The Meaning of 2 Timothy 1:2 Explained

2 Timothy 1:2

KJV: To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

YLT: to Timotheus, beloved child: Grace, kindness, peace, from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord!

Darby: to Timotheus, my beloved child: grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord.

ASV: to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

To Timothy,  [my] dearly beloved  son:  Grace,  mercy,  [and] peace,  from  God  the Father  and  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

What does 2 Timothy 1:2 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Timothy 1:1-11 - "stir Up The Gift Which Is In Thee"
Lonely and facing death the Apostle fell back on the bedrock of the will of God. If it were the divine plan that he should finish his life-work in that miserable plight, he was content that it should be so. But he longs to see his beloved son in the faith once more. He desires to stir up the dead coal of his ardor, in which there was fire and heat, but not enough flame.
Apparently the young evangelist was becoming daunted by the gathering difficulties of the time and so Paul sets himself to encourage him. With this purpose in view he adduces his own example, 2 Timothy 1:3, his fervent affection, 2 Timothy 1:4, the memory of the sainted dead, 2 Timothy 1:5, the solemn vows by which Timothy had bound himself at his ordination, 2 Timothy 1:6, the divine donation of grace and power and love, 2 Timothy 1:8, the eternal purpose which had received its fruition in the advent of Jesus, 2 Timothy 1:9, the clear light which His resurrection had thrown on death and the hereafter, 2 Timothy 1:10. Surely such a chain of arguments must have proved irresistible! God's soldiers must be brave and unflinching in meeting the opposition of the world. When once we realize that the stores which reside in God are at the disposal of our faith, we, too, shall be invulnerable and irresistible. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Timothy 1

1  Paul's love to Timothy, and unfeigned confidence in Timothy himself, his mother, and grandmother
6  He is exhorted to stir up the gift of God which was in him;
8  to be steadfast and patient in persecution;
13  and to persist in the form and truth of that doctrine which he had learned of him
15  Phygellus and Hermogenes, and such like, are noted, and Onesiphorus is highly commended

Greek Commentary for 2 Timothy 1:2

Beloved [αγαπητοι]
Instead of γνησιωι — gnēsiōi (genuine) in 1 Timothy 1:2. He had already called Timothy αγαπητον — agapēton (verbal adjective of αγαπαω — agapaō) in 1 Corinthians 4:17, an incidental and strong proof that it is Paul who is writing here. This argument applies to each of the Pastorals for Paul is known by other sources (Acts and previous Pauline Epistles) to sustain precisely the affectionate relation toward Timothy and Titus shown in the Pastorals. [source]
Dearly beloved [ἀγαπητῷ]
Better, beloved. (Comp. 1 Corinthians 4:17. In 1 Timothy 1:2, Timothy is addressed as γνήσιος , and Titus in Titus 1:4. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Timothy 1:2

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Timothy []
Appears in all the Pauline Epistles except Galatians and Ephesians. He was associated with Paul longer than any one of whom we have notice. First mentioned Philemon 2:19-22,6 Acts 16:2; comp. 2 Timothy 3:10, 2 Timothy 3:11. He accompanied Paul on his second missionary tour (Acts 16:3), and was one of the founders of the churches in Thessalonica and Philippi. He is often styled by Paul “the brother” (2 Corinthians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; Philemon 1:1); with Paul himself “a bondservant of Jesus Christ” (Philemon 1:1); comp. 1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 1:2. Paul's confidence in him appears in 1711621655_87 and is implied in his sending him from Athens to the Thessalonian church to establish and comfort its members (1 Thessalonians 3:2). Paul sent him again to Macedonia in company with Erastus (Acts 19:22), and also to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17). To the Corinthians he writes of Timothy as “his beloved and faithful child in the Lord” who shall remind them of his ways in Christ (1 Corinthians 4:17), and as one who worketh the work of the Lord as he himself (1 Corinthians 16:10). He joined Paul at Rome, and his name is associated with Paul's in the addresses of the letters to the Colossians and Philemon. In every case where he is mentioned by name with Silvanus, the name of Silvanus precedes. [source]

What do the individual words in 2 Timothy 1:2 mean?

To Timothy [my] beloved child Grace mercy [and] peace from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus the Lord of us
Τιμοθέῳ ἀγαπητῷ τέκνῳ Χάρις ἔλεος εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν

Τιμοθέῳ  To  Timothy 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Τιμόθεος  
Sense: a resident of Lystra, apparently, whose father was a Greek and mother a Jewess; he was Paul’s travelling companion and fellow labourer.
ἀγαπητῷ  [my]  beloved 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: ἀγαπητός  
Sense: beloved, esteemed, dear, favourite, worthy of love.
τέκνῳ  child 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: τέκνον  
Sense: offspring, children.
Χάρις  Grace 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: χάρις  
Sense: grace.
ἔλεος  mercy 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ἔλεος  
Sense: mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.
εἰρήνη  [and]  peace 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: εἰρήνη  
Sense: a state of national tranquillity.
Θεοῦ  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
Πατρὸς  [the]  Father 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
Χριστοῦ  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Ἰησοῦ  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
Κυρίου  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.