Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
13. But evil men and seducers ] The word ‘seduce’ in A.V. occurs nine times in Old and New Testament always in the general sense of ‘lead astray’; everywhere except here it is used to represent the Greek word for this cognate to the English word ‘planet’ ‘the wanderer,’ (cf. Jude’s ‘wandering stars’) and almost immediately following here ‘deceiving,’ cf. 1Ti 4:1 and note. R.V. in these places varies between ‘seduce’ and ‘lead astray.’ The word so rendered here is properly ‘enchanter,’ from the cries of incantations used. So ‘magicians,’ and more generally ‘impostors.’ Compare for the general sense, the most probable here, the use of the verb by Plato, Phd. 81, 13, ‘the soul having served and loved the body and been bewitched by it through desires and pleasures.’ Some think there may be a reference to the magic arts, such as those of Jannes and Jambres; and certainly Ephesus had an evil repute in this respect itself, cf. Act 19:13; Act 19:10. ‘Ephesian letters’ was a common expression for charms made up of magic words and worn as amulets.
shall wax worse and worse ] The same verb as in 2Ti 3:9. The ‘progress’ is a ‘rake’s progress,’ step after step leading and being led astray. Compare Rev 18:23, ‘with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived,’ 2Jn 1:7, ‘many deceivers are gone forth into the world this is the deceiver and the antichrist.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse – That is, it is the character of such men to do this; they may be expected to do it. This is the general law of depravity – that if men are not converted, they are always growing worse, and sinking deeper into iniquity. Their progress will be certain, though it may be gradual, since nemo repente turpissimus. The connection here is this: that Timothy was not to expect that he would be exempt from persecution 2Ti 3:12, by any change for the better in the wicked men referred to. He was to anticipate in them the operation of the general law in regard to bad men and seducers – that they would grow worse and worse. From this fact, he was to regard it as certain that he, as well as others, would be liable to be persecuted. The word rendered seducers – goes – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, a juggler, or diviner; and then, a deceiver, or impostor. Here it refers to those who by seductive arts, lead persons into error.
Deceiving – Making others believe that to be true and right, which is false and wrong. This was, of course, done by seductive arts.
And being deceived – Under delusion themselves. The advocates of error are often themselves as really under deception, as those whom they impose upon. They are often sincere in the belief of error, and then they are under a delusion; or, if they are insincere, they are equally deluded in supposing that they can make error pass for truth before God, or can deceive the Searcher of hearts. The worst victims of delusion are those who attempt to delude others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ti 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse.
Graduating in ungodliness
1. If we consider wicked men as they are in themselves, they are all strongly bent to apostasy; every day they grow worse and worse. As godly men are graduates in Gods school, growing from strength to strength, and from one degree of grace unto another, till they become perfect men in Christ, every sermon makes them better, and every ordinance improves them. So wicked men are graduates also, and take degrees in the devils school; they stand not at a stay, but they grow from evil to Worse. As he that is righteous will go on and be more righteous, so he that is filthy will go on in his filthiness (Rev 22:11). It is the proper character of wicked men that they fall away more and more (Isa 1:5; Pro 1:22).
2. But secondly, let us consider them specifically and divisively for such evil men as are deceivers and impostors, and these we see experimentally grow worse and worse. They have no foundation to rest on; they know no stay when once they have passed the bounds of the word, no more than a violent stream doth when it hath broke over those bounds and bonds which before kept it in. Error knows no end; when once men forsake the way of truth they wander in infinitum. As it is in logic, grant one absurdity and I will infer a thousand, and as sin begets sin, blood toucheth blood, and one murder begets another (Hos 4:2). So error is very fertile and prolific; it speedily brings forth a great increase. One error is a bridge to another; ill weeds spring apace and spread far, when good herbs grow thin and low. A little of this leaven will quickly sour the whole lump (Mat 16:6). When once men begin to tumble down the hill of error they seldom rest till they come to the bottom. (T. Hall, B. D.)
Deceiving others and being deceived in turn
They cozen others, and the devil cozens them, leading them into far greater errors; and so they shall be punished on a double account.
1. Because they err themselves and resist the truth.
2. Because they have drawn others into error. The participle of the present tense notes their assiduity and constancy; they make it their trade to deceive others: they are still deceiving one or other with their smooth, flattering language. As God loves to employ good men for the conversion of others (not that He needs the help of man, but), for the exercising of the graces of His servants, and for the greater manifestation of His own glory, so the devil, who is Gods ape, loves to deceive men by men. He hath his agents and emissaries everywhere. As good men delight in converting others, so wicked men delight in perverting others: as those would not go to heaven alone, so these would not go to hell alone: and therefore they labour to make others twofold more the children of the devil than themselves. (T. Hall, B. D.)
Satan the great deceiver
As thieves when they would rob a man draw him aside out of the highway into some wood, and then cut his throat, so this grand deceiver and his agents draw men aside from the right way of Gods worship into some bypaths of error to their ruin. The devil he is the cheater of cheaters, and deluder of deluders; it is his constant trade, as the participle implies. And this is the reason why many false teachers may die with boldness and courage for their opinions, viz., because they are blinded and deluded by the devil; they think themselves martyrs, when they are grand deceivers and grossly deceived. We had need, therefore, to pray for the Spirit of grace and illumination that we may see the methods, depths, and devices of Satan and avoid them. (T. Hall, B. D.)
Worse and worse
Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. (Bacon.)
Being deceived
A man may tell a lie till he believes it to be the truth. (J. C. Gray.)
