Acts - Men and Women Close to Paul - Discussion - December 7, 1976
Men and Women Close to Paul
Part I: Discussion
December 7, 1976
I worked my fanny off on some of this stuff and didn’t get it done. I just couldn’t put it all
together. I just wondered if we couldn’t work on this and maybe put it together here with the
Corps. When we finally get this all put together I wondered if we then couldn’t just have it
mimeographed and give it to all the Corps every place, even those that have graduated. What
I’m after here, in this particular piece of work, are the men and women who are mentioned by
name who were close to Paul and many were companions in travel with him.
Maybe we can’t get it all done tonight, but I think they told you to bring your dictionaries and
stuff. We could go into, for instance, let’s look up Silas, if you brought it. Have I got any Corps
back there, like some of you women or any of you that want to handle this piece of work so that
you can do it and I don’t have to do it and you can learn doing it? Good! (Sue Wrenn and
Charlene Bishop volunteered.) I just made working copies for tonight. I think when we’re done
we ought to make a good copy and then everyone can have one.
Two things I’m interested in: original city they were from and the first mention in the Bible
with Paul. Take a look at Silas. In my dictionary it says, “A leading member of the church, who
also had prophetic gifts (Acts 15:22&32) I wonder if that’s the first mention of Silas. Look up
Acts 15:22; see if you have a center reference on Silas, and see what Bullinger does with it. A
concordance may work real good on this. The concordance says this is the first usage of Silas.
Acts 15:22&32
“Silas” is the same word as the word “Silvanus.” It’s a shortened form.
(Individual), “Dr. Bullinger says Silas was his Latin name.”
Yes, they think he was Semitic or something according to this dictionary.
(Individual), “Was he not a Roman citizen because he was cast into prison with Paul at the time
when the jailer got converted in Philippi?”
He was a Roman citizen, right. Acts 15:22 would be the first mention, but his original city I
haven’t seen in the Word, have you? I’m showing you what I want done.
(Individual), “It doesn’t say his original city, but it does say in Acts 16:37, Paul speaks of
himself and Silas as both being Romans.
We might make that note, that he was a Roman citizen. It might be of some interest in our
complete work of this. I don’t know what city he was from really; his original city, where he
was born.
Okay, look up the word “Timothy” now. Shouldn’t be any problem having a lot on this guy.
Okay, here, his mother was a Jewess and his father a Greek. That would be interesting to note
about Timothy, and this is in Acts 16:1. This is his first mention. That would be the home city
of Timothy, right? Lystra, so we’ll put that under Timothy.
(Individual), “Bullinger says that Timothy was born at either Derbe or Lystra.”
Where would we have a reference to Derbe?
(Individual), “In that same reference, Acts 16:1.”
Wonder why the dictionary says Lystra then?
(Individual), “Harper’s says both It could be one or the other.”
That’s what Bullinger said.
(Individual), “There’s another reference in Acts 20:4.”
I’m going to read that tonight: I think that’s where I got the idea that he was from Lystra. She’s
got the documentation that’s better than Bullinger. “Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of
Asia... Okay, I’ll take Lystra.
(Individual), “In Acts 16:2, it says he was well known in Lystra, not Derbe.”
Well, I know the two towns are very closely associated. They’re like Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Okay, do you see what I’m after now to try to build? Okay, Sue you take over. You guys see
what you can do, and I’m going to work on some of this other stuff. Boy, the parallel between
our twig work and the book of Acts and some of this stuff is absolutely phenomenal when you
work this.
(Individual), “Acts 15:22 it says, ‘send chosen men of their own company’ and where they
were at, at that time, was in Jerusalem.”
(Individual), “And in Acts 15:27, the elders at Jerusalem sent the letter with Barnabas and Paul
and sent Judas and Silas who would say the same things by mouth. That was from Jerusalem.”
Well, I would go with Jerusalem on Silas, because we don’t have anything else that says that he
wasn’t. Okay, let’s put Jerusalem for Silas. Now you have to do exactly what you’re doing. If
you see any added light or can check out anything while you’re moving from one to another,
you’ve just got to get your hand up and yell.
