1 Timothy 3:3

Rec. text after πλήκτην inserts μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ (from Titus 1:7) with 37 and many other cursives; om. all uncials and versions.

3. μὴ πάροινον. πάροινος. expresses more than φίλοινος or than the μὴ οἴνῳ πολλῷ προσέχοντας of 1 Timothy 3:8; it means a man given over to wine. It is generally rendered quarrelsome over wine (cp. Isaiah 41:12), a brawler, but there does not seem sufficient reason for importing this into it, as the idea is brought out in the next mentioned attribute.

μὴ πλήκτην, no striker; this vice is a common outcome of παροινία. πάροινος and πλήκτης are to be taken in their literal sense, and not in any refined meaning. The absence of such vices would not now be regarded as necessary to mention in a list of episcopal qualifications; but each age has its own special sins to guard against. A Regula solitariorum founded on the Benedictine Rule has a quaint comment on the words, which shews how necessary such an injunction remained many generations after St Paul’s day. “Non percussorem, … sed non ita dictum est ut si discipulum habuerit, et facultas permiserit, non pie uerberetur,” with a reference to Proverbs 23:13[525].

[525] Migne, P.L. CIII. 598.

ἐπιεικῆ. Forbearing perhaps best expresses this word; in the N.T. it is found outside the Pastorals in Philippians 4:5 only. Cp. 2 Corinthians 10:1. Aristotle devotes a chapter (Nic. Eth. 1 Timothy 3:10) to the ἐπιεικῆς, the ‘equitable’ man, who does not press for the last farthing of his legal rights. We are not to emphasise ἀλλά, so as to point any sharp contrast between πάροινος and ἐπιειής, although no doubt they indicate very different characters. Cp. Titus 3:2.

ἄμαχον, not contentious; in the Greek Bible only found in Pastorals, as also πάροινος and πλήκτης.

ἀφιλάργυρον. This word is only found here and in Hebrews 13:5 (φιλαργυρία is denounced again in ch. 1 Timothy 6:10). It is replaced in Titus 1:7 by μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ, which has thence got into the received text in this verse. See on 1 Timothy 3:8 and the note on φιλαργυρία (1 Timothy 6:10).