Then {1} came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a {a} Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

(1) Paul himself does not receive Timothy into the ministry without sufficient testimony, and permission of the brethren.

(a) Paul, in his second epistle to Timothy, commends the godliness of Timothy's mother and grandmother.

People's New Testament

16:1 The Gospel Carried into Europe

SUMMARY OF ACTS 16:

Paul at Troas. The Call to Macedonia in a Vision. The Journey to Philippi. The Conversion of Lydia and Her Household. The Damsel with the Spirit of Divination Healed. The Rage of Her Masters. Paul and Silas Seized, Scourged, Placed in Prison in the Stocks. The Events at Midnight. The Jailer and Household Baptized. An Appeal to Rights of Romans.

He came to Derbe and Lystra. Compare Ac 14:6-21.

Behold, a certain disciple was there. A member of the church at Lystra, converted on the previous missionary tour.

Timotheus. Born of a Jewish mother, but of a Greek father. The name is Greek and means one who fears God. Following his father, he was uncircumcised and, hence, regarded as a Greek instead of a Jew. Yet he had been taught the Scriptures from childhood (2Ti 3:15) by his pious mother and grandmother (2Ti 1:5). These, Eunice and Lois by name, were Christians also. Paul converted him (1Co 4:17). Compare Ga 4:19.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 16

PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. Ac 15:41-18:22.

1-5. Then came he to Derbe and Lystra; and, behold, a certain disciple was there-that is, at Lystra (not Derbe, as some conclude from Ac 20:4).

named Timotheus-(See on [2032]Ac 14:20). As Paul styles him "his own son in the faith" (1Ti 1:2), he must have been gained to Christ at the apostle's first visit; and as Paul says he "had fully known his persecutions which came on him at Lystra" (2Ti 3:10, 11), he may have been in that group of disciples that surrounded the apparently lifeless body of the apostle outside the walls of Lystra, and that at a time of life when the mind receives its deepest impressions from the spectacle of innocent suffering and undaunted courage [Howson]. His would be one of "the souls of the disciples confirmed" at the apostle's second visit, "exhorted to continue in the faith, and" warned "that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Ac 14:21, 22).

the son of a certain . Jewess-"The unfeigned faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Lois" descended to "his mother Eunice," and thence it passed to this youth (2Ti 1:5), who "from a child knew the Holy Scriptures" (2Ti 3:15). His gifts and destination to the ministry of Christ had already been attested (1Ti 1:18; 4:14); and though some ten years after this Paul speaks of him as still young (1Ti 4:12), "he was already well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium" (Ac 16:2), and consequently must have been well known through all that quarter.

but his father was a Greek-Such mixed marriages, though little practiced, and disliked by the stricter Jews in Palestine, must have been very frequent among the Jews of the dispersion, especially in remote districts, where but few of the scattered people were settled [Howson].

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:1-5 Well may the church look for much service from youthful ministers who set out in the same spirit as Timothy. But when men will submit in nothing, and oblige in nothing, the first elements of the Christian temper seem to be wanting; and there is great reason to believe that the doctrines and precepts of the gospel will not be successfully taught. The design of the decree being to set aside the ceremonial law, and its carnal ordinances, believers were confirmed in the Christian faith, because it set up a spiritual way of serving God, as suited to the nature both of God and man. Thus the church increased in numbers daily.