"Very well" is the comparative, and means "This thou knowest better (than I can tell

While the expression "all they which are in Asia" could indicate a universal apostacy

in the area concerned, such is not the fact, for at least Timothy, Onesiphorus, Aquila and

Priscilla stood firm (II Tim. 4: 19). He appears therefore to refer here to his "first

defence" when all men forsook him (II Tim. 4: 16). Doubtless there would have come

with Paul, from different centres, witnesses whose testimony to the law-abiding character

of the Apostle's ministry would have been valuable, but the attitude of Nero and the

Roman government to Christianity was so terrifying that, when the moment arrived, Paul

was left in the lurch so far as human aid was concerned. We do not know why particular

mention is made of Phygellus and Hermogenes, but it is possible that they were special

witnesses, and their defection would therefore be keenly felt by the Apostle. Or they may

have been leaders of a party that was antagonistic to the apostle's teaching.

From the references made by the Apostle to persons and places associated with his

second imprisonment, we gather that the Jews of Asia were among his most bitter

enemies. Evidently Paul had stood in need of the ministry of Onesiphorus, and the

reference to his being unashamed of Paul's chain comes before the reference to his

diligent search in Rome, and may indicate the service Onesiphorus rendered while Paul

awaited the preliminaries of his trial at Ephesus. Demetrius the silversmith (Acts 19: 24)

and Alexander the coppersmith (II Tim. 4: 14) had become enemies of Paul. The

attempt on his life and liberty at Ephesus having failed, renewed attacks were made by

"the Jews which were of Asia" while Paul was at Jerusalem (Acts 21: 27-29). Their

enmity was increased by the subsequent release of the Apostle, and intensified by the

references made to them in the Epistles to the Colossians, to Timothy and to Titus, of

which they would not fail to learn. The apprehension of the Apostle at Troas and his

arrival before the pro-consul at Ephesus would have been the signal for a renewal of

hostility. When Polycarp was martyred in Smyrna, another city of Asia, it is expressly

recorded that the Jews  were specially eager  for his death,  "as their custom is"

(Polycarp 100: 13). Again, Peter's epistles addressed to the believing Jews in Asia, Pontus

and the surrounding districts reveal the breaking out in these parts of an intensely fiery

trial of Christians.

Into this atmosphere of strife and hatred came the refreshing ministry of Onesiphorus:

"He oft refreshed me." Anapsucho is a unique word. It is written of no other servant of

the Lord in the N.T. We find the word used in Exod. 8: 15 for a "respite", and the

substantive occurs in Acts 3: 20 in the phrase "the times of refreshing".

In the midst of all the evidences of mortal fear, hate and failure, one man is permitted

to bring in, with his humble ministry, a foretaste of the day when creation's groan shall

be hushed, when "He shall come down like showers upon the parched fields from which

the grass has been cut" (Psa. 72: 6). It was a ministry like a breath of fresh, pure, air,

entering into the room of a fever-stricken sufferer. Neither learning nor great talent is

required to perform this service, but it demands unbounded and unselfish love. Could