What is the “meaning” of 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Here, however, “meaning” can mean the original writer’s intended meaning or the “significance” or “meaning to me in my life today.” First, why is it important to ask what was the original writer’s intended meaning to the original recipient? And what is that meaning of 2 Timothy 4:6-8?
In past blogs and Twitters, I discussed the historic background of 2 Tim, so look there for more details. But briefly, I date 2 Tim as being written in August or September of AD 66. I date Paul as being killed by Nero around June 29 AD 67 and Nero’s suicide in June AD 68. Simply logic: Nero can’t murder Paul if Nero is dead, so Nero must have killed Paul before he died. Paul can’t write a letter if he is dead, so had to write letter before he was dead. Also, consider that it takes about two weeks for a letter to get to Ephesus and another two weeks for the Timothy to come back to Rome. But Timothy might not have been in Ephesus, so delivering the letter might have taken over a month and for Timothy to return might have taken over a month. Paul knows the time to travel. Thus, it is not likely that Paul would ask for his cloak if there was no way for Timothy to bring the cloak. This is a very reasonable assumption and essential for setting the date of the letter. There is no need to discuss “theological bias” in the principle of “only living people act on this earth” unless one wants to propose that Zombies or vampires played a part in the historical background of the Bible.
But then consider the details in 2 Tim 4:9-12. Timothy is at least required to get Mark and stop by Troas. Thus, even if Timothy is in Ephesus, Paul envisions Timothy to go through the northern route through Troas, the trip from Troas to Rome is about 20 days. (For these travel estimates, I use http://orbis.stanford.edu/#mapping.) In any case, with all the errands, a reasonable estimate for the return of Timothy to Rome is 30-40 days. If you back track from winter time, this confirms Paul writing in August of AD 66. As I read the weather charts, it starts getting cold in Rome near the end of November and does not warm up until February (see http://weatherspark.com/averages/32307/11/Rome-Lazio-Italy). So we have a situation where Paul ventured to Italy with a ministry team (2 Timothy 4:10-11) during the spring and/or summer and was planning to return to Troas by around October. But Paul was arrested around August of 66, and Peter was arrested about the same time.
What caused the arrests? I have suggested, and suggest again, that the defeat of the Legio XII Fulminata, led by Gaius Cestius Gallus, legatus of Syria in approximately November AD 66 is the major historical event behind several books of the Bible (2 Timothy, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Hebrews, Mark, John). Eleazar ben Simon being one of the major Jewish leaders fighting this battle.
In May/June the Great Revolt started against Rome (The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt, By Martin Goodman, Cambridge University Press, Jun 3, 1993, page 152) when the high priest Eleazar b. Ananius refused to sacrifice to Nero. This created great turmoil in Jerusalem for two or three months as all citizens in Jerusalem debated the pros and cons of a revolt (id. At 153). In Caesarea earlier in the year, the Procurator Florus had favored Greeks who offended Jews (id. at 152). Florus then marched to Jerusalem to collect taxes, essentially ransacking the city and causing a revolt (id.) which culminated in the priests refusing the sacrifice. Agrippa II tried to restore order, but was eventually driven from the city, with his sister Bernice (id.). And that leads us up to May/June when the priests refused to sacrifice on behalf of the emperor.
I suggest the information concerning the revolt was delivered to Nero. According to Orbis the fastest route between Jerusalem and Rome in June takes 25.7 days (http://orbis.stanford.edu/#mapping)! Thus, Nero would not get the information about the Jewish revolt until July. I suggest, this is why Peter and Paul were incarcerated. In great anger about not just the violence on the Jewish garrison and his governor Agrippa II, but the refusal of Jews to sacrifice to him, Nero started arresting Jews. I suggest that Peter and Paul were not arrested because they were Christians, but because they were Jews. So in mid-July, Paul and Peter were arrested. In August Paul sends off a letter to Timothy, realized that his stay in Italy will be longer than planned and asking Timothy to bring his winter coat. Something about “packing for travel” and “travel plans not working out as planned” seem very alive, filled with images, colors, smells, feelings, and everything that accompanies life. If we want to understand what Paul “meant” in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, we really want to understand Paul’s total life circumstance and not just what he was thinking, but what he was feeling when he wrote.
