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Timothy

Timothy Tim"o*thy, n., or Timothy grass Tim"o*thy grass` [From Timothy Hanson, who carried the seed from New England to Maryland about 1720.] (Bot.) A kind of grass ({Phleum pratense}) with long cylindrical spikes; -- called also {herd s grass}, in England, {cat s-tail grass}, and {meadow cat s-tail grass}. It is much prized for fodder. See Illustration in Appendix. [1913 Webster]

Timothy Tim"o*thy (Bible) A disciple and companion of St. Paul. He was the son of a Greek and a Jewess, and his home was either at Derbe, or Lystra in Lycaonia. Paul set him apart as a minister of the new gospel, and after preaching in Macedonia and Achaia, he went, at Paul s request to Ephesus, and accompanied the apostle to Jerusalem. It was to him that the two epistles to Timothy were addressed by the apostle Paul. According to tradition, Timothy suffered martyrdom under Domitian. --The Student s Cyclopedia, 1897. [PJC]

Bible Dictionary

Timothy
The disciple thus named was the son of one of those mixedmarriages which, though condemned by stricter Jewish opinionwere 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 allusionto the father in the Acts or Epistles suggests the inferencethat he must have died or disappeared during his son s infancy.The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice andher mother Lois. (2 timothy 1:5) Under their training hiseducation was emphatically Jewish. "From a child" he learned to"know the Holy Scriptures" daily. The language of the Actsleaves it uncertain whether Lystra or Derbe was the residenceof the devout family. The arrival of Paul and Barnabas inLycaonia, A.D. 44, (acts 14:6) brought the message of gladtidings to Timothy and his mother, and they received it with"unfeigned faith." (2 timothy 1:5) During the interval of sevenyears between the apostle s first and second journeys the boygrew up to manhood. Those who had the deepest insight intocharacter, and spoke with a prophetic utterance, pointed tohim, (1 timothy 1:18; 4:14) as others had pointed before toPaul and Barnabas, (acts 13:2) as specially fit for themissionary work in which the apostle was engaged. Personalfeeling led St. Paul to the same conclusion, (acts 16:3) and hewas solemnly set apart to do the work and possibly to bear thetitle of evangelist. (1 timothy 4:14; 2 timothy 1:6; 4:5) Agreat obstacle, however, presented itself. Timothy, thoughreckoned as one of the seed of Abraham, had been allowed togrow up to the age of manhood without the sign of circumcision.With a special view to the feelings of the Jews making nosacrifice of principle, the apostle, who had refused to permitthe circumcision of Titus, "took and circumcised" Timothy.(acts 16:3) Henceforth Timothy was one of his most constantcompanions. They and Silvanus, and probably Luke also,journeyed to Philippi, (acts 16:12) and there the youngevangelist was conspicuous at once for his filial devotion andhis zeal. (philemon 2:22) His name does not appear in theaccount of St. Paul s work at Thessalonica, and it is possiblethat he remained some time at Philippi. He appears, however, atBerea, and remains there when Paul and Silas are obliged toleave, (acts 17:14) going afterward to join his master atAthens. (1 thessalonians 3:2) From Athens he is sent back toThessalonica, ibid., as having special gifts for comforting andteaching. He returns from Thessalonica, not to Athens, but toCorinth, and his name appears united with St. Paul s in theopening words of both the letters written from that city to theThessalonians, (1 thessalonians 1:1; 2 thessalonians 1:1) Ofthe next five years of his life we have no record. When we nextmeet with him, it is as being sent on in advance when theapostle was contemplating the long journey which was to includeMacedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem and Rome. (acts 19:22) It isprobable that he returned by the same route and met St. Paulaccording to a previous arrangement, (1 corinthians 16:11) andwas thus with him when the Second Epistle was written to thechurch of Corinth. (2 corinthians 1:1) He returns with theapostle to that city, and joins in messages of greeting to thedisciples whom he had known personally at Corinth, and who hadsince found their way to Rome. (romans 16:21) He forms one ofthe company of friends who go with St. Paul to Philippi, andthen sail by themselves, waiting for his arrival by a differentship. (acts 20:3-6) The absence of his name from (acts 27:1)... leads to the conclusion that he did not share in theperilous voyage to Italy. He must have joined the apostle,however, apparently soon after his arrival at Rome, and waswith him when the Epistles to the Philippians, to theColossians and to Philemon were written. (philemon 1:1; 2:19;colossians 1:1) Phil. ver. 1. All the indications of thisperiod point to incessant missionary activity. From the twoEpistles addressed to Timothy we are able to put together a fewnotices as to his later from (1 timothy 1:3) that he and hismaster after the release of the latter from his imprisonment,A.D. 63, revisited proconsular Asia; that the apostle thencontinued his Journey to Macedonia, while the discipleremained, half reluctantly, even weeping at the separation, (2timothy 1:4) at Ephesus, to check, if possible, the outgrowthof heresy and licentiousness which had sprung up there. Theposition 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 ofhis beloved teacher was no longer honored as it had been. Wecannot wonder that the apostle, knowing these trials should befull of anxiety and fear for his disciple s steadfastness. Inthe Second Epistle to him, A.D. 67 or 68, this deep personalfeeling utters itself yet more fully. The last recorded wordsof the apostle express the earnest hope, repented yet moreearnestly, that he might see him once again. (2 timothy 4:9,21)We may hazard the conjecture that he reached him in time, andthat the last hours of the teacher were soothed by the presenceof the disciple whom he loved so truly. Some writers have seenin (hebrews 13:23) an indication that he even shared St. Paul simprisonment, 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 somewhatstartling theory as to the intervening period of his life hasfound favor with some. If he continued, according to thereceived tradition, to be bishop of Ephesus, then he, and noother, must have been the "angel" of the church of Ephesus towhom the message of (revelation 2:1-7) was addressed.