II. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE OFFICIALS OF THE CHURCH 1–7. i. BISHOPS Having spoken of the conduct of public worship, the Apostle proceeds to expound the qualifications requisite for those who hold office in the Church, the ἐπίσκοποι (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and the διάκονοι (1 Timothy 3:8-13). The significa... [ Continue Reading ]
For πιστός D2* has ἀνθρώπινος, following its Latin version _humanus_, which is also read by m; g has _humanus vel fidelis_. see on 1 Timothy 1:15. 1. ΠΙΣΤῸΣ Ὁ ΛΌΓΟΣ. This formula (see on 1 Timothy 1:15) has been referred (e.g. by Chrysostom) to the words which precede, but it seems better to take it... [ Continue Reading ]
The best MSS. (אAD2GH) have ἀνεπίλημπτον (which should also be read in 1 Timothy 5:7 and 1 Timothy 6:14); the received spelling ἀνεπίληπτον has the support of KL and most cursives. 2. ΔΕΙ͂ ΟΥ̓͂Ν. _Therefore is it necessary_ &c. The ἔργον is καλόν, and demands _therefore_ men of high moral character... [ Continue Reading ]
Rec. text after πλήκτην inserts μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ (from Titus 1:7) with 37 and many other cursives; _om_. all uncials and versions. 3. ΜῊ ΠΆΡΟΙΝΟΝ. πάροινος. expresses more than φίλοινος or than the μὴ οἴνῳ πολλῷ προσέχοντας of 1 Timothy 3:8; it means a man _given over to wine_. It is generally render... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΔΊΟΥ. Repeated again in 1 Timothy 3:5, in contrast to θεοῦ. ΚΑΛΩ͂Σ. A characteristic word of the Pastorals (see on 1 Timothy 1:8; 1 Timothy 2:10 above). ΠΡΟΪΣΤΆΜΕΝΟΝ. We find this verb applied to the officers of the Church also in Romans 12:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12, and to πρεσβύτεροι in ch. 1 Tim... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is parenthetical, and the argument is _a minori ad maius_. Tacitus has almost the same idea: “A se suisque orsus primum domum suam coercuit (sc. Agricola) quod plerisque haud minus arduum est quam provinciam regere” (_Agr._ 19). The conception of the ἐπίσκοπος as the οἰκονόμος, and of the... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜῊ ΝΕΌΦΥΤΟΝ. _Not a recent convert_. The word (in the N.T. only found here) is used in the LXX. of newly planted trees (Psalms 144:12), and thus is used by St Paul (cp. 1 Corinthians 3:6) of one who has been recently baptized. Christianity was long enough established at Ephesus to make such a rule p... [ Continue Reading ]
Rec. text after δεῖ δὲ inserts αὐτόν with D2KLP and Latin Vss.; _om_. אAGH. 7. ΔῈ ΚΑΊ The καί serves to connect this with 1 Timothy 3:6; _but_ he must _also_ &c. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΊΑΝ. Not μαρτύριον as in 1 Timothy 2:6; there the reference is to the witness to the truth of facts and doctrines, here to the cha... [ Continue Reading ]
א* and 3 cursives omit σεμνούς here, but it is unquestionably part of the primitive text. 8. ΔΙΑΚΌΝΟΥΣ. The plural number is, perhaps, significant, in contrast to τὸν ἐπίσκοπον of 1 Timothy 3:2. See on διάκονοι _Introd._ p. lxvii. ὩΣΑΎΤΩΣ. _In like manner_; the δει εἷναι of the preceding verses is... [ Continue Reading ]
8, 9. ii. DEACONS... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΧΟΝΤΑΣ. _Holding_, as contrasted with _teaching_, which did not come within the province of the διάκονος. ΤῸ ΜΥΣΤΉΡΙΟΝ ΤΗ͂Σ ΠΊΣΤΕΩΣ. The genitive might be either (_a_) _appositional_, descriptive of the substance of the μυστήριον, _the Mystery of the Faith_, or (_b_) _subjective_, ‘the mystery on w... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ … ΔΈ. _And … also_; i.e. the διάκονοι no less than the ἐπίσκοποι. ΔΟΚΙΜΑΖΈΣΘΩΣΑΝ ΠΡΩ͂ΤΟΝ. _Let them first be proved_. This does not refer to any formal examination of the candidates for the diaconate, either by Timothy or by the officers of the Church, so much as to the general verdict of the c... [ Continue Reading ]
PARENTHETIC:—DEACONESSES 11. ΓΥΝΑΙ͂ΚΑΣ ὩΣΑΎΤΩΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. It is difficult to determine who the ‘women’ are, who are thus brought into the middle of the paragraph which deals with the qualifications of deacons. Excluding impossible interpretations, they must be either (_a_) the _wives of the deacons_ or... [ Continue Reading ]
The injunctions of this verse are identical with those laid down before in the case of ἐπίσκοποι; see the notes on 1 Timothy 3:2-3. If a man’s family is disorderly, it constitutes a _presumption_ that there has been something amiss in the methods by which he has governed and ordered his household. I... [ Continue Reading ]
12, 13. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS (_continued_)... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning of βαθυὸν καλόν is the key to this verse. βαθμός (ἅπ. λεγ. in the N.T.) means primarily a ‘step,’ and it has been interpreted often of (_a_) a step in the ministry, the _gradus presbyteratus_; the meaning of the verse being, then, that those who have served the office of deacon well are... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡῸΣ ΣῈ. These words omitted by G (but represented in f g) and the Armenian version are placed by Westcott and Hort in square brackets. ΤΆΧΙΟΝ. This, the reading of rec. text, is supported by אD2cGKL and most cursives; Westcott and Hort and the Revisers read ἐν τάχει with ACD2*P. 14. ΤΑΥ͂ΤΑ, i.e.... [ Continue Reading ]
14, 15. THE AIM OF ALL THE FOREGOING INSTRUCTIONS... [ Continue Reading ]
After δεῖ, some Western authorities (followed by the Latin Vulgate) insert σε; but its insertion is due to a misconception of the meaning. See note _in loc_. 15. ΠΩ͂Σ ΔΕΙ͂ ἘΝ ΟἼΚΩΙ ΘΕΟΥ͂�, _how men ought to behave themselves in God’s household_. This is the general subject of chaps. 2 and 3; and th... [ Continue Reading ]
The important variants in this verse require close attention. θεός of the rec. text is found in CcD2cKLP and the vast majority of cursives; but it has no support from the versions, and the earliest fathers who have it, viz. Didymus of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa, date from the latter part of the... [ Continue Reading ]