1 Timothy 4:14

the gift that is in thee The connexion here and round the parallel 1 Timothy 4: 2 Timothy 1:6 implies a gift for ruling and teaching, distinct from the gift conferred through -the laying on" of St Paul's hands at Ephesus, Acts 19:6, the extraordinary gifts of speaking with tongues, &c., from the Holy Spirit; gifts still imparted at this time, as we learn from 1 Peter 4:10, -according as each hath received a gift;" and continued (with change of outward manifestation) uninterruptedly since, as the -grace of Confirmation or Laying on of Hands." The gift here is connected with - prophecy," and -the laying on of the hands of the presbyters," and follows immediately upon the public -ministry of the word." The -prophecy" will naturally be the same as -the prophecies which went before," 1 Timothy 1:18: and the preposition rendered -by" in A.V. and R.V. should have the same force as it has in Galatians 3:19, -the law ordained through (A.V. -by") angels," a force seen from the synonymous phrase Acts 7:53, -who received the law, as it was ordained by angels," lit. -unto ordinances of angels". As angels were the ministrants and attendants of the Great Lawgiver, so the surrounding ratifying witnesses of the bestowal on Timothy of the -Grace of Orders" were the -prophecies," -going before," and -attending," -heralds and pursuivants." Compare the use in 2 Timothy 2:2, and see note. See Introduction, p. 58.

the presbytery The word occurs in Luke 22:66 for the body of rulers of the synagogue; and again in Acts 22:5, side by side with the use of the word -presbyters" in connexion with the Christian community, Acts 11:30; Acts 15:2; Acts 21:18. In the synagogue it included the -chief priest" as we see from both the passages above; so surely its earliest Christian use here, drawn from that older use still living side by side, mustinclude St Paul himself as the chief ruler.