Exegetical Brief: Man or Servant in 2 Timothy 3:17?

Abstract

Professor Sorum examines the use of the phrase ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος in 2 Timothy and draws out many rich truths. The Greek phrase ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος is especially rich and precious in 2 Timothy 3:17. With it Paul powerfully connects Timothy to his peers and colleagues Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, and all of God's faithful Old Testament prophets. But Paul adds more impact to this phrase by surprising Timothy with the word order. The point of this surprising word order was to suggest how critical it would be for Timothy and every preacher/prophet of truth to live a distinctively "godly" life as a distinctively "godly" man who must hold out God's truth in a wicked and depraved world. Timothy had encountered the phrase ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος many times in his reading of the LXX Scriptures. That was not Paul's word order. Paul made a different translation choice. Paul choose to characterize Timothy not only as a prophet "man of God" but, because the Scriptures are so powerful and useful, as a prophet "godly man."