulg.). As long as there had been no public proclamation of the gospel by Paul himself in Rome, the function of had not been completely fulfilled by him.
: This is most naturally understood as an echo of Psa 21 (22):22, . occurs in the verse preceding. And what follows in the LXX seems to point to the most satisfactory explanation of the apostle’s meaning, . , . . . If St. Paul had not been strengthened to complete his , his failure would have been his . As it was, he was delivered from that calamity, and enabled to declare God’s name to the Gentiles. It is impossible, in view of (2Ti 4:6 ), to suppose that delivery from death is implied. (2Ti 4:16 ) proves that the apostle was aware that a second trial was awaiting him, the issue of which he knew would be his execution. It is still more impossible to suppose that literal wild beasts are meant. Paul’s Roman citizenship secured him from that degradation. The Greek commentators take “the lion” to mean Nero, “from his ferocity” (Chrys.). Cf. Esth. 14:13, of Ahasuerus; Joseph. Antiq . xviii. 6, 10, of Tiberius. It is no objection to this exegesis that the article is omitted before , since, as we have seen, there is none in the Psalm. But deliverance from that lion’s mouth would be equivalent to acquittal by the Roman government; and it is evident that St. Paul was well aware that his sentence had been only deferred.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Notwithstanding = But.
strengthened. See Act 9:22.
that = in order that. Greek. hina. by. App-104. 2Ti 4:1.
preaching. App-121.8,
fully known. See 2Ti 4:5.
delivered. Greek. rhuomai. See 2Ti 3:11.
out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
lion. This may mean that Paul established his claim, as a Roman citizen, not to meet his death in the amphitheatre; or it may be a metaphor for Nero.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ti 4:17. , but the Lord) the more on this account.-, stood by me) This is more than , to be present.-, strengthened me) The opposite is, forsook.- , that by me) One single occasion is often of the greatest moment.- all the Gentiles) of whom Rome was the capital.- , I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion) Psa 22:22, . We may suppose that Paul had seen a vision under the form of a lion. The lion signifies either Nero, or some one who threatened danger. It is at all events a figurative expression; for he would have said, from the mouth of the lions, if he intended beasts without a figure. I was delivered, he says, not He delivered me, because, that the Lord had done it, was not outwardly apparent.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Ti 4:17
But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me;-Notwithstanding the fact that his friends and brethren had forsaken him, the Lord stood by him and enabled him, now old and feeble, to speak with clearness and force before the highest earthly tribunal in the capital city of the world filled with a power that lifted him above fear and clothed him with a divine energy which his enemies could not resist. The following words of the Lord Jesus supported him on this trying occasion: But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. (Mat 10:19-20.) And the great promise was fulfilled: Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Mat 28:20.)
that through me the message might be fully proclaimed,-The strength and courage which the felt presence of the Lord gave him enabled him on that momentous occasion, when alone, friendless, accused of an awful crime before the highest earthly court in the capital city of the world, to plead not only for himself, but for the cause for which his Lord and Master died on the cross. The great trial probably took place in the Forum and in the presence of a great concourse of people gathered from all parts of the empire.
and that all the Gentiles might hear:-This was apparently the culminating point in Pauls life-work alluding primarily to the vast audience which had listened to him on this solemn occasion; but there is another and deeper reference to those unnumbered peoples in the isles of the Gentiles (Isa 11:11; Isa 24:15; Isa 51:5), who, by Pauls work and teachings, would come to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus and be saved.
