The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; (but how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule one’s own house take care of God’s assembly?) not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
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1 Timothy 3:2-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer desires a good work. The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; (but how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule one’s own house take care of God’s assembly?) not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Parallel Translations
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The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence;
(but how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule one’s own house take care of God’s assembly?)
not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
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Ye and a bisshope must be fautlesse the husband of one wyfe sober discrete honestly aparelled harberous apt to teache
not dronken no fighter not geve to filthy lucre: but gentle abhorrynge fightynge abhorrynge coveteousnes
and one that rueleth his awne housse honestly havynge chyldren vnder obedience with all honeste.
For yf a man cannot rule his owne housse how shall he care for the congregacion of God.
He maye not be a yonge skoler lest he swell and faule into the iudgement of the evyll speaker.
He must also be well reported of amonge them which are with out forth lest he fall into rebuke and snare of the evyll speaker.
Show all 3 translations
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A Bishop therefore must be vnreproueable, the husband of one wife, watching, temperate, modest, harberous, apt to teache,
Not giuen to wine, no striker, not giuen to filthy lucre, but gentle, no fighter, not couetous,
One that can rule his owne house honestly, hauing children vnder obedience with all honestie.
For if any cannot rule his owne house, how shall he care for the Church of God?
He may not be a yong scholer, lest he being puffed vp fall into the condemnation of the deuill.
He must also be well reported of, euen of them which are without, lest he fall into rebuke, and the snare of the deuill.
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Cross-references (115)
- 2 Timothy 2:24 (v2) The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient,
- Titus 1:6-9 (v2) if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. For the…
- 2 Corinthians 8:21 (v7) Having regard for honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
- Romans 12:13 (v2) contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
- Titus 1:7 (v3) For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for…
Show all 100 cross-references
- 1 Timothy 5:9 (v2) Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
- Titus 1:6 (v4) if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior.
- Genesis 18:19 (v4) For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do…
- 1 Timothy 3:10-11 (v2) Let them also first be tested; then let them serve if they are blameless. Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers,…
- 1 Timothy 3:12 (v4) Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
- 1 Timothy 6:4 (v6) he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil…
- 1 Peter 4:9 (v2) Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
- 1 Samuel 3:13 (v5) For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and…
- Colossians 4:5 (v7) Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
- 2 Timothy 2:26 (v7) and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
- 1 Peter 5:8 (v2) Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Titus 2:2 (vv2, 4) that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance:
- Ephesians 5:18 (v3) Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Ephesians 5:24 (v5) But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
- Philippians 2:15 (v2) that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom…
- Titus 3:2 (v3) to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.
- Hebrews 5:12-13 (v6) For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the…
- Hebrews 13:2 (v2) Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Joshua 24:15 (v4) If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the…
- Luke 1:6 (v2) They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- Acts 6:3 (v7) Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this…
- Acts 10:2 (v4) a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.
- 1 Corinthians 10:32 (v7) Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the assembly of God;
- 2 Corinthians 6:3 (v7) We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may not be blamed,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:12 (v7) that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
- 1 Timothy 3:8 (v3) Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money,
- 1 Timothy 4:3 (v2) forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know…
- 1 Timothy 6:9 (v7) But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and…
- Titus 2:8 (v7) and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned, that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us.
- Hebrews 3:14 (v2) For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end,
- 1 Peter 2:2 (v6) as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow,
- 1 Peter 4:7 (v2) But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
- 1 Peter 5:5 (v6) Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another;…
- Psalms 101:2-8 (v4) I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. I will set no…
- Isaiah 2:12 (v6) For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:
- Isaiah 14:12-14 (v6) How you have fallen from heaven, shining one, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in…
- Isaiah 28:7 (v3) They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine.…
- Acts 20:28 (v5) Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the…
- 1 Corinthians 3:1 (v6) Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 4:6-8 (v6) Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think…
- 1 Corinthians 8:1 (v6) Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7 (v6) By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a…
- Ephesians 5:32 (v5) This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (v7) Abstain from every form of evil.
- Titus 2:5 (v7) to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed.
- Titus 2:7 (v4) In all things be showing yourself an example of good works. In your teaching, be showing integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility,
- James 4:1 (v3) Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
- Leviticus 10:9 (v3) “You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute…
- Deuteronomy 8:14 (v6) then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;
- Deuteronomy 17:20 (v6) that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the commandment to the right hand, or to the left, to…
- 1 Samuel 2:24 (v7) No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear! You make Yahweh’s people disobey.
- 2 Kings 14:10 (v6) You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your…
- 2 Chronicles 26:16 (v6) But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against Yahweh his God; for he went into…
- 2 Chronicles 32:25 (v6) But Hezekiah didn’t reciprocate appropriate to the benefit done for him, because his heart was lifted up. Therefore there was wrath on him,…
- Proverbs 16:18-19 (v6) Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the…
- Proverbs 18:12 (v6) Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.
- Proverbs 29:23 (v6) A man’s pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor.
- Isaiah 56:10 (v2) His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Mark 4:11 (v7) He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,
- Luke 12:42-46 (v3) The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at…
- Luke 21:34-36 (v3) “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you…
- Acts 10:22 (v7) They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed…
- Acts 22:12 (v7) One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus,
- 1 Corinthians 5:12 (v7) For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?
- Ephesians 1:22 (v5) He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
- Philippians 4:8 (v4) Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever…
- 1 Timothy 3:15 (v5) but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the…
- 1 Timothy 5:14 (v7) I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.
- 1 Timothy 5:24-25 (v7) Some men’s sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later. In the same way also there are good works that are…
- Titus 2:3 (v3) and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good,
- Hebrews 13:5 (v3) Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any…
- 1 Peter 4:14-16 (v7) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is…
- 1 Peter 5:2 (v3) Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but…
- 1 Samuel 2:15-17 (v3) Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he…
- 1 Samuel 8:3 (v3) His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- 2 Kings 5:20-27 (v3) But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands…
- Proverbs 1:19 (v3) So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.
- Proverbs 15:27 (v3) He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.
- Ecclesiastes 7:8 (v3) Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
- Isaiah 5:11-12 (v3) Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!…
- Isaiah 28:1 (v3) Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile…
- Isaiah 56:11-12 (v3) Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each…
- Jeremiah 6:13 (v3) “For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals…
- Jeremiah 8:10 (v3) Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the…
- Ezekiel 44:21 (v3) None of the priests shall drink wine when they enter into the inner court.
- Micah 2:11 (v3) If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies: “I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink;” he would be the prophet of this…
- Micah 3:5 (v3) Yahweh says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t…
- Micah 3:11 (v3) Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh,…
- Malachi 1:10 (v3) “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,”…
- Matthew 21:13 (v3) He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”
- Matthew 24:45-51 (v3) “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is…
- Luke 10:18 (v6) He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.
- John 10:12-13 (v3) He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches…
- John 12:5-6 (v3) “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?” Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but…
- Acts 8:18-21 (v3) Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (115 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv2–7 2 A bishop, therefore, must be blameless The particle…
2 A bishop, therefore, must be blameless The particle therefore confirms the exposition which I have given; for, on account of the dignity of the office, he concludes that it is requisite that he be a man endowed with rare gifts, and not any person taken out of the crowd. If the expression used had been “a good work,” as the ordinary translation has it, or “an honorable work,” (honestam,) as Erasmus has translated it, the inference would not have been suitable.
He wishes a bishop to be blameless, instead of which, in the Epistle to Titus, He has used (Titus 1:7) the word ἀνέγκλητον, meaning by both words, that he must not be marked by any infamy that would lessen his authority. There will be no one found among men that is free from every vice; but it is one thing to be blemished with ordinary vices, which do not hurt the reputation, because they are found in men of the highest excellence, and another thing to have a disgraceful name, or to be stained with any baseness. In order, therefore, that a bishop may not be without authority, he enjoins that there shall be made a selection of one who has a good and honorable reputation, and not chargeable with any remarkable vice. Besides, he does not merely lay down a rule for Timothy what sort of person he must select, but likewise reminds every one of those who aspire to that rank, to institute a careful examination of himself and of his life.
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The husband of one wife. It is a childish fancy to interpret this as meaning “the pastor of a single church.” Another other exposition has been more generally received, that the person set apart to that office must be one who has not been more than once married, that one wife being since dead, so that now he is not a married man. But both in this passage and in Titus 1:6, the words of the apostle are, “Who is,” and not “Who hath been;” and in this very Epistle, where he treats of widows, (1 Timothy 3:10,) he expressly makes use of the participle of the past tense. Besides, in this way he would contradict himself; because elsewhere he declares that he has no wish to lay a snare on the consciences.
The only true exposition, therefore, is that of Chrysostom, that in a bishop he expressly condemns polygamy, which at that time the Jews almost reckoned to be lawful. This corruption was borrowed by them partly from sinful imitation of the Fathers, (for they who read that Abraham, Jacob, David, and others of the same class, were married to more wives than one at the same time, thought that it was lawful for them also to do the same) and partly from neighboring nations; for the inhabitants of the East never observed that conscientiousness and fidelity in marriage which was proper. However that might be, polygamy was exceedingly prevalent among them; and therefore with great propriety does Paul enjoin that a bishop should be free from this stain.
And yet I do not disapprove of the opinion of those who think that the Holy Spirit intended to guard against the diabolical superstition which afterwards arose; as if he had said, “So far is it from being right and proper that celibacy should be enforced on bishops, that marriage is a state highly becoming in all believers.” In this way, he would not demand it as a thing necessary for them, but would only praise it as not inconsistent with the dignity of the office. Yet the view which I have already given is more simple and more solid, that Paul forbids polygamy in all who hold the office of a bishop, because it is a mark of an unchaste man, and of one who does not observe conjugal fidelity.
But there it might be objected, that what is sinful in all ought not to have been condemned or forbidden in bishops alone. The answer is easy. When it is expressly prohibited to bishops, it does not therefore follow that it is freely allowed to others. Beyond all doubt, Paul condemned universally what was contrary to an unrepealed law of God; for it is a settled enactment,
“They shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24.)
