Sep 63 – 2 Timothy Written After Paul Was Arrested

155 from Miletus to Troas. He never made it to Troas. He was arrested and evidently condemned, and because he was a Roman citizen, was sent to Rome to be executed (beheaded).

Evidently Paul was arrested in the Summer of AD 63, a year BEFORE the Neronic persecution broke out, at a time when it was still safe enough for his fellow workers to travel and work among the churches, as we see described in 2 Tim 4:9-13. This kind of travel and missionary activity would not have been possible after the Neronic persecution broke out. This is why I place Paul’s arrest in the Summer of AD 63, instead of the Summer of 64.

Sep 63 – 2 Timothy Written After Paul Was Arrested

Swiftly after his arrest there in Asia. He wrote his second epistle to Timothy from Rome, in which he urges Timothy to retrieve his belongings (his cloak, and especially the books and parchments) from Carpus in Troas and bring them to him in Rome before winter (2 Tim 4:13).

Here are some situations and facts that Paul mentioned in Second Timothy, which might help us determine an approximate date for it:

• Paul had been in prison long enough for Onesiphorus to search and find him (1:16-18) • Winter was not there yet, and evidently was at least a month or more away, giving the courier time to deliver the letter to Timothy, and time for Timothy to travel to Rome from Ephesus (4:21). • Mark was in the area close to Ephesus at the time Paul was in Rome - Onesiphorus might have told him about that. • Paul asked Timothy to bring Mark to him in Rome, along with the books and parchments. • Evidently the Neronic persecution had not started (3:12-13; 4:1), since Timothy was still able to function as an evangelist at Ephesus, and Paul’s fellow workers were still able to travel and do mission work (4:10). • Paul knows he will not get released this time (4:6-7) • Tychicus was sent to replace Timothy in Ephesus (4:12) • Travel Fact: Paul had gone to Corinth before going to Miletus (4:20)

He also instructed Timothy to “pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service” (2 Tim 4:11). It is interesting that Mark was already back in the region of Turkey at this time. He had probably already delivered the book of Hebrews to Peter in Jerusalem, and was now bringing Peter’s first epistle back to those churches in Turkey (1 Pet 1:1). We might wonder what kind of “service” Paul wished for Mark to provide for him in Rome. The answer might be found two verses later when Paul urges Timothy to bring the “books and parchments” to Rome also. Since Mark was so adept at scribal and courier services, perhaps Paul was planning to entrust his collection of writings to Mark, for copying and distribution among the churches, or maybe to take them back to Peter in Jerusalem. Peter indicates in his second epistle that he was aware of the contents of “all of Paul’s epistles,” and eulogized Paul as if he was now dead (2 Pet 3:15-16).

By the time Paul wrote this second epistle to Timothy, he had evidently been in Rome long enough for Onesiphorus to come looking for him and find him, and refresh him, and was “not ashamed of his chains” (2 Tim 1:16). Paul said he was suffering hardship while “imprisoned as a criminal” (2 Tim 2:9). It was probably Onesiphorus who brought this letter back to Timothy, in which he urged Timothy to “make every effort to come to him soon, before Winter” (2 Tim 4:9, 21).

Here in this letter, Paul mentions his fellow workers scattered all over Achaia, Greece, Dalmatia, Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Crete. The freedom of travel for all these fellow workers at the time of writing suggests that this epistle (2 Timothy) was written before the Neronic persecution, after which this kind of travel and missionary work would have been impossibly dangerous and fatal.

Late Date for 2 Timothy (Sept 64)? Some have suggested an alternative date for 2 Timothy which suggests that Paul was not arrested the second time until September of 64 right after the

156 Neronic persecution broke out. This would date his second epistle to Timothy about a year later than what we have suggested above. However, if Paul was not arrested until after the Neronic persecution broke out in late 64, it would mean that Paul spent a year and a half raising funds for his trip to Spain, at a time when he knew “time was very short” (Php. 4:5; Heb. 10:37). It is not likely that he would have delayed his trip to Spain for over a year and a half (after two more Winters).

If Paul had spent that much time in Asia, it would have given him time to write more letters to all his fellow workers scattered all over the Italy-Greece-Macedonia-Crete region. As it is, we have no more letters from him after his first letter to Timothy and the one to Titus, until he writes his second letter to Timothy from prison in Rome. The lack of epistles between 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, and the implied short time span between those two letters, pushes toward the conclusion that Paul must have been arrested in late 63, only six months after his release from Rome the first time. Below are some additional reasons why I cannot subscribe to the late date:

The epistle of 2 Timothy was carried by Tychicus to Timothy who was in Ephesus. There were evidently two different trips of Tychicus to Ephesus (i.e., his first trip mentioned in Tit. 3:12). On this second trip, Tychicus was sent to relieve Timothy so that Timothy could go to be with Paul in prison. This was Paul’s last epistle before his death, and one of the last few NT books to be written (only Jude and 2 Peter were later than this).

Paul was in prison again, expecting death soon (evidently within a few months, but not until after Winter arrived). If this was in late Summer or early autumn after the Neronic persecution had started there in Rome, Paul would not have lasted until Winter. He would have been killed immediately.

Luke, Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia (which sound like Roman names) were with Paul where he was imprisoned (Rome - 2 Tim 1:17). If this was in AD 64 after the Neronic persecution broke out, those fellow-Christians in Rome would have already been killed. They would not have exposed themselves to torture and death by visiting Paul in prison. Therefore, this indicates an imprisonment the year before the Neronic persecution broke out. Demas “having loved this present age had deserted Paul and gone to Thessalonica.” Crescens had gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, and Tychicus to Ephesus (to relieve Timothy). Notice that Titus had gone to Dalmatia. In Paul’s previous letter to Titus, he was in Crete, but soon to be relieved so he could join Paul in Nicopolis (which is very close to Dalmatia), where Paul would spend the Winter before going to Spain. Evidently Titus had left Crete and either joined up with Paul somewhere on his travels among the churches before Paul was arrested, or else Paul sent him a message instructing him to go to Dalmatia. We do not know when Paul instructed Titus to go there, but it was definitely before Paul wrote this letter of Second Timothy. Such a mention of Titus being in Dalmatia would have been extremely dangerous if this letter was written after the Neronic persecution broke out. Evidently this epistle was written at a time when it was still relatively safe to mention the location of fellow- Christians. This points to the late Summer or early autumn of AD 63, a year before the Neronic persecution was unleashed.

Timothy was parted from Paul with tears, possibly suggesting a forced separation when Paul was arrested. Onesiphorus, and Aquila & Priscilla were with Timothy in Ephesus. Erastus remained at Corinth, and Trophimus was left sick in Miletus. These latter locations and movements of Paul’s various fellow workers provide some significant clues as to when and where this letter was written, and seem to point to late 63. It would have been too dangerous to mention all this if Paul was writing in late 64 after the Neronic persecution had begun.

Since Paul told Timothy to “pick up Mark” and bring him to Paul, it tells us that Mark was evidently in the region of Greece and Turkey, probably delivering the book of 1 Peter to the Diaspora churches. It is also possible that Mark may have visited John on Patmos on his trip through the region of Turkey, assuming that John was still on Patmos [see Ogden on this]. It is possible that John was released from Patmos soon after Paul was released from Rome, and was residing in Ephesus at this time (mid-to- late 63). However, if John was in Ephesus at the time Paul wrote 2 Timothy, we have to wonder why Paul does not greet John in his letter, or at least acknowledge that John was there? This silence would make more sense if John was still in exile on Patmos. This would better