So around 2001, also with my own bi-cultural kids in mind, I began writing down what a diary written by Timothy might have looked like. I am not the first storyteller to create such a narrative about either Paul or Timothy, based on the material that can be gleaned from the New Testament, as well as from the Hebrew Scriptures that were familiar to Paul and Timothy. However, both my scholarly training and my background in accounting have taught me the importance of ‘leaving tracks’, to help others evaluate the choices I have made in creating these ‘memoirs’. Hence, the footnotes at the conclusion of each ‘Part’ of the story and the Bibliography at the end of Part 2.

A video recording of me reading from Part I and Part II, for the 'Cross-Cultural Christianity' course at Tyndale Theological Seminary (Badhoevedorp, the Netherlands) in 2022, is available on the following page of this website.

Today I turned thirty-two years old,[1] several months older than the worldwide multi-cultural movement of disciples of Jesus.[2] Thirty-two is not a particularly special number, but it marks the day I have decided to take up my pen for a special project. Four factors have influenced me to do this. First, I have long been encouraged to do so by my mentor and friend, Paul. He himself has been busy writing of late. That is, he has been dictating what he wants written while one of the others of us does the writing: mostly myself, but sometimes Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Demas or Dr. Luke.[3] Paul's latest project, a circular letter to the brothers and sisters in Asia that Dr. Luke is helping him write, has been a second stimulus. Reading the part in that letter, about the ‘ligaments’ that strengthen the multicultural Jesus-community,[4] has made me want to tell my own story as an encouragement to people like me, who have grown up on the bridge between two or more ethnic groups. In particular, the story of the past fifteen years of my life during which Paul has been more than a father to me[5] in so many ways, through his encouragement, his teaching and his example.

Another factor has been the opportunity. While it is impossible to know what tomorrow will bring, it appears that we will still be in this situation of house arrest in Rome for some time yet.[6] We've been here well over a year with still no certain word from the emperor's court as to when Paul's case will be heard.[7] It has hardly been boring with so many comings and goings of brothers and sisters in the movement—both ones from Rome and its surroundings, and ones from other parts of the empire. Epaphras is with us now from Colossae; and Tychicus and Onesimus[8] are just about to return to that area with letters that I helped Paul write.

I must mention Dr. Luke in this regard as he has also been an inspiration to me, in deed as well as in word. In addition to helping Paul write, he has been using this opportunity to write up the results of his research: into the whole history of the movement.[9]

But the most important factor in my beginning this project has been the clear sense I now have from the Spirit of God, speaking to my heart, that I should write and that now is the time. As confirmation, I felt strongly inspired today to simply transcribe portions of the journal I began keeping when I was 17 years old, the year my father died.

It is late. I've spent much time looking through my earliest entries. I now realize that I'll need to do more than just select and copy what I wrote before. I'll need to add more to this introduction. Tomorrow!

For two days I've struggled with second thoughts about this project. It is not an easy thing for me to share the details of my life with others, just as it has never been an easy thing to stand before others and speak. I believe this has much to due with my mixed background. Though it wasn't obvious on the surface—either to others or to myself, I now realize my youth was characterized by a deep uncertainty about who I was and where I belonged. And though I now know who I am and where I belong, I find that I still can be easily affected by such patterns from my past. But now I am resolved to begin.

My father was a Greek[10] named Philip, my mother a Jewess by the name of Eunice. My father married late, at forty years old. After an active life as an athlete and a soldier, he finally left the army and settled down as a farmer[11] in the wheat growing area of Lycaonia near Lystra during the fifteenth year of Tiberius. There he became interested in the Jewish religion and often visited the synagogue in Iconium, the main city of Lycaonia. It was there that he met my mother. 

My mother grew up in the strong Jewish community centered in Iconium. Her upbringing was notable for the education in the Jewish scriptures she received from her mother, Lois. My mother's grandfather had been unusual in his belief that his daughters should also be educated. Thus, my grandmother was well versed in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms.[12] Her efforts to pass on a similar education to her daughter, my mother, were marked by mixed success. She imparted a love of knowledge and a strong character, but this had the unforeseen result of making my mother exceedingly impatient with the traditions and boundaries of the Jewish community in Iconium. She too married later than was customary for Jewish women because she would not have any of the Jewish men who she described as using their religion to be little emperors over their wives. When she married a Greek man the members of the Jewish community were not pleased, but neither were they very surprised.

How my parents met is also of note. As I have mentioned, my father was very much attracted to Jewish monotheism and enjoyed listening to the Jewish scriptures being read in the synagogue in Iconium. As in many synagogues in Asia and other parts of the empire, the Greek translation of these writings (simply called "the Scriptures") were read, and on a given Sabbath there were many Greeks as well as Jews in the synagogue.[13] However, there was a cultural boundary; and my father soon discovered it when he showed interest in learning more about the Scriptures. He was told that to join in such study he would have to become a proselyte first, by submitting to Jewish baptism and also to circumcision.[14]

Now my father was a very physical man and had always been a good athlete. Even at forty he still participated in games in the stadium in Iconium. To be circumcised would mean giving up this passion in his life. For athletes competed naked, which would subject male Jewish athletes to public scorn. My father said he had known a couple of good Jewish athletes, but they had gone through an operation whereby a piece of skin had been sewn back on to the penis of each one.[15] It was the only way to compete without shame. But such men were usually declared anathema by fellow Jews, a strong Hebrew curse word that meant they were cut off from Israel and destined for destruction.

At any rate, while my father was weighing his desire to know more about God over against his love of athletics, he heard about my grandmother, who was well versed in the Scriptures. Upon making inquiry, he discovered to his surprise that she would be willing to teach him informally. That is what she was like, more interested in people learning to know God than in worrying about what fellow Jews thought about her. Her reasoning was that if non-Jews had the opportunity to learn the Scriptures, then the decision to join God's covenant people through circumcision would follow naturally in time. After all—as my mentor Paul likes to point out—the first promises God spoke to Abram and the first covenant God made with him all took place before God changed his name to Abraham and before he commanded him to be circumcised.[16] She would be able to teach him at home, for she had inherited from her father Greek copies of the Torah, several of the Prophets, and the Psalms.[17]

Again, my grandmother's love for the Scriptures had unforeseen consequences. While my father was busy getting to know the God of the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms, he was also getting to know my mother. And she was falling in love with him. Though shocked at first, my grandmother took it in stride and continued her instruction after they were married, hoping that he would one day be circumcised. However, when I was born a year later my father was still torn between his two passions. He named me Timothy (honored of God),[18] but he also wanted me to grow up to be an athlete too—like him. So he refused to allow me to be circumcised and, to the day of his death, never submitted to circumcision himself either.

