SECONr EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 181 



tbrward to his liberation from confinement, and his speedy 

 departure from Rome. He tells the Philippians, chap. 2 : 21, 

 *' I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly." 

 Philemon he bids to prepare for him a lodging ; " for I trust," 

 says he, "that through your prayers I shall be given unto 

 you." Ver. 22. In the epistle before us, he holds a lan- 

 guage extremely diflerent : "I am now ready to be ofTercd, 

 and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a 

 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 

 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 

 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that 

 day." Chap. 4 : 6-8. 



2. When the former epistles w^ere written from Rome, 

 Timothy was with St. Paul ; and is joined with him in writ- 

 ing to the Colossians, the Philippians, and to Philemon. The 

 present epistle implies that he was absent. 



3. Li the former epistles, Demas was with St. Paul at 

 Rome : " Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet 

 you." In the epistle now before us : " Demas hath forsaken 

 me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto 

 Thessalonica." 



4. In the former epistles, Mark was with St. Paul, and 

 joins in saluting the Colossians. In the present epistle, 

 Timothy is ordered to bring him with him, " for he is prof- 

 itable to me for the ministry." Chap 4:11. 



The case of Timothy and of Mark might be very well 

 accounted for, by supposing the present epistle to have been 

 written before the others ; so that Timothy, who is hero 

 exhorted "to come shortly unto him," chap. 4:9, might 

 have arrived, and that Mark, " whom he was to bring with 

 him," chap. 4:11, might have also reached Rome in suffi- 

 cient time to have been wuth St. Paul when the four epistl'.^s 

 were written ; but then such a supposition is inconsistent 

 with what is said of Demas, by which the posteriority of this 

 to the other epistles is strongly indicated : for in the other 

 epistles Demas was with St. Paul ; in the present he has 



