[This is part of a running series on translating Second Timothy. See the introductory post for more information — RB]
Phrasing/Translation: 2Ti 2.1-7
1 Σὺ οὖν,
1 And so you,
τέκνον μου,
my child,
ἐνδυναμοῦ
be empowered
ἐν τῇ χάριτι
in the grace
τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,
that is in Christ Jesus.
2 καὶ
2 And
ἃ ἤκουσας
what you heard
παρʼ ἐμοῦ
concerning me
διὰ πολλῶν μαρτύρων,
through many witnesses,
ταῦτα παράθου πιστοῖς ἀνθρώποις,
these things entrust to faithful men,
οἵτινες ἱκανοὶ ἔσονται καὶ ἑτέρους διδάξαι.
who will be competent to teach others also.
3 Συγκακοπάθησον
3 Suffer hardship with me
ὡς καλὸς στρατιώτης Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ.
as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 οὐδεὶς
4 No one
στρατευόμενος
serving in the army
ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις,
involves himself in civilian pursuits,
ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ.
so that he may please the one who enlisted him.
5 ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἀθλῇ τις,
5 Likewise, if anyone competes as an athlete,
οὐ στεφανοῦται
he is not crowned
ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ.
unless he competes lawfully.
6 τὸν κοπιῶντα γεωργὸν δεῖ
6 It is necessary for the hard-working farmer
πρῶτον τῶν καρπῶν μεταλαμβάνειν.
to receive a first share of his produce.
7 νόει
7 Consider
ὃ λέγω·
what I say,
δώσει γάρ σοι ὁ κύριος σύνεσιν
for the Lord will give to you understanding
ἐν πᾶσιν.
in all of this.
Comments
The section is likely 2.1-13 (cf. Van Neste, Marshall); consisting of subparts from vv. 1-7 and 8-13. These posts will handle each subsection in turn.
Verse 1
οὖν] Typically translated “therefore”, this indicates a transition from the preceding section that builds upon content/knowledge disclosed in that section (cf. Runge, Discourse Grammar, on “Principle”). Paul previously discussed guarding the deposit (the teaching), using Onesiphorus as an example of one who defends and promotes Paul and his teaching.
Σὺ οὖν, τέκνον μου] At the beginning of this section the second person pronoun (cf. 2Ti 1.18) is used to bring Timothy into primary focus. Here the pronoun is further qualified by the statement τέκνον μου (“my child”) which recalls the language Paul used to address Timothy earlier (2Ti 1.2). Runge calls this “Thematic Address”, where language that is not explicitly required in the discourse (the pronoun itself is enough to refer to Timothy) is used to further characterize or qualify someone or something.
ἐνδυναμοῦ] “be empowered”, this is also a second person singular verb, here in the passive.
ἐν τῇ χάριτι] prepositional phrase, “in the grace”. This is what Timothy is to be empowered with. The source of the grace is handled next.
τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ] Here the pronoun functions like a relative pronoun, referring back to “the grace”. Thus this structure functions like a relative clause. Timothy is to be empowered in “the grace that is in Christ Jesus”.
Verse 2
καὶ] establishes a relation between the previous clause (v. 1) and this clause.
ἃ ἤκουσας] “what you have heard”, a relative clause, with the verb further modified by two prepositional phrases (discussed next). The entire structure is what Runge terms a “Left Dislocation” (cf. Runge, Discourse Grammar). The relative clause has been fronted in the larger clause structure to introduce complex new information to the discourse. Once activated, this information is then referred to with a pronoun (here “these things”).
παρʼ ἐμοῦ] “concerning me”, here providing circumstance to the verb ἤκουσας. Here Paul refers Timothy to the substance of “what he heard”.
διὰ πολλῶν μαρτύρων] “through many witnesses”, again providing circumstance to the verb. Here Paul refers Timothy to the source of “what he heard”.
ταῦτα παράθου πιστοῖς ἀνθρώποις] The verb, in the imperative, is “entrust”. The object of the verb is the pronoun ταῦτα (“these things”), which refers back to “what you have heard”.
οἵτινες ἱκανοὶ ἔσονται καὶ ἑτέρους διδάξαι] This is a relative clause that further describes πιστοῖς ἀνθρώποις (faithful men/people) above. It provides further guidance as to whom Timothy is to trust with what he has heard from Paul.
