1 Timothy 5:17

‘Let the elders who run things well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and in teaching.’

In view of the parallel with 1 Timothy 5:1 ‘the elders’ means ‘the older men’. Thus it then has to be defined as Paul wishes to refer to the church elders. There is possibly a play on the word. The older men who run their families well are worthy of double honour because as Christians they are not only physical fathers to their families but also spiritual ones, while especially to be honoured are the church elders, for they teach and minister the word and are the same to the whole church. If they run the church well they also are to be counted worthy of double honour. ‘Proistemi’ means ‘be over’ (1 Thessalonians 5:12); ‘be in authority’ (over the household and over children - 1 Timothy 3:4-5; 1 Timothy 3:12); ‘maintain, engage in’ (good works - Titus 3:8). For these are the men who labour in the word and in teaching.

The reference to ‘honour’ looks back to the honouring of widows who have no relations, which had in mind the command to honour father and mother. Here then the double honouring is because they are fathers in two ways, either, in the case of the older men, over their households both physically and spiritually, or, in the case of the elders, over their households and the church. Alternatively it may mean ‘being treated generously’ or be connected with the ideas of the double portion received by the eldest son (Deuteronomy 21:17).