and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.-It was thought that the result of the trial would be that he would be cast to the lions in the amphitheatre. In all his trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea his defense was that the gospel is true. He preached that Jesus was raised from the dead as the vindication of his course. Many attended the trial of Paul, and by his defense on that occasion his preaching became fully known. All the Gentiles heard the truth and God delivered him from the lions mouth. The trial so resulted and his preaching so affected the people and the judges that he was not thrown to the lions. The customs of the country, the fate of the Christians condemned, and the surroundings seem to require this meaning.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the Lord: Psa 37:39, Psa 37:40, Psa 109:31, Jer 15:20, Jer 15:21, Jer 20:10, Jer 20:11, Mat 10:19, Act 18:9, Act 18:10, Act 23:11, Act 27:23, Act 27:24
strengthened: Isa 41:10, Isa 41:14, 2Co 12:9
by: Luk 21:15, Act 9:15, Act 26:17, Act 26:18, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26, Eph 3:8, Phi 1:12-14
and I: Psa 22:21, Pro 20:2, Pro 28:15, Jer 2:30, Dan 6:22, Dan 6:27, Heb 11:33, 1Pe 5:8, 2Pe 2:9
Reciprocal: Gen 28:12 – ladder Gen 49:24 – his bow Exo 18:4 – delivered Deu 3:21 – so shall Jos 1:5 – as I was Jos 6:27 – the Lord Jos 10:25 – Fear not 1Sa 17:35 – smote him 1Sa 17:37 – The Lord 1Sa 23:14 – but God 2Sa 4:9 – who hath 2Sa 22:18 – delivered 2Ch 32:8 – with us Ezr 7:28 – as the hand Job 4:11 – old lion Psa 7:2 – like Psa 17:12 – Like Psa 27:9 – thou Psa 29:11 – give Psa 37:33 – will not Psa 59:1 – Deliver Psa 69:20 – but there Psa 91:13 – tread Psa 91:15 – I will be Psa 94:17 – Unless Psa 142:5 – Thou art Pro 29:25 – fear Ecc 4:1 – they had Ecc 8:1 – boldness Isa 38:6 – General Isa 41:13 – will hold Isa 43:2 – I will be Isa 45:24 – strength Jer 1:8 – for I am Jer 30:11 – I am Jer 38:28 – General Jer 42:11 – for I Jer 46:28 – for I am Dan 2:18 – they would Hag 1:13 – I am Hag 2:4 – for Zec 10:5 – because Mat 1:23 – God Mat 6:13 – deliver Mat 10:18 – be Mat 14:30 – when Mat 28:20 – I am Joh 8:29 – he that sent Joh 14:21 – and will Joh 16:32 – that Act 4:24 – they Act 4:29 – that Act 20:24 – none Act 26:22 – obtained Act 28:31 – with Rom 1:13 – even Rom 10:14 – and how shall Rom 15:19 – fully 2Co 1:10 – General Eph 3:9 – to Eph 3:16 – to be Eph 6:10 – be 2Th 3:2 – delivered 1Ti 1:12 – who 2Ti 1:8 – according 2Ti 1:12 – the which 2Ti 3:11 – but Tit 2:11 – hath appeared Rev 13:2 – and his mouth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE LORDS PRESENCE
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
2Ti 4:17
In the terror of that time, when to be a Christian was to be at least, in public opinion, an atheist and an anarchist, none dared hold a brief for the leader of that abominated sect; St. Paul had to plead alone. Ah, but not alone. He tells us that then once more that Presence he had known of old came and mysteriously overshadowed him.
I. The great martyrs experience has repeated itself through all the ages; for the Personage Who caused it is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
II.Our Christian life is in many respects so traditionally easy that it is in grave risk of becoming merely perfunctory. And at the heart of a merely perfunctory religion it is strange if there is not setting in, however imperceptibly at times, the mortification of unbelief.
III. The truest training for some great thing for God is fidelity to Him in the next familiar little thing. And most certainly we shall find, when we look at all into the heart of matters, that full fidelity to God in common life is a victory which demands for its achievement nothing less than the secret of the saints. For this, among other things, the glorious annals of holy suffering are given us. Not only, not mostly, to win our loving wonder for the sufferers. No, the supreme lesson of these records of pain and glory is another. It is the lesson of what Jesus Christ can be in all the needs and all the weaknesses of His people.
Bishop H. C. G. Moule.
Illustration
In the Chinese massacres of a few years ago Mrs. Atwater, an American missionary, found herself face to face with death. I am preparing for the end, she wrote to a friend, very quietly and calmly. The Lord is wonderfully near, and He will not fail me. I was very restless and excited when there seemed a chance of life, but God has taken away that feeling The pain will soon be over, and oh, the sweetness of the welcome above. My little one will go with me; I think God will give it to me in heaven. I cannot imagine the Saviours welcome.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Ti 4:17. The Lord stood by Paul as he faced the Roman court, and for the time being prevented him from being slain. The purpose was that the apostle might round out his work of preaching to the Gentiles of that city, thus making fully known the Gospel for which cause he was there in chains. Christians were sometimes thrown to the lions, literally, to die for their faith. That fact is used figuratively of Nero, who threatened to have Paul executed immediately. But he was given a temporary respite, and in that sense he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Ti 4:17. The Lord stood by me. The words may imply only, as they would with us, the consciousness of help and comfort coming as from a Divine friend; but, looking to such records as those of the visions of Act 18:9; Act 23:11, it is at least possible that they may point to a more immediate intuition.
Fully known. The English explains rather than translates. Literally, might be carried to its full measure.