(Individual), “The New Bible Dictionary says under Timothy that he was from Lystra. When I
looked under Lystra, it seems to say that he was from Derbe.”
Yes, well, sounds like the work of a man. Okay, take Luke. We’ll be into the twentieth chapter
again and I’ve taught you this before. There are “we” sections in the book of Acts. Anytime it’s
the “we” section, then Luke is with Paul. But now find out what you can about Luke.
(Individual) – “I have a question; it says the “we” sections are with Luke, but in this dictionary
it says Timothy traveled the most with Paul out of any of the men.” So you’d have to count the
“we’s” to find out how much Luke was with Paul.
Well, I’ve done that, but I’ve forgotten. We’ll have two of them tonight in chapter 20.
Sue - Okay, let’s look up Luke. Has anyone found anything on Luke?
(Individual), “It says that he was probably from Antioch.”
Sue - Douglas says that he is probably from Antioch. Has anyone got any documentation on
that; have you found anything that backs that up from the Word?
(Individual), “The first mention of him from Bullinger is at Troas which is in Acts 16:10, and
that is the first of the ‘we’ sections. There are four ‘we’ sections that are listed. There’s a note
at the bottom, he says, ‘It was held until recently that Lucas was never represented, the Latin;
Lucas, but Sir W. Ramsay saw in 1912 an inscription on the wall of a temple in Antioch in
Pisida in which the names Laotus and Loitus, are used of the same person.’ That may be where
our notes come from on that thing on Antioch; his name appeared on a wall. But the portions
that actually refer to him, the ‘we’ sections are:
Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-l5; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16; and he’s got three other references to him in the
Epistles.”
(Individual), “She said it, it’s just that we hear of him at Troas in Acts 16:10, 11. That’s the
first mention of him, and that’s where they were when he is first mentioned.
(Individual), “Our dictionary says he’s of Macedonian origin.”
(Individual), “I have a note that says ‘Eusibius says Luke was from Antioch, but then later
Ramsey changed his mind and says he was from Philippi.’ But I ‘don’t know why.”
Sue - Wonder where people get all this stuff.
(Individual), “I remember a commentary saying that they were trying to make the man that he
saw in a vision to be Luke. So that would make him from Macedonia.”
(Individual), “Everyday Life in Bible Times says that apparently Luke now joined Paul, for at
this point now in the narrative the author writes in the first person plural. Acts 16:9 – ‘The
beloved physician...’”
Dr. - I’m interested in where the scripture says he was from Macedonia.
Sue - It seems that if we can’t come any closer than Troas, as far as what we can get right from
the Word itself, then that’s about the best we can do.
Dr. - That’s right. Then you put down what you get from the Word, and then you can add a
secular writer to it, if you want to. You can say; well, Eusibius says he’s from Macedonia. But
I’m interested in where does the Word say they’re from.
Sue -- Okay, so let’s go with Troas on Luke for the present time and if anybody comes up with
anything more original, as far as his life is concerned, then bring it up. That would be in Acts
16:8, the reference. Okay, let’s go on to Priscilla and Aquila--Acts 18:2.
Dr. - Okay, Paul met him first where? Corinth.
Sue -- Do we assume from that, it says Aquila was born in Pontius, what about Priscilla?
Dr. -Well, we have no record of that, so we’ll work the two together as the same thing.
Sue - Okay, Aquila and Priscilla, born in Pontius and got together with Paul at Corinth.
(Individual), “Another interesting point is that their names are always mentioned together.”
Sue - We need now to move down to Crispus...Acts 18:8.
(Individual), “He was converted at Corinth in Acts 18:8, and was the chief ruler of the
synagogue.
Sue - Do we have any more documentation as far as where he was from originally? Was it
Corinth?
(Individual), “I Corinthians 1:14 says he was baptized by Paul.”
(Individual), “Dr. Wierwille, in order to be a chief ruler of the synagogue, would he have to
have been born in Corinth?”
Dr. - No.
(Individual), “So then it doesn’t really prove he was from there? I mean born there?”
