2 Timothy 4:11 (GNV)

Passage

Onely Luke is with me. Take Marke and bring him with thee: for he is profitable vnto me to minister.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 4:9 Make speede to come vnto me at once:

2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, and hath embraced this present world, and is departed vnto Thessalonica. Crescens is gone to Galatia, Titus vnto Dalmatia.

2 Timothy 4:11 Onely Luke is with me. Take Marke and bring him with thee: for he is profitable vnto me to minister.

2 Timothy 4:12 And Tychicus haue I sent to Ephesus.

2 Timothy 4:13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou commest, bring with thee, and the bookes, but specially the parchments.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "onely", "luke", "take", "marke", "bring", "thee", "profitable", and "vnto". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "onely" and "luke", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "For Demas hath forsaken me and hath..." into verse 12's "And Tychicus haue I sent to Ephesus...", so "onely" and "luke" belong inside that flow. In 2 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "onely" and "luke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.