Bible Strands
2 Timothy 1:18
May the Lord grant Onesiphorus His mercy on that day. You know very well how much he ministered to me in Ephesus.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy from imprisonment, recalling Onesiphorus’s past ministry in Ephesus and his recent search in Rome. He issues a direct prayer for Onesiphorus to receive mercy on the coming day of judgment.
The words — The Greek δῴη (dōē) and ἔλεος (eleos) frame the verse as a petition for the Lord to grant mercy. The prepositional phrase παρὰ κυρίου (para kuriou) specifies that this mercy originates directly from God.
The thread — The text links to Paul’s earlier instruction to remain in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3) and his stated confidence in God’s faithfulness amid suffering (2 Timothy 1:12). It aligns with the stated principle that God does not forget those who minister to His name (Hebrews 6:10).
Why it lands — The verse records a prayer for a specific minister while grounding the request in God’s character. It requires the reader to acknowledge that faithful service is remembered by God and to pray accordingly for those who labor.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- 2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- 1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines
- 1 Kings 17:20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”
- Psalms 130:3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
- Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- Luke 1:72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
- Luke 1:78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
- Luke 8:3 Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.
- Acts 19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples