2Ti 3:1-8 | JFB | STEP | 1. also — Greek, "but." last days —preceding Christ's second coming ( ). "The latter times," , refer to a period not so remote as "the last days," namely, the long days of papal and Greek anti-Christianity. perilous —literally, " difficult times," in which it is difficult to know what is to be done: "grievous times." shall come — Greek, "shall be imminent"; "shall come unexpectedly" [BENGEL ].

2 Timothy 3:1-8

1. also—Greek, "but."

last days—preceding Christ's second coming (2Pe 3:3; Jude 18). "The latter times," 1Ti 4:1, refer to a period not so remote as "the last days," namely, the long days of papal and Greek anti-Christianity.

perilous—literally, "difficult times," in which it is difficult to know what is to be done: "grievous times."

shall come—Greek, "shall be imminent"; "shall come unexpectedly" [BENGEL].

2. men—in the professing Church. Compare the catalogue, Ro 1:29, &c., where much the same sins are attributed to heathen men; it shall be a relapse into virtual heathendom, with all its beast-like propensities, whence the symbol of it is "a beast" (Re 13:1, 11, 12, &c.; 17:3, 8, 11).

covetous—Translate, "money-loving," a distinct Greek word from that for "covetous" (see on Col 3:5). The cognate Greek substantive (1Ti 6:10) is so translated, "the love of money is a (Greek, not 'the') root of all evil."

boasters—empty boasters [ALFORD]; boasting of having what they have not.

proud—overweening: literally, showing themselves above their fellows.

blasphemous—rather, "evil-speakers," revilers.

disobedient to parents—The character of the times is even to be gathered especially from the manners of the young [BENGEL].

unthankful—The obligation to gratitude is next to that of obedience to parents.

unholy—irreligious [ALFORD]; inobservant of the offices of piety.

3. truce-breakers—rather as the Greek is translated in Ro 1:31, "implacable."

false accusers—slanderers (1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:3).

incontinent, fierce—at once both soft and hard: incontinently indulging themselves, and inhuman to others.

despisers, &c.—"no lovers of good" [ALFORD]; the opposite of "a lover of good" (Tit 1:8).

4. heady—precipitate in action and in passion.

high-minded—literally, "puffed up" with pride, as with smoke blinding them.

lovers of pleasure . . . God—Love of pleasure destroys the love and sense of God.

5. form—outward semblance.

godliness—piety.

denying—rather as Greek, "having denied," that is, renounced.

the power—the living, regenerating, sanctifying influence of it.

turn away—implying that some of such characters, forerunners of the last days, were already in the Church.

6. of this sort—Greek, "of these," such as were described (2Ti 3:5).

creep into—stealthily.

laden with sins— (Isa 1:4); applying to the "silly women" whose consciences are burdened with sins, and so are a ready prey to the false teachers who promise ease of conscience if they will follow them. A bad conscience leads easily to shipwreck of faith (1Ti 1:19).

divers lusts—not only animal lusts, but passion for change in doctrine and manner of teaching; the running after fashionable men and fashionable tenets, drawing them in the most opposite directions [ALFORD].

7. Ever learning—some new point, for mere curiosity, to the disparagement of what they seemed to know before.

the knowledge—Greek, "the perfect knowledge"; the only safeguard against further novelties. Gnosticism laid hold especially of the female sex [ESTIUS, 1.13.3]: so Roman Jesuitism.

8. Now—Greek, "But"; it is no wonder there should be now such opponents to the truth, for their prototypes existed in ancient times [ALFORD].

Jannes . . . Jambres—traditional names of the Egyptian magicians who resisted Moses (Ex 7:11, 22), derived from "the unwritten teaching of the Jews" [THEODORET]. In a point so immaterial as the names, where Scripture had not recorded them, Paul takes the names which general opinion had assigned the magicians. EUSEBIUS [Preparation of the Gospel], quotes from NUMENIUS, "Jannes and Jambres were sacred scribes (a lower order of priests in Egypt) skilled in magic." HILLER interprets "Jannes" from the Abyssinian language a trickster, and "Jambres" a juggler" (Ac 13:8).

resist—"withstand," as before. They did so by trying to rival Moses' miracles. So the false teachers shall exhibit lying wonders in the last days (Mt 24:24; 2Th 2:9; Re 13:14, 15).

reprobate—incapable of testing the truth (Ro 1:28) [BENGEL]. ALFORD takes passively, "not abiding the test"; rejected on being tested (Jer 6:30).