What Does 2 Timothy 4:12 Mean?

(12) **And Tychicus** **have I sent to Ephesus.**—Instead of “and,” the Greek particle here should be rendered “but Tychicus.” “This ‘but’ appears to refer to a suppressed thought, suggested by the concluding portion of the last (11th) verse: bring Mark. I need one who is profitable (or *serviceable*) for the ministry. I had one in Tychicus, *but* he is gone” (Ellicott). Neither the period of Tychicus’ journey nor its object is alluded *to* here. It probably took place some time, however, before the sending of this Epistle to Timothy. Tychicus was evidently one of the trusted companions of St. Paul. He had been with him, we know, on his third missionary journey, and had, during St. Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, some six or seven years before, been charged with a mission by his master to Ephesus. In Ephesians 6:21 he is called a beloved brother and a faithful minister in the Lord. (See, too, Colossians 4:7, where he is spoken of in similar terms.) On the city of Ephesus, see Note on 1Timothy 1:3. It has been, with considerable probability, suggested that Tychicus had been the bearer of the first Epistle to Timothy. Between the writing of these two letters, we know, no great interval could have elapsed.