Dictionaries :: Timothy

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Timothy:

honouring God, a young disciple who was Paul's companion in many of his journeyings. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are mentioned as eminent for their piety (2Ti 1:5). We know nothing of his father but that he was a Greek (Act 16:1). He is first brought into notice at the time of Paul's second visit to Lystra (16:2), where he probably resided, and where it seems he was converted during Paul's first visit to that place (1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 3:11). The apostle having formed a high opinion of his "own son in the faith," arranged that he should become his companion (Act 16:3), and took and circumcised him, so that he might conciliate the Jews. He was designated to the office of an evangelist (1Ti 4:14), and went with Paul in his journey through Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia; also to Troas and Philippi and Berea (Act 17:14). Thence he followed Paul to Athens, and was sent by him with Silas on a mission to Thessalonica (17:15; 1Th 3:2). We next find him at Corinth (1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1) with Paul. He passes now out of sight for a few years, and is again noticed as with the apostle at Ephesus (Act 19:22), whence he is sent on a mission into Macedonia. He accompanied Paul afterwards into Asia (20:4), where he was with him for some time. When the apostle was a prisoner at Rome, Timothy joined him (Phl 1:1), where it appears he also suffered imprisonment (Hbr 13:23). During the apostle's second imprisonment he wrote to Timothy, asking him to rejoin him as soon as possible, and to bring with him certain things which he had left at Troas, his cloak and parchments (2Ti 4:13). According to tradition, after the apostle's death he settled in Ephesus as his sphere of labour, and there found a martyr's grave.

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Timothy:

tim'-o-thi (Timotheos (Ac 17:14; 18:5; 19:22; 20:4; Ro 16:21; 1Co 4:17; 16:10; 2Co 1:1,19; Php 1:1; 2:19; Col 1:1; 1Th 1:1; 3:2,6; 2Th 1:1; 1Ti 1:2,18; 6:20; 2Ti 1:2; Phm 1:1; Heb 13:23; the King James Version, Timotheus):

1. One of Paul's Converts:

Timothy was one of the best known of Paul's companions and fellow-laborers. He was evidently one of Paul's own converts, as the apostle describes him as his beloved and faithful son in the Lord (1Co 4:17); and in 1Ti 1:2 he writes to "Timothy my true child in faith"; and in 2Ti 1:2 he addresses him as "Timothy my beloved child."

2. A Native of Lystra:

He was a resident, and apparently a native, either of Lystra or Derbe, cities which were visited and evangelized by Paul on his 1st missionary journey (Ac 14:6). It is probable that of these two cities, it was Lystra treat was Timothy's native place. For instance, in Ac 20:4 in a list of Paul's friends there are the names of "Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy"; this evidently infers that Timothy was not "of Derbe." And in Ac 16:3, the brethren who gave Paul the good report of Timothy were "at Lystra and Iconium"; the brethren from Derbe are not mentioned. Lystra was evidently Timothy's native city.

3. Converted at Lystra:

In 2Ti 3:10,11 Paul mentions that Timothy had fully known the persecutions and afflictions which came to him at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra. These persecutions occurred during the apostle's first visit to these towns; and Timothy seems to have been one of those who were converted at that time, as we find that on Paul's next visit to Lystra and Derbe, Timothy was already one of the Christians there: "He came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold a certain disciple was there, named Timothy" (Ac 16:1).

Timothy was now chosen by Paul to be one of his companions. This was at an early period in Paul's apostolic career, and it is pleasing to find that to the end of the apostle's life Timothy was faithful to him.

4. His Father and Mother:

Timothy's father was a heathen Greek (Hellen, not Hellenistes, a Greek-speaking Jew); this fact is twice mentioned (Ac 16:1,3). His mother was a Jewess, but he had not been circumcised in infancy, probably owing to objections made by his father. Timothy's mother was called Eunice, and his grandmother Lois. Paul mentions them by name in 2Ti 1:5; he there speaks of the unfeigned faith which was in Timothy, and which dwelt at the first in Eunice and Lois. It is evident that Eunice was converted to Christ on Paul's 1st missionary journey to Derbe and Lystra, because, when he next visited these cities, she is spoken of as "a Jewess who believed" (Ac 16:1).

