Timothy was from the Lycaonian city of Lystra[10] or of Derbe[2][3] in Asia Minor, born of a Jewish mother who had become a Christian believer, and a Greek father.

While included in the Pauline epistles of the New Testament, First and Second Timothy are considered by many biblical scholars to be pseudoepigraphical and not written by Paul.

When he returned a few years later with Silas, Timothy was already a respected member of the Christian congregation, as were his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, both Jews.

In 1 Corinthians 16:10,[14] there is a suggestion that he was by nature reserved and timid: "When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord".

Augustine extols his zeal and disinterestedness in immediately forsaking his country, his house, and his parents, to follow the apostle, to share in his poverty and sufferings.

[19] Timothy may have been subject to ill health or "frequent ailments", and Paul encouraged him to "use a little wine for your stomach's sake".

The apocryphal Acts of Timothy states that in the year 97 AD, the 80-year-old bishop tried to halt a procession in honor of the goddess Diana by preaching the Gospel.

[18] Timothy is venerated as an apostle, saint, and martyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 22 January.

The General Roman Calendar venerates Timothy together with Titus by a memorial on 26 January, the day after the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

[29][30] In the 4th century, the relics of Timothy were transferred from Ephesus to Constantinople and placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles near the tombs of Andrew and Luke.

[40] He exhorts his spiritual "son" Timothy to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combating them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution,[41] and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office,[42] with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead (God).

The Acts tell how Paul had consecrated Timothy as bishop during Nero's reign on the occasion of a visit to Ephesus which they made together.