To finish the other background story, Nero would have responded to the May/June Jewish revolt by ordering Gaius Cestius Gallus, legatus of Syria to take the Legio XII Fulminata and quash the revolt. A message from Rome to the city Cyrrhus would take 21.4 days. Thus I suggest that Cestius Gallus did not receive the message to attack until August. It is also reported that Florus sent a message to Cestius Gallus, putting Florus’ spin on the events (id. At 153). Perhaps the original message about the revolt to Nero in Rome came from Cestius Gallus. It seems unreasonable that such a large military campaign involving some 5,000 soldiers would be undertaken without authorization from the emperor. (The authority of generals and reliance on orders from the emperor would be an issue for later study). Continuing, Cestius Gallus arrived in Palestine by September/October and in Jerusalem by October/November (id. At 152). Not finding a more precise date, in November/December 66 AD is the great defeat where the Legio XII Fulminata lost its aquila (an eagle) which was the standard of a Roman legion. As I understand, perhaps the only other time aquilae were captured was in 9 AD at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, and great efforts over decades were taken by Rome to recapture those standards (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest).
When Paul wrote 2 Tim, he was in in Rome, waiting in jail. Peter was there as well. Both Peter (Acts 5:17-21, 12:6-11) and Paul (Acts:16:25-34) had the experience of being locked up in jail and being let go by miraculous deliverance. Thus, each knew by experience that God could get them out of jail, if He so wanted. But rather, each had the conviction from God that they would soon die (2 Timothy 4:6-8 and 2 Peter 1:12-15).
Now consider the sports metaphor of winning the race and getting the crown: The way human beings work, and human language semantics works, is that the meanings of words come from the personal experiences of the writers/readers. To understand the text, we want to understand what the words meant to the original writer and readers.
Consider the metaphor of a race. If we do not care about the history, then we can include discussions about what sort of Nike tennis shoe they wore. We can discuss how the race looked as they ran through the streets of Honolulu on some 10K or marathon race. In fact, you can make up whatever you want. To ignore and not value the historic background is to import your own meaning and to rewrite the text according to your personal experience which probably is much different that the personal experience of the original writer and readers.
But if we care about what it meant to the original writer and reader, then things get interesting. Read about racing back then. They probably raced naked, unlike most of us today who do not race or box naked. In using this metaphor, Paul is presenting himself like a naked victorious first century athlete. Paul is saying to Timothy, “Consider the most successful athlete, and put me in his place, because I did even better than him in living my life for Jesus.” Also consider the political atmosphere. Athletics was a means of diplomacy. The athletes would compete rather than armies fighting. Thus, the athletes had a different kind of fame back then. The fame of an athlete combined with the fame of a politician. This section could benefit from historical research to confirm and expand my ideas of a first century athlete, but even without such verification, the idea remains that a successful first century athlete is different than a modern successful athlete. Though many things are the same.
I suggest the crown of righteousness is analogous to crown athletes received. Paul is saying that his victory in living for Christ is analogous to the fame a first century winning athlete would receive.
Notice all the personal and geographic references in these passages, there being hundreds if not thousands of them in the Bible. The references to geographic places, to people, and even the meaning of most words, place a date, time and even a location stamp on each text of the Bible. The historic background is an essential part of the Bible itself. Think about Paul’s comments about bringing Mark (2 Tim 4:11). And then Peter reports that Mark has arrived (1 Peter 5:13). I figure the best interpretation is the most obvious, that both Paul and Peter are in Rome in jail. Paul sends for Mark in a letter written about August AD 66, then Peter writes about January AD 67 and reports that Mark has arrived. One need not consider one’s “theological bias,” because all that is needed is the everyday knowledge that “a person who is in one location, is delivered a letter written about a month prior, and then after that person spends about a month traveling, that person will arrive at the destination two or three months later.”
