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2 Timothy 3:15
by Don Costello 2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 1."And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures" a. child [1025 * brephos] [Zodhiates: Babe, an unborn child, or an older infant. In 2 Timothy 3:15 meaning from infancy from the cradle. b. The only Scriptures available when Timothy was an infant were the Old Testament Scriptures, the New Testament had not been written yet. From infancy Timothy's mother and grandmother taught him the Scriptures raising him as a Jew. Because Timothy's mother Eunice was married to a Greek, a Gentile, there was probably some opposition from an unbelieving husband. Perhaps this was the reason he was not circumcised. Timothy was not circumcised until after he was a Christian. But none the less, he knew the Scriptures. c. Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edershiem, p.230 "from their earliest consciousness they learned the laws, so as to have them as it were engraven on the soulDirectly the child learned to speak, his religious instruction was to begin, no doubt, with such verses of Holy Scripture as composed that part of the Jewish liturgy, which answers to our Creed. 1). The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Included in the Mezuzah, Deuteronomy 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41. d. The Biblical and historical background of Jewish customs and ceremonies, By Abraham P. Bloch, p.265. "In addition, there was a custom of smearing honey on the letters of the alphabet which the child was taught and to have him lick the honey so that he could savor the sweetness of the Torah." e. I have heard of another tradition that Jewish mothers after the children would recite verses of Scripture, the mothers would dip their fingers in honey and have the children to lick the honey to always have the children associate sweetness with the Scriptures. 1). Psalm 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 2). Proverbs 24:13, 14 My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. f. Messianic Jewish Scholar David Bivin: "The New Testament says almost nothing about Jesus' life from after his birth until he appeared in the temple at age twelve, and from then until he began his public ministry at about the age of thirty. Yet a good indication of what a young Jewish man in Jesus' day would have been doing may be found in Avot 5:21, a tractate from a collection of rabbinic sayings called the Mishnah, which states: At five years of age, one is ready for the study of the Written Torah, at ten years of age for the study of the Oral Torah, at thirteen for bar mitzvah [the religious coming-of-age ceremony], at fifteen for the study of halachot [rabbinic legal decisions], at eighteen for marriage, at twenty for pursuing a vocation, at thirty for entering one's full vigor... Although this statement cannot be dated with certainty, and may come some 100 years after the time of Jesus, there are many other passages in rabbinic works that indicate the importance placed upon the education of children and provide some insight into how the young Jesus was probably spending his time." g). Flavius Josephus, wrote that "from the earliest infancy"4 they were taught the Laws of God. 2. "which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." a. Word Studies In the New Testament, Marvin R. Vincent. P. 316 "To give thee understanding of that which lies behind the letter; to enable thee to detect in the O.T. books various hidden allusions to Christ; to draw from the O.T. the mystery of messianic salvation, and to interpret the O.T. with Christ as the key." b. John 5:39 "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." c. Luke 24:25-27 "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophet have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." d. Acts 28:23 "And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening." e. [D.C. Note] "In both the Old and New Testaments Jesus is the central focus. In type, or Theophany, or in prophetic mention, He is there, through out." f. The Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation. The Greek and Hebrew concepts of salvation incorporate everything included in our inheritance, safety, deliverance, preservation, healing and soundness. My name is Don Costello. Ever since I received Christ in November of 1976 I have had a passion to study and know God's word.My wife Melissa and I have 5 children. My e-mail address is [email protected] I have a blog located at: www.theophilus-loverofgodsword.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |