Provenance
Provenance
Not enough is known to identify the place of origin with certainty. The best suggestion is that the letter was written from Macedonia. Paul does not explicitly say that he was in that province when he wrote, but he does say, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus” (1 Tim. 1:3). This appears to mean that he had been with Timothy in Ephesus, from which point he went on to Macedonia, leaving his young assistant behind. Now in Macedonia, Paul writes reiterating the instruction he had given Timothy at the point of departure.