2 Timothy 4.14-Paul Warns Timothy About Alexander the Metal-Worker
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday October 21, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:14-Paul Warns Timothy About Alexander the Metal-Worker
Lesson # 103
2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. (NASB95)
“Did me much harm” is composed of the following: (1) accusative neuter plural form of the adjective polus (πολύς), “much” (2) dative first person singular form of the possessive personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “me” (3) accusative neuter plural form of the adjective kakos (κακός), “harm” (4) third person singular aorist middle indicative form of the verb endeiknumi (ἐνδείκνυμι), “did.”
The verb endeiknumi means “to commit” since it pertains carrying out a deliberate action and indicates that Alexander the metal-worker “committed” many evil actions against the apostle Paul.
The adjective kakos is in the plural and means “evil actions” and is used to describe an action that is produced by the old sin nature and is motivated by indoctrination from the cosmic system of Satan.
This adjective kakos is modified by the adjective polus, which means “many” since it pertains to something which is a large number or quantity and thus, this word speaks of a large number of evil actions Alexander the metal-worker committed against the apostle Paul.
The personal pronoun egō mean “me” referring of course to the apostle Paul and functions as a dative of disadvantage or opposition indicating that the many evil actions committed by Alexander the metal-worker were “against” Paul.
The middle voice of the verb endeiknumi is an indirect middle meaning that the subject acts for himself or herself or in their own interests which would indicate that “for his own benefit” or “in his own interests” Alexander the metal-worker committed many evil actions against Paul.
“The Lord” is the articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος), which is a reference to Jesus Christ since He was this word’s referent the last time it was used in Second Timothy 4:8 which asserts that Paul would be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ for his faithful service at the Bema Seat.
“Will repay him” is composed of the following: (1) third person singular future active indicative form of the verb apodidōmi (ἀποδίδωμι), “will repay” (2) dative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him.”
The verb apodidōmi pertains to the idea of paying back something that is owed and speaks of recompensing someone whether in a positive or negative sense depending upon what the individual deserves.
Here it is indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ “will repay” Alexander the metal-worker for the many evil actions he committed against Paul in the sense that the Lord will give this man what he deserves as a result of his treatment of Paul.
The future tense of the verb apodidōmi indicates the certainty that in the future the Lord Jesus Christ will repay Alexander the metal-worker for the many evil actions he committed against Paul.
“According to his deeds” is composed of the following: (1) preposition kata (κατά), “according to” (2) articular accusative neuter plural form of the noun ergon (ἒργον), “deeds” (3) genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “his.”
The noun ergon means “actions” and refers to the many evil actions that Alexander the metal-worker committed against the apostle Paul and is the object of the preposition kata, which functions as a marker of cause indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ will repay Alexander the metal-worker “because of his actions.”
Second Timothy 4:14 In his own selfish interests, Alexander the metal-worker committed many evil actions against me. To his detriment, the Lord will repay because of his actions. (My translation)
The apostle Paul issues two very solemn statements regarding a certain Alexander the metal-worker or coppersmith.
The Alexander mentioned in Second Timothy 4:14 is not the same one mentioned in First Timothy 1:20 since the former is identified as a well-known coppersmith and no such identification is given of the individual in First Timothy 1:20 who was a pastor in apostasy who Paul disciplined for his ungodly behavior.
There is no indication in Second Timothy 4:14-15 that Alexander the metal-worker was a Christian but the Alexander mentioned in First Timothy was indeed a Christian as indicated by the fact that Paul administered church discipline to this man.
He would have no authority over a non-Christian but only a Christian according to his teaching in First Corinthians 5:9-13.
The Alexander mentioned in Second Timothy 4:14-15 was more than likely a non-Christian whose business was adversely affected by Paul’s teaching against idols which would have cost this man a lot of money since he was in the business of making idols and thus, he attacked Paul.
This Alexander the metal-worker more than likely lived in Troas where Paul was arrested by the Roman civil authorities.
