26. recover themselves—Greek, "awake to soberness," namely from the spiritual intoxication whereby they have fallen into the snare of the devil.
the snare—(Eph 6:11, "the wiles of the devil": 1Ti 3:7; 6:9).
taken captive by him at his will—so as to follow the will of "THAT" (the Greek emphatically marks Satan thus) foe. However, different Greek pronouns stand for "him" and "his"; and the Greek for "taken captive" means not "captured for destruction," but "for being saved alive," as in Lu 5:10, "Thou shalt catch men to save them unto life"; also there is no article before the Greek participle, which the English Version "who are taken captive," would require. Therefore, translate, "That they may awake … taken as saved (and willing) captives by him (the servant of the Lord, 2Ti 2:24), so as to follow the will of HIM (the Lord, 2Ti 2:24, or "God," 2Ti 2:25)." There are here two evils, the "snare" and sleep, from which they are delivered: and two goods to which they are translated, awaking and deliverance. Instead of Satan's thrall comes the free and willing captivity of obedience to Christ (2Co 10:5). It is God who goes before, giving repentance (2Ti 2:25); then the work of His servant following is sure to be crowned with success, leading the convert henceforth to "live to the will of God" (Ac 22:14; 1Pe 4:2).