2 Timothy 4:1
New International Version
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:

New Living Translation
I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom:

English Standard Version
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

Berean Standard Bible
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:

Berean Literal Bible
I earnestly declare before God and Christ Jesus, the One being about to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

King James Bible
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

New King James Version
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

New American Standard Bible
I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

NASB 1995
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

NASB 1977
Isolemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

Legacy Standard Bible
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

Amplified Bible
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

Christian Standard Bible
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of His appearing and His kingdom:

American Standard Version
I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
I charge you before God and our Lord Yeshua The Messiah, he who is going to judge the living and the dead at the revelation of his Kingdom:

Contemporary English Version
When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you

Douay-Rheims Bible
I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom:

English Revised Version
I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I solemnly call on you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead. I do this because Christ Jesus will come to rule [the world].

Good News Translation
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you

International Standard Version
In the presence of God and the Messiah Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly appeal to you

Literal Standard Version
I fully testify, then, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge [the] living and dead at His appearing and His Kingdom—

Majority Standard Bible
I charge you, therefore, in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:

New American Bible
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power:

NET Bible
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

New Revised Standard Version
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you:

New Heart English Bible
I command you therefore before God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his Kingdom:

Webster's Bible Translation
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Weymouth New Testament
I solemnly implore you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is about to judge the living and the dead, and by His Appearing and His Kingship:

World English Bible
I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom:

Young's Literal Translation
I do fully testify, then, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge living and dead at his manifestation and his reign --

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Preach the Word
1I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.…

Cross References
Acts 10:42
And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

1 Timothy 5:21
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.

2 Timothy 1:10
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

2 Timothy 2:14
Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.

2 Timothy 4:8
From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:18
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


Treasury of Scripture

I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

charge.

2 Timothy 2:14
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

See on

1 Timothy 5:21
I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

1 Timothy 6:13
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

who.

Psalm 50:6
And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Psalm 96:13
Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Psalm 98:9
Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

at.

2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

1 Thessalonians 4:15,16
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep…

his kingdom.

Luke 19:12,15
He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return…

Luke 23:42
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11,17
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…

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Appearing Charge Christ Command Dead Implore Jesus Judge Kingdom Kingship Manifestation Orders Presence Quick Reign Revelation Sight Solemnly Testify View
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Appearing Charge Christ Command Dead Implore Jesus Judge Kingdom Kingship Manifestation Orders Presence Quick Reign Revelation Sight Solemnly Testify View
2 Timothy 4
1. He exhorts him to preach the Word with all care and diligence;
6. certifies him of the nearness of his death;
9. wills him to come speedily unto him, and to bring Marcus with him;
14. warns him to beware of Alexander the metalworker.
16. informs him what had befallen him at his first answering;
19. and soon after he concludes.














IV.

(1) I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.--The parchment, or papyrus, in the prison room of St. Paul on which, probably, Luke (2Timothy 4:11), the faithful friend, was writing to the Apostle's dictation, was nearly filled up. What has still to be said to the chief presbyter of the Church of Ephesus must be brief. But St. Paul would have the last words introduced by a most impressive preface. So before he sums up his directions and exhortations, he appeals to him in these stately and solemn words. The Greek word rendered "I charge (thee)," is more accurately translated by, I solemnly charge (thee), before those divine witnesses, the Eternal Father and the Blessed Son, present with me in this prison of mine in Rome, present equally with you in study-chamber or church in Asia.

Who shall judge the quick and the dead.--These words must have sounded with strange power in the ears of men like Timothy, and must have impressed them with an intense feeling of responsibility. The Apostle in his divine wisdom was charging these teachers of the Church to be faithful and zealous in their work, by the thought, which must be ever present, that they--either alive on the day of the Coming of the Lord, or, if they had tasted death already, raised from the dead incorruptible (comp. 1Thessalonians 4:17)--must stand before the Judge and give an account of their stewardship; on that awful morning must every man and woman render up, before the Judge who knows all and sees all, a strict account of the deeds done in the body. The looking forward to the judgment morning must surely be a spur to any faint-hearted, dispirited servant of the Lord disposed to temporise, or reluctant to face the dangers which threaten a faithful discharge of duties.