Thus, I grew up in two worlds. At home I was taught the Scriptures by my mother and my grandmother.[19] Friday evenings we followed Sabbath prayers. And on Jewish feast days and on some Sabbaths we attended the synagogue in Iconium. But during the week and outside the home, I learned the Lycaonian language of the street. My formal schooling was in the Greek language—in philosophy and science—and I trained with Greek and Roman youth at the athletic club with my father. If it sounds like I had the best of both worlds, don't you believe it. Though my home life was mostly happy, there were undercurrents of sadness and regret. Like my father, I was not allowed to study the Scriptures in the Iconium synagogue. Whenever we were in the Jewish community I could feel the cold, disapproving stares of the adults directed not only at me, but also at both my mother and grandmother. And I was cruelly tormented by boys my age. On one occasion they stripped me and threw my clothes up in a tree. Of course, there was no bar-mitzvah for me when I turned twelve years old.

As an adolescent I looked for ways to avoid studying with my grandmother or going to the synagogue. I desperately wanted to stop being Jewish. Part of this was the rejection I felt in the Jewish community. But part of it was the anti-Jewish prejudices I encountered at school and in the athletic club. My fellow students and athletes didn't taunt me directly, probably because I was a pretty good athlete, and an above average boxer. Yet they couldn't help making racial slurs and telling anti-Jewish jokes in my presence. Wanting to be accepted, I tried to laugh and joke with them. They never actually excluded me from anything, but I never felt fully accepted by them either. And I often ended up with a pain in my stomach.[20] I wished desperately that I had no Jewish blood. When I blurted this out once at home, my mother left the room in tears, and my father hit me and told me never to say such nonsense again. So, I kept these feelings to myself. Still, I could see in my parents' eyes that they felt my pain, though at the same time we couldn't talk about it.

Then just days before I turned seventeen, my father became suddenly ill and died. That's when I began writing down things in a journal. I needed someone to talk with who understood how I felt. I was angry at God. Yet at the same time I didn't believe in him. At least I didn't want to believe in him. I blamed him for taking my father away, and for causing me to be born in a "no man's land" with nowhere to belong. Striving for full acceptance in either my Jewish world or my Greek world felt like an impossible task. I felt like Sisyphus, condemned to push the rock up the hill, only to have it fall back so that he had to push it up again and again. 

I'll start these memoirs with some of the diary entries I made right before I met Paul.

 *********

It's been two weeks since my last entry and something's happened to Grandma. She just got back from her regular trip to Iconium. When she goes to synagogue for the Sabbath she leaves on Friday and comes back on Sunday.[25] I haven't gone myself for a long time, and my mother has only been once since Dad died. But what was unusual is that Grandma didn't come back until yesterday. She was gone a whole week. When she arrived this afternoon, the first thing she did was ask for me. Then she apologized for being on my case about getting circumcised. Not that she's changed her mind really. But she said she was totally out of line to pressure me about it, and would I pardon her for that. Then with a beaming face she told me what a fine young man I was and how proud my father would be of me. I could tell by the look on my mother's face that she was as shocked as I was.

It didn't take us long to get to the bottom of the question: ‘what_'s gotten into Grandma?’ Mother had hardly put out the date cakes before Grandma blurted it all out. ‘The Messiah has come!’ were her first words as she clasped her hands together in excitement. ‘What, here?’ I responded. I couldn't help a small incredulous laugh, ‘In Iconium? I thought you taught us that....’ She grabbed my hand and wouldn't even let me finish my sentence. ‘I know, I know, I know, I know, I know', she said. ‘Don't interrupt me; let me try to tell this straight.’

No, the Messiah hadn't actually come to Iconium, she said. Yet then she suddenly stopped and corrected herself ‘But then again, yes. He did,’ she went on, beaming from ear to ear. What did she mean by that? I looked at my mother and she looked at me. ‘No wait,’ Grandma said. ‘Just listen. Oh dear, I'm making a terrible muddle of this.’ Then she went on about how there were two visiting rabbis in the synagogue. They'd come most recently from Antioch in Syria, though both lived in Jerusalem before that. Anyway, the synagogue leader had let them speak. The short one, Reb Saul, as Grandma called him, did the talking. Or was his name Paul? Grandma kept mixing up the names. Mostly she referred to him as "Reb Saul". This rabbi also had a Roman name? I was intrigued. Grandma calls the other one Reb Joseph, though he also seems to go by the name Barnabas.[26]

I'll try to put down in broad strokes what Grandma reported, though it's hard to know what to make of it. According to this man Saul—who did most of the talking—the promises made by God to Abraham, Moses and David have now been fulfilled in a man named Yeshua[27] (Jesus) of Nazareth. He'd lived in Galilee, then was executed in Jerusalem, but had come to life again after three days. Though he'd grown up in Galilee, both his parents could trace their lineage back to King David.[28] Apparently, this man, Yeshua, had performed many miraculous signs such as: healing sick people, casting out evil spirits, even raising a few dead people to life. Before he began teaching and giving these miraculous signs, an Elijah-like prophet had appeared in the Judean desert, calling people to prepare for the coming of "God's kingdom". This prophet named John, ended up being executed by the Judean puppet-king,[29] and the religious leaders in Jerusalem soon turned against Yeshua. Trumping up charges against him, they secured the Roman governor's cooperation in having him condemned and crucified. Three days later, however, the followers of Yeshua began telling people that he had risen from the dead and that they had seen him. According to the two visiting rabbis, all of these things somehow fulfilled what the Scriptures had foretold about the Messiah.[30] Grandma had been impressed by their knowledge of the Scriptures and she doesn't impress easily.

