of whom you also must beware; for he greatly opposed our words.
Parallel Translations
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of whom you also must beware; for he greatly opposed our words.
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of whom be thou ware also. For he withstode oure preachynge sore.
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Of whome be thou ware also: for he withstoode our preaching sore.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 2 Timothy 4:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 3:8 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected.
- Philippians 3:2 Beware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers; beware of the false circumcision.
- Matthew 10:16-17 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he…
15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
Ver. 15. He hath greatly resisted our words] Or, our preachings, not our persons only. This was a foul fault. See 1Th 4:8; Exo 16:8.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,.... Either personally appearing…
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,.... Either personally appearing to him, as in Act 23:11 or by the ministry of an angel, Act 27:23 or else by granting him his gracious presence, which was what Christ had not when he was forsaken by his disciples: the presence of God or Christ is more than all friends whatever, and is often enjoyed by the believer, when they drop him; and is a bulwark against all enemies and fears of them; if God is with him, and on his side, though friends fail, and enemies rage, he has nothing to fear:
and strengthened me; inwardly with strength in his soul, with might in his inward man, unto all longsuffering with joyfulness: he was weak in himself, and could do nothing without Christ; Christ was his strength, in him it lay, and to him he looked for it; of which he often had experience, and now afresh; he strengthened him to plead his own cause, to make his defence without fear; he gave him presence of mind, boldness, courage, and intrepidity, freedom of thought and expression; and put it into his heart what he should say, and gave him a mouth and wisdom, which his adversaries could not resist. All which he takes notice of with thankfulness, admiring the divine goodness to him, and taking nothing to himself: and the end of this was,
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that by me the preaching might be fully known; that is, that the doctrine of the Gospel, preached by him, might be made fully known by him; as to the author and original of it, to be of God, and not of men; and as to the matter of it, to be spiritual, and not concerning the things of the world; and as to the effects and consequences of it, to have no tendency to raise sedition and disturbances in commonwealths, but, on the contrary, promote peace and love:
and that all the Gentiles might hear; in Caesar's palace, or in the courts of judicature at Rome, and all over Rome, and from thence in other parts of the empire, what a Gospel it was that was preached by the apostle; and if not by his personal ministry, at least by his epistles he afterwards wrote in prison: however, the effect of his defence, the Lord being with him, and strengthening him, was his deliverance:
and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; from death he was threatened with, which, like a lion, gaped upon him to devour him; or from Satan the roaring lion, who desired to have had him, and sought to have intimidated him, and brought him to have denied his Lord, to have deserted his cause, and blasphemed his name; or else from Nero the Roman emperor, so called from his power and fierceness. So Tiberius is called by Marsyas, Agrippa's freeman, when he brought the news of his death to his master (g); and Ahasuerus by Esther (h); and Nero himself is called a civil beast by Apollonius Tyanaeus (i); though some think that not Nero, but Helius, whom he had appointed governor in his room, he being at this time in Greece, is here meant, before whom Paul was tried, and out of whose hands he was delivered.
(g) Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 7. sect. 10. (h) Apocryph.
"Give me eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion: turn his heart to hate him that fighteth against us, that there may be an end of him, and of all that are likeminded to him:'' (Esther 14:13)
(i) Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 4. c. 12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Of whom be thou ware also] It…
Verse 15. Of whom be thou ware also] It seems that this rabbin travelled about from place to place for the purpose of opposing the Gospel, the Jews putting him forward, as it is said, Ac 19:33.
He hath greatly withstood our words.] Has been a constant opposer of the Christian doctrines.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Of whom be thou ware also - It would…
Of whom be thou ware also - It would seem from this that Alexander was still a public teacher, and that his discourses were plausible and artful. The best and the wisest of men need to be on their guard against the efforts of the advocates of error.
For he hath greatly withstood our words - Margin, “preachings.” The Greek is, “words;” but the reference is doubtless to the public teachings of Paul. This verse makes it clear that it was no private wrong that Paul referred to, but the injury which he was doing to the cause of truth as a professed public teacher.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain our words--the arguments of us Christians for our common…
our words--the arguments of us Christians for our common faith. Believers have a common cause.
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 15. Be thou ware—Do thou beware. The words imply…
15. Be thou ware—Do thou beware. The words imply treachery in Alexander, perhaps the use and perversion of facts, documents, or doctrines confidentially intrusted to him. This disclosure of his treason may preserve Timothy from a similar betrayal.
Withstood our words—Our doctrines; the doctrines of the gospel; which, as appears by 2Ti_4:17, Paul boldly stated and maintained in his defence at his arraignment.
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 15. hath greatly withstood] The aorist should be read…
15. hath greatly withstood] The aorist should be read for the perfect, he withstood. There is apparently an antithesis intended between Alexander’s ‘works’ of mischief and the Apostle’s ‘words.’ It does not seem to be false teaching that is referred to therefore, but (we may conjecture) evil action, by stirring up opposition to St Paul’s preaching from Ephesus perhaps to Troas, scheming to bring him into trouble, finally rousing the Roman authority, which since the Roman fire no longer regarded Christianity as a religio licita, so as to bring about his arrest. There might be thus a special point in the warning given to Timothy, lest Alexander should be on his track as he set out for Rome.
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 (15) Of whom be thou ware also.—This Alexander was…
(15) Of whom be thou ware also.—This Alexander was evidently then at Ephesus. That he had been at Rome, and had given evidence against St. Paul, and had argued against the defence of the Apostle, is probable. “Our words” some understand as especially referring to St. Paul’s defence before the imperial tribunal. If we identify him with the Alexander of Act_19:33-34, then he was a Jew, one of those bitter, life-long antagonists of the Gentile Apostle who crossed his path at every step, and not improbably brought about, in the end, his death. It is an interesting suggestion which refers the connection between St. Paul and Alexander back to those days when Saul and Alexander were both reckoned as belonging to the strictest Pharisee party, determined foes to the “Nazarenes.” Saul—if we adopt this supposition—became the Apostle St. Paul of the Gentiles; Alexander remained a fanatic Jew—hence the enmity.
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 Withstood for hath withstood, A.V Of whom be thou…
Withstood for hath withstood, A.V Of whom be thou ware (o (n fulassou). This is the proper construction in classical Greek, the accusative of the person or thing, after fulassomai. But it is only found Act_21:25. Inssesqe Luk_12:15 the equally correct phrase, Fula) ajpo thv pleonexiav, is used. The inference from this caution to Timothy is that Alexander had left Rome and returned to his native Ephesus. The Jews were always on the move. He greatly withstood our words (ajntesth). For an exactly similar use, see Act_13:8, where Elymas "withstood" Paul and Barnabas; and, 2Ti_3:8, where Jannes and Jambres "withstood" Moses. In this case we may be sure that Paul, in pleading for his life, did not omit to preach the gospel to his Gentile audience. Alexander tried to refute his words, not without effect. The apostle says our words" (not my words perhaps to associate with himself those other Christians who were with him. It certainly cannot mean "yours and mine," as Timothy was not with him when the "words" were spoken.
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 15. Of whom be thou ware. This seems to…
15. Of whom be thou ware. This seems to indicate that Alexander was at Ephesus still.
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.