Suzanne McCarthy has blogged a mighty fine series of bloggin' at the Better Bibles Blog on the Greek word ὀρθοτομέω in 2Ti 2.15. Her posts are rounded up at Orthotomeo: reflections.

This is a tough word because it is an NT hapax legomenon. Most folks know this from the KJV translation:

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Ti 2.15, KJV).

Here's how the ESV translatates it:

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2Ti 2.15, ESV)

Suzanne's point is that there is likely something beyond a strictly literal translation going on here. She does a great job examining all sorts of classical Greek literature (using primarily online resources) to examine how ὀρθοτομέω and similar concepts are used. It's worth checking out.

FWIW, here's my translation of 2Ti 2.15:

15 Take pains to present yourself approved of God, an unashamed worker, guiding the word of truth along a straight path.

None of the essays in New Testament Greek and Exegesis directly concern the Pastoral Epistles, but at least one of the essays may be helpful in a specific area. One image used twice in the Pastoral Epistles is that of the "snare of the devil" (παγίδα τοῦ διαβόλου .

The essay in question is Finding the Devil in the Details: Onomastic Exegesis and the Naming of Evil in the World of the New Testament by Douglas L. Penney. In discussing how adjectives describing things at times end up becoming names (particularly in the realm of angels and demons), Penney discusses Ps 91.3-6, which mentions "the snare of the fowler". Penny refers to Akkadian magical texts that discuss "net-demons":

The phrase "snare of the fowler," although admittedly cumberson in the Hebrew poetry, nevertheless reflects a well-attested Mesopotamian belief in net demons. (p. 48)

After about a page of this discussion, Penny continues:

The words, phrases, and images employed in the magical literature are very long-lived. In spite of the dearth of Semitic magical texts from the Roman period and especially from Second Temple Palestine, many words, phrases, and motifs appear in Aramaic magical texts from the Islamic period almost unchanged from their antecedents in the Akkadian texts. This longevity points to a continuous surviving tradition of magical texts in spite of the paucity of archaeological finds. The concept of nets and net demons also follows this pattern. Later Aramaic and Greek magical texts continue this tradition, speaking of nets as demonic weapons. The same concept lies behind the NT metaphor "snare of the devil." [cf. 1Ti 3.7; 2Ti 2.26] The invisible demonic nets may cause physical or intellectual stumbling. Even in relatively recent times the net as a metaphor for the devil's tool or agent continues. (pp. 49-50)

Wayne Leman of the Better Bibles Blog posts a link to Kenny Pearce's blog, where Kenny (whom I'm unfamiliar with) has a question about 2Ti 2.2.

In his entry, Kenny writes:

This past week, Steven and I were rather perplexed by the way in which the standard translations have chosen to render 2Ti 2.2, and had some difficulty connecting the translations to the Greek. NKJV renders this verse, "And the things you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." The relevant portion, "the things you have heard from me among many witnesses," is rendered almost identically by the other translations. NIV: "the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses," ESV: "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses." The trouble is that the Greek seems to suggest a reading more like "the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses." That is, the Greek appears to say that Timothy heard these teachings from many witnesses who came from Paul, rather than that he heard them from Paul himself. The following is my (mostly failed) attempt to make sense of this.

PastoralEpistles.com reader John Kendall sent an email to notify me of an upcoming title from Sheffield Phoenix Press. The book is titled Timothy's Task, Paul's Prospect: A New Reading of 2 Timothy, by Craig A. Smith.

You should read the description on the Sheffield Phoenix site for a few reasons:

• How often to you get to see the word aver used in an uncontrived context?
• C'mon, it's Sheffield Phoenix. You know you want to read it.

Not convinced? Here's an excerpt from the description:

Deploying epistolary analysis and rhetorical criticism, Smith shows that these verses (4:1-8) do not have the literary structure or the vocabulary of a testament or a farewell; rather, they are a 'charge', an authoritative command, comprised of five specific formal elements. This charge form is found also in the exorcism command and in some magical texts, Christian and non-Christian.

The currently scheduled release date is "December 2005". Let's hope it stays on schedule!

This book is part of SIL's Exegetical Summary series. It works throught the text, phrase by phrase, pointing to different lexicons and translations of the phrase at hand. It also points to the opinion of different commentaries.

The book is extremely helpful for one who is working through the text at the phrase level. It serves as an index to both commentaries and lexicons. In addition, the text asks (and answers) several questions along the way.