5. Becomes a Co-worker with Paul:

On this 2nd visit to Derbe and Lystra, Paul was strongly attracted to Timothy, and seeing his unfeigned faith, and that from a child he had known the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament (2Ti 3:15), and seeing also his Christian character and deportment, and his entire suitability for the work of the ministry, he would have him "to go forth with him" (Ac 16:3). Timothy acquiesced in Paul's desire, and as preliminaries to his work as a Christian missionary, both to Jew and Gentile, two things were done. In order to conciliate the Jewish Christians, who would otherwise have caused trouble, which would have weakened Timothy's position and his work as a preacher of the gospel, Paul took Timothy and circumcised him.

6. Circumcised:

Paul was willing to agree to this being done, on account of the fact that Timothy's mother was a Jewess. It was therefore quite a different case from that of Titus, where Paul refused to allow circumcision to be performed (Ac 15:2)-Titus being, unlike Timothy, a Gentile by birth.

See TITUS.

The other act which was performed for Timothy's benefit, before he set out with Paul, was that he was ordained by the presbytery or local council of presbyters in Derbe and Lystra.

7. His Ordination:

Showing the importance which Paul assigned to this act of ordination, he refers to it in a letter to Timothy written many years afterward: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery" (1Ti 4:14). In this ordination Paul himself took part, for he writes, "I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands" (2Ti 1:6).

"2Ti 1:6 should be viewed in the light of 1Ti 4:14. Probably it was prophetic voices (through prophecy; compare 1Ti 1:18, ‘according to the prophecies which went before in regard to thee') which suggested the choice of Timothy as assistant of Paul and Silvanus, and his consecration to this work with prayer and the laying on of hands (compare Ac 13:2 f). The laying on of hands by the presbyters (1Ti 4:14), and that by Paul (2Ti 1:6), are not mutually exclusive, especially since the former is mentioned merely as an accompanying circumstance of his endowment with special grace, the latter as the efficient cause of this endowment. The churches in the neighborhood of Timothy's home, according to Ac 14:23, had been furnished with a body of presbyters soon after their founding" (Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, II, 23).

8. Accompanies Paul:

Thus, prepared for the work, Timothy went forth with Paul on the apostle's 2nd missionary journey. We find Timothy with him at Berea (Ac 17:14), having evidently accompanied him to all places visited by him up to that point, namely, Phrygia, the region of Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Neapoils, Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica and Berea. Paul next went-and went alone, on account of the persecution at Berea-to Athens (Ac 17:15); and from that city he sent a message to Silas and Timothy at Berea, that they should come to him at Athens with all speed. They quickly came to him there, and were immediately sent on an errand to the church in Thessalonica; "When we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone; and sent Timothy, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: that no man should be moved by these afflictions" (1Th 3:1,2,3 the King James Version). Timothy and Silas discharged this duty and returned to the apostle, bringing him tidings of the faith of the Christians in Thessalonica, of their love and of their kind remembrance of Paul, and of their ardent desire to see him; and Paul was comforted (1Th 3:5,6,7).

9. At Corinth:

Paul had left Athens before Silas and Timothy were able to rejoin him. He had proceeded to Corinth, and it was while the apostle was in that city, that "when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ" (Ac 18:5). Timothy evidently remained with Paul during the year and six months of his residence in Corinth, and also throughout this missionary journey to its end. From Corinth Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans, and he sent them a salutation from Timothy, "Timothy my fellow-worker saluteth you" (Ro 16:21).

10. Salutations:

In connection with this salutation from Timothy, it should be noticed that it was Paul's custom to associate with his own name that of one or more of his companions, in the opening salutations in the Epistles. Timothy's name occurs in 2Co 1:1; Php 1:1; Col 1:1; Phm 1:1. It is also found, along with that of Silvanus, in 1Th 1:1 and 2Th 1:1.

11. At Ephesus:

On Paul's 3rd missionary journey, Timothy again accompanied him, though he is not mentioned until Ephesus was reached. This journey involved much traveling, much work and much time. At Ephesus alone more than two years were spent. And when Paul's residence there was drawing to a close, he laid his plans to go to Jerusalem, after passing en route through Macedonia and Achaia. Accordingly he sent on before him "into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus" (Ac 19:22).