It was obvious from listening to Grandma that she'd been convinced by their message. And she, along with a number of other people had gathered around the two men to hear more. That's why she'd stayed a couple extra days. ‘Then it got really exciting’ she concluded. And she told us how she and many others—those who wanted to join the Messiah's new kingdom by turning from all sinful behavior—went with the two rabbis to a small river south of the city to get baptized. Hmm. Immersion in water was something only a non-Jew did in order to become a Jew! Anyway, after they were dunked in the water, they were supposed to ask God to send into them the Spirit of the Messiah.

Then Grandma decided to stay for the first day of Passover, something about celebrating the seder meal in a special way because of how the Messiah identified himself with the blood of the lamb that is killed for the Passover meal.[31] This was starting to sound a bit too weird, but I kept listening to be polite. Grandma is convinced that the Spirit of the Messiah, what she calls the ‘Holy Spirit’ or the ‘Spirit of God’ (more mixing up of names!) really came into her. She says it's like youthful life bubbling up inside her old body, only better—more pure.[32] I wonder what she meant by that.

I couldn't help feeling a little annoyed with her. I don't know why. Maybe it's because she has talked my mother into going to Iconium for Saturday and Sunday next week, to hear these two men. I said I didn't know what I would be doing next Saturday and Sunday. Which was true.

Well, Mom did go to Iconium with Grandma as planned, and now that they are back Mom is acting weird too.

Like Grandma she seems unnaturally cheerful. Instead of dragging herself out of bed, she seems to wake up with a song. She has a good voice, so I like it; but I can't remember hearing her sing since Dad passed away. When she arrived home from Iconium yesterday evening, it was like the sad look in her eyes was gone. Instead, her eyes lit up when she saw me, and she rushed to hug me. Then she looked deep in my eyes and told me how much she loved me and how proud she was to be my mother. I had to look away. I liked it. But I also felt kind of embarrassed.

This afternoon, I finally got up the courage to ask her what happened to her in Iconium. She was cleaning up after our noon meal. Immediately she put her work aside, took my hand and led me to the next room where we could sit and talk together. She told me that she too had chosen to follow the Way of the Jesus of Nazareth.[33] Oh boy! First Grandma and now my mother, though she used a Greek version of the prophet's name, not the Hebrew name (Yeshua) favored by Grandma.

The words of the two visiting rabbis had touch her deeply, she said. But more than that, she had been struck by the unusually large number of Greeks in the back of the synagogue. Apparently the two rabbis had been baptizing people from both groups, but the Greek men were not required to be circumcised first.[34] When she saw the discomfort of the Jewish leaders in the synagogue, she couldn't help feeling sort of glad, she said, because of how they'd treated Dad. But thinking about him, she'd started crying and couldn't stop. Grandma had to take her out of the synagogue. 

They'd only been sitting outside for a short time, when they saw the rabbi named Barnabas approaching them. He had greeted Grandma by name, and then had introduced himself to Mom. What happened next took her totally by surprise. He asked Mom if she'd recently lost someone very dear to her. When she nodded, he told her to not be afraid, for her sadness would soon turn to joy. As he saw her leaving the synagogue, he said, he had felt the Spirit of God tell him to go tell her this, and that she would see this loved one again in the eternal kingdom of the Messiah. This, though, made Mom start crying again. Barnabas quietly waited till she stopped, then he asked Mom to tell him about her loved one. By this time the rabbi named Paul had joined them—the one Grandma calls Saul,

‘So, dear Timothy,’ she said, her eyes glistening now, ‘I told both of them about your dad: what a good man he was, how he loved studying the Scriptures with Grandma, but also how he couldn't bring himself to accept circumcision. They just listened. But then tears had begun to flow again when she told them how Dad would have been at the front of the line of Greek men wanting to be baptized into the Messiah's kingdom, if he'd heard their message about Jesus. ‘Only now it's too late for him’, she had said. Barnabas again waited till she had stopped crying, then asked, ‘What about you, Eunice?’ Did she wish to put her trust in Jesus as Messiah? Mom said she nodded but wanted to know why he had said that Dad would be with her in the Messiah's eternal kingdom, since he had died before the message of Jesus came.

Then she told me how Paul spoke up and explained that when people of other nations obey what the Law requires, it's like God's Law is written on their hearts. So on the final Judgment Day, God will grant eternal life to them, and to all those who lived and died seeking his glory and honor by patiently doing what's right. For the Torah says that God doesn't show favoritism’?[35]

Mom said she'd never heard a rabbi talk like that, and that his words brought a deep comfort to her soul. So, she did what Grandma had done. She put her faith in Jesus as Messiah and joined a group of others—both Jews and non-Jews—in getting baptized in the same stream where Grandma had been baptized. When she came up out of the water, she heard the woman baptizing her say, ‘Receive the promised Holy Spirit!’ And suddenly, all the sadness and fear in her heart seemed to get crowded out by the wave of joy and peace that flooded through her body.

Mom then fell silent, and I realized I'd been looking down trying to process everything she'd been telling me. When I looked up, she was smiling at me. ‘I'm really happy for you, Mom,’ was all I could say. I gave her a squeeze on the shoulder as I got up to walk away.

I really was glad for her. Yet why did her story and the look in her eye make me feel so uncomfortable? I needed some space to think.

Last night Mom and Grandma came back from Iconium. As usual, they'd left on Friday so they could hear the two rabbis speak again in the synagogue. But when they arrived in the city, their hosts, Amos and Sarah, told them that Paul and Barnabas weren't welcome in the synagogue anymore. So instead, they were speaking boldly about Jesus almost everywhere else. And chronically ill people were being cured. Even two workmen who'd been injured when their heavily laden cart had tipped over on them were miraculously healed. As a result, increasing numbers of Greeks from Iconium and surrounding areas were being baptized. And more Jews too.[36]

Some leaders from the synagogue were spreading the rumor that Paul and Barnabas were actually doing the healings in collusion with dark powers.[37] Amos, though, thought they were more concerned about the political consequences of non-Jews destroying their idols and being baptized without officially becoming Jews. He said it was like these synagogue leaders were less afraid of the Jewish community incurring the wrath of God than of incurring the wrath of Caesar, who might take away their special exemption from having to worship him and other Roman gods.[38] Mom said that Amos was worried the local authorities might actually arrest Paul and Barnabas for disturbing the peace, because of the way tensions were rising between the citizens who supported the Jewish leaders and those who supported Paul and Barnabas.

