Timon

Saint Timon the Apostle was one of the seven deacons chosen by the apostles at Jerusalem and, according to tradition, one of the seventy apostles of the Lord. What we know of his life after his choice as deacon comes only from tradition: he served as bishop at Bostra and received the crown of martyrdom. He is commemorated on 30 December, and in the Synaxis of the seven deacons on 28 July.

Choice as deacon Timon is a common Greek name and means the honourable one, so it has been supposed that he was a Greek-⁠speaking Jew. The Bible speaks of him once only, in the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. In the early days of the Church, the Hellenistic Jews complained that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles asked that seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, be chosen. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert from paganism, were chosen. The apostles prayed and laid their hands on them. Timon is the fourth of them and, with the others, is counted as the beginning of the diaconal ministry.

According to tradition Tradition says that he was one of the seventy disciples sent out by the Lord in the Gospel of Luke. It also says that the apostles made him bishop at Bostra in Arabia. For his preaching of Christ he is said to have suffered much at the hands of Jews and pagans. According to tradition, he was thrown into a fire by a governor angered by his preaching, but came out unharmed. Roman Catholic tradition says that he preached in Aleppo and Beroea and that he escaped the fire at Corinth, but was later crucified. Some sources say that he was bishop of Corinth until his martyrdom, and one source gives AD 44 for his death, while others place his death at Philippi.

Veneration Timon is venerated by the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and the Coptic Church. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 30 December, on 4 January in the Synaxis of the seventy apostles, and on 28 July together with Prochorus, Nicanor, Parmenas and the other deacons. In the West his commemoration is on 19 April.