*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Do thou therefore endure afflictions Not without strong necessity has he added this second exhortation; for they who offer their obedience to Christ must be prepared for "enduring afflictions;" and thus, without patient endurance of evils, there will never be perseverance. And accordingly he adds, "as becomes a good soldier of Jesus Christ." By this term he means that all who serve Christ are warriors, and that their condition as warriors consists, not in inflicting evils, but rather in patience. These are matters on which it is highly necessary for us to meditate. We see how many there are every day, that throw away their spears, who formerly made a great show of valor. Whence does this arise? Because they cannot become inured to the cross. First, they are so effeminate that they shrink from warfare. Next, they do not know any other way of fighting than to contend haughtily and fiercely with their adversaries; and they cannot bear to learn what it is to "possess their souls in patience." (Luke 21:19)
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ - Such hardships as a soldier is called to endure. The apostle supposes that a minister of the gospel might be called to endure hardships, and that it is reasonable that he should be as ready to do it as a soldier is. On the hardships which he endured himself, see the notes at 2-Corinthians 11:23-29. Soldiers often endure great privations. Taken from their homes and friends; exposed to cold, or heat, or storms, or fatiguing marches; sustained on coarse fare, or almost destitute of food, they are often compelled to endure as much as the human frame can bear, and often indeed, sink under their burdens, and die. If, for reward or their country's sake, they are willing to do this, the soldier of the cross should be willing to do it for his Saviour's sake, and for the good of the human race. Hence, let no man seek the office of the ministry as a place of ease. Let no one come into it merely to enjoy himself. Let no one enter it who is not prepared to lead a soldier's life and to welcome hardship and trial as his portion. He would make a bad soldier, who, at his enlistment, should make it a condition that he should be permitted to sleep on a bed of down, and always be well clothed and fed, and never exposed to peril, or compelled to pursue a wearisome march. Yet do not some men enter the ministry, making these the conditions? And would they enter the ministry on any other terms?
Endure hardness - He considers a Christian minister under the notion of a soldier, not so much for his continual conflicts with the world, the devil, and the flesh, for these are in a certain sense common to all Christians, but for the hardships and difficulties to which he must be exposed who faithfully preaches the Gospel of Christ.
(2) Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
(2) Another admonition: that the ministry of the word is a spiritual warfare, which no man can so travail in that he pleases his captain, unless he abstains from and parts with all hindrances which might draw him away from it.
Thou therefore endure hardness,.... "Or afflictions"; as in 2-Timothy 4:5. The same word is used there as here, and properly signifies, "suffer evil"; and means the evil of afflictions, as persecutions of every kind, loss of name and goods, scourging, imprisonment, and death itself, for the sake of Christ and the Gospel:
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Captain of salvation, the Leader and Commander of the people, who are made a willing people in the day of his power; or when he raises his forces, and musters his armies, these are volunteers, who willingly enlist themselves into his service, and under his banners fight his battles; and such who manfully behave against sin, Satan, and the world, are his good soldiers; such are all true believers in Christ, and particularly the ministers of the word, whose ministry is a warfare, and who fight the good fight of faith; and besides the above enemies, which they have in common with other saints, have to do with teachers, who are wolves in sheep's clothing.
Thou therefore endure hardness--The oldest manuscripts have no "Thou therefore," and read, "Endure hardship with (me)." "Take thy share in suffering" [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].
Thou, therefore, endure hardness. Timothy was a soldier of the cross. It is the part of a soldier to suffer as well as to fight.
No man that warreth. The soldier to do good service must devote himself entirely to the soldier's life, giving up worldly affairs. So the soldier, like Timothy, engaged as a minister, should have no other business.
And if a man also strive. In the various athletic games of the Greeks. Unless he complies with the regulations, no prize will be assigned to him in any contest. So one, striving for the Christian crown, must seek to please the Master.
The husbandman that laboreth. The farmer has the first right to the fruits. Three illustrations, that of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer are here given. They all bear on the life of Timothy. "All three must deny themselves and suffer, in order to receive the reward. The soldier denies himself the world; the athlete obeys rigid laws; the husbandman labors and waits for a reward. So you must be content to deny yourself, to suffer, and to wait for your reward."
*More commentary available at chapter level.