Self-deception
Mr. Robert Sutcliffe, a member of the Society of Friends, travelling in America early in the present century, had a tough argument with a man engaged in the slave trade, of whom he says: At length, being hard pressed, he gave up the point in a good deal of warmth, with this remarkable declaration: Why, sir, you cant suppose that the Almighty looks so narrowly into our actions as you do. (Leisure Hour.)
Changed by sin
Allowed sin always masters a man in time. The man may loathe his master, yet he obeys him; he may fear his master, yet still he does his hateful bidding. But there is here an awful warning as to the sure change of the very being of a man under the once invited presence and the permitted occupation of the forces of evil. The man himself changes–imperceptibly at first to himself–others see it. He is often unaware of it himself, till the last stages are reached. It must be so–there must be a change. If you think there is no such thing as standing still in life–in spiritual, in natural life. As the solid tower reels and sways beneath the crashing of the ringing bells, so there is movement even in the most solid, calm-seeming life. (Canon Wilberforce.)
Development of evil
Secular history tells us that when Tiberius (Luk 3:1) became emperor of Rome, he was remarkable for his kindness, amiability, and moderation. But he became one of the most wicked and cruel of tyrants. Nero, too, was so affable and kind in early life, that he was quite popular at the beginning of his reign; but he afterwards caused his mother, his wife, his old tutor Seneca, with multitudes of Christians and others, to be put to death, many of them in excessively cruel ways; and he was guilty of such other enormities, that his people at length conspired against him, when, to escape their malice, he killed himself in the thirty-first year of his age. Robespierre, the tyrant, and the leading spirit during the reign of terror in Paris, through whom thousands of both his friends and foes were slaughtered or subjected to the greatest cruelties, was, in private and early life, amiable and kind. He once, when young, resigned his situation as a member of a criminal court, because he had such an objection to the barbarity of capital punishment, which he characterised as base assassination. The devil and his angels, Cain, Henry Wainwright, etc., show to what evil an immortal spirit may fall. Wherefore avoid bad company, give up evil or doubtful habits, get Gods restraining, converting, and preserving grace. (H. R. Burton.)
Productivity of sin
Referring to the terrible productivity of sin, Mr. Varley once mentioned that when in Tasmania, he had heard of a snake recently killed there which had given birth to thirty-seven young ones. But, said he, quoting Joseph Cook, sin is an eternal mother.
Progressiveness of sin
A gentleman was walking with a friend one day through his beautiful grounds, when they came to a fine large tree which was decayed to the very core. That tree, said the proprietor, was destroyed by a single worm. A short time since it was as vigorous as any of its companions, when one day a woodworm was discovered forcing its way under the outer bark. A naturalist who was at that time my guest remarked on seeing it that if left alone it would ultimately kill the tree. It seemed so improbable, that the worm was suffered to remain. Gradually it bored its way into the fibre of the tree, slowly but surely doing its work. The following summer the tree shed its leaves much earlier than usual, and in the second season it was a dead, worthless thing. The worm which seemed so very insignificant had found its way to the heart of the once noble tree and destroyed its life. How forcibly do we see this same thing illustrated in the common walks of every-day life. A young man is persuaded by his companions to take his first glass of wine. It seems like a little thing, but it is the beginning of a course of degradation and eternal shame. The clerk in the bank appropriates a few shillings of the funds entrusted to his care. One step leads to another, until at last he is arrested and cast into prison as a defaulter. A boy begins to practise little deceits at school or at home which, unless discovered and checked, will make him a base and unprincipled man. Such is the destructive power of little sins when the continued indulgence in them is practised.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse] They will yet get on for a season, deceiving themselves and deceiving others; but, by and by, their folly will become manifest to all, 2Ti 3:9. The word , which we render seducers, signifies jugglers, pretenders to magical arts; probably persons dealing in false miracles, with whom the Church in all ages has been not a little disgraced.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neither do thou expect that the times should mend, for men that are given up to their lusts and , such as go about to deceive others, will grow worse and worse, as the world groweth older, both in their endeavours to deceive, and in their malice and hatred to those that oppose them.
Deceiving, and being deceived; deceiving others, and being left by the just judgment of God to deceive and ruin their own souls.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Reason why persecutions mustbe expected, and these becoming worse and worse as the endapproaches. The breach between light and darkness, so far from beinghealed, shall be widened [ALFORD].
evil menin contrast tothe “godly” (2Ti 3:12).
seducersliterally,”conjurers.” Magical arts prevailed at Ephesus (Ac19:19), and had been renounced by many Ephesians on embracingChristianity: but now when Paul was writing to Ephesus, symptoms of areturn to conjuring tricks appeared: an undesigned coincidence[BURTON]. Probably sorcerywill characterize the final apostasy (Rev 13:15;Rev 18:23; Rev 22:15).
wax worseliterally,”advance in the direction of worse” (see on 2Ti3:9). Not contradictory to that verse: there the diffusionof the evil was spoken of; here its intensity [ALFORD].
deceiving, and beingdeceivedHe who has once begun to deceive others, is the lesseasily able to recover himself from error, and the more easilyembraces in turn the errors of others [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,…. By “evil men” are meant, not sinful men in common, as all are by nature and practice; nor only open profane sinners but rather wicked men under a form of godliness, as before; and who are full of wickedness and malice against truly godly persons, even as the devil himself, of whom the same word is used, when he is called the wicked one; and this is a reason why true professors of religion must expect persecution, seeing as there ever were, so there ever will be such sort of men, who will not grow better, but worse and worse. The word for “seducers”, signifies sorcerers, enchanters, a sort of jugglers; and as the other, it well suits with the ecclesiastics of the church of Rome, who pretend to miracles, and do lying wonders, and by their sorceries deceive all nations, Re 18:23 and these “shall wax worse and worse”; in principle and in practice, in ungodliness, and in error, in wickedness and malice against the saints, and in the arts of deceiving; so the church of Rome is never to be expected to be better, but worse; at the time of the fall of Babylon she will be an habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird, Re 18:2
deceiving: not God, but themselves and others even all nations, excepting the elect of God; which they do by their good words and fair speeches, and by their show of devotion and religion, and by their pretended miracles and lying wonders:
and deceived by the old serpent, the devil, under whose power and influence they are, in whose snare they are taken, and by whom they are led captive, and will at last share the same fate with himself, and be cast into the same lake of fire and brimstone.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Impostors (). Old word from wailers (, to bewail), professional mourners, deceivers, jugglers. Here only in the N.T. Modern impostors know all the tricks of the trade.
