DEMAS. — Disciple of St. Paul, mentioned in 2 Tim. 4:10 with a somewhat unflattering note: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is gone to Thessalonica.” The name (Δημάς) may be an abbreviation of Δημάς. The tone, not excessively harsh, used by Paul seems to suggest that Demas was not an apostate. In any case, he was a victim either of fear or rather of concern for temporal interests. In this second hypothesis, “this present world” (δυς αἰδόν) must signify the world of commerce and wealth. Demas loved it so much that he abandoned Paul, who was imprisoned, when an unfavorable sentence against the Apostle could be foreseen as imminent. Perhaps he went to Thessalonica either because he was a native of that city or because he had commercial interests there. Demas had been at Paul’s side even during the first Roman imprisonment: he is mentioned in Col. 4:14, compared to Luke, in a very dry manner, by name alone. In Philem. 24, however, he is grouped with Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke and receives the title of fellow worker (συνεργός).
J. Chapman has thought that Demas should be identified with that Demetrius who is honored in 3 John 12; while V. Bartlet would make him the silversmith of Ephesus, a convert (cf. J. Chaine, *Les épîtres catholiques*, Paris 1939, pp. 239, 258). In the first case, one would have to suppose a generous return of Demas to the apostolic life, contrary to the opinion of Epiphanius (Haer., LI, 6: PG 41, 897), who numbers Demas among the heretics. In the *Acts of Paul and Thecla*, 1. 4. 12. 14 (ed. L. Vouaux, Paris 1913, pp. 146, 152, 170, 172), he is presented, together with Hermogenes, as a hypocrite and jealous of Paul.