That all the Gentiles might hear. The words sound like an exaggeration, but the naturalness of such an exaggeration is the best proof of the genuineness of the letter. To the apostle standing before Csar or Csars delegate, in the mother-city of the world, the event seemed, as indeed it was, of infinite importance. Not perhaps as he thought, but beyond his thoughts, strength was given him that all the nations, then, and throughout the centuries that followed, might hear.
From the mouth of the lion. The words admit of many interpretations, between which it is hard to choose, (1) The lion may be Nero, or the judge acting under him. (2) The words may mean that St. Paul, claiming his rights as a Roman citizen, was delivered from the doom which fell on other Christians of being thrown to the lions in the circus. (3) It may be a figure for the jaws of death. (4) The lion may be the devil tempting him through the sense of desertion to despair. In favour of (1) we may appeal to the use of the term lion as applied to Artaxerxes in the apocryphal Esther 14:13, while (4) is supported by 1Pe 5:8. On the whole, (1) commends itself most to me.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, “Though man forsook me, God stood by me; the Lord Jesus strengthened me, that by me, thus standing up in the defence of the gospel, the preaching of it might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear the defence of it; and thus, for that time, I was delivered out of Nero’s hands, that bloody lion’s mouth.”
Learn, 1. That whilst God has any farther work for his servants to do, he will assist and sustain them in despite of all opposition and discouragement whatsoever; though Nero roar, and persecutor;s rage, and friends desert, yet God will stand by, God will deliver, till his faithful servants have finished their work; The Lord stood by me, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, says the apostle.
See here the certain character of the church’s enemies: They are lions; lions for power, lions for policy, lions for terror, lions for cruelty; God sometimes delivers his people, and saves them from, sometimes suffers his dearest children to fall into, the paws, yea, the mouths of these devouring lions.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
2Ti 4:17-18. Notwithstanding I was not left entirely destitute; for, though men forsook me, the Lord stood with me According to his promise, Luk 21:15; and strengthened me With that inward fortitude of mind which no human support could have inspired; that by me the preaching The gospel which we preach; might be fully known , literally, might be carried with a full sail; that is, fully and boldly declared. That the apostle could thus courageously bear witness to the gospel when all his friends forsook him, and his enemies were so fiercely raging against him, was a glorious testimony to the honour of Christianity. And that all the Gentiles might hear This implies that he made his defence in a manner which he was persuaded would be taken notice of and reported abroad, much to the honour of that sacred cause which was dearer to him than his life. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion By the lion Nero is generally thought to be meant, or rather his prefect, Helius Cesarianus, to whom Nero committed the government of the city in his absence, with power to put whomsoever he pleased to death. But the expression may be understood proverbially, as denoting an escape from the greatest danger; in which sense it is used Psa 22:21. And the Lord Whose power and faithfulness are always the same; shall deliver me from every evil work From all sin, and especially from doing any thing inconsistent with the honour of the gospel, and the salvation of my own soul; which is of far greater consequence than delivering me from death. And preserve me to his heavenly kingdom An infinitely better kingdom than that of Nero.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“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.”
Paul gives great honor to God for His care through the whole dissatisfying situation. God made the truth known in the end even though the days may have been dark to begin with.
If you have a pastor or mentor near, take some time to ask them about situations like this that they have lived through. It will make for interesting listening on your part. Many men have faced this situation and you might learn much by listening to how they resolved their difficulties.
It is no wonder Paul called his life a fight in verse seven.
His mention of the lion may relate to trouble in general from another person but more likely relates to his view of the devil. Peter uses similar terminology in 1Pe 5:8 as well. They both may have been thinking of the Romans feeding Christians to lions, or they may have been thinking of the Old Testament where things that are adversarial are related to a lion. Psa 10:1-10 speaks of wickedness personified as a lion.
There is also a possible link in that the Devil likes to copy the things of the Lord and Christ is the Lion of Judah. One or all of these may relate to their use of the lion.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
4:17 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 {e} lion.
(e) Of Nero.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord, however, had not abandoned His faithful servant on that occasion but had strengthened Paul. Evidently Paul was able to give a word of witness at his hearing that furthered his mission to the Gentiles. He had so far escaped death, though he was ready to die as a martyr. The "lion’s mouth" may be a reference to the lions in the Roman Coliseum that were then devouring Christians. However the Romans would have beheaded Paul rather than thrown him to the lions since he was a Roman citizen. This phrase may be a veiled reference to Nero or probably a more general allusion to Satan’s instruments of evil that have always sought to destroy God’s faithful servants (cf. Dan 6:22; Psa 22:21; Mat 6:13; 1Pe 5:8).