12. To Corinth Again:

From Ephesus Paul wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1Co 16:8), and in it he mentioned (1Co 16:10) that Timothy was then traveling to Corinth, apparently a prolongation of the journey into Macedonia. After commending him to a kind reception from the Corinthians, Paul proceeded to say that Timothy was to return to him from Corinth; that is, Timothy was to bring with him a report on the state of matters in the Corinthian church.

13. In Greece:

Soon thereafter the riot in Ephesus occurred; and when it was over, Paul left Ephesus and went to Macedonia and Greece. In Macedonia he was rejoined by Timothy, whose name is associated with his own, in the opening salutation of the Second Epistle, which he now wrote to Corinth. Timothy accompanied him into Greece, where they abode three months.

14. In Jerusalem:

From Greece the apostle once more set his face toward Jerusalem, Timothy and others accompanying him (Ac 20:4). "We that were of Paul's company" (Ac 21:8 the King James Version), as Luke terms the friends who now traveled with Paul-and Timothy was one of them-touched at Troas and a number of other places, and eventually reached Jerusalem, where Paul was apprehended. This of course terminated, for the time, his apostolic journeys, but not the cooperation of his friends, or of Timothy among them.

15. In Rome:

The details of the manner in which Timothy was now employed are not recorded, until he is found once more with Paul-during his 1st imprisonment in Rome. But, from that point onward, there are many notices of how he was occupied in the apostle's service. He is mentioned in three of the Epistles written by Paul at this time, namely, in Col 1:1, and Phm 1:1, in both of which his designation is "Timothy our brother," and in Php 1:1, "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus." In Php 2:19, there is the interesting notice that, at a time when Paul's hope was that he would soon be liberated from his imprisonment, he trusted that he would be able to send Timothy to visit the church at Philippi:

16. To Visit Philippi:

"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state..... But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send forthwith."

17. Appointed to Ephesus:

Paul's hope was realized: he was set free; and once again Timothy was his companion in travel. Perhaps it was in Philippi that they rejoined each other, for not only had Paul expressed his intention of sending Timothy there, but he had also said that he hoped himself to visit the Philippian church (Php 1:26; 2:24). From this point onward it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to trace the course of Paul's journeys, but he tells us that he had left Timothy as his delegate or representative in Ephesus (1Ti 1:3); and soon thereafter he wrote the First Epistle to Timothy, in which he gave full instructions in regard to the manner in which he should conduct the affairs of the Ephesian church, until Paul himself should again revisit Ephesus: "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly" (1Ti 3:14).

18. His Position in Ephesus:

"The position which Timothy occupied in Ephesus, as it is described in 1 Timothy, cannot without doing the greatest violence to history be called that of a bishop, for the office of bishop existed only where the one bishop, superior to the presbytery, represented the highest expression of the common church life. The office was for life, and confined to the local church. This was particularly the case in Asia Minor, where, although as early as the time of Revelation and the time of Ignatius, bishoprics were numerous and closely adjacent, the office always retained its local character. On the other hand, Timothy's position at the head of the churches of Asia was due to the position which he occupied as Paul's helper in missionary work. It was his part in the apostolic calling, as this calling involved the oversight of existing churches. Timothy was acting as a temporary representative of Paul in his apostolic capacity at Ephesus, as he had done earlier in Corinth, and in Thessalonica and Philippi (1Co 4:17; 1Th 3:2 f; Php 2:19-23). His relation was not closer to one church than to the other churches of the province; its rise and disappearance did not affect at all the organization of the local congregations" (Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, II, 34).

19. Paul Summons Him to Rome:

From the Second Epistle still further detail can be gathered. Paul was a second time imprisoned, and feeling that on this occasion his trial would be followed by an adverse judgment and by death, he wrote from Rome to Timothy at Ephesus, affectionately requesting him to come to him: "Give diligence to come shortly unto me" (2Ti 4:9). The fact that at that time, when no Christian friend was with Paul except Luke (2Ti 4:11), it was to Timothy he turned for sympathy and aid, closing with the request that his own son in the faith should come to him, to be with him in his last hours, shows how true and tender was the affection which bound them together. Whether Timothy was able to reach Rome, so as to be with Paul before his execution, is unknown.

