-beloved son- of Paul, 1Co 4:17; 1Ti 1:2, 18
Timothy (Gr. Timotheos, “one who reverences God” or “worshipping God”; frequently occurs in Gr. inscriptions). Paul’s convert, as well as his traveling companion and assistant. He is first mentioned in connection with Paul’s visit to Lystra on his 2nd missionary journey (c 49 AD), when Timothy was already a Christian believer (Acts 16:1). It seems that he and members of his family were converted by Paul on the occasion of the apostle’s visit to that city (Acts 14: 8-18; cf 1 Tit 1: 2; 2 Tit 1: 1, 2, 5 ). He was half “Jewish” on his mother’s side and half “Greek” on his father’s (Acts 16:1), but was well instructed in religious matters and in the OT Scriptures by 2 pious women: his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois (Acts 16:1; 2 Tit 1:5; 3:15). As a young Christian, Timothy had earned an excellent reputation among the believers in Lystra and nearby Iconium (Acts 16:2), and, seeing in him a promising worker for God, Paul decided to associate him with him as an apprentice missionary. “Because of the Jews that were in those places,” Paul had Timothy circumcised to avoid unnecessary conflict over such matters (v 3; his father seems to have objected). The young man accompanied Paul as he revisited the churches of the region (vs 4, 5), and also when entering “Phrygia and the province of Galatia” (v 6); also when he went to Troas (vs 8, 9), and when taking the gospel to the great cities of Macedonia: Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea (cps 16: 9-17: 14). Unexpectedly forced to flee from Berea to Athens, Paul left Timothy and Silas there (17:14), but as soon as he reached the latter city he asked them to join him (vs 15, 16). The apostle immediately sent Timothy to Thessalonica to strengthen the new converts in that city (1Th 3:1, 2), so Silas and Timothy did not meet him again until later in Corinth (Acts 18:5; 1Th 1:1; 3:6; 2Th 1:1). It is quite possible that Timothy was still in Greece when Paul returned to Jerusalem the following year. We hear from Timothy again about 4 or 5 years later, during the 3 years that Paul’s ministry lasted in Ephesus, when the apostle sent him across the Aegean Sea to try to solve certain problems that had arisen in the Corinthian church (1Co 4:17); a mission that was apparently not as successful as might have been expected, given the severity of the tone of 2 Cor. 2 (cf. 1Co 16:10). Luke mentions that Timothy and Erastus were sent to Macedonia (Acts 19:21, 22). Paul followed soon after (2Co 1:1), and they met at Corinth (Rom 16:21), perhaps during the winter of AD 57 or 58. In the course of the following spring, the apostle, Timothy, and others began the journey back to Jerusalem, thus ending the 3rd missionary journey (Acts 20:4). It is not known whether Timothy was with Paul during the apostle’s imprisonment in Jerusalem and Caesarea, and during his journey to Rome. We hear of Timothy again during Paul’s 1st imprisonment in Rome (c 61-63 AD), perhaps towards its end, when the apostle mentions him, among other companions of his, in the epistles he wrote while in prison (Phi 1:1; 2:19-23; Col 1:1; FLam_1). During the period between his 1st and 2nd imprisonment (c 63-66 AD), he wrote Timothy his 1st epistle, 1161 perhaps c 64 AD When Paul left for Macedonia (1 Tit 1:3), he asked that he remain in Ephesus, apparently as pastor of the church in that city; the epistle contains the instructions given to him in view of that charge. But c 66 AD Paul was arrested again and taken to Rome, and towards the end of his 2nd imprisonment he wrote to him for the 2nd time urging him to join him soon (2 Tit 4:9), since his other companions had left to fulfill certain tasks in one place or another, and at least one of them had abandoned him (vs 10-13). At his 1st hearing Paul was alone (v 16), and now, suspecting that he would soon be executed (vs 6-8), he longed to enjoy fellowship with his “beloved son” Timothy. In Heb 13:23 Timothy is said to have been set free, but apart from this allusion we know nothing about his imprisonment. See Corinthians, Epistles to; Chronology (IX, 7). Timothy, Epistles a. Two letters which, along with that of Titus, are known as the “Pastoral Epistles”, since they were written to advise and instruct young ministers regarding the administration of the affairs of local churches. In the oldest Greek manuscripts the titles of these 2 epistles are called Prós Timótheon A (“To Timothy A”) and Prós Timótheon B (“To Timothy B”). I. Author. Generally speaking, from the very beginning these epistles were considered by early Christian scholars to be indeed Paul’s. Clement of Rome, towards the end of the 1st century AD, and Polycarp, in the middle of the 2nd century AD, used language that implies familiarity with these letters; and Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others, toward the end of that century, testified to the genuineness of these epistles by quoting them as part of the Scriptures, and by attributing them to the apostle; the Muratorian Canon (c AD 170) includes them among Paul’s epistles. However, many modern scholars reject the concept that he is its author, mainly: 1. Because of the difficulty they have in finding a place in his biography that allows locating the historical allusions mentioned in 1 Tit 1:3, 2 Tit 4:20 and Tit. 3:12 (as they appear in Acts and other passages in the epistles, the authenticity of which is incontestable). 