Timothy in Smiths Bible Dictionary

The disciple thus named was the son of one of those mixed marriages which, though condemned by stricter Jewish opinion were 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. Ac 16:1,3 The absence of any personal allusion to the father in the Acts or Epistles suggests the inference that he must have died or disappeared during his son's infancy. The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice and her mother Lois. 2Ti 1:5 Under their training his education was emphatically Jewish. "From a child" he learned to "know the Holy Scriptures" daily. The language of the Acts leaves it uncertain whether Lystra or Derbe was the residence of the devout family. The arrival of Paul and Barnabas in Lycaonia, A.D. 44, Ac 14:6 brought the message of glad tidings to Timothy and his mother, and they received it with "unfeigned faith." 2Ti 1:5 During the interval of seven years between the apostle's first and second journeys the boy grew up to manhood. Those who had the deepest insight into character, and spoke with a prophetic utterance, pointed to him, 1Ti 1:18; 4:14 as others had pointed before to Paul and Barnabas, Ac 13:2 as specially fit for the missionary work in which the apostle was engaged. Personal feeling led St. Paul to the same conclusion, Ac 16:3 and he was solemnly set apart to do the work and possibly to bear the title of evangelist. 1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6; 4:5 A great obstacle, however, presented itself. Timothy, though reckoned as one of the seed of Abraham, had been allowed to grow up to the age of manhood without the sign of circumcision. With a special view to the feelings of the Jews making no sacrifice of principle, the apostle, who had refused to permit the circumcision of Titus, "took and circumcised" Timothy. Ac 16:3 Henceforth Timothy was one of his most constant companions. They and Silvanus, and probably Luke also, journeyed to Philippi, Ac 16:12 and there the young evangelist was conspicuous at once for his filial devotion and his zeal. Phm 2:22 His name does not appear in the account of St. Paul's work at Thessalonica, and it is possible that he remained some time at Philippi. He appears, however, at Berea, and remains there when Paul and Silas are obliged to leave, Ac 17:14 going afterward to join his master at Athens. 1Th 3:2 From Athens he is sent back to Thessalonica, ibid., as having special gifts for comforting and teaching...