For those who have served well gain for themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Parallel Translations
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For those who have served well gain for themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
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For they that minister well get them selves good degre and greate libertie in the fayth which is in Christ Iesu.
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For they that haue ministred well, get them selues a good degree, and great libertie in the faith, which is in Christ Iesus.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to 1 Timothy 3:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 25:21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
- Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
- Matthew 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- Luke 16:10-12 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
- Luke 19:17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
- Acts 6:5 These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;
- Acts 6:8 Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.
- Acts 6:15–7:53 All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel. The high priest said, “Are these things so?” He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child. God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out, and serve me in this place.’ He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. “The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s race was revealed to Pharaoh. Joseph sent and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. Jacob went down into Egypt and he died, himself and our fathers, and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem. “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until there arose a different king, who didn’t know Joseph. The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive. At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father’s house. When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works. But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand. “The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him, ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled, and dared not look. The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’ “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’ This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us, to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, ‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of my rest? Didn’t my hand make all these things?’ “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
- Acts 21:35 When he came to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd;
- Romans 12:7-8 or service, let’s give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
- 1 Corinthians 16:15 Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints—
- Philippians 1:14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:2 but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the Good News of God in much conflict.
- 2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Peter 4:10-11 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. For they who have served well Owing to…
13. For they who have served well Owing to a practice which came into use one or two centuries after the death of the apostles, of choosing presbyters from the order of deacons, this passage has been commonly interpreted as describing elevation to a higher rank, as if the Apostle called to the honor of being presbyters those who had faithfully discharged the office of a deacon. For my own part, though I do not deny that the order of deacons might sometimes be the nursery out of which presbyters were taken, yet I take Paul’s words as meaning, more simply, that they who have discharged this ministry in a proper manner are worthy of no small honor; because it is not a mean employment, but a highly honorable office. Now by this expression he intimates how much it is for the advantage of the Church to have this office discharged by choice men; because the holy discharge of it procures esteem and reverence.
How absurd is it for Papists to maintain that, in making deacons, they do what Paul enjoins! First, why do they make deacons but to carry the cup in a procession, and to feed the eyes of the ignorant with I know not what ridiculous exhibitions? Besides, they do not even observe this; for not a single deacon has been made, during the last five hundred years, except that, after taking this step, he may immediately rise to the priesthood. What impudence is it, to boast of elevating to a higher rank those who have ministered well, when they confer their priesthood on none but those who have never touched a single part of the former office!
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And much liberty in the faith. With good reason does he add this; for there is nothing that tends so much to produce liberty as a good conscience and a life free from crime and reproach; as, on the contrary, timidity must be the lot of those who have a bad conscience. And if they sometimes make a valiant boast of liberty, yet it is not uniform and constant, nor has it any weight. For this reason he describes also the kind of liberty. “In the faith,” says he, which is in Christ; that is, that they may serve — Christ with greater boldness; as, on the other hand, they who have acted basely in the discharge of their office may be said to have their mouth shut and their hands tied, and are unfit for doing good; because no reliance — no authority is given to them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Honor and estimation.
Honor and estimation.
Bold and assured confidence without fear.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 13 For they that have used the office of…
13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Ver. 13. A good degree] Or a fair step to a higher order, i.e. to a bishopric or presbytership.
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And great boldness in the faith] The peace of a good conscience and the plerophory of faith. This those that are faithful in the ministry shall be sure of; the former preferment they may possibly fail in. In a similar manner, when the twins strove in Rebecca’s womb, the worst came forth first, and had the best place, Gen 25:25; so the unworthiest are often exalted, Psa 12:8, but the best have that which is better.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Purchase to themselves a good degree; a good degree…
Purchase to themselves a good degree; a good degree of honour, so that none hath reason to decline or to despise that office. This seems rather to be the sense, than what pleaseth some better, viz. that they purchase to themselves a higher degree in the ministry of the church; for though it be very probably true, and but rational, that the primitive church did out of their deacons choose their higher officers for the church, yet neither was this done universally as to all persons chosen into those high employments, nor as to all those that used the office of a deacon well, there doubtless being many who had done so, who yet were not διδακτικοι, fitted with an ability sufficient to be preachers, without which fitness the primitive church would not choose any to such employment.
