1 Timothy 3 - Introduction
Apostolic Selection of the Assistant Ministry... [ Continue Reading ]
Apostolic Selection of the Assistant Ministry... [ Continue Reading ]
This is _a true saying_ Better, IT IS A FAITHFUL SAYING; R.V., as in 1 Timothy 1:15, literally -Faithful is the saying"; most probably to be referred, as there and in the other three passages, to the following sentence. So A.V. and R.V., though the margin of R.V. mentions that -Some connect the word... [ Continue Reading ]
The duties and characters of Bishops or Presbyters Following the directions concerning the general arrangements for public worship come instructions as to the character and qualifications of the appointed ministers, the presbyterate, and the diaconate (male and female). These are introduced by a we... [ Continue Reading ]
_A bishop_ R.V. THE BISHOP, as St Mark 4:3, -the sower": so George Herbert, - _The_country Parson": -A bishop" is however quite idiomatic too. _blameless_ R.V. WITHOUT REPROACH; twice again, ch. 1 Timothy 5:7 and 1 Timothy 6:14, nowhere else in N. T.; -giving no handle" is exact, though rather coll... [ Continue Reading ]
_not given to wine_ Margin R.V. expresses exactly the usage of the word, -not quarrelsome over wine," like the term so painfully familiar in our police-courts, -drunk and disorderly": again peculiar to these Epp., here and Titus 1:7. For the simpler word with St Paul, cf. 1 Corinthians 5:11, -a drun... [ Continue Reading ]
_that ruleth well his own house_ In distinction to -God's household" the Church, 1Ti 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15. his _children_ Rather, from the emphatic position of -children," and the absence of the article, the sense is -with a household of his own rightly under his rule, with children held in subjecti... [ Continue Reading ]
_for if a man know not_ BUT, the force of the adversative conjunction being, -You may think me needlessly particular in requiring this, but a straw will shew how the wind blows, a bad parent will make a bad pastor." The negative is to be taken closely with the verb -is ignorant." There is a preferen... [ Continue Reading ]
"Do not set a new convert to rule in high place lest -pride come" again -before a fall" as in Satan's case: and again, let your ruler be one at whom the world can throw no stone; or its reproaches will do harm and may drive him back into his old sins." _Not a novice_ Lit. -a neophyte," a new conver... [ Continue Reading ]
_them which are without_ Outside the circle of believers, the Christian Church: the same phrase is used by St Paul, 1 Thessalonians 4:12, -walk honestly toward them that are without"; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13. _the snare of the devil_ Probably we should take this as a separate phrase apart from -r... [ Continue Reading ]
The duties and characters of Deacons, both Men and Women 8. _the deacons_ There is no article; for -deacons" in the accusative we must supply from 1 Timothy 3:2 the remainder of the construction -it is right that _deacons_be." This elliptical abruptness is among the characteristics of the style of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_the mystery of the faith_ Apparently repeated again 1 Timothy 3:16 as -the mystery of godliness." The word -mystery" is significant. Coming from the Greek, -to close the mouth," and so -to initiate," it was originally used of the secret rites of Eleusis in Attica, into which each year the youth of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And let these also_ These, as well as the presbyters, for whom 1 Timothy 3:7 defines a very searching test. Bp Ellicott s note, rightly explaining that the first conjunction is -Also," -Moreover," and the second -and" in this phrase, shews that the stress must be on -these," the force of the first... [ Continue Reading ]
_Even so_must their _wives_be _grave_ The R.V. translates literally WOMEN IN LIKE MANNER MUST BE GRAVE, i.e. women deacons, favouring the general view of the earliest commentators, as Chrysostom and Theod. Mops.," mulieres quae diaconis officium implere statuuntur," and the latest, as Bps Wordsworth... [ Continue Reading ]
_ruling_their _children_ The sentence gives compendiously the same requirements as to domestic relationships for deacons as for presbyters; the briefer form of the latter clause favours the interpreting -all gravity" above of the children rather than the father.... [ Continue Reading ]
_purchase to themselves a good degree_ The word for -degree" occurs only here in N.T., having been used in LXX. for a -step" or -threshold," e.g. 1 Samuel 5:5, -the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod." It may be compared with 1 Timothy 6:19, -a good foundation," and may, from the drift of that phrase, be... [ Continue Reading ]
The importance of these directions based on the character of the Church and its Head 14. _to come unto thee shortly_ The comparative adverb if retained will have the force given by Fairbairn -more speedily than I at one time thought or than would seem to call for more detailed communications," cf 2... [ Continue Reading ]
_how_thou _oughtest to behave thyself_ There is little in the Greek words and little in the context to decide us in translating either thus with A.V. and margin of R.V. or HOW MEN OUGHT TO BEHAVE THEMSELVES, with R.V. For (1), _Timothy himself_is in St Paul's mind throughout; the directions are give... [ Continue Reading ]
_without controversy_ We may render, AND CONFESSEDLY MIGHTY IS THAT HOLY TRUTH REVEALED, the very grain and fibre of a reverent Christian life, which counts all as -holy ground," for Christ is -all in all." _God was manifest in the flesh_ The controversy is well known which has so long prevailed as... [ Continue Reading ]