But he might, to some extent, bear with that in others which, in a bishop, would have been excessively vile, and therefore not to be endured.
Nor is this a law laid down for the future, that no bishop, who already has one wife, shall marry a second or a third, while the first wife is still living; but Paul excludes from the office of a bishop any one who shall be guilty of such an enormity. Accordingly, what had been once done, and could not be corrected, he reluctantly endures, but only in the common people. For what was the remedy for those who, under Judaism, had fallen into the snare of polygamy? Should they have divorced their second and third wives? Such a divorce would not have been free from doing wrong. Since, therefore, the deed was done, and could not be undone, he left it untouched, but with this exception, that no bishop should be blemished by such a stain.
Sober, temperate, modest The word which we have translated sober, Erasmus has translated (vigilantem) watchful. As the Greek word νηφάλεος admits of either signification, the readers may make their own choice. I have preferred to translate σώφρονα, temperate, instead of sober, because σωφροσύνη has a more extensive meaning than sobriety. Modest means one who conducts himself with decency and propriety.
Hospitable The “hospitality” here spoken of, is toward strangers, and this was very common among the ancients; for it would have been reckoned disgraceful for respectable persons, and especially for those who were well known, to lodge in taverns. In the present day, the state of matters is different; but this virtue is and always will be highly necessary in a bishop, for many reasons. Besides, during the cruel persecution of the godly, many persons must have been constrained frequently to change their habitation; and therefore it was necessary that the houses of bishops should be a retreat for the exiles. In those times hard necessity compelled the churches to afford mutual aid, so that they gave lodgings to one another. Now, if the bishops had not pointed out the path to others in this department of duty, the greater part, following their example, would have neglected the exercise of humanity, and thus the poor fugitives would have been greatly discouraged.
Able to teach In the epistle to Titus, doctrine is expressly mentioned; here he only speaks briefly about skill in communicating instruction. It is not enough to have profound learning, if it be not accompanied by talent for teaching. There are many who, either because their utterance is defective, or because they have not good mental abilities, or because they do not employ that familiar language which is adapted to the common people, keep within their own minds the knowledge which they possess. Such persons, as the phrase is, ought to Sing to themselves and to the muses. They who have the charge of governing the people, ought to be qualified for teaching. And here he does not demand volubility of tongue, for we see many persons whose fluent talk is not fitted for edification; but he rather commends wisdom in applying the word of God judiciously to the advantage of the people.
It is worth while to consider how the Papists hold that the injunctions which the apostle gives do not at all belong to them. I shall not enter into a minute explanation of all the details; but on this one point what sort of diligence do they observe? And, indeed, that gift would be superfluous; for they banish from themselves the ministry of teaching as low and groveling, although this belonged especially to a bishop. But everybody knows how far it is from observing Paul’s rule, to assume the title of bishop, and boast proudly of enacting a character without speaking, provided only that they make their appearance in a theatrical dress. As if a horned mitre, a ring richly set in jewels, or a silver cross, and other trifles, accompanied by idle display, constituted the spiritual government of a church, which can no more be separated from doctrine than any one of us can be separated from his own soul.
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 On vv2, 3, 6 Therefore he that shutteth out married men from the…
Therefore he that shutteth out married men from the office of Bishops, only because they are married, is Antichrist.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–7 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband…
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
Ver. 2. A bishop then must be blameless] That is, every faithful pastor must be such as against whom no just exception can be laid, no gross fault objected. Involuntary failings and unavoidable infirmities have a pardon, of course, both with God and all good men.
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The husband of one wife] sc. At once. The Egyptian priests were forbidden also polygamy.
Vigilant] νηφαλιον, pale and wan with watching, ου χρη παννυχιον ευδειν βουληφορον ανδρα (Homer): a public person should not sleep a whole night together.
Sober] σωφρονα, that can contain his passions and keep a mean.
Of good behaviour] κοσμιον. {a} Compositus, modestus. Neat and handsome in his outward habit, venerable in all his behaviour.
Given to hospitality] Quicquid habent clerici, pauperum est: the minister’s chest is the poor man’s box.
Apt to teach] Not able only, as Dr Taylor, martyr, who preached not only every Lord’s day and holy day, but whensoever else he could get the people together. (Acts and Mon.) Praedicationis officium suscipit, quisquis ad sacerdotium accedit, saith Gregory. (Greg. Pastor.) He is no minister that is no preacher.
{a} Bene moratum. Hieron. ad Damasum.
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 On vv2–7 In the following description there is the complete character…
In the following description there is the complete character of an evangelical bishop, with respect to the virtues wherewith he must be adorned, and the vices from which he must be exempt, and as to the conduct of his person, and the government of his family, and his carriage to the church, and to those that are without.
A bishop, whoever hath the office of oversight in the church of God,
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must be blameless, such a person as none can truly blame for any notorious or conspicuous errors in his life.
The husband of one wife; none who at the same time hath more wives than one, as many of the Jews had; nor was polygamy only common amongst the Jews, but amongst the other Eastern nations; but this was contrary to the institution of marriage. Some interpret this of successive marriage, as if it were a scandalous thing for a minister to marry a second time; but for this they have no pretence from holy writ, or reason, or the practice and custom of nations. Many persons lose their first wives so soon after marriage, that, were not second marriages lawful, all the ends of marriage must be frustrate as to them. The apostle commanding ministers to be the husbands but of one wife, doth not oblige them to marry, if God hath given them the gift of continency, but it establisheth the lawfulness of their marrying, against the doctrine of devils in this particular, which the Church of Rome teacheth.
Vigilant: the word here translated vigilant signifieth also sober, but for that αωφρονα is after used. He must be one that watcheth his flock, and is attentive to his work; one that will neither be long absent from his flock, nor vet sluggish while he is with them.
Sober; one that is prudent, modest, temperate, that can govern his affections and passions.
Of good behaviour; a man of a comely, decent behaviour, κοσμιος, no proud, supercilious man, that despiseth others, nor a morose man, who cannot accommodate himself to others.
Given to hospitality; one that loveth strangers, that is, who is ready to express his love to strangers (especially such as for the truth have left their country) by all courteous offices.
Apt to teach; one that is able to instruct others, and who hath a facility or aptness to it, neither an ignorant nor yet a lazy man.
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 On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7 Here we have St. Paul’s positive character of a…
Here we have St. Paul’s positive character of a bishop, and what he ought to be, who is admitted into that high and honourable office in the church of God: he ought to be
blameless, a person free from scandal, without any just ground of blame: the life of a bishop should shine so bright, that others may not only behold it, but admire it, and guide their lives by the example of it.
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The husband of one wife; that is, one at a time; not guilty of the sin of having many wives, or of putting away the wife by divorce, as the Jews frequently did for frivolous causes.
Here note, 1. The apostle’s command (that the bishop be the husband of one wife) doth not oblige him to marry, but it establishes the lawfulness of his marriage, if he sees sufficient reason for it.
Nor, 2. Does the apostle here forbid successive marriages, as if when a bishop has married one wife, or more, he might not lawfully marry again; for this he elsewhere allows, 1Co 7:8.
From this it may not be in a man’s power to abstain: many lose their first, and sometimes their second wives, so soon, that were not after-marriages lawful, all the ends of marriage must be frustrate to them; yet may we suppose by these words, and many others, that St. Paul proposes a greater degree of chastity to church governors than to other persons.
Vigilant, very diligent and watchful in the performance of his whole duty, not long absent from his flock, nor negligent when he is among them:
sober, governing his passions and appetites, reducing those rebellious powers under the dominion of reason and religion:
of good behaviour, in his words, in habit and garb, in his deeds and actions, neither proud and supercilious, nor morose and sour, but affable and easy, kind and courteous, of a composed temper and grave behaviour:
given to hospitality, not to sensuality; it is not the keeping of a free table, and open house for all comers, which St. Paul points at; but charity in entertaining strangers, poor Christians that left their country by persecuton, or such as traveled upon their lawful affairs from place to place; the free relieving of such as are necessitous and exposed to want and hardship, is the hospitality pointed at by our apostle:
apt to teach, that is, both knowing and willing, able to teach, and forward to it, having both skill and will, ability and dexterity, for that part of his duty; one that is neither ignorant of his duty, nor negligent in the performance of it.
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 On vv2–7 A bishop then must be blameless,.... Or "an elder",…
A bishop then must be blameless,.... Or "an elder", as the Syriac version renders it; not that it can be expected that such an one should be entirely free from sin, or be blameless in the sight of God; but that he should be one, who is so before men, and has not been guilty of any notorious and flagitious crime; and particularly, is not chargeable with the vices hereafter mentioned or hinted at. So the priests under the law were to be without blemish, even in their bodies, Lev 21:17 to which the apostle may here allude.