20. Mention in Hebrews 13:

One other notice of him occurs in Heb 13:23: "Know ye that our brother Timothy hath been set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you." As the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not Paul, it is problematical what the meaning of these words really is, except that Timothy had been imprisoned and-unlike what took place in Paul's case-he had escaped death trod had been set free.

21. His Character:

Nothing further is known of him. Of all Paul's friends, with the exception, perhaps, of Luke, Paul's beloved friend, Timothy was regarded by him with the tenderest affection; he was his dearly loved son, faithful and true. Various defects have been alleged to exist in Timothy's character. These defects are inferred from the directions and instructions addressed to him by Paul in the Pastoral Epistles, buy these inferences may be wrong, and it is a mistake to exaggerate them in view of his unbroken and unswerving loyalty and of the long and faithful service rendered by him to Paul, "as a child serveth a father" (Php 2:22).

Written by John Rutherfurd

Nave's Topical Bible

Timothy: Name Of and Definition Of

Called also TIMOTHEUS, the companion of Paul

Timothy: Parentage Of

Act 16:1

Timothy: Reputation and Christian Faith Of

Act 16:2; 1Cr 4:17; 16:10; 2Ti 1:5; 3:15

Timothy: Circumcised

Becomes Paul's companion,

Act 16:3; 1Th 3:2.

Timothy: Left by Paul at Berea

Act 17:14

Timothy: Rejoined Paul at Corinth

Act 17:15; 18:5

Timothy: Sent into Macedonia

Act 19:22

Timothy: Rejoined by Paul

Accompanies Paul to Asia,

Act 20:1-4.

Timothy: Sent Salutation to the Romans

Rom 16:21

Timothy: Sent to the Corinthians

1Cr 4:17; 16:10, 11;

see postscript to 1 Corinthians 16:24.

Timothy: Preached to the Corinthians

2Cr 1:19

Timothy: Sent to the Philippians

Phl 2:19, 23

Timothy: Sent to the Thessalonians

1Th 3:2, 6

Timothy: Left by Paul in Ephesus

1Ti 1:3

Timothy: Confined with Paul in Rome

Phl 2:19-23; Phm 1:1; Hbr 13:23;

with the postscripts to Philippians 4:23, Philemon 1:25, and Hebrews 13:25

Timothy: Ordained Bishop of the Ephesians

See postscript to 2 Timothy 4:22

Timothy: Joined Paul in the Letters

To the Philippians,

Phl 1:1;

to the Colossians,

Col 1:1, 2;

to the Thessalonians,

1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1;

to Philemon,

Phm 1:1.

Timothy: Acts as Paul's Amanuesis (Scribe)

In writing the first letter to the Corinthians,

see the postscript to 1 Corinthians 16:24;

in writing letter to the Hebrews,

see the postscript to Hebrews 13:25.

Timothy: Zeal Of

Phl 2:19-22; 1Ti 6:12

Timothy: Power Of

1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6

Timothy: Paul's Love For

1Cr 4:17; Phl 2:22; 1Ti 1:2, 18; 2Ti 1:2-4

Timothy: Paul Writes To

1Ti 1:1, 2; 2Ti 1:1, 2

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Timothy:

