“Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick” (2 Timothy 4:20).
Erastus is mentioned in two other places within the New Testament Scriptures. We find the first in Romans 16:23 where he is identified as the city treasurer. He is also mentioned in Acts 19:21-22where he was assigned to visit the region of Macedonia along with Timothy.
While Erastus may seem to be an insignificant person mentioned at the end of this letter, his presence offers us something important to consider. For instance, Erastus’ role as city treasurer probably means that he had to balance the demands of secular employment along with his ministry responsibilities, at least for a while. Much like Paul the Apostle (who worked as a tentmaker to support himself for a time), Erastus was a government official by vocation but a minister of God’s Word by avocation.
This example reminds us that God’s call upon our lives may involve a time (or a lifetime) of bi-vocational service as we fulfill our ministerial responsibilities alongside our roles as employees, students, or parents.
However, Erastus’ greatest contribution may come from outside the Biblical Scriptures…
“Writing his Epistle to the Romans from Corinth during the winter of AD 56-57, Paul sends greetings from some of his companions, and adds: ‘Erastus the City Treasurer greets you’ (Rom_16:23). In the course of excavations in Corinth in 1929, Professor T. L. Shear found a pavement with the inscription ERASTVS PRO: AED: S:P: STRAVIT (Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense). The evidence indicates that this pavement existed in the first century AD, and it is most probable that the donor is identical with the Erastus who is mentioned by Paul.” (1)
“Even as isolated a reference as Acts 19:22, which mentions that Paul sent Timothy and Erastus ahead of him into Macedonia, employs a name that appears only here in Acts and twice in Paul’s letters- Erastus. In Romans 16:23, he is described as the director of public works and is among those who send greetings from Corinth to the Roman church.90 In 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul notes merely that he left Erastus in Corinth.
To this day one can see a portion of paving stone in the outdoor part of the archaeological museum of the Corinthian ruins that has inscribed on it in Latin the name of Erastus as the ‘aedile’ (a municipal director of public projects) who financed the laying of this street at his own expense. All these undesigned coincidences inspire all the more confidence in Acts’ historical accuracy.” (2)
(1) F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents Are They Reliable? Fifth Revised Edition © The Inter-Varsity Fellowship
(2) Craig L. Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Copyright © 2016 B&H Academic Nashville, Tennessee [pg. 334]