2Ti 4:16-19 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 16. At my first answer . Or, apology , απολογια, plea, or defence . This evidently refers to some trial which he had had before the Roman emperor. He speaks of a first trial of this kind; but whether it was on some former occasion, and he had been released and permitted again to go abroad, or whether it was a trial which he had already had during his second imprisonment, it is not easy to determine. The former is the most natural supposition; for, if he had had a trial during his present imprisonment, it is difficult to see why he was still held as a prisoner. See this point examined in the Intro., & 1. No man stood with me . Paul had many friends in Rome, ; comp. ; but it seems that they did not wish to appear as such when he was put on trial for his life. They were, doubtless, afraid that they would be identified with him, and would endanger their own lives. It should be said that some of the friends of the apostle, mentioned in , and who were there when that epistle was written, may have died before the apostle arrived there, or, in the trials and persecutions to which they were exposed, may have left the city. Still, it is remarkable that those who were there should have all left him on so trying an occasion. But to forsake a friend in the day of calamity is not uncommon, and Paul experienced what thousands before him and since have done. Thus Job was forsaken by friends and kindred in the day of his trials. See his pathetic description in : He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance verily are estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed. And my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwelt in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger, I am an alien in their sight. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I entreated him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife, Though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body. Thus the Psalmist was forsaken by his friends in the time of calamity, . And thus the Saviour was forsaken in his trials, . Comp., for illustration, . The world is full of instances in which those who have been overtaken by overwhelming calamities, have been forsaken by professed friends, and have been left to suffer alone. This has arisen, partly, from the circumstance that many sincere friends are timid, and their courage fails them when their attachment for another would expose them to peril; but more commonly from the circumstance that there is much professed friendship in the world which is false, and that calamity becomes a test of it which it cannot abide. There is professed friendship which is caused by wealth, ( ;) there is that which is cherished for those in elevated and fashionable circles; there is that which is formed for beauty of person, or graceful manners, rather than for the solid virtues of the heart; there is that which is created in the sunshine of life--the affection of those "swallow friends, who retire in the winter, and return in the spring." Comp. the concluding remarks on the book of Job. Such friendship is always tested by calamity; and when affliction comes, they, who in the days of prosperity were surrounded by many flatterers and admirers, are surprised to find how few there were among them who truly loved them. "In the wind and tempest of his frown, Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan, Puffing at all, winnows the light away; And, what hath mass or matter by itself, Lies, rich in virtue and unmingled." Troilus and Cressida So common has this been--so little confidence can be placed in professed friends in time of adversity, that we are sometimes disposed to believe that there is more truth than fancy in the representation of the poet-- "And what is friendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep; A shade that follows wealth or fame, But leaves the wretch to weep ?" Yet there is true friendship in the world. It existed between Damon and Pythias, and its power and beauty were still more strikingly illustrated in the warm affection of David and Jonathan. In the trials of David--though raised from the condition of a shepherd boy--and though having no powerful friends at court, the son of Saul never forsook him, and never gave him occasion to suspect the sincerity or the depth of his affection. With what exquisite beauty he sang of that attachment when Jonathan was dead! "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan ! Very pleasant hast thou been unto me ! Thy love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women !" . True friendship, founded on sincere love, so rare, so difficult to be found, so little known among the gay and the great, is one of the richest of Heaven's blessings to man; and, when enjoyed, should be regarded as more than a compensation for all of show, and splendour, and flattery, that wealth can obtain. "Though choice of follies fasten on the great, None clings more obstinate, than fancy fond, That sacred friendship is their easy prey; Caught by the wafture of a golden lure, Or fascination of a high-born smile. Their smiles, the great, and the coquette, throw out For other's hearts, tenacious of their own, And we no less of ours, when such the bait. Ye fortune's cofferers! ye powers of wealth! Can gold gain friendship? Impudence of hope! As well mere man an angel might beget. Love, and love only, is the loan for love. Lorenzo! pride repress; nor hope to find A friend, but what has found a friend in thee. All like the purchase; few the price will pay, And this makes friends such miracles below. A friend is worth all hazards we can run. Poor is the friendless master of a world; A world in purchase of a friend is gain." Night Thoughts, Night 2 . I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge . That it may not be reckoned , or imputed to them--λογισθειη. On the meaning of this word, , . The prayer of the apostle here breathes the very spirit of Christ. . Comp. . (a) "all men forsook" (b) "laid"

2 Timothy 4:16-19

Verse 16. At my first answer. Or, apology, απολογια, plea, or defence. This evidently refers to some trial which he had had before the Roman emperor. He speaks of a first trial of this kind; but whether it was on some former occasion, and he had been released and permitted again to go abroad, or whether it was a trial which he had already had during his second imprisonment, it is not easy to determine. The former is the most natural supposition; for, if he had had a trial during his present imprisonment, it is difficult to see why he was still held as a prisoner. See this point examined in the Intro., & 1.

