Because it is the duty of ministers to reprove such of their people as err in principle or practice, and because the success of reproof depends, in a great measure, upon the manner in which it is given, the apostle here proceeds to direct Timothy in that important branch of his office. _Rebuke not_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Honour_ And endeavour honourably to support from the public stock; _widows_ Whose destitute circumstances recommend them as the certain objects of charity. According to the Greek commentators, the widows of whom the apostle speaks in this passage were aged women appointed by the church to instruct... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now she who is a widow indeed_ Deprived of all support from her relations and friends. The apostle seems to allude to the signification of the word χηρα, rendered _widow_, which comes from χηρος, _orbus, desertus_, a person destitute, forsaken: _and desolate_ Μεμονωμενη, _reduced to solitude_, havi... [ Continue Reading ]
_If any provide not_ Food and raiment; _for his own_ Poor relations; _and especially those of his own house_ Των οικειων, _his own domestics_, those relations who live in his own family, and consequently are under his eye; _he hath denied the faith_ Namely, by such a practice, which is utterly incon... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let not a widow be taken into the number_ Καταλεγεσθω, _taken upon the list_ of those who are to be maintained by the church, and to attend upon the sick poor, and teach the young; _under threescore years old_ It might, on many accounts, and for very obvious reasons, be proper that this office shou... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the younger widows refuse_ Do not choose; _for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ_ To whose more immediate service they had devoted themselves; _they will marry_ And, perhaps, to husbands who are strangers to Christianity, or at least not with a single eye to the glory of God, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will therefore that the younger women_ Or _widows_ rather, (concerning whom only the apostle is here speaking,) _marry_ Instead of thinking to intrude themselves into a situation for which they are generally so unfit. From this command it is evident, that under the gospel second marriages are law... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let the elders that rule well_ Who approve themselves faithful stewards of all that is committed to their charge; _be counted worthy of double honour_ A more abundant provision, seeing that such will employ it all to the glory of God. As they were the most laborious and disinterested men who were p... [ Continue Reading ]
_Against an elder_ Or presbyter; _do not_ even _receive an accusation_ Unless it is offered to be proved by _two or three_ credible _witnesses_ By the Mosaic law a private person might be cited (though not condemned) on the testimony of one witness. But St. Paul forbids an elder to be even cited on... [ Continue Reading ]
_I charge thee before God_, &c. He refers to the last judgment, in which we shall stand before _God_, and _Christ_, and _his elect_ That is, holy, _angels_ Who are the witnesses of our conversation. The apostle looks through his own labours, and even through time itself, and seems to stand as one al... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lay hands suddenly_ And rashly; _on no man_ That is, appoint no man to church offices without full trial and examination: otherwise thou wilt be accessary to, and accountable for, his mis-behaviour in his office. _Neither be partaker of other men's sins_ As thou wilt certainly make thyself, if thou... [ Continue Reading ]