2 Timothy 3:8

Contextual Overview

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ¹ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ¹But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ¹Know this, Timothy! When the end is near, the trail will be very difficult. ¹ But be certain of this, that in the last days times of trouble will come. ¹ But this know, that in [the] last days difficult times shall be there; ¹ But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. ¹ But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. ¹ But know this, that in the last days grievous times will come.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as: Exodus 7:11, Exodus 7:22, Exodus 8:7, Exodus 8:18

resist: 2 Timothy 4:15, 1 Kings 22:22-24, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Acts 13:8-11, Acts 15:24, Galatians 1:7-9, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 2:5, Ephesians 4:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11, Titus 1:10, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 2:18, 1 John 4:1, Revelation 2:6, Revelation 2:14, Revelation 2:15, Revelation 2:20

men: Acts 8:21, Acts 8:22, Romans 1:28, Romans 16:18, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 1 Timothy 1:19, 1 Timothy 4:2, 1 Timothy 6:5, Titus 1:16, 2 Peter 2:14, Jude 1:18, Jude 1:19

reprobate: or, of no judgment, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 13:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 9:11 - General 1 Kings 18:29 - voice 1 Kings 22:11 - horns of iron 2 Chronicles 18:10 - horns of iron Ezra 4:2 - Let us Nehemiah 6:14 - on the prophetess Proverbs 22:12 - he Ecclesiastes 1:10 - it hath Ecclesiastes 9:18 - sinner Jeremiah 29:27 - which Ezekiel 13:20 - and will Daniel 1:20 - the magicians Daniel 4:7 - but Micah 3:7 - the seers Matthew 23:13 - for ye shut Luke 20:7 - that Luke 20:26 - they could Acts 8:9 - used Acts 13:6 - a false Acts 16:16 - possessed 1 Corinthians 8:13 - if meat 2 Timothy 3:9 - their 2 Timothy 3:13 - evil Revelation 9:4 - that they Revelation 13:13 - he maketh Revelation 13:16 - or

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"

Genesis 3:1
And the serpent was suttiller then euery beast of the fielde which ye lord God hadde made, and he sayde vnto the woman: yea, hath God saide, ye shall not eate of euery tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, "Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?"

Genesis 3:1
But and the serpent was feller than alle lyuynge beestis of erthe, whiche the Lord God hadde maad. Which serpent seide to the womman, Why comaundide God to you, that ye schulden not ete of ech tre of paradis?

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made, and he said vnto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of euery tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses,.... These were not Jews, who rose up and opposed Moses, as Dathan and Abiram did, as some have thought; but Egyptian magicians, the chief of those that Pharaoh sent for, when Moses and Aaron came before him, and wrought miracles; and who did in like manner by their enchantments, Exodus 7:11 upon which place the Targum of Jonathan has these words:

"and Pharaoh called the wise men and the magicians; and Janis and Jambres, the magicians of the Egyptians, did so by the enchantments of their divinations.''

And the same paraphrase on Exodus 1:15 calls them by the same names; and this shows from whence the apostle had these names, which are not mentioned in any place in the Old Testament; namely, from the traditions and records of the Jews, with which he was well acquainted: there is no need to say he had this account by divine revelation, for some of the Heathens had knowledge of this story some such way. Numenius; the philosopher, speaks of Jannes and Jambres as Egyptian scribes, and famous for their skill in the magic art; and who opposed themselves to Moses when the Jews were driven out of Egypt l. Pliny also makes mention of Janme and Jotape as magicians; though he wrongly calls them Jews, and places Moses with them m, as Jannes likewise is by Apuleius n. It is commonly said by the Jews o, that these were the two sons of Balaam, and they are said to be the chief of the magicians of Egypt p; the latter of these is called in the Vulgate Latin version Mambres; and in some Jewish writers his name is Mamre q by whom also the former is called Jochane or John; and indeed Joannes, Jannes, and John, are the same name; and R. Gedaliah r says, that their names in other languages are John and Ambrose, which is not unlikely. Mention is made of the sons of Jambri in the Apocrypha:

"But the children of Jambri came out of Medaba, and took John, and all that he had, and went their way with it.'' (1 Maccabees 9:36)

whom Josephus s calls the sons of Amaraeus. These are said to be the persons that told Pharaoh, that a child should be born among the Israelites, by whom the whole land of Egypt should be destroyed, and which was the reason of Pharaoh's giving such a charge to the Hebrew midwives t; also the making of the golden calf is ascribed to them u; for, according to the Jews, they afterwards became proselytes; but these things are not to be depended on: however, certain it is, that they withstood Moses by their enchantments, and hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that, for a while, he would not let the children of Israel go. Now between these magicians, and the Papists before described, there is a very great agreement; as these men were Egyptians, so the Papists may be called, since Rome is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, Revelation 11:8 as the one were, so the other are idolaters, who worshipped devils, idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, Revelation 9:20 and both sorcerers, using the magic art; Revelation 9:21 and they both pretended to miracles; though what they did were no other than lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and both agreed to keep the people of God in bondage, as much, and as long as they could: and particularly, as the magicians of Egypt withstood Moses,

so do these also resist the truth; the truth of one God, by their worshipping of images; and of one Mediator, by making use of angels, and saints departed, to intercede with God for them; and of justification by the righteousness of Christ, by introducing the doctrine of works, of merit, and supererogation; and of pardon and cleansing by the blood of Christ, and atonement by his sacrifice, by their pardons, indulgences, penance, purgatory, and the sacrifice of the Mass; yea, they resist the Scriptures of truth, not allowing them to be a sufficient rule without their unwritten traditions, and even Christ, who is truth itself, in all his offices, prophetic, priestly, and kingly.

