What Is the Book of 2 Timothy About? Paul's Last Letter

2 Timothy occupies a particular place among Paul's letters: it is generally taken to be the last thing he wrote, from prison in Rome, knowing the outcome was close.

4:6 says so plainly: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."

Who it is written to

Timothy was Paul's spiritual son, leading the church at Ephesus, and by the evidence of the letter young, timid and in poor health.

Paul mentions his tears (1:4), urges him "be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (1:8), and even tells him to "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake" (1 Tim 5:23). This is not a letter to a strong man. It is a letter to someone finding it hard to keep going.

The verse about scripture

3:16-17 is the best-known statement in the Bible about the Bible: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

"Given by inspiration of God" is theopneustos — literally God-breathed.

The context is worth noticing: the previous verse says Timothy has known the scriptures "from a child". Paul is telling him to go back to what he learned earliest.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)

What each chapter covers

1 — do not be ashamed of the gospel; Timothy's faith came through his grandmother and mother.
2 — three images: the soldier, the athlete, the farmer; all about endurance.
3 — difficult times ahead; what scripture is for.
4 — "preach the word"; Paul's farewell.

The list of names at the end

Chapter 4 closes with a run of names that reads like an afterthought and is not:

"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (4:10) — the same Demas listed as a fellow-labourer in Philemon.
"Only Luke is with me" (4:11).
"The cloke that I left at Troas… bring with thee, and the books" (4:13).

That last line is hard to forget: a man who knows he is about to die is thinking about a coat and some books.

The farewell everyone quotes

4:7: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

All three are perfect tense. Not a forecast — an accounting.

How to read it

Four chapters, about twenty minutes. Read chapter 4 first, then start again from the beginning — knowing how it ends changes the weight of everything before it.

Read 2 Timothy in the BiblePro app. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.