Acts 16:3

Acts 16:3 Go forth with him. As a traveling companion. And circumcised him. Not because he thought it necessary to salvation, but "because of the Jews". Wherever Paul traveled, he first labored in the Jewish synagogues. If one of his traveling companions was a Gentile, it would arouse Jewish prejudice so as to close their ears. Hence, since "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision was anything" (I Corinthians 7:19), he complied with the principle that he states in I Corinthians 9:19. In Galatians 2:3 it is stated that when Titus, a Greek, went up to Jerusalem, he was not compelled to be circumcised. Had he been, it would have been a concession to the Judaizing Christians who insisted that circumcision was necessary to salvation. Here the case was different. No Judaizing party made such a demand, and the act was one of pure expediency, in order to reach more unconverted Jews. These examples teach us to accommodate ourselves to the prejudices of others as far as we can without the sacrifice of principle. From other passages (I Timothy 4:14 2Ti 1:6), we learn that, at this time probably, Timothy was ordained by the elders, and received special gifts by the imposition of the hands of the apostle.