Timothy's influences

The Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary 2. Thanksgiving (1:3–5)

The thought of Timothy’s faith stimulates the memory of his grandmother’s and mother’s faith. But there is difference of opinion among commentators whether the Christian or Jewish faith is here meant. The use of the word first (prōton) in this context has been supposed to indicate that Lois was a devout Jewess and was the first to inculcate religious faith in Timothy; in other words from his earliest days he had been surrounded by religious faith. Yet if Christian faith is intended, prōton may mean that Lois was the first to become a Christian, followed by Eunice and her son. The reference to Timothy’s parents in Acts 16:1 is little help in solving this question since the word ‘believer’ used of Eunice could apply equally to both Jewish and Christian believers. Since by her marriage to a Greek Eunice cannot have been a strictly orthodox Jewess, it seems more probable that Christian faith is meant (cf. comment on 3:15). The lack of mention of Timothy’s father, who according to Acts 16:1 was a Greek, was probably because he was not a Christian (cf. Jeremias). Such personal details bear a genuine stamp and some scholars who dispute the authenticity of the Pastorals as a whole list this passage among the genuine fragments (e.g. Falconer). It is difficult to believe that a pseudonymous writer would have thought of mentioning Timothy’s forebears by name if the Epistle was directed to some ‘Timothy’ of a later age.

2 Timothy 1:5 KJV 1900

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

1:5. So many, it seems, had opposed or deserted Paul (cf. 1:15; 2:17; 3:1–9, 13; 4:3–4, 10–21) that Timothy’s sincere (anypokritou, “unhypocritical”; cf. 1 Tim. 1:5) faith stood out in bold relief. Paul attributed Timothy’s faith to the influence of his Jewish mother Eunice and grandmother Lois, both of whom were believers (cf. Acts 16:1). Timothy’s father was a Gentile and probably an unbeliever; hence no mention of him is made here. According to this verse, Paul seems to attribute Timothy’s conversion to his mother and grandmother (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15). References to Timothy as Paul’s son in the faith (cf. 1:2; 2:1; 1 Tim. 1:2) could therefore probably be understood to mean a mentor-protégé relationship.1

1 Litfin, A. D. (1985). 2 Timothy. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 750). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

5. When I call to remembrance—This increased his “desire to see” Timothy. The oldest manuscripts read, “When I called to remembrance”; implying that some recent incident (perhaps the contrasted cowardice of the hypocrite Demas, who forsook him) had reminded him of the sincerity of Timothy’s faith.

faith that is in thee—Alford translates, “that was in thee.” He remembers Timothy’s faith in the past as a fact; its present existence in him is only matter of his confident persuasion or hope.

which—Greek, “such as.”

dwelt—“made its dwelling” or abode (Jn 14:23). The past tense implies they were now dead.

first—before it dwelt in thee. She was the furthest back of the progenitors of Timothy whom Paul knew.

mother Eunice—a believing Jewess; but his father was a Greek, that is, a heathen (Ac 16:1). The faith of the one parent sanctified the child (2 Ti 3:15; 1 Co 7:14). She was probably converted at Paul’s first visit to Lystra (Ac 14:6). It is an undesigned coincidence, and so a mark of truth, that in Ac 16:1 the belief of the mother alone is mentioned, just as here praise is bestowed on the faith of the mother, while no notice is taken of the father [Paley, Horae Paulinae].

and—Greek, “but,” that is, notwithstanding appearances [Alford].

persuaded that—it dwells, or it shall dwell “in thee also.” The mention of the faith of his mother and grandmother is designed as an incentive to stir up his faith.1

1 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 422). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

2 Timothy 1:5

The expression I am reminded is literally “taking remembrance” or “receiving remembrance.” The word for “remembrance” occurs only three times in the New Testament: here and twice in 2 Peter. The verb form means primarily “to recall,” “to cause oneself to remember,” “to think again about something,” “to refresh one’s memory.” In some languages it will be helpful to say “I also remember.”

For sincere faith see 1 Tim 1:5.