He did not live in Rome but Troas which is indicated by a several factors.
First, Paul asserts in Second Timothy 4:15 that this man vigorously opposed his teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and unlike his first Roman imprisonment he was not permitted to teach during his second and final Roman imprisonment.
Secondly, Paul directed Timothy to be on guard against this man which would not make sense if Alexander lived in Rome but it would make sense if he lived in Ephesus or Troas since Timothy was stationed in Ephesus when he received this second epistle and this city was near Troas.
The object of Timothy coming to Rome would not be to teach but simply to visit Paul in Rome before the apostle’s execution and thus, it is not likely that Alexander the metal-worker lived in Rome but rather more than likely he lived in Ephesus or Troas.
Lastly, Paul’s requests in Second Timothy 4:13 imply that he was arrested at Troas since he left his cloak, scrolls and parchments in that city with Carpus.
Also, if Alexander the metal-worker lived in Ephesus, Timothy surely would have been aware of him since he lived in that city.
The fact that Paul has to warn Timothy about this man would imply that this man did not live in Ephesus but in a place where Timothy did not live and was not familiar with all the opponents of Christianity in that city.
The first statement in Second Timothy 4:14 regarding Alexander the metal-worker asserts that this man in his own selfish interests committed many evil actions against Paul.
This first assertion is to make Timothy aware of the danger of interacting with this man and thus serves as protection for him and the church at Ephesus.
It would appear that Alexander the metal-worker lost business because of the apostle Paul’s ministry since many Gentiles who trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior would forsake their idols which metal-workers made for heathen worship.
Alexander’s actions against Paul were thus based upon the fact that Paul’s ministry was costing him business and so no wonder Paul asserts in Second Timothy 4:15 that this Alexander the metal-worker vigorously opposed his apostolic teaching.
We must compare this with Acts 19 which records a riot against Paul in Ephesus because of this very thing.
In Acts 19:24, Luke writes that Demetrius a silversmith made silver shrines of Artemis and was making a lot of money doing so.
Thus, Luke asserts in Acts 19:25-27, that this man stirred up his fellow tradesmen against Paul because the people of the city were forsaking their idols as a result of the apostle’s teaching to forsake these idols.
Paul’s second statement regarding Alexander the metal-worker in Second Timothy 4:14 asserts that to the detriment of this man, the Lord Jesus Christ will repay him because of these evil actions.
This does not speak of the suffering the non-believer will experience in the eternal lake of fire or in other words, eternal condemnation but rather it refers to the Lord punishing Alexander the metal-worker in direct proportion to his treatment of Paul.
Paul is not speaking of eternal condemnation because the non-believer is not thrown into the Lake of Fire because of their sins since Jesus Christ paid for all their sins through His death on the cross in their place.
The unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15).
So therefore, in Second Timothy 4:14, when Paul asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ will repay Alexander the metal-worker for the many evil actions he committed against him, he means that the Lord will punish this man in direct proportion to his treatment of Paul.
In other words, the Lord would repay this man in his life on earth with adversities and suffering which would be in direct proportion to the adversities and suffering he inflicted upon Paul.
This punishment is distinguished from the suffering this man would suffer in the lake of fire for being a non-believer since eternal condemnation is the suffering inflicted by a holy God on the non-believer for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior.
The suffering Paul is speaking of the Lord inflicting upon Alexander is the suffering he would experience in life because of his evil treatment of Paul.
Therefore, the punishment that Alexander the metal-worker would receive from the Lord is a manifestation of the fact that human life is governed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the judge of human affairs.
By punishing Alexander the metal-worker for his many evil actions against Paul, the Lord Jesus Christ would be manifesting the fact that He is the judge of human affairs and does administer justice to those who cry out to Him.
So we can see in Second Timothy 4:14, Paul practiced what he taught in Romans 12:19.
The apostle did not take out his own revenge against this man Alexander the metal-worker but let the Lord avenge him.