[—3.
τυρεῖτο ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Λύστροις καὶ ᾽Ικονίῳ ἀδελφῶν.
339
3. τοῦτον
ἠθέλησεν 6 Παῦλος σὺν αὐτῷ ἐξελθεῖν, καὶ λαβὼν περιέτεµεν αὐτὸν διὰ τοὺς Ιουδαίους τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις: ᾖδεισαν
it could only have been as a “ proselyte of the gate,” otherwise Timothy would surely have been circumcised. We can- not argue from the fact that the boy had been trained in the Jewish Scriptures that his father was a proselyte, for the early training of the child was evidently the work of the mother, 2 Tim. iii. 15. But such a duty according to Jewish law rested primarily upon the father, and the fact that the father here is described as a Greek, without any qualifying adjective as in the case of the wife, indicates that he was a heathen, see Weiss, in loco; Edersheim, ¥ewish Social Life, p. 115. [The mother, Eunice (on spelling see Hastings’ B.D.), may conceivably have been a proselyte, as the name is Greek, as also that of Lois, but *lovS. seems to indicate that she was a Jewess by birth. Whether she was a widow or not we cannot say, although there is some evi- dence, see critical note, which points to the influence of some such tradition. On the picture of a Jewish home, and the influence of a Jewish mother, see Edersheim, u. δ.--πιστῆς: Lydia uses the same term of herself in ver. 15. Both mother and son were probably converted in St. Paul’s former visit, and there is no reason to suppose with Nosgen that the conversion of the latter was a proof of the growth of the Church in the Apostle’s absence.
Ver. 2. ἐμαρτυρεῖτο, cf. vi. 3, x. 22, xxii. 12. The good report which may well have been formed to some extent by the aptitude and fitness which Timothy had shown in the Church during St. Paul’s absence may also have helped the Apostle in the selection of his future companion. The union of Lystra and Iconium is quite natural for common inter- course, Ramsay, St. Paul, p.178. There is no reason to suppose with Rendall that Iconium would be the home of Eunice, as the synagogue and principal Jewish colony were there, see Edersheim, µ. s.
Ver.3. περιέτεµεν αὐτὸν: the act might be performed by any Israelite ; cf. Gen. xvii. 23 for a similar phrase which may in- dicate that St. Baul performed the act him- self. See also Ramsay, Cities and Bishop- rics of Phrygia, ii., 674; the marriage and the exemption of Timothy from the Mosaic law may be regarded as typical of a relaxa- tion of the exclusive Jewish standard in
Lycaonia and Phrygia, and an approxima- tion of the Jew to the pagan population around him, confirmed as it is by the evi- dence of inscriptions.—814 τοὺς Ἰ.: the true answer to the objection raised against Paul’s conduct may be found in his own words, 1 Cor. ix. 20 (cf. 1 Cor. vii. 19). As a missionary he would have to make his way amongst the unbelieving Jews in the parts which were most hostile to him, viz., Antioch and Iconium, on his road into Asia. All along this frequented route of trade he would find colonies of Jews in close communication, and the story of Timothy’s parentage would be known (Ramsay, St. Paul, p. 180). But if so,
‘his own usefulness and that of Timothy
would be impaired, since his Jewish countrymen would take offence at seeing him in close intercourse with an un- circumcised person (a reason which McGiffert admits to be conceivable, Apostolic Age, p. 232), and Timothy would have been unacceptable to them, since with a Jewish mother and with a Jewish education he would be regarded as one who refused to adhere to the Jewish rule: ‘‘ partus sequitur ventrem ” (see Wetstein and Ndésgen), and to remedy the one fatal flaw which separ- ated him from them: see, however, B. Weiss, Die Briefe Pauli an T., Introd., Ῥ. 2, who disagrees with this reason, whilst he lays stress on the other reason mentioned above. On the other hand, both among unbelieving and Christian Jews alike the circumcision of Timothy would not fail to produce a favourable impression, Amongst the former the fact that the convert thus submitted even in manhood to this painful rite would have afforded the clearest evidence that neither he nor his spiritual father despised the seal of the covenant for those who were Jews according to the flesh, whilst the Christian Jews would see in the act aloyaladherence to the Jerusalem decree, It was no question of enforcing circum- cision upon Timothy as if it were neces-, sary to salvation ; it was simply a question of what was necessary under the special circumstances in which both he and Paul were to seek to gain a hearing for the Gospel on the lines of the Apostolic policy ; ‘to the Jew first, and also to the Greek’’; “neque salutis zterne causa Timotheus circumciditur, sed utilitatis,