# 2 Timothy 4:2 "preach the word"?



## RunCALEB (Apr 29, 2014)

Hello all! I've been reading different commentaries and study notes on this section and actually have seen different views amongst solid guys. I just thought I'd throw this out to you all and see what you had to say...

What does the word "word" refer to in this passage? 

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." -2 Timothy 4:1-2

A) The Gospel?
B) The Scriptures?

Thoughts and why?


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## Free Christian (Apr 29, 2014)

Hello Caleb. I too have seen some say the Gospel and some the Whole Scriptures. My thoughts only, the Gospel of Christ cannot be separated from the Scriptures as a whole as they are so wonderfully intertwined, so to me, both.


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## VictorBravo (Apr 30, 2014)

> reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.



All of it. Christ as the Word. Christ crucified. The history and nature of man as related by Scripture. The Law. The covenants. All of it.

Otherwise, what would you draw from to reprove and rebuke? And what would be the context of exhorting if one did not know his plight?


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## One Little Nail (Apr 30, 2014)

I would say B) as the word refers to the Word of God or Words of God, which is The Holy Scriptures or as we so commonly
say today The Holy Bible, which are all just references to the same thing, though what Paul may be saying to Timothy is to use the whole Scriptures to preach the Gospel.

This particular charge was given to Timothy an Evangelist, 2 Tim 4:5 do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 

So he would by consequence of his ministry Preach the Gospel, an Evangelist would also be able to do the work of a 
Pastor & Teacher, hence Paul's charge in the verse you've quoted seems to indicate this;
"preach the word (  evangelist );be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort ( pastor ), with complete patience and teaching (  teacher )."


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## clark thompson (Apr 30, 2014)

The Word refers both to the scriptures and the gospels and at times Christ.


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## RunCALEB (Apr 30, 2014)

Well I would say I don't think it's fair to say just because it says to reprove, rebuke, and exhort that the former must mean Scripture. It would be very reasonable to say that in our sharing of the good news concerning Christ, that we are to reprove, rebuke, and exhort those who have itching ears and seek to water down the good news or substitute parts of it with falsities. The context can fit both, that's why I think it's not an easy interpretation! 

And word really can mean message, so the question is whether or not the message Paul is referring to here is the specific message of the Gospel, or the general revelation of the entire Scriptures that also contains the Gospel?


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## kodos (Apr 30, 2014)

The context of the verse in question follows 2 Timothy 3:16 - 
16**All Scripture* is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17*that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Scripture interprets Scripture as they say


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## kodos (Apr 30, 2014)

Look at the context of this passage deeply.

3:16**All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, *and is profitable for doctrine, for *reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness*, 17*that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
4:1 I charge you *therefore * before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2**Preach the word! *Be ready in season and out of season. *Convince, rebuke, exhort,* with all longsuffering and teaching. 3*For the time will come when *they will not endure sound doctrine*, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4*and they will *turn their ears away from the truth,* and be turned aside to fables.


Now, it becomes very obvious when you remove all of the chapter headings, and headers that are inserted into a lot of translations, what is going on here - and the passages are linked. Particularly look at the link between "reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness", and "convince, rebuke and exhort". It becomes pretty obvious in my mind what Paul has in mind here as to "preach the word". The M texts (NKJV, KJV) even have a _therefore_ in 4:1 which you can see here in the NKJV.


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