Dr. - Not necessarily. See, like, Paul was trained by Gamaliel in Jerusalem, that was his
educated background. You may want to make those notes that he was baptized by Paul and this
kind of stuff. What amazed me are the companions that Paul had, and the people that really
were close to him, that he witnessed to, and that he taught a lot of the Word to. They were sort
of like, I thought of it today, like Corps people. They spent a lot of time with him; he worked
with them closely. It’s going to be real interesting to get this worked out. Keep going.
Sue - So we’ve got nothing more documented than this Acts 18:8 at Corinth, so we’ll go with
that. The next is Tertius in Romans 16:22. That’s the only one.
(Individual), “This one says Paul’s secretary who wrote the epistle to the Romans. Bullinger
says he was probably a Roman.
Sue - The best, I think we can do with Tertius is; a Roman, in other words from Rome. Okay,
Quartus, Romans 16:23. So if they’re the host, what city are they in?
Dr. - Hey, honeybunch, you’re skipping on me. Have you had Apollos?
Sue - No, sir; isn’t that where you got Alexandria?
Dr. - I want to go through every one of them. Because these are just scriptures that I inserted
that may not fit in the total program, but they were just things that hit my mind.
Sue - Okay, let’s go back up to Apollos then. I Corinthians 16:12. Who’s got it? Acts 18:24
says he was born at Alexandria.
Dr. – Read me that I Corinthians 16:12. I’ll show you why I put this one in here. Anybody
have a Bullinger’s Analytical? I’ll come back. I’ll get a Bullinger and show you something.
Sue - Let’s go on to Aristarchus, Acts 19:29. Okay, it says both were men of Macedonia. Can
we document that any closer, as far as the city is concerned?
(Individual), “In Acts 20:4 it says, ‘of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus.’”
(Individual), “In Acts 27:2 it says, ’Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.’”
Sue - Thessalonica is a city within Macedonia, according to the map. Acts 27:2 documents it
pretty well, also Acts 20:4. Trophimus in Acts 21:29.
(Individual), “He’s also mentioned in II Timothy 4:20.”
(Individual), “It might be interesting to see what the word ‘left’ means.”
Sue - I think Acts 21:29 says it. Next one is Tychicus, Acts 20:4. He’s mentioned along with
Trophimus.
(Individual), “Harper’s says according to Ephesians 6:21, Tychicus was the bearer of the
epistle to the Ephesians.
(Individual), “II Timothy 4:12 says Paul sent him to Ephesus.”
Sue - Where is he when he says that?
(Individual), “Well, he wrote this from Rome, didn’t he?”
(Individual), “Colossians 4:7-8 says he was someone that was sent to them, too.”
Sue - But it doesn’t really tell you where he is from.
(Individual), “A note at the bottom of chapter 6 of Ephesians says: written from Rome to the
Ephesians by Tychicus.”
(Individual), “In Titus 3:12, in order for Paul to send him, it seems to me he’d be there with
him.”
(Individual), “In The New Bible Dictionary it says, ‘Tychicus, an Asian, the western text says
an Ephesian.’ Well, what would the eastern text call him? Where would they get their
difference? Is there a discrepancy between the eastern and western texts?
Sue - Bernita says no.
(Individual), “Ephesus is in Asia. I think the implication is that he was from Ephesus, because
he’s located with Trophimus and the fact that he’s referred to as ‘beloved brethren’ sort of
implies that the people know him and that he can make known to them what Paul was doing.
So the implication is that he is an Ephesian but it’s not stated.”
Sue - I think you’re right. Okay, we can use Acts 20:4 and Acts 21:29 on that one also. Let’s
go on to Onesiphorus in II Timothy 1:16-18. It doesn’t say where he’s from there. It says
“while he was in Rome,” so he was a visitor at that time. Where is this coming from? What
city?
(Individual), “In The Bible Dictionary it refers to look up II Timothy 4:19.”
Sue - Okay, we could draw there a connection between Priscilla and Aquila and the household
of Onesiphorus. But does it say the city?
