Passage

2 Timothy 1.10

Book: 2 Timothy · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

8. Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God; 9. who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,

10. but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher. 12. For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:8-12, ASV)

WEB

8. Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God, 9. who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,

10. but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.

For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12. For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:8-12, WEB)

KJV

8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. ^{believed: or, trusted} (2 Timothy 1:8-12, KJV)

YLT

8. therefore thou mayest not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but do thou suffer evil along with the good news according to the power of God, 9. who did save us, and did call with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, that was given to us in Christ Jesus, before the times of the ages,

10. and was made manifest now through the manifestation of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who indeed did abolish death, and did enlighten life and immortality through the good news,

to which I was placed a preacher and an apostle, and a teacher of nations, 12. for which cause also these things I suffer, but I am not ashamed, for I have known in whom I have believed, and have been persuaded that he is able that which I have committed to him to guard, to that day. (2 Timothy 1:8-12, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, or a writer in the Pauline tradition on the disputed view of authorship
Audience: Timothy
Location: written from imprisonment in Rome on the traditional view
Time period: c. AD 64-67 on the traditional view; the Pastorals' authorship and date are disputed

Theological reading

Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Two verbs carry the sentence and they claim different things.

The first, rendered abolished, is katargeo, to render inoperative or bring to nothing. It is the same verb Paul uses of the last enemy in 1 Corinthians 15:26. The claim is not that people have stopped dying, which would be plainly false and which the letter's own expectation of Paul's execution contradicts. It is that death has been deprived of its function, which is a claim about status rather than about statistics.

The second verb is the more interesting one. Life and immortality are brought to light, photizo, illuminated or made visible. The implication is that they were real before and were not clearly seen. This fits the trajectory of the Hebrew Bible, where the state of the dead is treated with considerable reserve and where explicit resurrection language is rare and late, appearing clearly in Daniel 12 and by implication in a handful of other places. The claim is not that resurrection was invented but that it was disclosed.

The instrument of the disclosure is named as the gospel, and the ground is named in the preceding clause as the appearing of Christ. The passage therefore ties the knowledge of life beyond death to a historical event rather than to philosophical argument about the soul, which distinguishes it from the Greek immortality traditions with which it is sometimes assimilated.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G4990 - soter, soter, Strong's G4990
G2673 - katargeo, katargeo, Strong's G2673
G2098 - euangelion, euangelion, Strong's G2098
G2288 - thanatos, thanatos, Strong's G2288
G2222 - zoe, zoe, Strong's G2222
G5547 - christos, christos, Strong's G5547

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.