And great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus; by the well performance also of the office of a deacon, many obtained a great liberty, or freedom of speech, παρρησιαν, as to the doctrine of the faith of Christ. For by the exercise of the deacon’s office, they had much converse both with the pastors and members of the church; which converse did not only improve their knowledge in the doctrine of faith, but took off that excessive bashfulness which possesseth many till they come to be fully acquainted with the thing of which, and the persons before which, they are to speak, which we see by daily experience. Or, the apostle intends that courage that arises from a good conscience. Those that are careless and unfaithful in the discharge of their duty, guilt makes them timorous; but the good and faithful servant of God enjoys that liberty and courage which faith in the Lord Jesus gives, and without fear discharges all the parts of his office.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, "Although the deacons be as servants to…
That is, "Although the deacons be as servants to the bishops, yet such as use that office well, according to the foregoing rules, by so doing do purchase to themselves a good degree above the vulgar, and also have farther hopes of being advanced in the church to higher offices; and when they preach the word (as did Philip and Stephen) they might do it with great boldness, and with expectation of success, living suitably to the qualification of their function, and walking according to the rule of the gospel, which they professed and taught."
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For they that have used the office of a…
For they that have used the office of a deacon well,.... With diligence and faithfulness, with simplicity and cheerfulness; taking good care of the minister and poor, and of the discipline of God's house:
purchase to themselves a good degree; not an higher office, as that of presbytery or episcopacy, which is a sense calculated to serve a hierarchy; nor a degree in glory and happiness hereafter; but rather an increase of gifts and grace; or a degree of respect and honour in the church: or the sense is, they possess and enjoy, which is the meaning of the word rendered "purchase", a very honourable office in the church; and which is so to them, they using it well, and discharging it in an honourable manner; unless the apostle should design what the Jews called , "a degree of faith": (b) but that is expressed in the next clause:
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and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus: either in the exercise of the grace of faith at the throne of grace; or in asserting the doctrine of faith before men; and in reproving either for error or immorality: all which may be boldly done by those who use this office well.
(b) Zohar in Exod. fol. 36. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They purchase a good degree - Or step, toward…
They purchase a good degree - Or step, toward some higher office. And much boldness - From the testimony of a good conscience.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. That have used the office of a…
Verse 13. That have used the office of a deacon well] They who, having been tried or proved, 1Ti 3:10, have shown by their steadiness, activity, and zeal, that they might be raised to a higher office, are here said to have purchased to themselves a good degree, βαθμον καλον. for, instead of having to administer to the bodies and bodily wants of the poor, the faithful deacons were raised to minister in holy things; and, instead of ministering the bread that perisheth, they were raised to the presbyterate or episcopate, to minister the bread of life to immortal souls. And hence the apostle adds; And great boldness in the faith; πολλην παρῥησιαν, great liberty of speech; i.e. in teaching the doctrines of Christianity, and in expounding the Scriptures, and preaching. It seems to have been a practice dictated by common sense, that the most grave and steady of the believers should be employed as deacons; the most experienced and zealous of the deacons should be raised to the rank of elders; and the most able and pious of the elders be consecrated bishops. As to a bishop of bishops, that age did not know such. The pope of Rome was the first who took this title. The same office, but not with the same powers nor abuse, is found in the patriarch of the Greek Church, and the archbishop of the Protestant Church. As the deacon had many private members under his care, so the presbyter or elder had several deacons under his care; the bishop, several presbyters; and the archbishop, several bishops. But I speak now more of the modern than of the ancient Church. The distinction in some of these offices is not so apparent in ancient times; and some of the offices themselves are modern, or comparatively so. But deacon, presbyter, and bishop, existed in the apostolic Church, and may therefore be considered of Divine origin.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For they that have used the office of a…
For they that have used the office of a deacon well - Margin, “ministered.” The Greek word is the same as deacon, meaning ministering, or serving in this office. The sense would be well expressed by the phrase, “deaconizing well.” The “word” implies nothing as to the exact nature of the office.
Purchase to themselves - Procure for themselves; see this word explained in the notes on Act 20:28.
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A good degree - The word here used (βαθμός bathmos) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, “a step,” as of a stair; and the fair meaning is that of going up higher, or taking an additional step of dignity, honor, or standing. So far as the “word” is concerned, it may mean either an advance in office, in dignity, in respectability, or in influence. It cannot certainly be inferred that the apostle referred to a higher grade of “office;” for all that the word essentially conveys is, that, by exercising this office well, a deacon would secure additional respectability and influence in the church. Still, it is possible that those who had performed the duties of this office well were appointed to be preachers. They may have shown so much piety, prudence, good sense, and ability to preside over the church, that it was judged proper that they should be advanced to the office of bishops or pastors of the churches. Such a course would not be unnatural. This is, however, far from teaching that the office of a deacon is a subordinate office, “with a view” to an ascent to a higher grade.