So instead of attending the synagogue on Saturday, Mom and Grandma had joined Amos and Sarah, along with many other Jewish and Greek Jesus-followers, to hear Paul and Barnabas speak in the large home of a wealthy merchant, who also had become a Jesus-follower.  

Well, it looks like Mom and Grandma won't have to go to Iconium any more to hear the two rabbis. A week ago, they were planning to go there but Grandma wasn't feeling well. Then this morning, as they were preparing for their journey, there was a commotion at the door. Who should call out a greeting but the two rabbis. Mom and Grandma recognized their voices and rushed out to welcome them. The older and taller man introduced himself as Barnabas. The shorter man with a bit of a limp introduced himself by his Roman name, Paul—which again seemed strange for a Jewish rabbi. I tried to be polite, but I don't think I hid my annoyance very well, for I knew I'd just lost a few quiet days by myself.

Grandma was ecstatic and Mom was hyper in her own way, fussing over both men. Nevertheless, I decided to sit down with them while my mother prepared something for them to eat. I overheard them tell Grandma something about a plot to kill them and a nighttime escape from the city. Traveling westward and then back south towards Lystra, they had left the main road and headed towards a distant farm belonging to some Jesus-followers. They stayed there the following day and another night to make sure no one was following them. Then they left well before dawn and had an uneventful walk the rest of the way to Lystra. Well, at least the next few days aren't going to be boring.

When asked what happened, they said that trouble had been simmering for some weeks over their presence in Iconium. The synagogue leaders had begun spreading false reports about them among the leading families of the city. At first, they didn't take it too seriously since many of the leading families in both cities supported them.[39] Something similar had happened in Pisidian Antioch at first, though they were eventually expelled from that city.[40] Yet when they learned that a nighttime raid was planned on the house where they were staying in Lystra, they wisely decided to move on again. Apparently, a few city officials were going to have them roughed up and then turn a blind eye while several men from the Iconium synagogue finished them off with a ritual stoning.[41]

But what were they going to do here? Wouldn't their enemies in Iconium follow them here? They said that they had asked God what to do next and had then remembered Grandma's invitation to come visit her here. We all looked at Grandma. Mom took the cue and invited them to stay with us for however long they wished. And would they please lead the Sabbath prayers tonight. She also insisted they rest from their journey and gave them my room to do so.

I decided to take my journal and go for a walk. I knew I wouldn't be enjoying the privacy of my own room for a while.

Our guests have been here now for most of two days, and it certainly hasn't been boring. They are not at all stuffy like the few rabbis in Iconium that I've known. And what stories they have to tell! I could listen for hours. We've heard quite a few since they decided to lie low for a bit.

The most interesting thing for me was what they told us about their own mixed backgrounds.  Paul had asked me whether I felt more Jewish or Greek. When I said I didn't feel fully accepted in either group, I think I made Mom and Grandma a bit uncomfortable. But both Paul and Barnabas nodded like they seemed to understand. Barnabas then told us his story.

He's from the island of Cyprus. Both his parents, like mine, spoke Greek, but unlike me, both his parents were Jews. And they gave him a Hebrew name, Joseph.[42] Barnabas then asked me how much I knew about the story of Joseph in the Torah.[43] I said I knew he was one of the sons of the patriarch Jacob, who got sold by his brothers to some Arabs who in turn resold him in Egypt. Anything else? Barnabas asked. I said I thought he didn't stay a slave but ended up becoming a powerful advisor to the king of Egypt. Barnabas then reminded me of how Joseph still thought of himself as an exile in Egypt.[44] Just like his own father, Barnabas said. For although he ran a successful business in Cyprus and had an important role in the Jewish community there, he longed to resettle his family in Jerusalem. Which he eventually did. By then, however, Barnabas was married and chose to remain in Cyprus. For although he still thinks of himself primarily as a Jew and a Levite, he also considers himself a "Cyprian".[45] So Barnabas took over the family business as well as his father's role as a cantor[46] in the synagogue. ‘But I never studied to be a rabbi, like Paul,’ he said, with a smile and a wink at Grandma.

Barnabas then told how his two brothers had returned to Cyprus after coming of age, because they weren't able to feel at home in Jerusalem. They joined Barnabas in the family business, and both married local Jewish women. His sister, however, had married in Jerusalem and had given birth there to a son.[47] At this point in his story, Barnabas looked down and fought to control his voice. When he looked up, I could see tears in his eyes as he told us how his wife, pregnant with their first child had died in childbirth. His baby son had also died.

Then came the bad news from Jerusalem that his father had just died. So he decided to travel to Jerusalem in order to spend time with his mother and eldest sister. But he also wanted to visit the Temple there, during the upcoming Feast of Weeks.[48] Little did he know that he wouldn't see Cyprus again for another sixteen years—not until he went there with Paul last year.[49] For what awaited him in Jerusalem was something totally unexpected. He paused and smiled at me. An experience, he said, that would help him finally feel at ease with being both a Jew and a Cyprian. ‘But that's another story,’ he concluded, nodding toward Paul. I was intrigued and wanted to hear more. But Mom interrupted and said it was time for our Sabbath lunch. And she wouldn't let Paul start telling his story until we'd all finished eating.

