The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70
Erastus of Corinth
fl. c. 55–65 (death unrecorded) · City treasurer (oikonomos) of Corinth · Corinth
The Apostolic Age
Who Erastus of Corinth was
“Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you” — the highest-ranking civic official among Paul’s named converts, treasurer of Roman Corinth. A first-century pavement unearthed near the theater in 1929 reads ERASTVS PRO AEDILITATE S P STRAVIT — “Erastus, in return for his aedileship, laid this pavement at his own expense” — very possibly the same man, and if so the one New Testament believer whose name survives in the stone of his own city. An Erastus is also sent ahead into Macedonia (Acts 19:22) and “abode at Corinth” (2 Tim 4:20); the archive treats the notices as one career, as most scholarship inclines.
Common questions
When was Erastus active?
Erastus of Corinth is dated fl. c. 55–65 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Erastus in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Erastus?
Erastus of Corinth is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paul, Luke the Evangelist and Paul of Tarsus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Erastus from?
The archive associates Erastus of Corinth with Corinth.
Who were Erastus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Erastus of Corinth to 4 other figures, including Gaius of Corinth, Timothy of Lystra, Paul of Tarsus and Quartus the Brother. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Romans 16:23
c. AD 55Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.Paul · read ↗
Acts 19:22
c. AD 62So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus.Luke the Evangelist · read ↗
2 Timothy 4:20
c. AD 67Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.Paul of Tarsus · read ↗
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Erastus.