The wise Church ruler must understand how to deal with his people individually. Each age and condition needs separate treatment: old men, young men; old women, young women. Widows in particular need discriminating care; since some of them may have to be supported by the Church; and we must not let t... [ Continue Reading ]
πρεσβυτέρῳ is best taken as a term of age, _seniorem_ (Vulg.). This view is supported by the ὡς πατέρα, πρεσβυτέρας, νεωτέρας. The term νεωτέρους might possibly refer to a subordinate Church officer. In Acts 5:6 it is susceptible of that meaning; but in the subsequent narrative (Acts 5:10) οἱ νεώτερ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν πάσῃ ἁγνίᾳ : _with the strictest regard to purity_, or perhaps _propriety_. Christians, Athenagoras tells us (_Legat_. 32), considered other Christians, according to their age, as sons and daughters; brothers and sisters; fathers and mothers. Ellicott quotes Jerome's maxim, “Omnes puellas et virg... [ Continue Reading ]
τίμα : It is difficult to fix precisely the force of τιμάω in this connexion. On the one hand, the passage (1 Timothy 5:3-8) is a part of the general directions as to Timothy's personal relations to his flock. _Respect, honour_, would, then, render the word adequately. On the other hand, 1 Timothy 5... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔκγονα : _offspring_ ought to be the best rendering of this. It has a wider connotation than _children_ and narrower than _descendants_. μανθανέτωσαν : It ought not to be necessary to say that the subject of this verb is τέκνα ἢ ἔκγονα, only that Chrys. Theod. Vulg. and [268] agree in referring it... [ Continue Reading ]
ἤλπικεν ἐπί : _hath her hope set on_. See on 1 Timothy 4:10, the analogy of which favours the omission of the article here. προσμένει : She is like Anna, νηστείαις καὶ δεήσεσιν λατρεύουσα νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν (Luke 2:37). προσκαρτερεῖν is more usual in this connexion, _e.g._, Romans 12:12; Colossians 4... [ Continue Reading ]
σπαταλῶσα : The modern term _fast_, in which the notion of prodigality and wastefulness is more prominent than that of sensual indulgence, exactly expresses the significance of this word. The R.V., _she that giveth herself to pleasure_, is stronger than the A.V. A somewhat darker force is given to i... [ Continue Reading ]
ταῦτα is best referred to 1 Timothy 5:4, with its implied injunctions to the younger generation to support their widows. ἀνεπίλημπτοι : _i.e._, all Christians whom it concerns, not widows only.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Christian faith includes the law of love. The moral teaching of Christianity recognises the divine origin of all natural and innocent human affections. The unbeliever, _i.e._, the born heathen, possesses natural family affection; and though these feelings may be stunted by savagery, the heathen... [ Continue Reading ]
καταλεγέσθω : St. Paul passes naturally from remarks about the duty of Church members to their widowed relatives to specific rules about the admission of widows to the roll of Church widows (see Acts 6:1). The χήρα of this ver. is ἡ ὄντως χήρα of 1 Timothy 5:3; 1 Timothy 5:5, who was to receive cons... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν ἔργοις καλοῖς μαρτυρουμένη : ἐν with μαρτυρεῖσθαι means _in respect of_. See reff. and Moulton and Milligan, _Expositor_, vii., vii., 562. It is characteristic of the sanity of apostolic Christianity that as typical examples of “good works,” St. Paul instances the discharge of commonplace duties... [ Continue Reading ]
There are two main factors in the interpretation of this verse: (1) a general Church regulation not laid down by St. Paul but found in existence by him that a widow in receipt of relief should be ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνή; and (2) his determination to make provision that no scandal should arise from broken v... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔχουσαι κρίμα : _deserving censure_. There is no special force in ἔχουσαι, as Ell. explains, “bearing about with them a judgment, _viz._, that they broke their first faith”. This seems forced and unnatural. ἔχειν κρίμα is correlative to λαμβάνεσθαι κρίμα (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47; Romans 13:2; James 3... [ Continue Reading ]
