CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 16:1. Derbe and Lystra (see Acts 14:6) are now visited by Paul and Silas in reverse order to that followed in the first journey. There meant Lystra, not Derbe, as has been wrongly inferred out of Acts 20:4. The son of a certain woman, etc., should be, the son of a believing Jewish woman, whose name was Eunice, the daughter of Lois (2 Timothy 1:5), both pious females who instructed him in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15), but of a Greek father, whoError! Hyperlink reference not valid. may have been a proselyte, and was certainly uncircumcised.
Acts 16:2. Well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.—This may well have been if Timothy had been converted on the occasion of Paul’s first visit to the former city, and if since that he had been engaged in evangelistic labours both there and in Iconium.
Acts 16:3. Circumcised him.—Whether by Paul’s own hand (Meyer, De Wette), or by that of another (Neander) is immaterial. Any Israelite might perform the rite, though no heathen could (see Riehm’s Handwörterbuch des Biblischen Altertums, art. Beschneidung). On the seeming inconsistency of this act with Paul’s refusal to circumcise Titus (Galatians 2:3), see “Homiletical Analysis.”
Acts 16:4. The mention of the decrees confirms the historic credibility of chap. 15.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.
Acts 16:1-5. Paul and Silas in Lycaonia; or, Meeting with Timothy
I. The missionaries and the Churches.—
1. The Churches visited by the missionaries. Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, which are mentioned in reverse order from that in which they were first introduced
(14), because on this occasion Paul and his companion approached them from Tarsus by travelling, most likely, through the Cilician gates. “And if indeed Paul and Silas took this route, and passed through the narrow gorge, under its frowning cliffs of limestone, clothed here and there with pine and cedar, which to the Crusaders presented an appearance so terrible that they christened it the Gates of Judas, how far must they have been from imagining, in their wildest dreams, that their footsteps—the footsteps of two obscure and persecuted Jews—would lead to the traversing of that pass centuries afterwards by kings and their armies” (Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul, i. 456).
2. The special work done by the missionaries. Twofold.
(1) Confirming the Churches (Acts 15:41), doubtless by preaching (see Acts 15:32; Acts 15:41).
(2) Delivering them the apostolic decrees (Acts 16:4), presumably with exposition and enforcement on the part of both Paul and Silas.
3. The result of their labours in the Churches.
(1) Intensive: establishment or strengthening in the faith, in the belief, love, and practice of the truth.
(2) Extensive: increase in number daily, first of believers and next of Churches.
II. Paul and Timothy.—
1. Details of Timothy’s history.
(1) His birthplace. Not Derbe (Neander), but Lystra (see Acts 20:4).
(2) His parentage. His father a Greek; whether living, or dead, and, if living, whether a proselyte, or a heathen, cannot be told. If alive and a proselyte, he was most likely uncircumcised. His mother a believing Jewess, by name Eunice, the daughter of Lois (2 Timothy 1:5), also a Christian disciple. Mixed marriages, condemned by Paul (1 Corinthians 7), “were far less strictly forbidden to women than to men” (Farrar).
(3) His character “well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.” Supposing him to have been converted during Paul’s first visit to Lystra (Acts 14:8), he would at the time of Paul’s second visit be a disciple of three or four years’ standing, and during the interval may have given ample proof both at Lystra and Iconium of his interest in the cause of the gospel.
2. Paul’s desire to have him as a colleague in the ministry (compare 2 Timothy 4:5). This may have arisen from a variety of motives. Paul may have
(1) considered him from his talents and graces eminently qualified for the work; or
(2) felt drawn towards him from the fact that he (Paul) had been the means of his conversion (1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:2); or
(3) recognised in his mixed Jewish and Greek descent, a circumstance calculated to be helpful in propagating the gospel in such mixed communities as were about to be visited; or
(4) wished to have a third companion in place of John Mark, as already he had Silas in room of Barnabas. (See further “Hints” on Acts 16:3.)
3. Paul’s conduct in causing him to be circumcised.
(1) The reason. “Because of the Jews that were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” In Paul’s estimation it would have hindered Timothy’s and perhaps his own usefulness among the Jews had he accepted as a colleague one of Jewish descent who was not circumcised. In other words, it would have looked strange that Paul should ask of Timothy (a half Jew) less of conformity to the law than was demanded of a heathen who became a proselyte of righteousness.
(2) The consistency. Paul’s conduct in circumcising Timothy—whether with his own hand or by that of another is uncertain—has been pronounced irreconcilable with his refusal to circumcise Titus (Galatians 2:3). Of course, if Titus was circumcised (Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul, i. 412–420), the subjection of Timothy to the same ritual requires no explanation; but if, as most hold, Titus was not circumcised, then no apology is needed further than to say, the circumstances were entirely different. To have yielded in the case of Titus would have been to concede the obligatory character of circumcision for Gentiles as well as Jews; to have left Timothy uncircumcised would simply have prevented him from finding access to the Jews. Paul acted on the principle laid down in 1 Corinthians 9:20.