Verse 3
Συγκακοπάθησον] “Suffer hardship with me”, only used in 2Ti, see also 2Ti 1.8.
ὡς καλὸς στρατιώτης Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ] An adverbial clause, here shedding some light on what Paul means by “suffer hardship with me”. This is followed by three wisdom statements in vv. 4-6, followed by a conclusion in v. 7. The metaphorical language includes illustrations of a soldier (v. 4), an athlete (v. 5), and a farmer (v. 6).
Verse 4
οὐδεὶς] “no one”, the subject of the clause.
στρατευόμενος] This participle occurs before the primary verb and thus performs a backgrounding function. Here it provides more information about the subject; note the agreement in case, number and gender with the subject. Thus “no one serving in the army”, “no one who serves in the army”, “no one being a soldier”, “no one who is a soldier”, etc.
ἐμπλέκεται] A passive indicative, hence the translation “involves himself”.
ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις] This structure provides circumstance to the verb and sharpens the context. It is involvement in “the activity of life”. See BDAG (πραγματεία) for the notion of “civilian life” or “civilian affairs” associated with this phrase.
ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ] This subordinate clause gives an idea of why the solder does not entangle himself in civilian affairs.
Verse 5
ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἀθλῇ τις] The δὲ connects to the previous clause indicating development, ἐὰν (conditional) plus subjunctive (ἀθλῇ) indicates a subordinate clause, the καὶ here is adverbial (“Thematic Addition” according to Runge, LDGNT). This whole clause (the whole of verse 5) is interesting because there are two subordinate clauses (the ἐὰν portions), one of which (ἐὰν .. καὶ ἀθλῇ τις) is fronted. Runge notes the fronting of such structures as a “Conditional Frame”. Of Conditional Frames, Runge writes:
The fronting of subordinate conditional clauses creates a specific frame of reference for the proposition that follows, indicating that the proposition is contingent upon the condition of the frame being met. The condition is not the most important information in the clause, the main predication is. Fronting the condition does not result in emphasis, but establishes an explicit frame of reference for what follows.
Runge, S. The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament: Introduction. Logos Research Systems, Inc.; Bellingham, WA.
The basic idea is that the victor is not crowned unless he competes, and within the scope of the agreed-upon rules at that. This fronted subordinate clause shifts the reader’s mind, introducing the reader’s mind to the idea of a contest before hitting upon the primary verb of crowning the victor.
οὐ στεφανοῦται] Given the fronted subordinate clause (Conditional Frame) introducing the idea of a contest, “he is not crowned” makes sense. You can’t win if you don’t compete.
ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ] Another subordinate clause, related to the previous verb. This provides a further condition to the main action (“unless …”), that of lawful competition.
Verse 6
δεῖ] The primary verb of the clause, “It is necessary”. The balance of the verse is an infinitive clause.
τὸν κοπιῶντα γεωργὸν] The accusative subject of the infinitive clause.
πρῶτον τῶν καρπῶν] The direct object of the infinitive clause. Here τῶν καρπῶν is a genitive modifier. I’ve translated “a first share of his produce”.
μεταλαμβάνειν] The infinitive verb, “to receive”.
Verse 7
Verse 7 contains two clauses in the Greek that are best translated as one sentence in the English.
νόει] Primary verb of the first clause. Could be “consider” (BDAG 2) or “understand” (BDAG 1a, noting νοέω + relative clause). Either translation produces the same basic idea in English.
ὃ λέγω] relative clause, “what I say”. Referring to the three previous wisdom statements.
δώσει γάρ σοι ὁ κύριος σύνεσιν] Here γάρ indicates that this clause offers support for the previous one. The primary verb of the clause is the future indicative δώσει (“will grant/give”). The subject is ὁ κύριος (“the Lord”). The indirect object is the pronoun σοι (“to you”); the direct object is σύνεσιν (“understanding”). This is a fairly simple clause in what many would say is “default component order” (verb-subject-object, VSO) for Hellenistic/Koine Greek.
ἐν πᾶσιν] A prepositional phrase. BDAG cites this reference in 1dβ, a “substantival usage”, hence “all things”, which is accurate within the scope of current context, which involves what Paul says — the three wisdom statements (cf. Mounce, WBC 510; Knight NIGTC 396). This is why the translation above qualifies the scope of “all things” with “in all of this”.
Posted by Rick Brannan