2 Timothy 4.16-Paul Forgives Those Christians Who Deserted Him During His First Defense Before the Roman Authorities
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 27, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:16-Paul Forgives Those Christians Who Deserted Him During His First Defense Before the Roman Authorities
Lesson # 105
2 Timothy 4:16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. (NASB95)
“At my first defense” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “at” (2) articular dative feminine singular form of the adjective dative masculine singular form of the adjective prōtos (πρῶτος), “first” (3) genitive first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “my” (4) dative feminine singular form of the noun apologia (ἀπολογία), “defense.”
The noun apologia means “defense” since it pertains to defending oneself of charges levied by civil authorities and refers to speaking on behalf of oneself or of others against accusations presumed to be false.
Here it is used of Paul in relation to the Roman civil authorities and speaks of him defending himself against accusations made against him by the Roman civil authorities.
This noun is also modified by the articular dative feminine singular form of the adjective prōtos which pertains to being first in a sequence, inclusive of time.
Here it speaks of the first time Paul was brought before the Roman civil court in order to defend himself against charges brought against him by the Roman civil authorities.
The noun apologia is also the object of the preposition en which means “during” since it is functioning as a marker of the extent of time indicating that absolutely no one supported Paul “during” his first defense before the Roman court.
“No one supported me” is composed of the following: (1) nominative masculine singular form of the adjective oudeis (οὐδείς), “no one” (2) dative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “me” (3) third person singular aorist middle indicative form of the verb paraginomai (παραγίνομαι), “supported.”
The emphatic negative adjective oudeis is used with reference to the Christian community and emphatically negates the idea that anyone in the Christian community supported Paul during his first defense before the Roman court system.
The verb paraginomai means “to support someone in a time of need, to come to help someone, to come to someone’s aid, to stand up for someone during a time of adversity” since it pertains to rendering assistance to someone in need.
Here it used of rendering assistance to the apostle Paul during his first defense before the Roman court system to defend himself against the false charges levied against by Nero and the Roman government.
The middle voice of the verb paraginomai expresses the idea that the majority of Christians did not support Paul during his first defense in order to protect themselves from being arrested or harassed by the Roman authorities.
The dative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego refers of course to the apostle Paul and functions as a dative of advantage meaning that no one in the Christian community stood up “for” Paul during his first defense.
“But all deserted me” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction alla (ἀλλά), “but” (2) nominative masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” (3) accusative first person singular form of the personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “me” (4) third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb egkataleipō (ἐγκαταλείπω), “deserted.”
The strong adversative conjunction alla marks an emphatic contrast between the Christian community standing up for Paul during his first defense and the majority deserting him during this time of adversity.
The adjective pas does not mean “all” referring to each and every individual in the Roman province of Asia but rather it means “the majority” in this province deserted the apostle Paul when he was arrested by the Roman authorities.
The verb egkataleipō means “to desert, to abandon, to forsake” a person and thus leave that person uncared for and speaks of separating one’s connection with another person so that this person is uncared for.
Here in Second Timothy 4:16, the word is used of the majority of Christians in the Roman province of Asia and in the city of Rome deserting Paul during his first defense before the Roman authorities.
“May it not be counted against them” is composed of the following: (1) negative particle me (μή), “not” (2) third person dative masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “them” (3) third person singular aorist passive optative form of the verb logizomai (λογίζομαι), “may it be counted.”
The verb logizomai means “to be held accountable, to be counted against someone, to be charged to someone’s account.”
The word’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, which means “not” since it denies any idea of God holding accountable those Christians who deserted Paul during his first defense before the Roman authorities.
Together these two words express the idea of forgiveness.
The optative mood of the verb logizomai is a voluntative optative expressing Paul’s Spirit inspired desire that the Father would forgive those Christians who deserted him during his first defense before the Roman authorities.
The third person dative masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos means “them” referring to those Christians who deserted Paul during his first defense before the Roman authorities.
This word functions as a dative of disadvantage indicating that Paul’s Spirit inspired desire is that God would not hold “against” these Christians their sin of deserting Paul.
Second Timothy 4:16 During my first defense, to protect themselves no one stood for me but on the contrary the majority deserted me. May it not be held against them. (My translation)
Why was Paul arrested by the authorities and why was he on trial?
More than likely he was arrested because he was accused of setting Rome on fire.
During the mid-sixties of the first century Nero ordered parts of Rome to be set on fire so that he could rebuild these portions of Rome and then he blamed it on the Christians.
Paul was arrested in approximately 67 or 68 A.D.
Therefore, because he was an apostle and a leader of the Christians, his arrest was more than likely connected to this fire in Rome.
So Paul was on trial to answer against these false charges that he ordered Christians to set Rome on fire.
The apostle informs Timothy that during his first defense no one in the Christian community stood up for him in order to protect themselves.
He states that to the contrary the majority of Christians deserted him during his hour of need.
When he makes this statement he is using hyperbole.
He is not stating that each and every Christian abandoned him but rather the majority had done so.
What Paul is saying is much like we would say in America that the whole country watched the events of 911 transpire on television!
Of course not each and every person would have done so but the idea behind the statement is that a good majority in the country did watch the events of 911.
This interpretation is clearly indicated by Paul’s statement in Second Timothy 4:11 in which Paul states that Luke alone was with him.
So not every Christian deserted since Luke was still with him.
Also in Second Timothy 1:16, Paul asserts that Onesiphorus was not ashamed of his imprisonment and came to his aid.
The reason why the majority of Christians deserted Paul was to save their own skin.
It was dangerous to identify with Paul because one could be arrested for such an association.
All these Christians, who Paul mentions deserted him when he was imprisoned for the gospel, were in apostasy.
This means that they were failing to obey the doctrine to love one another as Christ loves (John 13:34).
By deserting Paul, they were refusing to obey the Lord’s command to love one another.
Thus, they were rejecting the gospel which taught Christians to love one another as Christ loves.
This constituted their apostasy.
Now, in Second Timothy 4:16, Paul states that despite the majority of the Christian community abandoning him during his first defense before the Roman authorities, he expressed the desire that this sin would not be held against them by God.
By expressing this desire, Paul is stating that he has forgiven them for this great sin.
This desire was a Spirit inspired desire since Paul wrote Second Timothy under the inspiration of the Spirit and it was a desire that he expressed in prayer to the Father.
Paul is following in the footsteps and imitating the Lord Jesus Christ who forgave Peter and the apostles who deserted Him at His arrest and the six trials he endured.
God’s love is “forgiving” meaning that if we live according to God’s love we will pardon those who have sinned against us just as God in Christ granted us a free pardon and gave us the remission of our sins based upon the merits of the Person and Work of Christ on the Cross (Eph. 4:32-5:2).