Shall wax worse and worse ( ). “Shall cut forward to the worse stage.” See 2:16 for . is comparative of , “to the worse than now.”
Deceiving and being deceived ( ). Present active and present passive participles of . The tragedy of it all is that these seducers are able to deceive others as well as themselves.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Seducers [] . N. T. o. Better, impostors or deceivers. From goan to howl. Originally, one who chants spells; a wizard, sorcerer. Hence, a cheat.
Shall wax worse and worse [ ] . Lit. shall proceed to the worse. The formula, Past o. Comp. verse 9 and chapter 2Ti 2:16. Deceiving [] . Properly, leading astray. See on planoiv seducing, 1Ti 4:1.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” (poneroi de anthropoi kai goetes prokopsousin epi to cheiron) “But wicked men, seducers, and impostors will advance worse and worse.” Mat 24:4-5; Mat 24:11; Mat 24:24-26.
2) “Deceiving, and being deceived.” (planontes kai planomenoi) “Leading astray (deceiving) and being led astray (deceived),” into degradation always downward, 2Th 2:11-12. To deceive one is to impair his sense of distinction. between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, so that he will embrace the latter, blinded by Satan, 2Co 4:3-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
13 But wicked men and impostors This is the most bitter of all persecutions, when we see wicked men, with their sacrilegious hardihood, with their blasphemies and errors, gathering strength. Thus Paul says elsewhere, that Ishmael persecuted Isaac, not by the sword, but by mockery (Gal 4:29.) Hence also we may conclude, that in the preceding verse, it was not merely one kind of persecution that was described, but that the Apostle spoke, in general terms, of those distresses which the children of God are compelled to endure, when they contend for the glory of their Father.
I stated, a little before, in what respect they shall grow worse and worse; for he foretells not only that they will make obstinate resistance, but that they will succeed in injuring and corrupting others. One worthless person will always be more effectual in destroying, than ten faithful teachers in building, though they labor with all their might. Nor are there ever wanting the tares which Satan sows for injuring the pure corn; and even when we think that false prophets are driven away, others continually spring up in other directions.
Again, as to the power of doing injury, (188) it is not because falsehood, in its own nature, is stronger than truth, or that the tricks of Satan exceed the energy of the Spirit of God; but because men, being naturally inclined to vanity and errors, embrace far more readily what agrees with their natural disposition, and also because, being blinded by a righteous vengeance of God, they are led, as captive slaves, at the will of Satan. (189) And the chief reason, why the plague of wicked doctrines is so efficacious, is, that the ingratitude of men deserves that it should be so. It is highly necessary for godly teachers to be reminded of this, that they may be prepared for uninterrupted warfare, and may not be discouraged by delay, or yield to the haughtiness and insolence of adversaries.
(188) “ Si on demande d’ou vient ceste puissance et facilite de nuire ?” — “If it be asked, Whence comes this power and facility of doing injury?”
(189) “ Satan les tire, d’un coste et d’autre, a son plaisir.” — “Satan leads them, on one side or another, at his pleasure.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.This verse is closely connected with the following (2Ti. 3:14), to which, indeed, it serves as an introduction. 2Ti. 3:14 takes up again the exhortation to Timothy begun in 2Ti. 3:10 : But thou hast fully known my doctrine, &c. 2Ti. 3:14 takes up the thought: Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Here, in 2Ti. 3:13, these evil men and seducers (or better, perhaps, deceivers) are spoken of as advancing towards the worse. History has borne witness to the accuracy of these prophetic words. The false teachers known to St. Paul and Timothy developed into the leaders of the various wild and speculative Gnostic sects, whose connection with Christianity consisted alone in the name; and each succeeding age has witnessed a development in opposition to the truth as it is in Jesus. In this allusion to the gradual development of hostility to the truth it will hardly be out of place to instance the eighteenth Christian century, when opposition to the teaching of Jesus had reached such a pitch that, with the approval or even the applause of thousands, the most brilliant writer in Europe wrote of Christ and His religion in the well-known words, Ecrasez linfame! while it was reserved for our own centurythe nineteenthto witness the rare, though we believe ephemeral popularity, among so-called Christian peoples of a work which, with honeyed phrases, and in romantic, graceful language, paints the Redeemer of man in the strange and apparently contradictory characters of a loving enthusiast and of a conscious impostor!
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. But In contrast to 10-12, St. Paul makes again a brief reference to the corrupt sorcerers of 2Ti 3:8.
Seducers Literally, sorcerers or jugglers; like the opponents of Moses in Exodus, or Elymas, and the followers of Diana in Acts.
Deceiving, and being deceived By a perpetual community of error mutually deluding each other, and so wax worse and worse by going deeper and deeper into a series of delusions. Such, in fact, was the history of Gnosticism.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But evil men and impostors will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.’