Finally, the notice the text of 2 Tim 4:6 which has a perfective aspect verbs “the time for my departure has come.” Paul does not just have insight from the situation, but has been revealed a message from God that Paul would soon be killed. Paul chooses to use perfect indicative verbs (finished or perfective action) “I have fought the good fight,” and again “I have completed the race,” and again “I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7).
Each of these is finished aspect. Paul is taking a viewpoint of his life as if it is already over. Paul is in essence speaking a eulogy at his own funeral. Just as God set Paul’s time to be over, Paul sees his ministry and life as accomplished, having finished what he set out to do.
The word order in 4:8 gives special position to “The Lord,” so translate, “THE LORD will give me the crown.”
In contrast to mere people who give the crown to athletes, Paul is receiving the crown from THE LORD himself.
So also, Paul says this crown is for those who “have loved” Christ’s appearance. Again, “have loved” is finished (perfective) action. Paul is now taking a future viewpoint from the end of the lives of all of us who loved Christ and have lived a life being faithful in our ministries and lives. Paul is standing there with us at the end of our life and reminding us that we also will receive the crown of righteousness. A good title for this section might be “How to be ready for death–fulfill the mission and life which GOD gave you.”
And that is my interpretation, taking into account the historical background (as indicated in the text, but supplemented by extra biblical research) and the grammatical and word choices made by the author, especially regarding verbal aspect and word order.
Back to the questions of the word “meaning” which has perhaps a couple dozen “meanings.” We might want to say, “what do you think this meant to the original recipients?” and “What significance does that message have for your life?” These two meanings of meaning mean the most to us meaning seekers in this particular meaningful study.
Consider the way we use language. Often people take positions that contradict their own use of language. It’s kind of like saying “I start my argument assuming we cannot communicate and then my whole argument depends on the assumption that I can communicate.” It almost like saying, “I start my argument assuming I do not exist and then my entire argument relies on the fact that I do exist.” Often arguments are likewise self-contradictory.
I suggest that if we do not consider both “what was the intended meaning of the original author to the original recipients” as well as “what is the significance (or meaning) to me today” we are involved in such a self-contradiction.
If we only consider what is the significance to me today, we end up importing our own meaning into the text and never really understand what it means. We import our own grammar, we import our own literary context, we import our own history and our own historical meanings of words. In essence we are not studying a text, we are rewriting a text.
If we ask “what did Paul mean when he wrote these words to Timothy in August 66 AD while in prison in Rome?” then we can get a precise understanding of the text. After we understand the text, we can reject the meaning, forget the meaning, or, if we think that this is actually God’s word speaking to us, we can seek out the significance (or “meaning”) for us today. But if it is not God’s word, why bother with the effort?
I suggest to seek other than the original meaning is self-contradictory or even “hypocritical” because every human being who ever lived does not like being misunderstood. It is part of being a human being that likes to communicate, and that gets angry, annoyed or frustrated when others do not understand them. If we get frustrated when people do not understand us, then why would we think it is strange to need to put in extra effort to understand what someone said in a foreign language some 2,000 years ago in a very different geographical and social situation. Again, some people, after understanding us, may disagree with our ideas or ignore our ideas. People disagreeing with or ignoring is much different than people not understanding our ideas.
To understand the Bible, we need to understand what the original author intended to mean which requires we consider the history, grammar, and context (that is discourse or literary structure) of the original speaker.
If we believe that the Bible is God’s word, then we should apply the original meaning to our lives, as it is significant to us.
So leading to the question, what is the “significance” or “meaning for me” of 2 Timothy 4:6-8. For me, the significance is that I should and therefore want to live my life faithfully and victoriously for Christ so I can look back with joy and confidence that I have lived in a way pleasing to Him.
#GreekBible#GreekWordOrder#VerbalAspect#2Tim4
Views: 307