David C. Norrington in his own words
2 Timothy 4:2 ‘Preach the Word’
The use of kerusso here is rather surprising as it is used primar-ily for the proclamation of Jesus and the gospel to unbelievers outside Christian gatherings. But here (as in 2 Cor. 11:4) it seems to refer primarily to addressing the faithful although the possibility of the occasional presence of unbelievers cannot be ruled out and may even have been in mind when the epistle was penned. ‘Preach’ is not a good translation of kerussein91 but at least it does suggest that something is to be taught. The form and duration of the teaching, both as regards Paul’s intentions and Timothy’s performance, are beyond recovery. The reference may be to a sermon, or even a series of sermons, but it need not be. The reason for Timothy’s action is given in the text. The danger of which Paul had warned the Ephesian elders had materialized and Timothy was asked to take action against it (Acts 20:29f; 2 Tim. 2:14-18, 3:1-14, 4:1-5, 14f). The sermon, if such it was, was an aid in the battle but there is nothing here to suggest that it was already a regular feature of church life or that it should ever become such, although it might be repeated if needed to counter other errors in the future.92
The imperatives are usually rendered ‘preach…reprove, rebuke, exhort...’ In my opinion, the natural interpretation of this instruction is that reproving, rebuking and exhorting should be done as and when necessary rather than at fixed or regular times, irrespective of other considerations. The precise significance of ‘in season and out of season’ is not clear93 and in any case there is no reason to restrict its application to keruxon ton logon. Hence, the context provides no evidence for regular sermons.
91: G. Friedrich, TDNT, III, 703. In 2 Timothy 4:2 ‘Proclaim the word (or message)’ is a more accurate translation and relatively free from false associations and is so rendered in NRSV; HJ. Schonfield, The Authentic New Testament; idem, The Original New Testament; NEB; Revised EB; W. Barclay, The New Testament: A New Translation; C.K. Williams, The New Testament: A New Translation in Plain English; EJ. Goodspeed, The Student’s New Testament; New Jerusalem Bible; D .H. Stem, Jewish New Testament
92: Views on the purpose of the aorist imperatives are legion and include adding authority and solemnity, indicating the vivid nature of the address, emphasizing the necessity for prompt action, indicating an action to be ended at a definite time and a stylistic variation (B.M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek, 1990, pp. 370-379). But given that the aorist tense is essentially undetermined or undefined or presents the action as complete or as a whole without regard to internal make-up (Burton, Syntax, 35; Robertson, Grammar, p. 824; F. Stagg, ‘The Abused Aorist’, JBL, 91, 1972, 221-231; Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 1984, pp. 69-75; S.E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, 1992, p. 35; B.M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, pp. 86-98), the use of the aorist imperative—’preach the word’—tells us litde of the timing or arrangement of the event (Burton, Syntax, 184, 98). In order to imply repeated action by the verbal form alone, the present imperative might have been more appropriate (J.H. Bernard, The Pastoral Epistles, 1899, p. 140; C.F.D. Moule, An Idiom—Book of New Testament Greek, 21959, 20; Moulton, Grammar, III, 74f; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek Illustrated by Examples, 1963, 243 (p. 79). As is so often the case, in order to comprehend the matter further, we must pass from the grammar to the context.
93: See the discussion in A.J. Malherbe, “In Season and Out of Season”: 2 Timothy 4:2’, JBL, 103, 1984, 235-243; G.D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, 1984, pp. 233f