The husband of one wife; which is not to be understood in a mystical and allegorical sense of his being the pastor of one church, since the apostle afterwards speaks of his house and children, that are to be ruled and kept in good order by him, in distinction from the church of God; but in a literal sense of his conjugal estate; though this rule does not make it necessary that he should have a wife; or that he should not marry, or not have married a second wife, after the death of the first; only if he marries or is married, that he should have but one wife at a time; so that this rule excludes all such persons from being elders, or pastors, or overseers of churches, that were "polygamists"; who had more wives than one at a time, or had divorced their wives, and not for adultery, and had married others. Now polygamy and divorces had very much obtained among the Jews; nor could the believing Jews be easily and at once brought off of them. And though they were not lawful nor to be allowed of in any; yet they were especially unbecoming and scandalous in officers of churches. So the high priest among the Jews, even when polygamy was in use, might not marry, or have two wives, at once; if he did, he could not minister in his office until he divorced one of them (u). For it is written, Lev 21:13, "he shall take a wife", , "one, and not two" (w). And the same that is said of the high priest, is said of all other priests; see Eze 44:22, likewise the Egyptian priests might not marry more wives than one, though others might have as many as they pleased (x): and so the Flamines among the Romans (y). An elder or pastor must also be one that is
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vigilant; or wakeful and watchful, who is diligent in his business, and attends to his care and charge; is watchful over himself, his words, and actions; and watches for the souls of men, to do them all the good he can; and is sober in body, is temperate, and uses moderation in eating and drinking; and in mind, is modest, humble, and prudent; and so the Vulgate Latin Version renders the word "prudent": and the Ethiopic version, "a wise man", one of a sound judgment, a good understanding, and prudent conduct; is not wise above what is written, but thinks soberly of himself, as he ought. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "chaste", as free from intemperance, so from uncleanness: and
of good behaviour: neat and decent in his apparel; modest in his whole deportment and conduct, and affable and courteous to all; beautiful in his life and conversation, being adorned with every thing that is graceful and comely:
given to hospitality: to the love of strangers, and to the entertainment of them; and especially the saints and fellow ministers, who are exiled, or are travelling for the sake of spreading the Gospel, or upon some lawful and laudable account. These he is to assist by his advice and counsel, and with the necessaries of life, according to his abilities. Abraham and Lot are noted instances of this virtue.
Apt to teach; who has a considerable store of knowledge; is capable of interpreting the Scripture to the edification of others; is able to explain, lay open, and illustrate the truths of the Gospel, and defend them, and refute error; and who is not only able, but ready and willing, to communicate to others what he knows; and who likewise has utterance of speech, the gift of elocution and can convey his ideas of things in plain and easy language, in apt and acceptable words; for otherwise it signifies not what a man knows, unless he has a faculty of communicating it to others, to their understanding and advantage.
(u) Maimon. lssurc Bia, c. 7. sect. 13. & Cele Hamikdash. c. 5. sect. 10. (w) T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 59. 1. (x) Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. p. 51. vide Tertull. de monogamia, c. 17. & Exhort. castitat. c. 13. (y) Alex. ab. Alex. Genial Dier. l. 6. c. 12.
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 On vv2, 4, 6, 7 Therefore - That he may be capable of it.…
Therefore - That he may be capable of it. A bishop - Or pastor of a congregation. Must be blameless - Without fault or just suspicion. The husband of one wife - This neither means that a bishop must be married, nor that he may not marry a second wife; which it is just as lawful for him to do as to marry a first, and may in some cases be his bounden duty. But whereas polygamy and divorce on slight occasions were common both among the Jews and heathens, it teaches us that ministers, of all others, ought to stand clear of those sins. Vigilant, prudent - Lively and zealous, yet calm and wise. Of good behaviour - Naturally flowing from that vigilance and prudence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–7 Verse 2. A bishop then must be blameless] Our…
Verse 2. A bishop then must be blameless] Our term bishop comes from the Anglo-Saxon [A.S.], which is a mere corruption of the Greek επισκοπος, and the Latin episcopus; the former being compounded of επι, over, and σκεπτομαι, to look or inspect, signifies one who has the inspection or oversight of a place, persons, or business; what we commonly term a superintendent. The New Testament writers have borrowed the term from the Septuagint, it being the word by which they translate the pakid of the Hebrew text, which signifies a visiter, one that personally inspects the people or business over which he presides. It is given by St. Paul to the elders at Ephesus, who had the oversight of Christ's flock, Ac 20:28; and to such like persons in other places, Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:2, the place in question; and Tit 1:7.
Let us consider the qualifications of a Christian bishop, and then we shall soon discover who is fit for the office.
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First. - This Christian bishop must be blameless; ανεπιληπτον, a person against whom no evil can be proved; one who is everywhere invulnerable; for the word is a metaphor, taken from the case of an expert and skilful pugilist, who so defends every part of his body that it is impossible for his antagonist to give one hit. So this Christian bishop is one that has so conducted himself, as to put it out of the reach of any person to prove that he is either unsound in a single article of the Christian faith, or deficient in the fulfilment of any duty incumbent on a Christian. He must be irreprehensible; for how can he reprove that in others which they can reprove in him?
Second. - He must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man, but he should be no polygamist; and have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife die, he should never marry another. Some have most foolishly spiritualized this, and say, that by one wife the Church is intended! This silly quibbling needs no refutation. The apostle's meaning appears to be this: that he should not be a man who has divorced his wife and married another; nor one that has two wives at a time. It does not appear to have been any part of the apostle's design to prohibit second marriages, of which some have made such a serious business. But it is natural for some men to tithe mint and cummin in religion, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law.
Third. - He must be vigilant; νηφαλεον, from νη, not and πιω, to drink. Watchful; for as one who drinks is apt to sleep, so he who abstains from it is more likely to keep awake, and attend to his work and charge. A bishop has to watch over the Church, and watch for it; and this will require all his care and circumspection. Instead of νηφαλεον, many MSS. read νηφαλιον. this may be the better orthography, but makes no alteration in the sense.
Fourth. - He must be sober; σωφρονα, prudent or, according to the etymology of the word, from σως, sound, and φρην, mind, a man of a sound mind; having a good understanding, and the complete government of all his passions.
A bishop should be a man of learning, of an extensive and well cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and sedate.
Fifth. - He must be of good behaviour; κοσμιον, orderly, decent, grave, and correct in the whole of his appearance, carriage, and conduct. The preceding term, σωφρονα, refers to the mind; this latter, κοσμιον, to the external manners. A clownish, rude, or boorish man should never have the rule of the Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the boisterous should never be invested with a dignity which they would most infallibly disgrace.
Sixth. - He must be given to hospitality; φιλοξενον, literally, a lover of strangers; one who is ready to receive into his house and relieve every necessitous stranger. Hospitality, in those primitive times, was a great and necessary virtue; then there were few inns, or places of public entertainment; to those who were noted for benevolence the necessitous stranger had recourse. A Christian bishop, professing love to God and all mankind, preaching a religion, one half of the morality of which was included in, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, would naturally be sought to by those who were in distress and destitute of friends. To enable them to entertain such, the Church over which they presided must have furnished them with the means. Such a bishop as St. Paul, who was often obliged to labour with his hands for his own support, could have little to give away. But there is a considerable difference between an apostolical bishop and an ecclesiastical bishop: the one was generally itinerant, the other comparatively local; the former had neither house nor home, the latter had both; the apostolical bishop had charge of the Church of Christ universally, the ecclesiastical bishop of the Churches in a particular district. Such should be addicted to hospitality, or works of charity; especially in these modern times, in which, besides the spiritualities, they possess the temporalities, of the Church.
Seventh. - He should be apt to teach; διδακτικον, one capable of teaching; not only wise himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to others. One whose delight is, to instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way. He must be a preacher; an able, zealous, fervent, and assiduous preacher.
He is no bishop who has health and strength, and yet seldom or never preaches; i.e. if he can preach - if he have the necessary gifts for the office.
In former times bishops wrote much and preached much; and their labours were greatly owned of God. No Church since the apostle's days has been more honoured in this way than the British Church. And although bishops are here, as elsewhere, appointed by the state, yet we cannot help adoring the good providence of God, that, taken as a body, they have been an honour to their function; and that, since the reformation of religion in these lands, the bishops have in general been men of great learning and probity, and the ablest advocates of the Christian system, both as to its authenticity, and the purity and excellence of its doctrines and morality.
