Somewhat in Jacob’s defence I would point out that Paul is not thinking of the scriptures when he urges Timothy to present himself to God as a competent and reliable workman who ‘rightly directs or cuts the word of truth’.

The ‘word of truth’ is Paul’s ‘gospel’, which is here presented as a two-part announcement:

i) that salvation has been made available to God’s ‘elect’, his chosen people (that is, salvation from the destruction of war against Rome) through the resurrection Jesus, who is descended from David (2 Tim. 2:8-10);

ii) that those who suffer and die with him (as I would put it, the community of the Son of man) will also be raised with him and will share in his vindication on the day of Christ’s appearing (2 Tim. 2:10-13; cf. 1:12; 4:8).

That is the truth that must be safeguarded from corruption by those who hold, for example, that the resurrection has already happened (2:17-18). It is the good news of Israel’s salvation and of the eventual vindication of the suffering elect. Paul is adamant that this particular, historically contextualized truth must be correctly handled.