πιστὸς ὁ λόγος : This refers to the exegesis of Genesis which has preceded. (So Chrys.). We may compare Barnabas, § 9, where, after an allegorical explanation of Abraham's 318 servants, the writer exclaims, οὐδεὶς γνησιώτερον ἔμαθεν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ λόγον · ἀλλὰ οἶδα ὅτι ἄξιοί ἐστε ὑμεῖς. See note on 1 Timo... [ Continue Reading ]
The qualifications of the men who are to be ministers; and first (_a_) of the episcopus (vv.1-7) secondly (_b_) of the deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13) with a parenthetical instruction respecting women church-workers (1 Timothy 3:11). εἴ τις ἐπισκοπῆς, κ. τ. λ.: Having given elementary directions concerni... [ Continue Reading ]
_to 1 Timothy 3:1_ _a_. The ministers of public prayer must be the men of the congregation, not the women. A woman's positive duty is to make herself conspicuous by good works, not by personal display. Her place in relation to man is one of subordination. This is one of the lessons of the inspired n... [ Continue Reading ]
With the qualifications of the episcopus as given here should be compared those of the deacons, 1 Timothy 3:8 _sqq._, and those of the episcopus in Titus 1:6 _sqq_. δεῖ οὖν … ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι. The ἐπισκοπή being essentially a good work, “ _bonum negotium bonis committendum_ ” (Bengel). The episcop... [ Continue Reading ]
μὴ πάροινον (_no brawler_, R.V., _quarrelsome over wine_, R.V. m.), and μὴ πλήκτην are similarly coupled together in Titus 1:7. παροινία means _violent temper_, not specially excited by overindulgence in strong drink. In the time of Chrysostom and Theodoret manners had so far softened that it was fe... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦ ἰδίου οἴκου : Although ἴδιος commonly retains in the N.T. the emphatic sense _own_, yet there can be no doubt that examples occur of the later weakened sense in which it means simply αὐτοῦ, _e.g._, 1 Corinthians 7:2. We are not therefore justified in insisting on the emphatic sense, _own_, here... [ Continue Reading ]
The argument is akin to that stated by our Lord, Luke 16:10. “He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, etc.” It is all the more cogent inasmuch as the Church is the house of God. The point is resumed in 1 Timothy 3:15. Alf. quotes a sentence from Plato in which both προστῆναι a... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:6-7 have nothing corresponding to them in _Titus_, or in the qualifications for the diaconate in this chapter. μὴ νεόφυτον κ. τ. λ.: _not a recent convert_. νεόφυτος in O.T. is used literally of a young plant (Job 14:9; Psalms 127 (128):3; 143 (144):12; Isaiah 5:7). For i... [ Continue Reading ]
τῶν ἔξωθεν : οἱ ἔξω in Mark 4:11 (ἔξωθεν, W.H. m.) means those who came into contact more or less close with Jesus, but who were not His disciples. In the Pauline use (see reff.) it means the non-Christian Society in which the Church lives. St. Paul's attitude towards _them that are without_ is one... [ Continue Reading ]
διακόνους ὡσαύτως : _s.c_. δεῖ εἶναι. For ὡσαύτως, see on 1 Timothy 2:9. σεμνούς : _grave_. “The word we want is one in which the sense of gravity and dignity, and of these as inviting reverence, is combined” (Trench). See note on 1 Timothy 3:2. The term is used in reference to women workers and o... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ μυστήριον τῆς πίστεως : _the faith as revealed_, is the same as τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον, 1 Timothy 3:16. In the earlier epistles of St. Paul τὸ μυστήριον is _a revealed secret_, in particular, the purpose of God that Jew and Gentile should unite in one Church. The notion of _a secret_ is still... [ Continue Reading ]
δοκιμαζέσθωσαν : Chrys. notes that this corresponds to the provision μὴ νεόφυτον in the case of the episcopus. This testing of fitness for the office of deacon may have been effected either by (_a_) a period of probationary training, if the injunction in 1 Timothy 5:22, “Lay hands hastily on no man,... [ Continue Reading ]
γυναῖκας : Sc. δεῖ εἶναι, not governed by ἔχοντας (1 Timothy 3:9). These are _the deaconesses, ministrae_ (Pliny, _Ep_. x. 97) of whom Phoebe (Romans 16:1) is an undoubted example. They performed for the women of the early Church the same sort of ministrations that the deacons did for the men. In co... [ Continue Reading ]
As the episcopi were naturally drawn from the ranks of the deacons, the diaconate was a probation time, in the course of which the personal moral qualifications for the ἐπισκοπή might be acquired. See notes on 1Ti 3:2; 1 Timothy 3:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
From what has been noted above on St. Paul's teaching in relation to men's lawful aspirations, it will appear that it is not necessary to explain away the obvious meaning of this clause in accordance with a false spirituality which affects to depreciate the inducements of earthly rewards. The parabl... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse makes it clear that Timothy's position was a temporary one; he was acting as St. Paul's representative at Ephesus to “put them in remembrance of his ways which be in Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:17). ταῦτα has a primary reference to the preceding directions regarding public prayers and Church... [ Continue Reading ]
These general directions will serve you as a guide in the administration of the Church until you see me. Your charge is one of transcendent importance. The Church is no human institution: it is the household of God, and also the means whereby the power of the Incarnation is available for man's use.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα εἰδῇς … ἀναστρέφεσθαι : It is a matter of indifference whether we render _how men ought to behave themselves_ (R.V.), or _how thou oughtest to behave thyself_ (A.V.; R.V. m.). It was Timothy's duty to carry out the apostle's directions, directions relating to the life, ἀναστροφή, of the Church.... [ Continue Reading ]
The connexion of thought lies in a feeling that the lofty terms in which the Church has been just spoken of may demand a justification. _The truth_ of which the Church is στύλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα is not a light thing nor an insubstantial fabric; _the truth_ is, more expressly, τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον,... [ Continue Reading ]