Able to make thee wise unto salvation] The apostle is here evidently speaking of the Jewish Scriptures; and he tells us that they are able to make us wise unto salvation provided we have faith in Jesus Christ. This is the simple use of the Old Testament. No soul of man can be made wise unto salvation by it, but as he refers all to Christ Jesus. The Jews are unsaved though they know these Scriptures, because they believe not in Christ; for Christ is the end of the law for the justification of all that believe.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

Timothy's mother being a Jewess, trained him up early in the knowledge of these writings, with which he became very conversant, and under divine influence and assistance, arrived to a large understanding of them; and it is a practice that highly becomes Christian parents; it is one part of the nurture and admonition of the Lord they should bring up their children in: the wise man's advice in ( Proverbs 22:6) is very good. From hence the apostle takes occasion to enter into a commendation of the sacred writings; and here, from the nature and character of them, calls them the holy Scriptures ; to distinguish them from profane writings; and that because the author of them is the Holy Spirit of God; and even the amanuenses of him, and the penmen of them, were holy men of God; the matter of them is holy, both law and Gospel; and the end of writing them is to promote holiness; the precepts, promises, and doctrines contained in them are calculated for that purpose; and even the account they give of the sins and failings of others, are for the admonition of men: and next these Scriptures are commended from the efficacy of them: which are able to make thee wise unto salvation . Men are not wise of themselves; they are naturally without an understanding of spiritual things; and the things of the Spirit of God cannot be known by natural men, because they are spiritually discerned; particularly they are not wise in the business of salvation, of which either they are insensible themselves, and negligent; or foolishly build their hopes of it upon their civility, morality, legal righteousness, or an outward profession of religion: but the Scriptures are able to make men wise and knowing in this respect; for the Gospel is one part of the Scriptures, which is the Gospel of salvation, and shows unto men the way of salvation. The Scriptures testify largely of Christ, the Saviour; and give an ample account both of him, who is the able, willing, suitable, complete, and only Saviour, and of the salvation which is wrought by him; and describe the persons who do, and shall enjoy it: not that the bare reading of the Scriptures, or the hearing of them expounded, are able to make men wise in this way; but these, when accompanied with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, are; when he who endited the Scriptures removes the veil from their eyes, opens their understandings, and gives them light and knowledge in them: and then may persons be said to be wise unto salvation, when they not only have a scheme of it in their heads, but are in their hearts sensible of their need of it, and know that there is salvation in no other but in Christ; and when they look to him for it, to his righteousness for justification, to his blood for peace, pardon, and cleansing, to his sacrifice for atonement, and to his fulness of grace for a continual supply, and to him for eternal life and glory; when they rejoice in him and his salvation, and give him all the glory of it: the apostle adds, through faith which is in Christ Jesus : wisdom to salvation lies not in the knowledge of the law the Jew boasted of; nor in the works of it, at least not in a trust and confidence in them for salvation; for by them there is no justification before God, nor acceptance with him, nor salvation: but true wisdom to salvation lies in faith, which is a spiritual knowledge of Christ, and a holy confidence in him; and that salvation which the Scriptures make men wise unto, is received and enjoyed through that faith, which has Christ for its author and object; which comes from him, and centres in him, and is a looking to him for eternal life.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Greek Textus Receptus

The holy Scriptures (iera grammata). Note particularly the absence of the article. Grammata is used in N.T. in several senses. Of characters of the alphabet (2 Corinthians. iii. 7; Gal. vi. 11): of a document (Luke xvi. 6, take thy bill): of epistles (Acts xxviii. 21): of the writings of an author collectively (Jas. v. 47): of learning (Acts xxvi. 24, polla grammatra much learning). In LXX, ejpistamenov grammata knowing how to read (Isa. xxix. 11, 12). The Holy Scriptures are nowhere called iJera grammata in N.T. In LXX, grammata is never used of sacred writings of any kind. Both Josephus and Philo use ta iJera grammata for the O.T. Scriptures. 142 The words here should be rendered sacred learning. The books in the writer's mind were no doubt the Old Testament. Scriptures, in which Timothy, like every Jewish boy, had been instructed; but he does not mean to designate those books as iJera grammata. He means the learning acquired from Scripture by the rabbinic methods, according to which the Old Testament books were carefully searched for meanings hidden in each word and letter, and especially for messianic intimations. Specimens of such learning may be seen here and there in the writings of Paul as 1 Corinthians. ix. 9 f.; x. 1 f.; Galatians. iii. 16f.; iv. 21 f. In Acts iv. 13, the council, having heard Peter's speech, in which he interpreted Psalm cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16 of Christ, at once perceived that Peter and John were ajgrammatoi, not versed in the methods of the schools. Before Agrippa, Paul drew thc doctline of the Resurrection from the Old Testament, whereupon Festus exclaimed,"much learning (polla grammata, thy acquaintanee with the exegesis of the schools) hath made thee made (Acts xxvi. 24). To Agrippa, who was "expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews" (Acts xxvi. 3), the address of Paul, a pulpil of Hillel, was not surprising, although he declared that Paul's reasoning did not appeal to him. In John vii. 15, when Jesus taught in the temple, the.Jews wondered and said: the; "How knoweth this man letters?" That a.Jew should know the Scriptures was not strange The wonder lay in the exegetical skill of one who had not been trained by the literary methods of the time.

To make thee wise (se sofisai). Only hero and 2 Pet. i. 16;. See note there on cunningly devised. To give thee understanding of that which lies behind the letter; to enable thee to detect in the Old Testaments. books various hidden allusions to Christ; to draw from the Old Testaments the mystery of messianic salvation, and to interpret the Old Testaments with Christ as the key. This gives significance to the following words through faith which is in Christ,Jesus. Jesus Christ was the key of Scripture, and through faith in him Shripture became a power unto salvation. The false teachers also had their learning but used it in expounding Jewish fables, genealogies, etc. Hence, their expositions, instead of making wise unto salvation, were vain babblings; profane and old wives' fables (1 Timothy iv. 7; 2 Tim. ii. 16). Const. through faith, etc., with make wise, not with salvation.

Robertson's NT Word Studies