No man stood with me. Paul had many friends in Rome, 2Ti 4:21; comp. Rom 16; but it seems that they did not wish to appear as such when he was put on trial for his life. They were, doubtless, afraid that they would be identified with him, and would endanger their own lives. It should be said that some of the friends of the apostle, mentioned in Rom 16, and who were there when that epistle was written, may have died before the apostle arrived there, or, in the trials and persecutions to which they were exposed, may have left the city. Still, it is remarkable that those who were there should have all left him on so trying an occasion. But to forsake a friend in the day of calamity is not uncommon, and Paul experienced what thousands before him and since have done. Thus Job was forsaken by friends and kindred in the day of his trials. See his pathetic description in Job 19:13-17: He hath put my brethren far from me,

And mine acquaintance verily are estranged from me.

My kinsfolk have failed.

And my familiar friends have forgotten me.

They that dwelt in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger,

I am an alien in their sight.

I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I entreated him with

my mouth.

My breath is strange to my wife,

Though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body.

Thus the Psalmist was forsaken by his friends in the time of calamity, Ps 35:12-16, 38:11, 41:9, 55:12. And thus the Saviour was forsaken in his trials, Mt 26:66. Comp., for illustration, Zech 13:6. The world is full of instances in which those who have been overtaken by overwhelming calamities, have been forsaken by professed friends, and have been left to suffer alone. This has arisen, partly, from the circumstance that many sincere friends are timid, and their courage fails them when their attachment for another would expose them to peril; but more commonly from the circumstance that there is much professed friendship in the world which is false, and that calamity becomes a test of it which it cannot abide. There is professed friendship which is caused by wealth, (Prov 14:20, 19:4;) there is that which is cherished for those in elevated and fashionable circles; there is that which is formed for beauty of person, or graceful manners, rather than for the solid virtues of the heart; there is that which is created in the sunshine of life--the affection of those "swallow friends, who retire in the winter, and return in the spring." Comp. the concluding remarks on the book of Job. Such friendship is always tested by calamity; and when affliction comes, they, who in the days of prosperity were surrounded by many flatterers and admirers, are surprised to find how few there were among them who truly loved them. "In the wind and tempest of his frown,

Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan,

Puffing at all, winnows the light away;

And, what hath mass or matter by itself,

Lies, rich in virtue and unmingled."

Troilus and Cressida

So common has this been--so little confidence can be placed in professed friends in time of adversity, that we are sometimes disposed to believe that there is more truth than fancy in the representation of the poet-- "And what is friendship but a name,

A charm that lulls to sleep;

A shade that follows wealth or fame,

But leaves the wretch to weep ?"

Yet there is true friendship in the world. It existed between Damon and Pythias, and its power and beauty were still more strikingly illustrated in the warm affection of David and Jonathan. In the trials of David--though raised from the condition of a shepherd boy--and though having no powerful friends at court, the son of Saul never forsook him, and never gave him occasion to suspect the sincerity or the depth of his affection. With what exquisite beauty he sang of that attachment when Jonathan was dead! "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan !

Very pleasant hast thou been unto me !

Thy love to me was wonderful,

Passing the love of women !"

2Sam 1:26.

True friendship, founded on sincere love, so rare, so difficult to be found, so little known among the gay and the great, is one of the richest of Heaven's blessings to man; and, when enjoyed, should be regarded as more than a compensation for all of show, and splendour, and flattery, that wealth can obtain. "Though choice of follies fasten on the great,

None clings more obstinate, than fancy fond,

That sacred friendship is their easy prey;

Caught by the wafture of a golden lure,

Or fascination of a high-born smile.

Their smiles, the great, and the coquette, throw out

For other's hearts, tenacious of their own,

And we no less of ours, when such the bait.

Ye fortune's cofferers! ye powers of wealth!

Can gold gain friendship? Impudence of hope!

As well mere man an angel might beget.

Love, and love only, is the loan for love.

Lorenzo! pride repress; nor hope to find

A friend, but what has found a friend in thee.

All like the purchase; few the price will pay,

And this makes friends such miracles below.

A friend is worth all hazards we can run.

Poor is the friendless master of a world;

A world in purchase of a friend is gain."

Night Thoughts, Night 2.

I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. That it may not be reckoned, or imputed to them--λογισθειη. On the meaning of this word, Rom 4:3, Phm 1:18. The prayer of the apostle here breathes the very spirit of Christ. Lk 23:34. Comp. Acts 7:60.