In contrast with the ‘persecuted godly’ are evil men and ‘religious impostors’, that is those who make out that they are what they are not (like the Egyptian magicians) They will get worse and worse, and will continue both deceiving others, and being deceived about themselves. But they will not affect the growth of the Kingly Rule of God, for the Lord knows those who are His, and the foundation is solid (2Ti 2:19).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Exhorts Timothy to Follow His Example of Perseverance In 2Ti 3:13-17 Paul exhorts Timothy to follow his own example and persevere in his ministry.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
2Ti 3:13
Mar 13:8, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.”
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
2Ti 3:15 2Ti 3:15
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:16
Isa 51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.”
Jer 1:9, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”
Scriptural inspiration of both Old and New Testament is testified in the Bible:
Confirmation of the Old Testament Scriptures – Throughout the Old Testament, prophets used the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord,” testifying to the inspiration of the prophecy.
2Ch 20:14-17, “Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you , Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”
Note other confirmations of the Old Testament Scriptures:
Exo 24:4, “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.”
2Sa 23:2, “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”
1Ch 28:19, “All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.”
Neh 9:30, “Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.”
Psa 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
The phrase “Word of God” occurs over 4000 times in Old Testament, with each use testifying to the inspiration of Scriptures. Note some of these verses about the Word of God:
Psa 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure , making wise the simple.”
Psa 119:89, “ For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven .”
Pro 30:5, “ Every word of God is pure : he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”
Mat 4:4, “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God .”
Mat 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled .”
Joh 10:35, “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken ;”
Jesus testified to the inspiration of the Psalms:
Mat 22:43, “He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,”
Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that every word of the Old Testament Scriptures would come to pass.
Mat 5:17-18, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Jesus gave testimony to the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures in other places:
Luk 1:70, “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:”
Joh 10:35, “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;”
Joh 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Paul calls this passage in Deuteronomy “the scripture”:
1Ti 5:18, “For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”
Deu 25:4, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.”
Heb 1:1-2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
Peter testified to the inspiration of Scriptures:
2Pe 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Confirmation of the New Testament Scriptures:
Joh 16:13
1Co 2:12-13, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
1Co 7:10, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:”
1Co 7:40, “But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.”
1Co 14:37, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
Paul calls the passage in the Gospel of Luke “the scripture” in 1Ti 5:18:
1Ti 5:18, “For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”
Luk 10:7, “And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.”
Heb 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Peter equals Paul’s writing to other divinely inspired Scriptures:
2Pe 3:16, “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
2Ti 3:16 “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” Comments – These terms could be in a progression:
1. Doctrine Learning the Bible.
2. Reproof Conviction of sin.
3. Correction – Correcting our lives to line up with the Word of God.
4. Instruction in righteousness – Beginning to walk according to Bible doctrine.
As we read the Holy Scriptures, the Spirit of God quickens these verses to us as a “rhema” word for our present situations, giving us wisdom and specific instructions for specific situations. On many occasions, a Scripture has been quickened to me in a particular situation, and given me insight as to how to respond at that time in my spiritual journey.
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2Ti 3:16-17
Comments – The Scriptures as Our Handbook – The Bible is our “Job Manual,” showing us how to conduct our duties as servant of God. If we lay aside “the Manual,” we will not be able to do our job correctly. For example, when a man is hired for a job, he does not just start working in an unfamiliar environment. He is taught and instructed, and many times he is given a job manual. If the newly hired employee does not study hard and pay attention, he may hang on to the job barely without excelling, or even be fired because he is very slothful. So it is when we become a Christian.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
2Ti 3:13. Seducers. The word properly signifies sorcerers, magicians, jugglers, witches, or enchanters. Jannes and Jambres were evidently such; impostors, who endeavoured to vend a false religion for a true one, and to support it by their incantations.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ti 3:13 . Matthies (with whom Wiesinger agrees) thus states the connection between this and the preceding verses: “Quite different is it with evil men, who, instead of suffering for the truth, proceed always farther in their wickedness;” but there is no real opposition in the two thoughts thus opposed. [52] The apostle here continues the description of the heretics which was interrupted at 2Ti 3:10 ; in contrast with , he calls them , and says of them, , which is all the more suitable that it was the very reason why persecution was threatening the honest disciples of Christ, and with them Timothy.
] As the article is wanting, the thought is quite general, but clearly shows that the heretics mentioned above are specially meant (in opposition to Hofmann). Paul gives this name to the heretics, with reference to 2Ti 3:8 , where he compared them to the Egyptian sorcerers . The word is . . ( 2Ma 12:24 ); it is equivalent to , Act 13:6 ; Act 13:8 (comp., too, Act 8:9 ; Act 8:11 ). Hofmann generalizes the idea to that of a traitor ; but this is all the more arbitrary, that the expression is undoubtedly an allusion to 2Ti 3:8 .
] denotes a greater degree of wickedness, while 2Ti 3:9 refers to the increase in the extent of its influence.
How this increase of wickedness comes to pass, is told by the words . Bengel and Heydenreich make and , and parallel to each other; for this, however, there is no ground. Even the meaning of is against the parallel, for it is neither transitive: “leading astray” (Matthies), nor middle: qui se seducendos permittunt (Bengel), nor even intransitive: “going astray” (Hofmann); it is purely passive: “being led astray” (Luther), or otherwise it would have been put first. He who leads others astray is himself led astray.
