Readers are reminded that there is nothing in this letter to suggest that earlier pastoral letters were written to Timothy or Titus, so we have no direct indication that 2 Tim was written after Titus or 1 Tim. Although it is stylistically very similar to them, it does not deal with the structure of the church, which is a central issue for them.

1. 2 Tmothy and Possibilities about the Pastorals

   Paul's life situation described in Titus and 1 Tim, as we have seen, could not fit into his "initial career" known from Acts and the undisputed Pauline letters. Therefore, in each case, scholars postulate a "second career" (real or fictional) for Paul after his release from Roman captivity in 61-63. This career would have included a ministry alongside Titus in Crete, a return to Ephesus (where he left Timothy in charge), and then a departure for Macedonia. Most authors argue that what 2 Tim tells us about Paul and Timothy cannot fit into the "initial career" either; they therefore see it as the end of the "second career" during which (actually or fictitiously) around 65 Paul was once again imprisoned in Rome (2 Tim 1:16-17; 2:9) and wrote 2 Tim just before he died in 66-67.

   A serious minority, however, argues that 2 Tim can be fitted into the career of Paul described in Acts. Specifically, 2 Tim is seen as reconcilable with the hypothesis that, after the two years of relatively easy imprisonment in Rome (last reference in Acts 28:30-31), Paul was subjected to a harsher imprisonment around 64 or shortly thereafter that led to his death in that city. 2 Tim would have been written in a context just before this death, without a "second career" leading to a second imprisonment around 65. How does the data in 2 Tim fit into this minority hypothesis? We are not told where Timothy was; but when he came to see Paul, he must have been accompanied by Mark and brought a cloak and books that the apostle had left at Troas (4: 11,13). From the surface evidence, therefore, we can assume that Timothy was in Troas, which is not implausible based on other NT evidence. Acts 20:5-13 records that in 58, while on his way to Jerusalem and eventually imprisoned in Caesarea and Rome, Paul met Timothy in Troas and spent seven days there. If 2 Tim was written from Rome around 64, while he was still in prison, Paul's career would not have led him to return to Troas after 58 to retrieve any items he might have left there (perhaps because he hoped to retrieve them on his journey from Jerusalem to Spain via Rome: Rom 15:24-25). Troas was a place that, historically, Paul had wanted to evangelize. When he left Ephesus in the summer of 57, he had successfully begun to preach the Gospel in Troas, but his concern about Corinth forced him to move quickly to Macedonia (2 Cor 2:12-13). Timothy may have taken over, which is why Paul addresses his letter to him there. In 2 Tim 4:16, Paul tells Timothy that when he first defended himself (in Rome?), no one took his part and all abandoned him. It may be that his one and only Roman imprisonment has now taken a severe turn (perhaps because that defense was not successful), and it was important for Paul to tell Timothy what was happening in Rome in order to summon his closest confidant for a final meeting before Paul's impending death (4:6-8). Paul's hunch would have been confirmed in Rome in 64 (or even later), when Nero began to execute Christians.

   As an overall judgment, there is no convincing objection to this minority proposal, and so we must read 2 Tim without any presupposition as to its relation to the other Pastorals. Indeed, there are four serious possibilities:

   1. The three Pastorals are really by Paul, written in the order Titus, 1-2 Tim during a "second career" around 65-67, culminating in a second Roman imprisonment.

   2. 2 Tim is really by Paul, written around 64 or shortly thereafter, at the end of his only prolonged Roman imprisonment which led to his death. Titus and 1 Tim are pseudonyms, written later, most likely towards the end of the first century, partly in imitation of 2 Tim. A "second career" was created.

   3. The three Pastorals are pseudonymous, but 2 Tim was written shortly after Paul's death as a farewell testament by someone who knew Paul's last days, so the biographical details it contains are largely historical, even if they are dramatized with some license. Titus and 1 Tim were written as pseudonyms later, most likely towards the end of the first century, partly in imitation of 2 Tim. A "second career" was created.

   4. The three Pastorals are pseudonymous, written in the order Titus, 1-2 Tim most likely towards the end of the first century. A "second career" was fashioned (probably fictitiously) for Paul with a second Roman imprisonment, so that he could say his last words on the issues that now trouble the regions once evangelized by the apostle.

   Although most scholars favor a variant of (4), in our opinion (3) best addresses some of the problems listed in chapter 30 in the discussion of the authorship of Titus and 1 Tim, and the implications of pseudepigraphy.