CHAUCER'S character of the Clerke of Oxenford is a good paraphrase on St. Paul's character of a primitive bishop: -
Of studie tookin he moste cure and hede,
Nought oo word spak he more than there was nede,
And that was selde in forme and and reverence,
And short, and quick, and full of high sentence;
Sowning in moral vertue was speche,
And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teache.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 7 1Ti 3:2-3. A bishop then — Or an overseer…
1Ti 3:2-3. A bishop then — Or an overseer of the flock of Christ, that he may be capable of such an office; must be blameless — In every respect with regard to his moral character, since any thing which might be amiss in that would tend to bring a reproach upon his office, and greatly obstruct his usefulness; the husband of one wife — This neither means that a bishop must be married, nor that he may not marry a second wife; which is just as lawful for him to do as to marry a first, and may, in some cases, be his bounden duty. But whereas polygamy and divorce, upon slight occasions, were both common among the Jews and heathen, it teaches us that ministers, of all others, ought to stand clear of those sins. Macknight’s reasoning on this subject is very conclusive. “That the gospel allows women to marry a second time, is evident from 1Co 7:9; 1Co 7:39. By parity of reason it allows men to marry a second time likewise. Wherefore, when it is said here that a bishop must be the husband of one wife, and (1Ti 5:9,) that the widow, who is employed by the church in teaching the young of her sex, must have been the wife of one husband, the apostle could not mean that persons who have married a second time are thereby disqualified for sacred offices. For in that case, a bishop whose wife dies while he is young, must lay down his office, unless he can live continently unmarried. The apostle’s meaning, therefore, in these canons, is, that such persons only were to be intrusted with sacred offices who in their married state had contented themselves with one wife, and with one husband at a time; because thereby they had showed themselves temperate in the use of sensual pleasures; through the immoderate love of which the Asiatic nations universally practised polygamy. In like manner because, according to our Lord’s determination, persons who divorced each other unjustly were guilty of adultery when they married themselves to others; also because such really had more wives and husbands than one at a time, as was the case with the woman of Samaria, (Joh 4:18,) the apostle, to restrain these licentious practices, which were common among the Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, ordered that no widow should be chosen to instruct the younger women, but such as had been the wife of one husband only at a time.” Vigilant — Intent upon his duty, ready to resist temptation, and careful to preserve his flock from seduction; sober — Greek, σωφρονα, prudent; or, as the word also implies, one who governs well his passions, and whose mind is well regulated. He must be lively and zealous, yet calm and wise; of good or comely behaviour — As κοσμιον might be properly rendered; implying that his conduct, in all respects, must be such as becomes his office: his discourse, his dress, his visage, his gait, his manners being all suitable to the gravity of his functions. The former word respects the inward man, and this the outward. Given to hospitality — Literally, a lover of strangers. As the primitive Christians took a particular charge of orphans, widows, sick people, and of such as were imprisoned for their religion, or spoiled of their goods, so also of strangers; to the care of whom they were led by the manners of the age, and the peculiar circumstances of the times. For many of the first converts, having devoted themselves to the preaching of the gospel, often travelled from one place to another; and as there were no inns in the eastern countries like those used now with us, it was customary for travellers to lodge with their acquaintance, or with such persons as they were recommended to. But all the disciples of Christ, considering themselves as brethren, and as engaged in one common cause for the benefit of the world, they made each other welcome, though unacquainted, to such food and lodging as they could afford. And therefore, when travellers were not acquainted with the brethren in any particular place, all they had to do was to make themselves known as Christians, by declaring their faith, (2Jn 1:10,) especially to the bishops, who had a liberal maintenance given them to enable them to be hospitable. Yet the bishop’s hospitality was not to be confined to the brethren: he was to extend it, on occasion at least, even to such heathen strangers as, agreeably to the manners of the times, came to him, drawn by his reputation for wisdom or beneficence. The reason was, by receiving such into his house, he would have an opportunity of recommending the true religion to them by his conversation and example. From this account it is evident, that the hospitality anciently required in a bishop was not what is now meant by that word, namely, the keeping a good table, and an open house for one’s friends and others, who are able to make him a return in kind; but it consisted in entertaining strangers of the character just now described; the poor also, and the persecuted for the sake of religion. Apt, or fit, to teach — By having a thorough knowledge of the things he is to teach, a clear manner of expressing his thoughts, and an earnest desire to instruct the ignorant; or one that is himself well instructed in the things of the kingdom of God, and is communicative of what he knows; is both able and willing to impart to others the knowledge which God hath given him. Not given to wine — Or any other kind of strong liquor; no striker — Not of such a hasty temper as to have so little government of himself as to be ready to strike those who provoke him; or one that is apt to use violence to any one, but who does every thing in a spirit of meekness, gentleness, long- suffering, and love. For the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle toward all men, 2Ti 2:24; not greedy — Or desirous, rather, of filthy lucre — That is, who does not make his ministry subservient to any secular design or interest; that uses no mean, base, sordid ways of getting money; who is dead to the wealth of this world, and makes it appear by his conduct that he is so, and that he lives above it. It is remarkable that the phrase αισχροκερδης, which is here used, and signifies a person attached to sordid gain, is seldom or never used in the New Testament to express any gain, but that which is made or procured by the covetousness of Christian ministers; and “never surely,” as Doddridge observes, “does an eagerness in pursuit of money appear more dishonourable and sordid than in persons of that noble, but, alas! too often prostituted profession.” But patient — Επιεικη, gentle, yielding, or moderate; one that does not insist upon the extremity of his right, but is ready to give it up, in some degree, for the sake of peace; not a brawler — A contentious person; not covetous — Αφιλαργυρον, not a lover of money, or of riches, but who, having food and raiment for himself and those dependant upon him, is content therewith.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–7 A bishop - A minister of religion, according to…
A bishop - A minister of religion, according to the foregoing remarks, who has the charge or oversight of any Christian church. The reference here is doubtless to one who had the government of the church entrusted to him 1Ti 3:4-5, and who was also a preacher of the gospel.
Must be blameless - This is a different word (ἀνεπίλημπτον anepilēmpton) from that rendered “blameless” in Luk 1:6; Phi 2:15; Phi 3:6 (ἄμεμπτος amemptos); compare however, Luk 1:6 note; Phi 3:6 note. The word here used does not mean that, as a necessary qualification for office, a bishop should be “perfect;” but that he should be a man against whom no charge of immorality, or of holding false doctrine, is alleged. His conduct should be irreprehensible or irreproachable. Undoubtedly it means that if “any” charge could be brought against him implying moral obliquity, he is not fit for the office. He should be a man of irreproachable character for truth, honesty, chastity, and general uprightness.
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The husband of one wife - This need not be understood as requiring that a bishop “should be” a married man, as Vigilantius, a presbyter in the church at Barcelona in the fourth century, supposed, however desirable in general it may be that a minister of the gospel should be married. But, while this interpretation is manifestly to be excluded as false, there has been much difference of opinion on the question whether the passage means that a minister should not have more than one wife at the same time, or whether it prohibits the marriage of a second wife after the death of the first. On this question, the notes of Bloomfield, Doddridge, and Macknight, may be consulted. That the former is the correct opinion, seems to me to be evident from the following considerations:
(1) It is the most obvious meaning of the language, and it would doubtless be thus understood by those to whom it was addressed. At a time when polygamy was not uncommon, to say that a man should “have but one wife” would be naturally understood as prohibiting polygamy.
(2) The marriage of a second wife, after the death of the first, is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as wrong. The marriage of a widow to a second husband is expressely declared to be proper 1Co 7:39; and it is not unfair to infer from that permission that it is equally lawful and proper for man to marry the second time. But if it is lawful for any man it is right for a minister of the gospel. No reason can he assigned against such marriages in his case, which would not be equally valid in any other. Marriage is as honorable for a minister of the gospel as for any other man (compare notes on Heb 13:4); and, as Doddridge has well remarked, “Circumstances may be so adjusted that there may be as much reason for a second marriage as for the first, and as little inconvenience of any kind may attend it.”
(3) There was a special propriety in the prohibition, if understood as prohibiting polygamy. It is known that it was extensively practiced, and was not regarded as unlawful. Yet one design of the gospel was to restore the marriage relation to its primitive condition; and though it might not have seemed absolutely necessary to require of every man who came into the church to divorce his wives, if he had more than one, yet, in order to fix a brand on this irregular practice, it might have been deemed desirable to require of the ministers of the gospel that they should have but one wife. Thus the practice of polygamy would gradually come to be regarded as dishonorable and improper, and the example and influence of the ministry would tend to introduce correct views in regard to the nature of this relation. One thing is clear from this passage, that the views of the Papists in regard to the celibacy of the clergy are directly at variance with the Bible. The declaration of Paul in Heb 13:4, is, that “marriage is honorable in all;” and here it is implied that it was proper that a minister should be married. If it were not, why did not Paul prohibit it altogether? Instead of saying that it was improper that a bishop should have more than one wife, why did he not say that it was improper that he should be married at all? Would not a Romanist say so now?
Vigilant - This word (νηφάλεος nēphaleos) occurs only here and in 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:2. It means, properly, “sober, temperate, abstinent,” especially in respect to wine; then “sober-minded, watchful, circumspect. Robinson.” A minister should have a watchful care over his own conduct. He should be on his gaurd against sin in any form.
Sober - σώφρονα sōphrona Properly, a man of “a sound mind;” one who follows sound reason, and who is not under the control of passion. The idea is, that he should have his desires and passions well regulated. Perhaps the word “prudent” would come nearer to the meaning of the apostle than any single word which we have.
Of good behaviour - Margin, “modest.” Coverdale renders it, “mannerly.” The most correct rendering, according to the modern use of language, would be, that he should be “a gentleman.” He should not be slovenly in his appearance, or rough and boorish in his manners. He should not do violence to the usages of refined conversation, nor be unfit to appear respectable in the most refined circles of society. Inattention to personal neatness, and to the rules which regulate refined contact, is indicative neither of talent, learning, nor religion; and though they are occasionally - not often - connected with talent, learning, and religion, yet they are never the fruit of either, and are always a disgrace to those who exhibit such incivility and boorishness, for such men “ought” to know better. A minister of the gospel should be a finished gentleman in his manners, and there is no excuse for him if he is not. His religion, if he has any, is adapted to make him such. He has usually received such an education as ought to make him such, and in all cases “ought” to have had such a training. He is admitted into the best society, and has an opportunity of becoming familiar with the laws of refined conversation. He should be an example and a pattern in all that goes to promote the welfare of mankind, and there are few things so easily acquired that are suited to do this, as refinement and gentility of manners. No man can do good, on the whole, or in the “long run,” by disregarding the rules of refined contact; and, other things being equal, the refined, courteous, polite gentleman in the ministry, will always do more good than he who neglects the rules of goodbreeding.
Given to hospitality - This is often enjoined on all Christians as a duty of religion. For the reasons of this, and the nature of the duty, see the Rom 12:13 note; Heb 13:2 note. It was a special duty of the ministers of religion, as they were to be examples of every Christian virtue.