[52] Wiesinger argues, on the other hand, that “suffering for the sake of holiness, and advance in wickedness with outward success,” do form a contrast; but the idea “with outward success” is entirely imported.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Ver. 13. Shall wax worse and worse ] In deterius proficient, a sorry kind of profiting, quando Andabatarum more res procedat. Thus the Illuminates (as they called themselves), a pestilent sect in Arragon, professing and affecting in themselves a kind of angelic purity, fell suddenly to the very counterpoint of justifying bestiality. (Spec. Europ.) And though these men and their light are quenched some while since, yet under pretence of new lights have not our church forsakers wheeled and wheeled about so long to the right hand, that they are perfectly come round to the left? See Trapp on “ 2Ti 2:16 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ti 2:17 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 .] But (on the other hand: a reason why persecutions must be expected, and even worse and more bitter as time goes on. The opposition certainly, as seems to me (see also Wiesinger and Ellicott), is to the clause immediately preceding, not, as De W. and Huther maintain, to 2Ti 3:10 f. There would thus be no real contrast: whereas on our view, it is forcibly represented that the breach between light and darkness, between and , would not be healed, but rather widened, as time went on) evil men (in general, over the world: particularized, as applying to the matter in hand, by the next words) and seducers (lit. magicians , in allusion probably to the Egyptian magicians mentioned above. Jos. contra Apion. ii. 16, has the word in this sense, , , . Demosth. p. 374. 20, puts into the mouth of schines, respecting Philip, , , . See Wetst., and Suicer in voc., and consult Ellic.’s note here) shall grow worse and worse (‘ advance in the direction of worse :’ see above, 2Ti 3:9 . There the diffusion of evil was spoken of: here its intensity ), deceiving and being deceived ( is not middle (as Bengel, ‘qui se seducendos permittunt’) but passive: rather for contrast’s sake , as the middle would be vapid, than for the reason given by Huther, that if so, it would stand first, because he that deceives others is first himself deceived: for we might say exactly the same of the passive. Nor is the active participle to be assigned to the and the passive to the , as Bengel also: both equally designate both. But his remark is striking and just, ‘Qui semel alios decipere cpit, eo minus ipse ab errore se recipit, et eo facilius alienos errores mutuo amplectitur’).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Ti 3:13 . : The antithesis seems to be between the apparent discomfiture of those who wish to live in Christ (their persecution being after all almost a means conditional to their attaining their desire), and the paradoxical success of evil men; they advance indeed; but only in degradation; proficient in peius (Vulg.). See notes on 2Ti 3:9 and 2Ti 2:16 .
, impostors (R.V.), seductores , exactly expresses the term. occurs 2Ma 12:24 , where it means trickery .
: cf. Tit 3:3 . Those who deceive others impair, in so doing, their sense of the distinction between truth and falsehood, and thus weaken their power of resistance to self-deceit, and to imposition by others.
: See on 2Ti 3:9 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
evil. App-128.
seducers. Greek. goes. Only here.
wax. Same as “proceed”, 2Ti 3:9.
worse, &c. -to (App-104.) the worse.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] But (on the other hand: a reason why persecutions must be expected, and even worse and more bitter as time goes on. The opposition certainly, as seems to me (see also Wiesinger and Ellicott), is to the clause immediately preceding, not, as De W. and Huther maintain, to 2Ti 3:10 f. There would thus be no real contrast: whereas on our view, it is forcibly represented that the breach between light and darkness, between and , would not be healed, but rather widened, as time went on) evil men (in general,-over the world: particularized, as applying to the matter in hand, by the next words) and seducers (lit. magicians, in allusion probably to the Egyptian magicians mentioned above. Jos. contra Apion. ii. 16, has the word in this sense,- , , . Demosth. p. 374. 20, puts into the mouth of schines, respecting Philip, , , . See Wetst., and Suicer in voc., and consult Ellic.s note here) shall grow worse and worse (advance in the direction of worse: see above, 2Ti 3:9. There the diffusion of evil was spoken of: here its intensity), deceiving and being deceived ( is not middle (as Bengel, qui se seducendos permittunt) but passive: rather for contrasts sake, as the middle would be vapid, than for the reason given by Huther, that if so, it would stand first, because he that deceives others is first himself deceived: for we might say exactly the same of the passive. Nor is the active participle to be assigned to the and the passive to the , as Bengel also: both equally designate both. But his remark is striking and just, Qui semel alios decipere cpit, eo minus ipse ab errore se recipit, et eo facilius alienos errores mutuo amplectitur).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Ti 3:13. , evil men) The antithesis is godly, 2Ti 3:12. These are , with a middle signification, who permit themselves to be seduced.-) seducers, enchanters, like those of Egypt, 2Ti 3:8. These are , seducers.-, shall proceed to) so that no one will persecute them, but they will persecute the godly.- , deceiving and being deceived) He who has once begun to deceive others, is the less easily able to recover himself from error, and the more easily embraces in turn the errors of others.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Ti 3:13
But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse,-Men who are given over to evil themselves and who beguile and lead others into sin wax worse and worse. There is no standing still morally or religiously. If a man is not improving, he is going backward. If he is going downward, he grows worse and worse every day he follows this course.