   Perhaps a word of caution would be helpful before beginning the general analysis. The complex debate over sequence, authorship, and date should not obscure the power of this letter read simply as it is presented: a passionate and eloquent plea from the greatest Christian apostle that his work continue beyond his death through generations of followers. Paul has entrusted his life to God in Christ, and in the midst of his suffering, he knows that God will protect what has been entrusted to him (2 Tim 1:12). He can be chained, but the Gospel he proclaimed, which is the word of God, cannot be chained (2:9). Some scholars have complained that the Paul of 2 Tim has become a blowhard; instead, he is portrayed as offering the only argument he had left in prison and on the verge of death - the example of a life lived in a way that might encourage those he addresses. If Paul did much to make the love of Christ (in both senses of the word) real for Christians, 2 Tim did much to make Paul loved.

2. General Analysis of the Message
   1. Opening Formula and Thanksgiving: 1: 1-5

      It resembles that of 1 Tim but designates Paul as an apostle by God's "will" rather than by God's "command". In this, 2 Tim is closer to the normal pattern of uncontested letters (1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1). The presence of thanksgiving (1:3-5), which is missing in 1 Tim, is also closer to authentic Pauline practice. Its focus on Timothy illustrates the very personal character that distinguishes 2 Tim from the other Pastorals. The information about Timothy's Jewish mother and grandmother, which we have no reason to doubt, is reported without the slightest hint that belief in Christ is a conflict with Judaism (in fact, in 3:14-15, Timothy will be urged to continue what he learned as a child, especially the Jewish scriptures). This appreciative attitude is reminiscent of the atmosphere of Rom 9:1-5 and may support the Roman context claimed by 2 Tim 1:17.

   2. Body (1: 6 - 4: 18)

      This section is about 20% shorter than 1 Tim, and its content is less scattered. It takes into account Timothy's personality and situation and reflects Paul's loneliness and suffering in prison as he nears death. In some ways, then, 2 Tim is the third of Paul's last testaments in the NT, the first being the Letter to the Romans (perhaps the last authentic Pauline writing preserved) sent from Corinth in the winter of 57-58 with the knowledge that he would face difficult times in Jerusalem but with the hope that he would be able to come to Rome and go to Spain; and the second being the Miletus Discourse delivered to the presbyters/bishops of Ephesus (Acts 20:17-36) as Paul traveled to Jerusalem in the summer of 58, aware that he would never see them again. In none of these texts, however, is death so specifically envisaged as in 2 Tim 4:7-8, in words which, even if Paul did not write them, are worthy of his eloquence: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; henceforth the crown of righteousness is reserved for me."

      There are several examples in the Bible of the literary genre of farewell or testamentary speeches. Let us list the characteristics of this genre, indicating at the same time the passages of 2 Tim in which they are found.

      • The speaker, who announces in a tone of sadness the imminence of his departure (4: 6-8), pronounces reassuring words so that the loved one(s) who remain are neither frightened nor in danger (2: 1-2,14-15; 4: 1-2).
      • Often the speaker recalls his own situation and past life (1:11-13,15-18; 3:10-17), urges unity among those he leaves behind (2:14, 23-25), foresees the dangers posed by enemies (2:16-17; 3:1-9,12-13; 4:3-4), and encourages fidelity, promising a reward for it (2:11-13; 3:14; 4:8).
      • He expresses his love for those (the children) he leaves behind (1: 4-5; 2: 1 "my son").

      In the farewell atmosphere of 2 Tim, a Messiah who has been crucified as a criminal is heralded by Paul who is in prison as a criminal. Yet, through Paul's words, this scandal is transformed into a cry of victory and encouragement for Timothy and all those who suffer for the Gospel. Two passages set the tone of the message. "You have followed my teaching, my way of life, my endurance, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings... but out of all this the Lord has saved me" (3:10-11). "Proclaim the word, be persistent in season and out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort with all patience and teaching" (4:2).

