Acts of Timothy

Acta apostoli Timothei

Standard abbreviation: Acts Tim.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 270; CANT 295

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Compiled by: Cavan Concannon, University of Southern California ([email protected])

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Concannon, Cavan. “Acts of Timothy.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/acts-of-timothy/.

Created January, 2016. Current as of October 2022.

1. SUMMARY

The Acts of Timothy recounts Timothy’s tenure as bishop of Ephesus. The Latin version of the text attributes its authorship to Polycrates, the bishop of Ephesus at the end of the second century (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.23-24). Timothy is said to have been born to a Greek father and a Jewish mother in Lystra, following the description in Acts 16. He was converted by Paul and traveled with him until he settled in Ephesus. After Paul’s martyrdom under Nero, the apostle John, equated here with John of Patmos, arrives in Ephesus. Followers of the disciples bring to John various traditions about Jesus on loose sheets of paper, which he organizes into three gospels and assigns to them their traditional names. Then he composes his own to fill in details missing in the other three. John is then exiled to the island of Patmos by Domitian. Timothy, who is still ruling as bishop, publicly attacks a local pagan festival called the Katagogia. In response, the revelers use their clubs and stones to kill Timothy. The local Christians take the bishop and bury him outside of the city in a place called Pion. Some Greek manuscripts mention that his body was later removed to Constantinople to the Church of the Apostles. This removal occurred in 356 CE and was one of the first documented removals of a saint’s body. Under the reign of Nerva John returns from exile and becomes bishop in Ephesus until the reign of Trajan.

Named historical figures and characters: Andrew (apostle), Domitian, Irenaeus of Lyon, John (evangelist), Luke (evangelist), Mark (evangelist), Matthew (apostle), Maximus (proconsul of Asia), Nero, Nerva, Paul (apostle), Peregrinus (proconsul of Asia), Peter (apostle), Polycrates (bishop), Timothy, Trajan (emperor).

Geographical locations: Asia, Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople, Cyclades, Embelos Quarter (Ephesus), Ephesus, Galatia, Lugdunum, Lycaonia, Lystria, Pamphylia, Patmos, Phrygia, Pion (Ephesus), Pontus.

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Web Sites and Other Online Resources

“S00466: Timothy, the disciple of Paul the Apostle.” The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity.

“Saint Timothy.” Wikipedia.

2.2 Art and Iconography

Illustration of Timothy in two menologia; the two similar images are likely based on a lost exemplum.

The Menologion of Basil II, Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1613, p. 341 (10th cent.)

The “Imperial Menologion,” Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, w. 521, fol. 203^v (11th cent.)

Patterson Ševčenko, Nancy. “The Walters Imperial Menologion.” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 51 (1993): 43–64.

Zakharova, Anna. “Miniatures of the Imperial Menologia.” Nea Rhome. Rivista di ricerche bisantinistiche 7 (2011): 131–53.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Greek

3.1.1.1 BHG 1847

Family 1:

A Mount Athos, Koutlumousiou, 37, fols. 276^r–277^v (10th cent.)

O Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. gr. 54, fols. 11^r–13^r (12th cent.)

B Berlin, Deutsche Bibliothek, 220, fols. 37^v–40^v (13th cent.)

Family 2:

P Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1219, fols. 64^r–67^r (11th cent.)

V Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1595 fols. 56^v–57^v (11th cent.)

C Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 866, fols. 394^r–395^r (11th/12th cent.)

M Messina, Biblioteca Universitaria, 63 fols. 230^v–232^v (13th cent.)

Zamagni, Claudio. “Passion (ou Actes) de Timothée. Étude des traditions anciennes et édition de la forme BHG 1487.” Pages 341–75 in Poussières de christianisme et de judaïsme antiques. Études réunies en l’honneur de Jean-Daniel Kaestli et Éric Junod. Edited by Albert Frey and Rémi Gounelle. Prahins: Publications de l’Institut Romand des Sciences Bibliques, 2007. Reprinted in Claudio Zamagni, Recherches sur le Nouveau Testament et les apocryphes chrétiens. Rimini: GuaraliLAB, 2017, pp. 257–301 (critical edition of the Greek tradition based on the seven manuscripts above).

Usener, Hermann. Natalicia regis augustissimi Guilelmi imperatoris Germaniae ab Universitate Fridericia Guilelmia Rhenana […] Insunt Acta S. Timothei. Bonn: Programme de l’université de Bonn, 1877 (editio princeps based on P, pp. 7–13).

3.1.1.2 BHG 1847g (unpublished epitome)

Glasgow, University Library, MS Gen 1112 (BE 8.x.5), fols. 238^r–238^v (10th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Halkin, François. “Un nouveau ménologe grec de Janvier dans un manuscrit de Glasgow.” AnBoll 75 (1957): 66–72 (description).

3.1.1.3 Menologion of Basil II

Preliminary translation: Timothy, the apostle of Christ, was from the city of Lystra. He was the son of a Greek, but his mother was a Jew. He was a disciple of the holy apostle Paul, and companion of his preaching. He was ordained by Saint Paul, in the time of Emperor Nero, the first bishop of Ephesus before Saint John the Theologian. For the Theologian came to Ephesus after the falling asleep of the holy Theotokos. And Saint Timothy taught the people the faith of Christ. On one occasion, seeing the Greeks celebrating an abominable festival day for idols, with the men and women promiscuously performing indecent acts, he ran to them and admonished them to cease their wickedness, but this accomplished nothing; rather he was killed by them with the spears they held in their hands at the very entrance of the city, where his precious remains are also buried.

