The life and work of St. Paul

once.
PAUL'S LAST LETTER. M 1
" l)o your best to come to me quickly." Demas, Grescens, Titus, are
all absent from him ;
Erastus did not come with him farther than Corinth ;
Trophimus was taken ill at Miletus ; Luke only is left. Mark is useful to
him for service perhaps because he knew Latin and therefore Timothy is
to take him up somewhere on the way, and bring him. 1
Tychicus is already
2 on the way to Ephesus, so that he can take Timothy's place when he arrives.
Timothy is to be on his guard against the pronounced hostility of Alexander
the 3
coppersmith. Then follows the touching allusion to his first trial and
deliverance, on which we have already dwelt. Greetings are sent to Priaca,
Aquila, and the house of Ouesiphorns. Once more, " Do your best to come
"
before winter if he ; comes after that time he may be too
"
late. Eubulus
greets thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The
Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with *
you."
I have purposely omitted the one simple, touching message, introduced so
incidentally, and with such inimitable naturalness.
" When you come, bring
with you the cloke that I left at Troas, at Carpus' house, and the books,
especially the parchments." 6 The verse has been criticised as trivial, as
1 Mark had been attached of late to the ministry of Peter. Perhaps but all ia here
uncertain St. Peter may have been already martyred. It is, at any rate, deeply
interesting to observe how completely St. Mark had regained that high estimation in the
mind of the Apostle which he had weakened by his early defection (Acts xv. 38).
2
aircVreiAa. It is made a difficulty that St. Paul should mention this to Timothy,
who is supposed to have been at Ephesus. But even if airrriAa cannot be an epistolary
acrist, and so equivalent to "I am sending," Paul could not be sure that Timothy might
not be visiting some of the neighbouring churches ; and Tychicus may have gone by
some longer route. Even apart from this, nothing is more common in letters than the
mention of facts which must be perfectly well known to the person addressed ; and, in
any case, since Timothy could hardly leave without resigning his charge for a time into
the hands of Tychicus, he might be glad of a personal assurance from Paul that he had
sent him.
3 The meaning of n-oAXa u.ot xaxa vS'ifaTo ia not certain, but is probably nothing more
than "exhibited very mischievous conduct towards me." The following words, "The
Lord shall reward him (