1 Timothy 3:15 - Exposition

Men ought to behave themselves for thou oughtest to behave thyself , A.V. To behave thyself ( ἀναστρέφεσθαι ); variously rendered, both in the A.V. and the R.V., "to have one's conversation," "to live," "to pass (one's time)," "to be used" ( Hebrews 10:33 ). It is literally "to go up and down" a given place, "backwards and forwards," hence "to dwell in it." The substantive ἀναστροφή , in the thirteen places where it occurs in the New Testament, is always rendered "conversation" in the A.V.; in the R.V., "manner of life," "life," "issue of life," " manner of living," " behaviour ," "living." It is a favorite word in the two Epistles of St. Peter, where it occurs eight times. The house of God. This phrase here denotes, as it is explained in the following words, the Church on earth. So Hebrews 3:6 , " Christ as a Son over his house; whose house are we," where the reference is to Numbers 12:7 , " My servant Moses... is faithful in all mine house." The Church of the living God. Here is again a somewhat remarkable resemblance to the phraseology of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God.... to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn" ( Hebrews 12:22 , Hebrews 12:23 ). However, the phraseology is not peculiar to the Epistle to the Hebrews. Thus we read in 2 Corinthians 6:16 , " Ye are the temple of the living God." The phrase, " the living God ," occurs seven times in St. Paul's Epistles, and four times in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It occurs three times in the Gospels, once in the Acts of the Apostles, and once in the Revelation. Here it is used by St. Paul to enhance the obligation to a holy and blameless walk in those who have the oversight of his Church. The pillar and ground of the truth . Some apply these words to Timothy himself (Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and others cited by Alford), after the analogy of Galatians 2:9 , where James, Cephas, and John are said to be "pillars" ( στύλοι ), and Revelation 3:12 , where it is said of him that over-cometh, "I will make him a pillar ( στύλον ) in the house of my God." And so, in Venantius Fortunatus, St. Paul is called "stilus ille." But the metaphors of "a pillar" and "a foundation" do not all suit the verb ἀναστρέφεσθαι ; and it is well argued that the absence of the pronoun σε is unfavorable to the application of "the pillar and ground of the truth" to the subject of the first clause. It is therefore better to understand this clause as descriptive of the Church of God. The Church is the pillar of the truth. It supports it; holds it together—binds together its different parts. And it is the ground of the truth. By it the truth is made fast, firm, and fixed. The ground ( ἑδραίωμα ). This word only occurs here at all; ἑδραῖος , common both in the New Testament, the LXX ., and in classical Greek, means "fixed," "firm," or" fast." In the A.V. of 1 Corinthians 7:37 and 1 Corinthians 15:58 , "steadfast;" Colossians 1:23 (where it is coupled with τεθεμελιωμένα ), "settled." Thence ἑδραιόω in late Greek, "to make firm or fast," and ἑδραίμα , the "establishment" or "grounding" of the truth; that in and by which the truth is placed on a sure and fixed basis.