Apt to teach - Greek, “Didactic;” that is, capable of instructing, or qualified for the office of a teacher of religion. As the principal business of a preacher of the gospel is to “teach,” or to communicate to his fellow-men the knowledge of the truth, the necessity of this qualification is obvious. No one should be allowed to enter the ministry who is not qualified to impart “instruction” to others on the doctrines and duties of religion; and no one should feel that he ought to continue in the ministry, who has not industry, and self-denial, and the love of study enough to lead him constantly to endeavor to “increase” in knowledge, that he may be qualified to teach others. A man who would “teach” a people, must himself keep in advance of them on the subjects on which he would instruct them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6 A bishop (the same name then comprehended priest) to…
A bishop (the same name then comprehended priest) to be blameless, as to life and conversation, adorned, (says St. John Chrysostom) with all virtues. See also St. Jerome in his letter to Oceanus. --- The [1] husband of one wife. It does not signify, that to be a bishop or priest he must be a married man; nor that he must be a man who has but one wife at a time; but that he must be a man who has never been married but once, or to one wife: because to be married more than once, was looked upon as a mark of too great an inclination to sensual pleasures. It is true, at that time he was to live with her as with a sister. This St. Jerome testifies as to the discipline of the Latin Church. (Witham) --- The meaning is not that every bishop should have a wife, (for St. Paul himself had none) but that no one should be admitted to the holy orders of bishop, priest, or deacon, who had been married more than once. (Challoner) --- Sober.[2] The Greek rather signifies watchful. --- Chaste.[3] There is nothing for this in the Greek text at present, unless in some few manuscripts. Perhaps the ancient Latin interpreter added it, as being signified and comprehended in the words. --- Teacher: a doctor, as the Greek signifies. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
See St. John Chrysostom, p. 285.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Sobrium, Greek: nephalion. Vigilantem.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Pudicum: some Greek manuscripts, Greek: semnon.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–7 The existence of Church organization and presbyters at Ephesus…
The existence of Church organization and presbyters at Ephesus is presupposed (Ti1 5:17, Ti1 5:19). The institution of Church widows (1Ti. 5:3-25) accords with this. The directions here to Timothy, the president or apostolic delegate, are as to filling up vacancies among the bishops and deacons, or adding to their number. New churches in the neighborhood also would require presbyters and deacons. Episcopacy was adopted in apostolic times as the most expedient form of government, being most nearly in accordance with Jewish institutions, and so offering the less obstruction through Jewish prejudices to the progress of Christianity. The synagogue was governed by presbyters, "elders" (Act 4:8; Act 24:1), called also bishops or overseers. Three among them presided as "rulers of the synagogue," answering to "bishops" in the modern sense [LIGHTFOOT, Hebrew and Talmudic Exercitations], and one among them took the lead. AMBROSE (in The Duties of the Clergy [2.13], as also BINGHAM [Ecclesiastical Antiquities, 2.11]) says, "They who are now called bishops were originally called apostles. But those who ruled the Church after the death of the apostles had not the testimony of miracles, and were in many respects inferior. Therefore they thought it not decent to assume to themselves the name of apostles; but dividing the names, they left to presbyters the name of the presbytery, and they themselves were called bishops." "Presbyter" refers to the rank; "bishop," to the office or function. Timothy (though not having the name) exercised the power at Ephesus then, which bishops in the modern sense more recently exercised.
blameless--"unexceptionable"; giving no just handle for blame.
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husband of one wife--confuting the celibacy of Rome's priesthood. Though the Jews practiced polygamy, yet as he is writing as to a Gentile Church, and as polygamy was never allowed among even laymen in the Church, the ancient interpretation that the prohibition here is against polygamy in a candidate bishop is not correct. It must, therefore, mean that, though laymen might lawfully marry again, candidates for the episcopate or presbytery were better to have been married only once. As in Ti1 5:9, "wife of one man," implies a woman married but once; so "husband of one wife" here must mean the same. The feeling which prevailed among the Gentiles, as well as the Jews (compare as to Anna, Luk 2:36-37), against a second marriage would, on the ground of expediency and conciliation in matters indifferent and not involving compromise of principle, account for Paul's prohibition here in the case of one in so prominent a sphere as a bishop or a deacon. Hence the stress that is laid in the context on the repute in which the candidate for orders is held among those over whom he is to preside (Tit 1:16). The Council of Laodicea and the apostolic canons discountenanced second marriages, especially in the case of candidates for ordination. Of course second marriage being lawful, the undesirableness of it holds good only under special circumstances. It is implied here also, that he who has a wife and virtuous family, is to be preferred to a bachelor; for he who is himself bound to discharge the domestic duties mentioned here, is likely to be more attractive to those who have similar ties, for he teaches them not only by precept, but also by example (Ti1 3:4-5). The Jews teach, a priest should be neither unmarried nor childless, lest he be unmerciful [BENGEL]. So in the synagogue, "no one shall offer up prayer in public, unless he be married" [in Colbo, ch. 65; VITRINGA, Synagogue and Temple].
vigilant--literally, "sober"; ever on the watch, as sober men alone can be; keenly alive, so as to foresee what ought to be done (Th1 5:6-8).
sober--sober-minded.
of good behaviour--Greek, "orderly." "Sober" refers to the inward mind; "orderly," to the outward behavior, tone, look, gait, dress. The new man bears somewhat of a sacred festival character, incompatible with all confusion, disorder, excess, violence, laxity, assumption, harshness, and meanness (Phi 4:8) [BENGEL].
apt to teach-- (Ti2 2:24).
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 On vv2–7 2. Blameless—Unimpeachable; one against whom no fair charge can…
2. Blameless—Unimpeachable; one against whom no fair charge can be made.
Husband of one wife—Upon these words, and the parallel in Tit_1:6, there have been three interpretations: as, 1, A requirement of marriage; 2, A prohibition of polygamy; and, 3, A prohibition of deuterogamy, or marriage of widower or widow.
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Upon the first it may be fairly said, that though the apostle does not enjoin the marriage of an elder, he certainly assumes its probability. The text is, therefore, conclusive against enforced clerical celibacy.
That deuterogamy is forbidden, or at least for that age discouraged, is the interpretation of Alford, Huther, and Wordsworth. Fairbairn has a full dissertation ably maintaining that polygamy only is forbidden.
For applying it to deuterogamy it is urged that sacred professions, even among heathens, were often prohibited from deuterogamy, as by the Romans to their priestesses. Sicilian law forbade a man who gives a stepmother to his children to fill the judicial office. In an age when the female character is degraded such a law may have its reasons. Alford’s objection to applying the text to polygamy only is, that it makes Paul forbid to clergy alone what truly no Christian should, or in that age did, commit. Tertullian had used that argument long before him. “They say that the apostle permitted the repetition of marriage in such way as to forbid polygamy to the clergy alone.” But the apostle does not imply a permission to laity when he restricts the clergy, as, for instance, from the being a striker.
In favour of the application of the text to polygamy, and not deuterogamy, it may be urged, 1. That St. Paul, in Rom_7:1; Rom_7:3, and 1Co_7:8-9, decides that death dissolves the marriage tie, and permits new marriage to the survivor. He states it as marriage law without exception. The assumption of Alford, that St. Paul lays down a special ethics here for the clergy, cannot be admitted without some special proof.
2. Polygamy, in St. Paul’s time, was usual with both Jews and Gentiles. It was demoralizing both races. Rabbies had four and five wives. Converts to Christianity involved in polygamy would often present themselves for admission to the Church, and the peculiarities of their case might be considered in the instance of private Christians; but Paul forbids any such entanglement for an elder. 3. Alford admits that the early commentators, Theodoret, Chrysostom, Theophylact, each made the text forbid only polygamy. On the other hand, Fairbairn maintains, truly, that the earliest writers who made it condemn deuterogamy, as Hermas and Tertullian, were ascetically inclined. 4. The uniform shaping of the three expressions obviously applies to polgyamy only. A man whose single wife died, and who marries again a single wife only, is always the husband of one wife. See note on 1Ti_4:9.
Vigilant—Wide awake, and alert for all opportunities for holy success. Sober—Discreet, given to no undignified excitement or levities.
Good behaviour—Orderly in external manners and conduct.
Hospitality—In especial relation to entertaining Christian brethren; a duty very important in times when the present system of public accommodations but imperfectly existed. 1Pe_4:9; Heb_13:2; Rom_12:13.
Apt to teach—Possessing full knowledge of Christian doctrine. and naturally gifted to deliver it. See note, Tit_1:9.
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 On vv2–7 2. A bishop] R.V. The bishop, as St Mar_4:3,…
2. A bishop] R.V. The bishop, as St Mar_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. 1Ti_5:7 and 1Ti_6:14, nowhere else in N. T.; ‘giving no handle’ is exact, though rather colloquial, implying in Greek and in R.V. the absence of definite acts or habits to give occasion for reproach. See note on 1Ti_3:7.
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the husband of one wife] A regulation apparently very simple, but one that has much exercised both ancient and modern commentators. We may pass by the view (1) ‘husband of a wife,’ i.e. ‘a married man,’ as ungrammatical; because the definite numeral has not lost its force ‘one’ in N.T.; in all the 36 or 37 passages where it might be thought to approach the sense of the indefinite article there is something in the context which draws attention to the singleness, the individuality of the person or thing named in a way which is lost by simply rendering ‘an’ or ‘a.’ This is virtually the view of the Greek Church, which requires all priests to be married, but forbids a second marriage, and requires the priest who has lost his wife to cease from exercising his functions.
We may pass by also view (2), that of the Mormons, though at least grammatical, ‘husband of one wife if not more.’
The weight of authority is divided between (3) ‘not a digamist’ and (4) ‘not a bigamist.’
Alford, Wordsworth and Ellicott adopt (3) and understand a second marriage after the loss of the first wife, however happening, to be forbidden, digamia; relying on (a) the very early interpretation by many Greek and Latin Fathers, the action by many bishops and the enactment of some councils, (b) the supposed propriety of greater strictness for officers of the Church.
But as to (a), the more general interpretation by the prevailing ‘voice of the Church’ in the first and second centuries was for (4), and St Paul has express statements on this point, Rom_7:2; 1Co_7:39, countenancing second marriages; as to (b), St Paul’s usage is not to make laws of a ‘higher life’ for ministers than for people, but to expect the same laws kept in a way to serve for ensample to the flock. We adopt (4) therefore—which is the prima facie meaning, and was the view of the Antiochene fathers (though Chrysostom seems to have changed his mind when he came to annotate Tit_1:6), and was acted upon by some of the Eastern bishops. Many converts to Christianity would have more than one wife. They are nowhere commanded to put away all but one; but it was not seemly that a man in such a position should be a Christian minister, who ought in all respects to be an ensample to the flock. See further on Tit_1:6. The parallel passage in ch. 1Ti_5:10 need cause no difficulty: then as now many a woman would change her partner and with or without a so-called re-marriage feel no scruple so long as she was faithful to the new partner. The elementary principle of Christian relationship needed then to be taught in Christian Asia, and needs teaching now in many still half-heathen circles of Christian England.
vigilant, sober] Rather sober, pure; the first word, from which nephalism comes, occurs only here and in 1Ti_3:11 of the ‘women deacons,’ and in Tit_2:2 of ‘the aged men,’ and is rendered by R.V. ‘temperate’; while the verb with which it is connected, occurring 1Th_5:6; 1Th_5:8, 2Ti_4:5, and 1Pe_1:13; 1Pe_4:7, is rendered ‘be sober.’ The second word here and usually in the Pastoral Epistles, where it and its connexions occur nine times, is rendered by R.V. ‘soberminded’: in the passage however where both the verbs occur, 1Pe_4:7, we have ‘be of sound (not sober) mind and be sober unto prayer.’
