2 Timothy 4:13

4:9-13 The love of this world, is often the cause of turning back from the truths and ways of Jesus Christ. Paul was guided by Divine inspiration, yet he would have his books. As long as we live, we must still learn. The apostles did not neglect human means, in seeking the necessaries of life, or their own instruction. Let us thank the Divine goodness in having given us so many writings of wise and pious men in all ages; and let us seek that by reading them our profiting may appear to all.

2 Timothy 4:13 . The cloak — Perhaps the toga which belonged to him as a Roman citizen, or an upper garment, which might be needful as winter came on. The word φαιλονη , however, so rendered, also signifies a bag, in which sense the Syriac translator understood it, paraphrasing the expression, a bag containing books; or a kind of portmanteau, the contents of which might be more important than the thing itself. Which I left at Troas with Carpus — Who was probably his host there; when thou comest bring with thee, and the books, especially the parchments — What the books here referred to were, commentators nave not attempted to conjecture: but Dr. Benson fancies the parchments were the letters which he received from the churches, and the autographs of his own letters to the churches. For that he employed persons to transcribe his letters is probable from Romans 16:22 , where the name of the amanuensis of that epistle is inserted. In those fair copies the apostle wrote the salutations with his own hand, ( 1 Corinthians 16:21 ; Galatians 6:11 ; Colossians 4:18 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:17 ,) and thereby authenticated them as his letters.

Troas was a city in Asia, where we find Paul more than once, Acts 16:8,20:5 ; he preached Christ there, 2 Corinthians 2:12 . There Paul left an upper garment with one Carpus , which probably (having no great wardrobe) he might want, being a prisoner. And the books, but especially the parchments ; interpreters idly busy themselves in inquiring after what they can never find out, what these books were, or what was written in these parchments.

2 Timothy 4:13 . Τὸν φαιλόνην , the cloak ) Some take it for a book-case; but it would not be called a case apart from the books.— ἀπέλιπον , I left ) The cloak, perhaps, when they first laid violent hands on Paul, might have been taken from him at Rome, if he had brought it with him. Now when Timothy is desired to bring it, personal security is not obscurely promised to him.— παρὰ Κάρπῳ , with Carpus ) The man must have been very faithful, to whom the apostle would entrust this most precious deposit.

The cloak (φελόνην) Hesychius, however, explains as a γλωσσόκομον, originally a case for keeping the mouthpieces of wind-instruments; thence, generally, a box. Γλωσσόκομον is the word for the disciples' treasury-chest (bag, John 12:6). Also a box for transporting or preserving parchments. Specimens have been found at Herculaneum. In lxx, 2 Samuel 6:11, the ark of the Lord (but the reading varies): in 2 Chronicles 24:8, the chest placed by order of Joash at the gate of the temple, to receive contributions for its repair. Joseph. Ant. 6:1, 2, of the coffer into which the jewels of gold were put for a trespass-offering when the ark was sent back (1 Samuel 6:8). Phrynicus defines it as "a receptacle for books, clothes, silver, or anything else." Φαιλόνης or φαινόλης a wrapper of parchments, was translated figuratively in Latin by toga or paenula "a cloak," sometimes of leather; also the wrapping which a shopkeeper put round fish or olives; also the parchment cover for papyrus rolls. Accordingly it is claimed that Timothy is here bidden to bring, not a cloak, but a roll-case. So the Syriac Version. There seems to be no sufficient reason for abandoning the translation of A.V. Carpus Not mentioned elsewhere. The books (βιβλία) Βίβλος or, βιβλίον was the term most widely used by the Greeks for book or volume. The usual derivation is from βύβλος the Egyptian papyrus. Comp. Lat. liber "the inner bark of a tree," also " book." Pliny (Nat.

Hist. xiii. 11) says that the pith of the papyrus plant was cut in slices and laid in rows, over which other rows were laid crosswise, and the whole was massed by pressure. The name for the blank papyrus sheets was χάρτης (charta) paper. See on 2 John 1:12. Timothy is here requested to bring some papyrus documents which are distinguished from the vellum manuscripts. Parchments (μεμβράνας) N.T.o. Manuscripts written on parchment or vellum. Strictly speaking, vellum was made from the skins of young calves and the common parchment from those of sheep, goats, or antelopes. It was a more durable material than papyrus and more expensive. The Latin name was membrana, and also pergamena or pergamina, from Pergamum in Mysia where it was extensively manufactured, and from which it was introduced into Greece. As to the character and contents of these documents which Timothy is requested to bring, we are of course entirely ignorant.

13. cloak … I left—probably obliged to leave it in a hurried departure from Troas. Carpus—a faithful friend to have been entrusted with so precious deposits. The mention of his "cloak," so far from being unworthy of inspiration, is one of those graphic touches which sheds a flood of light on the last scene of Paul's life, on the confines of two worlds; in this wanting a cloak to cover him from the winter cold, in that covered with the righteousness of saints, "clothed upon with his house from heaven" [Gaussen]. So the inner vesture and outer garment of Jesus, Paul's master, are suggestive of most instructive thought (Joh 19:2). books—He was anxious respecting these that he might transmit them to the faithful, so that they might have the teaching of his writings when he should be gone. especially the parchments—containing perhaps some of his inspired Epistles themselves.

