Epistles to Timothy

The two Epistles to Timothy, in the New Testament of the Bible, are classified with the Epistle to Titus as the Pastoral Epistles. They are addressed by Saint Paul to his companion, Timothy, leader of the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3), who is known from Acts and other epistles. The letters are pastoral in that they urge Timothy to combat false teaching and guide his people in preserving the truth; they also give detailed instructions concerning the duties of bishops, deacons, widows, and other Christians. Many scholars think that these letters were written about AD 100 in Paul's name, rather than by Paul himself, because the language differs from that of the other epistles. They carry a heavy emphasis on tradition being handed on, and church structures seem more developed than in Paul's day.

Anthony J Saldarini

Bibliography
M Dibelius and H Conzelmann, The Pastoral Epistles (1972); P N Harrison, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles (1921).

Epistles to Timothy

Brief Outline

1. Personal testimony (1:1-20)
2. Official regulations (2:1-4:5)
3. Administrative counsel (4:6-6:21)

Second Epistle

1. Memories of the past (1:1-18)
2. Mandate for the future (2:1-26)
3. Menace of Apostasy (3:1-17)
4. Memoranda for action (4:1-22)

Tim'othy

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 (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.

First Epistle to Timothy

Paul in this epistle speaks of himself as having left Ephesus for Macedonia (1:3), and hence not Laodicea, as mentioned in the subscription; but probably Philippi, or some other city in that region, was the place where this epistle was written. During the interval between his first and second imprisonments he probably visited the scenes of his former labours in Greece and Asia, and then found his way into Macedonia, whence he wrote this letter to Timothy, whom he had left behind in Ephesus. It was probably written about A.D. 66 or 67. The epistle consists mainly, (1) of counsels to Timothy regarding the worship and organization of the Church, and the responsibilities resting on its several members; and (2) of exhortation to faithfulness in maintaining the truth amid surrounding errors.

(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)

Second Epistle to Timothy

The Second Epistle to Timothy was probably written a year or so after the first, and from Rome, where Paul was for a second time a prisoner, and was sent to Timothy by the hands of Tychicus. In it he entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (comp. Phil. 2:22). He was anticipating that "the time of his departure was at hand" (2 Tim. 4:6), and he exhorts his "son Timothy" to all diligence and steadfastness, and to patience under persecution (1:6-15), and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office (4:1-5), with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of quick and dead.

(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)