Wenstrom Bible Ministries Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom Thursday November 5, 2015 www.wenstrom.org Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:19-Paul Urgently Requests that Timothy Pass Along His Greetings to Prisca, Aquila and the Household of Onesiphorus Lesson # 109 2 Timothy 4:19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. (NASB95) “Greet” is the second person singular aorist middle imperative form of the verb aspazomai (ἀσπάζομαι), which means “greet” or “gives one’s regards to someone” and is used of Paul requesting that Timothy pass along his regards or greeting to Prisca and Aquila. This verb is in the aorist imperative form and is a pure ingressive aorist imperative expressing the urgency of Paul’s desire that his regards or greeting to Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus would be passed along by Timothy. The imperative is an imperative of entreaty meaning that Paul is requesting that Timothy pass along a greeting from himself to the household of Onesiphorus. The middle voice of the verb aspazomai is an intensive or indirect middle which emphasizes that it is Paul’s greeting. The name Priska, “Prisca” means “little old woman” and the name Akylas means “eagle” whereas the proper name Onēsiphoros means “help-bringer” Second Timothy 4:19 I urgently request that you please give my regards to Prisca and Aquila as well as Onesiphorus’ household. (My translation) Second Timothy 4:19-22 contains the closing of the epistle which contains greetings for certain people, personal news of friends, a final request, greetings from specific persons and a final benediction. In Second Timothy 4:19, the apostle urgently requests that Timothy pass along his personal greeting to Prisca and Aquila. 2015 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 These two individuals were a prominent Jewish couple in the first century apostolic church and are mentioned six times in the Greek New Testament, four of which have Prisca mentioned before Aquila. It is not clear why Prisca is mentioned before her husband. Melick writes “In four of six instances the name of Priscilla appears before that of Aquila. Most interpreters assume that this indicated her greater social prominence or more forceful personality. Ramsay indicates that her name was that of a prominent Roman family and that Aquila was frequently used of freedmen.1 They were a remarkable couple who had risked their lives to save Paul’s life and had sacrificed time, money, and reputation for the cause of the gospel.”2 Prisca and Aquila were tentmakers and met Paul at Corinth through this trade during his second missionary journey since he was a tentmaker and they became his loyal friends (See Acts 18:2-3, 18-26; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). They were expelled from Italy because of the edict of Claudius in A.D. 49 (Acts 18:2). They served with Paul at Corinth for a period of time and then he dropped them off in Ephesus to begin work there (Acts 18:18). They brought Apollos to a better understanding of Christ (Acts 18:26) and joined Paul in Ephesus for a long time there ministering to the Ephesians (1 Corinthians 16:19). It is not known when they returned to Rome but undoubtedly they must have returned after the death of Claudius in 54 A.D. Later on they returned to Ephesus according to 2 Timothy 4:19. The fact that they were a well-traveled couple and that they provided a meeting place for a group of Christians in Rome indicates that they were wealthy since only the wealthy could travel extensively as they did. 1 Ibid 2 Lea, T. D., & Griffin, H. P. (1992). 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (Vol. 34, pp. 259–260). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. 2015 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 Not only does Paul urgently request that Timothy pass along his personal greeting to Prisca and Aquila but also to the household of Onesiphorus. This is the second time that Onesiphorus is mentioned in Second Timothy by Paul. The first time was in Second Timothy 1:16. Second Timothy 1:16 May the Lord extend compassion to Onesiphorus’ household because he often encouraged me and in addition he never permitted himself to be ashamed of my imprisonment. 17 But rather when he entered into Rome, he diligently searched for me so that he found me. 18 May the Lord bestow upon him compassion from the Lord on that day. Indeed, you know first-hand better than anyone how many ways he served at Ephesus. (Author’s translation) These verses reveal that Onesiphorus often encouraged him during his and final Roman imprisonment which ended in execution. Paul says that this man never permitted himself to be ashamed of his imprisonment. In fact, Paul states that this man’s household extended him compassion during his imprisonment. Thus, it appears that this man’s entire household whether those related by blood or his servants, were all Christians who operated in the love of God. Now, here in Second Timothy 4:19 Paul urgently requests that Timothy pass along his personal greetings to this man’s household. Notice he doesn’t mention Onesiphorus but only his household which might indicate that this man was with Paul in Rome or was in some other location which was not revealed by Paul. It is more likely that Onesiphorus was at some other location rather than in Rome with Paul since we would expect that Paul pass along Onesiphorus’ greeting to his household. Or he could have been killed in Nero’s persecution of Christians. 2015 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 As we noted the name “Onesiphorus” means “help-bringer” and thus we can see that this Christian lived up to his name. He also serves as a living example of Proverbs 17:17. Proverb 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (NASB95) This encouragement that Onesiphorus extended to Paul during his imprisonment would be stimulating the apostle to continue to live in a manner worthy of his calling, to grow up to become like Christ. It would involve Onesiphorus stimulating Paul to continue to live according to the Father’s will and reassurance of God’s love for the apostle and that he was suffering according to the will of the Father. This encouragement would have also involved comforting Paul as he was experiencing suffering emotionally or physically. It would also manifest itself by Onesiphorus helping the apostle and giving him support during this difficult adversity. This encouragement would also involve Onesiphorus quoting from the Scriptures to help remind Paul of God’s care and to help him deal with this adversity so as to keep him from getting depressed, frustrated or grieved. This encouragement would of course involve Onesiphorus praying with Paul for help in this adversity. By encouraging Paul during his imprisonment, Onesiphorus was exercising the love of God toward the apostle. God’s love for Paul was manifested during his imprisonment through the actions and words of Onesiphorus in that the latter demonstrated an intense desire to alleviate the pain and suffering that Paul was experiencing in prison. Paul asserts in verse 17 that Onesiphorus who lived in the Roman province of Asia left this province and in particular the city of Ephesus according to Second Timothy 1:18 and traveled to Rome. 2015 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 He did this of course to obtain information as to where the Roman authorities had imprisoned Paul. This was a diligent search and thus a very difficult one. Onesiphorus more than likely had to go to the Roman authorities to obtain this information and this no doubt would have been a frustrating experience with the great bureaucracy in Rome. The fact that this search for Paul in Rome involved a lot of effort on the part of Onesiphorus indicates that Paul was not imprisoned in a place which had easy access or in other words, it was not a public prison or widely known. It also indicates that unlike his first Roman imprisonment, Paul was not under house arrest with the privilege of receiving visitors during this second Roman imprisonment. Onesiphorus found Paul languishing in the infamous Mamertine dungeon in the city of Rome which was a subterranean building consisting of two vaulted chambers. There was one chamber above the other and connected by a small hole. There are some who believe the lower chamber originally served as a cistern. When it was converted into a prison, prisoners were lowered through the hole and held in the lower chamber until their execution. The apostle Paul may have been placed there just prior to his execution but not likely before his final sentencing and would have been almost impossible to receive visitors like Timothy if he had been placed in the lower chamber. Unlike his first Roman imprisonment between 60-62 A.D., he did not receive preferential treatment by the Roman authorities during his second Roman imprisonment (See Acts 28:30-31). Therefore, it was during these terrible circumstances in which Onesiphorus found Paul and the place where the apostle wrote Second Timothy. 2015 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5 .