‘Sober,’ not indulging the desire of ‘winebibbings, revellings, carousings’; ‘pure,’ not indulging in the thought of ‘lasciviousness and lusts.’ See 1Pe_4:3 compared with 7. Cf. also 1Th_5:6, and Tit_2:2.
of good behaviour] R.V. with Conybeare and Lewin orderly; the same word describes the ‘modest’ dress of the women above 1Ti_2:9, and occurs nowhere else in N. T. The root-idea of the word is the ‘beauty of order,’ such as made it an appropriate word to describe the world, ‘kosmos,’ created out of bare blank chaos. Our word ‘decent’ had originally a somewhat similar force; see Prayer-Book rubrics in Communion Service, directing the alms to be received in a decent, i.e. fair and fitting bason, and the priest so to place the bread and wine that he may with the more readiness and decency, i.e. fair and holy order, break the bread.
Here the word expresses the character of the presbyter in his outward behaviour, ‘modest’ but not ‘shy,’ ‘genial’ but not ‘noisy’—that of a Christian gentleman.
given to hospitality] The adjective occurs (excepting in the parallel account of the presbyter, Tit_1:8) only in 1Pe_4:9, the same passage from which we have just drawn two other of the characteristic words of the Pastoral Epistles. The subst. occurs however Rom_12:13 and Heb_13:2. ‘Brethren in their travels could not resort to the houses of the heathen, and would be subject to insult in the public deversoria.’ Alford.
apt to teach] The only specially ministerial qualification, enlarged in Tit_1:9, ‘able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers.’
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 On vv2–7 (2) A bishop then must be blameless.—Now follow the…
(2) A bishop then must be blameless.—Now follow the various social and moral characteristics of the appointed and recognised officers of the Christian Church—the presbyters or bishops, and the junior ministers, the deacons. The second chapter had treated of the duties of congregations collectively in the matter of public prayer; the third chapter speaks of the special character and qualities necessary for the rulers of these congregations. These “elders” must, in the first place, be men whose character is unimpeachable—men who stand high in public estimation, known for their pure life and spotless integrity. Not only must believers reverence the character of the superintending and ruling elders of their community, but even those outside the brotherhood of Christ must respect the life and conversation of these prominent and conspicuous members of a society which, from the nature of things, would be sure to provoke distrust and jealousy.
The husband of one wife.—The general opinion of the most ancient writers—the decisions of Church councils when the question seems to have been placed before them—the custom of the great Greek Church, which, while permitting a single nuptial, still regarded the repetition of the marriage relation as a disqualification for the higher grade of the episcopate—tell us in general terms that the opinion of the Church from the earliest times interprets this saying of St. Paul as a declaration against second marriages in the case of those seeking the office of presbyter or deacon. The Greek Church evidently accepts this interpretation, though it relaxes the rule in the case of the inferior orders.
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There seems, however, good reason for doubting the accuracy of this popular interpretation, which appears, by thus casting a reproach upon second marriages, to urge a spirit of asceticism on all Christian society, very foreign to St. Paul’s usual teaching, which was content with gently inculcating a higher and a purer life as alone in accordance with the mind of his pitiful and loving Master. It was only by slow degrees that he hoped to raise the tone of society and public opinion in this world.
Inspired Christian teaching was careful not to distract the everyday life of men and women by insisting on sudden and violent changes. The behaviour of the great Christian teachers in the matter of that terrible and universal practice of slavery should be especially noted.
When we ask, What then did St. Paul mean by these words? we must picture to ourselves the state of society in the empire at the time when the Apostle wrote to Timothy. An inundation of Eastern luxury and Eastern morals had submerged all the old Roman habits of austere simplicity. The long civil war and the subsequent license of the empire had degraded the character of the people. The period when St. Paul wrote was especially marked by an extreme depravity. A great and general indisposition towards marriage at all, and the orderly restraints of home and family life, had become so marked a feature in Roman society, that we find Augustus positively enacting laws against celibacy. Another cause which helped to undermine the stability of home life and those family ties which ought to be deemed so sacred, was the ease and frequency of divorce, which Seneca, who may be considered almost as the contemporary of St. Paul, alludes to as incidents no longer looked upon as shameful in Rome. He even, in his indignation at the laxity of the morals of his day, cites cases of women who reckoned their years rather by their husbands than by the consuls. Martial writes of a woman who had arrived at her tenth husband. Juvenal speaks of one who, in five years, had had eight husbands. Among the Jews we know polygamy was then prevalent. St. Paul, fully conscious of this low and debased moral tone which then pervaded all society in the empire, in these few words condemned all illicit relations between the sexes, and directed that in choosing persons to fill holy offices in the congregations of Christians, those should be selected who had married and remained faithful to the wife of their choice, whose life and practice would thus serve as an example to the flock, and to whose homes men might point as the pattern which Jesus loved, while the heathen world around them would see that the hated and despised Christians not only loved and honoured, but lived that pure home life their own great moralists pressed so earnestly upon them, but in vain. This direction, which requires that those to be selected to fill holy offices should be known for their purity in their family relations, of course does not exclude—should any such offer themselves—those men who, while contracting no marriage ties, still were known to lead upright, moral lives.
Vigilant.—The Greek word here is more accurately rendered sober. The presbyter or elder should be soberminded, self-restrained, temperate (not merely in wine, but in all things).
Sober.—Better rendered, discreet.
Of good behaviour.—Rather, orderly. This word refers to outward conduct, to behaviour in public.
The Christian office-bearer must not only be wise and self-restrained in himself, but his outward bearing must in all respects correspond to his inner life.
Given to hospitality.—In the early days of Christianity, when Christians travelling from one place to another, were in the habit, when it was possible, of resorting to the houses of their brethren in the faith, to avoid consorting with idolaters in the public inns. It was of no slight importance that the presiding elders in a congregation should be men who loved to entertain strangers and others, from whom nothing could be expected in return.
Apt to teach.—The elder should possess something more than a willingness, or glad readiness, to teach the less instructed the mysteries of the faith. He ought also to have the far rarer qualification of a power to impart knowledge to others. Zeal is not by any means the only, or even the principal, qualification to be sought for in a minister of the Word.
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 On vv2–7 The for a, A.V; therefore for then, A.V; without…
The for a, A.V; therefore for then, A.V; without reproach for blameless, A.V; temperate for vigilant, A.V; sober-minded for sober, A.V; orderly for of good behavior, A.V The bishop (see note on ver. 1); "a bishop" is better English. Without reproach (ajnepilhptov); only here 1Ti_5:7 and 6:14 in the New Testament; not found anywhere in the LXX, but used by Thucydides, Euripides, and others, in the sense of "not open to attack," "blameless." The metaphor is said (though denied by others)to be from wrestling or boxing, when a man leaves no part of his body exposed to the attack of his adversary. The husband of one wife. (comp. Tit_1:6) Three senses are possible. The passage may be understood
(1) as requiring a bishop, (or presbyter) to have a wife, and so some took it even in Chrysostom"s time (though he does not so understand it), and so the Russian Church understands it;
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(2) as prohibiting his having more than one with at a time;
(3) as prohibiting second marriages for priests and bishops. Bishop Wordsworth, Bishop Ellicott, and Dean Alford, among English commentators, all agree in thinking that (3) is the apostle"s meaning. In spite of such consensus, it appears in the highest degree improbable that St. Paul should have laid down such a condition for the priesthood. There is nothing in his writings when treating expressly of second marriages (Rom_7:2, Rom_7:3; 1Co_7:8, 1Co_7:39) to suggest the notion of there being anything disreputable in a second marriage, and it would obviously cast a great slur upon second marriages if it were laid down as a principle that no one who had married twice was fit to be an ejpiskopov. But if we consider the general laxity in regard to marriage, and the facility of divorce, which prevailed among Jews and Romans at this time, it must have been a common thing for a man to have more than one woman living who had been his wife. And this, as a distinct breach of the primeval law, (Gen_2:24) would properly be a bar to any one being called to the "office of a bishop." The same case is supposed in 1Co_7:10-13. But it is utterly unsupported by any single passage in Scripture that asecond marriage should disqualify a man for the sacred ministry. As regards the opinion of the early Church, it was not at all uniform, and amongst those who held that this passage absolutely prohibits second marriages in the case of an episcopus, it was merely a part of the asceticism of the day. As a matter of course, such writers as Origen and Tertullian held it. The very early opinion that Joseph, the husband of Mary, had children by a former wife, which finds place in the Protevangelium of James (9.), is hardly consistent with the theory of the disreputableness of second marriages. In like manner, the phrase in 1Ti_5:9, ejnov ajndro, is best explained in accordance with the apostle"s doctrine about the lawfulness of a woman"s second marriage, as meaning that she was the husband of one man only, as long as her husband lived. (For the chief patristic opinions on the subject, see Bishop Wordsworth"s note, and Bingham"s "Christian Antiquities," bk. 4. 1 Timothy 5.) Temperate (nhfalion); peculiar to the pastoral Epistles (see ver. 11 and, Tit_2:2) but found in classical Greek. The verb nhfein means "to be sober" (1Th_5:6; 2Ti_4:5 1Pe_1:13 1Pe_4:7 1Pe_5:8) It denotes that temperate use of meat and drink which keeps the mind watchful and on the alert, and then the state of mind itself so produced. The opposite state of mind is described infrona); Luk_21:34. Sober-minded (sw) in the New Testament only here and inw Tit_1:8 Tit_2:2, Tit_2:5. But swfrone is found in the Gospels and Epistles; swfronizw swfronismov swfronwv, in the pastoral Epistles; and swfrosunh in 1Ti_2:15. (where see note) Orderly. (kosmion see 1Ti_2:9, note) Given to hospitality. (filoxenon; as Tit_1:8 and 1Pe_4:9) The substantive filoxenia is found in Romansn); Heb_13:2. Apt to teach (didaktiko) only here and 2Ti_2:24, and Philo, "De Proem. et Virt.," 4 (Huther). The classical word is didaskalikov, though chiefly applied to things. In the above-quoted passage in 1Pe 4. the gifts of speaking and ministering are, as here, placed alongside that of hospitality.