(Individual), “In II Timothy 4:12 the context implies he was in Ephesus. If you tie verses 12
& 19 together it implies he was from Ephesus.”
Sue – No, it sounds like he is somewhere else and he’s sending someone to Ephesus. It doesn’t
say that Priscilla, Aquila and Onesiphorus are there.
(Individual), “Onesiphorus ministered to Paul while he was in Rome.” - II Timothy 1:16-17
(Individual), “At the end of II Timothy, I have a footnote that says, ‘The second epistle unto
Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians.’ So if he sent his epistle to
Timothy and Timothy was in Ephesus, and he said ‘salute the household of Onesiphorus,’ then
the implication is that Onesiphorus is in Ephesus at this time.
Dr. - Do you have pronunciation marks in your Bibles? They’ll vary a little bit, but it would be
nice while you’re going through, to establish the pronunciation of these names.
Sue - Who knows their grammar well enough to be accurate and tell us how to pronounce these
names, and who’s got the accent marks? Would you do that for us as we go along please?
(Individual), “This is On-e-siph'o-rus meaning the accent is on the “siph.”
(Individual), “It says in II Timothy 1:18 that he ministered at Ephesus. That ‘unto me’ is not in
the text.”
Sue - Has anyone found anything other than Ephesus yet? You notice on the sheet Dr.
Wierwille has Iconium. Has anybody run across that?
(Individual), “The Zondervan Dictionary says there’s a possibility that he came from Iconium.
Sue – Did they give any possible documentation on it? I think Ephesus is the closest we’ve got,
II Timothy 1:18. That’s the closest we can bring Paul and Onesiphorus together as far as I can
see.
(Individual), “Maybe we could make a note that that was his place of residence.”
(Individual), “Just because he was at Ephesus at that particular time, with the movement of the
people and the ministry, doesn’t necessarily mean that he came from there. Aquila and Priscilla
started at Ephesus, went to Rome, went back to Ephesus, and then went some place else.”
(Individual), “You have him in Rome the verse before where he came and searched for Paul.”
Sue - Let’s use II Timothy 1:18 and just make a note: that’s the point at which we bring the
two together, right now. Let’s go on to E-pæn'e-tus. Romans 16:5.
(Individual), “Bullinger says his name is mentioned only here.”
(Individual), “It says that they believe that in the oldest manuscripts they have that ‘Achaia’
means ‘Asia.’
(Individual), “In I Corinthians 16:15 it says the household of Stephanas was the firstfruits of
Achaia also, that means that Epaenetus was at the household of Stephanas also, because they
were both firstfruits”
Sue - I want to go back a moment to Onesiphorus in II Timothy 1:16-17. The impression I get
from that is that he was visiting in Rome, but in Ephesus he was acting as a host. Ephesus
would appear to be more of his residence place than Rome, where he was just visiting. Back to
Romans 16:5. Now your list gives Romans 16:5 of Ephesus. And this verse says, “firstfruits
of Achaia.” Is Ephesus in Achaia?
(Individual), “Some texts ‘Achaia’ is translated ‘Asia.’ Ephesus is in Asia.
Sue - Okay, that’s what we’ll go with.
(Individual), “In The Bible Encyclopedia it says that in the best manuscripts they found that it’s
translated ‘Asia.’”
(Individual), “According to The Hebrew Dictionary, Achaia is a political area with quite a
large size, but mainly in Greece. It varies from one time period to another. It was an Achaian
league; a league of cities, political view.
Sue - According to what we find, this map is entitled “The Journeys of Paul, the Apostle.” So it
would be at this correct time in history that Achaia is part of southern Greece.
(Individual), “On my map it has just to the right of Achaia it has Asia. So, are they saying that
they are both the same?”
Sue - If this note is correct, then what happened, was they took the word “Achaia” and
translated it for the word “Asia”, which means that it would be possible for Ephesus to be the
city that we’re looking for. But I don’t know if we can really know for sure unless we go back
and check out all our Greek texts.
Dr. - Okay, close it now and we’ll put it into the Twigs, and let the Twigs work on it. It’ll
give them something to do before breakfast.