Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
2 Timothy 2:1-13, Soldier, athlete and farmer, and a prisoner in chains
Timothy is to pass on what he heard to reliable people who will teach others, and to endure hardship like a soldier, compete by the rules like an athlete and work like a farmer, remembering Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and descended from David, for whom Paul is chained like a criminal.
2 Timothy 2:1-13, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul urges Timothy to draw strength from grace and to pass on what he learned to trustworthy people who can teach others. He uses three pictures, the soldier who stays focused on his commander, the athlete who keeps the rules and the farmer who works hard, to show the endurance ministry needs. Timothy is to keep in mind Jesus Christ, risen and descended from David, for whose gospel Paul is chained like a criminal, though God's word is free, and Paul closes with a saying about dying and living with Christ.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/soldiers-and-armor\/","n":"Roman soldiers and their gear","s":"The legionary was the most familiar picture of armed strength in the provinces: helmet, breastplate, boots, a big shield and a short sword, fighting shoulder to shoulder. Legions that held their ranks were thought almost unbeatable.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/athletes-and-games\/","n":"The games and the victor's wreath","s":"Greek cities held great athletic festivals, and Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games every two years, second only to the Olympics. Athletes trained for months under oath for a wreath of leaves that soon withered.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/messiah\/","n":"The Messiah, son of David","s":"The anointed king most Jews expected from David's line, who would free Israel from its enemies. Nobody expected him to be killed.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/roman-custody\/","n":"Prison, chains and Roman custody","s":"Roman prisons held people until trial or execution; they were not a punishment in themselves. How a prisoner was kept, in the stocks of an inner cell or lightly chained to one soldier, depended on his rank.","r":""}
Pharisees and Greek schools alike stressed handing on tradition, and teachers expected chief disciples to pass it on (Keener; the cultural backgrounds notes). Philosophers compared themselves to soldiers and athletes (Keener and his notes). Soldiers served about twenty years and could not marry while serving (Keener and his notes); Wright pictures a soldier keeping out of civilian life to please the officer who enlisted him, and notes that "Caesar's soldiers characteristically inflict suffering on others", while Jesus' troops receive it. Athletes swore to keep the rules and trained ten months before the Olympic games (Keener and his notes); breaking the rules brought whipping, fines or bans, and winners took a wreath and sometimes a statue (Price and House). Farm laborers were often tenants while the landlord owned the crop, so Paul appeals to folk wisdom that the worker should share first (Wright). Jews who expected a royal Messiah expected a son of David (the cultural backgrounds notes). Chains were heavy and chafing, and a prisoner's sweat could rust them onto his arm (the cultural backgrounds notes); Wright translates verse 9 as suffering like a criminal, even chained.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 2 Timothy 2:1-2, 2:3-4 and 2:5
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 2 Timothy 2:2, 2:3-5, 2:4, 2:5, 2:8 and 2:9
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, comments on 2 Timothy 2:1-7 and 2:8-13
- J. Randall Price and H. Wayne House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology, 2 Timothy 2:5, Athletic Competition