2 Timothy 4:13 . I want my warm winter cloak and my books. τὸν φελόνην : The φελόνης , or φαιλόνης , by metathesis for φαινόλης , was the same as the Latin paenula , from which it is derived, a circular cape which fell down below the knees, with an opening for the head in the centre. (So Chrys. on Php 2:30 ; Tert. De orat . xii.). The Syriac here renders it a case for writings, a portfolio , an explanation noted by Chrys., τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔνθα τὰ βιβλία ἔκειτο . But this is merely a guess suggested by its being coupled with βιβλία and μεμβράνας . Τρῳάδι : Even if Timothy was not in Ephesus, he was in Asia, and travellers thence to Rome usually passed through Troas. Perhaps St. Paul had been arrested at Troas, and had not been allowed to take his cloak, etc. This is a more plausible supposition than that he was making a hurried flight from Alexander, as Lock conjectures, Hastings’ D. B. , iv. 775, a . κάρπῳ : See art. in Hastings’ D. B . τὰ βιβλία would be papyrus rolls in use for ordinary purposes, while the more costly μεμβράναι contained, in all likelihood, portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, hence μάλιστα (see Kenyon, Textual Crit. of N. T . p. 22). We know that St. Paul employed in study the enforced leisure of prison ( Acts 26:24 ). We may note that, like Browning’s Grammarian, he did not allow his normal strenuous life to be affected or diverted by the known near approach of death.

Verse 13. - Bring when thou comest for when thou comest bring with thee , A.V.; especially for but especially , A.V. The cloke ( τὸν φελόνην , more properly written φαινόλην ); the Latin paenula , the thick overcoat or cloke. Only here in the New Testament. Some think it was the bag in which the books and parchments were packed. The parchments ( τὰς μεμβράνας ). This, again, is a Latin word. It occurs only here in the New Testament. They would probably be for the apostle to write his Epistles on. Or they may have been valuable manuscripts of some kind. In ver. 20 we learn that St. Paul had lately been at Miletus; and in 1 Timothy 1:3 that he was then going to Macedonia. Tress would be on his way to Macedonia, Greece, and Rome ( Acts 16:8, 9, 11 ), as it was on the return journey from Macedonia to Miletus ( Acts 20:5, 15 ). It should further be observed that the journey here indicated is the same as that referred to in 1 Timothy 1:3 , which confirms the inevitable inference from this chapter that St. Paul, on his way to Rome from Miletus, whither he had come from Crete ( Titus 1:5 ), passed through Tress, Macedonia, and Corinth (ver. 20), leaving Timothy at Ephesus. (See Introduction.) 2 Timothy 4:13

The cloak that I left at Troas - On the situation of Troas, see the notes on Acts 16:8 . It was not on the most direct route from Ephesus to Rome, but was a route frequently taken. See also the introduction, section 2. In regard to what the "cloak" here mentioned was, there has been considerable difference of opinion. The Greek word used (φελόνης phelonēs, - variously written φαιλόνης phailonēs, φελόνης phelonēs, and φελώνης phelōnēs), occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is supposed to be used for a similar Greek word (φαινόλης phainolēs) to denote a cloak, or great-coat, with a hood, used chiefly on journeys, or in the army: Latin, "penula." It is described by Eschenberg (Man. Class. Lit., p. 209) as a "cloak without sleeves, for cold or rainy weather." See the uses of it in the quotations made by Wetstein, in loc. Others, however, have supposed that the word means a traveling-case for books, etc. So Hesychius understands it. Bloomfield endeavors to unite the two opinions by suggesting that it may mean a "cloak-bag," and that he had left his books and parchments in it. It is impossible to settle the precise meaning of the word here, and it is not material. The common opinion that it was a wrapper or traveling-cloak, is the most probable; and such a garment would not be undesirable for a prisoner. It should be remembered, also, that winter was approaching 2 Timothy 4:21, and such a cloak would be particularly needed.

13 . The cloke ] Vulg. ‘penulam.’ The oldest use of the word is traced back beyond the Latins nearly to the time of Alexander the Great, in a fragment of a Doric poet, Rhinthon (Julius Pollux Onomast . vii. 60). Hence the Latin must have adopted it from the Greek, not vice versa . The Roman paenula was a travelling cloak, long, and thick, and sleeveless, made generally of wool, sometimes of leather. Cf. Mart. xiv. 145 paenula gausapina , xiv. 13 paenula scortea . Dr Farrar suggests that ‘perhaps St Paul had woven it himself of that cilicium , the black goats’ hair of his native province, which it was his trade to make into tents. Doubtless the cloke was an old companion. It may have been wetted many a time with the water-torrents of Pamphylia, and whitened with the dust of the long roads, and stained with the brine of shipwreck.