Demas

Demas (Greek: Δημᾶς, romanized: Dēmas; probably a short form of Demetrios)[1] was a man mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament of the Bible, and appears to have been involved for a time in his ministry.[2]

Demas is mentioned in three of the Pauline epistles:

  • In Philemon (dated to c. AD 57–62) he is mentioned as a "fellow worker".[3]
  • In Colossians (AD 62) he is mentioned along with Luke (the physician and writer of the Luke–Acts).[Colossians 4:14]
  • In Second Timothy, a letter traditionally ascribed to Paul near the end of his life, where it is mentioned that "...for Demas, because he loved this world, he has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica."[2 Timothy 4:10a] This has led to one commentator to describe Demas as 'Paul's Judas'.[4]

Demas is also mentioned in the non-canonical Acts of Paul and Thecla, where he is described as holding views similar to the author of Second Peter. Based on this, Dale Martin speculates that whichever one of the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Pastoral Epistles (including Second Timothy) was written later may have been arguing against the other.[5]

  1. ^ "Strong's Greek: 1214. Δημᾶς (Démas) -- Demas, a companion of Paul". biblehub.com.
  2. ^ MacArthur, John F. (2004). The Book on Leadership. Thomas Nelson. pp. 198–199. ISBN 9781418513375.
  3. ^ Philemon 1:24
  4. ^ Phillips, John (2007). Exploring People of the New Testament. Kregel. pp. 414–415. ISBN 9780825433870.
  5. ^ Dale Martin 2009 (lecture). "20. The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla" on YouTube. Yale University. Accessed October 5, 2016. Lecture 20 (transcript)