Timothy (3)

3. TIMOTHY, a Disciple of St. Paul’s.

He was of Derbe, or rather of Lystra, both Acts xvi. 1. xiv. 6.Cities of Lycaonia. His Father was a Gentile, but his Mother was a Jewess. Her Name was Eunice, and his Grandmother’s Name was Lois. These Particulars are taken notice of, because St. Paul commends their Piety, and the good Education they had given Timothy. When St. Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, about the Year of Christ 51 or 52, the Brethren gave a very advantageous Testimony of the Merit and good Dispositions of Timothy, and the Apostle would have him along with him. He circumcised him at Lystra, before he received him into his Company. Timothy applied himself to Acts xvi. 3.labour along with him in the Business of the Gospel, and did him very important Services, through the whole Course of his Preaching. ‘Tis not known when he was made Bishop; but it is believed that he received very early the Imposition of the Apostles Hands, and that in consequence of a particular Revelation, or Order from the Holy Ghost. St. Paul names him not only his dearly beloved Son, but also his Brother, 1 Tim. iv. 14. 2 Tim. i. 6.the Companion of his Labours, and a Man of God. He avowed that there was none more united with him in Heart and Mind than St. Timothy.

This holy Disciple accompanied St. Paul to Macedonia, to Philippi, to Thessalonica, to Berea: And when the Apostle went from Berea, he left Timothy and Silas there, to confirm the Converts. When he came to Athens, he sent to Timothy to come thither to him: a And when he was come, and had given him an Account of the Churches of Macedonia, St. Paul sent him back to Thessalonica, from whence he afterwards returned with Silas, and came to St. Paul at Corinth. There he continued with him; and the Apostle names him along with Silas, at the Beginning of the two Epistles he then wrote to the Thessalonians.

Acts xvii. 14, 15, 16, &c. Acts xvi. 5. Acts xix. 21, 22. 1 Cor. iv. 17.Some Years after this, St. Paul sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia;¹ and gave Timothy Orders to call at Corinth, to refresh the Minds of the Corinthians as to the Truths that he had inculcated to them: And some time after, writing to the same Corinthians, he recommends to them to have care of Timothy, and to send him back in peace. After which Timothy returned to St. Paul into Asia, who there stayed for him. They went together into Macedonia; and the Apostle puts Timothy’s Name with his own, before the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which he wrote to them from Macedonia, about the middle of the Year of Christ 57; and he sends his Recommendations to the Romans, in the Letter which he Rom. xvi. 21. Acts xx. 4.wrote them from Corinth, the same Year.

Tho’ it does not appear by the Acts, that Timothy was with St. Paul the two Years that he was Prisoner at Cæsarea, nor during his whole Voyage to Rome; yet as Timothy had accompanied him in his Journey to Jerusalem, where he was apprehended, it is likely he followed him also to Cæsarea, and thence to Rome; and it is certain he was in this last named City at the time the Apostle wrote to the Philippians, the Colossians, and to Philemon, because he is named jointly along with him, in the Titles of these three Epistles, which were written in the Years 60, 61, and 62. And the Year following, when St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews,² he tells them, that Timothy was come out of Prison: But he tells us no Circumstances, either of the Imprisonment, or of the Delivery of this Disciple.

When St. Paul returned from Rome, in 64, he left Timothy at Ephesus,³ to take care of that Church, of which he was the first Bishop, as he is recognized by the Council of Chalcedon.⁴ St. Paul wrote to him from Macedonia the first of the two⁵ 2 Tim. iv. 10, 11, 12, 13.Letters that are addressed to him. He recommends to him to be more moderate in his Austerities, and to drink a little Wine,⁶ because of the Weakness of his Stomach, and his frequent Infirmities. And after the Apostle came to Rome, in the Year 65, being now very near his Death, he wrote to him his second Letter, which is full of the Marks of his Kindness and Tenderness for this his dear Disciple, and which is justly looked upon as the Last Will of St. Paul. He desires him to come to Rome to him before Winter, and to bring along with him several things that St. Paul had left at Troas. If Timothy went to Rome, as it is probable he did, he must be a Witness there of the Martyrdom of this Apostle, in the Year of Christ 66.

He return’d to Ephesus, probably in the Year 67, and continued to govern this Church as its Bishop; for St. John the Evangelist, who was there at the same time, had the Care of the Churches of all Asia, by an Authority superior to that of Bishops. The Acts of St. Timothy, of which Photius has transmitted an Abridgment to us,⁷ import, that on January 22, of the Year 97, the Pagans of Ephesus made a great Feast, in which they carried in Procession the Images of their Gods, being masked and armed with great Clubs; that St. Timothy rushed into the midst of them, to prevent this idolatrous Superstition, but they killed him with Stones and with their Clubs. His Disciples took him from thence, and carried him upon a Mountain near the City, where he was buried. The Greeks, Usuard, and some other Latins, put his Feast on the same Day, the 22⁸ of January; but Bede, Raban, Adon, and others, place it on the 24th of the same Month. The ancient Martyrologies, which bear the Name of Jerome, mention him on the 27th of September.

If he did not die before the Year 97, we can hardly doubt but that he must be the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, to whom St. John writes in his Revelation: Tho’ the Rev. ii. 1. 2, 3, &c.Reproaches that the Holy Ghost there makes to him, of having left his first Love, do not seem to agree to so holy a Man as Timothy was. Thus he speaks to him: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them lyers: And hast born, and hast patience, and for my name sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. The greatest part of Interpreters think, that these Reproaches do not so much concern the Person of St. Timothy, as that of some Member of his Church, whose Zeal was grown cool. But others are persuaded that they may even be imputed to St. Timothy himself, who made ample Attonement by the Martyrdom he suffered, for what the Holy Ghost reproaches him with in this Place. We are not to think that the Saints are in an impeccable State, and that their Zeal never suffers any Diminution. ‘Tis thought that Timothy had Onesimus for his Successor.

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