Moms in the Bible - Eunice

Chapter 4 – Eunice

What you possibly find out about a person who is mentioned by name in only one verse in the Bible? Quite a lot, actually. In Saint Paul’s second letter to Timothy he says: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” There she is: Eunice, Timothy’s mom. Close family, don’t you think? Grandma, mom, son – all with sincere Christian faith. In other scripture referencing Timothy we are told that he was the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but
his father was a Greek.

Interestingly enough the name Eunice is Greek and means “victorious” or “happily conquering”. Why would she have a Greek name? Probably because her father and her mother Lois were living in the Greek culture when she was born, and not in Israel. Possibly she lived her whole life in Lystra since we know that Timothy lived there.

As for her marriage, Eunice may have married for love since she chose a man outside of her Jewish faith. She was loyal to him because she respected his obvious wish that Timothy not be circumcised (Acts 16:3). Yet she did raise her boy in her own faith – first the Jewish faith and then, when she came to belief in Christ, she made sure he knew the true faith.

What else can we figure out about Eunice? She named her son Timothy, which means “dear to God”. She was disciplined. She taught her son the Old Testament Scriptures from an early age, in fact, Paul tells us Timothy had learned holy Scripture from infancy, when he was still nursing (Acts 3: 15). (Lesson for moms everywhere: teach your children the Word from the time they are babies. Look what a huge influence Timothy had on the spread of the Christian faith.)

Eunice, with her mom and son, was active in the Christian fellowship in Lystra (Acts 16:2). I’ll bet she was proud of her son since Acts 16 tells us that the other believers spoke well of Timothy.

Kudos to Eunice – a victorious woman, faithful believer, loyal wife, disciplined teacher, and great mom.

Next Saturday – Eve