1 Timothy 3:1-7

( b) III. 1 Timothy 3:1-1 Chronicles : .

Church Officials. 1 Timothy 3:1-Judges : . The Bishops.— Not only public worship, but also the appointment of officials, must be regulated. He who exercises oversight— a good work, as is generally admitted— must possess moral qualifications which place him beyond reproach. He must be ( a) of disciplined life: e.g. he must not marry a second time, or indulge in the drunken riots prevalent around him ( cf. 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 11:21); ( b) hospitable, since Christians, especially teachers, frequently travelled from church to church; ( c) successful in giving instruction— a function usually assigned at this period to particular “ teachers” ; ( d) untempted by money, thus reproving a dangerous error ( cf. 65 ); ( e) a proved ruler; ( f) not too recent a convert, lest he suffer condemnation for pride, as did the devil; and, finally, ( g) of honourable reputation among his heathen neighbours. (The writer is not enumerating the bishop’ s functions, but insisting that the man elected shall be of the right moral quality.) Cf. p. 646 .

vv. 1 Timothy 3:1 . Faithful, etc.: 1 Timothy 1:15 *.— bishop: not in the sense of a “ monarchical,” much less in that of a modern “ diocesan,” bishop. The translation “ bishop,” indeed, is misleading. In NT the word indicates one who exercises oversight, and the alternative title “ elder” (possibly a different function within the same office, cf. Titus 1:5-Judges :) is applied to the same person.

1 Timothy 3:2. Cf. Titus 1:6 ff.— husband, etc.: sometimes wrongly interpreted as alluding to polygamy or adultery, or as forbidding celibacy.