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Bible Dictionaries
Trophimus
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (Τρόφιμος)
Trophimus was a Christian convert belonging to Ephesus (Acts 21:29) and a companion of the apostle Paul on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:4). He is called along with Tychicus an Asian (Ἀσιανοί), and the two appear together as deputies of the Ephesian church, by which they were appointed to carry their contribution to the poorer brethren of Jerusalem. Both were with St. Paul in Macedonia and accompanied him to Asia, and thence preceded him to Troas, where they were joined by the delegates from the other churches-Sopater of Berœa, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy. After the Apostle’s arrival at Troas the whole company seem to have journeyed together to Jerusalem. We find from Acts 21:29 that Trophimus had been seen in the Apostle’s company in Jerusalem, and the riot raised against the Apostle was made ostensibly on the ground that St. Paul had introduced Trophimus, a Gentile, into the Temple.
We have no means of knowing whether Trophimus accompanied St. Paul to Rome after his appeal to Caesar, but we find him again in the Apostle’s company after the first imprisonment. He is mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:20 as having been left at Miletus sick. In 2 Corinthians 8:18-24 reference is made to two companions of the Apostle who accompanied Titus from Ephesus to Corinth with the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It has been suggested that these two were the Ephesian friends of the Apostle, Tychicus and Trophimus, who had previously been appointed to travel with him, carrying the offerings of the Churches (2 Corinthians 8:19). We have, however, far too scanty evidence to make any certain identification (cf. J. H. Bernard, in Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘2 Corinthians,’ 1903, p. 89).
W. F. Boyd.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Trophimus'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/t/trophimus.html. 1906-1918.
