A Christian who probably was from Ephesus. Paul wrote about him in two letters as someone who turned away from true Christian teaching. Paul first mentioned that Hymenaeus and Alexander had rejected their conscience and damaged their faith (1 Timothy 1:19–20). Paul says Hymenaeus “deviated from the truth” (2 Timothy 2:18). The passage in 1 Timothy mentions Hymenaeus with Alexander. They are viewed as having rejected faith and shipwrecked their faith. That his offense was serious is evident.
Paul took strong action against Hymenaeus by "delivering him over to Satan." While we are not completely sure what this means, it might have included both physical suffering and being separated from other Christians. Paul did not do this to destroy Hymenaeus, but to help him learn not to speak against God's truth (compare 1 Corinthians 5:5).
However, it seems this correction did not work. In 2 Timothy 2:17–18, Hymenaeus appears as one who is “undermining the faith of some." He and Philetus taught that the resurrection had already taken place. It seems that he taught that the resurrection happens when a person becomes a Christian and is baptized. This false teaching likely came from misunderstanding Romans 6:1–11 and Colossians 3:1. Hymenaeus claimed that the resurrection was only a spiritual event that happened when a person's soul awakens from sin, rather than a future physical reality.