The positive qualifications of the Christian pastor.
The apostle first sets forth those qualifications which respect the personal life of the pastor, and afterwards those which affect his family life. His personal qualifications are those of a spiritual and moral order presented positively.
I HE OUGHT TO BE BLAMELESS. It may be hard for a faithful man to avoid the censure of a critical society, but he must be irreproachable as being guilty of no scandal, and, above all, free from the vices enumerated under the negative aspect of his qualifications. He must be held in high moral repute by the community around him.
II HE IS TO BE THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE.
1. This condemns the rule of celibacy in the Church of Rome. It is quite absurd to say that the "one wife" is the Church; for the context regards the minister as having relation both to a Church and to a wife (ver. 5). Besides, this Roman ides would make the Church the wife of many husbands. Where the apostle, in the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, seems to favor a celibate condition "on account of the present distress," it is not on account of any superior holiness belonging to the unmarried state, but because it sometimes affords a better opportunity for pursuing Christian work under trying conditions.
2. It does not necessarily compel pastors to marry, like the Greek Church, which yet inconsistently reserves its bishoprics for unmarried monks. But it clearly gives the preference to a married ministry.
3. It does not mean that a pastor is to avoid a second marriage as the Greek Fathers generally understood it under the growing influence of Eastern asceticism because the apostle sanctions such marriages; (1Co_7:1) and, secondly, because a remarrying does not make a pastor more than the husband of one wife.
4. It seems, then, to mean that the pastor was to be "the husband of one wife," avoiding the polygamy that was then so common among the Jews, and the system of divorce still so common in that age, and remaining faithful to the wife of his choice.
III SOBER. He must be not only so in eating and drinking, but watchful over himself, his work, and his actions.
IV DISCREET. With a sound judgment and good understanding, capable of directing himself wisely in the midst of difficult situations.
V ORDERLY. With a due proportion in his life, modest in deportment, courteous to all, of a calm temper and grave demeanor.
VI GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY. In an age when Christians traveled from place to place, and were exposed to the risks of evil companionship in public inns, it was important that pastors should be able to show hospitality, and assist with their counsel as well as with the necessaries of life.
VII APT TO TEACH. The pastor must have the capacity to impart Christian knowledge, the ability to interpret Scripture, to explain its doctrines, to enforce its precepts, and to defend it against errorists of every class. He must possess the gifts of utterance and knowledge. He must have both "skill and will, ability and dexterity, being neither ignorant of his duty nor negligent in the performance of it. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v2 Chapter 11
Chapter 11
THE APOSTLES RULE RESPECTING SECOND MARRIAGES; ITS MEANING AND PRESENT OBLIGATION. - 1Ti_3:2
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THE Apostle here states, as one of the first qualifications to be looked for in a person who is to be ordained a bishop, that he must be "the husband of one wife." The precise meaning of this phrase will probably never cease to be discussed. But, although it must be admitted that the phrase is capable of bearing several meanings, yet it cannot be fairly contended that the meaning is seriously doubtful. The balance of probability is so largely in favor of one of the meanings, that the remainder may be reasonably set aside as having no valid ground for being supported in competition with it.
Three passages in which the phrase occurs have to be considered together, and these have to be compared with a fourth.
(1) There is the passage before us about a bishop,
(2) another in ver. 12 (1Ti_3:12) about deacons, and
(3) another in Tit_1:6 about elders or presbyters, whom St. Paul afterwards mentions under the title of bishop.
In these three passages we have it plainly set forth that Timothy and Titus are to regard it as a necessary qualification in a bishop or elder or presbyter, and also in a deacon, that he should be a "man of one woman" or "husband of one wife" (μιας γυναικορ). In the fourth passage {1Ti_3:2} he gives as a necessary qualification of one who is to be placed on the roll of Church widows, that she must be a "woman of one man" or "wife of one husband" (ενο). This fourth passage is of much importance in determining the meaning of the converse expression in the other three passages.
There are four main interpretations of the expression in question.
1. That which the phrase at once suggests to a modern mind, -that the person to be ordained bishop or deacon must have only one wife and not more; that he must not be a polygamist. According to this interpretation, therefore, we are to understand the Apostle to mean, that a Jew or barbarian with more wives than one might be admitted to baptism and become a member of the congregation, but ought not to be admitted to the ministry. This explanation, which at first sight looks simple and plausible, will not bear inspection. It is quite true that polygamy in St. Pauls day still existed among the Jews. Justin Martyr, in the "Dialogue with Trypho," says to the Jews, "It is better for you to follow God than your senseless and blind teachers, who even to this day allow you each to have four and five wives" (134). But polygamy in the Roman Empire must have been rare. It was forbidden by Roman law, which did not allow a man to have more than one lawful wife at a time, and treated every simultaneous second marriage, not only as null and void, but infamous. Where it was practiced it must have been practiced secretly. It is probable that, when St. Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus, not a single polygamist had been converted to the Christian faith. Polygamists were exceedingly rare inside the Empire, and the Church had not yet spread beyond it. Indeed, our utter ignorance as to the way in which the primitive Church dealt with polygamists who wished to become Christians amounts to something like proof that such cases were extremely uncommon. How improbable, therefore, that St. Paul should think it worth while to charge both Timothy and Titus that converted polygamists must not be admitted to the office of bishop, when there is no likelihood that a one of them knew of a single instance of a polygamist who had become a Christian! On these grounds alone this interpretation of the phrase might be safely rejected.
But these grounds do not stand alone. There is the convincing evidence of the converse phrase, "wife of one husband." If men with more than one wife were very rare in the Roman Empire, what are we to think of women with more than one husband? Even among the barbarians outside the Empire, such a thing as a plurality of husbands was regarded as monstrous. It is incredible that St. Paul could have had any such case in his mind, when he mentioned the qualification "wife of one husband." Moreover, as the question before him was one relating to widows, this "wife of one husband" must be a person who at the time had no husband. The phrase, therefore, can only mean a woman who after the death of her husband has not married again. Consequently the converse expression, "husband of one wife," cannot have any reference to polygamy.
2. Far more worthy of consideration is the view that what is aimed at in both cases is not polygamy, but divorce. Divorce, as we know from abundant evidence, was very frequent both among the Jews and the Romans in the first century of the Christian era. Among the former it provoked the special condemnation of Christ; and one of the many influences which Christianity had upon Roman law was to diminish the facilities for divorce. According to Jewish practice the husband could obtain a divorce for very trivial reasons; and in the time of St. Paul Jewish women sometimes took the initiative. According to Roman practice either husband or wife could obtain a divorce very easily. Abundant instances are on record, and that in the case of people of high character, such as Cicero. After the divorce either of the parties could marry again; and often enough both of them did so; therefore in the Roman Empire in St. Pauls day there must have been plenty of persons of both sexes who had been divorced once or twice and had married again. There is nothing improbable in the supposition that quite a sufficient number of such persons had been converted to Christianity to make it worth while to legislate respecting them. They might be admitted to baptism; but they must not be admitted to an official position in the Church. A regulation of this kind might be all the more necessary, because in a wealthy capital like Ephesus it would probably be among the upper and more influential classes that divorces would be most frequent; and from precisely these classes, when any of them had become Christians, officials would be likely to be chosen. This explanation, therefore, of the phrases "husband of one wife" and "wife of one husband" cannot be condemned, like the first, as utterly incredible. It has a fair amount of probability: but it remains to be seen whether another explanation (which really includes this one) has not a far greater amount.
3. We may pass over without much discussion the view that the phrases are a vague way of indicating misconduct of any kind in reference to marriage. No doubt such misconduct was rife among the heathen, and the Christian Church by no means escaped the taint, as the scandals in the Church of Corinth and the frequent warnings of the Apostles against sins of this kind show. But when St. Paul has to speak of such things he is not afraid to do so in language that cannot be misunderstood. We have seen this already in the first chapter of this Epistle; and the fifth chapters of 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians supply other examples. We may safely say that if St. Paul had meant to indicate persons who had entered into illicit unions before or after marriage, he would have used much less ambiguous language than the phrases under discussion.
4. There remains the view, which from the first has been the dominant one, that these passages all refer to second marriage after the first marriage has been dissolved by death. A widower who has married a second wife ought not to be admitted to the ministry; a widow who has married a second husband ought not to be placed on the roll of Church widows. This interpretation is reasonable in itself, is in harmony with the context and with what St. Paul says elsewhere about marriage, and is confirmed by the views taken of second marriages in the case of clergy by the early Church.
(a) The belief that St. Paul was opposed to the ordination of persons who had contracted a second marriage is reasonable in itself. A second marriage, although perfectly lawful and in some cases advisable, was so far a sign of weakness; and a double family would in many cases be a serious hindrance to work. The Church could not afford to enlist any but its strongest men among its officers; and its officers must not be hampered more than other men with domestic cares. Moreover, the heathen certainly felt a special respect for the univira, the woman who did not enter into a second marriage; and there is some reason for believing that second marriages were sometimes thought unfitting in the case of men, e.g., in the case of certain priests. Be that as it may, we may safely conclude that, both by Christians and heathen, persons who had abstained from marrying again would so far be more respected than those who had not abstained.
