1 Timothy 5:1

1 Timothy 5:1. Rebuke not an elder. The question naturally rises whether the word ‘elder' is to be taken in its official sense or as referring to age only. The fourfold classification of which this is part is all but decisive in favour of the latter. On the other hand, we must remember that age and office were then more closely connected (as in 1 Peter 5:1-2) than at a later period, and that though the language was general, St. Paul may well have had in his thoughts those who, being elders in both senses of the word, were those with whom Timothy was most brought into con-tact. So in Acts 5:6, the ‘young men' who are named appear to have had functions corresponding to those of the later ‘deacons,' and the two words stand as parallel to each other (‘the younger ‘and ‘he that serveth ‘) in Luke 22:26. The train of thought seems to rise out of a slight fear lest the counsel, ‘Let no man despise thy youth,' should lead Timothy to rush into the opposite extreme, and to forget the respect due to the more advanced years of those whom he was called to guide.

Rebuke, The Greek word implies, more than the English, a certain vehemence and acrimony. As a man would point out, if necessary, the faults of his own father, with counsel that implied sympathy and respect, so was Timothy to deal with those older than himself whose faults he could not altogether ignore.

Brethren. Better perhaps ‘ brothers' as giving the natural rather than the conventional sense of the word.