to approach
ephistemi denotes coming near or taking a position beside someone, and of an event arriving suddenly.
The verb most often depicts persons coming near and then standing at, beside, or over someone; in several contexts it describes a destructive or decisive event arriving upon people. Its imperative use in 2 Timothy 4:2 fits being ready or at hand for the stated task.
Senses in use
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Coming near and standing by · dominant
The aorist forms describe people arriving at a location or moving close to someone: in Acts 10:17 the APB renders the men as having “stood at the gate,” and in Acts 4:1 priests, the temple officer, and Sadducees “approached” speakers. Singular participles likewise place a figure beside or over another: in Acts 22:13 the APB renders that he “came to me, stood by me,” while in Luke 4:39 he is “standing above her.”
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An event becoming imminent or arriving · occasional
With non-personal subjects, the verb marks the onset of what comes upon someone. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 the APB renders sudden destruction as something that “will come upon them,” and in Luke 21:34 it warns that “that day” may “come upon you suddenly.” In 2 Timothy 4:6, the perfect indicative locates the time of departure as having come.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the cited verses, the APB variously presents the action with “approached,” “stood at,” “stood by,” “standing above,” and “come upon.” These are clause-level renderings rather than fixed definitions.