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1613, p. 341 (10th cent.) ~ Pinakes; BAV

Migne, Jacques-Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 117. Paris: Cerf, 1903 (Greek text with facing Latin translation, cols. 273–74).

3.1.1.4 Photius, Bib. cod. 254 ~ text and French translation

Migne, Jacques Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 104. Paris: Cerf, 1860 (cols. 101–104).

3.1.2 Latin

3.1.2.1 BHL 8294 (37 known witnesses)

C Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 17625, fols. 202^v–204^r (10th cent.) ~ Gallica

F Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5300, fols. 46^v–47^v (13th cent.) ~ Gallica

Bolland, Jean et al., eds. Acta Sanctorum, Ianuarii. Vol. 2. Antwerp: P. Jacobs 1643 (pp. 562–69); 3rd ed. Paris: V. Palmé, 1863 (vol. 3, pp. 180–81) (Latin text from unidentified source).

Legenda aurea sanctorum, sive Lombardica historia. Cologne: Ulrich Zell, 1483 (incunable of the Golden Legend with additional saints in the appendices; text of Acts Tim. fols. 238d–239c)

Lefèvre d’Étaples, Jacques. Agones martyrum mensis ianuarii libro primo contenti. Paris, 1519 (Latin text from unidentified source, fols. 54^v–55^v).

Migne, Jacques-Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 5. Paris: Cerf, 1894 (Latin text drawing on three unidentified Latin manuscripts—one from Trier, one from the monastery of S. Mariae de Ripatorio, and another identified as the Agonibus martyrum ms. Nicolai Belforti—and readings from one in Greek, cols. 1363–66).

Pithou, François. Codex canonum vetus Ecclesiae Romanae a Francisco Pithoeo ad veteres manuscriptos codices . . . Ex Bibliotheca Illustrissimi D. D. Claudii Le Peletier. Paris: Ex Typographia Regia, 1687 (Latin text from a manuscript from the Paris monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, pp. 365–67).

3.1.2.2 Epitome in Vincent de Beauvais, Speculum historiale 11.38 (Latin text)

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Concannon, Cavan. “The Acts of Timothy.” Pages 395–405 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

Rothschild, Clare K. “Acts of Timothy: The Latin Tradition.” Pages 362–87 in Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity. Edited by Gideon R. Kotzé and Philip R. Bosman. Leiden: Brill, 2022.

3.2.2 French

Zamagni, Claudio. “Actes de Timothée.” Pages 587–601 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005.

3.3 General Works

Barnes, Timothy D. Early Christian Hagiography and Roman History. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010 (pp. 300–303).

Bremmer, Jan N. “Timothy, John and Ephesus in the Acts of Timothy.” Pages 215–39 in The Apostles Peter, Paul, John, Thomas and Philip with their Companions in Late Antiquity. Edited by Tobias Nicklas, Janet E. Spittler, and Jan N. Bremmer. Leuven: Peeters, 2021.

Concannon, Cavan W. “In the Great City of the Ephesians: Contestations over Apostolic Memory and Ecclesial Power in the Acts of Timothy.” JECS 24.3 (2016): 419–46.

Csapo, Eric. “Comedy and the Pompe: Dionysian Genre-Crossing.” Pages 40–80 in Greek Comedy and the Discourse of Genres. Edited by Emmanuela Bakola, Lucia Prauscello, and Mario Telo. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013 (pp. 59–64).

Delehaye, Hippolyte. “Les actes de Saint Timothée.” Pages 77–84 in Anatolian Studies Presented to William Hepburn Buckler. Edited by William Moir Calder and Josef Keil. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1939.

Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Schiller, 1703–1719 (vol. 1, pp. 812–14).

Foss, Clive. Ephesus after Antiquity: A Late Antique, Byzantine, and Turkish City. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979 (see pp. 33, 43, 84–86, 126–28).

Keil, Josef. Führer durch Ephesos. Vienna: Österreichisches Archäologisches
Institut, 1964.

__________. “Zum Martyrium des heiligen Timotheus in Ephesus.” JÖAI 29 (1935): 82–92.

Kensky, Meira Z. “Ephesus, Loca Sancta: The Acts of Timothy and Religious Travel in Late Antiquity.” Pages 91–119 in The Narrative Self in Early Christianity: Essays in Honor of Judith Perkins. Edited by Janet E. Spittler. WGRWSup 5. Atlanta: SB: Press, 2019.

Klauck, Hans-Josef. The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction. Translated by Brian McNeil; Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2008 (pp. 248–49).

Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 2.2, pp. 372–400).

Nicklas, Tobias. “Christian Apocrypha as ‘Heterotopias’ in Ancient Christian Discourse: the Acts of Timothy.” PIBA 41/42 (2019): 98–112.

Zahn, Theodor. “Rezension Acta S. Timothei edidit H. Usener (Programm der Universität Bonn zum 22. März 1877).” Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen Jan. (1878): 97–114.