Structure in 2 Timothy 1 – Part 6

Look at 2 Timothy 1:7.  Note that the verse begins with “For”.  If you look at the list of structural markers you will see that “for” is listed under logical connectors as indicating “reason”.  Paul is giving the reason for his exhortation for Timothy to rekindle his gift.  The literary device is substantiation, what Paul is about to share is the basis for why Timothy should man up.

The reason is the rest of the verse but notice that Paul shares it with another literary device, contrast.  He contrasts “power and love and discipline” with “a spirit of timidity”.  We are not given timidity, but we are given power, love, and discipline.

Yesterday, when we looked at verse 6 one of the questions was, what was the gift of God that Timothy was to rekindle?  Here in the immediate context, may be the answer.

So some of the questions that begin to emerge from observing the structure:

• What does this tell us about Timothy?  Paul?
• Why does Paul emphasize all three by using “and” instead of a comma between power and love?

It may be the case that what we are seeing here is Timothy retreating from some of the challenges that we all face when trying to serve people.  Paul may be reminding him as a leader it is his responsibility to lead.

We would need to validate that as we work our way through the book.

Posts in this series:
The Influence of Structure
Structure in 2 Timothy 1
Structure in 2 Timothy 1 – Part 2
Structure in 2 Timothy 1 – Part 3
Structure in 2 Timothy 1 – Part 4
Structure in 2 Timothy 1 – Part 5