Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
Parallel Translations
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Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
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Only Lucas is with me. Take Marke and bringe him with the for he is necessary vnto me forto minister.
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Onely Luke is with me. Take Marke and bring him with thee: for he is profitable vnto me to minister.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to 2 Timothy 4:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 12:12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
- Acts 12:25 Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their service, also taking with them John who was called Mark.
- Philemon 1:24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
- Acts 15:39 Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,
- Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
- Colossians 4:14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
- 2 Timothy 1:15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
- 1 Peter 5:13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son.
- Hosea 14:4 “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
- Matthew 19:30 But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.
- Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Luke 13:30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”
- Acts 16:10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and…
11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
Ver. 11. For he is profitable] Once unprofitable, {Act 15:38} {See Trapp on "Act 15:38"} but now profitable, Phm
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11.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Only Luke is with me; of whom we also…
Only Luke is with me; of whom we also read Col 4:14. He was a physician, Paul’s fellow labourer, Phm 1:24.
Take Mark, and bring him with thee; of Mark we read Act 12:12; 15:37. He was kinsman to Barnabas, Col 4:10. It appears by that text that he was at Rome with Paul, and his fellow labourer, Phm 1:24, For he is prifitable to me for the ministry; the ministry of the gospel. Paul’s care was more for that, than for a ministering to himself, though he was a prisioner.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. To supply…
And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. To supply the place of Timothy, while he came to Rome, and continued there: so careful was the apostle of the church there, that they might not be without the ministry of the word during his absence; see Eph 6:20.
.
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2 Timothy 4:13
ti2 4:13
ti2 4:13
ti2 4:13The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus,.... About the word here rendered a "cloak", interpreters are not agreed: some take it for a garment, and about this they differ; some would have it to be a dignified robe, such as the Roman consuls and senators of Rome wore; which is not likely, this being not suitable to the apostle's character, state, and circumstances. Others take it to be a courser and meaner garment, wore in cold and rainy weather, to preserve from the inclementencies of it; and winter now coming on, Ti2 4:21 the apostle sends for it; which he perhaps had left at Troas in the summer season, as he came: but others take it to be a kind of desk or scrutoire, to put papers in, or a chest for books, a book press; and so the Syriac version renders it; and which agrees with what follows. Jerom understands it of a book itself, of the Hebrew volume of the Pentateuch (g). Troas, where this cloak, or book press, or book was, was a city in Asia Minor, that stood upon, or near the same place where old Troy stood, and from whence it seems to have had its name, and lay in Timothy's way from Ephesus to Rome; See Gill on Act 16:8, Act 20:7 and as for Carpus, he was Paul's host when he was at Troas. Some make him to be first bishop of Laodicea, and then of Crete; he is reckoned among the seventy disciples, and is said to be bishop of Berytus in Thrace; See Gill on Luk 10:1.
When thou comest, bring with thee; he would have him call for it at Troas as he came by, and bring it with him:
and the books; that were in it, or were there, besides the Hebrew Pentateuch: the apostle was a great reader of books, of various sorts, both Gentile and Jewish, as appears by his citations out of the Heathen poets, and his acquaintance with Jewish records, Act 17:28. And though he was now grown old, and near his exit, yet was mindful and careful of his books, and desirous of having them to read; and herein set an example to Timothy and others, and enforced the exhortation he gave him, Ti1 4:13.
But especially the parchments: which might contain his own writings he had a mind to revise before his death, and commit into the hands of proper persons; or some observations which he had made in his travels, concerning persons and things; though it is most likely that these were the books of the Old Testament, which were written on parchments, and rolled up together; and hence they are called the volume of the book; and these the apostle had a special regard for, that whatever was neglected, he desired that these might not, but be carefully brought unto him.
(g) Epist. ad Damas. qu. 2. p. 12. Tom. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Only Luke - Of my fellowlabourers, is with me…
Only Luke - Of my fellowlabourers, is with me - But God is with me; and it is enough. Take Mark - Who, though he once "departed from the work," is now again profitable to me.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Only Luke is with me.] This was…
Verse 11. Only Luke is with me.] This was Luke the evangelist, and writer of the Acts of the Apostles, who was always much attached to St. Paul, and it is supposed continued with him even to his martyrdom.
Take Mark, and bring him with thee] This was John Mark, the sister's son of Barnabas, who, after having wavered a little at first, became a steady, zealous, and useful man; his name and conduct have been often before the reader. See the parallel passages.