It turns out Paul was born just east of here, in the province of Cilicia. Both his parents were Jewish, but his dad was also citizen of Tarsus. And he was even a Roman citizen, something he was able to pass on to Paul when he was born.[50]Ah, that explained the Roman name, Paul.[51] But his parents also identified strongly with their Jewish tribal heritage as well, which is why they named him Saul, after the first King of Israel who also was from the tribe of Benjamin.[52]

Because Paul's parents were Hebrew-speakers and belonged to one of the Pharisee sects, they decided to move the family to Jerusalem when Paul was only a couple years old.[53] Since he was the first son, his father wanted him to grow up there,[54] and so have the best chance of being accepted into one of the city's schools for future rabbis. Thus, Paul's earliest memories were of his Jerusalem neighborhood; and he grew up speaking the local Hebrew dialect of Aramaic.[55] Yet he never felt he was fully accepted by his Judean-born peers. Things got worse when Paul was a pre-teen and a local man called his dad a ‘dirty Roman’.[56] Only then did he learn that both he and his dad were Roman citizens. He was furious—also angry with his father keeping it secret from him.

 Paul then doubled his efforts to gain acceptance.[57] By age sixteen, he was received into the best rabbinical training school in the city,[58] where he always ended up first in his class. When he graduated at age twenty, the head of the school was even predicting that he would be appointed to the Sanhedrin one day.[59] For this, though, he would need a good marriage, to ‘cancel out’ the blot of being foreign-born and a Roman. He even had a prospective bride in mind. But his father put an end to such thoughts. Having returned to Tarsus a year earlier, he now summoned Paul to come back too. He wanted Paul to learn the family business and go through the ‘cadet’ period for becoming a citizen of Tarsus,[60] and then become the leading teacher of the Torah in Cilicia.[61]

Tarsus, however, was his father's city, Paul said. His city was Jerusalem, and he'd already arranged with his older sister to live with her and her husband. Yet strict adherence to the Law also meant honoring his father. So he'd moved back to Tarsus, but ‘with very conflicted feelings about where he belonged’, he said with a wry smile at me. ‘And only for a couple of years!’[62]   

Again, I wanted to hear more, but Mom wanted me to do my chores while she and Grandma prepared the evening meal. Then, at supper they dominated the attention of our visitors with their questions. I missed most of the conversation since I kept thinking about what these two men had told me about their own struggles to find a place to belong. Especially Paul, for he had to deal with this twice—first in Jerusalem and then back in Tarsus.

Suddenly his voice broke into my musings. But when I looked at him, I saw that he was responding to Mom. I noticed he was asking her several questions to make sure he had understood what she had asked him. Hmm. Maybe he would really try to listen and understand my questions too—about who I am and where I belong.  

I was hoping to hear more stories after supper, but I had a few more chores to do. And when I'd finished these, I saw that Grandma was really into a discussion with them about which of the prophets had written about the promised Messiah. I smiled. She was really in her element. I didn't want to interrupt her, so I found a quiet corner where I could record all this in my journal.

I just woke up, not sure where I was. Strange, not having my own room. Everyone's still asleep so I'll sneak in and get my things, since there's an extra early practice today at the sport field.

Wow, a lot of excitement today! Not at the sport club, but in town. As I was heading home, I noticed quite a commotion in the direction of the main city gate. Some people were running toward the gate, and others were running away from it in various directions. One was an older neighbor, so I stopped him to ask what was going on.

‘They've come again,’ he gasped for breath. He wasn't running very fast, obviously out of shape. ‘Have to get to the priest quickly.’ he panted, pointing in the direction of Mount Karadagh and starting to run again. The temple of Zeus was in that direction, just outside the city.[63] When I asked him who had come, he called out: ‘Zeus and Hermes, disguised as foreigners.’

As I joined the others heading towards the gate, I recalled the local legend. Zeus, the god of the sky and the king of the gods, had showed up once on earth with his son, Hermes, the god of boundaries and travelers. They'd shown up disguised as two old peasants. No one in the whole region had offered them hospitality except two people, Philemon and Baucis. In their anger, the two visiting gods wiped out the whole population except for these two. They were made guardians of a splendid temple, and when they died, they were turned into two great trees.[64] Hermes was not only known as an interpreter of the gods. He was also seen as a trickster and one who escorted the dead to Hades. I thought of the statue of him at our sport club. He did triple duty as the patron of athletes.

Arriving at the square inside the city gate, I was looking for a good way to get to the center of the crowd when I saw my mother emerging from the mass of people. She had my grandma in tow, trying to prevent her getting trampled by all the running people. When I tried to ask what happened, she motioned me to follow her. After she'd found a place where Grandma could sit down, they began to tell me what had happened. Our two visitors were still in the center of the crowd.

Apparently, Barnabas and Paul had decided it was safe enough to come to this square and visit Fortunatus,[65] a local Jewish leather worker they had met at the synagogue in Iconium. Later in the morning, Mom and Grandma had gone to take them some food and found a crowd gathered around Fortunatus' workplace next to the gate. Paul was telling the small crowd about Jesus in Greek and Fortunatus was translating what he said into the local Lycaonian language. His lame colleague, Deiotarus[66] was there too. He'd been born with crippled feet, but was really good with his hands,

‘I remember looking at him’, interrupted Grandma, ‘when Reb Saul (Paul) was telling about how Yeshua (Jesus) healed a lame man by a pool in a Jerusalem.’[67] He'd stopped working, she said, and was listening intently. Suddenly Paul stopped in the middle of his sentence and pointed toward Deiotarus; then told him to get up and stand on his feet. It was like an order. Before anyone could explain to Paul that Deiotarus couldn't do that, Deiotarus was suddenly pushing himself to a standing position. Several people gasped as he began taking a few steps. And some more steps. Then pandemonium broke out. Barnabas and Paul, with Fortunatus' help, then tried to get people's attention again, but no one was listening. Everyone was speaking at the same time in Lycaonian, a language that neither Grandma nor Mom understood very well.

So I decided to walk around and listen to what people were saying. That's when I found out why my neighbor was running to get the priest. Somebody had made the convincing suggestion that Barnabas and Paul were really Zeus and Hermes who had returned to the city, again disguised as foreigners. After all, wasn't Hermes a spokesman for the gods, and a conjurer?