Men of corrupt minds, of bad principles, holding antichristian tenets, derogatory to the grace of God, and glory of Christ; giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; like Jannes and Jambres, who were given to magic arts, and were under the influence of Satan:

reprobate concerning the faith; men of no judgment in the doctrine of faith; who have not their senses exercised to discern good and evil, to try things that differ, and approve the more excellent, but call good evil, and evil good: or as those who are disobedient and wicked in their lives, are said to be to every good work reprobate, Titus 1:16 so these are said to be reprobate to the faith; that is, to have no liking of it, or value for it, but despise it, hate it, and reject it; and upon that account, as they are like reprobate silver, whom God has rejected, they ought to be rejected by men.

l Apud Euseb. Praeparat. Evangel. l. 9. p. 411. m Nat. Hist. l. 30. c. 1. n Apolog. p. 248. o Targum Jon. in Numb. xxii. 22. & Zohar in Numb. fol. 78. 3. & Chronicon Mosis, fol. 6. 2. p Targum Jon. in Exod. i. 15. & vii. 11. & Zohar in Exod. fol. 75. 1. q T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 85. 1. Midrash Shemot Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 97. 3. & Aruch. in voce. r Shalsheleth Hakabala, fol. 7. 1. s Antiqu. l. 13. c. 1. sect. 2. t Targum Jon. in Exod. i. 15. u Zohar in Exod. fol. 75. 1. & in Numb. fol. 78. 3. Shalsheleth, ib.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses - The names of these two men are not elsewhere mentioned in the Bible. They are supposed to have been two of the magicians who resisted Moses (Exodus 7:11, et al.), and who opposed their miracles to those of Moses and Aaron. It is not certain where the apostle obtained their names; but they are frequently mentioned by the Hebrew writers, and also by other writers; so that there can be no reasonable doubt that their names were correctly handed down by tradition. Nothing is more probable than that the names of the more distinguished magicians who attempted to imitate the miracles of Moses, would be preserved by tradition; and though they are not mentioned by Moses himself, and the Jews have told many ridiculous stories respecting them, yet this should not lead us to doubt the truth of the tradition respecting their names. A full collection of the Jewish statements in regard to them may be found in Wetstein, in loc.

They are also mentioned by Pliny, Nat. Hist. 30:7; and by Numenius, the philosopher, as quoted by Eusebius, 9:8, and Origen, against Celsus, p. 199. See Wetstein. By the rabbinical writers, they are sometimes mentioned as Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Egypt, and sometimes as the sons of Balaam. The more common account is, that they were the princes of the Egyptian magicians. One of the Jewish rabbins represents them as having been convinced by the miracles of Moses, and as having become converts to the Hebrew religion. There is no reason to doubt that these were in fact the leading men who opposed Moses in Egypt, by attempting to work counter-miracles. The point of the remark of the apostle here, is, that they resisted Moses by attempting to imitate his miracles, thus neutralizing the evidence that he was sent from God. In like manner, the persons here referred to, opposed the progress of the gospel by setting up a similar claim to that of the apostles; by pretending to have as much authority as they had; and by thus neutralizing the claims of the true religion, and leading off weak-minded persons from the truth. This is often the most dangerous kind of opposition that is made to religion.

Men of corrupt minds; - compare the notes at 1 Timothy 6:5.

Reprobate concerning the faith - So far as the Christian faith is concerned. On the word rendered “reprobate,” see the Romans 1:28 note; 1 Corinthians 9:27 note, rendered “cast-away;” 2 Corinthians 13:5 note. The margin here is, “of no judgment.” The meaning is, that in respect to the Christian faith, or the doctrines of religion, their views could not be approved, and they were not to be regarded as true teachers of religion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 8. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses — This refers to the history of the Egyptian magicians, given in Exodus 7:0, where see the notes (Exodus 7:11, Exodus 7:12), and particularly the concluding observations at the end of that chapter, Exodus 7:25 where several things are said concerning these two men.

Men of corrupt minds — It appears as if the apostle were referring still to some Judaizing teachers who were perverting the Church with their doctrines, and loudly calling in question the authority and doctrine of the apostle.

Reprobate concerning the faith. — αδοκιμοι. Undiscerning or untried; they are base metal, unstamped; and should not pass current, because not standard. This metaphor is frequent in the sacred writings.