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For he is profitable to me for the ministry.] εις διακονιαν. For service; that is, he would be very useful to the apostle, to minister to him in his present close confinement. Some think that the apostle means his preaching the Gospel; but at this time, I should suppose, there was very little, if any, public preaching at Rome.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Only Luke is with me - Luke, the author…
Only Luke is with me - Luke, the author of the gospel which bears his name, and of the Acts of the Apostles. For a considerable part of the ministry of Paul, he was his traveling companion (compare the notes on Act 16:10), and we know that he went with him to Rome; Act 27:1.
Take Mark - John Mark, see the notes at Act 15:37. He was the son of a sister of Barnabas, and had been the traveling companion of Barnabas and Paul. There had been a temporary alienation between Paul and him Act 15:38; but this passage proves that that had been removed, and that Paul was reconciled to him.
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For he is profitable to me for the ministry - In what way he would be profitable, he does not say; nor is it known why Mark was at that time with Timothy. It may be observed, however, that this is such language as Paul might be expected to use of Mark, after what had occurred, as recorded in Act 15:38. He felt that he was now about to die. If he suspected that there was on the part of Mark any lingering apprehension that the great apostle was not entirely reconciled to him, or retained a recollection of what had formerly occurred, nothing would be more natural than that, at this trying time of his life, Paul should summon him to his side, and express toward him the kindest emotions. It would soothe any lingering irritation in the mind of Mark, to receive such a message.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Luke. St. Luke was always much attached to St.…
Luke. St. Luke was always much attached to St. Paul. It is thought he accompanied him to the time of his martyrdom. When St. Paul says Luke alone was with him, we must understand that no other disciple was at that time with him; not that the faithful of Rome, whose faith was so lively and charity so ardent, had abandoned him in this time of danger. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. x. p. 610.) --- Mark. This is John Mark, cousin of Barnabas, of whom mention was made, Acts xiii. 12. &c. also Colossians iv. 10. He rather wavered in faith at the beginning, but was afterwards much attached to the apostle. (Calmet)\
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Take--Greek, "take up" on thy journey (Act 20:13-14). John…
Take--Greek, "take up" on thy journey (Act 20:13-14). John Mark was probably in, or near, Colosse, as in the Epistle to the Colossians (Col 4:10), written two years before this, he is mentioned as about to visit them. Timothy was now absent from Ephesus and somewhere in the interior of Asia Minor; hence he would be sure to fall in with Mark on his journey.
he is profitable to me for the ministry--Mark had been under a cloud for having forsaken Paul at a critical moment in his missionary tour with Barnabas (Act 15:37-40; Act 13:5, Act 13:13). Timothy had subsequently occupied the same post in relation to Paul as Mark once held. Hence Paul, appropriately here, wipes out the past censure by high praise of Mark and guards against Timothy's making self-complacent comparisons between himself and Mark, as though he were superior to the latter (compare Plm 1:24). Demas apostatizes. Mark returns to the right way, and is no longer unprofitable, but is profitable for the Gospel ministry (Plm 1:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. Luke—See notice of Luke, vol. 2, p. 11,…
11. Luke—See notice of Luke, vol. 2, p. 11, and note Act_13:1.
Mark—According to Col_4:10, he is commended to Colosse. Timothy might easily take Mark from there if he received this epistle at Ephesus.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. Only Luke] Lucas is a contraction of Lucanus,…
11. Only Luke] Lucas is a contraction of Lucanus, which occurs frequently in inscriptions, and may indicate the position of a libertus or freedman: many such, we know, were the house physicians, the profession, as such, being in very little esteem. See Plaut. Menæchm. 2Ti_4:3-5, and cf. Bekker’s Gallus, p. 207. St Luke is distinguished from ‘they of the circumcision,’ Col_4:14, and so cannot be identified with Lucius St Paul’s ‘kinsman,’ Rom_16:21. He first appears as a companion of St Paul, Act_16:1, at a time very nearly that of an attack of the Apostle’s constitutional malady or ‘thorn in the flesh,’ Gal_4:13; and the words in Col_4:14 ‘the beloved physician’ seem to breathe a feeling of personal gratitude and obligation. St Luke travelled with the Apostle on his last journey to Jerusalem (Act_21:1) and also, two years later from Jerusalem to Rome (Act_27:2). The absence of his name from the greetings in Philippians may be due to his having then left Rome for a time; but he was again with him before the close of the two years, Col_4:14, Phm_1:24; and is now at his side ‘alone’ in his last hours. See Introd. p. 44. After St Paul’s death, according to Epiphanius cont. Hær. li. 11, St Luke ‘preaches first in Dalmatia and Gallia; in Italy and Macedonia, but first in Gallia; as Paul himself says of some of his companions in his epistles “Crescens in Gallia,” for we are not to read “in Galatia” as some mistakenly think, but “in Gallia.” ’ Bithynia and Achaia are named as the place of his martyrdom somewhere between a.d. 75 and a.d. 100.
