ERASTUS. – A name that occurs three times in the New Testament: 1) Acts 19:22; 2) Rom. 16:23; 3) 2 Tim. 4:20; but it is uncertain whether these refer to one, two, or three different persons. In 1) it is said that Paul, toward the end of his stay in Ephesus (on his third missionary journey), sends Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia. Erastus is thus, like Timothy, in Paul’s company and is entrusted by him with apostolic missions. In 2) an Erastus sends greetings from Corinth, where he is treasurer of the city. In 3) Paul, emphasizing the abandonment in which he finds himself, says that Erastus has remained in Corinth.
The residence in Corinth, which is evident from texts 2) and 3), would suggest a single individual whose official duties would not permit him to leave the city. The Erastus of 1) is not connected with Corinth and seems free from obligations incompatible with the role of a traveling missionary. Thus, two Erasti would seem to be indicated: one (1) in Paul’s company, the other (2 and 3), also close to Paul but not freely devoted to apostolic work.
Others (C. Spicq, *Les Épîtres pastorales*, Paris 1947, p. 397) hold that it is always the same person. According to the Greek Menologia, Erastus would have been the steward of the church in Jerusalem and later bishop of Caesarea Philippi. The *Martyrologium Romanum* makes him bishop of Philippi in Macedonia, where he was martyred. The Greeks commemorate him on July 26.