Acts 16 · a question people ask
"he took and circumcised him" (16:3). Why did Paul circumcise Timothy?
The verse gives its own reason: "Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek." (16:3). Timothy is "the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek" (16:1), and "The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him" (16:2). The next verse says, "As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem." (16:4). The chapter gives no reason beyond 16:3's words, and these notes add none, set nothing beside it, and apply 16:3 to no one today. Favor's Acts 15 asks whether the meeting in Jerusalem said the Gentiles who believed must be circumcised; this chapter doesn't take that up.
The verses
“He came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek. The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him. Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.”