Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
2 Timothy 1:1-7, Lois, Eunice and the laying on of hands
Writing from custody, Paul greets Timothy as his dear son, thanks God as he remembers him in prayer night and day, recalls the faith of Timothy's grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, and urges him to fan into flame the gift given when Paul laid hands on him.
2 Timothy 1:1-7, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul writes from custody to Timothy, whom he calls his dear son, and says he remembers him in prayer constantly and longs to see him. He recalls Timothy's sincere faith, first seen in his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. He urges Timothy to stir up the gift God gave him when Paul laid hands on him, since God's Spirit brings power, love and self-control, not fear.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/family-first\/","n":"The family's name","s":"Families lived, worked and stood together. Walking out of the family business or putting kin second was a public offense.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/women-in-public\/","n":"Women in public","s":"Custom kept unrelated men and women apart in public. Teachers warned men against talking much with women, a stranger was not to speak with a woman alone, and a woman's word counted for little in court. Most women were also taught far less than men, so a call for women to learn stood out.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/laying-on-of-hands\/","n":"Laying on of hands","s":"Hands laid on a person to bless, to heal, or to set someone apart for a task, the way Moses laid hands on Joshua. In the early church it went with prayer, the gift of the Spirit and sending people out.","r":""}
Whether Paul wrote the Pastoral Letters is set out in the note on 1 Timothy 1:1-11. Carson, Moo and Morris call 2 Timothy, full of personal touches, "probably the hardest of the three Pastorals to claim as pseudonymous", as do Keener and his notes; Wright's biography says to start with it, and Wright and Bird report the proposal that it alone is Paul's. If Paul's, it comes from a second Roman custody shortly before his death: about AD 64 (Keener), 64 or 65 (the ESV Study Bible), about 66 (the Zondervan dictionary), 66 or 67 on Eusebius's date for the martyrdom (Carson, Moo and Morris), or 67 or 68 (the atlas). Wright notes that sons were often apprenticed to their fathers, learning by watching. A boy's mother was his main mentor until five or seven, and Jewish Scripture education began by five or six (Keener and his notes). Timothy's mother and grandmother were Jews, probably converted at Lystra on Paul's first journey (the dictionary); his father was a Gentile, perhaps a God-fearer (the cultural backgrounds notes). On the laying on of hands, Carson, Moo and Morris suggest it may be nearer the later confirmation than ordination.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to 2 Timothy (Authorship, Situation), and on 2 Timothy 1:5
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Introduction to 2 Timothy (Setting), and note on 2 Timothy 1:5
- ESV Study Bible, Introduction to 2 Timothy, Date, and study note on 2 Timothy 1:6
- N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography, ch. 14, From Caesarea to Rome, and Beyond?
- N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, The New Testament in Its World, ch. 23, The Pastoral Epistles, Authorship, option 3
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 15, The Pastoral Epistles: The Ecclesiastical Organization; 2 Timothy, Date and Destination
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, comment on 2 Timothy 1:1-7
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entries Eunice and Overview of 2 Timothy
- Carl G. Rasmussen, Zondervan Atlas of the Bible, Paul's later years
