To this man the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony.
ος εμαρτυρειτο υπο των εν λυστροις και ικονιω αδελφων
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Great was Timothy’s faith, if it is attested by all. When Barnabas separated from him, Paul found one equal to him. He himself says this: “remembering your tears, ... your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” (2 Tim 1:4-5).
From the beginning Paul had set this rule for himself: “to preach the Gospel, not where Christ had been named, lest I build on another man’s foundation; but, as it is written, they shall see to whom no news of Him had come, and they who have not heard shall understand.”
This is how he himself expresses it in Rom 15:20 and 2 Cor 10:16. He wished to open for himself the field of labor and the spread of the Gospel, and not to enter another’s field.
Therefore he did not now go, as at the beginning of the first journey, to the island of Cyprus. Instead, through the borders of Syria and Cilicia he came to Pisidia.
There he visited the border cities where he had labored during his first journey.
In the city of Lystra, Acts 16:1, ἐκεῖ, certainly in Lystra, he found a youth named Timothy.
Timothy had received a pious upbringing from his mother Eunice, a devout Hebrew woman, though married to a Gentile. This upbringing did not remain fruitless in him.
During Paul’s first stay in that city, his mother had turned to Christianity. Even the young Timothy became a zealous confessor of the Gospel.
In the churches of Lystra and the neighboring city of Iconium, he was known to all for his zeal in the faith.
In the public assemblies of the believers, there were testimonies of prophets who proclaimed that Timothy had been appointed by God Himself for great works on behalf of the Gospel; 1 Tim 1:18.
It pleased Paul to have with him such a zealous young man. Timothy could help him in the labors of preaching, and under his guidance could himself be formed into a great preacher.
The young man himself was ready, out of love for their common Lord and for Paul himself, to follow him everywhere.
Since Timothy by origin belonged on one side to the Jews and on the other to the Gentiles, he was all the more fit to accompany the apostle among both Gentiles and Jews.
To bring him still closer to the latter, Paul had him circumcised. In this there was no violation of the universally recognized rights of Christians from the Gentiles.
As the son of a Jewish woman, brought up in Judaism, he could be claimed by the Jews more than by the Gentiles.
Passing through Syria and Cilicia, the Apostle Paul reached Derbe and Lystra. In the latter city, he called to his aid a new companion, a certain Timothy. Since Timothy had a Gentile father and had not been circumcised, the Apostle Paul circumcised him. This was to make it possible for him to preach among the Jews, who were numerous in those places. Yet among those who had already believed, Paul did not cease here also to proclaim the decrees of the apostolic council. He called Christians to observe them strictly (verses 1-5).
Commended by the goodwill of the brethren, the apostles set out from Antioch first into Syria and Cilicia, where they strengthened the churches.
Then they visited the cities of Derbe and Lystra. In the latter, the Apostle Paul found a new fellow laborer for himself, the young Timothy.
Timothy became the most beloved and most devoted disciple of the great apostle.
He was the son of the widow Eunice. As a pious Jewess, though married to a Greek, she gave her son a good upbringing in the fear of God and in reverence for his elders.
From childhood he studied Holy Scripture. Both by upbringing and by character he was a man capable of every self-sacrifice for the sake of the faith. For this reason he was highly esteemed by the apostle.
Despite his youth, he resolved to accompany the Apostle Paul on his great missionary journey. He rendered important service both to the apostle personally and to the whole Christian Church.
“The brethren testified concerning Timothy” means that they bore good testimony to him. They recommended him to the apostle on account of his good qualities.
Since the brethren, that is, Christians, recommended him, they recommended him as a good Christian.
“The brethren who were in Lystra” means in the city where Timothy lived with his parents. They therefore had the opportunity to know well Timothy’s Christian qualities.
This was all the more so because the community of disciples, that is, Christians, in that city was hardly very numerous.
“And in Iconium”; see the note on Acts 13:51. Timothy’s good qualities were known not only to the Christians in his native city, but also in neighboring Iconium.
This shows that he truly was not an ordinary man. He was distinguished by high virtues, which were to be perfected still more under the guidance of such a teacher as the great Apostle Paul.
The testimony of the Christians concerning Timothy was, of course, favorable and in keeping with his great piety. What caused a certain disturbance for the Jews was that Timothy had not been circumcised.
The Apostolic Council had decided that converts from the Gentiles could be Christians without circumcision. But Timothy was half Jewish, and therefore he could also be circumcised.
This was especially for the sake of his preaching to the circumcised. Without it, they might have regarded him with unfavorable prejudice, and even contempt, as the son of a Greek Gentile.
Paul cut this sort of Gordian knot by circumcising Timothy himself. Then he took him with him as a full-fledged evangelist, not only for the Gentiles but also for the Jews.
It was for their sake, properly speaking, that the circumcision under the Law was performed upon Timothy. In the days of grace it has no significance; see 1 Cor 7:19.
“Worthy of wonder is the wisdom of Paul,” exclaims Saint John Chrysostom. “He had so strongly opposed circumcision. He had used every measure and did not rest until he reached his goal.
“Yet when this teaching had been confirmed, he circumcised his disciple. He not only did not forbid others, but did it himself.
“No one is wiser than Paul: in everything he looked to what was profitable. ‘Because of the Jews.’ This was the reason for the circumcision, for they would not have listened to the word from one uncircumcised.
“He circumcised in order to bring circumcision to an end.”
Blessed Theophylact adds to this: “If the Jews accused Paul so vehemently concerning Trophimus the Ephesian, because they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple, and he was from the Greeks, what would Paul himself have had to endure if an uncircumcised man were with him as a teacher?
“He did everything for the salvation of the Jews.”
Thus, if he circumcised Timothy so as not to place an obstacle before the conversion of the local Jews to Christ, this action can hardly be seen as yielding to the opinion of the Judaizers.
Nor can it be seen as a violation of Christian freedom, for which the holy Apostle Paul constantly contended. “In this action,” says Bishop Michael, “the great apostle’s high practical wisdom was expressed.”
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THEOSIS