Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek.
And he came to Derbe and Lystra: and there was a certain disciple there named Timothy, whose mother was one of the Jews of the faith, but his father was a Greek;
Then he came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain woman who was a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek.
He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek.
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess which believed; but his father was a Greek.
A certain disciple - Bishop Pearce would read the latter part of this verse and the beginning of the next thus - A certain disciple named Timotheus, (the son of a certain Jewish woman that believed, but of a father who was a Greek), who was well reported of by the brethren, etc.
This Timothy was the same person to whom St. Paul wrote those two noble epistles which are still extant. His mother's name was Eunice, as we learn from 2 Timothy 1:5. What his father's name was we know not; he was either a mere heathen, or, at most, only a proselyte of the gate, who never submitted to circumcision: had he submitted to this rite, he would, no doubt, have circumcised his son; but the son being without it is a proof that the father was so too. Some MSS. state that Timothy's mother was now a widow; but this does not appear to be well founded.
Then came he - That is, Paul in company with Silas. Luke does not give us the history of Barnabas, but confines his narrative to the journey of Paul.
To Derbe and Lystra - See the notes on Acts 14:6.
And behold, a certain disciple named Timotheus - It was to this disciple that Paul afterward addressed the two epistles which bear his name. It is evident that he was a native of one of these places, but whether of Derbe or Lystra it is impossible to determine.
The son of a certain woman ... - Her name was Eunice, 2 Timothy 1:5.
And believed - And was a Christian. It is stated also that her mother was a woman of distinguished Christian piety, 2 Timothy 1:5. It was not lawful for a Jew to marry a woman of another nation, or to give his daughter in marriage to a Gentile, Ezra 9:12. But it is probable that this law was not regarded very strictly by the Jews who lived in the midst of pagan nations. It is evident that Timothy, at this time, was very young; for when Paul besought him to abide at Ephesus, to take charge of the church there 1 Timothy 1:3, he addressed him then as a young man, 1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no man despise thy youth."
But his father was a Greek - Evidently, a man who had not been circumcised, for had he been Timothy would have been also.