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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
1:15-18 Examples, Positive and Negative. Paul supports his exhortation of vv. 6-14 with concrete examples of some who have endured well and others who have not--a common technique in both ancient and modern exhortation.
1:15 Asia was the Roman province in which Ephesus, Timothy's current place of service, was located. all . . . turned away from me. Key people who could have supported Paul, perhaps in his arrest and imprisonment, failed to do so, and so it appeared as if "all" had deserted him (cf. 4:16, a reference to a more specific event). There is no further information about Phygelus and Hermogenes. These details highlight the low situation in which Paul found himself and probably help explain why Timothy, the faithful one, was such a source of joy for Paul (see 1:3-5).
