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'From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished
unto all good works' (2 Tim. 3:15 -17).
This passage may be restated in analysed form thus:
A
B 15.
The Child.
C
15.
The holy Scriptures.
Grammata.
D
15.
Wise unto Salvation.
A
C
16.
All Scripture.
Graphe.
B 17.
The Man of God.
D
17.
Furnished for Service.
Here we see the range covered by the Scriptures; the child must begin with
them, and the man of God still needs them. They make wise unto salvation;
they are profitable for doctrine; they provide a complete outfit.
Two words are employed here when speaking of the Scriptures, (1)
Grammata, (2) Graphe. Both are derived from grapho, 'to write', but, whereas
the Holy Scriptures, with which Timothy was acquainted as a child are called
grammata, referring rather to the 'letters', the 'elements' of revelation,
the Scripture spoken of in verse 16 is Graphe, meaning 'The Writings', and by
common consent The Writings par excellence, namely, the Scriptures as a
whole. Moreover the phrase, 'It is written' (gegraptai), literally, 'It hath
been written (and remains so)', is never used except to refer to the
Scriptures as authoritative. The following passages are examples of this
usage; Matthew 4:4; Mark 14:27; Luke 7:27; John 12:14; Acts 15:15; Romans
1:17 and Galatians 3:10.
The word used by Paul for 'a child' shows that one can scarcely begin
Christian training too early. Brephos (allied to 'embryo', Luke 1:41),
refers to a newborn babe, and Peter does not hesitate to say, 'As newborn
babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word' (1 Pet. 2:2).
These Scriptures, learned by Timothy as a child at his mother's knee,
were able 'to make wise' unto salvation. Sophizo is used in the Greek
version of Psalm 19: 'The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the
simple' (Psa. 19:7). The Scriptures are given by inspiration of God.
Theopneustos is composed of Theos, 'God', and a word derived from pneo,
'to breathe'. Let us acquaint ourselves a little more closely with this word
pneo and its derivatives.
Pneo: 'The winds blew' (Matt. 7:25).
There are seven occurrences of pneo in the New Testament every one
referring, in the English, to the 'wind blowing', although we must remember
that more than one word is translated 'wind' in the Authorized Version.
Pnoe: 'A rushing mighty wind' (Acts 2:2).
'He giveth to all life, and breath' (Acts 17:25).
These are the only occurrences of pnoe.