(a) "all men forsook" 2Ti 1:15 (b) "laid" Acts 7:60 Verse 17. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me. Though all men forsook me, yet God did not. This expresses an universal truth in regard to the faithfulness of God. See Ps 27:10. Comp. Job 5:17-19, Isa 43:1,2.

That by me the preaching might be fully known. The word preaching here probably means the gospel as preached by him. The word rendered "might be fully known" πληροφορηθη means, "might obtain full credence;" that is, might be fully confirmed, so that others might be assured of its truth. The apostle, doubtless, means that on his trial, though forsaken by all men, he was enabled to be so steadfast in his profession of the truth, and so calm in the prospect of death, that all who witnessed his trial, saw that there was a reality in religion, and that the gospel was founded in truth. He had maintained as a preacher that the gospel was able to support the soul in trial, and he was now able to illustrate its power in his own case. He had proclaimed the gospel as the true system of religion, and he was now able to bear testimony to it with the prospect of approaching martyrdom. The sentiment of this passage then is, that the truth of the gospel is made known, or that men may become fully assured of it, by the testimony which is borne to it by its friends in the near prospect of death. One of the most important means of establishing the truth of the gospel in the world, has been the testimony borne to it by martyrs, and the spirit of unwavering confidence in God which they have evinced. And now, one of the most important methods of keeping up the knowledge of the value of religion in the world, and of convincing men of the truth of Christianity, is the spirit evinced by its friends when they are about to die. Men judge much, and justly, of the value of a system of religion by its power to comfort in the day of calamity, and to sustain the soul when about to enter on an untried state of being. That system is of little value to mankind which leaves us in the day of trial; that is of inestimable worth which will enable us to die with the firm hope of a brighter and better world. Christian, having served his God faithfully in life, may, therefore, be eminently useful when he comes to die.

And that all the Gentiles might hear. Paul was at this time in Rome. His trial was before a heathen tribunal, and he was surrounded by Pagans. Rome, too, was then the centre of the world, and at all times there was a great conflux of strangers thee. His trial, therefore, gave him an opportunity of testifying to the truth of Christianity before Gentile rulers; and in such circumstances, that the knowledge of his sufferings, and of the religion for which he suffered, might be conveyed by the strangers who witnessed it to the ends of the world. His main object in life was, to make the gospel known to the Gentiles, and he had thus an opportunity of furthering that great cause, even on what he supposed might be the trial which would determine with him the question of life or death. Comp. Rom 1:10.

And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. This may either mean that he was delivered from Nero, compared with a lion, or, literally, that he was saved from being thrown to lions in the amphitheatre, as was common in Rome. 1Cor 15:32.

(3.) It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare tyrants and persecutors with ravenous wild beasts. Comp. Ps 22:13,21, Jer 2:30. Nero is called a lion by Seneca, and it was usual among heathen writers to apply the term in various senses to princes and warriors. See Grotius, in loc. The common interpretation here has been, that this refers to Nero, and there is no improbability in the interpretation. Still, it is quite as natural to suppose, that the punishment which had been appointed for him, or to which he would have been subjected, was, to be thrown to lions, and that in some way, now unknown to us, he had been delivered from it. Paul attributes his deliverance entirely to the Lord; but what instrumental agency there may have been, he does not specify. It seems probable that it was his own defence; that he was enabled to plead his own cause with so much ability, that he found favour even with the Roman emperor, and was discharged. If it had been through the help of a friend at court, it is hardly to be supposed that he would not have mentioned the name of him to whom he owed his deliverance.

(c) "Lord stood" Mt 10:19, Acts 23:11 (d) "mouth of the lion" Ps 22:21 Verse 18. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work. He does not say from death, for he expected now to die. See 2Ti 4:6. But he was assured that God would keep him from shrinking from death when the hour approached; from apostasy, and from the manifestation of an improper spirit when he came to die.

And will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. So keep me from evil that I shall reach his heavenly kingdom. See 2Ti 4:8.

To whom be glory for ever and ever. Paul was accustomed to introduce a doxology in his writings when his heart was full, (comp. Rom 9:5,) and in no place could it be more appropriate than here, when he had the fullest confidence that he was soon to be brought to heaven. If man is ever disposed to ascribe glory to God, it is on such an occasion.

(a) "shall deliver" Ps 121:7 Verse 19. Salute Priscilla and Aquila. Prisca, or Priscilla, was the wife of Aquila, though her name is sometimes mentioned first. In regard to their history, Rom 16:3. They were at Rome when Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, but afterwards went into Asia Minor, which was the native place of Aquila, Acts 18:2, and where they probably died.

And the household of Onesiphorus. 2Ti 1:16.