As I walked back to where Mom was standing, there was a new commotion at the other end of the square. The priest of Zeus had arrived: with a bunch more people all carrying wreaths and garlands, and they had a couple of bulls in tow. I looked over at where the two rabbis were standing by themselves. I wondered where Fortunatus had gone. They looked concerned and a bit puzzled. Then Mom was tugging at my arm wanting to know what was going on. I said I thought there was going to be a sacrifice to Zeus and Hermes, and I told her about what our neighbor had said. She stood there for a moment with her mouth open, then started dragging me through the crowd. ‘We have to tell Paul and Barnabas,’ she exclaimed. I told her I thought they could figure it out for themselves; but I followed her over to Fortunatus' workplace, only to find that he had returned and was already explaining to them what was happening.

Next thing I knew, Paul was limping fast into the crowd, ripping his shirt open. Barnabas was right behind him doing the same thing, right up to the priest who hurriedly bowed down in front of them. Most everyone else in the square followed suit. Only the Jews and the skeptics were left standing. What a clash of religious symbols: two Jews ripping their clothes in mourning and a bunch of Lycaonians, prostrating on the ground, with their flowered garlands and bulls ready for a bloody celebration.

Except for a verbal protest from one of the bulls, the square suddenly became very quiet. Paul's voice was clear for everyone to hear. He said something like this:

'Stop! Don't do this! We are not gods come to earth to make you afraid. We are human just like you, trying to bring you some good news. The God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, He is the One who has come to earth to give you a gift, if you would welcome Him. Till now your nation and indeed all nations have gone their own way when it comes to religion. In the past the Creator allowed this, though He has always been reaching out to you with His kindness. He is the One who gives you rain from heaven, and crops in their season. He is the One who is behind all good things like these.'

By this time people were starting to stand up again. Many were bewildered, looking from the priest to the two visitors with their torn clothes, and then back again. Several of the skeptics were killing themselves laughing. A new crowd had formed around Fortunatus, plying him with questions about the two strangers. Meanwhile, Paul and Barnabas were earnestly discussing matters further with the priest. With great dignity the latter finally led his procession, including the two very relieved bulls, out of the square in the direction of the temple.

I didn't notice when Mom, Grandma and our two visitors left because a couple of my mates from the sport club came up to ask me what happened. And what did I know about the two strange men? I told them what I had observed but decided to be less forthcoming about the little I did know about Paul and Barnabas.

I must say, I was pretty impressed with their performance today. Especially the way they treated the priest of Zeus. And the way they reacted to the crowd's attempt to worship them as visiting gods. The ripping of their robes was a bit overdramatic, but it did get peoples' attention. What got my attention, though, was the respectful way Paul spoke to the crowd, and the way they both spent time talking with the priest. If that had been the leaders at the Iconium synagogue, they would have told everyone they were going straight to hell for worshipping false gods instead of the God of Israel. Well, at least some of them might have done that. Though I can think of at least one who would have joined the skeptics in laughing at the crowd.

Right now, both our visitors are resting, or maybe praying in their room—my room, that is! So, I guess I'll have to wait for supper time to find out more about them.

Introduction: Rome, 7 September, [61 CE]

[1] One church tradition (The Acts of Timothy, 4^th century) speaks of Timothy as 80 years old when he died a martyr's death in 97 CE [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Timothy]. This would have made Timothy 45 years old at the time Paul writes to him in late 62 CE telling him not to let anyone despise his ‘youth’ [Gr. neoteetos]’ (1 Timothy 4:12). This conflicts with the Greek use of this and related words (like neanias) to indicate someone no older than forty [Barclay 1975: 98; Thayer 1977: 423]. Therefore, I have followed two other biographers who place Timothy in his late teens or early twenties when he joins Paul and Silas [Wangerin 2000: 164; Wright 2018: 175]—making him (in my chronology of Paul's life) about 17 years-old when he first meets Paul in Lystra (Acts 14:8ff) in 47 CE [Mellis 2016a]; 21 years-old when he joins Paul and Silas (Acts 16:3) in 50 CE—old enough to be a soldier in ancient Israel (Numbers 26:2) and 26 years-old when Paul sends him into a difficult situation in Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17) in 55 CE [Mellis 2016b]; and 33 years-old when Paul writes to him in Ephesus as still a ‘youth’ (1 Tim.1:3; 4:12), in late 62 CE [Mellis 2016c].

[2] ‘Yeesous’ in Greek, since Timothy would have been writing in Greek, his mother tongue. For all Greek or Hebrew names in the Bible, I will use the common English New Testament transliterations—i.e. ‘Timothy’ for Timoteous, ‘Paul’ for Paullus (Paul's Roman name in Latin) or Paulos in Greek, ‘Eunice’ for Eunikee, ‘Luke’ for Loukas, ‘Joseph’ for Yoseef, etc. In the chronology that I use, the birth of the church was on Pentecost in 30 CE [Mellis 2016a].

[3] Colossians 4:10-11,14.

[4] Ephesians 4:16.

[5] 1 Corinthians 4:17; 1Timothy 1:2.

[6] Acts 28:16,30.

[7] In the chronology I use, Paul was held in Rome pending a hearing with Caesar for the mandatory two-year period from early 60 to early 62 CE [Mellis 2016c].

[8] Colossians 4:12,7-9.

[9] The New Testament ‘books’ of Luke (1:1-4) and Acts (1:1-2).

Introduction: Two days later 

[10] Acts 16:3. Luke does not tell us the father's name, so I have made one up.

[11] In drawing lessons from these three occupations (soldier, athlete and farmer) to challenge Timothy (2 Timothy 2:3-6), Paul may be alluding to the occupations of his deceased father.

[12] 2 Timothy 1:5a; 3:15. The three sections of the Hebrew Scriptures are still referred to as the Torah (the Law), the Prophets and the Writings (which begins with the Psalms). See also Luke 24:44.

[13] Non-Jews frequently attending a synagogue were referred to as ‘God-fearers’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God-fearer; Acts 13:14-16,26); or as ‘Greeks’—as in Iconium (Acts 14:1). Those who had submitted to the rite of baptism, with the men being circumcised were called ‘proselytes’ and were accepted part of the people of Israel (Acts 13:43; 2:11).

[14] In some diaspora synagogue communities ‘houses of instruction’ established to ‘explain the Scriptures’ welcomed non-Jews as well as Jews [De Ridder 1975: 81], but by the second century BCE, the non-Jew began to be regarded more and more as being personally impure [De Ridder 1975: 103,100].

[15] See 1 Maccabees 1:14-15 JB.

[16] Romans 4:9-11.

[17] The Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in Koine Greek by Jewish scholars in Egypt, that according to Jewish tradition was begun at the request of Ptolemy II during his reign (284-246 BCE). All the ‘books’ of the Septuagint were completed in 135 BCE. Until the 2^nd century CE [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint#Jewish_use] it came to have ‘enormous influence and importance’, being ‘widely used…by Jews all over the Roman Empire’ [Drane 1986: 28]. ‘The scroll or roll book [Gr. biblos] (Acts 1:20; 7:42; Galatians 3:10; 2 Timothty 4:13] was the usual format... written on either leather or parchment’—in use in the Near East by the third century BCE [De Hammel 2001: 47]. A Pompeii wall fresco of a man reading such a scroll dates from before 79 CE, when the city was destroyed and covered in volcanic ash [Norman 2024]. 

[18] In Greek, timo-theos can mean either ‘honored of God’ or ‘honoring God’.

1. Lystra, Wednesday 15 March [47 CE]

[19] In his second letter to Timothy, Paul reminds him both of how he had been familiar with the Scriptures ‘from infancy’ [Gk. brephous] and of ‘each one’ [Gk. tinos] that had taught him from these (2 Timothy 3:14-15a).

[20] See 1 Timothy 5:23.

[21] Acts 16:1-2. The language in the first verse is ambiguous as to whether Timothy was from Derbe or from Lystra. The latter is more probable since the second verse indicates that he and his Jewish mother were more well known in Lystra and in the larger city of Iconium—where the Jewish population was large enough to warrant a synagogue (Acts 14:1).

[22] The Julian calendar (adopted 45 BCE) was basically the same as the Gregorian calendar (1582 CE) that we use today, though I use the English names instead of the Latin ones (Ianurius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Iunius, etc.). Also 47 CE was a ‘common year’, beginning on a Sunday, January 1^st, like 2017 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_47].

[23] On physical training being important to Timothy, see Paul’s first letter to him (1 Timothy 4:8a).

[24] In his last letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:8), Paul identifies these two men as opponents of Moses, probably a reference to a rabbinic tradition that associated these two names with the magicians in the court of the Egyptian pharaoh (Exodus 7:11). The two-faced god in Roman mythology that Timothy refers to was named ‘Janus’.

2. Lystra, Friday 31 March [47 CE]

[25] Lystra was situated ‘about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south-by-southwest from Iconium’ (Bruce 1992:169), ‘about a day's journey on foot’ (Wagner 2000: 310).

[26] Acts 14:1a.

[27] Since Lois (Timothy's grandmother) is using the Hebrew names for Paul and Barnabas who she honors as rabbi’s (‘Reb Saul’ and ‘Reb Joseph’), I imagine her also using the Hebrew name for Jesus [Yeshua].

[28] Matthew 1:1,6-17; Luke 3:23-31. Many scholars believe that the latter is the genealogy of Jesus' mother, Mary.

[29] Herod Antipas [4 BCE – 39 CE] (Mark 6:17-29).

[30] Acts 13:22-32 (from Paul’s message in the Psidian Antioch synagogue before he and Barnabas went to Iconium).

[31] On the Messiah being identified with the Passover lamb, see Part II (footnote 29 to entry 11). The first day of Passover in 47 CE was on a Thursday, the 30^th of March. For the dates of Jewish festivals in every year of the Current Era see: https://webspace.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/hebrew/hebrewyear_year.htm#festivals.

[32] 2 Timothy 1:5a.

3. Lystra, Tuesday 11 April [47 CE]

[33] 2 Timothy 1:5b. ‘The Way’ was what Jewish followers of Jesus initially used to describe their movement (Acts 24:14). Since Eunice (Timothy's mother) was married to a Greek, I imagine her using the Greek name for the Messiah—Yeesous, the common English transliteration of it being ‘Jesus’.

[34] Acts 14:1a.

[35] Romans 2:5b-11; Deuteronomy 10:17-18.

4. Lystra, Tuesday 25 April [47 CE]

[36] Acts 14:1b,3. As in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:44,50a) and Iconium (14:3-5) Paul and Barnabas seemed to use each 'city' as a ministry base, also in the 'cities' of Lystra and Derbe (14:6a). Yet Luke speaks twice of their ministry extending beyond each city into the 'surrounding region' (13:49b, 14:6b-7).

[37] Perhaps he’d learned from Judean Jews how they also used this ploy to counter the miracles done by Jesus (Mk.3:22).

[38] ‘Since Julius Caesar had given the Jewish people the privilege, unique among all groups in the empire, of not being required to worship the Roman gods, it is quite possible that… leading Jews and (other) leading citizens (in Galatian cities) would have seen at once the threat of real civic upheaval. Supposing large numbers of non-Jews started trying to claim the same privilege?’ [Wright 2018: 121].

5. Lystra, Thursday evening, 11 May [47 CE]

[39] Acts 14:4.

[40] Acts 13:50b.

[41] Acts 14:2-6a; See Acts 13:50-51 for the circumstances of their departure from Pisidian Antioch (also 2 Timothy 3:10-11).

6. Lystra, Saturday evening, 13 May [47 CE]

[42] Acts 4:36a.

[43] Genesis 37 and 39-41.

[44] Though Joseph was given an Egyptian burial, he’d given orders for his bones to be removed, when the people of Israel left Egypt, and taken back to the land of Canaan for reburial there (see Genesis 50:25-26; Exodus 13:19; and Joshua 24:32).

[45] Luke describes Barnabas as ‘a Levite Cyprian by birth-origin’ [Gk. Levitees, Kuprios to genei] (Acts 4:36b).

