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Topic:
Persons
Of The Bible -- Timothy
The name Timothy is from the Greek name
Τιμοθεος (Timotheos) meaning
"honouring God", derived from τιμαω (timao)
"to honour" and θεος (theos)
"god".
The account of the life of Timothy from
Easton
's Bible Dictionary.
Timothy was 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 (2 Tim.
1:5). We know nothing of his father but that he was a Greek (Acts 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 (1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim.
3:11). The apostle having formed a high opinion of his "own son in
the faith," arranged that he should become his companion (Acts
16:3), and took and circumcised him, so that he might conciliate the
Jews. He was designated to the office of an evangelist (1 Tim. 4:14),
and went with Paul in his journey through
Phrygia
,
Galatia
, and Mysia; also to Troas and Philippi and
Berea
(Acts 17:14). Thence he followed Paul to
Athens
, and was sent by him with Silas on a mission to Thessalonica (17:15; 1
Thess. 3:2). We next find him at
Corinth
(1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1) with Paul. He passes now out of sight for a
few years, and is again noticed as with the apostle at
Ephesus
(Acts 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 (Phil. 1:1), where it appears he also suffered
imprisonment (Heb. 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 (2 Tim. 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.
The account of the life of Timothy from
Easton
's Bible Dictionary.
Timothy 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. (Philemon 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. (Philemon 1:1; 2:19; Colossians
1:1) Phil. ver. 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 4:9,21) 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.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible
Dictionaries
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