The word for dwelt occurs only twice in the Pastoral Letters, here and in 1:14. Literally the verb can be translated “be at home,” which defines the depth and extent to which faith has become a vital and integral part of their lives. It may be difficult in some languages to retain the figure here of faith dwelling in someone, in which case other figures need to be substituted; for example, “implanted” or “living.” It may even be necessary to remove the figure and translate the meaning directly; for example, “Your trust in Christ is as genuine as that of your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.” In some languages it is more natural to mention the mother before mentioning the grandmother; this in fact is what CEV has done: “I also remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same sort of faith, and I am sure that you have it as well.”

For first see 1 Tim 2:1. The word is used here to indicate chronology and not value or importance. It is possible to understand from this verse that in a chronological sense Timothy’s grandmother was the first one in their family to believe in Jesus Christ. It is more likely, however, that this verse follows the usual way of listing family members, which is from the oldest to the youngest.

Both Eunice and Lois are mentioned only here in the New Testament. The word for grandmother likewise occurs only here in the whole New Testament. In some languages there is a distinction between a grandmother on the father’s side and a grandmother on the mother’s side. This verse does not explicitly say which kind of grandmother Lois is, but the mention of Eunice as Timothy’s mother seems to imply that Lois is Eunice’s mother and therefore would be a grandmother on the mother’s side. The book of Acts informs us that Timothy’s father was a Greek and his mother was a Jew (Acts 16:1). This means then that Eunice was also Jewish, since she was the mother of a Jewish woman. This also explains why Lois was able to teach the Scriptures to Timothy from his childhood (2 Tim 3:14): she herself had a good teacher in her own mother Eunice. Lois and Eunice are Greek names and may be strange names for Jewish women, but at that time Jewish people were often given non-Hebrew names.

I am sure translates the perfect passive of a verb that has the primary meaning of “to convince or persuade someone about something,” but in the present context it means “to be certain,” “to be confidently sure.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

I remember how you believe truly in Christ, just as your grandmother Lois and your mother also believed before you did. I am sure that you still believe like this.1

1 Arichea, D. C., & Hatton, H. (1995). A handbook on Paul’s letters to Timothy and to Titus (pp. 171–172). New York: United Bible Societies.

  Ver. 5. “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee.”

This is another commendation, that Timothy came not of Gentiles, nor of unbelievers, but of a family that served Christ from the first. (Acts 16:1, 3.)

“Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice.”

For Timothy, it says, “was the son of a certain woman which was a Jewess, and believed.” How a Jewess? how believing? Because she was not of the Gentiles, “but on account of his father, who was a Greek, and of the Jews that were in those quarters, he took and circumcised him.” Thus, as these mixtures of Jews and Gentiles took place, the Law began gradually to be dissolved. And mark in how many ways he shows that he did not despise him. “I serve God,” he says, “I have a true conscience” for my part, and thou hast thy “tears,” and not thy tears only, but for “thy faith,” because thou art a laborer for the Truth, because there is no deceit in thee. As therefore thou showest thyself worthy of love, being so affectionate, so genuine a disciple of Christ; and as I am not one of those who are devoid of affection, but of those who earnestly pursue the Truth; what hindered me from coming to thee?

“And I am persuaded that in thee also.”

From the beginning, he means, thou hast had this excellency. Thou receivedst from thy forefathers the faith unfeigned. For the praises of our ancestors, when we share in them, redound also to us. Otherwise they avail nothing, but rather condemn us; wherefore he has said, “I am persuaded that in thee also.” It is not a conjecture, he means, it is my persuasion; I am fully assured of it. If therefore from no human motive thou hast embraced it, nothing will be able to shake thy faith.1

1 John Chrysostom. (1889). Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to Timothy. In P. Schaff (Ed.), J. Tweed & P. Schaff (Trans.), Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon (Vol. 13, pp. 476–477). New York: Christian Literature Company.

