Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - 2 Cor 7:14 and Titus-Timothy (was Luke/Paul Chronology)

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: 2 Cor 7:14 and Titus-Timothy (was Luke/Paul Chronology)
  • Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 17:24:50 -0800



Bob MacDonald wrote:
>4. Is Titus = Timothy? - this question would never have occurred to me
>without the prodding of the list. It seems very doubtful from my first
>sequencing. Paul would have no need to boast of the Corinthians to Timothy
>since Timothy knew them personally already (from the second journey).

Bob has raised the question of Paul's boasting to Titus about the
Corinthians (2 Cor 7:14)
Does 2 Cor 7:14 present a problem for the Titus-Timothy hypothesis? If so,
does the problem disappear when Titus-Timothy is split into two? I will
argue that this text actually supports the T-T hypothesis. Let us dig a
little deeper.

The question of whether Titus had been to Corinth before his tearful letter
mission has been much debated. It has been argued that Paul would be
unlikely to select a complete unknown for such a delicate mission and that
therefore Titus had probably been to Corinth before. Also, some see in 2
Cor 8:6 evidence for an earlier visit of Titus to Corinth. Why, they ask,
does Paul say that Titus, rather than Timothy, started the collection in
Corinth: Titus must have visited Corinth at about the time of 1 Corinthians
when the collection was getting under way. Those who equate 2 Cor 10-13
with the tearful letter use 12:18 as evidence of an earlier visit of Titus
to Corinth. So it seems a bit precarious to use 7:14 as evidence against
the Titus-Timothy hypothesis when the two-person theorists are themselves
split on whether Titus had been to Corinth before.

Now let's look at the evidence from 1 Corinthians about Timothy's
relationship to the Corinthians church, and ask whether it is consistent
with 2 Cor 7:14 under the T-T assumption.
Commentators have pointed out that Timothy is discussed in 1 Cor in a
surprising way. There are no indications in 1 Cor that Timothy was well
acquainted with the Corinthians, yet we know from 2 Cor 1:19 and Acts that
he had been there before. This problem is quite parallel to the problem
that Bob raises about Titus in 2 Cor 7:14. So splitting him into two
people does not solve the problem: you still have a problem with respect to
Timothy in 1 Cor. One could speculate as to why Paul does not play on the
closeness of Timothy to the Corinthians in 1 Cor, but suffice it to say
that most explanations that one can dream up will also quite adequately
solve the problem that Bob raised with respect to 2 Cor 7:14 and the T-T
hypothesis.

The question to ask, Bob, is whether you would find it surprising for Paul
to boast to TIMOTHY about the prospects for his mission before he sent him
on his mission of 1 Cor 4:17; 16:10. Isn't the data actually rather
consistent? Timothy had been anxious about how he would be received in
Corinth (1 Cor 16:10)(because of the difficult situation that he had to
resolve). Hence Paul needed to boast to him about the likely response of
the Corinthians to his mission (2 Cor 7:14). Paul then asked the
Corinthians to ensure that he had nothing to fear (1 Cor 16:10), partly so
that he would not be embarrassed at having boasted (2 Cor 7:14).

Richard Fellows
Vancouver
rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca





  • 2 Cor 7:14 and Titus-Timothy (was Luke/Paul Chronology), Richard Fellows, 01/06/2000

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page