For a striking comparison drawn between St Luke and Demas see Keble’s Poem on St Luke’s Day (Christian Year):
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‘Two converts, watching by his side,
Alike his love and greetings share;
Luke the beloved, the sick soul’s guide,
And Demas, named in faltering prayer.
Pass a few years—look in once more—
The Saint is in his bonds again;
Save that his hopes more boldly soar,
He and his lot unchanged remain.
But only Luke is with him now!—
Alas! that even the martyr’s cell,
Heaven’s very gate, should scope allow
For the false world’s seducing spell.’
Take Mark] A.V. varies between ‘Mark’ and ‘Marcus’ in the different passages where the name occurs. R.V. rightly throughout ‘Mark’ (Lightfoot, N. T. Rev., p. 157). ‘Marcus’ was the Latin surname for John (Johanan, the Grace of God) the son of Mary, who lived at Jerusalem, apparently with good means (Act_12:12), and ‘cousin’ of Barnabas of Cyprus (Col_4:10). He and his mother must have been well known to St Peter, who went to her house straight from the prison; and the phrase ‘Mark my son’ 1Pe_5:13 makes it probable that he was converted by that Apostle. Compare a similar phrase in 1Ti_1:2; 1Ti_1:18. He was ‘minister’ to Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey through Cyprus, but left them at Perga (Act_13:5; Act_13:13), possibly to escape the dangers of Asia Minor; and for this reason St Paul declined to have his help on the second journey (Act_15:38) though at the cost of breaking with St Barnabas, who took St Mark again to Cyprus. A reconciliation must have taken place before we next hear of him, as he is reckoned by St Paul in the first imprisonment at Rome as one of his ‘fellow labourers unto the kingdom’ who have been ‘a comfort’ unto him, Col_4:10. After this he seems to have joined St Peter at ‘Babylon’ (1Pe_5:13) whence he must have returned to Asia Minor, so that Timothy could now ‘take him up.’ After St Paul’s death he is said to have laboured in Egypt and to have died by martyrdom. His Gospel must have been written between a.d. 63 and a.d. 70; according to Irenæus, after the deaths of St Peter and St Paul; according to Jerome, ‘Peter relating and Mark writing.’ See Maclear’s Introduction to St Mark’s Gospel, pp. 14, 15, &c. As especially in keeping (by undesigned coincidence) with what we have seen above of St Mark’s own fall and restoration and his slow advance to settled power as a ‘fellow labourer unto the kingdom’ and ‘profitable to the ministry,’ we should observe (if it has not been noticed in this connexion before) what significance the two parables and the one miracle have which are recorded only by St Mark. They are the healing of the deaf and dumb man at Decapolis, with the five stages in his gradual cure (Mar_7:31), the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, with the four successive stages (Mar_8:22), and the parable of the seed growing secretly and slowly, ‘first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear’ (Mar_4:26). Among the many lessons learnt from Christ, through St Peter, this laid hold of St Mark; it fitted his need, gave him good hope and heart that he could indeed ‘rise on stepping-stones of his dead self’ to a new and higher life; and what he thus found so true in his own case he could not but put on record, to be a ‘profitable ministry’ through the Holy Spirit to very many ‘feeble-hearts,’ who like him have become ‘great-hearts’ and ‘lion-hearts’ for Christ.
‘Companion of the Saints! ’twas thine
To taste that drop of peace divine,
When the great soldier of thy Lord
Call’d thee to take his last farewell,
Teaching the Church with joy to tell
The story of your love restored.’
The Christian Year, ‘St Mark’s Day.’
profitable … for the ministry] Lit. serviceable for ministering. Observe the emphatic position of the verb ‘for he is,’ almost implying ‘whatever he once may have been’: primarily this ministering would be to himself, as Erastus and Timothy are designated ‘ministers unto him,’ Act_19:22.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Only Luke is with me.—The “writer” of the…
(11) Only Luke is with me.—The “writer” of the Third Gospel, the Gospel which, as has been stated above, was very possibly the work of St. Paul—“my Gospel.” Luke, “the beloved physician” of Col_4:14, of all St. Paul’s companions, seems to have been most closely associated with the Apostle. Most likely this close intimacy and long-continued association was owing to the Apostle’s weak and infirm health—to that dying body—the noble Paul ever bore about with him. Luke was with St. Paul, we know, in his second missionary journey, and again in his third missionary journey; he accompanied him to Asia, and then to Jerusalem; was with him during the captivity time of Cæsarea, and subsequently of Rome, the first time St. Paul was imprisoned in the capital (Acts 18). After St. Paul’s death, Epiphanius speaks of him as preaching chiefly in Gaul; a very general tradition includes him among the martyrs of the first age of the Church. The name is probably a contraction of Lucanus. (See Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles.)
Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.—“But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them . . . and went not with them to the work” (Act_15:38). There is something strangely touching in this message of the aged master to Timothy to bring with him on that last solemn journey one whom, some quarter of a century before, St. Paul had judged so severely, and on whose account he had separated from his old loved friend, Barnabas the Apostle. Since that hour when the young missionary’s heart had failed him in Pamphylia, Mark had, by steady, earnest work, won back his place in St. Paul’s heart. Barnabas, we know, when his brother Apostle rejected him, took him with him to Cyprus. After some twelve years, we find him, during the first imprisonment, with St. Paul at Rome (Col_4:10; Phm_1:24). He is mentioned (1Pe_5:13) by the endearing term of “my son,” and the unanimous traditions of the ancient Christian writers represent him as the secretary or amanuensis of St. Peter. It was his office to commit to writing the orally delivered instructions and narrations of his master. These, in some revised and arranged form, probably under the direction of Peter himself, were given to the Church under the title of St. Mark’s Gospel. A later and uncertain tradition says he subsequently became first Bishop of Alexandria, and there suffered martyrdom.
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For he is profitable to me for the ministry.—Profitable, according to the suggestion of Grotius, owing to Mark’s knowledge of the Latin tongue. This is possible; but it is more likely that he was profitable or serviceable as an assistant who was well acquainted with the details of St. Paul’s many sided work.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Useful for profitable, A.V; ministering for the ministry, A.V…
Useful for profitable, A.V; ministering for the ministry, A.V Luke; probably a shortened form of Lucanus. Luke was with St. Paul in his voyage to Rome, (Act_27:1 Act_28:11, Act_28:16) and when he wrote the Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, (Col_4:14 Phm_1:4) having doubtless composed the Acts of the Apostles during St. Paul"s two years" imprisonment. (Act_28:30) How he spent his time between that date and the mention of him here as still with St. Paul, we have no knowledge. But it looks as if he may have been in close personal attendance upon him all the time. if he had been permitted to write a supplement to the Acts, perhaps the repeated "we" would have shown this. Take Mark. Mark had apparently been recently reconciled to St. Paul when he wrote Col_4:10, and was with him when he wrote Phm_1:24. We know nothing more of him till we learn from this passage that he was with or near to Timothy, and likely to accompany him to Rome in his last visit to St. Paul. He is mentioned again inn), 1Pe_5:13, as being with St. Peter at Babylon. The expression, "take" (ajnalabw) seems to imply that Timothy was to pick him up on the way, as the word is used in Act_20:13, Act_20:14; and, though less certainly, incrhstov Act_23:31. He is useful to me, etc. (eu) as ch. 2:21 (where see note). This testimony to Mark"s ministerial usefulness, at a time when his faithfulness and courage would be put to a severe test, is very satisfactory. For ministering (eijv diakonian). It may be doubted whether diakonia here means "the ministry," as in the A.V and 1Ti_1:12, or, as in the R.V, more generally "for ministering," i.e. for acting as an assistant to me in my apostolic labours. The words, "to me," favour the latter rendering. The sense would then be the same as that of the verb inthv Act_19:22, where we read that Timothy and Erastus "ministered unto him," i.e. to St. Paul, and that of uJphre applied to Mark in Act_13:5.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 11. Only Luke is with me. Of my traveling…
11. Only Luke is with me. Of my traveling companions. The old friend is faithful to the last. Take Mark. John Mark, so well known. He seems to have been at this date at Ephesus. For more of Luke and Mark, see Introduction to the Gospels which they wrote.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 he is useful to me in the work
he is useful to me in the work
Possible meanings are 1) "he can help me in the ministry" or 2) "he can help me by serving me."
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cloak
a heavy garment worn over clothes
Carpus
This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)
the books
This refers to scrolls. A scroll was a type of book made of one long sheet of papyrus or leather. After writing on a scroll or reading it, people rolled it up using rods on the ends
especially the parchments
This may refer to a specific type of scroll. AT: "especially those made from animal skins" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Luke
John Mark
Tychicus
Ephesus
Troas
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:11 Luke, the author of Luke and Acts, accompanied…
4:11 Luke, the author of Luke and Acts, accompanied Paul in his journeys at various times. It is often supposed that Luke was with Paul as his physician (Col 4:14). Luke was the only one of Paul’s co-workers who was continuously present with him. Thus Paul wished for Timothy to come quickly. • Mark: Paul’s assessment that he will be helpful to me tells a story of forgiveness and redemption (see Acts 13:13; 15:36-40; see also Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.