deceiving and being deceived.-One who starts out in a wrong course that seeks to deceive others deceives himself worse than he does others. As a rule, men deceive themselves as to their own course and character more than they deceive their fellow men. When one imagines he gains anything by deceiving others, he badly deceives himself. When a man wrongs another, he commits a greater wrong against himself. [He who perverts the truth in the very act destroys his own power to see the truth and opens his soul to the influx of error.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
evil: 2Ti 3:8, 2Ti 2:16, 2Ti 2:17, 2Th 2:6-10, 1Ti 4:1, 2Pe 2:20, 2Pe 3:3, Rev 12:9, Rev 13:14, Rev 18:23
being: Job 12:16, Isa 44:20, Eze 14:9, Eze 14:10, 2Th 2:11
Reciprocal: Gen 19:5 – General Lev 13:3 – deeper Lev 13:35 – General 1Sa 19:1 – And Saul 1Ki 13:33 – made again 2Ch 33:23 – trespassed more and more Psa 119:118 – their deceit Pro 10:16 – the fruit Pro 14:8 – folly Isa 30:1 – add Jer 9:3 – for they Jer 16:12 – worse Jer 29:8 – Let Eze 8:13 – greater Eze 8:15 – Hast Eze 13:10 – seduced Hos 13:2 – now Mal 2:12 – the master and the scholar Mat 7:15 – which Luk 6:39 – Can Luk 21:8 – Take 1Co 3:12 – wood 1Co 3:18 – deceive 2Co 11:3 – so Gal 6:3 – he deceiveth Eph 4:14 – tossed Col 2:4 – lest Col 2:8 – philosophy Tit 1:10 – there Jam 1:22 – deceiving 1Jo 1:8 – we deceive 1Jo 2:26 – concerning 1Jo 4:1 – many Rev 16:11 – and repented not Rev 22:11 – that is unjust
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Seven Bible Mothers
2Ti 1:1-7; 2Ti 3:13-17
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We are studying a theme today which should have in it much of value to every one of us; even the men and the young men love mother, and we believe they will be very happy to study some things about Bible mothers. So far as the young women are concerned, it is a matter of very vital relationship with them.
By way of introduction we wish to speak of Eve, whom if you will permit, we will call, “The mother of us all.” We can say this because the word “Eve” means, “mother of all living.” Concerning this first woman there are several things we desire to suggest.
1. Eve was taken out of the man, but not made by the man. Adam stood for everything that concerns man and woman. Eve stood exclusively for the things which concern womanhood, and motherhood. Adam existed without Eve, but Eve was a part of Adam. However, Adam did not give to Eve all of her characteristics, inasmuch as she was created by God Himself.
2. Eve was never a child. When God took a rib from the man, He made a woman, not a woman fallen and blighted by sin, not a woman touched with infirmities, but a woman of all beauty, strength, and glory. We have suggested that she knew nothing of childhood, nor youth. She was made a woman, the finished work of God.
3. Adam needed Eve. When Adam named the beasts of the field we read, “there was not found an help meet for [Adam].” Eve supplied that lack, that want in the life of the man. The woman was not made inferior to the man, but the woman was made to complete that union of spirit and life which was necessary to the perfect happiness of Adam and of the human race.
4. Eve’s beauty became Adam’s snare. We do not blame Eve for the fall any more than we blame Adam. Eve was the first to sin, to be sure. However, Adam’s guilt, to us, was even greater than Eve’s. Eve, physically, stood for everything that was lovely and beautiful in the human. Adam, however, stood for the human, but also for the Divine. He was the son of God. God said, For by Adam, and not by Eve, sin passed upon all men, “For that all have sinned.”
5. God’s promise to the woman. It must have been a terrible shock to Eve when she, who so delighted in beauty, was cast out of the Garden of Eden. Weary days and years followed, and yet Eve, under the curse, still realized that she should be the mother of all living, and that her seed should bruise the serpent who had deceived her, and caused her to fall.
When her first child, Cain, was born, she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” She, doubtless, thought that he was the seed, who was to bruise Satan. However, it was not long until she awakened to the fact that her first-born was a murderer. The blood of her second-born told out the tragedy of life.
How long she lived, we do not know, but we know that from her came the Seed four thousand years later, begotten of the Holy Ghost, and born of a woman.
I. REBEKAH, THE MOTHER OF JACOB (Gen 27:6-8)
Great men usually have great mothers. It has often been said that a child partakes of the characters, as well as of the faces of his parents.
1. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob, carried a family trait. We might say that she was true to her form. We do not know about her parents, but we do know about her brother, and we take it for granted that the two imbibed from their parents the disposition which marked both of them.
We know how Laban treated Jacob, Rebekah’s son. He made Jacob work seven years for his daughter, Rachel, and then in deceit he gave to him his daughter, Leah, forcing Jacob to serve seven additional years for Rachel. We know that Rebekah, the mother of Jacob, connived with him against Esau, his twin brother. She made Jacob promise to obey her, then she dressed him in skins and prepared savory meat with which he might deceive his father, thereby stealing Esau’s blessing.
This spirit of deception which Rebekah and her brother, Laban, both possessed always works havoc. From Rebekah, Jacob received more or less the same characteristics. He, also, was a trickster and a deceiver.
2. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob, reaped what she sowed. Rebekah’s strategy worked, so far as securing the blessing for Jacob was concerned. However, her strategy caused Esau’s unmitigated wrath; and Jacob was forced to flee for his life from his brother. Rebekah never saw her beloved offspring again. It never pays to do wrong, and mothers always reap what they sow.
II. JOCHEBED, MOTHER OF MOSES (Exo 2:3-4)
The mother of Moses lived in the day of Pharaoh’s persecution. She lived when those persecutions were at their height, and when every male child born to a Jewish mother was ordered to be slain. However, Jochebed never feared the wrath of the king. She knew that God lived, and that God would take care of her son.
In the Book of Hebrews we read, “By faith Moses, * * was hid three months of his parents, because they saw that he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.” It will be interesting, therefore, to observe how Jochebed’s faith saved her son.
1. Shielding her son in an ark of bulrushes. Exo 2:3 tells us that when the mother of Moses saw that she “could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [the ark] in the flags by the river’s brink.”
Here is a tremendous lesson for mothers of today. We believe that they could build an ark of prayer around their sons. They can build an ark of the family altar to shield their children from Satan and his wrath.
2. Watching over her son. After she had hid her son, we read that she stationed her daughter afar off where she could watch and see what would be done. It does not take a strong imagination to see the mother at home in prayer to God for her babe, while her daughter watched from the shelter of the trees.
3. Bringing up her son. After Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the little Jewish child, Moses’ sister appeared quickly on the scene suggesting that a Hebrew nurse be chosen to care for the child. Thus, being commissioned, she quickly secured the child’s mother, and Jochebed brought up her own son in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
III. HANNAH, THE MOTHER OF SAMUEL (1Sa 1:27-28)
According to our way of thinking Hannah stands before us as one of the most beautiful of Bible women and mothers. She is an example to any young woman who has upon her the privileges and responsibilities of family life.
1. Hannah became a mother through prayer. She had no children and she was getting old. Her husband’s other wife made light of her because she was not a mother. Hannah, however, laid hold upon God. She prayed for a son. God gave her a son, and then Hannah, herself, passes out of the Divinely written story. Never again do we hear of Hannah; she is never mentioned in the Bible. What we do know of her prior to Samuel’s birth is wonderful.
By faith, through prayer, she became a mother and kept her maiden vow to lend her child unto the Lord.
2. Hannah was a mother who gave her son to God. We feel that we have a perfect right to say that when Hannah brought her infant, Samuel, to the Temple and left him there as a tiny babe, she left her very life, also. We simply mean that her son was her life. When she gave her son to God, she gave the very heart throbs of her own being to God. She gave up her little one without a murmur, without a complaint. She, who had long prayed for his arrival; she, who must have loved him as only a mother can love, took her infant and left him in the house of God, as her gift.
3. A mother who lived her life through her son. We suggested that Hannah passed off the Bible scene. However, Samuel, Hannah’s son passes in where the mother passed out. When we read of the wonderful things about Samuel, the boy; and Samuel, the Prophet, we cannot but feel that in it all, and through it all, Hannah will receive an abundant reward.
IV. ELIZABETH (Luk 1:5-6)
We now come to the New Testament to consider the first mother mentioned. Our text describes that mother in a very beautiful way. We want to pick up just four things about Elizabeth,
1. She was a mother in righteousness. Our verse says, that her husband and she “were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Would that as much might be said of every mother. A righteous mother, and a God-fearing father, are the greatest boon that a son or daughter could possibly have.
2. She was a mother of unwavering faith in God. When God told her that she would have a child, although she was very aged, she did not doubt for one moment. Her husband did doubt, but not she. Not only that, but three months later when her cousin, Mary, came to see her in the hill country, she recognized the fact that God’s promise to Eve in the garden, relative to the birth of a Seed that should bruise Satan’s head, was about to be fulfilled. She even said unto Mary, “Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Then she added, “Blessed art thou among women, * * blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
God give us more mothers like Elizabeth.
3. She was a mother who stood firm as Gibraltar amid the crumbling faiths of her day. Remember that she was a daughter of Aaron, and her husband was a priest after the course of Abia. The general run of priests of that day was more like Caiaphas, than like Zecharias. However, Elizabeth amid Israel’s apostasy, believed with unshaken faith and confidence.
4. She was a mother with a song. We cannot develop this thought, but we ask the student to read the magnificat to be found in the first chapter of Luke. How happy was Elizabeth.
V. EUNICE AND LOIS (2Ti 1:5)
1. From generation to generation. Our key verse tells us of this wonderful fact: “The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” Thus, the Holy Spirit traced Timothy’s faith down through three generations.
We have before us very plainly the influence of a life, but we have more. We have the fact that God honors those whose children are “in the Lord.” Does not the Bible say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”?
2. A God-given, but humanly-cultivated faith. We do not mean that Eunice was a Christian because Lois was, or that Timothy was a Christian because his grandmother and his mother were Christians.
We know that each was a Christian because of their personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, of one thing we are sure: the grandmother, Lois, observing her daughter’s faith; and the mother, Eunice, observing her son Timothy’s faith (in each case), cultivated, nourished, and strengthened that faith. We cannot save our children, but we can put an atmosphere around them which will strengthen and encourage the faith which God gives them.
3. Inculcating the Word of God. There is one definite thing that is written to Timothy. It is this: that from his youth he knew the Holy Scriptures. How did he come to know them from his youth? Because he was taught them by his grandmother and by his mother. This is a further proof of what we have just said. While Timothy’s faith was his own personal faith, and not that of his mother or his grandmother, yet they did cause that faith to grow by their teaching him the Word of God.
VI. HERODIAS (Mar 6:17)
It is too bad to consider one of the evil mothers in the Bible; and yet here is a story placed before us by the Holy Spirit because of its tremendous significance and warning. A good woman is God’s greatest gift to man, humanly speaking. A bad woman is the greatest curse to man.
1. A mother who had disregarded her earthly marriage vows. Herodias had been married to Philip. Salome was the daughter of that union. However, Philip was not a king, or ruler. He had no special power, or authority among men. Thus it was that when Herod was a guest in the home; he broke up the home, and stole away the heart of Herodias; his brother Philip’s wife.
However, we are quite sure that Herodias was as much a part to all this as was Herod. She surely desired the prestige and power which would be hers as Herod’s wife. When a mother breaks her marriage vows and throws them to the winds, what can she expect of her daughter?
2. A mother given to subtlety and intrigue. Not only had Herodias left her husband, Philip, but she had also induced Herod to do away with his wife, and queen. She had done this through that cunning which she, as a woman, possessed. Afterwards, she showed the same subtlety and intrigue against John, the Baptist. John was, perhaps, the only one who had ever bluntly told Herod and Herodias of their sins. Herod trembled; Herodias was angry.