4. Timothy’s ordination to the work of the ministry. Not mentioned in the Acts, this may be gathered from the pastoral epistles (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:14).
Learn.—
1. The value of a pious mother.
2. The advantage of early conversion.
3. The influence of a good name.
4. The duty of becoming all things to all men in order to gain some.
5. The benefit that flows from a peaceful disposal of controversies.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 16:1. A Certain Disciple named Timothy.
I. The son of a pious mother.—The advantage of being descended from godly parents. The influence of good mothers. The power of heredity in religion.
II. A student of the word of God.—Instructed in the Scriptures from his youth. Value of Bible education. The profit of beginning early.
III. A disciple of Jesus Christ.—Circumstances that favoured his conversion—his birth and education in a pious home. What presumably led to his decision for Christ—listening to Paul’s preaching, possibly witnessing Paul’s stoning (Acts 19:19). Advantages of early conversion—greater happiness, longer usefulness, higher advancement in grace.
IV. A preacher of the gospel.—A. fitting termination to Timothy’s career. The noblest occupation a young man can follow.
The Pious Mothers of the Bible.
I. Jochebed, the mother of Moses.
II. Hannah, the mother of Samuel.
III. Mary, the mother of Jesus.
IV. Salome, the mother of Zebedee’s children.
V. Eunice, the mother of Timothy.
Mixed Marriages.
I. Not permissible to Christians (2 Corinthians 6:14).
II. Seldom beneficial to either party. The Christian more likely to become unchristian than vice versâ.
III. Not to be dissolved, if formed before the conversion of either (1 Corinthians 7:10).
Acts 16:3. Paul’s Companions on the Second Missionary Journey.—
1. Silas, or “Silvanus, as Paul constantly names him, was an older man (than Paul), who had already made his appearance in foreign Churches as a prophet and teacher, and Paul constantly speaks of him as an associate of equal rank with himself. A prophet of the mother Church, who in the moment of general falling away steps manfully forward upon Paul’s side, must also have been an energetic and whole-souled man, of stronger tenacity than Barnabas and the others, and that Paul always speaks of him as a co-founder with himself of the Churches established in this period shows that he was to the apostle even more than an assistant. Then, if Silas was a sufficient compensation for Barnabas, who had departed to Cyprus, on the other hand Paul contemplated supplying the lack of John Mark through the taking with him of a younger man. For whilst the disciples of Jesus were accustomed to set forth two and two, Paul preferred, for various reasons suggested by the aim of his mission, that his travel company should consist of three. As he formerly journeyed with Barnabas and Mark, and on the present occasion travelled with Silas and Timothy, so worked he afterwards with Titus and Timothy in Macedonia and Achaia, and again with two, Luke and Aristarchus, sailed to Rome.”
2. Timothy. “The fresh young comrade whom the two older men now took with them was even then famed among the Christian Churches in Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium. Of no apostolic scholar is so concrete a picture handed down as of Timothy.… Through the pastoral epistles to Timothy we possess a complete tradition concerning Timothy which nevertheless may perfectly well include in itself elements of true history.… But in any case, out of Paul’s own letters (i.e., his acknowledged epistles), it is clear that Paul could entrust even difficult commissions to ‘the son of his heart, his beloved son in the Lord.’ Fixing our eyes exclusively on Paul’s own expressions concerning Timothy, we can see that modesty and even shyness were fundamental features in his character, so that Paul occasionally bespeaks for him a friendly reception that he might be able to appear amongst those to whom he is sent without fear (1 Corinthians 16:10). Forceful natures, like Paul, are often conscious of an inward attraction towards such quiet and gentle helpers; and just for this reason Paul rated the modest Timothy far above all his other fellow-labourers (Philippians 2:20). Nor was he deceived in him, since in persecution and bonds the younger disciple remained true to him when stronger natures fell away, and even after the apostle’s death he belonged to the best-known travelling preachers of the second generation (Hebrews 13:23). Tradition has endowed Timothy like another Achilles with eternal youth, so that in the epistles to Timothy, which, according to tradition, were composed towards the end of Paul’s activity, he appears the same youngling as he had been when first called by the apostle to the holy work (1 Timothy 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:22). Indeed, so high stood his reputation in the Church at this time, that his future career was said to have been pointed out by prophet voices (1 Timothy 1:18); whilst with great earnestness tradition asserted he had been a genuine scholar of Paul (1 Timothy 2:2).”—Hausrath, “Der Apostel Paulus,” pp. 258–260.
Acts 16:5. The Strength of a Church. Consists in—
I. The number of its members.
II. The enlightenment of their faith.
III. The cheerfulness of their obedience.
IV. The completeness of their organisation.