Acts 16:3

Acts 16:3

 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

a. NLT: so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.

b. NIV: Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

c. Amplified Bible: Paul desired Timothy to go with him [as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places, all of whom knew that his father was a Greek.

1. “Him would Paul have to go forth with him…”

a. go forth [1831 * exerchomai; ek-out; erchomai-to go or come out of a place.][Strong: to issue (literally or figuratively):--come (forth, out), depart (out of), escape, get out, go (abroad, away, forth, out, thence), proceed (forth), spread abroad.]

b. Vincent’s Word Studies: The word is used of going forth as a missionary.

1). Luke 9:6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

2). 3John 7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

2. “…and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”

a. The Book Of Acts, Stanley M. Horton, Gospel Publishing House, 1981, pp190, 191. “Paul wanted to take Timothy out of the church at Lystra for further training as well as to help in the ministry of these missionary journeys. But when he decided to do this, he did something very unuseal. He circumcised Timothy. Paul makes quite a point in Galatians 2:3-5 that the Jerusalem leaders did not require Titus to be circumcised. Why, then, did he circumcise Timothy? Titus was a Gentile. To circumcise him would have been to yield to the Judaizers who said Gentiles must become Jews to keep their salvation. Timothy, however, was brought up in the Jewish traditions by his Jewish mother and grandmother….Paul still went to the Jew first in every city that he visited. For him to take an uncircumcised Jew into a synagogue would be like taking a traitor into an army camp. It would be intolerable to the Jews; none of them would listen to him. As a result, Paul took Timothy and circumcised him for the sake of his witness to his own people…1 Timothy 4:14 indicates that the elders of the local assembly accepted this, prayed for Timothy, and sent him out with their blessing.”

b. All of the sources I checked with agree with the reasoning above as to why Paul had Timothy circumcised.