Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Tim 4:13

“Till I come, attend unto reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.”

“If the apostle commands Timothy to occupy himself with the reading of Holy Scripture, should we not do the same? Paul himself undoubtedly occupied himself with reading until the end of his life, urging this upon others as well. The apostle consoles Timothy by saying "till I come," for this gave him hope that he would soon see his teacher, since, being orphaned, he naturally sought Paul with his heart. And here is yet another reason why he said "till I come" — since holy Timothy, being young, naturally did not know many things and needed his teacher's presence in order to learn them from him, the apostle Paul says to him: until I come, read the Scriptures, and there you will find the necessary precepts. And when I come, I will pass on to you the rest as well. With exhortation: That is, by persuasion and encouragement of those who feel within themselves a decline of moral energy. With teaching: Addressed to all and concerning every matter.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.