This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;
the prophecies … made earlier concerning Timothy’s call and fitness for service in Ephesus. When and by whom these prophecies were made can only be guessed. Paul uses military metaphors repeatedly in appealing to Timothy (see also 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:7) These prophecies reinforced Paul’s conviction that Timothy was a fit soldier to conduct the battle against error in the Ephesian church (cf. 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7 for an athletic rather than military metaphor). Timothy was to remember these prophecies and be inspired by them in the struggle against error at Ephesus.