82 stanley e. porter
with him some of what Paul considers necessities. Paul also reinforces
his concern for his young associate by encouraging him in his character
and ministry.41
the second position, by reicke and robinson, argues along similar
lines as do van Bruggen and Johnson. they note that the prison letters
and 2 timothy have many elements in common, including those listed
as colleagues in both 2 timothy and the prison epistles. the major differ-
ence is that reicke and robinson both place all of the prison epistles and
2 timothy during Paul’s two year Caesarean imprisonment under roman
authority.42 this would, robinson thinks, account for the reference to
Paul’s first defense, which refers to an actual defense that we know of by
Paul in Jerusalem and Caesarea. similarities in language, such as Paul’s
referring to the lord standing by him so he could proclaim the gospel for
the world to hear (2 tim 4:17a) and reference in acts 23:11 to his proclaim-
ing the truth, or Paul’s speaking of god whom he worships (2 tim 1:3) and
his words before felix regarding the god of his fathers (acts 24:14, 16),
provide further support, as does a possible parallel between Paul’s rescue
from the lion (2 tim 4:17f ) and his ambush (acts 23:12–35).43 this is not
the place to engage in a thorough discussion of this issue of imprison-
ment, except to say that most, but far from all, scholars reject a Caesarean
imprisonment as the time of authorship of the prison epistles, and instead
opt for rome.44
more important for this discussion is how reicke and robinson deal
with 2 tim 1:16–18a, where it is thought by most scholars to say that
onesiphorous looked for Paul in rome but did not find him, implying that
Paul was imprisoned in rome. robinson essentially adopts reicke’s expla-
nation.45 reicke argues that the statement “should not be misunderstood.
it does not imply that Paul wrote 2 timothy while a prisoner in rome.”46
he takes the passage as indicating the following: “he was not ashamed of
my chains, but (a) though being in rome, (b) he searched eagerly for me,
and (c) found me. (d) may the lord let him find mercy in the presence of
41 Van Bruggen, Die geschichtliche Einordnung, 60–61; cf. towner, Letters to Timothy and
Titus, 14; Johnson, First and Second Letters, 319–20.
42 reicke, Re-examining Paul’s Letters, 85–91; robinson, Redating the New Testament,
67–80.
43 robinson, Redating the New Testament, 74.
44 for discussion, see mcdonald and Porter, Early Christianity, 372–77, where it is noted
that the Caesarean view has not been a particularly strong position.
45 robinson, Redating the New Testament, 75–76.
46 reicke, Re-examining Paul’s Letters, 87.