2 Timothy 1:5

Contextual Overview

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, ¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, ¹ I, Paul, a cowboy for Christ, chosen by God, gather the lost and bring back those who have strayed away by telling others of the life promised to those who put their faith in Jesus. ¹ Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the purpose of God, in the hope of the life which is in Christ Jesus, ¹ Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by God's will, according to promise of life, the [life] which [is] in Christ Jesus, ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, for the promise of life in Christ Jesus: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, ¹ Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of eternal life,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I call: Psalms 77:6

unfeigned: Psalms 17:1, Psalms 18:44, Psalms 66:3, Psalms 81:15, *marg. Jeremiah 3:10, John 1:47, 2 Corinthians 6:6, 1 Timothy 1:5, 1 Timothy 4:6, 1 Peter 1:22

thy mother: Psalms 22:10, Psalms 86:16, Psalms 116:16, Acts 16:1

I am: 2 Timothy 1:12, Acts 26:26, Romans 4:21, Romans 8:38, Romans 14:5, Romans 14:14, Romans 15:14, Hebrews 6:9, Hebrews 11:13

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:19 - command Deuteronomy 29:29 - revealed Proverbs 1:8 - hear Proverbs 4:4 - He Proverbs 31:1 - his Proverbs 31:28 - children Mark 10:14 - Suffer Acts 11:23 - seen Ephesians 6:4 - but Philippians 2:20 - I have 1 Timothy 5:10 - if she have brought 2 Timothy 1:3 - whom 2 Timothy 3:15 - from 2 Peter 1:1 - have 2 John 1:2 - which

Cross-References

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the vault "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament the heauen: and the euenyng and the mornyng were the seconde day.

Genesis 1:8
God named that space "sky." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God clepide the firmament, heuene. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, the secounde dai.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament, Heauen: and the euening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,.... This caused him to give thanks to God for it, whose gift it is and made him the more desirous of seeing one, who was a true believer, and an Israelite indeed. This is to be understood of the grace of faith, which was implanted in the heart of Timothy by the Spirit of God, and was genuine and sincere; he believed with the heart unto righteousness; his faith worked by love to God, and Christ, and to his people, and was attended with good works;

which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois: who was his grandmother, not by his father's side, who was a Greek, but by his mother's side; and so the Syriac version renders it, "thy mother's mother"; who, though she might not know that the Messiah was come in the flesh, and that Jesus of Nazareth was he, yet believed in the Messiah to come, and died in the faith of it, and in a dependence upon righteousness and salvation by him; and so her faith was of the same kind with Timothy's; and which dwelt in her, and continued with her to the last:

and thy mother Eunice: who was a Jewess, and a believer in Christ, Acts 16:1 though her name is a Greek one, and so is her mother's name; hers signifies "good victory", and is the name of one of the Nereides, the daughters of Oceanus a; and her mother's signifies "better", or "more excellent". She lived, it seems, if her mother did not, to know that Christ was come, and that Jesus, the son of Mary, was he; and she believed in him for righteousness, life, and salvation; and in her this faith dwelt and abode to the end.

And I am persuaded that in thee also; not only that faith was in him, and that that was unfeigned, but that it also dwelt, remained, and would continue with him to the end of life; for true faith is an abiding grace, it is a gift of God, that is irrevocable, and without repentance; Christ is the author and finisher of it, and prays that it fail not, whose prayers are always heard; it is begun, carried on, and performed by the power of God, and has salvation inseparably connected with it. Now when the same faith is said to dwell, first in his grandmother, and in his mother, and in him, this is not to be understood as if this grace was conveyed from one to another by natural generation; for grace comes not that way, only sin; men are not born of blood, but of God; but the sense is, that the same like precious faith was obtained by one, as by another. This was a rich family mercy, and deserved special notice, as being a thing uncommon, and required a particular thanksgiving; and is designed as a motive and encouragement to stir up Timothy to the exercise of that grace, and every other gift God had bestowed upon him, as in the following verse.

a Hesiod. Theogonia, Apollodorus de Deor. Orig. l. 1. p. 5. Vid. Theocrit. Idyll. 13.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee; - notes, 1 Timothy 1:5. On the faith of Timothy, see the notes at 1 Timothy 4:6.

Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois - That is, the same faith dwelt in her; or, she was a sincere believer in Christ. It would seem probable, from this, that she was the first of the family who had been converted. In the Acts of the Apostles Acts 16:1, we have an account of the family of Timothy: - “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra; and behold a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek.” In this account no mention is made of the grandmother Lois, but there is no improbability in supposing that Paul was better acquainted with the family than Luke. There is, at any rate, no contradiction between the two accounts; but the one confirms the other, and the “undesigned coincidence” furnishes an argument for the authenticity of both. See Paley’s Horae Paulinae, in loc. As the mother of Timothy was a Hebrew, it is clear that his grandmother was also. Nothing more is known of her than is mentioned here.

And in thy mother Eunice - In Acts 16:1, it is said that the mother of Timothy was “a Jewess, and believed;” but her name is not mentioned. This shows that Paul was acquainted with the family, and that the statement in the Epistle to Timothy was not forged from the account in the Acts . Here is another “undesigned coincidence.” In the history in the Acts , nothing is said of the father, except that he was “a Greek,” but it is implied that he was not a believer. In the Epistle before us, nothing whatever is said of him. But the piety of his mother alone is commended, and it is fairly implied that his father was not a believer. This is one of those coincidences on which Paley has constructed his beautiful argument in the Horae Paulinae in favor of the genuineness of the New Testament.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 5. The unfeigned faith that is in thee — Timothy had given the fullest proof of the sincerity of his conversion, and of the purity of his faith.

Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois — In Acts 16:1, we are informed that Paul came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, who was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek. Luke, the historian, it appears, was not particularly acquainted with the family; Paul evidently was. Luke mentions the same circumstance which the apostle mentions here; but in the apostle's account there are particulars which argue an intimate acquaintance with the family and its history. Luke says Timothy's father was a Greek, consequently we may believe him to have been then in his heathen state; Paul, in mentioning the grandmother, mother, and son, passes by the father in silence; which intimates that either the father remained in his unconverted state, or was now dead. Lois and Eunice are both Grecian, and indeed heathen names; hence we are led to conclude that, although Timothy's mother was a Jewess according to St. Luke, yet she was a Grecian or Hellenist by birth. Lois, the grandmother, appears to have been the first convert to Christianity: she instructed her daughter Eunice, and both brought up Timothy in the Christian faith; so that he had a general knowledge of it before he met with St. Paul at Lystra. There, it appears the apostle was the instrument of the conversion of his heart to God; for a man may be well instructed in Divine things, have a very orthodox creed, and yet his heart not be changed. Instruction precedes conversion; conversion should follow it. To be brought up in the fear of God is a great blessing; and a truly religious education is an advantage of infinite worth.