2. Because of the relatively advanced state of development of the ecclesiastical organization (according to those scholars, it was impossible for it to be seen during Paul’s lifetime). 3. Because in some cases they consider that the warnings against the “arguments” (Gr. antithesis, opposition) “of science falsely called” (1 Tit 6:20) allude to a heretical work entitled Antitheses, written around the middle of the s II AD by Marcion, many of whose views resembled those of the Gnostics_4 Because the style and vocabulary of the pastoral letters differ markedly from that of Paul’s other epistles (about whose authenticity there is no doubt), they employ a considerable amount of words not found in any of these epistles. It is true that the objective and conclusive evidence that Paul is the author of these epistles is not as definite as in the case of the others attributed to him, but a careful examination of these objections shows us that they are highly subjective and unsubstantiated. Substantial Evidence: 1. It is unequivocally accepted that the historical allusions in the pastoral letters do not agree with the record of Paul’s life as given in Acts (cf Acts 18:19-21; 19:22; 20:4 ; 2Co 1:1). But this objection disappears if it is accepted that these letters were written after the period covered by Acts, which stops abruptly at the moment when Paul is in prison in Rome for 2 years (Acts 28:30), perhaps between 61 and 63 AD (without saying anything about the outcome of his appeal to the Roman Emperor). In the letters written from prison (Eph., Phil. Col. and Phlm.), generally accepted to have been written during the latter part of his 1st imprisonment, the apostle clearly anticipates his imminent release (Phi 2: 24; FLam_22). Therefore, when he writes to the Philippians, he encourages the hope that he will visit them very soon (Phi 2:24). There is ample evidence in the Pastoral Epistles that during the interval between his 1st and 2nd imprisonment, Paul traveled extensively to visit various Christian communities in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece (1 Tit 1:3; 2 Tit 4:13, 20; Tit. 1:5), and that it even reached Spain (Rom 15:24, 28). Certain passages clearly refer to people he had not mentioned before, places he had just visited, and other circumstances that do not match details of his life prior to his 1st incarceration (2 Tit 1:15-17; 4:6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21; Tit 1:5; 3:12). Therefore, there is good reason to believe that these letters were written during the interval between Paul’s 1st imprisonment and his execution. 2. There is no historical confirmation of the assumption that the fairly extensive development of church organization, reflected in the pastoral epistles, would indicate a period much later than the time of Paul. 3. The 1162 recent archaeological discoveries, the remarkable Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hamadi Gnostic Library (Chenoboscion,*Egypt) show that Gnostic teachings were already well developed by the 1st century AD 4. The argument based on differences in style and vocabulary between the pastoral epistles and those undeniably attributed to Paul, lose much of their weight when it is observed that the themes of those letters-various aspects of church organization and administration-are hardly they play on the other cards. On the other hand, many of the churches that Paul founded had already been in operation for 15 or 20 years. It is natural to expect that they would grow in membership and it would be necessary for them to have a more complex organization. Furthermore, the organization of the early Christian church was generally modeled after the Jewish synagogue. That certain persons named in the Pastoral Epistles (2 Tit 4:10, 13, 19, 21; Tit 3:12, 13) do not figure in any of Paul’s other epistles is further evidence that these letters come from a later period. most recent activity of the apostle. It is inconceivable that a later author would be so naive as to intentionally introduce a number of names that Paul does not mention anywhere, and at the same time claim that these letters were written by him. II. First and Second Epistles. A. Setting. The 1a was perhaps written towards the end of the interval between Paul’s 1st and 2nd imprisonment (c 63-66 AD), since he had evidently been at liberty for some time and had been visiting churches around the Aegean Sea (he had just from Ephesus and had left Timothy in charge of the church there). The 2nd was written c AD 66, towards the end of his 2nd imprisonment, perhaps not long before his execution, after appearing once in court (2 Tit 4:16, 17) and while awaiting the death sentence (vs 6 -9). The apostle had recently been to Troas, where his 2nd arrest apparently took place (v 13). B. Topics. As we already know, in 1 and 2 Ti. Paul addresses young Timothy, his “true son in the faith” (1 Tit 1:2) and his “beloved son” (2 Tit 1:2), whom he advises to conduct himself in an acceptable manner before God and for the edification of others. the flock that God had placed in his care. These exhortations to vigorous leadership may imply that he was mild-tempered and less aggressive than Paul thought he should be. …