SPECIAL TOPIC: TIMOTHY

  1. His name means "one who honors God."
  2. He was the child of a Jewish mother and a Greek father and lived in Lystra (cf. Acts 16:1).  The Latin translation of Origen's commentary on Rom. 16:21 says Timothy was a citizen of Derbe.  This is possibly from Acts 20:4.
  3. He was instructed in the Jewish faith (or Christian faith) by his mother and grandmother (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14-15).
  4. He apparently trusted Christ during Paul's first missionary journey (cf. Acts 14:6-7).
  5. He was asked to join Paul and Silas' missionary team on the second journey (cf. Acts 16:1-5), apparently to take John Mark's duties.  He was confirmed by prophecy (cf. 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14).
  6. He was circumcised by Paul in order to work with both Jews and Greeks (cf. Acts 16:3).
  7. He was a dedicated companion of Paul and became his Apostolic delegate.  He is mentioned by name more than any other of Paul's helpers (17 times in 10 letters, cf. Rom. 16:21; 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10; Phil.1:1; 2:19,22; Col. 1:5; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4).
  8. Paul affectionately calls him
    1. "my true child in the faith" (cf. 1 Tim. 1:2)
    2. "my beloved son" (cf. 2 Tim. 1:2)
    3. "my true child in a common faith" (cf. Titus 1:4)
    4. "my beloved and faithful child in the Lord" in 1 Cor. 4:17
  9. He was apparently in Rome when Paul was released from prison and accompanied him on his fourth missionary journey (cf. Col. 1:1; Philemon 1:1).
  10. He is called an "apostle" in 1 Thess. 2:6 in the sense of an ongoing spiritual gift for the churches (cf. Eph. 4:11; see SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTLE [send]).
  11. Two of the three Pastoral Letters are addressed to him.
  12. He is last mentioned in Heb. 13:23 (but chronologically in 2 Tim. 1:2).

 

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