At his appearing and his kingdom.--The older authorities here--instead of the preposition "at"--read "and." The rendering then would be: "I charge thee in the sight of God and Jesus Christ, who will judge quick and dead (I charge thee) by His appearing (epiphany) and by His kingdom," the construction in Greek being the usual accusative of adjuration, as in Mark 5:7; Acts 19:13. So, too, Deuteronomy 4:26 (LXX.): "I solemnly charge you to-day by heaven and earth." The passage, by this restoration of the ancient, and, at first sight, more difficult reading, gains, as we shall see, immeasurably in strength and power. "By his appearing," or by His manifestation or epiphany, refers, of course, to the Lord's coming a second time to judge the earth in the glory of the Father with His angels. (Matthew 16:27; 1Thessalonians 4:16-17.) "And by His kingdom:" His kingdom, that kingdom is here meant which, in the words of the Nicene Creed, "shall have no end." This glorious sovereignty of Christ is to succeed what Pearson (Creed, Article VI., p. 529, Chevallier's edit.) calls "the modificated eternity of His mediatorship," which will end when all His enemies shall have been subdued, and He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. The "kingdom" here spoken of is to commence at Christ's glorious epiphany or manifestation, when "the kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15). Timothy was conjured by the "appearing" of Christ when he would have to stand before Him and be judged; he was conjured, too, by "His kingdom," in which glorious state Timothy hoped to share, for was it not promised that His own should reign with Him? (2Timothy 2:12.) There seems in this solemn ringing adjuration something which reminds us of "a faithful saying." The germs at least of one of the ancient creeds are apparent here, where allusion is made to God (the Father) and to Jesus Christ, the judge of quick and dead, to His coming again with glory and then to His kingdom. . . .

Verse 1. - In the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus for therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; and by for at, A.V. and T.R. I charge thee (διαμαρτύρομαι); as 2 Timothy 2:14 and 1 Timothy 5:21 (where see note). The words οϋν ἐγώ, wanting in some of the best manuscripts, are "rejected by Griesbach, Tischendorf, Lachmann," and by Huther, Alford, Ellicott, and others. The chapter opens rather abruptly without the connecting "therefore." And by his appearing and his kingdom. The reading of the T.R., κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν κ.τ.λ.., "at his appearing and kingdom," makes such excellent sense, and is in such perfect accordance with the usual grammar, and with the usual connection of events, that it is difficult not to believe that it is the right reading (see Matthew 27:15, κατὰ ἑορτήν, "at the feast;" κατὰ πᾶν σάββατον, "on every sabbath;" Acts 13:27, κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν, "in the day;" Hebrews 3:8 for the grammar; and the universal language of Scripture and the Creeds connecting the judgment with the Lord's appearing and kingdom). On the other hand, the reading καὶ is almost impossible to construe. No two commentators scarcely are agreed how to do so. Some take τὴν ἐπιφανείαν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν as the object governed by διαμαρτύρομαι as in the LXX. of Deuteronomy 4:26, "I call to witness... Christ's epiphany and kingdom," taking διαμαρτύρομαι in two senses or two constructions. Others take them as the accusatives of the things sworn by, "I charge thee before God and Jesus Christ, and by his epiphany and kingdom," as Mark 5:7, τὸν Θεόν, "by God;" Acts 19:13, τὸν Ἰησοῦν, "by Jesus;" 1 Thessalonians 5:27, τὸν Κύριον, "by the Lord." But how awkward such a separation of the thing sworn by from the verb is, and how unnatural it is to couple with καὶ the two ideas, "before God" and "by Christ's epiphany," and how absolutely without example such a swearing by Christ's epiphany and kingdom is, nobody needs to be told. Others, as Huther, try to get over part at least of this awkwardness by taking the two καιs as "both:" "by both his epiphany and his kingdom." Ellicott explains it by saying that as you could not put "the epiphany and the kingdom" in dependence upon ἐνώπιον (as if they were persons like God and Christ), they "naturally pass into the accusative." But surely this is all thoroughly unsatisfactory. The T.R. is perfectly easy and simple. Appearing (ἐπιφανεία); ver. 8; 2 Timothy 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 2:13. His kingdom. So in the Nicene Creed: "He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: whose kingdom shall have no end" (comp. Matthew 25:31, followed by the judgment).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
I charge [you]
Διαμαρτύρομαι (Diamartyromai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1263: To give solemn evidence, testify (declare) solemnly. From dia and martureo; to attest or protest earnestly, or hortatively.

in the presence
ἐνώπιον (enōpion)
Preposition
Strong's 1799: Neuter of a compound of en and a derivative of optanomai; in the face of.

of God
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

of Christ
Χριστοῦ (Christou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

Jesus,
Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

who
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

will
μέλλοντος (mellontos)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3195: A strengthened form of melo; to intend, i.e. Be about to be, do, or suffer something.

judge
κρίνειν (krinein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 2919: Properly, to distinguish, i.e. Decide; by implication, to try, condemn, punish.

[the] living
ζῶντας (zōntas)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2198: To live, be alive. A primary verb; to live.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

[the] dead,
νεκρούς (nekrous)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3498: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. From an apparently primary nekus; dead.

and [in view]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

of His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

appearing
ἐπιφάνειαν (epiphaneian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2015: Appearing, manifestation, glorious display. From epiphanes; a manifestation, i.e. the advent of Christ.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

kingdom:
βασιλείαν (basileian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 932: From basileus; properly, royalty, i.e. rule, or a realm.


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NT Letters: 2 Timothy 4:1 I command you therefore before God (2 Tim. 2Ti iiTi ii Tim)
2 Timothy 3:17
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