Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Timothy 3:2 - 3:2
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
2. ἔσονται γὰρ οἱ ἅνθρωποι κ.τ.λ., for men will be &c., sc. (as the presence of the article shews) the generality of men, the members generally of the Christian communities. The adjectives which follow are not arrayed in any exact logical sequence; but, nevertheless, as in the somewhat similar catalogue of Rom 1:29-31, connexion may be traced between certain of the vices which are enumerated.
φίλαυτοι, lovers of self. The word does not occur elsewhere in the LXX. or N.T. In Greek thought of an earlier age φιλαυτία had a good sense, and was expressive of the self-respect which a good man has for himself (see Aristotle Nic. Eth. IX. 8. 7). But a deeper philosophy, recognising the fact of man’s Fall, transferred the moral centre of gravity from self to God; once the sense of sin is truly felt, self-respect becomes an inadequate basis for moral theory. So Philo (de Prof. 15) speaks of those who are φίλαυτοι δὴ μᾶλλον ἢ φιλόθεοι, in a spirit quite like that of St Paul.
φιλάργυροι, lovers of money. The adjective only occurs again at Luk 16:14. See the note on φιλαργυρία, 1Ti 6:10.
ἀλαζόνες, ὑπερήφανοι, boastful, haughty, the former term referring specially to words, the latter to thoughts. The words are coupled again in the catalogue at Rom 1:30 (also by Clem. Rom. § 16); Trench (Synonyms § 29) has an admirable essay on the difference between them, and on the usage of both words in Greek literature.
βλάσφημοι, railers, or evil-speakers, in reference to their fellow men rather than to God. This is the regular force of βλάσφημος and the cognate words in the Pastoral Epistles.
γονεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς, disobedient to parents, a characteristic also mentioned in Rom 1:30. Cp. what St Paul had said about duty to a widowed parent in 1Ti 5:8.
ἀχάριστοι, without gratitude. This follows naturally from the last mentioned characteristic, for the blackest form of ingratitude is that which repudiates the claim of parents to respect and obedience. The adjective ἀχάριστος only occurs again once in N.T., at Luk 6:35.
ἀνόσιοι. See note on 1Ti 1:9.