And great boldness in the faith - The word here rendered “boldness” properly refers to boldness “in speaking;” see it explained in the Act 4:13 note; 2Co 3:12 note; Phi 1:20 note. But the word is commonly used to denote boldness of any kind - openness, frankness, confidence, assurance; Joh 8:13, Joh 8:26; Mar 8:32; 2Co 7:4. As it is here connected with “faith” - “boldness in the faith” - it means, evidently, not so much public speaking, as a manly and independent exercise of faith in Christ. The sense is, that by the faithful performance of the duties of the office of a deacon, and by the kind of experience which a man would have in that office, he would establish a character of firmness in the faith, which would show that he was a decided Christian. This passage, therefore, cannot be fairly used to prove that the deacon was “a preacher,” or that he belonged to a grade of ministerial office from which he was regularly to rise to that of a presbyter.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain purchase to themselves a good degree--literally, "are acquiring .…
purchase to themselves a good degree--literally, "are acquiring . . . a . . . step." Understood by many as "a higher step," that is, promotion to the higher office of presbyter. But ambition of rising seems hardly the motive to faithfulness which the apostle would urge; besides, it would require the comparative, "a better degree." Then the past aorist participle, "they that used the office of deacon well," implies that the present verb, "are acquiring to themselves boldness," is the result of the completed action of using the diaconate well. Also, Paul would not probably hold out to every deacon the prospect of promotion to the presbytery in reward of his service. The idea of moving upwards in Church offices was as yet unknown (compare Rom 12:7, &c.; Co1 12:4-11). Moreover, there seems little connection between reference to a higher Church rank and the words "great boldness." Therefore, what those who have faithfully discharged the diaconate acquire for themselves is "a good standing-place" [ALFORD] (a well-grounded hope of salvation) against the day of judgment, Ti1 6:19; Co1 3:13-14 (the figurative meaning of "degree" or "step," being the degree of worth which one has obtained in the eye of God [WIESINGER]); and boldness (resting on that standing-place"), as well for preaching and admonishing others now (Eph 6:19; a firm standing forth for the truth against error), as also especially in relation to God their coming Judge, before whom they may be boldly confident (Act 24:16; Jo1 2:28; Jo1 3:21; Jo1 4:17; Heb 4:16).
in the faith--rather as Greek, "in faith," that is, boldness resting on their own faith.
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which is in Christ Jesus--resting in Christ Jesus.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. A good degree—An honourable step. The word is…
13. A good degree—An honourable step. The word is well defined in Robinson’s Lexicon New Testament, a step, namely, “of a stair, or door,”
etc.; derived from βαινω, to walk, or advance. Hence unquestionably, we think, Grotius gives the true meaning: “They make for themselves an honourable step, namely, to the presbyterate. For so was the custom of those ages; from the most excellent of the Christian people to select the deacons, and from the most excellent deacons, the presbyters, and from the most excellent presbyters, the president. In the Clementine Constitutions are prayers for the deacon in which we read the words: “Render worthy him who has performed the deaconship to him committed, inflexibly, blamelessly, unimpeachably, to be exalted to a higher step.”
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The connexion shows this to be the meaning. The previous verse shadows the qualifications of the eldership as the model for the deacon. The clause following these words promises a greater freedom of exercise as belonging to the next step. The most natural construction, certainly, should view the step as belonging to the sphere of the deaconship. So Wesley, “They purchase a good degree, or step to some higher office.” To the objection that this would be placing an objectionable motive before the deacon, Wordsworth properly replies, that St. Paul is not addressing the deacon at all, but Timothy, the superintendent. Just so he directs Timothy (1Ti_5:17) to put a double value upon the best elders.
Great boldness—Or freedom of speech; an advance step in liberty of exercise well becoming a higher office.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. purchase to themselves a good degree] The word…
13. 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. 1Sa_5:5, ‘the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.’ It may be compared with 1Ti_6:19, ‘a good foundation,’ and may, from the drift of that phrase, be interpreted so as to combine something of all the three most general explanations, (a) a better degree or post, promotion to the priesthood; (b) esteem and regard from the Church for good service; (c) honour and promotion from God in the final day of reckoning. In 1Ti_6:19 the right use of wealth by the wealthy is the best basis for the whole of the life ‘which is life indeed’ to be gradually built up on, in the days yet to come on earth, and the unending day after: no spiritual life can be sound that is not built in and upon the faithful doing of our duty in that state of life to which it may please God to call us. An illustration of the metaphor may be taken from the building of Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse and all lighthouses of the kind since. ‘All the lower courses of stone were joggled and morticed into the rock, hewn for that purpose into a series of six steplike courses. The lower portion of the building was solid throughout, and from its peculiar dovetailing practically but one stone with the rock upon which it was raised.’ So we may translate here with R.V. they that have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and interpret ‘good standing’ not to mean a higher post but good solid work done by them as deacons, leading (a) to ‘boldness of speech in the faith,’ the acceptable performance of functions such as St Stephen and St Philip, though deacons, were privileged to perform. We then gain a force for ‘to themselves’ in accordance with (b), adopting Theodore’s comment ‘though second in rank to presbyters, they will themselves have an esteem second to none,’ and (we may add) real ‘freedom in speaking’ too, from the consciousness of their people’s sympathy and support. Finally the life now is part only of the whole life; and ‘life is the use of the gifts of God according to the will of God’; hence good deacon’s work now is the basis (c) for a joyous expectation of the Master’s smile of approval, ‘ye have done it unto Me,’ a joyous acceptance of His seal of approval, ‘Be thou ruler over many things.’ See Appendix, K.
