1. The occasion of the Epistle.
The bonds whereby Saint Paul was kept in custody at Rome, soon to be poured out, after the likeness of fine wine poured upon sacrifices, and to be offered to God, furnished to him the occasion of writing this Epistle to Timothy. Whence he, devoid of friends, summons Timothy to himself,[1] to serve him in his bonds, and to be confirmed in heavenly doctrine, just as he also confirms him in the Epistle itself, if perhaps before his coming it should happen, that he seal the truth with his death. Affliction was being added to the general Church, which the teachers of the same Church, disputing more acutely than living uprightly, the threats of tyrants, and the suffering of the pious increased daily. Hence he intended to fortify Timothy and others against these stumblingblocks.
[1] See 2 Timothy 4:16, 21.