(b) This interpretation is in harmony with the context. In the passage before us the qualification which immediately precedes the expression, "husband of one wife," is "without reproach"; in the Epistle to Titus it is "blameless." In each case the meaning seems to be that there must be nothing in the past or present life of the candidate, which could afterwards with any show of reason be urged against him as inconsistent with his office. He must be above and not below the average of men; and therefore he must not have been twice married.
(c) This agrees with what St. Paul says elsewhere about marriage. His statements are clear and consistent, and it is a mistake to suppose that there is any want of harmony between what is said in this Epistle and what is said to the Corinthian Church on this subject. The Apostle strongly upholds the lawfulness of marriage for all. {1Co_7:28; 1Co_7:36; 1Ti_4:3} For those who are equal to it, whether single or widowed, he considers that their remaining as they are is the more blessed condition. {1Co_7:1; 1Co_7:7-8; 1Co_7:32; 1Co_7:34; 1Co_7:40; 1Ti_5:7} But so few persons are equal to this that it is prudent for those who desire to marry to do so, and for those who desire to marry again to do so. {1Co_7:2; 1Co_7:9; 1Co_7:39; 1Ti_5:14} These being his convictions is it not reasonable to suppose that in selecting ministers for the Church he would look for them in the class which had given proof of moral strength by remaining unmarried or by not marrying a second time? In an age of such boundless licentiousness continency won admiration and respect; and a person who had given clear evidence of such self-control would have his moral influence thereby increased. Few things impress barbarous and semi-barbarous people more than to see a man having full control over passions to which they themselves are slaves. In the terrific odds which the infant Church had to encounter, this was a point well worth turning to advantage.
And here we may note St. Pauls wisdom in giving no preference to those who had not married at all over those who had married only once. Had he done so, he would have played into the hands of those heretics who disparaged wedlock. And perhaps he had seen something of the evils which abounded among the celibate priests of heathenism. It is quite obvious that, although he in no way discourages celibacy among the clergy, yet he assumes that among them, as among the laity, marriage will be the rule and abstaining the exception; so much so, that he does not think of giving any special directions for the guidance of a celibate bishop or a celibate deacon.
5. Lastly, this interpretation of the phrases in question is strongly confirmed by the views of leading Christians on the subject in the first few centuries, and by the decrees of councils; these being largely influenced by St. Pauls language, and therefore being a guide as to what his words were then supposed to mean.
Hermas, Clement of Alexandria, of course Tertullian, and among later Fathers, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, and Cyril, all write in disparagement of second marriages, not as sin, but as weakness. To marry again is to fall short of the high perfection set before us in the Gospel constitution. Athenagoras goes so far as to call a second marriage "respectable adultery," and to say that one who thus severs himself from his dead wife is an "adulterer in disguise." Respecting the clergy, Origen says plainly, "Neither a bishop, nor a presbyter, nor a deacon, nor a widow, can be twice married." The canons of councils are not less plain, either as to the discouragement of second marriages among the laity, or their incompatibility with what was then required of the clergy. The synods of Ancyra (Song of Solomon 19), of Neocaesarea (Song of Solomon 3 and 7), and of Laodicea (Song of Solomon 1) subjected lay persons who married more than once to a penalty. This penalty seems to have varied in different Churches; but in some cases it involved excommunication for a time. The Council of Nicaea, on the other hand, makes it a condition that members of the Puritan sect of Cathari are not to be received into the Church unless they promise in writing to communicate with those who have married a second time (Song of Solomon 8). The "Apostolic Constitutions" (6:17) and the so-called "Apostolic Canons" (17) absolutely forbid the promotion of one who has married twice, to be a bishop, presbyter, or deacon; and the "Apostolic Constitutions" forbid the marriage of one who is already in Holy Orders. He may marry once before he is ordained: but if he is single at his ordination he must remain so all his life. Of course, if his wife dies he is not to marry again. Even singers, readers, and door-keepers, although they may marry after they have been admitted to office, yet are in no case to marry a second time or to marry a widow. And the widow of a cleric was not allowed to marry a second time.
All these rigorous views and enactments leave little doubt as to how the early Church understood St. Pauls language: viz, that one who had exhibited the weakness of marrying a second time was not to be admitted to the ministry. From this they drew the inference that one who was already in orders must not be allowed to marry a second time. And from this they drew the further inference that entering into a marriage contract at all was inadmissible for one who was already a bishop, presbyter, or deacon. Marriage was not a bar to ordination, but ordination was a bar to marriage. Married men might become clergy, but the higher orders of clergy might not become married.
A little thought will show that neither of these inferences follows from St. Pauls rule; and we have good reason for doubting whether he would have sanctioned either of them. The Apostle rules that those who have shown want of moral strength in taking a second wife are not to be ordained deacons or presbyters. But he nowhere says or hints that, if they find in themselves a want of moral strength of this kind after their ordination, they are to be made to bear a burden to which they are unequal. On the contrary, the general principle, which he so clearly lays down, decides the case: "If they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." And if this holds good of clergy who have lost their first wives, it holds good at least as strongly of those who were unmarried at the time of their ordination. Those Churches, therefore, which, like our own, allow the clergy to marry, and even to marry a second time, after ordination, may rightly claim to have the Apostle on their side.
But there are Churches, and among them the Church of England, which disregard the Apostles directions, in admitting those who have been more than once married to the deaconate, and even to the episcopate. What defense is to be made of an apparent laxity, which seems to amount to lawlessness? The answer is that there is nothing to show that St. Paul is giving rules which are to bind the Church for all time. It is quite possible that his directions are given "by reason of the present distress." We do not consider ourselves bound by the regulation, which has far higher authority than that of a single Apostle, respecting the eating of blood and of things strangled. The first council, at which most of the Apostles were present, forbade the eating of these things. It also forbade the eating of things offered to idols. St. Paul himself led the way in showing that this restriction is not always binding: and the whole Church has come to disregard the other. Why? Because in none of these case is the act sinful in itself. While the Jewish converts were likely to be scandalized by seeing their fellow-Christians eating blood, it was expedient to forbid it; and while heathen converts were likely to think lightly of idolatry, if they saw their fellow-Christians eating what had been offered in sacrifice to an idol, it was expedient to forbid it. When these dangers ceased, the reason for the enactment ceased; and the enactment was rightly disregarded. The same principle applies to the ordination of persons who have been twice married. Nowadays a man is not considered less strong than his fellows, because he has married a second time. To refuse to ordain such a person would be to lose a minister at a time when the need of additional ministers is great; and this loss would be without compensation.
And we have evidence that in the primitive Church the Apostles rule about bigamists was not considered absolute. In one of his Montanist treatises Tertullian taunts the Catholics in having even among their bishops men who had married twice, and who did not blush when the Pastoral Epistles were read; and Hippolytus, in his fierce attack on Callistus, Bishop of Rome, states that under him men who had been twice and thrice married were ordained bishops, priests, and deacons. And we know that a distinction was made in the Greek Church between those who had married twice as Christians, and those who had concluded the second marriage before baptism. The latter were not excluded from ordination. And some went so far as to say that if the first marriage took place before baptism, and the second afterwards, the man was to be considered as having been married only once. This freedom in interpreting the Apostles rule not unnaturally led to its being, in some branches of the Church, disregarded. St. Paul says, "Do not ordain a man who has married more than once." If you may say, "This man, who has married more than once, shall be accounted as having married only once; you may equally well say, The Apostles rule was only a temporary one, and we have the right to judge of its suitableness to our times and to particular circumstances." We may feel confidence that in such a matter it was not St. Pauls wish to deprive Churches throughout all time of their liberty of judgment, and the Church of England is thus justified.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv2–7 2–7. A bishop then must be blameless. None must…
2–7. A bishop then must be blameless. None must be appointed because they desire the place. None are eligible unless they fill the following qualifications. Blameless. Not under charges; of good repute. The husband of one wife. A married man, and having only one wife. In those loose times of divorce, men might be converted who had successively several wives. Divorce for unscriptural reasons would not free a man from his first, lawful wife. Hence the limitation to those who had only one living wife. I do not think there is any reference to re-marriage after the death of a wife. Vigilant. Temperate. See Revision. Sober. Sedate. Given to hospitality. Often saints by persecution were made homeless. The bishops must set the example of receiving such. Apt to teach. Men who have the knowledge and discretion which fit them to teach the flock.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6 He should manage
He should manage
"He should lead" or "He should take care of"
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with all respect
Possible meanings are 1) the overseer's children should obey and show respect to their father or 2) the overseer's children should show respect to everyone or 3) the overseer should show respect to those in his household as he leads them.
all respect
"complete respect" or "respect at all times"
For if a man does not know how to manage
"For when a man cannot manage"
how will he care for a church of God?
Paul uses a question to teach Timothy. AT: "he cannot take care of a church of God." or "he will not be able to lead a church of God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
a church of God
Here "church" refers to a local group of God's people. AT: "a group of God's people" or "the believers over whom he is in charge" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
manager
household
obey
church
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4, 7 3:2 whose life is above reproach: This is the…
3:2 whose life is above reproach: This is the most general prerequisite for a community leader and public representative (see 3:7, 10; 5:7; 6:14; Titus 1:6-7; 2:8). • must be faithful to his wife (or must have only one wife, or must be married only once; literally must be the husband of one wife; also in 1 Tim 3:12): This assumes but does not require a married male. It mainly addresses purity and faithfulness in the marriage relationship, something that could not be taken for granted in the surrounding culture; it probably does not prohibit remarriage after the death of a spouse (see 5:9), nor does it address the issue of polygamy. See also 3:12; Titus 1:6; cp. 1 Tim 5:9. • enjoy having guests in his home (literally be hospitable): Hospitality was an important duty and a respected virtue in the ancient world. Any traveling Christian would seek out and probably stay with fellow believers (see 2 Jn 1:10-11; 3 John). In addition, first-century churches often met in private homes (see Col 4:15; Phlm 1:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.