Figure Analysis

Timothy comes up quite a bit in Paul's letters. We first meet him in Acts, where he gets introduced to Paul and then promptly circumcised (Acts 16:1-3). No, Paul's not going back on his whole "no circumcision" policy. See, Timothy's mother is Jewish, so Paul figures it would be easier for them to preach in Jewish communities if Timothy at least looks like he's following the law. Given all the uproar about circumcision in these letters, he's probably right.

In Philippians, Paul praises Timothy repeatedly, saying, "I have no one like him" and that the kid is like "a son" to him (Philippians 2:20, 22). Aw.

Timothy is also the co-author on Philippians and Philemon. But who are we kidding? We know Paul's the real biblical mastermind here

Basically, Timothy is one of Paul's right hand-men. His co-disicple. His bosom buddy. The kid also gets co-writer credits on a few other important little biblical books—2 Corinthians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians—so you know Paul must have dug him. He even gets two books of the Bible named after him: The First and Second Epistles to Timothy.

Of course, Paul probably didn't write either one.