Erastus

Biblical Record

The name Erastus (Greek Erastos) appears three times in the New Testament. It is commonly understood to mean "lovely" or "beloved."

• Acts 19:22: This account dates from the time when Paul was staying in Ephesus. Paul sent two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, ahead into Macedonia. The passage belongs to the third of Paul's missionary journeys.
• Romans 16:23: He appears in the greetings Paul appended when writing Romans from Corinth. The KJV calls him "Erastus the chamberlain of the city," and the New Korean Revised Version renders the title as "treasurer of this city." The city is generally understood to be Corinth.
• 2 Timothy 4:20: A brief report states, "Erastus abode at Corinth."

Beyond these passages, Scripture records nothing about his origins, the circumstances of his conversion, or the end of his life.

Significance in Scripture

Erastus was one of several coworkers who ran errands and carried messages on Paul's behalf. If the record in Romans 16 is taken at face value, the Corinthian church included someone involved in municipal administration. For this reason he is often cited in discussions of the social background of early church members.

Interpretation and Debated Questions

• Are the three references to the same person? In Acts and 2 Timothy, Erastus is portrayed as someone who traveled with Paul, whereas in Romans he appears as a public official settled in Corinth. Accordingly, some scholars regard all three as the same individual, while others see them as different men who shared the name. Scholars are also divided over the authorship of 2 Timothy.
• The status of the "treasurer": The Greek term is oikonomos, which originally meant "manager" or "steward." Some scholars take it to refer to a high-ranking financial officer of the city. Others regard it as denoting a lower-level official who handled municipal finances, that is, a functionary of slave or freedman origin.
• The Corinth inscription: A Latin inscription found near the theater in Corinth states that "Erastus, in return for his aedileship (an office responsible for the city's public works), laid this pavement at his own expense." It is reported to have been excavated around 1929. Some identify the man named in the inscription with the Erastus of Romans. However, there is disagreement over whether the inscription's date and the title of the office correspond precisely.
• Later tradition: Eastern Orthodox tradition counts Erastus among the seventy disciples of Luke 10 and holds that he later became a bishop. This account is not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons that treat Erastus as a subject in his own right are rare. He is mentioned mainly in passing in expositions of Romans 16 or in Bible studies on Paul's coworkers. The Corinth inscription is also sometimes cited as archaeological evidence illustrating the historical background of the Bible.