[46] "Hazzan" in Hebrew—the one who recites God's Word in beautiful tones and encourages people from it. Though historians can only date this synagogue role back to the end of the first century CE, the actual role may have existed in some local synagogues a century earlier. In the Torah, the Levites were also given the responsibility to teach the Law (Leviticus 10:8-11; Deuteronomy 33:8-10a), also in the 2^nd Temple period (Ezra 7:1-10; Malachi 2:4-9). The nickname ‘Bar-nabas’ (‘Son of Encouragement’ Acts 4:36c), may actually have its origins in this synagogue role, and in his ability in the early church to chant the Scriptures beautifully and encourage people through his explanation of the texts.

[47] Luke speaks of Mary and a son, ‘John’, also called ‘Mark’, as Jesus-followers living in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12); and then again of Barnabas and Paul (‘Saul’), on a visit to Jerusalem taking this son back to Antioch with them, and also as a helper on their first mission trip together (12:25; 13:5). Years later, Paul speaks of ‘Mark’ as a ‘relative’ of Barnabas (his ‘sister's son’, Col.4:10 KJV).

[48] The Feast of Weeks [Heb. Shavuot] was also known as Pentecost, because it started 50 days after the week of Passover [Heb. Pesach] that ends with the offering of the first sheaf of grain [Hebr. Jom HaBikkurim] in anticipation of harvest (Leviticus 23:5-16). Pentecost, Passover and Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles [Heb. Sukkot] were the three great feasts all Jewish men were required to attend if possible, according to the Torah (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:1-17).

[49] Acts 13:1-12.

[50] Citizenship in the city of Tarsus was different from Roman citizenship. The same Roman centurion who arrested Paul in Jerusalem knew that the prisoner he held was a ‘Tarsian’ [Gk. Tarseus] (Acts 21:39 [Mellis 2016d]; see footnote 60). Yet he still ordered him later to be flogged, something he quickly regretted when he found out that he had just ordered the illegal flogging of a ‘Roman’ (22:24-28, see footnote 56).

[51] ‘Paulus’ in Latin.

[52] 1 Samuel 9:1-2. King Saul’s full story is in chapters 10-31 of 1 Samuel. Benjamin was the youngest son of the patriarch, Jacob (Genesis 35:15-18).

[53] Philippians 3:5; Acts 23:6.

[54] Acts 22:3a. The Greek anatethrammenos de [397+1161] (‘but nurtured’) distinguishes the second part in a classic Greek literary triad (the place of the home where a person was ‘raised’ as child at his mother’s knee) from the first part (the place of birth and infanthood until weaned). So not only was Jerusalem the place of young Saul's formal education (the third part of the triad), but it was also the place of his parent's home from about at least his third year—since weaning was usually in a child's second or third year [Alexander & Alexander 1983: 231]. So ‘this city’ most likely refers to Jerusalem, not to Tarsus [Van Unnik 1962: 17-45] and [Stein 1993: 464-465].

[55] Acts 26:4-5a. ‘So then, the course of my life—indeed, that as a youth, that which unfolded from the beginning among my own nation* in Jerusalem—has been familiar to all the Judeans (author’s translation). [*Contrary to many translations, there is, in the Greek, no ‘and’ [kai] after ‘my nation’ [Gr. ethnei mou] that would incorrectly imply that Paul's childhood was spent among people of some non-Jewish nation.] Further, Saul’s mother tongue was most likely Aramaic since Jesus addresses Saul on the road to Damascus in this ‘Hebrew dialect’ [Gk. hebraide dialekto] (Acts 26:14).

[56] In Luke’s narrative, a Roman citizen was simply described as a ‘Roman’ [Gk. romaios] (Acts 22:25-29; 23:27 [Mellis 2016d]). See also how the plural form of this word was applied to both Paul and Silas in Philippi (Acts 16:27-28).

[57] Galatians 1:14. Note how Paul prefaces these words—about having been ‘inherently more exceedingly zealous’ than many of his peers for ancestral traditions and Jewish religious practice—by saying ‘Am I now currying favor with human beings? ...For if I still were pleasing human beings, I would not be a servant of Christ.’ (Gal.1:10).

[58] The four-year rabbinical training school led by the famous Pharisee scholar, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3b; Drazin 1940: 69-70).

[59] To be appointed to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish man had to be at least 22 years old and married [Drazin 1940: 71].

[60] Becoming a cadet of a Greek city, and then an adult citizen, was a two-year process [Barclay 1976a: 34]. Further, the property qualification for Tarsian citizenship was 500 drachmae [Bruce 1993: 681]. Tarsus was a commercial center that also offered ‘the same kind of oratorical and philosophical higher education enjoyed at Athens and Rome’. So Paul may have honed his Greek language and dialogical skills there, while also acquiring the tent maker craft (Acts 18:3) as part of a family business—'since trades were usually passed on through families’ [Ruden 2010: xii].

[61] In Saul’s day a rabbi he would need to earn a living ‘by other means’ [Wright 2018: 15; Drane 1986: 248].

[62] A return to Tarsus for several years not only explains how Paul became a citizen of Tarsus and where he learned his trade, but also why he never speaks of any direct personal experience with the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus in Judea, or of the events surrounding the death of Jesus in Jerusalem in 27-30 CE [Mellis 2016a and 2016d 'Appendix'].

7. Lystra, Sunday, 14 May - Later in the Afternoon [47 CE]

[63] Acts 14:13a. Luke’s account of the incident in Lystra that Timothy describes can be found in Acts 14:8-18.

[64] Barclay 1976b: 109.

[65] There is a Fortunatus mentioned in one of Paul’s letters who with two others refreshes Paul’s spirit when he travels from Corinth to visit Paul in Ephesus [in mid to late 54 CE] (1 Corinthians 16:17). I imagine him to be a Jewish man or ‘God-fearer’ who first met Paul in the synagogue in Iconium [46 CE] where he became a Jesus-follower, and who at the time of Paul's letter to the Corinthians was on his way back to his home city of Lystra via Ephesus.

[66] Named after a famous Celtic king (Lat. Deiotarus means ‘divine bull’) who ruled over three tribes in western Galatia [105–42 BCE]. He was also surnamed Philo-romalos, meaning ‘Friend of the Romans’ [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deiotarus].

[67] John 5:1-8.