Tychicus (:

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Τυχικός) was an Asiatic Christian who, with

Trophimus Trophimus (, ''Tróphimos'') or Trophimus the Ephesian (, ''Tróphimos ho Ephésios'') was a Christian who accompanied Paul during a part of his third missionary journey. He was with Paul in Jerusalem, and the Jews, supposing that the apostle ...

, accompanied the

Apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

on a part of his journey from Macedonia to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He is also alluded to have been with Paul in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where the apostle sent him to Ephesus, probably for the purpose of building up and encouraging the church there. In the New Testament, he is mentioned five times (; ; ; ; 2 Timothy 4:12).

Appearance in the Bible

(1
Acts 20:4
states that Tychicus was from the Roman province of Asia. The

Western text In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Western text-type is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. It is the predominant form of the New Testament text witnessed in the Vetus Latina, Old Latin and Syriac language, Syri ...

indicates that he was an

Ephesian Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital, by Attic and ...

(2) In

Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...

6:21, the author ( traditionally identified as Paul) calls Tychicus a "dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord" ( NIV), (3) while in

Colossians The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately f ...

4:7 he says he is "a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord." In both Ephesians and Colossians, the author indicates that he is sending Tychicus to the Christians to whom he is writing, in order to encourage them. (4) The passages in the

Epistle to Titus The Epistle to Titus is one of the three pastoral epistles (along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) in the New Testament, historically attributed to Paul the Apostle. It is addressed to Saint Titus and describes the requirements and duties of p ...

Titus 3:12
and to

Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

show that Tychicus was again with Paul after the appeal to the emperor had resulted in the apostle regaining his freedom. The passage in Titus evidently refers to the interval between Paul's first and second Roman imprisonments, and while he was again engaged in missionary journeys. The apostle writes to Titus, who was in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

in charge of the churches there, that he intended to send either Artemas or Tychicus to him, so as to take the oversight of the work of the gospel in that island so that Titus might be free to come to be with the apostle at Nicopolis. (5) The last passage where Tychicus is mentioned occurs i
2 Timothy
which was written in Rome not long before Paul's execution. To the very end Paul was busy as ever in the work of the gospel; and though it would have been a comfort to him to have his friends beside him, yet the interests of the kingdom of Christ are uppermost in his thoughts, and he sends these friends to help the progress of the work. To the last, Tychicus was serviceable as ever: "Tychicus I sent to Ephesus"

. As Timothy was in charge of the church in Ephesus

, the coming of Tychicus would set him free, so as to enable him to set off at once to rejoin Paul at Rome, as the apostle desired him

.

Later traditions

The ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'' notes that different traditions make Tychicus out to be the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Colophon,

Chalcedon Chalcedon (; ; sometimes transliterated as ) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, Turkey. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the city of Ist ...

or Neapolis in Cyprus. A

pseudepigrapha A pseudepigraph (also :wikt:anglicized, anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a false attribution, falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. Th ...

l list of the

seventy disciples The seventy disciples (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητές, ''hebdomikonta mathetes''), known in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκον� ...

traditionally ascribed to

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome ( , ; Romanized: , – ) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communitie ...

includes both "Tychicus, bishop of Chalcedon" and "Tychicus, bishop of Colophonia" separately. The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' describes this list as "worthless"; in

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, the duplication is regarded as erroneous and referring to one and the same person, whose feast is on December 8 along with fellow disciples

Sosthenes Sosthenes (Greek: Σωσθένης, ''Sōsthénēs'', "safe in strength") was the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio, the Roman governo ...

Apollos Apollos () was a 1st-century Alexandrian Jewish Christian mentioned several times in the New Testament. A contemporary and colleague of Paul the Apostle, he played an important role in the early development of the churches of Ephesus and Cori ...

, Cephas,

Epaphroditus Epaphroditus () is a New Testament figure appearing as an envoy of the Philippian church to assist the Apostle Paul ( Philippians 2:25-30). He is regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, first Bishop of ...

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

, and

Onesiphorus Onesiphorus (Greek: Ονησιφόρος; meaning "bringing profit" or "useful") was a Christian referred to in the New Testament letter of Second Timothy ( and ). According to the letter sent by St. Paul, Onesiphorus sought out Paul who was imp ...

. The latest official edition of the ''

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

'' of the Catholic Church commemorates Tychicus as a Saint under the date of 29 April, quoting Paul's affectionate description of him in Colossians 4:7.''

Martyrologium Romanum The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provide ...

, ex decreto sacrosancti oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate Ioannis Pauli Pp. II promulgatum, editio ypicaaltera, Typis Vaticanis, A.D. MMIV'' (2004), p. 290

References

{{authority control Seventy disciples People in Acts of the Apostles People in the Pauline epistles Saints from Roman Anatolia