5. When I call to remembrance, &c. This increased his ‘desire to see’ Timothy. [C Δ G f g, Vulgate, read lambanōn. But א‎ A, labōn, ‘when I called to remembrance:’ implying that some recent incident (perhaps the contrasted cowardice of the hypocrite Demas, who forsook him) had reminded him of the sincerity of Timothy’s faith.] ‘Having received reminding.’ [Anamnesis, when one recalls to mind something past; hupomnesis, when one is reminded by another (2 Pet. 3:1).] faith that is in thee [tēs en soi]—not merely, as Alford, ‘that was in thee.’ which [hētis]—‘the which:’ as being that which in particular. dwelt [ἐνῴκησεν]—‘made its dwelling’ (John 14:23). The past tense implies they were now dead. first. The family pedigree of indwelling faith began first with Lois, the furthest back of Timothy’s progenitors whom Paul knew. mother Eunice—a believing Jewess; but his father was a Greek—i. e., a heathen (Acts 16:1). The faith of the one parent sanctified the child (1 Cor. 7:14; ch 3:15). She was probably converted at Paul’s first visit to Lystra (Acts 14:6, 7). It is an undesigned coincidence, and so a mark of truth, that in Acts 16:1, just as here, the belief of the mother alone is mentioned, whilst no notice is taken of the father (Paley’s ‘Horæ Paulinæ’). and [de]—‘but;’ i. e., notwithstanding appearances (Alford). Rather, ‘moreover.’ The more persuaded Paul is of Timothy’s faith, the more he exhorts him to stir up the gift of God (Leo). persuaded that—it dwells “in thee also.” The faith of his mother and grandmother is the incentive used to stir up his faith.1

1 Brown, D., Fausset, A. R., & Jamieson, R. (n.d.). A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Acts–Revelation (Vol. VI, p. 502). London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited.

5 A third motivation for Paul’s gratitude is family faith. In broad terms, all in the church are siblings sharing the same Father God and in that sense constitute the household of God (1 Tim 3:15). They are family in that they share a de facto God-family tie. But in some cases the kinship of shared loyalty to Jesus (cf. Mark 3:33–35) is matched by the blood kinship of family members. Among Jesus’s followers were the brothers James and John (Mark 3:17), as well as Andrew and Simon (John 1:40). His disciples eventually included his mother and his brothers James and Jude. Paul recalls not only Timothy’s tears (2 Tim 1:4) but also Timothy’s faith (v. 5), particularly in the forms it assumed “first” (prōton) in Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. It is because of them, it seems, that Paul can later write to Timothy that “from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures,” through which he received the wisdom needed “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:15).

The strength of Timothy’s faith lies not only in its family heritage; Paul calls it “sincere” (from anypokritos). Of the New Testament’s six occurrences of this word, four are in Paul. Outside the PE Paul twice describes love (agapē) by this adjective (Rom 12:9; 2 Cor 6:6), which Danker glosses with words like “without pretense, unfeigned, genuine.” Timothy was no less committed to Christ than was Paul (1 Cor 16:10) nor any less solicitous for the welfare of the churches and “the interests … of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:19–22).

Another clue to the quality of Timothy’s faith may lie in Paul’s statement that it “lived” in his grandmother (perhaps mentioned first out of respect for age) and mother. The word translated “lived” (from Gk. enoikeō) is found only in Paul in the New Testament. Paul uses it to speak of the Spirit indwelling believers (Rom 8:11; 2 Tim 1:14), God living in the midst of his people (2 Cor 6:16, adapted from Lev 26:12), and “the message of Christ” dwelling lavishly among the Colossians (Col 3:16). In Paul, enoikeō describes divine, dynamic, and transforming presence. The faith of Timothy’s maternal forebears was not passive, merely external, or pro forma but deep and alive. “Lived in” (NIV) is accurate though perhaps a little bland.23 No wonder Timothy’s appropriation of this faith (not shared, it seems, by his father; Acts 16:1, 3) resulted in a fidelity and fervor that Paul found matched by few if any even among his distinguished coworkers (Phil 2:20).

Paul is “persuaded” (pepeismai) that the same faith continues to be present in Timothy. First person use of the root verb peithō is limited in the New Testament to one Pauline statement in Acts (26:26) and seven other uses in Paul’s letters (Rom 8:38; 14:14; 15:14; Gal 1:10; 5:10; Phil 2:24; 2 Tim 1:12). The expression is curious (lit. “But I am convinced that [the same faith dwells] also in you.”). Given short life spans in antiquity, perhaps the grandmother if not also the mother have already departed this life (“lived in” is aorist, which in itself does not prove Paul’s reference is to the past, though it would be appropriate if he is not referring explicitly to the present). They persevered to the end. Now it is Timothy’s turn to be as steadfast. Paul is optimistic (“persuaded”). But will Timothy vindicate this trust? Paul does not take it for granted as he moves next to call on Timothy to follow their dedicated lead.1

1 Yarbrough, R. W. (2018). The Letters to Timothy and Titus. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (pp. 352–354). Grand Rapids, MI; London: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.

Ver. 5.—“Remembering the unfeigned faith which is in thee.” Ὑπολαμβάνων, the recepta and Tischendorf after D.E.I.K. etc.: while Griesbach and Lachmann prefer λαβών after A.C.F.G., etc. To me, apart even from the fact that, on account of what precedes, the change of λαβών into λαμβ. is more easily explicable than the reverse, λαβών seems preferable, as thus the expression ὑπόμ. λαμβ. admits a more natural explanation, and ὑπόμνησις is elsewhere also transitive (comp. 2 Pet. 1:13; 3:1, as ὑπομιμνήσκω); although doubtless the explaining of ὑπόμ by recordatio, has its analogy in λήθην λαμβ. 2 Pet. 1:9. This conjecture renders our passage similar to Eph. 1:15; ἀκούσας τὴν καθʼ ὑμᾶς πίστιν … οὑ παύομαι εὐχαριστών, etc. In this case the apostle would refer to accounts received regarding Timothy (as in fact the epistle shews him acquainted with Timothy’s position) and which he may have obtained through Onesiphorus. Then μεμν. σου τῶν δακ. be understood not of tears of separation, but of tears shed at a distance for the absent apostle. The analogy of other passages led us to connect ὑπόμν. λαβ. with χάριν ἔχω. A closer examination seems to preclude every other construction; alike that of Matthies who makes it the ground of the definite expectation of joy, since it can belong to ἵνα χ. πλ. only as determining it in manner or in time; and that of De Wette, who regards it as an added motive to ἐπιποθῶν, for the entire construction thus involves an awkwardness which might have been easily avoided by placing ἵνα before μεμ. and adding καί. De Wette himself is dissatisfied with the construction, but attributes the fault to the author. On ἀνυπόκριτος πίστις, see at 1 Tim. 1:5, and Phil. 2:21, seq. As in his own case, the apostle deems it a blessing to have descended from pious and conscientious parents, so in that of Timothy. He is strengthened in the conviction that the unfeigned faith, which seems a maternal inheritance in the family of Timothy, has descended also to him: comp. at ver. 3, and as to the matter of fact, 3:15, “thou knowest from a child the holy scriptures,” of course through his mother’s care. Acts 16:1. This view of faith as an inheritance is clearly expressed in the following words “which dwelt first,” etc. This faith is the one subject which dwelt in his grandmother, mother, and now in himself (supply ἐνοικεῖ; De Wette). The “in thee,” however, is uttered with less objective certainty: it is a conviction, strengthened by the above adduced facts, but which he indeed summons Timothy still further to strengthen by his conduct. This propagation of faith is a divine blessing on the parents, but presupposing certainly a susceptible spirit in the child. The word ἐνοικεῖν (so only with Paul; comp. Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 6:16; Col. 3:16) represents faith, regarded objectively, as derived from without, viz., from God. Πρῶτον here in its strict sense “first” (Matthies): not “sooner than in thee” (De Wette, comparing Rom. 15:24). Critics take offence at the representation of Timothy as a youth, on which see at 1 Tim. 4:12. If we compare 1:3 of our passage this idea is done away. D. Baur regards this mention of his grandmother and mother as very singular, and believes that the author has woven in the names, furnished probably by tradition, in order to give to the contents of his epistle a more concrete and individual form. Our interpretation renders, I trust, this hypothesis superfluous. Comp. against it, Matthies.1

1 Olshausen, H., Ebrard, J. H. A., & Wiesinger, A. (1857–1859). Biblical Commentary on the New Testament by Dr. Hermann Olshausen. (A. C. Kendrick & D. Fosdick Jr., Trans.) (Vol. 6, pp. 188–189). New York: Sheldon, Blakeman, & Co.