Introduction

Euince is technically introduced in Acts 16:1, but we aren't given her name until 2 Timothy 1:5. She is the mother of Paul's protégé, Timothy. She is praised for her faith, which she was taught from her mother (Lois) and has passed down to Timothy. The only other information we are given about Eunice is that she married a Greek man.

Origins

Name

The name Eunice (Ἐυνείκῃ) means "good victory."[1]

Heritage

The Bible explicitly tells us that Eunice is an Israelite in Acts 16:1 and contrasts this with the fact that Timothy's father is Greek. We are not told which tribe she is from but given that this is after the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities, she must be either from the tribe of Judah, Levi, or Benjamin.

Questions

About the Passage

1. Was she always a woman of faith?
2. How did Eunice end up with a Greek man?
   • Did this relationship start before she became a believer?
   • Was he also a believer?
   • Did they marry?
   • Did Paul meet Timothy's father? If not, was it because he left the family or because he died?
3. Was she active in the church? What was her role?
4. How did she meet Paul?
   • Did she introduce Paul and Timothy? Or did Timothy introduce her to Paul?
5. How involved with Timothy (as an adult) was she?
6. What made her (and her mother's) faith "sincere"?
7. Was she from Derbe/Lystra, or had Timothy relocated there for some reason?

If I could meet her...

Parenting doesn't come with instructions, but Eunice apparently did a great job raising Timothy. I would want to know how much of Eunice's parenting was based on discernment from the Holy Spirit versus her own mother's advice. Further I would be curious if she lived in a house divided, given the implication that Timothy's father was not a believer (again, this is interpretation, the Bible neither confirms nor denies this). How did she navigate that.

Finally, but most importantly, I would just want to hear her talk about her faith. Based on Paul's assement she had a wonderful, powerful, and contagious faith—that's always a blessing to witness!

Phototheology

Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[2] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three prompts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying Eunice.

How does the text or story relate to the church?

One of the main purposes of the Church is to spread the Gospel and the main way that is done is by living out our faith for others to see. Euince was a pillar of faith and a great example of this being done. It started with her mother, passed to her, and she passed that torch on to her son; now we are reading about her faith today. Imagine how powerful our churches would be today if they had people like Eunice in them!

Compare and contrast to the Semitic cycle

I did this exercise under the assumption that the Semitic Cycle is when God's focus was on the descendants of Shem, namely the Israelites. Under this assumption, Eunice lived on the cusp of changing cycles. When she was born, they were still in the Semitic Cycle, but by the time she was an adult the focus was shifting and by the time of her death, the Church age had commenced.

Euince would have watched the shift of preaching God's meesage only to her and her people, to being spread all around the world (or atleast the parts of the world she would have known about). I wonder how she felt about that, especially given that the father of her child was not and Israelite and clearly Timothy's mixed heritage had an impact on how he was seen within the community.

How does the text relate to the sanctuary?

The sanctuary is not only a place where people went to express faith but also contained objects that represented that faith. For instance, the candlestick symbolized the prayers of the saints, and prayer is something you take part in when you have faith. The fact that Eunice is praised for her faith implies that she embodied the sanctuary and the message of the sanctuary.

Journal Pages

References and Footnotes

1. "Strong's G2131. Ἐυνείκῃ". Blue Letter Bible; visited September 2025
2. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck