What Does 2 Timothy 4:6 Mean?
For I am already being poured out, and the time of my loosening stands over me.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.THE KEY
The outpouring is already happening, while departure stands close at hand.
THE MEANING
The verse holds death and self-giving together: life is being poured out now, while departure is near. Giving and ending meet in the same present moment.
THE ROOT
σπένδομαι
spendomai
GROWS FROM
σπενδ- (σπένδω)
Pour out a libation, a drink offering.
“already being poured out” in this verse is spendomai. The Greek is present passive: the pouring is underway, not merely being prepared for later. The libation image lets “offered” carry the sense of a life being poured out in the present.
ALSO GROWS
spendō: Pour out a libation.
σπένδω
This is the verb behind “offered,” making the pouring image explicit.
spondē: A libation or drink offering.
σπονδή
This related noun shows the offering as something poured out.
ἀνάλυσις
analusis
GROWS FROM
λυ- (λύω)
Loosen or unbind.
“Departure” carries the image of something being loosed and released. The verse places that loosening close at hand while the outpouring is still taking place.
ALSO GROWS
lyō: Loosen, unbind, or release.
λύω
This is the root that gives “departure” its sense of loosening.
analyō: Unloose; depart or return.
ἀναλύω
The related verb can describe a departure or a return, bringing the idea of passage into the word.
THE PATTERN
A threshold can be pictured both as an outpouring and as a loosening into passage.
And you shall prepare a fourth of a hin of wine for a poured offering with the rising offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.But even if I am poured out upon the offering and service of your trust, I rejoice, and rejoice together with you all.And you yourselves, like people who wait for their lord, when he will be loosed from the wedding feasts, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him straightaway.THE THREAD
But even if I am poured out upon the offering and service of your trust, I rejoice, and rejoice together with you all.“Offered” uses the same Greek verb, σπένδομαι, as “I am now ready to be offered.” The shared libation image reveals the present outpouring inside the word that English can make sound like preparation.
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