repent (1 Cor. iv. 18-21). But Titus seems to have reported that the factious opposition to St. Paul’s authority was even more bitter than it was before 1 Corinthians was written. The Apostle’s post- ponement of his visit gave the malcontents courage to break out into open defiance (2 Cor. x. 10-12).
13. On learning all these facts from Titus, in part consoling, in part most distressing, St. Paul wrote the Second Canonical Epistle to the Corinthians, associating the name of Timothy with his own in the address at the beginning.! The principal person entrusted with the carriage of the letter was, as was natural, Titus (2 Cor. viii. 17), whose former mission had been so prudently and honourably discharged (2 Cor. xii. 17, 18). With Titus were associated two
1 It will be convenient to state at this point the view of Timothy’s movements which has been adopted. We learn from 1 Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10, that he was sup- posed by St. Paul to be on his way to Corinth when the First Canonical Epistle was written, and that the Apostle expected him to return to Ephesus with “ the brethren” who were the bearers of that letter (x Cor. xvi. 11). It does not appear that he was entrusted with any special mission to the Corinthian Church, the language of 1 Cor. iv. 17, “who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which be in Christ,” being suggestive rather of informal conference than of a formal embassy, and that of 1 Cor. xvi. 10, 11 implying, as it would seem, that Timothy is to be welcomed at Corinth only as a passing visitor on his way back to the Apostle’s side. Now it is natural to identify this journey made by Timothy with that recorded in Acts xix. 22, where St. Paul is said during the last weeks of his stay in Ephesus to have “ sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus”, Timothy had been associated with St. Paul on his first visit (about the year 50) to the cities of Macedonia (Acts xvii. 14, 15, xviii. 5), and he was evidently a suitable lieutenant to send in advance to prepare the way for the Apostle’s second visit. Most probably the business of the collection in Macedonia was entrusted to him to organise. And the date of this journey of Timothy to Macedonia (January or February, 55) well agrees with the date which must be assigned to the journey ἡ referred to in 1 Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10. The plan seems to have been to visit the churches of Macedonia (this, the important purpose of the journey, is all that is mentioned in Acts) and then to return to Ephesus by sea from Corinth (this, as the only point in the journey interesting to the Corinthians, is alone mentioned in 1 Cor.). Erastus, Timothy’s fellow-traveller on this occasion, bore the same name © as the city treasurer at Corinth, whom we find there about February, 56 (Rom. xvi. 23), as well as at a later period (2 Tim. iv. 20) ; and it is highly reasonable to identify him with this important member of the Corinthian Church, and to suppose that when we find him with Timothy he was on his way home. Timothy is also found at Corinth in St. Paul’s company when the Epistle to the Romans was written (Rom. xvi. 21) ; but we have nothing to show us whether or no he had got so far during the preceding spring. It is on the whole probable that he found so much to do in Macedonia that he stayed there during the whole spring and summer of 55 (so Light- foot, Biblical Essays, p.276f.). At any rate we meet with him next in Macedonia (and probably, as we have seen, at Philippi) in St. Paul’s company about the month of November, 55, when 2 Corinthians was despatched (2 Cor. i. 1),