3. A mother with uncontrollable hatred. The anger of Herodias knew no bounds. She was determined to get the head of John the Baptist. In order to achieve this purpose, she brought in her daughter, Salome, and compelled her to become a common dancer at a feast of wine. God pity such a woman, and a daughter, who is raised under such an influence.
VII. THE UNNAMED MOTHER (1Ki 3:24-27)
1. Solomon’s tribute to his own mother. We do not care to discuss David’s sin, nor Bathsheba, as in any way a party to it. We do want to say that David was a friend of God, that he truly repented, and was forgiven his sin. We would add, also, that Bathsheba seems to have been a true and faithful mother to her son, Solomon. Here are Solomon’s glowing words concerning his parents: “I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.” With this before us, let us study a wonderful deed by a king, the wisest of men; by a king, who knew the heart of a true mother’s love. This is all set forth in the story of an unnamed mother. Here is the story:
2. Two mothers of evident shame. Our context tells us that these two women lived alone; both of them had become mothers. One of them accidentally smothered and killed her child, as it lay with her in the bed. This woman then arose and made an exchange of babes, leaving the dead child in her friend’s bed, and taking the living child to herself. We stop long enough just for one thing, and that is to say that both of these wicked women still had in them a desire and a love for children; even the woman who turned out to be so cruel, at least, wanted a child. We say, in all candor, that these two unnamed mothers are far ahead of some Christian women today who abhor children, and want to have nothing to do with them. Some even go so far as to do away with them in order to save themselves from what they consider an awful time in rearing a child in their home.
3. An evil mother’s devotion to her child. Before King Solomon these two mothers stood, both claiming the living child. Solomon ordered that the child should at once be cut in twain, and divided between the two mother claimants. He did this, not with the intention of slaying the child, but in order to discover its true mother.
The woman who was not the mother sternly acquiesced with Solomon’s demand. The true mother, vile as she was, threw herself at Solomon’s feet and begged him, rather than kill it, to give it to the other woman.
Beloved, we are bringing this plain message to our young people just to show that in the old days, people fallen deep in sin still loved their children. Even the beasts of the field love their offspring and protect them. Alas, today, how often are the little ones despised.
AN ILLUSTRATION
A great company had gathered in the auditorium for the evening service. There were men and women gray and bent, because the years had been long and full of care. There were young men and women with the morning glow upon their faces. Here and there sat a little child, and over all brooded the Sabbath hush.
Then softly into the silence began to steal the notes of a song. Tenderly, yearningly, almost caressingly, it came:
“Oh, mother, when I think of thee,
‘Tis but a step to Calvary.”
The silence deepened into a solemn stillness, as all the love and the longing, the joy and the sorrow, the disappointment and the achievement of the years poured themselves into the singer’s voice. Again it came:
“Oh, mother, when I think of thee,
‘Tis but a step to Calvary,
Thy gentle hand is on my brow,
‘Tis leading me to Jesus now.”
Then, as if the audience were but one great, hungry heart, hungry for mother, heads bowed, eyes closed and song and singer were forgotten. The sweetest face in all the world came back and with that face, a life. The long years gave up their store, and a little child, a youth, a man was once again with mother. Then, the heart made answer, the common heart of the great, bowed audience made answer to the song:
“‘Yes, mother, when I think of thee,
‘Tis but a step to Calvary'”
and thence to Calvary’s God.-A. B. Lamoreaux.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
2Ti 3:13. Evil men is general and could apply to all persons who are not righteous, while seducers specifies one of the evil things such men will do. The word is from GOES, a Greek term which originally meant “a wizard, juggler,” according to Robinson, and a “juggler, enchanter,” according to Thayer. Such a word is appropriate, because in verse 8 the apostle makes reference to the magicians in Egypt. Both lexicons give the word also the meaning of “impostor,” which would apply to any of the means these evil men might use to mislead the people. Deceiving and being deceived. It is possible for a man to formulate and utter false doctrines so persistently, that he will come to believe in them himself and thus be deceived. The magicians in Egypt evidently were devoted to their witchcraft until a shameful defeat convinced them that they had been misled, for they admitted that “this [the work of Moses and Aaron is the finger of God” (Exo 8:19). Paul says that all of this shall wax worse and worse, which is really the prophetic phase of this chapter.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Ti 3:13. Again we have an oscillation of thought, and the immediate advance of evil becomes prominent. The chasm would grow wider till the final issue.
Seducers. Better, magicians, sorcerers, with reference to Jannes and Jambres.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our apostle having acquainted us, in the former verse, with the condition of the godly, that they must expect and prepare for persecution; he lets us in this verse understand the miserable condition of the wicked, that they wax worse and worse; their proficiency is mere apostasy, they actively deceive others, and are passively deceived themselves, by the devil, that lying spirit, that grand imposter.
Learn hence, That the prosperous estate of wicked men is much more dangerous and miserable than the afflicted, persecuted conditon of the godly; the good by persecution grow better, but the wicked by living easy wax worse and worse.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
This truth is seen in many of the cults. The leader starts out relatively benign, but as power comes their way and they like it, they usually increase their power and their evil bent leads them even deeper and deeper into evil. Several have gone as far as calling for the death of their followers.
Not only does their evil increase, but their followers become further entrenched in the falsehood and evil.
Just how many can you think of that are in this mode of operation today? People that are waxing worse and deceiving others as they go.
There are those that minister to homosexuals they run their churches in an effort to bring them together and to raise them spiritually. They are continuing to go deeper
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax {d} worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
(d) Their wickedness will daily increase.