2 Timothy 3:1 ("difficult times"?)

Greek (SBLGNT): Τοῦτο δὲ γίνωσκε ὅτι ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐνστήσονται καιροὶ χαλεποί·

(LEB): "But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come,"

The NWT uses "critical times," so why the difference?

BDAG Entry: χαλεπός, ή, όν ⟦chalepós⟧ (s. next entry; Hom.+; ins, pap, LXX, TestSol, Philo; Jos., Ant. 4, 1 βίος, 13, 422 νόσος; Just., D. 1, 5; Tat.; comp. χαλεπώτερα Just., A II, 2, 6) pert. to being troublesome, hard, difficult καιροὶ χ. hard times, times of stress 2 Ti 3:1. Of words that are hard to bear and penetrate deeply (Hes., Works 332; Dio Chrys. 49 [66], 19) Hv 1, 4, 2 (w. σκληρός). Of pers. (Od. 1, 198; Chion, Ep. 15, 1f; SIG 780, 31; EpArist 289; Jos., Ant. 15, 98) hard to deal with, violent, dangerous Mt 8:28. Of animals (Pla., Pol. 274b; Ps.-X., Cyneg. 10, 23; Dio Chrys. 5, 5) B 4:5 (comp.). In the sense bad, evil (Cebes 6, 2 of the πόμα of Ἀπάτη) τὰ ἔργα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῆς πονηρίας χ. ἐστι the deeds of the angel of wickedness are evil Hm 6, 2, 10.—Subst. τὰ χ. (that which is) evil (X., Mem. 2, 1, 23; POxy 1242, 36) MPol 11:1 (opp. τὰ δίκαια). ἀρχὴ πάντων χαλεπῶν φιλαργυρία everything that is acrimonious begins with love of money Pol 4:1 (cp. 1 Ti 6:10).—B. 651. DELG. M-M. Spicq.

Spicq observes: When applied to things, chalepos can mean simply “difficult, hard,”1but sometimes it also takes on the nuance of “regrettable” (2Macc 4:4), “grievous” (Wis 3:19), “severe” (Plutarch, De sera 4), and “cruel” (Wis 19:13; 4Macc 7:24). It is used fairly often for dangerous circumstances,2 which is precisely the case in 2Tim 3:1, which announces the onset of the last days: there will be kairoi chalepoi, dangerous or perilous times for the faith and the existence of the church, harmful for Christians, with a nuance of violence and aggressiveness3 that befits calamities.4

The whole entry is worth reading. 

William Mounce (WB Commentary on the Pastorals): 

Τοῦτο δὲ γίνωσκε, ὅτι ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐνστήσονται καιροὶ χαλεποί, “But take note of this, that in the last days there will be stressful times.” In an attempt to place Timothy and his conflict at Ephesus in historical perspective, Paul reminds Timothy that he is living in the last days. In vv 2– 5 Paul will describe in detail what χαλεποί, “stressful,” involves, and in vv 6–9 he will apply this description of “moral decadence” (Guthrie, 156) to Timothy’s opponents.

Mounce thinks 2 Timothy 3:1-5 delineates Timothy's current situation rather than the future: I tend to disagree. See his commentary for the grammatical arguments made in favor of a then present understanding. For a different analysis, see Raymond F. Collins. I &II Timothy and Titus in the NTL series. 

One of My Favorite Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 2:10

Greek (WH): ἡμῖν γὰρ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ γὰρ πνεῦμα πάντα ἐραυνᾷ, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ.

(THGNT): Ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ πνεῦμα πάντα ἐραυνᾷ, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ.

According to WH, the verse logically begins with the postpostive γὰρ. Hans Conzelmann states that ἡμῖν (a dative plural first-person pronoun of ἡμεῖς) is "emphatic" and strengthened by γὰρ (First Corinthians, page 65), but others prefer δὲ.

The word ἀπεκάλυψεν is from ἀποκαλύπτω, a verb that occurs twenty-six times in the GNT: it is aorist active indicative third-person singular ("revealed," "uncovered" or "disclosed"). The subject of this action is ὁ θεὸς.

διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος-God reveals things to Paul and the Corinthians and, by extension, to the anointed servants of Jehovah today as his holy spirit works powerfully on the anointed men taking the lead in his organization (Acts 20:28). Conzelmann intimates that the "spirit" mentioned here could be the human spirit of a so-called "pneumatic." However, Raymond F. Collins writes (First Corinthians, page 132):

 

τὸ γὰρ πνεῦμα πάντα ἐραυνᾷ-Garner and Arnold consider γὰρ to be "explanatory"; the verb ἐραυνάω occurs six times in the GNT. In this passage, the verbal form is present active indicative third-person singular. Compare Proverbs 20:27; John 5:39; Romans 8:27; 1 Peter 1:11; Revelation 2:23.

The holy spirit of God searches "all things" (πάντα), but in what sense? This is likely by acting on the person who is anointed with the spirit of God. Again, the Bible speaks about those taking the lead being appointed by holy spirit and shepherding the flock of God (1 Peter 5:1-4). The reference to "all things" here appears to be relative, not absolute.

καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ-Garner and Arnold think καὶ in this part of the verse is "intensive"; the "deep things of God" are probably the depths of God's wisdom, given the contents of 1 Corinthians 2:6-8. These would include God's eternal purpose formed through the Lord Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:11). τὰ βάθη is accusative plural neuter; compare Romans 11:33.