the faith which is in Christ Jesus] Here, like ‘the faith of the Gospel’ in Php_1:27; Gal_3:23 (see Bp Lightfoot), objective; the doctrine and scheme of ‘Christianity.’ Compare Jas_2:1, ‘the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ’; Judges 3, ‘the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) For they that have used the office of…
(13) For they that have used the office of a deacon well.—Better rendered, for they that have served well as deacons. It was with good reason that the Apostle laid great stress on the many and varied qualifications necessary for one undertaking the duties of a deacon of the Church—for very great indeed was the reward reserved for the true, loyal deacon when his work was over and done (and if for the man who had performed well his work in the lower office, à fortiori for the one who should faithfully fulfil the yet higher duties of an elder or overseer in the Church).
Purchase to themselves a good degree.—Some scholars have suggested as a better rendering, “are acquiring (or gaining) to themselves a good standing. The old translation perhaps is best. Alford writes strikingly on the change of tense: “They that have used are acquiring or purchasing.” The Apostle having begun by placing himself at the great day of retribution, now shifts the scene and deals with their present conduct. “Those who shall then be found to have served well, &c. . . . are now, &c.”
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The “good degree” they are now purchasing by earnest, patient work may refer to advancement to the higher ministries of the Church, but, more probably, has reference to their future position in the blessed life to come. This is one of the passages not unfrequent in St. Paul’s Epistles, where degrees of glory among the redeemed are clearly spoken of. The plain words of St. Paul and his Master teach the people of God that although the great act of redemption alone belongs to Christ, that through His merits only men obtain salvation, still His own, will in a great measure determine, by their works and days on earth, the position they will occupy in His kingdom.
And great boldness.—The true and faithful deacons not only will in the life to come win the great reward, but here the result of their loyal, earnest service would be, that before men they would do their work with serene, fearless confidence, and would at the same time be encouraged to approach that heavenly Father at all times with the loving trustfulness of children.
In the faith which is in Christ Jesus.—Faith was the foundation of the “great boldness,” and the faith rested on Jesus Christ.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Served well as deacons for used the office of…
Served well as deacons for used the office of a deacon well, A.V; gain to themselves a good standing for purchase to themselves a good degree, A.V Served as deacons (diakonhsantev); as in ver. 10. In this technical sense only found in these two passages; which well agrees with the late date of this Epistle, when the technical sense of diakonov was established. Gain to themselves a good standing. The sense of the passage depends a good deal upon the exact meaning of baqmov. Inv 1Sa_5:4, 1Sa_5:5, in the LXX, baqmo is the rendering of Tpmi (rendered aiqrion in, Eze_9:3 Eze_10:4) a somewhat unusual word for a "threshold." Inm, 2Ki_20:9, 2Ki_20:10, 2Ki_20:11, it is the rendering of hl "a degree on the sun-dial." This latter seems to suit better the verb peripoiountai, they gain or acquire, which suggests the idea of advancement. It does not follow that St. Paul had in his mind their advancement from the inferior office" to the higher ministries in the Church" (Ordination Service); he may merely have meant to say that the discharge of the duties of a deacon in an efficient and exemplary manner raised a man to high estimation in the Church, and so gave him confidence in confessing the faith of Jesus Christ both by word and deed. Gain to themselves (peripoiountai); acquire by purchase or otherwise. Frequent in the LXX; but only elsewhere in the New Testament inan); Act_20:28. Boldness (parrhsi) very common in the New Testament (comp. Act_4:13, Act_4:29, Act_4:31; Eph_6:19; Php_1:20, etc.) where it is especially applied to boldness in preaching the gospel of Christ. This seems to imply that St. Paul contemplated preaching as a part of the deacon"s work. We know that Philip the deacon and Stephen the deacon were both preachers.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 13. For they that, etc. These demands for the…
13. For they that, etc. These demands for the office are high, for those who exercise it well purchase a good degree. Secure a high position in the church and in God's favor. And great boldness in the faith. To fill these duties well gives strength, and often fits for higher duties. Stephen and Philip became evangelists.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.