Timon (deacon)

Saint Timon
Martyr
Died	AD 44?
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Coptic Orthodox Church
Feast	April 19 (Western) December 30 (Eastern)

Timon (Greek: Τίμων) was one of the Seven Deacons appointed to serve the early Christian church and a martyr.

Biography

Timon (Greek: Τίμων) was a common Greek name and means someone honorable.^[1] Based on his name, it has been guessed that he was a Hellenistic Jew.^[2][3] The lone reference of him in the Bible comes in chapter six of the Acts of the Apostles.^[1] Acts records that in the early days of the Christian church, the Hellenistic Jews complained that they were being overlooked in food distribution, and the apostles appointed seven men "of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom", to address the issue.^[4] These seven were known as the Seven Deacons, and their role was the "forerunner of the of the office of deacon in modern churches".^[4] Timon was the fourth named of these seven deacons, alongside Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Parmenas and Nicholas.^[2][4]

Although no further mention of Timon is made in Acts, there are several traditions about his later life.^[5] According to one tradition, he was one of the seventy disciples sent out by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.^[6] Eastern Christian tradition states that he became the bishop of Bostra in Syria, appointed by the apostles.^[7] He is said to have "suffered greatly" at the hands of Jews and pagans due to his preaching of Christ, leading to him being thrown into a fire by a local governor angry with his preaching.^[4][7] Roman Catholic tradition states that Timon preached in Haleb and Beroea and that he survived being cast into a fire in Corinth, but was later crucified.^[8][9] Some sources state that he served as bishop of Corinth until his martyrdom.^[6] One source dates his death to AD 44 and other traditions consider his place of death to have been Philippi, Greece.^[4]

Timon is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Coptic Orthodox Church.^[5][7][10] His feast day is celebrated on April 19 in the west and December 30 in the east, while he is also commemorated on July 28 in the east.^[5][11]

References

1. Strong, James. "5096. Timón". Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance – via BibleHub.
2. Strong, James; McClintock, John (1880). "Timon". Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. New York.
3. Orr, James (1939). "Timon". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
4. Phelan, Marilyn E.; Phelan, Jay M. (June 8, 2021). In His Footsteps: The Early Followers of Jesus. Resource Publications. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9781666701869.
5. Watkins, Basil (November 19, 2015). The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 729. ISBN 9780567664150.
6. The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized by the Catholic Church: Extracted from the Roman & Other Martyrologies. A. & C. Black. 1921. p. 259.
7. "Память святых апостолов (из семидесяти): Прохора, Никанора, Тимона и Пармена" [Commemoration of the Holy Apostles (of the Seventy): Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas]. Жития святых на русском языке, изложенные по руководству Четьих-Миней свт. Димитрия Ростовского [Lives of the Saints in Russian, according to the guidance of the Chetyi-Minei of St. Demetrius of Rostov] (in Russian). Vol. XI. Moscow. 1903–1916.
8. Roman Martyrology (PDF). London: Thomas Richardson and Son. 1848. p. 112.
9. "Timon, S.". Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon [Complete Lexicon of Saints] (in German). 1858 – via Zeno.org.
10. "St. Timon". Society of St. Stephen Coptic Orthodox Deacons.
11. "Apostle Timon the Deacon of the Seventy". Orthodox Church in America. December 30, 1998.