Catholic Commentary
Warning Against Alexander the Coppersmith
14Alexander the coppersmith did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.15Beware of him, for he greatly opposed our words.
2 Timothy 4:14–15 presents Paul's response to Alexander the coppersmith, who publicly opposed Paul's ministry and caused him significant harm. Paul declares that God will judge Alexander according to his deeds, and he warns Timothy to guard himself against Alexander's continued hostility toward the apostolic Gospel message.
Paul refuses personal vengeance for real harm but names the enemy clearly—modeling how to protect what matters without poisoning your own soul.
The Typological and Spiritual Senses
Spiritually, Alexander functions as a type of the adversary who operates within or near the community of faith — not a pagan stranger, but someone known, named, and proximate. The Fathers frequently noted that the most dangerous opposition to the Gospel comes not from ignorance but from knowledge deliberately spurned. Alexander knew Paul. He had been within reach of authentic teaching. His opposition, therefore, carries the character of apostasy rather than mere unbelief. This makes him a figure who warns subsequent generations about the particular gravity of rejecting the apostolic word after having encountered it. Furthermore, Paul's entrusting of judgment to "the Lord" (ho Kyrios) rather than to civil authority or personal action models what the Catechism calls the virtue of meekness — not passivity, but the ordered, confident surrender of one's cause to God (CCC 2219, 736).
Catholic tradition illuminates this passage in several distinctive ways.
On the nature of apostolic suffering: St. John Chrysostom, in his Homilies on 2 Timothy, draws attention to the fact that Paul writes these words from prison, near death, and still his primary concern is the health of Timothy's ministry and the protection of the Gospel. Chrysostom sees this as the mark of a truly apostolic soul: "He does not grieve for his own sufferings, but for the damage done to the preaching." The harm done by Alexander is serious not merely because it wounded Paul personally, but because it obstructed the word of God — and that is the deeper injury.
On divine retributive justice: Catholic moral theology, rooted in Aquinas's Summa Theologiae (II-II, q. 108), carefully distinguishes between vindicatio (the vindication of justice, which belongs to God and legitimate authority) and vindicta (personal revenge, which is sinful). Paul's statement "The Lord will repay him" is a pure act of vindicatio — an affirmation of divine justice without any taint of personal vengeance. The Catechism (CCC 2302) explicitly warns against anger that seeks revenge and commends the entrustment of justice to God as consonant with the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:5).
On vigilance as a pastoral duty: Vatican II's Presbyterorum Ordinis (no. 6) calls priests to guard the deposit of faith entrusted to them. Paul's command to Timothy — "beware of him" — is not paranoia but an exercise of the shepherd's duty to protect the flock from those who "oppose the word." The pastor who fails to warn his people about genuine doctrinal danger fails in charity, not just in prudence.
A contemporary Catholic reader may be tempted to find these verses uncomfortably combative — naming an enemy seems uncharitable, and demanding repayment sounds unchristian. But Paul models something urgently needed today: the ability to acknowledge real harm, name real opposition, and still refuse to make personal vengeance the animating spirit of one's response.
For Catholics navigating hostile workplaces, fractured parishes, or even theological disputes within the Church, these verses offer a concrete spiritual practice: identify what is actually happening (someone is opposing the Gospel, not merely disagreeing with you personally), issue a clear-eyed warning to those in your care, and then deliberately hand the account over to God. This is not passive resignation — Paul still warns Timothy. But the fire of judgment is removed from Paul's own hands and placed where it belongs.
For those in ministry — priests, deacons, catechists, lay leaders — verse 15 is an especially pointed reminder: "he greatly opposed our words." The Gospel proclamation has enemies. Prudence, not timidity, is the response. Name the opposition. Protect the flock. Trust the Judge.
Commentary
2 Timothy 4:14 — "Alexander the coppersmith did much evil to me."
The specificity here is striking and deliberate. Paul does not speak in abstractions about enemies or persecutors; he names a man, names his trade, and describes the harm as substantial — the Greek polla moi kaka enedeixato (he displayed/demonstrated many evils against me) uses a verb that implies a public, even theatrical show of hostility. This was not a private slight. The identification of Alexander as a chalkeus (coppersmith, or more broadly a metalworker) may carry social weight: craftsmen in Roman cities were often organized into trade guilds (collegia) with political connections, making Alexander potentially a man of civic influence — someone capable of bringing formal accusations, stirring public opposition, or leveraging Roman legal machinery against Paul. Many scholars identify this Alexander with the man mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20, whom Paul had "handed over to Satan" for having "shipwrecked their faith," and possibly with the Alexander of Acts 19:33 who was pushed forward during the Ephesian riot. If so, his opposition spans years and represents a sustained, institutionally-backed antagonism to Paul's ministry in the Ephesian sphere.
The second half of verse 14 is theologically decisive: "The Lord will repay him according to his deeds." This is not a curse or an imprecation. The verb apodōsei is future indicative — a statement of confidence, not a wish. Paul echoes the language of Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12 ("he repays everyone according to their deeds"), placing Alexander's case entirely in the hands of divine justice. This is the posture of a man who has genuinely surrendered the desire for personal vindication. The restraint is itself a form of witness.
2 Timothy 4:15 — "Beware of him, for he greatly opposed our words."
Paul now pivots from personal testimony to pastoral charge. The imperative phylassou (beware, guard yourself) is strong and direct — the same verb used for guarding a treasure or a trust. Paul is not asking Timothy to hate Alexander, but to remain alert and not be naive. The phrase "our words" (tois hēmeterois logois) is significant: this is the Gospel proclamation itself, the kerygma, the apostolic deposit of faith. Alexander's opposition is not merely interpersonal — it is doctrinal and evangelical in its scope. He opposes the words, which in Pauline usage always carries the freight of divine revelation (cf. 1 Thess 2:13: "the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe").