Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Timothy · About this commentary
Itching Ears
2 Timothy 4:3-5
3 For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, · WEB
A time is coming when audiences will assemble the teachers they want, and the instruction against it is to stay sober.
The time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine. The reason given is not disbelief but appetite — having itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts.
Three details are exact. The itching is in the hearers, so demand precedes supply. Teachers are heaped up in quantity, suggesting variety rather than one rival authority. And it is done for themselves, so the appointment is self-made. This is not a church invaded from outside but a congregation commissioning what it wants to hear.
Verse 4 completes the movement in two turns: they turn their ears away from the truth, and turn aside to fables. The same verb both times. Nobody arrives at fables without first turning from something, and the vacancy gets filled.
Verse 5 answers with four brief instructions, and the first governs the rest. Be sober in all things — the opposite of itching. Then suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. The last verb means to carry something out to the full, which is what the whole letter is asking.
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