Who was Alexander the Coppersmith?

2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

Paul didn’t share this information because he wanted our pity. Paul isn’t saying, “woe is me.” Paul shares this story for a reason.

He writes this to warn Timothy to be on guard about Alexander the coppersmith.

So where and when did Alexander the Coppersmith do Paul all this evil? My money is on him doing evil to Paul before he was arrested and taken to Rome.

Before Paul was executed by Nero, I think he was arrested in Troas (2 Tim. 4:13). Before he was in Troas, I think he was in Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20). (For greater context, check out my other article on Paul’s 4^th Journey). Whatever Alexander the coppersmith did to Paul, I think he did it before Paul was arrested in Troas when he was in Miletus.

And now, Alexander the Coppersmith is still lurking about in Asia Minor…

AND he just might pay Ephesus a visit…

AND he just might come looking for Timothy.

THIS is why Paul told him about Alexander the Coppersmith. THIS is why Paul wanted Tmothy to be on the lookout for him in Ephesus, to be on guard about Alexander the coppersmith, because he just might do harm to Timothy, too, and Paul didn’t want to see Timothy get hurt.

Who was this crazy man – Alexander the coppersmith?

There are five references to men named Alexander in the NT beginning in Mark 15:21, “And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.”

Poor Simon. I always felt sorry for this guy.

This moment with Simon of Cyrene is covered in all the Gospel accounts except John (Matt. 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luk. 23:26). Cyrene is northern coastal town in what is modern-day Libya, far west of Egypt, 1,148 miles west of Jerusalem. To be “of Cyrene” meant he was born in Cyrene. I don’t believe he still lived there and traveled 1,148 miles to Jerusalem. At some point, he moved to live in the country near Jerusalem. Luke makes the point that he was just “coming out of the country” (Luke 23:26). He had just arrived from the country into Jerusalem for the Passover.

After that journey, he shows up in Jerusalem and what happens?

He is immediately confronted with the tortured, bloody, Messiah of Israel falling down right in front of him because He cannot physically carry His cross up Golgotha’s Hill. Then a Roman soldier compels Simon to help Christ bear His cross up that hill.

Isn’t it interesting that the Holy Spirit was careful to make the point in Mark 15:21 that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus?

Why?

Rufus is only mentioned one other place in the NT, in the book of Romans 16:13, in which Paul writes to “Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.”

Could this be the same Rufus? Could this mean that Simon, when he helped Jesus carry that cross, believed on Christ in that moment, and his wife became a believer, as did his son Rufus whom Paul mentions here?

When Paul writes his mother and mine I think he meant for them to literally salute Rufus’ mother whom Paul loved so much that he’d affectionately call her his mother, too.

What about Alexander? Could it be that Alexander, Rufus’ brother, refused to believe in Christ and went down a different path?

We have two references in the book of Acts to Alexander. Whether Luke was talking about the same Alexander or two different Alexanders, it makes no difference. Both were Jews and neither of them were believers.

In Acts 4:6, an Alexander is mentioned along with the high priests, the council, the scribes, and the elders who threw Peter in prison and condemned him for teaching the people about Jesus and His resurrection.

However, in Acts 19, we read about a Jew by the name of Alexander who played a small role in the uproar that took place when Paul was in Ephesus. Remember the riot in Ephesus provoked by a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines for the goddess Diana and who was losing a lot of money because a lot of people were being converted to Christ?

So Demetrius gets the entire city in an uproar about Paul and they all gathered together in the amphitheater in Ephesus and began chanting “Great is the goddess Diana.”

Then, inside that amphitheater, a kind of strange thing happens.

We find in Acts 19:33-34, “And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

So it would seem that the Jews put Alexander front and center before the crowd to speak on their behalf against Paul so the city would not also become violent against the Jews. They probably wanted to distinguish themselves from the gospel Paul preached. They wanted it to be known that they were also enemies of Paul as much as everyone else, and they wanted to explicitly condemn Paul to save themselves so the city would not also become violent toward them, too.

But the city didn’t care.

They were more interested in chanting like mindless robots how great Diana was.

So what we may have here is a tale of two Jewish brothers. Rufus who was a believer and Alexander who was not. And there was a lot of resentment in Alexander over the trouble Paul brought upon the Jews in Ephesus, as well as the closeness of Paul’s relationship to Rufus and their mother. Plus, Alexander may have also blamed Paul for the fact that his family were believers in this Jesus. And herein we find a lot of motivation in Alexander to do evil to Paul.

The Alexander mentioned in Acts 19 would be a good fit for the Alexander mentioned in 2 Tim. 4, because he may still be around in Ephesus, which is why Paul felt the need to warn Timothy.

In 1 Tim. 1:20, Paul mentions “Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” These two men were believers who abandoned the truth and began teaching heresies, which is why he delivered them unto Satan. He excommunicated them from the church, so they would learn to not blaspheme.

The Alexander in Acts 4 and Acts 19 was not a believer.

Is it possible that from the time we read about Alexander in Acts 19 to the time we read about an Alexander in 1 Tim. 1:20, that he became a believer and then began to teach heresies?

I’d say it’s possible.

But I find it curious that Paul would only say “Alexander” in 1 Timothy, but he was careful to say “Alexander the coppersmith” in 2 Timothy so that Timothy would know which Alexander he was talking about. I suspect that those were two different men.

Many have pointed out that Paul saying “he hath greatly withstood our words” is very similar language to what he said about the evil men in the last days who, like Jannes and Jambres, were of corrupt minds who “resist the truth,” which also makes me think that Alexander is still an unbeliever.

Thus, if Alexander was still an unbeliever and Paul writes, “the Lord reward him according to his works,” then he must be talking about how Alexander will be judged according to his works at the Great White Throne judgment. He writes this because the fact that these works will be judged is for Paul a source of comfort. He can let go of the anger and desire for vengeance knowing that the Lord will judge this matter rightly Himself.

So, based on the snippets of clues in Scripture, it’s possible we may be looking at a tale of two brothers. Both were sons of the very man who helped Christ carry His cross up Calvary’s hill. One believed. The other did not. And the one who refused to believe, his name was Alexander. He was a coppersmith in Ephesus. The whole city was turned upside when Paul came in preaching his gospel of grace. People probably stopped doing business with him because he was a Jew despite the fact that he was an unbeliever like many other Jews.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Paul has a close, loving fellowship with his brother and his mother.

Oh, the rage he felt toward Paul. If only he could just get his hands on him. He will not give in to reason. He’ll beat him within an inch of his life, which is probably what he did.

Now Paul warns Timothy: keep an eye out for Alexander the coppersmith. He did me much evil. Don’t try to talk to him. Don’t try to reason with him.

Just run.