The disciple thus named was the son of one of those mixed marriages which, though condemned by stricter Jewish opinion were yet not uncommon in the later periods of Jewish history. The father's name is unknown; he was a Greek, i.e. a Gentile, by descent (Acts 16:1, 3). The absence of any personal allusion to the father in the Acts or Epistles suggests the inference that he must have died or disappeared during his son's infancy. The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice and her mother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). Under their training his education was emphatically Jewish. "From a child" he learned to "know the Holy Scriptures" daily. The language of the Acts leaves it uncertain whether Lystra or Derbe was the residence of the devout family. The arrival of Paul and Barnabas in Lycaonia, A.D. 44 (Acts 14:6) brought the message of glad tidings to Timothy and his mother, and they received it with "unfeigned faith." (2 Timothy 1:5). During the interval of seven years between the apostle's first and second journeys the boy grew up to manhood. Those who had the deepest insight into character, and spoke with a prophetic utterance, pointed to him (1 Timothy 1:18; 4:14) as others had pointed before to Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2) as specially fit for the missionary work in which the apostle was engaged. Personal feeling led St. Paul to the same conclusion (Acts 16:3) and he was solemnly set apart to do the work and possibly to bear the title of evangelist (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6; 4:5). A great obstacle, however, presented itself. Timothy, though reckoned as one of the seed of Abraham, had been allowed to grow up to the age of manhood without the sign of circumcision. With a special view to the feelings of the Jews making no sacrifice of principle, the apostle, who had refused to permit the circumcision of Titus, "took and circumcised" Timothy (Acts 16:3). Henceforth Timothy was one of his most constant companions. They and Silvanus, and probably Luke also, journeyed to Philippi (Acts 16:12) and there the young evangelist was conspicuous at once for his filial devotion and his zeal (Philippians 2:22). His name does not appear in the account of St. Paul's work at Thessalonica, and it is possible that he remained some time at Philippi. He appears, however, at Berea, and remains there when Paul and Silas are obliged to leave (Acts 17:14) going afterward to join his master at Athens (1 Thessalonians 3:2). From Athens he is sent back to Thessalonica, ibid., as having special gifts for comforting and teaching. He returns from Thessalonica, not to Athens, but to Corinth, and his name appears united with St. Paul's in the opening words of both the letters written from that city to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). Of the next five years of his life we have no record. When we next meet with him, it is as being sent on in advance when the apostle was contemplating the long journey which was to include Macedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem and Rome (Acts 19:22). It is probable that he returned by the same route and met St. Paul according to a previous arrangement (1 Corinthians 16:11) and was thus with him when the Second Epistle was written to the church of Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:1). He returns with the apostle to that city, and joins in messages of greeting to the disciples whom he had known personally at Corinth, and who had since found their way to Rome (Romans 16:21). He forms one of the company of friends who go with St. Paul to Philippi, and then sail by themselves, waiting for his arrival by a different ship (Acts 20:3-6). The absence of his name from Acts 27:1 … leads to the conclusion that he did not share in the perilous voyage to Italy. He must have joined the apostle, however, apparently soon after his arrival at Rome, and was with him when the Epistles to the Philippians, to the Colossians and to Philemon were written (Philippians 1:1; 2:19; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1). All the indications of this period point to incessant missionary activity. From the two Epistles addressed to Timothy we are able to put together a few notices as to his later from 1 Timothy 1:3 that he and his master after the release of the latter from his imprisonment, A.D. 63, revisited proconsular Asia; that the apostle then continued his Journey to Macedonia, while the disciple remained, half reluctantly, even weeping at the separation (2 Timothy 1:4) at Ephesus, to check, if possible, the outgrowth of heresy and licentiousness which had sprung up there. The position in which he found himself might well make him anxious. He used to rule presbyters most of whom were older than himself (1 Timothy 4:12). Leaders of rival sects were there. The name of his beloved teacher was no longer honored as it had been. We cannot wonder that the apostle, knowing these trials should be full of anxiety and fear for his disciple's steadfastness. In the Second Epistle to him, A.D. 67 or 68, this deep personal feeling utters itself yet more fully. The last recorded words of the apostle express the earnest hope, repented yet more earnestly, that he might see him once again (2 Timothy 4:9; 4:21). We may hazard the conjecture that he reached him in time, and that the last hours of the teacher were soothed by the presence of the disciple whom he loved so truly. Some writers have seen in Hebrews 13:23) an indication that he even shared St. Paul's imprisonment, and was released from it by the death of Nero. Beyond this all is apocryphal and uncertain. He continued, according to the old traditions, to act as bishop of Ephesus, and died a martyr's death under Domitian or Nerva. A somewhat startling theory as to the intervening period of his life has found favor with some. If he continued, according to the received tradition, to be bishop of Ephesus, then he, and no other, must have been the "angel" of the church of Ephesus to whom the message of Revelation 2:1-7 was addressed.