ἅμα δὲ καί is Pauline. See reff. It is best to assume an omission of εἶναι, not necessarily through corruption of the text, as Blass supposes (_Gram_. p. 247). On the example cited by Winer-Moulton, _Gram_. p. 437 from Plato, _Euthyd_. p. 276 _b_, οἱ ἀμαθεῖς ἄρα σοφοὶ μανθάνουσιν, and Dio. Chrys. l... [ Continue Reading ]
βούλομαι οὖν : See note on 1 Timothy 2:8. νεωτέρας : The insertion of χήρας before νεωτέρας in about 30 cursives, Chrys. Theodoret, John Damasc., Jerome, is a correct gloss (so R.V.). The whole context deals with widows, not with women in general, as A.V. and von Soden. γαμεῖν : There is nothing r... [ Continue Reading ]
τινες : See note on 1 Timothy 1:3. ἐξετράπησαν ὀπίσω τοῦ Σ.: This is a pregnant phrase, meaning “ _They have turned out of the way [of life and light] and have followed after Satan_ ”. “The prepositional use of ὀπίσω, which is foreign to profane writers, takes its origin from the LXX (Hebr. אַחֲרֵי)... [ Continue Reading ]
εἴ τις πιστή : This is one of those difficulties that prove the _bona fide_ character of the letter. We may explain it in either of two ways: (1) It not un-frequently happens that the language in which we express a general statement is unconsciously coloured by a particular instance of which we are... [ Continue Reading ]
The natural and obvious meaning of the verse is that while all presbyters discharge administrative functions, well or indifferently, they are not all engaged in preaching and teaching. We distinguish then in this passage three grades of presbyters: (1) ordinary presbyters with a living wage; (2) eff... [ Continue Reading ]
What I have been saying about the support of widows reminds me of another question of Church finance: the payment of presbyters. Equity and scriptural principles suggest that they should be remunerated in proportion to their usefulness. You are the judge of the presbyters; in the discharge of this o... [ Continue Reading ]
If this verse is read without critical prejudice, it implies that in the writer's judgment a quotation from Deuteronomy 25:4 and the Saying, ἄξιος, κ. τ. λ. might be coordinated as ἡ γραφή; just as in Mark 7:10; Acts 1:20, and Hebrews 1:10, two O.T. quotations are coupled by a καί. For this formula... [ Continue Reading ]
The mention of καλῶς προεστῶτες πρεσβύτεροι, and of what was due to them, naturally suggests by contrast the consideration of unsatisfactory presbyters. Yet even these were to be protected against the possibility of arbitrary dismissal. They were to have a fair trial in accordance with the provision... [ Continue Reading ]
τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας : It cannot be certainly determined whether this refers to offending presbyters only or to sinners in general. In favour of the first alternative, is the consideration that it seems to be a suitable conclusion to 1 Timothy 5:19; and the vehemence of the adjuration in 1 Timothy 5:21... [ Continue Reading ]
διαμαρτύρομαι : It is easy to see that St. Paul had not perfect confidence in the moral courage of Timothy. He interjects similar adjurations, 1 Timothy 6:13; 2 Timothy 4:1. In 1 Thessalonians 4:6 we can understand διεμαρτυράμεθα to mean that purity had been the subject of a strong adjuration addres... [ Continue Reading ]
Our best guide to the meaning of χεῖρας … ἐπιτίθει is the context, and more especially the following clause, μηδὲ … ἀλλοτρίαις. μηδέ constantly introduces an extension or development of what has immediately preceded; it never begins a new topic. Now the injunction _Be not partaker of other men's sin... [ Continue Reading ]
μηκέτι ὑδροπότει : An adequate explanation of this seemingly irrelevant direction is that since there is a certain degree of ambiguity in ἁγνός, St. Paul thought it necessary to guard against any possible misunderstanding of _Keep thyself pure_ : “I do not mean you to practice a rigid asceticism; on... [ Continue Reading ]
The connexion of this general statement is especially with 1 Timothy 5:22. The solemn warning against the awful consequences of an ill-considered moral judgment on those condemned was calculated to overwhelm a weak man with anxiety. Here the apostle assures Timothy that in actual practical experienc... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡσαύτως here, as in chap. 1 Timothy 2:9, naturally introduces an antithesis to what has gone before; and this determines the meaning of τὰ ἄλλως ἔχοντα; not as ἔργα which are not καλά, but as ἔργα καλά which are not πρόδηλα; and justifies the R.V. rendering, _There are good works that are evident_.... [ Continue Reading ]