      The problem of false teaching, which 2 Tim shares with Titus and 1 Tim, is part of the danger foreseen by the farewell discourse. In one case, the false teaching described in 2 Tim is quite specific: Hymenaeus and Philetus teach that the resurrection has already passed (2:17-18). This could be close to what is being fought by Paul (c. 56-57) in 1 Cor 15:12. In other respects, the description of falsity in 2 Tim is more ambiguous, for the abuses accumulated by those who will come in the last days (2 Tim 3:1-9) could suit almost anyone. The catalog of vices in 3:2-5 is fairly standard (but closer to Rom 1:29-31 than to 1 Tim 1:9-10), and the denigration of women in 3:6-7 is similarly generalized. This could be the common language of apocalyptic danger. If Titus and 1 Tim were written later, the author of these letters may have drawn on this section of 2 Tim, making the description more specific in light of the actual dangers encountered at the time. The creative transmission of the tradition from the apostolic generation to the next generation of teachers is envisioned in 1:13-14; 2:1-2; and this would have encouraged a third and fourth generation of Pauline disciples to carry on the tradition of the teacher: "What you have heard from me ... entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also."

   3. Concluding Formula: 4: 19-22

      The body that ends in 4:9-18, with its instructions to Timothy and its account of Paul's situation, leads into the greetings of the closing formula. It is impossible to know with certainty how many of the characters and incidents mentioned in this sequence are authentic reminiscences of Paul's (first or second) captivity in Rome, or an imaginative decoration of a pseudepigrapha composed from reminiscences found in the other Pauline letters and in Acts. The latter position has implications for dating, since we may wonder whether these works would have been readily available to a pseudepigrapher before the year 100.

3. Inspired Scripture (3:15-16)

   This passage contains the famous words: "All / every Scripture [is] inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness". Grammatically, the most likely translation is the distributive "every", i.e. "every passage of Scripture", with a reference to the "sacred writings" known to Timothy since his childhood (3:15). There is no doubt that the term "Scripture" refers to all or most of the books we call the Old Testament; only by later Church teaching can it be applied to the New Testament, which in its complete form (as it is accepted today in Western Christianity) was not accepted by all until two hundred years or more. The verb "is" does not appear in the Greek text, so it could be a qualified statement: "Every inspired scripture of God is equally useful...". Whichever way the verse is translated, the primary emphasis indicated by the context is less on the inspiration of all passages of Scripture than on the usefulness of inspired Scripture in continuing what Timothy learned from childhood to teach and correct and thus to counteract malicious impostors. The goal is that a leader of the community "who belongs to God should be competent, equipped for every good work" (3:17). Implicitly, this indicates that the Pauline author makes a close connection between the Scriptures of Israel and his own vision of Jesus Christ.

   The word "inspired" in relation to Scripture in 3:16 is "breathed [into] by God," a term found not in the Greek Bible, but in pre-Christian pagan literature and the Sibylline Oracles. A somewhat similar description is found in 2 Pet. 1:20-21 in reference to the prophecies of Scripture: "Never is prophecy prompted by human will; rather, persons borne by the Holy Spirit have spoken from God" The Qumran literature refers to what "the prophets revealed by the Holy Spirit of God" (1QS 8:16). Josephus and Philo, Jewish writers contemporary with the NT, also speak of a movement from God in the production of the "sacred Scriptures." The texts of 2 Tim and 1 Peter are very important in the development of the Christian belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures (OT and NT); however, it must be recognized that there is nothing specific about how the divine movement occurs, beyond a symbolic description as "breathed into."

4. Issues and Problems for Reflection
   1. Christians have various views of inspiration, centered on the person of the writer or the written product, or both. For example, the classic Roman Catholic description, since Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Providentissimus Deus (1893), is that, by supernatural power, God stirred and nudged the human authors and assisted them as they wrote, so that the things God ordained (and only those things) they understood correctly, intended to write faithfully, and ultimately expressed in appropriate words with infallible truth. Another view focuses on the truth and inerrancy of the Bible rather than on the process. Using 2 Tim 3:15-16, one might reflect on how far the various approaches have gone beyond the scriptural information and why.

   2. A famous apocalyptic apprehension is expressed in 2 Tim 4:3-4: "For there will come a time when some will not endure sound doctrine, but, according to their own desires and itching ears, will surround themselves with many teachers. They will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn to fables". Almost every generation of Christians, especially in the more traditional churches, has invoked this description as having been fulfilled in its time. Nevertheless, this fear has too often made church institutions constantly on the defensive against new ideas. In such an atmosphere, there will come a time when no idea will be a greater danger than new ideas, and when deaf ears will be more prevalent than itchy ones.