X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
2 Timothy 4
Paul charges Timothy to preach the word in season and out of season. 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.' Only Luke is with him; he asks for Mark, his cloak left at Troas, and the books, especially the parchments.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
See it in the Labs
- Paul's Roads2 Timothy · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsMiletus: Trophimus (Later (debated)) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsLater travels (debated) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsRome: the end (Later (debated)) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsMiletus (3rd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsMiletus · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsTrophimus · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsErastus · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsCorinth: Erastus (Later (debated)) · Paul's RoadsOpen
People in this chapter
Places
Also in this chapter
The letter: who wrote it, where and when
These questions are debated; the views are shown side by side with how sure each is, as in Paul's Roads.
- Plausible
2 Timothy written from Rome
Paul is in chains in Rome (1:16–17), expecting death: 'the time of my departure has come' (4:6). Tradition sets his death under Nero.
- Plausible
Paul's authorship of 2 Timothy is debated.
Many scholars think this letter was written after Paul's death in his name; others hold that Paul wrote it. The lab shows the setting the letter itself gives and takes no side.
- Speculative
The Pastoral Letters reliably record Paul's last journeys.
They name Paul as author and give personal details. Many scholars judge their vocabulary, church order and setting to be later than Paul and read the details as literary; others defend Paul's authorship, perhaps with a secretary.
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
Demas went from fellow worker to deserter.
Philemon 24 lists him among Paul's fellow workers; 2 Timothy 4:10 says he deserted Paul, having loved this present world.
- Textually stated
Priscilla is usually named before her husband.
Four of the six mentions put Priscilla (Prisca) first (Acts 18:18, 26; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19), which was unusual and suggests her standing in the church.
- Strongly supported
John Mark left the first journey at Perga and was later reconciled with Paul.
Acts 13:13 says he left them at Perga and went back to Jerusalem. Colossians 4:10, Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:11 place him again among Paul's co-workers; 2 Timothy calls him useful for service.
- Plausible
The Erastus of Acts, Romans and 2 Timothy may be one man.
Romans 16:23 names Erastus the treasurer of the city (Corinth); 2 Timothy 4:20 says Erastus stayed at Corinth; Acts 19:22 has an Erastus sent to Macedonia. A first-century paving inscription at Corinth names an Erastus who served as aedile, which some link to…
- Plausible
Paul died in Rome under Nero, about AD 64–67.
1 Clement 5 (c. AD 96) speaks of his witness and death; Eusebius (c. AD 325) dates the beheading to Nero's reign. Neither gives an exact year.
- Speculative
The order of the later travels shown here is one possible sequence.
The letters mention the places in passing and never in order. We follow a common reconstruction: Spain first (as Romans planned), then the east, then a final arrest.